Chapter 25: The invite
"Hello sister, fancy seeing you here again."
Ayla was back for the etiquette lesson.
Ever since her and her mother’s conversation three days ago, she had kept to herself in her room, only letting Astrid who was still worried about her bring her meals.
Ares had come to check in on her but she had told him away, telling Astrid to inform him she was on her period and was tired.
He had gone out of his way to have a hot compress sent to her room alongside sweets and he had attached a sweet note, telling her to get better soon.
She could not very well tell him the reason she did not want to see anyone was because she feared she would blurt out what she had heard and there was also the fact that everything was going so well, no mention of any dead person.
It was almost like what happened that day was a figment of her imagination.
But Ayla had not imagined it and even if she was still yet to understand how she had generated that much power, she felt different.
Like a veil had lifted off her.
And that was why she now turned to Willow with a look of boredom on her face.
"If you are about to be rude and condescending, Willow. I suggest you save it for someone that cares."
Willow seemed surprised by her change of attitude but she swallowed the sharp retort she had been about to utter.
If she wanted this to go well, then she had to for the lack of a better word, be nice to Ayla.
She tossed her blond hair over her shoulder and regarded her sister with a cool stare.
"Relax sister, I am not here to pick a fight. I wanted to give you this."
Ayla stared at the envelope in Willow’s hand.
"What is that?"
"Take it and see for yourself."
She hesitated before finally reaching for the envelope.
Inside was a beautifully crafted invitation card bordered with gold markings that shimmered when it caught the light while black elegant calligraphy stretched across the center of the page in flawless handwriting.
It read:
You are cordially invited to the Nineteenth Birthday Celebration of Willow of House Hale.
Venue: The Royal Ballroom.
Date: Tomorrow Evening
Time: Eight o’clock sharp
Dress Code: An attire in any color except black.
Your presence is requested as we celebrate an evening of elegance, music, and merriment.
--Willow Hale
Ayla turned it over seeing her name scribbled in smaller fonts as "Ayla’s invite of one"
"Why are you giving me this?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, Willow. You and I are not the best of friends there is. Why are you inviting me to your birthday party."
Willow sighed dramatically like she could not believe why Ayla would be asking that sort of question.
"Listen, you are not my favorite person in the world."
"Likewise." Ayla shot back.
Willow’s eyes flashed with anger but she quickly curbed it.
She had a plan and she was not going to let this little chit ruin it for her. There would be ample time after her plans have succeeded to deal with her.
"But I feel really bad about what you had to see with Ares and I that day and I want to make up for it."
"There is no need to..."
"Ayla, please come for my party and we can bury the proverbial axe. I will be expecting you."
She turned and walked away before Ayla could refuse.
Ayla looked down at the invite again.
There was no way in hell she would show up for the party.
Surely, this was a ploy and Willow had to know she was not stupid.
She put the invite back into the envelope and held unto it as she walked out of the etiquette room.
She stopped short when she saw Damon.
He was leaning against the wall outside, looking down at his feet and he seemed to have sensed her because he looked up, meeting her eyes.
Ever since dinner when she had jerked away from his touch, she had not seen him anywhere.
Him standing right outside did not mean he was here for her.
No doubt, he had found himself some royal paramour ready to let him do whatever he wanted.
Ayla averted her gaze away from him and began walking past.
"Can we talk?" Damon’s voice froze her in her tracks.
When he saw she was not making any move to turn to him, he continued speaking.
"I want to apologize for what I did. I was wrong to have tried to force myself on you and I am sorry."
Ayla turned to him then, folding her arms across her chest.
"I am sure you expect that I should forgive you because you have uttered your flimsy apology."
"I do not expect that you should forgive me, Ayla. I have been feeling bad about this for days and I..."
"Oh, so you feel bad about it and now you are here so I can give you closure and you can go about your merry fucking way?"
Ayla had no idea where all of the rage she was feeling was coming from but she wanted to hurt Damon.
"Listen..."
"I do not accept your apology, Damon and you are the most evil person I have ever met. If it were left to me, I hope you die and I hope the maggots eat your corpse until there is nothing left."
Damon looked stricken by her words.
"Now, if you will excuse me, the sight of your face has ruined my day."
Ayla stalked off, rage boiling in her veins.
She made her way to her room and slammed the door behind her ignoring Astrid.
Then she screamed.
And it happened again.
The light.
It poured out of her in one blinding flash that enveloped the room.
When it died down, Ayla gasped.
Her room looked like it had been turned inside out.
And she could hear banging on the door.
She took several steps back, reaching for the door knob and turned it admitting a frightened Astrid.
"Is everything..." Her eyes widened as she took in the state of Ayla’s room.
"What the hell happened here?"