Chapter One: Meeting by Chance
"Father Please!" Romeo begged, "All I'm asking is for you to consider my point of view! I want to marry someone I love, and not just some random noblewoman who is thrust upon me!"
"You should be thankful that someone as well off as lady Madeline is even considering marrying off her daughter to someone as troublesome as yourself! If I were you I would keep my mouth shut, and just consider myself lucky! Think about what you're doing before you throw good fortune back in the face of your benefactor!"
With that, Romeo's father slammed the door in his son's shocked face. As Romeo went over to the chair in the corner he heard the sound of his door being locked before his father's angry foot steps could be heard echoing down the empty hallway.
Great. Just great.
Romeo had just moved to Flourence. He hadn't yet even seen half of the streets but already was betrothed to a beautiful Florence woman, who he had met only once and hadn't much cared for.
His father had met a rather well off woman in the market and after talking to her for an astounding grand total of 15 minutes a meeting was arranged to allow the two "kids" to get to know one another. Romeo had known as soon as that meeting was finished that he did not want to marry this girl.
It's not that she was rude or unsightly; she was a very beautiful and well mannered noblewoman, with a strong and rather likable personality. It was just that he didn't feel that he could spend the rest of his life-pretending to love somebody. Life is a very long time, and she was just so young…not even 13! Romeo thought it such a waste of the poor girl's innocence. He needed to think of a way out of this but this room was much to stifling for him to think.
Romeo quietly went to his window and reached around outside till his hand found the lattice. If he wanted out then the fact that his father had a nasty habit of locking his door wasn't going to stop him. He swung his body around to the outside of the building and started to stealthily climb towards the ground. He was lucky it was lucky that it was almost dark because there wasn't a gardener or maid in sight anywhere on the grounds. As soon as his feet hit the ground Romeo knew that he was definitely not coming back to this house until he was good and ready, and had a solution to get out of this mess.
Romeo found himself utterly alone on the streets of Flourence. It was a warm evening and the sun was just beginning to slip behind the tops of the sand coloured bricks of the buildings. It was almost completely silent, discounting the laughter from inside the buildings and the sounds of the sparrows in the sky, it was peaceful. The quiet was perfect for the task at hand; coming up with an excuse to get out of the marriage.
"I know." He said aloud to know one in particular. "I can just tell father that… that I'm ill and cannot be married for fear of passing my ailments onto my bride to be! What a wonderful plan it would…definitely not work. What was he thinking his father was definitely an idiot and would probably just send him to some overpriced doctor who would find nothing wrong.
What was he going to do? He couldn't just run away, because he was new to the city and had no idea of where to run to. Not like in Venice where he could just slip away to his cousin Edward's house whenever he pleased, and not be found out for weeks. No, he needed something better, an excuse that would pull the wool so far down over his father's eyes that it would pass his chin and not spring back for a year!
If only he wasn't nobility! Then he would be free to marry for love instead of having it be arranged to someone who matched his status. Then he would be free to run to a woman and sweep her off her feet to later marry her. Not that there was anyone in particular that he wanted to run to he didn't love anyone as of yet, but with some more time…maybe he could find love. More time that's what he needed but how to buy time? The wedding was planned for two weeks from tomorrow, they certainly didn't wait around here in Florence, and his time was nearly up.
Romeo kept walking farther and farther away from the center of the town, and before he knew it the houses were starting to thin out and the winding streets gave way to larger plots of land and Romeo could see a small patch of trees that adjoined to a forest not one hundred feet ahead. Being rid of the buildings Romeo found he felt as if a blanket had been lifted and he decided to sit near the grove of trees and try to decipher his in-coherent thoughts. He found a rather large, flat rock near the edge of the forest and slumped down onto its cold surface. He leaned against a hefty looking oak tree to one side of the large stone surface and allowed his head to sink down into his hands.
"Oh, what's the use? I will never be able to outsmart my father." Romeo sighed and sank further into his hands. He started to wrack his brain again for any solution that could have eluded him. This was hopeless. Why bother trying?
He was about to rise and start his long walk back into the city when he caught the rustle of bushes out of the corner of his eye.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" Romeo readied a hand on the butt of his knife (he never left home without his knife, even if he was just out for a stroll) just to be safe.
What happened next shook him with surprise. A tall, slender, pale, stunningly gorgeous woman stepped out of the trees. She had to be the single most beautiful woman that Romeo had ever seen in his entire life. The moon glinted off her pale, perfect features with a slight sparkle that reminded Romeo of ice on a lake. Taking her in made Romeo's jaw drop and his breathe rush out all at once so he couldn't speak.
"Oh! I'm so sorry if I startled you." She sang in a voice more beautiful than church bells from France, with a hint of a foreign drawl." I was but taking an evening stroll to clear a clouded mind," then she added with a blindingly perfect smile, "What brings you to the outskirts at such a late hour? A handsome young man like you should be indoors with you family."
Getting his senses back Romeo managed to shut his gaping mouth and stutter out an answer." Oh Mrs. I beg my pardon for disturbing your walk. I was just on a roundabout of my own when I stopped to rest." Romeo stuttered out in a rush. Smooth, he thought. "Um, not to intrude but you are out her all alone and as you pointed out it is quite a late hour. A young woman such as yourself should not be out so late alone; would you care for an escort home?"
"What a kind gentleman you are! Thank you that would be lovely." Then she added with a sweet secret smile, "My home is this way back through the woods."
"May I ask a fair maiden her name?"
"My name is Guinevere." She added slowly and with some hesitation her smile returned.
Romeo reached for the fair Guinevere's hand to help her over the rock. But she pulled it away with such speed that Romeo barely caught sight of her move. The shock must have registered on his face because she added in a calm and quite voice, "I can manage." She sweetly smiled and much too gracefully leapt over the top of the rock, while Romeo stumbled over behind her to catch up.
They walked for a couple minutes in silence and were not yet halfway through the woods when Guinevere stopped, and stood perfectly still. Romeo stopped after a couple feet and turned back toward Guinevere.
"Aren't you coming?" Romeo smiled back at her.
"No." a sly smile was spreading across her beautifully full lips. "I think this is quite far enough."
"Will you sleep in the trees then my lovely little sparrow?" Romeo chuckled
Guinevere didn't answer. She slowly walked to meet Romeo and came very close to his body nearly leaning against him. She was so close that he could feel the fabric of her dress sliding along his legs. She slowly looked up to draw down his gaze, but he was caught short by her eyes. They were black as the deepest coal mines and sharp and sparkling like livid pools of oil, and not even a hint of colour surrounded them.
Black? Romeo had never seen anyone with full black eyes before, maybe she was foreign. Of course he had seen the black in people's eyes as their pupil, but they were always surrounded by even a hint of colour even in the dark. But Guinevere's were jet black through and through with the only colour, the white that should have surrounded a strip of colour. Something was itching in the back of Romeo's mind as he stared back into her eyes. Something was telling, no screaming at him to run from a very small corner of his consciousness. It was the same feeling he usually got when facing and opponent in a fight, but this was silly! Guinevere wasn't a gruff Italian man with a sharpened sword! She was but a girl, beautiful and fragile. He pushed the felling away.
"Your eyes are…"
"Shhh." She spoke quietly, "No words please." She then started to lean even closer towards him.
Is she going to kiss me? Thought Romeo, Romeo had never been kissed before and he could feel a weird tingle from the bottom of his stomach slowly rising. His natural instinct started to kick in as he looked back down at her and started to lean towards her.
When her lips were about to touch his, she set her hand gently onto the side of his neck. Her fingers were freezing! She must be cold, silly boy; he was so caught up in her beauty that he'd forgotten to offer her his coat. Oh well too late now, he thought.
She brushed her lips against his ever so slightly, and then she shifted. Instead of leaning into him and kissing him she started to drift down his neck. Wow she definitely knows what she's doing. Her lips finally gently touched down under his jaw and he wrapped his arms around her body. When her lips touched him he got that strange feeling telling him to run again but ignored it completely to give into the temptation that was Guinevere. He leaned into her gentle kiss.
It was so soft and her lips were cool like the stone that she had found him sitting on. He was raced with pleasure as her lips slightly parted. But then a sharp sting came to his neck like he had been stung by a wasp. Before he could look down to see what had caused the pain he was pulled under an impenetrable cloak of darkness.
When Romeo awoke he was in his own bed with the maid, vita, cleaning up the shelves closest to his door.
"What happened?" He croaked out groggily, as he weakly opened his eyes and propped himself up on the mounds of pillows behind him.
Vita looked up from her dusting and straightening to see Romeo propped up in his bed. She jumped startled at his sudden awakening. "Oh! Romeo you're awake! We feared the worst when that woodsman brought you into us all cold and stiff. You were white as paper! And the blood on your neck, mother of mistress, gave your mother a fright! That dog must have really cornered you in the woods! Oh dear let me fix your pillows you must be in pain!"
"Vita!" Romeo croaked, "I'm fine, truly but what's all this rambling on about blood and dogs and woodsmen, I don't understand." Romeo furrowed his brow to try and remember anything that Vita said. Woods? Wasn't that where he was last night? Oh the walk with … "Is Guinevere ok!? Was she harmed at all oh I could never forgive myself if…"
"Guinevere? Oh you poor boy you must be delusional from the blood loss, here drink something." She thrust a ready glass of water into his hands from the bedside table. She stared at him until obligingly he sipped some of the water from the cup. She then continued, seating herself beside his bed. "Master Romeo, you were found alone in the woods just before dawn. A woodsman spotted you lying in the leaves and recognizing the crest on your overcoat knew to bring you here. He said it looked as if you'd been attacked by a wild dog or something! You're lucky you were found so soon after the attack or you could have died! Your poor mother was worried sick, you've been un-conscious for days! Why were you so foolish as to go out alone into the woods, and at night without even telling anyone…?"
"Vita, that will be all thank you." Came the cool collected voice of Romeo's mother from the door.
The maid flushed crimson, embarrassed at her forwardness with Romeo and bowing to Romeo's mother scurried out of the room.
Mrs. Capulet quickly glided toward her son's bedside. "My son, you nearly brought your mother to an early grave with worry. Are you feeling any better? Can I get you something? The doctor will arrive soon to check up on you for today. Are you in pain?"
"Mother, god forgive me. I shan't have given you the burden of worrying about my health. I apologize for as much. But I'm feeling quite fine right now thank you just a little weak. Can you tell me please how long I've been out for? Vita said something about me being un-conscious for days but that cannot be so."
"Heavens, it's been 3 days Romeo! We feared you dead! And the way you thrashed and moaned in your doze, it nearly brought me to tears. And you seemed as if you were in so much pain! I couldn't stand the sight of my only son in such misery."
Romeo could see his mother's eyes starting to mist and she looked as if she could burst into tears at any minute. He was just now noticing haw tired she looked. She had dark circles framing her beautiful green eyes and her face was loosing colour from the worrying. Romeo vowed to himself at that moment that he wouldn't make his mother worry about him like that ever again.
"Moaning and thrashing?" Romeo whispered the question gently to his mother.
"Yes Dear. The entire 3 days you were unconscious you acted as if you were being ripped apart from the inside out. You're sure that you aren't in any pain now?"
"Oh, mother I'm so sorry I worried you, but I'm fine really." Romeo could feel the beginning of tears forming in his own eyes as he looked back at the tired and vulnerable form of his mother. He wouldn't cry in front of her, it would only worry her more. Romeo took his mother's shaking hand and placed it to his cheek. "See I'm fine now."
"Oh, you're cold as ice Romeo!" she jumped back in shock. "Here let me get you a blanket." His mother rushed to the closet and threw open the double doors. "And you're still so pale! We need to get you some food, the chief's making roast lamb tonight your favorite."
"Mother can I ask you something?"
"Of course Dear! Anything."
"Did anyone find a girl named Guinevere anywhere near me in the woods?"
The question caught his mother off guard. "Well no dear you were found alone. Why did you see another person out there when you were in the woods?" He could tell from her tone that she was all business again.
"Yes a girl name Guinevere was with me when I was walking, I'm sure of it. I was escorting her home, that's the whole reason I was in the woods to begin with, and we were just talking when…I can't remember anymore because it all went black."
"Oh! I'll tell your father to alert the authorities to keep a look out for her, but Romeo you need to realize you have been through quite the ordeal and your thoughts aren't coming quite coherently yet so why don't you just rest."
He could tell from the tone of her voice that she wasn't taking him seriously. She must think he was still delusional. He knew that he was right. Guinevere wasn't a dream he had really seen her she had been with him when…oh if only he could just remember what had happened! He had been kissing Guinevere when, wait a second. When he was kissing her he had felt a sharp sting on his neck he remembered that.
His hand instinctively went to his neck where he found 2 small blistered lumps near the base of his neck. That was odd.
"Sweetie, I'm going to let you get some more rest. I'll be back up near 7 with some dinner ok?" With that last statement his mother came over to the bed and spread a blanket over him. She lightly kissed him on his forehead before leaving the room and gently shutting the door.
His mother was right he was kind of tired. Romeo lay down and stared up at the ceiling but sleep was eluding him. He must be too hungry to sleep. At the thought of hunger, and food Romeo got a weird idea that he hoped the chief was making the lamb extra rare. That's strange. Suddenly the idea of a barely cooked blood dripping slab of meat was appealing.
Romeo was still thinking about the rare meat, when he got the weirdest tingling feeling in his mouth. It was like his teeth were on fire! His tongue flicked to the top of his moth looking for a cut or burn but what he found instead stopped him cold. Romeo ran his tongue along his teeth again just to verify that he wasn't still asleep.
No. It couldn't be! Where Romeo's smooth row of teeth should have curved around his jaw, and where the pain had started, were now 2 very sensitive and sleek, long, white fangs.