Moscow looked before us, a glory unto its own. It's tall bright towers gleamed at us, the domes saying 'Welcome'. I gawked in awe as we road passed the Moroi, dhampirs, and humans working, living, and playing in the bright landscape around us, firelight bouncing off the world around us.

I had heard stories of its greatness. Moscow was our future and our past. The Moroi were said to have been born here, before the wilderness was pushed away. The old story coming from an ancient Pagan myth, before our one true God was known.

The story went, that once a long time ago when the Earth was young, a great famine forced our ancestors North and the barbarians to the West pushed them East. The harsh territory claimed many lives so the group stopped and sent five mercenaries to find a place they could live. In their travel they came upon a dire wolf pup, the ancestor of all psihounds today, injured by a demon that drank its blood. The five mercenaries wanted to run, but one of them forced the others forward. They saved the pup by fighting off the demon, but not before being poisoned by its fangs. The poison from its bite moved swiftly through the mercenaries and the dire wolf pup did everything he could to help them.

The story goes that the Alpha of the pack was the father of the dire wolf pup and fed each mercenary his blood to save them, his blood saved them, but not before the poison could change them into creatures who drank blood to survive. For their bravery the Alpha gave each of them a gift, as he was a God, he blessed each of them with an element to guard and call their own. And granted them the gift of Land. But, there was one curse the Alpha could not reverse: drinking blood.

And so the Moroi were born. And as their own families grew so did the humans they brought with them and so did the dhampirs come to be. It was said that Moscow was the place the Alpha gave the Moroi and that the Moroi's rulers were descendents of the mercenery who first decided to save the young wolf pup. And his name was Vladimir, Voin Volka, which eventually became Volkov.

The Volkov family had ruled the Moroi for centuries, but as the years pass the family continues to dwindle. The Volkov's were warriors at their core. Most died valiant deaths in battle. That, along with their prolonged curse for madness made them the smallest Moroi family amongst the ruling thirteen. But, they were the strongest.

None of the thirteen families questioned their rule as none of them questioned the laws set forth by the first five families: The Volkov, the Dragomir, the Badica, the Conta, and the Ozera. The Volkov's ruled all Moroi, the Dragomir ruled Russia, the Badica Romania, the Conta in Italy and the surrounding countries, and the Ozera in Serbia. The Volkov spread the families to all of Europe, Africa, and Asia and made certain that the Moroi and dhampir were well taken care of.

To be here, at the heart of the Volkov dynasty was an honor. And as we stood before the throne of King Aleksei and Queen Diedre I was once again in awe at the treatment of dhampir, Moroi and human alike. The Volkov believed in order to rule the Moroi and dhampir they needed to marry dhampirs and have an equal partner. It was a tradition that had lasted centuries amongst the Volkov and prevailed even now in other Moroi families. It was why the Volkov monarchs married dhampirs.

Queen Diedre entered and I bowed deeply, amazed once again by the weapons she freely carried upon her person and that she, like I, was dhampir. She had no airs about her that she was a spoiled queen, she knew her place was as a warrior, even her attire spoke to that. She wore trousers, finely made, but yet no tiresome gown to move about in. She smiled at us, her small stature giving me hope to one day becoming as famed a warrior as she. Her fiery locks were pulled back, framing a soft face and her eyes the color of fresh moss. In any other woman, she would have looked delicate, but the look of determination on her face made her seem larger than her small stature.

She nodded politely to us and rested back in her throne as her king entered. Unlike most wives I had witnessed she did not rise at the entrance of her husband. She did not bow respectfully and for once I saw the truth of stories long told, the Volkov spouses were treated as equals. King Alexei stood before us, bright gold eyes taking us all in. He smiled, not bothering to hide the fangs that most Moroi kept well masked. His dark curls framed his face and he moved forward hugging us all. I stood stiffly, in shock. What was I supposed to do? A great king touching his people so freely was unheard of.

He clapped his hands and moved back, taking a seat.

"Gavrilla, you have brought one filled with Spirit and and another Kissed by Shadows. Two fine specimen indeed. But, why?" he asked, cheerfully.

Gavrilla bowed deeply, her long blonde hair scraping the floor, "My king, his lordship is one of the gifted. They are few and far between. He wishes your council in understanding who he is and what he can do."

Alexei nodded, his face growing grave, and looked at Vladimir, "You are gifted by God. But, you are also cursed. Your element is one that is only given to the purest of us all. While you have been given great power to heal you have also been given the power to destroy. You are one of the Spirit."

His eyes, like a hawks, turned toward me, "And you, Shadow-Kissed Anna, will be forever doomed by his gift of life to hold onto his burdens.

My breath caught as my name passed his lips. A small smirk quipped on his lips and he nodded, "Yes, I know your name. As I know that you have left your home and have given your life to protecting your bondmate. The bond you share with Vladimir is profound. You will find no other bond like it. Gavrilla was right to bring you here."

The day passed quickly. Vladimir and I had spent most of it being pampered and taken care of. The king and queen had matters to attend to, but soon they would come to us.

My mind continued to distract me as I thought about what King Alexei had said. What had he meant by bondmate? And why was I doomed to carry Vladimir's burdens?

The questions continued to plague me as Vladimir and I wandered around the castle grounds. The smell of lavender pulling us toward a courtyard.

Vladimir had been talking about the beauty of the area surrounding us when he suddenly stopped and gasped. There were women in the courtyard, each surrounded around different herbs. Books were opened all around them and some were writing quickly while they spoke.

"Witchcraft," he murmured.

"No," a soft accented voice said from behind us.

We whirled around and came face to face with Queen Deidre. We bowed and she moved passed us, motioning to the women at long tables before us.

"Medicine women have been a part of our existence for centuries. God gave us them so that we may heal the sick just as God gave us the Volkovs and their gifts of Spirit. These women are alchemist. They understand the world and the magic within it in a way we never shall. Alexei was fascinated by them and their abilities. He brought them here and uses their powers and abilities to help move our people forward."

I frowned, "By using magic?"

"Magic," she started, "and its Godliness is brought on by the user. God gifted the Moroi with great power, but that does not mean all of them are inherently good as God gifted you and I, Anna, with the physicality to bring our enemies to their knees does not make us inherently bad. Witches, as you called them, have great power to do good."

Vladimir took it in and nodded, turning to smile at the queen. "It is his way of making all of us coexist."

Deidre grinned, "Yes, your lordship. Humans, Dhampirs, and Moroi; together under one moon, each using what has been gifted to them to move us forward."

"This is revolutionary." he breathed.

"We hope it will be. Alexei believes the only way to make progress is to uplift each other."

I watched the humans once more and for once I saw them as more than just food for the Moroi, but as a true asset. What could they do?