"Seraphina," Persephany began with a sigh. "What is it?" Sera said to her as she fastened a clip in her hair.

"Well, I'm just starting to think twice about that deal that we made with Tavorian, that's all." She said, brushing out her long hair. Sera smiled knowingly at her.

"Oh Perseph, c'mon. It's not like grandpa wouldn't have picked out our husbands himself anyway. This way, we're choosing them ourselves and saving the property as well."

Persephany sighed again.

"I know, I just hope it doesn't backfire, that's all."

Thoughts of that dream she had came rolling back to her. She wondered if she should tell Sera the details of it.

"Seraphina! Persephany! Your guests have arrived!" Her grandfather's voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Persephany sighed to herself and stood up. Her cousin eyed her through her vanity mirror and said calmly, "C'mon, Perseph. At least try to go along with Tavorian's plan. Who knows, it might actually work."

Persephany smiled unsurely at her and with that, the two began to head downstairs to the dinning room.

* * *

"Isekheul, Zacarius, how nice it is to see you again." Persephany said, trying hard to disguise the worry in her voice. Isekheul stood there, smiling as he stared at the two girls who had just entered the dinning room. He looked over at Seraphina and said "Yes, well I don't think me and my brother here have met your cousin yet. Seraphina, I believe?"

Sera smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, that's correct." She said nervously, shifting in her position. There was a short pause between them until Zacarius finally spoke.

"Yes, me and my brothers Isekheul and Tavorian have actually decided to reside at your hotel during our visit to the Americas. After you invited us to dinner we decided it just as well if we stay here instead of our original hotel we had decided upon."

Persephany forced a smile on her face. "Oh, well, that's splendid! I'm pleased to hear that!" She said, trying to sound surprised but underneath knowing the real reason why they would stay there. She looked around the room, noticing that Tavorian was not yet there. She decided to change the subject.

"Umm, so do you guys want to sit down? . . .dinner will be ready shortly." She looked up at Isekheul, noticing his eyes on Sera.

"Uhh, yeah, all right." Zacarius said, nodding his head. With that, him and Isekheul took their seats at the table. "I'll be right back," Persephany said, eyeing her cousin on the other side of the room. She walked into the kitchen.

Minutes later Seraphina joined her. "What was that look for?" She asked, dodging a couple of cooks with pots of food in their hands.

"I don't know about this, Sera. I'm getting nervous about all of it," Persephany admitted as she leaned against the wall, out of the way. Sera walked up to her. "Persephany, we've been through this already. I'm very willing to marry them, and for some reason, as intimidating as Tavorian is, I trust him."

Persephany gave her cousin a look of worry. "You trust him?" She thought of the dream again.

Searphina nodded naively. "Yes, I do, and you should too. Plus, Isekheul and Zacarius aren't so bad at all. I mean, grandfather probably would've made us marry someone like Darion."

Persephany replied, "You do have a point there, but. . ."

Seraphina rolled her eyes as she stepped in front of a wall mirror. "Perseph, you're going to marry Zacarius and that's that."

Persephany crossed her arms and watched as her cousin made sure she looked appropriate in the mirror. An uneasy feeling filled the pit of her stomach but she had no room to disagree.

"All right." She sighed.

Seraphina smiled and then took off shawl to reveal her shoulderless and very low cut dress. Persephany looked at her suspiciously.

"Seraphina, you aren't going out there like that!"

Seraphina smirked stubbornly. "Watch me!"

"Oh my," Persephany mumbled to herself as she walked back in the dinning room following her cousin. They walked out there to see that they had another guest. Seraphina smiled to see the blonde-haired handsome man only known as Tavorian sitting at the end of the table. He eyed the girls as they walked towards them. Persephany's uneasiness increased tenfold at the sight of Tavorian clad in midnight blue. She walked on the opposite side of the room as she watched Sera swoon over him. Tavorian had gotten up and was now kissing Seraphina's hand politely. "You look lovely tonight, little pretty," he whispered to Seraphina seductively. Then he looked over at Persephany with those icy-blue eyes. She turned away shyly. If she hadn't, she might not have heard Zacarius talking to her. "Are you all right, Persephany?"

She looked at his young face and saw his innocence through his brown eyes. How could this mysterious Tavorian even be related to these darling men? Persephany thought to herself as she gave Zacarius a fake smile. "Of course."

Then she looked at Tavorian. "Good evening and welcome to the Crecelius Plantation."

Tavorian's smirky grin stuck in her mind as he nodded back in reply. Persephany despised his cocky attitude but all of the same, it intrigued her.

* * *

Dinner was fairly quiet except for the failed attempts to make conversation and Seraphina's short giggles from Isekheul whispering things into her ear. Persephany wasn't too hungry. She kept thinking about the whole deal with Tavorian and if he had told Isekheul and Zacarius yet.

"Tavorian?" Seraphina looked at him. "Would you like some more wine?"

"Call me 'Tay'. And no thank you, I'm fine." He smiled.

"Well that was a pleasant meal," Persephany said as she stood up. "I'm going to make sure they have your rooms prepared."

'Thank you." Zacarius smiled at her.

Persephany excused herself and walked into the main hall to talk to one of the colored maids.

"Yes, they have the only empty rooms in the house, 'madam." The maid told her.

"We have a full house then, " Persephany observed.

"Yes we do, the rooms are the three in front of yours. Is that all right, 'madam?"

"Yes of course. The more business the better." Persephany smiled as the maid walked away. She stood there and looked out into space. "I guess I'll just have to forget that dream. There's nothing wrong with Tavorian." She thought to herself.

In fact, the more she thought about it, the more enchanting he seemed. She sighed and then walked back out into the dinning room to hear everyone laughing.

". . .and then he just fell off the train! Luggage in hand and it fell all across him! It was the laugh of the moment!" Isekheul exclaimed before shouting out a bellow of laughter. Zacarius sat there smiling and rose-cheeked. Persephany grinned at him as his brothers continued to jeer at his expense.

After laughing until the point of crying they settled down 'til it was quiet.

"They have prepared the parlor for us." Persephany announced as the table was cleared. Seraphina, Tavorian, and his brothers followed her into the parlor, a fire burning in the fireplace. Another server brought in wineglasses and wine and sat the tray on the bar table in the corner.

"Thank you." Persephany told the server before he left. Isekheul and Zacarius sat down in the cushioned chairs while the rest of the group stood up.

"Why don't you guys take a seat?" Isekheul said, looking up at Tay, Perseph, and Sera.

"Oh, no, that's okay Ike, I'd rather stand." Tavorian said, his icy-blue eyes on Persephany and Seraphina.

"Yeah, actually, I'm going to go in the other room for a minute . . . .I'll be right back."

Persephany said, looking down to the ground reluctantly. She started to make her way to the library, passing Zacarius's chair as she did so. She didn't know why she was going there . . . She just felt like she wanted to get away for a moment and think. Tavorian sat his wineglass down on a coffee table sitting next to him as he watched her disappear into the other room. After a few seconds, he too got up and began to follow her footsteps into the library.

* * *

"Well, little pretty, why are you hiding out from your guests? We're not that scary, are we?" Tavorian mused.

Persephany jumped with fright at the sound of his voice. She was turned towards a window looking out over the plantation and did not expect to have company. She turned around to face him and took in the familiar sight of his piercing eyes.

"Tavorian, that- I mean, I, - . . . . don't scare me like that!" She muttered, looking down as she said this. Tavorian laughed quietly and began to walk closer to her. When he was standing in front of her, he took his hand and pushed her face up to stare into his eyes. She cringed as the dream's events came rolling back once again. Tavorian's luscious lips formed into one of his tempting smiles.

"You can look into my eyes . . . I won't bite . . ." he said quietly, smiling again.

Persephany slowly moved her eyes up to look at his face. They trailed down to his curled lips. They were so mysterious, almost as mysterious as the stories that came out of them, or the person who told them. She got lost in thought as she continued to stare at his lips. Something about them just didn't seem to fit. They were so sweet looking; so innocent . . .they certainly couldn't belong to a criminal or monster. As much as she didn't want to believe he was evil, and as much as the dream contradicted these thoughts, she couldn't help but feel comforted by the sight of him. She looked back up to his eyes. She realized they didn't look so scary this time; they actually looked comforting.

Her eyes trailed farther, from the wisp of hair in front of his eyes to the rosy redness of his cheeks. "He's so beautiful," she thought, "he couldn't be bad." She decided then that she would disregard her dream. Even though her foreseeing through dreams had never failed her once, and even though she always trusted her first instinct, . . . this time was different. Tavorian was different. And even though she barely knew him, she couldn't help but take a strong liking to his mysteriousness. As these thoughts ran through her head, she suddenly felt the presence of Tavorian's eyes and the softness of his beautiful lips moving downward. She closed her eyes as he began to plant sweet kisses along the ivory of her skin, moving ever so slowly along the side of her neck. Persephany opened her mouth, as she was about to speak. Tavorian stopped her by placing a finger lightly in front of her lips. It was almost as if he knew what she had just been thinking. He spoke quietly. "C'mon, now you wouldn't want to keep the other guests waiting, now would you?" He smiled.

She thought about what he had just said. Had he known what she was thinking? Before she could think anymore, she could see Tavorian move in and kiss her forehead.

"C'mon , little pretty. Your party's waiting."