The Tale of a Vampiress

Chapter 28:

We arrived in the Medical Wing and one of the Medics came over, by this point I was feeling really weak and I couldn't stand up very well either.

"Good evening, what seems to be the problem? Are you ill or injured?" the Medic asked, "I will do my best to cure you."

"I'm sick, I've been sick for a while now but I didn't want to worry anybody. I am supposed to be returning to England with the Cirque Du Freak soon, we leave tomorrow," I explained, "I feel sick all the time, whenever I eat I throw up, I don't sleep well, I have pain in my stomach, sometimes I'm really hungry, other times I have no appetite at all and I'm losing weight too." I had done my best to describe my symptoms.

"That sounds serious to me, let me examine you," the Medic said, I lay down on the examination table and the Medic checked me over. He pressed down on my abdomen and I winced.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "How bad is it?"

"If it is what I suspect it is then it is bad, if however it is not what I think it is then I don't know how it has happened, it would seem to be impossible." the Medic looked very concerned.

"Tell me what you think is wrong with me," I demanded, "I want to know."

"I think that you have a tumour in your abdomen, I cannot tell if it is cancerous or not, but it isn't likely to be cancerous because vampire blood cells kill cancer cells. If however this is not a tumour then the other option is so unlikely that if I told you, you'd laugh. The other option is that you are pregnant." the Medic revealed to me, I was stunned and Larten was also shocked upon hearing this news.

"What did you say?" I was dumbfounded.

"You either have a tumour in your stomach or you're pregnant Anna," the Medic repeated, "there are very few other options that I can think of which would explain your symptoms."

"Vampires cannot have children, we are barren. No vampire has ever fallen pregnant, only Lady Evanna can carry the child of a vampire," I said, "can you remove the tumour?"

"I cannot be certain that it is a tumour, there is no way of knowing. It may be an infection or an abcess, you need a modern hospital that has scanners, they'll tell you for certain what's wrong," the Medic stated, "if by some miracle you are pregnant then it'd be a first for the Vampire Clan."

"I'm not pregnant," I reiterated, "only Mr Tiny deals with things like that."

"You were only half blooded until recently Anna, you were still having your monthly cycles were you not?" Larten enquired.

"Well yes but they've stopped now, I was due to have one a couple of weeks ago, however it never came. Seba told me that vampiresses can bleed if they are only half blooded, the human part of them is still intact. I'm fully blooded now, I haven't bled since you blooded me Larten," I replied, "this is crazy, I bet you that Mr Tiny is behind it. He told me on the night of our ceremony that he had another surprise for me, he told me that I had to consummate our Blessed Mateship no matter what, he was insistant upon it. He never said what the surprise was and he didn't give me anything, he poured me a drink and we raised a toast. Mr Tiny said that he was toasting to a new beginning for the Vampire Clan and to a successful union between me and you. I thought that he was just being nice for once, I should have known that he'd pull a stunt like this."

"By the black blood of Harnan Oan why did you not say anything to me about this Anna?" he sounded angry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think about it. We don't know anything for certain, I would wait for confirmation first before jumping to conclusions." I said calmly, "it isn't likely, why would Mr Tiny give us a child?"

"I do not know, that man is evil. He must have some kind of plan, he said that he wanted to see a woman ruling the Vampire Clan and he toasted to a new beginning for the Vampire Clan too," he responded, "what on Earth are we going to do? All I want is a quiet life with you, is that too much to ask?"

"Like I said we haven't had anything confirmed yet, we have to wait and see. We will soon know the truth," I remarked, "for the sake of the Clan and my own sanity I hope that this is a false alarm and that there is another explanation for these events and my symptoms."

"I could cut open your stomach a little bit and have a look, it would be a tiny wound and it'd allow me to see exactly what's going on. Do you want me to do that?" the Medic offered, "it will be painful, but at least then you'd know if you've got a tumour or not, if it is a tumour then I can remove it."

"What do you think Larten?" I asked.

"It is your choice, it is your body. If it were me I would do it but I am not you," he answered, "I will stay with you no matter what you decide to do. I am by your side."

"I'd like to know for sure what the problem is, you can go ahead with the procedure." I replied.

"Turn on your side for me, I'll apply this paste to your skin. It dulls pain." the Medic instructed. I turned onto my side and the Medic applied this paste to my stomach. He left it on for about twenty minutes and then he wiped it away with a clean cloth. "I'm going to cut into your side now, try not to move. I'll be as quick as I can, Larten, I'd advise you to stand on this side and don't let go of your Blessed Mate's hands, she needs you to help her through this as best as you can." we linked our fingers together and I didn't let go either. The Medic cut into my side and I gritted my teeth, the pain was equivelent to being blooded for the first time. I tried to relax and breathe through it, breathing helped and having Larten there also made me feel better. I could feel the Medic moving the skin out of the way and widening the wound so that he could see what was wrong.

"It is a tumour, it is quite large but I think I can remove it." the Medic revealed. I gritted my teeth as the Medic cut out the tumour from inside of my body. I kept eye contact with Larten for as long as I could, I gripped his hands really tight, tighter than I would normally because the pain was really bad. Luckily the Medic was able to use his vampiric speed to get the operation over and done with pretty quickly. He stitched me up, gave me a pain relieving drink and then he left me to rest. The Medic showed me the tumour, it was the size of a tennis ball but it wasn't round, it was more of an oval shape. It looked vile, the Medic disposed of it on the fire along with all the bloody cloths and sheets, hygiene was a top priority in the Medical Wing now. Larten stayed with me the whole time, he refused to leave my side. I lay in my medical bay bed and I tried to rest. I didn't feel sick any longer but I felt weak.

"Larten, I need to feed," I said, "I'm really weak and thirsty."

"I will go and get you some fresh blood, I will inform Seba, Gavner and the Princes of your condition," he replied, "try to rest my dark angel, you need to sleep." he kissed me gently before he vanished. I lay in my bed and tried not to move, it hurt whenever I moved. At least these beds were comfortable and the Medic had done a stirling job of closing my wound, it wasn't a very big incision at all.

When Larten returned he'd brought with him some warm blood and a few visitors. Sasha and Shadow lay down by my bed, I had one wolf on either side of me. Gavner arrived and so did all of the Princes, then Seba turned up and so to did Vanez Blaine. I drank the mug of blood that Larten had brought for me, it was the best blood that I'd ever tasted and then all of my visitors made themselves comfortable.

"You didn't have to come all at the same time, I'm alright. I just had a little tumour removed from my stomach. I didn't even flinch, did I Larten?" I asked outright.

"No, you were extremely strong throughout the whole procedure, you did not cry out once. I have never known a vampiress to be as brave as you were during that operation," he stated, "you are a warrior plain and simple."

"I'm a true vampiress," I replied, "I'm not a fragile human girl any longer."

"You are no longer human, you are a fully fledged member of the Vampire Clan," he agreed, "we are as one now Anna, my blood is in your veins."

"Thanks for coming to visit me, it means a lot." I told my assembled visitors.

"Think nothing of it, when we heard what you'd just gone through we thought we'd better come and see that you were alright," Gavner said, "I couldn't have gone through that procedure, I'm a weakling compared to you."

"It did hurt me, I'm not denying that fact either. I just gritted my teeth, stayed still and let the Medic do his job," I replied, "it was better to get it done now before the tumour grew too big."

"You will make an excellent Vampire General Anna, I have no doubt of that." Prince Mika said, he was wearing his blue robes again now.

"Thank you for your support Sire, of course that is a long way in the future. I've just started learning how to duel on the Bars," I stated, "Larten is my tutor, he's teaching me how to duel."

"I agree with Prince Mika, you would indeed be a fantastic Vampire General. I would vote for you hands down," Seba nodded approvingly, "however you will need to pass your Trials."

"I know that, I want to recover from this first though," I replied, "when the time is right I will start preparing for my Trials." about ten minutes later Mr Tall came into my medical bay, at least half the Cirque Du Freak performers were behind him.

"I've just found out what you've been through, we thought we'd come and see you because you are a member of our freaky family," Mr Tall said, "we've postponed our trip to England until you're healed."

"I'm alright, the Medic did a great job of stitching me up. I'm fully blooded so I should be healed up pretty soon," I remarked, "is there enough room for all of you to fit in here?"

"We can make room," Prince Arrow said, "if we open up the curtains around your medical bay and then get some extra chairs we can all fit around your bed."

"You don't have to do this Sire, really I'm alright. I just had a minor operation," I replied. "it makes me happy to see all of you though, at least I know that I've finally found my place. I know where I belong now, before I wasn't sure."

"You belong by your Blessed Mate's side, you are a member of our family and your place is with your Clan as well as us," Mr Tall stated, "you will always have a home with us at the Cirque Du Freak."

"Thank you Mr Tall, before I joined the Cirque I was lost. I had no place to call home other than a dormitory at college, that wasn't home to me, it was a roof over my head. My home is the trailer that I share with Larten and our quarters within the mountain," I revealed, "has Mr Tiny left the mountain now?"

"I haven't seen him, he left some of his Little People behind though. He says that they'll help out with menial tasks like cleaning and other things of that nature." Mr Tall answered.

"Oh alright, I was told that they are made from the souls of fallen vampires and humans, why can't he let those who have fallen rest in Paradise?" I queried. "Mr Tiny loves to meddle with everything, including the fabric of existance itself and it is dangerous."

"Mr Tiny is not a nice man, he eats babies for breakfast," Mr Tall replied, "I've seen him eating them with my own eyes."

"Eugh yuk, even I couldn't eat a baby and nor would I ever feed from one. I am not evil, I just drink blood to live. Mr Tiny has no need to drink blood, it isn't as though he'll die without it," I remarked, "I'd kill him if I could, but then his daughter would kill me, right now she's the only one who is preventing her father from carrying out his despicable plans."

"I know Anna, I've been working against him for years. When the Vampaneze invaded our campground I knew that I'd have to do something, I'm not sure what yet but I'm working on it," Mr Tall revealed, "it isn't anything that you should worry about. All you have to do is heal and then return to England with us, perform your two acts and help us out whenever you can."

"It sounds simple but the vampire blood in my veins makes me thirsty, I am always wanting to feed now, I never used to be like this. I'm scared I'll go too far and kill somebody," I admitted, "does this feeling become easier to control with time?"

"It takes a few nights for the blood in your veins to settle down, I was exactly the same as you when Seba first made me a fully blooded vampire. I could not stop craving blood," Larten revealed, "you will be fine, whenever you need to feed let me know and I will provide blood for you."

"Even now I'm craving blood, that blood you brought earlier was the best I've ever tasted," I remarked, "can I have some more please?"

"It came from our personal supply," Prince Mika stated, then he instructed, "Seba will go and get you some and he can bring some back here for me too."

"As you wish Sire." Seba replied before he vanished.

"I wondered why the blood you gave me tasted so good, it was still warm." I acknowledged, "Larten, I'm cold, could you fetch my cloak for me please." at that moment Larten removed his own cloak and he draped it around my shoulders.

"Where is your cloak Anna?" he asked.

"It is hanging up in our special quarters, either that or the Medic has it, I'm not sure." I responded.

"I will go and find it for you, in the meantime you can use mine as a blanket until I return with yours," he answered, "will you be OK without me?"

"I'll be fine, the wolves are here and so are half of the Cirque Du Freak alongside the Princes. Somehow I don't think that they'll let anything hurt me," I claimed, "you won't be gone for long anyway because you move so fast."

"That is true Anna, I will be back shortly." he stood up because he had been sitting on a visitors' chair. After kissing me Larten vanished in a blur. The kiss was quite deep and it took me by surprise, I think he was making sure that everybody knew exactly how he felt about me. I didn't mind him kissing me but I didn't like others watching me, I found it a little bit embarrassing. I did however think that it was sweet of Larten to show me public affection, we had been Blessed Mates for less than a week so it was a very new thing for both of us.

Seba returned with the blood and some goblets for us to drink it out of, rather oddly Sophie and Jenna had turned up as well. They made themselves comfortable on the laps of their respective mates as there were no free chairs left. Seba handed out goblets of blood to the Princes first, then he gave their mates some and then he poured me some too. We drank deeply, I needed the blood to give me energy. I'd also lost quite a bit of blood during the operation so I needed to keep my fluid levels up, I didn't want to suffer from dehydration after all.

Larten returned and he was holding my cloak, I took his off and then he helped me to put mine on. Moving hurt me so I needed some assistance to drape the cloak around my shoulders before I pulled it into position and fastened it so that it wouldn't slip down. When I had my cloak on I felt warmer, Larten took his seat and Seba handed him a goblet of blood. It was not every night that the Princes shared out their personal blood, however we hadn't had any of it at our post-ceremony feast. Those who had been at the High Table were supposed to of been given some. The Princes had handed it out to us now instead, better late than never after all.

I felt odd that Sophie was here, we didn't really get along but we were at least civil to each other. Sophie had returned her mateship ring to Larten along with her pledge ring. Sophie no longer needed her old rings because Prince Mika had given her a ring that she was now wearing, it looked like a pledge ring but I wasn't sure. It sparkled, but the stone was tiny compared to mine; maybe Prince Mika didn't have much money, it would have been rude of me to ask because he was a Prince after all. Sophie seemed happy enough, she kept looking down at her ring as if she was admiring it.

"That's a nice ring," I said, "did Prince Mika give it to you?"

"He sure did and infront of all the other Princes too, Prince Mika says that we are pledged to one another. He's extended our mateship term from five years to seven years too so I have every reason to be happy now," Sophie replied, "I'm sorry for my past behaviour towards you, it was unnecessary and I hope that you can forgive me."

"It's fine Sophie, we've moved on with our lives and you're moving on with yours too. Are you pledged with intent or have you just made pledges to each other?" I asked out of curiosity.

"We made pledges to each other, I pledged that I would be less demanding and that I'd stay faithful to Prince Mika, in exchange he pledged that he'd always treat me well, he'd be faithful, loving and always by my side for as long as our agreement is in place. After that we exchanged rings with each other and we kissed. The other Princes witnessed it taking place," Sophie revealed, "it was a small private affair with no fuss. The Princes took some time off so that we could celebrate privately before we joined the rest of the Vampire Clan for some food."

"That sounds like a Pledged Mateship Agreement to me but a very small one, it would have been the complete opposite to actual Blessed Mateship Ceremony that you had with Larten," I remarked, then I said, "I'm happy for you both, congratulations on your Pledged Mateship Agreement."

"We decided that it was what we wanted, to commit to each other without all the stress and expense of holding a Blessed Mateship Ceremony. This is why we chose to hold a private Pledged Mateship service, they are much easier to organise, cheaper and they are temporary so if you decide to end it then it can be ended without having to dissolve it in public," Prince Mika explained, "it is like becoming engaged, at least that's how humans would view it."

"I see, well like I said I'm happy for both of you if you're both happy with each other," I replied, "Larten and myself are also happy together but you probably knew that anyway."

"I see the way you look at each other and how you speak with each other in your own language, German isn't it?" Prince Mika asked.

"Yes, I speak in German with Larten and Seba unless we are in a group conversation, that's when we speak in English so that everybody understands us," I confirmed. "Seba taught me German, now I can speak it fluently."

"I speak English and Russian but not German, I can also speak Bulgarian because I was born in Bulgaria," Prince Mika told me, then he said, "I use English as my main language, but I used to speak with Arra in Russian when we were mates."

"That'd make sense, Arra didn't really speak English until Seba taught her, if you both spoke Russian as a common language then that'd be the one you'd use to communicate with each other," I acknowledged, "I'm lucky that even as a human I had a talent for languages. I pick them up really quickly." at this point the Cirque Du Freak performers left and went to bed, they'd stayed up with me far longer than they would have done normally. The Princes and their respective mates apart from Prince Mika left soon afterwards, then Vanez and Gavner left too. Just Larten, Seba and Prince Mika remained with me. I lay down and tried to rest, Larten had moved from the visitors' chair and he was now sitting on my medical bay bed. I sat up and I leaned into Larten, we had our hands linked together and I rested my head on his shoulder.

I could see Prince Mika's pledge ring now, it was silver and quite plain, Larten's on the other hand had an ornate pattern engraved all the way around it. My rings also had the same pattern on, we had our rings engraved on the inside too. I wasn't sure if Prince Mika's ring had anything engraved on the inside of it, it wasn't really any of my business but I asked him anyway just out of curiousity.

"Does your ring have anything engraved on it Sire? I have words on the inside of my rings," I said, "I'm just curious."

"I have some words on the inside of my ring, Sophie also has words on the inside of hers too. Our rings say our names on the inside of them, that's it," Prince Mika revealed, then he said, "I couldn't think of anything vampiric at the time."

"One of my rings says united as one, forever my dark angel, always in my heart, the other ring just says Madam Crepsley inside it and my third ring has our initials inside it, it has the letters L.C with a heart and then it has my initials after the heart which are now A.C, they were A.K before I took Larten's name as my own," I remarked, "having Larten's last name is such an honour. When we first met and I was only his assistant I always hoped that one night I'd earn his love, when he kissed me for the first time I knew that we were meant to be together. It just felt right, you know?"

"Yes, I know that feeling. It is like a fire and the animal inside us takes over, our primal instincts kick in and we forge a bond that cannot be broken. Two bodies become one and two souls connect to one another, that is the point of mating. It is not just about animalistic lust, although that is a part of it," Prince Mika commented, "on another note I shouldn't really be discussing things like this, it is not very Prince-like."

"We won't say anything Sire, this conversation will remain private," I reassured him, "you have our word about that, you can trust us."

"I should think so, I'd have to take a dim view of you otherwise," he remarked, "I don't want to think about any of you in a negative light."

"I understand Sire," I nodded, "I gave you my word and that means something." I yawned, rested my head on Larten's shoulder and closed my eyes. I wasn't actually asleep, but I wanted to get some sleep.

"I think we'd better leave you to get some rest Anna," I heard Prince Mika say, "I'm sure that Larten will stay with you."

"I need to sleep, I'm really tired," I replied quietly, "good day Sire."

"Come Seba, we'll leave Anna to rest now," he suggested quietly, "I will try and check on you when I've got time."

"Yes Sire, I was going to suggest the same thing myself," Seba remarked, "would you like to join me in a barrel of ale Sire?"

"Yes, that'd be good, however I am not planning on bathing in it, I wouldn't fit inside the barrel for one thing." the Vampire Prince laughed, I also sniggered at his offhand, but rather humourous comment. After Prince Mika had cracked his little joke both Seba and he left my medical bay so that I could sleep.

Larten and myself were alone and that was how I liked it, I made myself comfortable and he stayed with me. I just settled myself into his arms as best as I could and then I tried to sleep. Larten pulled the curtains back around my medical bay until they were closed, after that was done I once again made myself comfortable. I had my head resting on Larten's chest as if it were a pillow, we changed our position slightly so that he could kiss me. Larten kissed me gently at first, he took things slowly-at least slowly for a vampire. I was the one who deepened the kiss because I wanted it to be a bit more lustful. I let Larten know how turned on I was, he teased me by touching my skin until I moaned softly. I wanted more and Larten knew it too, I was only wearing my underwear. I had stripped off ready to go to sleep, I either slept naked or with pyjamas on.

We continued to kiss each other and Larten kept on teasing me. I tried my best not to make any noise because of where we were, but it was hard to stay quiet. The kissing intensified and it became even more lustful, I was lying down on the bed in my medical bay and Larten was almost on top of me. It hurt when I moved so I stayed still and Larten moved into a better position so that he could satisfy me. We kissed for ages, when Larten was certain that the Medics had gone to their quarters he went down on me until I was about to orgasm and then he stopped, Larten then kissed me really deeply and he penetrated me. I was so close to orgasm that when Larten touched my sensitive spot with his finger and rubbed it slowly it tipped me over the edge, we were kissing so deeply that I wasn't able to cry out in ecstacy but I wanted to. Larten then started thrusting inside me, he had me pinned down on the bed playfully and as he did this and we kissed non stop, we rolled over and over again until he released his fluids inside me and I just writhed around underneath him as the orgasms hit me one after the other. It felt amazing and my wound didn't hurt, even when the orgasms had made my body shake I hadn't felt anything but pleasure.

After we had finished mating Larten got himself dressed, I turned over onto my side so that I could finally go to sleep. Larten had worn me out and I felt very satisfied, it was the first time that we'd mated without making any excessive noise. I moaned a tiny bit, but I hadn't screamed or cried out for more like I normally would have, I didn't need to because Larten was so good that he could tell when I was enjoying it. I wanted to cry out for more because it had been so powerful, however I had manged to control myself. We shared one long kiss and then I drifted off to sleep. I had a dream about Larten and I hunting in the woods, we were chasing after a deer and we caught it, then we shared it. It was a good dream, for a vampire anyway...

I woke up a few hours later, my wolves were on the floor either side of my medical bay bed. Larten was sitting in the visitors' chair, he'd been watching over me whilst I slept. I sat up and stretched a little bit, my wound was tender but at least I wasn't craving blood as much as I had been recently. I didn't have the urge to mate either, I was still feeling satisfied from where I had mated before I had gone to sleep.

I reached out to Larten and he took my hands in his, we kissed briefly and then I lay back down. Sitting up was painful for me because of where my wound was. It was even more painful than it had been yesterday because I'd mated, I had been told not to mate until I had healed up properly, the wound was closed but it hadn't healed underneath the skin. Underneath the incision site there was a hole from where the tumour had been cut out of me, the muscle and flesh needed to grow back, that was why it hurt. The Medic had stitched up the incision but he'd had to remove quite a bit of infected flesh, this was to make sure that all of the tumour had been removed and that it wouldn't grow back again. The worst bit of the whole procedure was having the tumour cut out of me, luckily it had been done in a few minutes because of the vampire Medic's speed, it would have taken a human surgeon quite a while to do.

I was lying in my bed resting, Larten stayed with me the whole time and he wouldn't leave my side. The Medic came and checked on me, Larten was holding my hand because I'd reached out to him and he'd taken it in his. I liked it when he held my hand, it made me feel safe.

"How are you feeling this evening?" the Medic asked.

"I'm in quite a bit of pain actually, I didn't sleep very well," I replied, "I'm hungry and thirsty, my wolves need to go out for a run and I'm also a bit bored."

"Well I can certainly provide you with food and drinks, I am not sure about entertainment, but I can provide you with some more of that herbal pain relief drink that you had last night," the Medic responded, "by the way I know that you were up to no good in here, just because I didn't see or hear anything I can still smell it in the air. You should know better, I'll expect more appropriate behaviour in the future and I'm talking to both of you."

"I'm sorry, I don't normally act like that. Larten kissed me and one thing led to another," I apologised, "it won't happen again Sir, I promise."

"It'd had better not happen again or I will not allow Larten to stay in here with you, I thought I could trust you. Normally we do not allow mated couples to stay together for this exact reason, they can visit during visiting times and that's it. I trusted you to behave yourselves but you did just the opposite," the Medic said, it sounded as though he was telling us off, "if you don't respect our policies then you will have to leave."

"Like I said, I'm sorry alright? I get urges and I can't always control them. I've only just become fully blooded so I'm still adapting to my heightened senses and intense cravings for certain things," I explained, "Larten is equally responsible, he almost tipped me over the edge and we were only kissing at that point in time. It isn't in Larten's nature to leave me wanting more, he won't stop until I'm completely satisfied."

"I didn't need to know that Anna," the Medic replied, "that was too much information."

"Sorry, I was just trying to explain the circumstances to you. I mean we are newly Blessed Mates, humans are exactly the same when they get married," I stated, "I couldn't bare it if you stopped Larten from staying with me."

"Alright then Larten can stay, but remember what I've said Anna and that goes to both of you." the Medic then left to go and attend to his other duties.

"Anna, I am sorry. I should not have mated with you yesterday, it was not an appropriate time or place," Larten apologised, "we must control ourselves, it is not how future Vampire Princesses should conduct themselves. It was a poor judgement call."

"I agree Larten, I accept your apology but we were equally responsible," I admitted, "the Medic is right, we should have known better."

"What is done is done, however you have to admit that I took you to a place that you have never been to before. Now that you are fully blooded it will feel far more intense, that is because of your enhanced sense of touch and hearing. You will be able to hear our hearts beating in unison as we become as one entity, then you will feel the fire building inside you as I bring you closer to your climax. If you thought it was good before then imagine how good it is going to become," Larten whispered, "I will always make you reach your climax, have no doubt about that Anna."

"I don't doubt that because I know how skilled you are Larten," I acknowledged, "you make me reach my climax and then some more on top, you know this is true because you've seen it happen on lots of ocassions."

"Yesterday I could have done things to your body that would have made you beg me not to stop, however I chose not to do them because of where we are. You did really well when it came to keeping the noise down, I know how much you wanted to cry out for me to give you more, I could tell that was the case because I looked into your eyes, you were shaking underneath me as your climax reached its peak. I really wanted to hear you say my name, but I also wanted to make you breathless and I think I did just that." he murmured in my ear.

"You made me more than just breathless, you satisfied me in a way that I've never been satisfied before," I whispered, "thank you for making me so happy and contented, when we go back to our special quarters I'll let you know vocally exactly how much I enjoy mating with you." I tilted my head slightly and kissed him, it was gentle but playful. We were initially palm to palm, however we linked our fingers and it was such a tender moment between us. We were very much in love with each other after all.

"Ahem." somebody cleared their throat and it threw us off our rhythm, we broke off our kiss and looked around to see Prince Mika standing before us.

"Sire, I didn't expect to see you back here so soon." I was blushing and Larten looked rather embarrassed too.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything, I did say that I'd be back to see you when I got a minute. As it turns out I need treatment, Sophie and I duelled on the Bars and I came off worst. She knocked me off the Bars and I've injured my arm, I landed on it because I mis-judged my landing," the Vampire Prince explained, he was holding his arm against his chest as if it were broken.

"I hope your injury isn't too serious Sire, in answer to your question we were actually sharing a tender moment before you came and disturbed us, but it is OK." I was slightly annoyed that we'd been disturbed.

"It did look like you were enjoying a rather private moment, I'm sorry that I disturbed you," he apologised, "I will leave you alone now because I need to get my arm bandaged up or put into a sling depending upon whether it is broken or not." after he had left my medical bay we were alone once again. The tender moment that we had been sharing was ruined, we were almost lost in each other's kiss before Prince Mika had come along.

"I hope you aren't feeling too embarrassed Larten because of Prince Mika ruining our private moment, before that happened we were almost lost in one another's kiss and it felt wonderful," I whispered, "I really enjoy the tender moments that we share."

"I enjoy them too my dark angel," he whispered back, "there will be time for more moments like that when we are alone in our special quarters. It is hard to share tender moments whilst we are in here."

"At least we got to have a little bit of time to ourselves," I replied, "that is better than none at all Larten."

"I agree." he then kissed me in the same gentle, but playful way that he'd kissed me previously, I just went with it. We became lost in each other's kiss again, only this time nobody disturbed us and we kissed each other continually. We were trying to make up for the fact that we'd been previously disturbed, for it was these private moments that reminded us exactly how much we loved each other.

"May I come in?" the Medic called out from behind my medical bay curtain.

"Yes, that's fine," I answered in response, "I'm just eating something." the Medic opened the curtain and came into my medical bay. I was eating some soup that Larten had made for me, it tasted great. I needed lots of good food so that I'd recover quicker.

"I've brought you some of that pain relief herbal drink, I had to brew some more up because I'd ran out," the Medic stated, "I'll leave it here for you. Drink one cupful every six hours, it is quite strong after all."

"OK, I'll take some after I've finished my soup. Thanks for brewing it up for me and for not randomly walking in here, I appreciate you asking us whether you could enter or not," I remarked, "it is nice to know that you respect my privacy."

"I spoke with Prince Mika when I was bandaging his arm, he's fractured it by the way, he told me tell you. I've had to bandage it and put it into a sling for him. He also told me about the embarrassing moment he had earlier when he walked in on you two randomly," the Medic explained, "Prince Mika has ordered me to leave you two alone, except when I have a reason to come here such as giving you medicine for example, even then he's told me to wait outside and ask you if it's alright for me to come in before I enter."

"I appreciate the fact that you are respecting my right to privacy, it is not nice to be walked in on, supposing I was getting changed or something," I reiterated, "it'd be really awkward for me if you saw me getting changed. You saw enough of my body yesterday when you did the procedure, my body is for the eyes of my Blessed Mate and no other, except for when I have to receive medical attention."

"I understand Anna and I respect that fact, I'll leave you now because I've given you what I came here to give you." the Medic left me alone with Larten, he pulled the curtain back around my medical bay and then I was left in peace to finish my meal. Larten was still sitting on the visitors' chair and he insisted upon staying with me until I was well enough to be discharged from the Medical Wing.

My wolves had also remained by my side, they wouldn't leave me either becuase they knew that I wasn't well. I had endured quite a nasty procedure, but it had been a necessary one for me to have. It had hurt like a bitch, however I never faltered once, I was strong. All Vampire Generals have to be strong, they cannot be seen as weak and that includes showing strength if and when they have to go through painful medical procedures. A human couldn't have coped with what I'd been through, the human pain equivelent of my operation would probably be a c-section without anaesthetic.

I remained in the Medical Wing for another two weeks, even with my accelerated healing powers it took that long for me to be able to move around without pain. I had my stitches removed, even though the incision was closed and I had a scar there my healthy flesh and muscle that had been removed along with the tumour hadn't completely recovered or grown back.

Thanks to Prince Mika's intervention Larten and I had been left alone for the majority of the time which was great, it meant that we had been able to share lots of tender moments as a newly Blessed couple. We were still in the "Honeymoon period" of our Blessed Mateship after all and the Clan respected that fact. We still had the use of our special quarters too which was perfect for us, we made the most of them in every sense of the word.

When we weren't in our special quarters we'd be on the Bars, Larten was a good tutor and he'd taught me a lot about duelling. Pretty soon we were having proper duels against each other and whenever we duelled together we'd get quite an audience, some would cheer for me and the others would cheer for Larten. We were pretty evenly matched to be fair, Larten didn't seem to like knocking me off the Bars either. I sometimes thought that he was just letting me win, however I left myself open and Larten's staff connected with my body. It was a viscious side swipe and I had deserved it for not blocking effectively enough, I launched a counter attack and a couple of my shots hit their mark, but they weren't that powerful. I was still learning after all, I did my best but I lost the duel and I was knocked off the Bars. Luckily for me Gavner caught me before I hit the ground, it was an expertly timed catch too.

"Phew, thanks Gavner, you saved me from hitting the hard, stone floor," I said, "what would I do without you?"

"I don't know Anna, I couldn't let you fall though. It'd be more than my life's worth because I swore to Larten that I'd never let any harm come to you." he revealed, then he did some kind of salute in Larten's direction that I hadn't seen before.

"What was that Gavner?" I queried in relation to the salute that he'd done.

"It is a vampiric symbol that's used when a Vampire General does something that's seen to be a fluke, it means that the luck of the vampires was with me," he replied, "I wouldn't have caught you otherwise. It really was a fluke, but on a serious note I would have tried to catch you even if I had no chance of doing so, it is better to try something and fail it instead of not trying it at all."

"I understand Gavner, you can put me down now by the way." I giggled, Gavner still had me cradled in his arms.

"Oh yeah, sorry Anna. I forgot that I was still holding onto you." he winked at me before he put me down. I still had my staff in my hand, traditionally that means you had to duel again against the same opponent, however other vampires wanted to duel so I placed my staff back on the rack. I was done with duelling for tonight, however it had been a thrilling experience. Larten had also put his staff back on the rack, for he would not be taking part in any more duels unless he was challenged to one of course.

"Well done for your excellent catch Gavner, you saved my Blessed Mate from what could have been a very nasty landing. We have not covered how to land on the ground if you are knocked off the Bars yet, it is the next thing that we will be learning in our training sessions Anna. The luck of the vampires seems to be with you tonight," Larten remarked, "I also saw how you looked at my Blessed Mate earlier, do not get any ideas into your head that are of an inappropriate nature."

"Relax Larten, I have a mate of my own. I would never challenge you over the rights to mate with Anna, for I know that I would not stand any chance of winning." he replied.

"I was just making my position clear, I will not tolerate any vampire getting too close to my Blessed Mate and that goes for every vampire, not just you Gavner." Larten warned him firmly.

"Larten, please leave it now. Gavner hasn't done anything wrong." I said in Gavner's defence. I felt really awkward when Larten got all overprotective over me.

"Very well Anna I will leave it, we will be leaving here tomorrow because we have held up the Cirque Du Freak long enough," he revealed, "you should come with me to our special quarters now because we have to pack up our belongings."

"Yes, of course Larten," I agreed, "bye Gavner, thanks for catching me earlier."

"Any time Anna, you know that I'd never let you fall and hurt yourself because you're a friend, I look out for my friends," he remarked, "Larten, I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression earlier. It was not my intention to do that, like I said I have a mate and I'd never betray her. I will keep my distance from now on if you like, I don't want to fall out with you over something so stupid after all."

"No, it is alright. I was being a little bit overprotective. I know that you would never be unfaithful, it is not in your nature because you are too nice to do that to your mate, I also know that Anna would never betray me, especially not now that we are Blessed Mates and we have made solumn vows to each other," Larten replied, "Gavner, you and Anna can be friends but just remember where the boundary line is and do not cross it."

"I understand Larten." Gavnur answered simply, then he looked at me. I just looked at Larten, he kissed me deeply and linked his hand with mine as a symbol of our unbreakable unity. We kissed for a few moments and then we went to our special quarters hand in hand. When we entered our special quarters we packed up our belongings, it didn't take long at all because we had vampiric speed. After we had packed our belongings we gave our quarters a clean out, they were dusty and we were sure that other vampires would have need of them after we were gone. The coffin would have to be replaced of course, we had used it a lot so it was no longer in good condition. We hadn't intended to damage it, but during our passionate encounters the lining had been slashed, I'd gripped onto the lid handles really tight when I had been writhing around in ecstacy during the peak of my climax so they'd been pulled off by accident. We really had shared some intense mating experiences, Larten wasn't holding anything back now, when we mated he pushed me beyond my peak and he kept on going until I had multiple orgasms that left me shaking in pleasure, usually I'd end up crying out loudly for more because it felt so good. Larten always obliged and in doing so he would make me scream out his name as I hit my peak.

We were also showing more affection towards each other in public too, we'd always be holding hands and we also kissed in the halls far more often than we used to. We wouldn't let our public kisses be too intense, however they'd be enough to show the Clan exactly how deeply we were in love with each other.

"Larten, kiss me please. I love it when you kiss me." he came and sat down next to me, he took my hands in his and then he kissed me. It was gentle at first but then it got deeper, I moaned softly when Larten's hands started touching my skin, I loved it when he would touch my skin. I removed my cloak and shirt, then I took my bra off as well so that Larten would be able to play with my breasts as we kissed. Larten lay back and he pulled me down with him so that I was on top of him, I changed my position so that I could ride him when the time came, for now though we just kissed each other and he gave me the marks of his love on my neck because my other ones had faded. I ripped open Larten's shirt so that his muscular chest was exposed, I ran my hands all over it as we kissed, then I ripped his trousers off by using my nails and my vampiric strength, I had exposed his hard manhood and now it was my turn to play with it. I was only wearing a short skirt so I removed my pants but I left my skirt on, I positioned myself so that Larten's manhood would slip inside me like a dream, I was very wet after all and that was a great help. I lowered myself until he was inside of me, then we synchronised our movements so that I was rocking my hips in time with his thrusts. I moaned as I got closer to the peak of my climax, the closer I got to having an orgasm the louder I became and that told Larten that I was enjoying what he was doing to me, we were fighting each other for control so we rolled off the sofa and onto the floor but that didn't matter to us, Larten had me pinned down at one point, but I pushed him off of me and then I pinned him down, this is how it went until we both had mulitple orgasms at the same time, even after we had orgasmed we'd still be kissing each other and rolling around playfully until one of us would stop, then Larten would pull me close to him, he'd drape his cloak over us to use as a blanket, then he'd wrap his arms around me wherever we'd ended up together and then I'd sleep in his arms for the next few hours. It was always like this and I loved it, I'd wake up feeling warm and happy because I had such a wonderful lover.

When I woke up I was still being held, I noticed that the sofa had been tipped over also. It must have happened when we were in the midst of mating and we were fighting with one another for control, it didn't matter because we would just pick the sofa up and put it back the right way up.

We had to leave with the Cirque Du Freak when they left, at least we'd packed our bags up ready to go so that would save us some time. I felt good, I was comfortable and sleepy. I didn't want to get up either, I could have stayed like this forever, but unfortunately I had to get up, my wolves were waiting to be fed and exercised, I needed to eat and then I had to take my belongings to our trailer. After that was done I'd be ready to make the very long journey from Vampire Mountain to England.

"Liebling, es ist Frühstückzeit." I said to Larten, I kissed him very gently and then he opened his eyes.

"What is going on now?" Larten asked, he was still half asleep.

"We have to get up, the Cirque Du Freak are waiting for us to join them before we make the journey from here back to England, we have to eat, I need to feed and exercise the wolves and after that we have to take our belongings to our trailer," I replied, "I can't do everything by myself." at that point Larten yawned, stretched and got up, he put the sofa back to how it was supposed to be and then we got ourselves washed and dressed. After I had washed and got myself dressed I fed the wolves, then I took them out for a run because that would take the longest to do. Whilst I was out with the wolves Larten had carried our belongings over to our trailer, when I returned from exercising the wolves we went to the Hall of Khledon Lurt for something to eat.

The Cirque Du Freak performers were tucking into their meals too, I grabbed myself some bread and stew, I had hoped that there'd be porridge but there was none. Bread and stew for breakfast wasn't the best meal but it'd do for now. I made sure to feed before I left as well, I didn't know how long it'd be before we passed through a human populated area where I would be able to feed again.

"Anna, you look exhausted, are you alright?" Gavner asked when he saw me.

"I haven't had much sleep recently Gavner, I'm leaving in an hour or so, as soon as Mr Tall gathers us together we're off. We'll be travelling to England for a Summer tour," I explained, "I'll miss you my friend, you've been like an older brother to me."

"I do try to be a good friend to everybody Anna, as for your lack of sleep I wonder why that is," he remarked before giving me a knowing look, "on second thoughts perhaps we'd better not mention certain things." he winked at me and vanished. I couldn't stop yawning, I hadn't been this tired in a long time, but I was glad that I'd be able to get some sleep during the journey.

Eventually it was time to leave and Mr Tall got everybody to meet him in one place, the plan was to leave together and arrive together at our location. That location was Somerset, England. We were looking for a town called Yeovil, I had heard of it, but I'd never been there before. I had been brought up in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. Mr Tall led us outside to where the trailers had been attached to four-wheel-drive vehicles, we got into our trailers and then we set off down one of the off-road trails. This was it, our journey to England had just begun and what a journey it would turn out to be...