For Love of Tsigane
Débutante
The announcer smiled in approval at her dress, and she giggled at his appreciative glances. Winking at her out of sight of her father, he rapped his gilded stave three times before announcing,
"The Duke de Valois, Dimitrius Marcelus, and his daughter, Lady Luciana Marcelus."
Suddenly nervous, she clutched her father's sleeve as they passed down the marble staircase.
"Papa!" she whispered, more than a little frightened though she kept the pasted smile on her face.
Almost imperceptibly, the tall Duke patted his daughter's arm and smiled reassuringly to her. Taking a deep breath, Luciana quelled her fear and smiled for real at the people around them.
"Oh, Papa!" she breathed in wonder, "It is so beautiful."
"It must be, my darling, to complete this night for you. You are beautiful this night as well."
"Oh, Papa," she sighed, and allowed herself to be pulled into the throng of young, fashionable people, away from her safe papa, and into the world.
"Ah, my dear M. le Comte! It is always such a pleasure to see you; you have aged well my friend. You look not a day older in over ten years!"
"Indeed, Dimitrius."
"Come, you must meet my children again, and you must greet my wife. You know how she enjoys your stories."
The darker man bowed in silence, and gravely followed the Duke, not unaware of the looks of the young women he was receiving, and the resulting glares from their beaux.
"Renata!" called the Duke to his wife, "Renata, look who has come from Transylvania!"
"Oh, monsieur le Comte, it is so good to see you."
As he took her hand, Renata felt again the power in this man's grasp, and the sense of kinship to him. And, as usual, she dismissed it on account of their both having come from the eastern part of Europe. Upon regaining her hand, she beckoned to her children, smiling as she said,
"You remember our eldest, Adorian," an exotic-looking young man of twenty- six bowed gravely to the Count, his dark eyes lowered beneath long lashes, "our eldest daughter, Daniela," a beautiful brunette of twenty with a well- endowed figure curtsied perfectly to him, her dark eyes measuring his countenance, "our twins, Mátias and Támás" two jovial young men of nineteen with black hair and bright green eyes bowed to him, "and," here Renata preened and Dimitrius as well as his other children fairly glowed with pride, "this is our youngest, our daughter Luciana Zsaesara Marcelus."
As the count turned to the young woman, even his Undead breath caught in his throat; this girl, this seventeen year old school-child was even more beautiful face to face. The girl, no, woman he granted, was ravishing! She had inherited the delectable curves of her mother and, he noticed as she stood, the height of her father: he was a mere speck taller than she, at his already formidable length.
Her raven hair was darker than even his black tresses, a fact he noted with an inward smile. Her skin was creamy with a healthy flush uncommon in women of this century. Then he saw her eyes. Arrested by their gaze, he couldn't look away. They were vivid, extraordinary, and almost supernatural shade of emerald: green was too base a description. Flecks of gold, and-lavender?-surrounded her pupils, as long, sooty lashes laced those magnificent pools of jade.
"I am most honored, Milady. Your beauty has not been exaggerated; you have rendered me speechless."
"Not so, M. le Comte," replied the girl-woman with a grave expression, "It would seem your brain has gone where your tongue has not."
The Count threw his head back and laughed, a sinful sound which sent shivers down the spines of the nearby ladies.
"Milady Luciana," said the Count, a wicked smirk on his lips, "Would you do me the pleasure of dancing with me?"
"Of course, M. le Comte. Not many would understand my humor as humor."
Smiling into his own vivid eyes, Luciana felt a tug in her abdomen. Pushing aside any nervous flutterings, the beautiful débutante, daughter to Dimitrius Costjas Marcelus, Duc de Valois, and Renata Maria Valdonis, Hungarian Princess of Gypsies, gave her hand to her partner, one Count Vladius Draculia.