Fire and Blood

As promised, the Royal Doctor came up quickly, as they were on the Palace’s grounds. Valentin and Lucian refused to leave their sister’s side, even for a few seconds. Milena’s state wasn’t good. She had two severe abdominal injuries, had lost a lot of blood, and had a high fever too. The blood she had drunk earlier had only given her the equivalent of first aid, but the young Duchess was in severe danger.

“I recommend you have her transferred to the Royal Hospital soon, my Lord,” said the Doctor. “The Lady’s resistance and willpower are admirable, but if things go on, I regret to say no matter what I do, the young Duchess won’t make it. Her injury is great and her fever is making her extremely weak.”

“What do we do, brother?” Asked Lucian. “Her Highness told us not to leave the Hunting grounds…”

“I don’t care, Milena’s health and safety come first,” replied Valentin, determined.

“But…” Said Helena, worried.

Angry, her cousin actually glared at her before she could add another word.

“Trust me, once Father hears about this, us disrespecting the Queen will be the least of her Highness’ troubles.”

Thus, both De Crescent brothers left the tent to give orders for Milena to be transported to the Royal Hospital. It was havoc outside, with the two young dukes arguing loudly with the soldiers, but Milena was unconscious, her fever taking all of her strength away. Helena watched over her cousin, thinking about what an admirable and crazy young woman she was. She could barely watch the scene, so how could Milena do that to her own body, just to prove her innocence…

With a sigh, the young Lady got up and left to fetch water.

And so, Milena was left alone in the tent, Blanche guarding the entry of the room like a watchdog. She was sweating a bit from the fever and had erratic breathing, her red lips shivering. The young Lady was sick, so sick she couldn’t hear the dagger that ripped open her tent’s fabric next to her. The blade went down, leaving a large opening for the intruder to step in, silent as a shadow. 

The young man sighed upon the young Lady’s frail state. He walked to her bed, sitting on the little space left on the bed, observing her. He knew there was little time left before her cousin would be back. He took out the flask from his pocket, and brought the golden liquid to his lips, seemingly drinking it. 

But then, he leaned over Milena and put his lips on hers. As he kissed her, little drops of gold got down her mouth, to her throat, and she drank it without knowing. She was in her most vulnerable state, not even aware her first kiss was being stolen like so. 

Because there was no need for him to keep his lips on hers so long. Yet he did. Her red lips were a little salty, cold like ice and trembling under his. But he enjoyed it still. After a few seconds, however, he retreated, looking at her.

Her face was already gathering some better colors. Her erratic breathing calmed down, as well as her shivering. It was like she had fallen into a peaceful sleep. He got up, caressed a strand of her hair, and left in a breeze before someone came back.

Milena was transported to the Royal Hospital in the next hour, escorted by half of her father’s personal Knights. There, as promised, she was treated by the best doctors of the Kingdom, under her older brothers' tight surveillance.

Her father, however, was busy as the Royal Palace.

It was not a good day for King Silverius. 

His Queen had come back from the Hunt with their injured son, screamed at half of the Royal bodyguards, terrorized the servants and cursed the Royal Doctors. As if having one injured son and an angry wife wasn’t enough, the Duke De Crescent was now standing in the Royal Office, literally glaring at him. If those red eyes could kill, the King would already have been ten feet underground by now.

“Duke, I understand your anger, but…”

“I don’t think you understand, your Highness. My Daughter was shot at not once, not twice but three times. Moreover, her brothers had to bring her back to the camp, where some scum accused her of attacking the Prince. She had to re-open her wounds to prove her innocence, and even found the real culprit because the imbeciles you call guards couldn’t. And now, you’re telling me she was confined in our Tent by royal order instead of receiving treatment?”

The King was exhausted, and the vampire Duke’s ice-cold tone wasn’t making him feel any better. He sighed and shook his head.

“The Queen only thought she should be interro…”

“My fifteen-year-old daughter almost died because of her Highness’ paranoia!”

“Lyriana only meant to not make mistakes. She had no idea the young Lady was…”

“Suffering from three gunshot wounds? Bleeding out? What exactly was she not aware, Silverius?!”

The King nodded, feeling extremely bad. He knew his wife was overprotective about their sons, especially the human Ellias, but of all people, she had to make things hard for the Duke De Crescent’s precious daughter… The worst thing was, she probably knew he would be the one to suffer the aftermath. And the Duke’s wrath. 

Damn woman.

“You have my most sincere apologies about what happened to the young Lady, Anton. I will make sure she gets the best treatment and doctors from now on, anything she needs. You have my word...”

“I do not care about having your word,” said the Duke. “I want him.”

“W...Who?”

“The Baron Verheim. Hand him over to me.”

The King did not expect that. He had fought the Duke only had come to complain, not with an actual agenda in mind!

“You know I cannot. He has to be interrogated, then the Royal court will…”

“I claim justice, your Highness. That man attempted at my daughter’s life. I have every right to interrogate him myself, and even make it very painful if I wish to.”

Silverius seriously thought about giving up at that moment. There was one thing the De Crescent House was famous for: their stubbornness. Needless to say, the Duke’s wrath would not be easily contented. The King did not want to oppose him. He understood his anger, and moreover, Anton De Crescent was a man no one could afford to piss off, not even the King. The Duke had half of the Vampire population supporting him and was more than respected in all the social circles, despite his lack of sociability. 

Also, Silverius was very admirative of Milena’s courage. He had already heard everything that had happened at the Hunting Grounds, and if it had been anyone but the Young De Crescent daughter, he may have doubted it.

“I can’t just hand the man to you. However, as soon as the Royal Guard is done interrogating him, I promise you’ll have some time with him before he is…”

“Now, Silverius. I said I want that scum now.”

The King sighed again. That was not going to go easy anyway…

“Two hours. You get the Baron in two hours, Antonn but only if you promise to not kill him. I wouldn’t be able to respond for that in front of the Royal Court, but they’ll understand if I say the House De Crescent wanted to interrogate him as well...”

The Duke de Crescent smirked, that kind of s******c smile that sent a shiver down the King’s spine.

“I won’t kill him. As long as he’s alive I can make him pay for what he did to my child...”

And with this, the Duke, left, leaving an exhausted King behind. The poor man sighed long and hard, thinking about how he wished he could just have a day off sometimes.  

Being the King in such a harsh world wasn’t easy. He had to deal with monthly natural disasters, the unhappy population, the greedy nobles and his own responsibilities as a King. His own wife did not love him. They were both involved in an arranged marriage, and only tried to make it work somehow. They had the boys, but they weren’t a happy family. Only one bound by blood and duty…

Meanwhile, another family was much warmer. The Duke de Crescent rushed to the Royal Hospital, joined by his second son, in the middle of the Night. It was a freezing night, but both vampires couldn’t have cared less. 

No once could have stopped them on their way, as they climbed the stairs to the room that had been prepared for Milena. The King had at least been honest in this: the young duchess had the best room in the Royal Hospital, and a full medical team dedicated. It was a luxurious large room, with large windows of blue stained glass, a canopy bed, and so few medical pieces of equipment it could have seemed like a normal bedroom. However, there was a bedtable full of medicines, and several armchairs gathered around the bed for her loved ones to watch over her.

Though, the ones who never left her side were her maids and brothers. Olivia, Ruby, and Dinah were lined up on one side of the bed, the last one with her eyes still red. Blanche was laying on one end of the bed, still like a statue, but her tiger form made things very clear. If anyone who wasn't supposed to got close to Milena, she was ready to attack and defend.

“Father!” Said Valentin once they arrived.

“How is she?”

“They said she’s much better already. They operated on her to take out the bullets and gave her plenty of blood. Her fever’s actually gone down very fast, it’s strange…”

It was strange. From the moment they had her in the tent to the next hour where she had been taken to the Royal Hospital, Milena’s state had considerably gotten better. It was so fast, and they knew it wasn’t due to her metabolism. Her Dhampir condition didn’t usually make her heal that fast, even vampires didn’t heal so fast…

Raphael rushed to her sister’s side, grabbing her hand in his.

“She’s colder than usual... “ he whispered, not hiding the sadness in his voice.

“Father, what about the man who did this? We will kill him, right?” Asked Lucian.

“I’ll make sure the court does, and we make him suffer before that. But we need to know who ordered this.”

“Father is right,” said Valentin. “The Baron couldn’t have coordinated this alone. Moreover, they didn’t catch who attacked the Prince yet, did they? Prince Ellias was their main target, and Milena was only a secondary victim.”

“According to the guards, he survived thanks to his Brother’s intervention and the Royal Guard quickly arriving on the site of the attack, my Lord,” said Ruby.

“I want to know what else they found. Ruby, go with two of our Family Knights back into that forest, search for clues. If they say anything, make an excuse. Use my name if necessary.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

She left the room after bowing to the King and his sons. Normally, she would only listen to Milena’s orders, but in that case, she had to know who had targeted her mistress anyway, and the De Crescent Family guards were plenty enough to watch Milena while she was gone.

“Why did they target Milena…?” said Lucian. “She is not a threat to the Supremacists!”

“They wanted to hit our father and the King’s bond, indirectly,” explained Valentin. “Our family is strongly supportive of the Royal Family, and against the Supremacist ideas. If they get rid of Milena, she will not marry get to marry either of the Princes and that would diminish our ties with the Royal Family.”

“I will make them pay. To use Milena as a pawn for their dirty schemes…” Hissed Raphael.

“We will.”

Slowly, the Duke walked to his daughter’s bed and leaned over to kiss her forehead gently. Milena seemed almost peaceful, deep asleep like this, but her face was paler than usual, and she didn’t wake up at all from being touched, which would have been impossible in her normal state, with the training she had been given. 

When he stood up again, the Duke took off his large cloak and covered his daughter’s bed with it. The large embroidered Moon, the De Crescent’s family crest, was covering the young Duchess and shining in a bright red.

“Raphael, stay here with your sister for now. Watch over her for us. No one but the medical team approaches her. No one. Lucian, you go home to catch some sleep. You’ll replace him at sunrise.”

“Yes father,” both answered in unison.

“What do you want me to do, Father?” Asked Valentin.

The Duke smirked again, in a very, scary manner.

“You’re coming with me, Valentin. We have got some debt to settle with fire and blood. Some people need a reminder about what happens when you go against our family…”