The Pride of a Slave Ch. 03

Dimitri grabbed my arm and pulled me to him, wrapping me up in a cool hug. I buried my face in his shoulder and cried, feeling him squeeze me softly and pat and stroke my back. I kept crying until it turned to hiccups and then just sat in Dimitri's lap hiccupping and breathing in the smell that was uniquely him, clean with a slight musk from his shaving cream.

Eventually Dimitri pulled back and pushed my hair off of my face, "I'm sorry, it was unforgivable that I did that. I guess, I got caught up in everything, for the first time I was being treated like a Prince, everything was being given to me, girls were doting on me. And you were hurting alone, and weren't around, and then Delilah. She was incredible, she did things that I've never even heard of before."

I began to pull away from him when he spoke of Delilah and he let me go, shifting me back to the couch and firmly placing a half of sandwich in my hands, "And it wasn't just that, she made me believe that I was special, and that I deserved special things, special treatments."

I put the sandwich down, ignoring it, "You loved a woman that would leave your room in the middle of the night to go into Ryder's?

Dimitri sat rigid, "How do you know she did that?"

"I stayed up, late at night studying and a few times I thought to ask for help, hoping you were home, or awake, and I watched her."

He stood up and took a few paces to the door, "I think we are just having growing pains Seraphina. At some point this was going to happen, Ryder and I would start dating, and, I'm sorry I treated you like that. It is wrong, regardless of anything going on, you always look out for us, for me. I'm sorry, but I need to go for a walk."

I nodded and watched him walk out, worried but feeling better for the first time in weeks. I stood up and stretched and grabbed the apple on the plate and bit into it turning to walk out when a servant walked in through the open door, "Pardon me Miss Sera, there is a gentleman at the main door, looking for you."

I was surprised and followed the servant to the front and was even more surprised to see my human art professor, looking amazingly young, if not messy, in jeans and a painted and stained t-shirt. He spotted me walking down the stairs and greeted me heartily.

"You aren't missing any limbs, your head is still attached, no open, gaping, bleeding wounds. So there must be a reason why you missed my amazing class."

I laughed and shook my head, "It had ore to do with the two Princes."

"Ah, the curse of royalty. Nice place you have here, though." He nodded and winked and I laughed again.

"Well, sure, its not mine though."

"I deduced that, so anyway, I'm here to collect your homework and then catch you up on the lesson you missed."

I smiled and looked around trying to decide where the best light was for the lessons, I decided on the main family parlor and showed him the way, and left him to set up his stuff while I ran up the stairs and grabbed my pad, which luckily was in the bag, that was sitting on my bed.

I grabbed my pad and pencils and walked quickly through the halls, side stepping Dimitri who had a distance look on his face and was chatting away on the phone. I think I startled him because he turned quickly and followed me down the hall. I skipped down the stairs and walked into the parlor surprised to see all the furniture pushed to the side and sitting in the middle of a large sheet of plastic were two easels.

I turned and saw Dimitri walk in and pause his conversation to look over the parlor confused. My art professor walked from in from one of the other doors and had his hair pulled back and out of his eyes, and he had switched shirts from the t-shirt to a ratty, sleeveless shirt, that was ripped.

My mouth raised in a half grin as I looked at him, I was suddenly acutely aware at how much of a good looking guy my professor was. He grinned in return, "Alright, since we aren't in class you can call me Joseph, that being said hand it over."

He held out his hand and I chuckled and handed my notepad over and he flipped it open, taking a look at the sketches I had been working on all week, but hadn't shown anyone. He flipped through them frowning at a couple as he flipped through them. He stopped on the last one and squinted at it, "Wow, that is a very good looking girl, but I can tell you don't like her. She isn't very nice either, from this."

He laughed and ripped the page off and walked to one of the two easels and with a piece of charcoal he did a vague outline of Delilah, who happened to be the picture I had drawn.

I looked at him warily as he grabbed a large paint bucket of black paint and stopped in front of the picture. He walked back over me and showed me a drawing he had made of one of the professors, then he started to teach.

I stood apt, following him around as he paced to and from the case of materials and lessons he brought with him. He explained about abstract and shadowing, and showed me how to do it on the picture. I watched as the basic sketch of Delilah turned from just a crappy outline to a dark, mysterious, and beautiful picture. I sighed pained and Joseph paused mid brush stroke and looked at me, "A critique Sera?"

I grinned at him rolling my eyes, "I just fail to understand every mans obsession with this annoying twit."

Joseph stepped back and laughed and I crossed my arms glaring at him, "Yes, well, she's lovely, and I used to have her in a class, so make no mistake, I understand her disposition very well."

I shrugged, "You are the only one in this damnable place."

Joseph laughed again and grabbed my hands in his paint covered ones and pulled me to the canvas, "Well then, show me how she really is."

"You've almost finished this one."

He lifted the canvas up and replaced it with a blank one, "Talk to me as you draw, tell me what you see as you draw her, I promise not to make a single comment to the contrary."

There was a lot of laughter in his voice and I couldn't help but to smile and grabbing the charcoal I began to sketch, "First, no one notices but her face is really long but then her chin is like no where to be seen. Everyone would notice it if they weren't so taken by her lips. I hate them, because, well, because she misuses them. Her nose is narrow and sharp, it makes her look like some sharp beaked bird, and her eyes. They are beautiful and big, but she always narrows them, especially every time a human comes anywhere near her, so she has these small wrinkles at the corner of her eyes. And instead of being upturned as if she laughed all the time, they are down turned.

When she isn't putting on her show, and is just sitting quietly, her mouth turns downward. I just don't understand how Dimitri is so enamored with her, her eyes are vacant when they look at you, there is nothing ever behind them, no mystery, no thought that would make you want to know what is deeper inside of her. Instead, its all shallow, as thin as her hair, which she adds body to by curling it, but its paper thin."

I kept talking as I dropped the charcoal and picked up the brush and dunking it aggressively in the paint I began to shadow and give the picture black depth.

I turned to Joseph who was in the middle of painting something himself and I pointed the brush at the picture, "I mean you would figure after so many years of life that people could see beyond pretty."

I attacked the painting again and after a little while I stepped back, out of breath and panting, the painting of Delilah completed. I put the brush down and rubbed my arm across my forehead, amazed at the exertion I had used in painting such a contemptible creature. Joseph made the final touches to his picture, which I couldn't see because he was facing me, his picture hidden entirely from my view.

He stepped around and looked at it whistling appreciatively, "At least you give due where it belongs, she's still beautiful but I see what you meant by over looking things. Her mouth does do that little down turn thing, hmm. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and I automatically leaned into him like I would with Ryder, "It is amazing seeing people from your point of view. I wish I could teach you something more about emotion in painting but you have such natural talent at it that there is nothing to teach you. I can feel how you respect her looks but I can also feel how much of a dislikable person you believe her to be. In fact I feel like I'm being punched in the stomach by how unlikable she is."

He pulled away and grabbed his painting bringing and setting it carefully underneath Delilah's. I was shocked to see myself as I was painting, paint on my cheek and across my forehead. I looked angry but when I looked closer I also looked like I was going to cry. I was sort of shocked because I looked really pretty in it.

I blushed and looked back at Joseph who was standing back observing our two pictures with a frown. He stepped forward and removed Delilah's picture from the easel and put it on the floor then grabbed the picture of mine and put it on the easel, "There, you are on top today."

I laughed and wiped a tear rolling down my check with a dirty hand, "I'm a big crybaby lately."

I faced him and he smiled and reached out and cleaned my cheek, "Its alright, everything gets better, and besides, you're a human, we are far more emotional than the immortals."

"I guess so." and I began to laugh as he wiped another mark on my chin and I felt wet paint spread across my face.

He frowned and grabbed a towel, handing it to me, "There you go, any place we can hose off." I nodded and took him into the large bathroom on the main floor. We both washed off in the sink, laughing at the sight of ourselves.

He nudged me with his shoulder as we walked back to the parlor, "I bet you are wrong about the Princes, though. Guys aren't that dumb, not unless they are hiding from something they don't want to think about. Then guys get really dumb."

We walked into the parlor and saw Dimitri, Ryder, Mariah, and Victor all gathered around the pictures. Dimitri was squatting looking at Delilah's picture and I looked at Joseph pointedly and said softly, "He will say she looks beautiful and that's it. I bet a private painting lesson tomorrow for it."

Joseph nodded, "Deal, but if I win, I want four sketches and TWO paintings by Monday."

"Deal."

I cleared my throat and everyone turned and smiled at me, "These are amazing."

I thanked them and Joseph ran distraction while I went over to Dimitri and squatted next to him, "That one is mine."

"I figured, since I doubted you would paint yourself painting. Its beautiful."

"How do you think I did?"

"I think you did a really good job, she looks absolutely beautiful in the painting."

His phone rang and he picked up saying hello quietly and standing up, he slipped out the other door without anyone noticing. I frowned at his departure and pondered placing my foot through the portrait. I turned to Joseph and mouthed, "Tomorrow."

He shook his head, rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders, "What can you do?" is what it said to me. I shrugged too and walked out the other door as well, avoiding Dimitri who was by the window, looking out over the front lawns.

I walked in a large circle, and ended up in the main entrance way. I turned to go up the stairs but I heard Joseph call me and I turned to see him holding a bag, "Help me to the front will ya?"

I smiled, nodded, and picked up the bag and flung it onto my shoulder. We walked out of the house quietly, "So I'm guessing I owe you some free art lessons tomorrow."

I nodded my smile disappearing, "Yeah."

He stopped me in the middle of the walkway and grabbed my chin, forcing me to look up at him. His eyes were serious and he seemed to memorize my face for a few moments before he spoke, "Its hard when we see something that others don't. You can be angry at him because he doesn't see the world like you do. You are you, and the Prince is. Well, a Prince. Most immortals don't see cruelty in each other because they were never exposed to it. You and me, we know, because we were exposed to it a lot, its part of being a human in this world."

He let my chin go and tucked a curl behind my ear softly, "You are an amazing girl Sera, and talented, and beautiful in every way, which is what is important. You cant let someone like Delilah make you as ugly and bitter as she is. You are beautiful outside and you are beautiful inside, and soon it just wont be your professor telling you, okay?"

I blushed and nodded, not being used to hearing myself be praised and complimented so openly and honestly. He leaned back and grabbed his case and the bag off of my shoulder, "And Ill be here tomorrow. I'm dying, actually, to see where your studio is, Isadorre said you had one set up, and I'm also dying to see that garden. Its rumored to be always in bloom, even during winter."

I laughed, "It does! And its good because it's where I do most of my work and has huge windows that open right into the garden."

"Ah, an artists paradise, you lucky girl. See you tomorrow Seraphina."

I waved and turned around and walked back into the Palace, touching the hair and ear that Joseph had touched. I realized I definitely had a serious crush on my professor, but then what human wouldn't.