I want to thank anyone who takes the time to read/review this! I just wanted to mention that I love the idea of the Lords being a whole chaotic family. So that's gonna be a thing. Enjoy~
"I don't trust Mother Miranda."
In her time at the castle, Theodora had heard odds and ends of the other Lords. She had never managed to meet any of them, but Alcina and the girls had told her plenty about them. Mother Miranda was only one that remained shrouded in mystery. "Why don't you trust Miranda?"
Bela didn't speak, instead she stood quiet and unmoving. Theo sighed. "Bela... I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."
"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone." The blonde's tone full of certainty. "You have to swear."
Theo held out her hand, pinky finger extended. Bela looked at her hand, then back to her face. "What are you doing?"
"It's called a pinky-swear. It's a sacred unbreakable bond of trust. Anything said will stay here, with the two of us. I promise." Theo reassured.
Bela entwined her own finger with Theo's. "We think she's using Mother and the others for something. We're not sure what though."
It felt as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, now that she had told someone. They wanted to tell their mother, but none of them could bring themselves to. They knew that The Lords were indebted to their creator until the end of time. Alcina and the others trusted her with their lives. Hell, they'd die for her if needed. That thought alone scared her daughters more than anything.
"Why do you think that?"
"It's just a feeling."
Theo nodded. "And you haven't talked Alcina about this?"
The blonde shook her head. "No... We have no proof of anything she's done. Plus, we're afraid of what would happen if we're wrong."
"What do you mean, 'what would happen'? Your mother wouldn't do anything to you girls. She loves you." Theodora couldn't imagine Alcina letting something happen to the girls, either by her hand or another's.
"I know, it's not her that we're scared of."
"Then what is it?"
"No one disobeys orders from Mother Miranda. We're afraid if it's true Miranda will turn on her." Bela explained. She and her siblings knew just how their mother could be. The matriarch firmly believed in loyalty. If Mirand were to break that bond of trust, it wouldn't end well. None of them wanted her to confront their creator, afraid of what would happen. "If we tell her, she'll confront Miranda. And who knows what that bitch will do. She might even turn the others against her."
"You think the other Lords would go for it?"
"I hope they wouldn't. Mother and Aunt Donna are very close. Uncle Sal doesn't like conflict much, especially with someone like Mother. Uncle Karl's always ready to pick a fight with her, but I've seen them risk their lives to protect each other. But Miranda's different. I'm afraid she'll use something against them, or lie to them to turn them."
Theo gave her a soft reassuring smile. "Well, I'm here now. And it is my job to protect her and you. So, if anything happens, I'll be here."
"You won't turn on us if Miranda says to?" It had been another fear that sat in the back of Bela's mind for a while. She'd seen some of Theodora's strength. If she were honest, she couldn't be sure if her mother would win if the two had to fight.
Theo lifted her arms up and flexed her muscles. "Miranda has no hold over me, kid. I'll take her on myself if I have to."
"Thank you, Theo."
"You're welcome Bela." Theo raised her hands over her head as she stretched out. She had given the girls more than enough time to hide. "Now, you better get going. You've only got thirty more seconds."
Theo knew the Lords would be arriving any minute. Alcina had asked her to wait for them with her, wanting her to officially meet the other members of her 'family'. The room that they waited had resembled that of a throne room. Five chairs occupied the room, a small table sat in between them. The chairs sat two by two, along with a single chair heading the front of the table. Alcina sat in the chair to the right, closest to the solo chair. Theo stood behind her, waiting.
"My Lady," One of the older maids appeared. She bowed slightly as she came to a stop at the entrance of the door. "Lady Beneviento has arrived."
A feminine figure dressed in a mourning garb approached. She carried a doll in her hands. The doll wore a dirty bridal gown. Theo noticed the crack that ran down the right side of its face. The woman took the seat beside Alcina, placing the doll on her lap. "Donna. It's nice to see you. You as well, Angie."
"Heya Big Sis. How have you been?" The doll said as it raised one of its wooden hands and waved. Theo blinked in surprise. Alcina had mentioned that Donna carried the doll around, but she never mentioned it could talk.
"Busy. Yourselves?"
The doll sighed as it leaned forward dramatically. "It's been so boring around the mansion. No one's come to play with us. The stupid villagers have been staying away."
"Hey wait." Angie jumped down from Donna's lap. She wandered over to Theodora. Theo looked down as Angie looked up. With ease, the doll scrambled up Theo's back. Once she reached her shoulder, the doll poked Theo's cheek. "Who's this?"
"Donna, Angie. This is Theodora. The new guardian of House Dimitrescu."
"You can call me 'Theo'." Theo said as she raised a hand up to Angie. The doll took her finger in her small hands and shook it.
"I gotta say, this girl's a lot prettier than that last maiden you had here Big Sis."
"Oh yes. I'm fully aware." The brunette said smugly.
She thinks I'm pretty. Theo thought to herself, proudly. It seemed that Alcina had noticed her bad attempts at flirting.
"I hate this fucking castle. My pack should be allowed in with me. Fucking bullshit." a male voice muttered. A man appeared in the doorway a second later. He wore a long tan trench coat. A large metal hammer rested on his left shoulder.
A tight smile formed on Alcina's lips as she looked at the man, slowly she rose from her chair. "You're more than welcome to sit outside with your mongrels."
Heisenberg glared at his sister. "They're lycans! You know that!"
"Here we go! They're gonna fight." Angie kicked her legs in excitement.
"They're nothing but dirty, flea infested mutts."
"And yet they're cleaner than you!"
"Please. When is the last time you've bathed Karl? I believe Salvatore just might smell better than you."
"Why don't you say that to my face, Bitchzilla!"
"I would, but I'm afraid I'd have to get you a stool first."
The girls had told her plenty of stories about their mother and their uncle, but nothing compared to actually seeing it. Theo smiled as she watched the pair bicker back and forth. She had never seen this side of her vampire before. She enjoyed it. Theo leaned her head over whispering to Angie. "Are they always like this?"
"Oh yeah." The doll said, not taking her eyes off the pair. A wooden hand patted Theo's head. "Believe it or not, the two of them can actually work well together. I remember, the one time they both almost died to protect each other."
"We did not!"
"His idea almost got everyone killed! What other choice did I have?"
"Hey! It was your dumbass plan!"
"How dare you! My plan would have worked fine if you wouldn't have screwed it up!"
"Just admit you two do love each other." Angie snickered, ignoring the pointed looks.
"Never." They said at the same time. Alcina and Karl shared one last glare at each other before they returned to their seats. Theo couldn't help but notice the pout on the taller woman's face. It was cute. She made a mental note to have Heisenberg over more often.
The sound of a throat being cleared silenced the room. The maid who had shown the others in stood in the doorway. She shrunk back when everyone's attention turned to her. "E-excuse me, my Lady, but Lord Mordeu has arrived."
Theo could smell him, before he even set foot in the room. The smell consisted of mostly lake water, but had underlying tones of decay and algae.
"Theo, please open a window."
Theo thanked the heavens above. She didn't want to seem rude, but the smell was getting stronger as their guest got closer. "Yes, My Lady."
A hunched figure walked through the doors a moment later. Unlike his siblings, Mordeu seemed to have a more physical reaction to his virus. The cloak he wore did little to hide his webbed feet and hands.
He looked around as he gave an awkward wave. Angie waved from Theo's shoulder, Theo gave a small wave, Donna gave a nod of her head, but the other two simply ignored him and continued glaring at each other. He sat in the chair beside Heisenberg. An uncomfortable silence filled the room as all the Lords sat in their chairs, waiting.
"Theo, would you see if Mother Miranda has arrived?"
"Of course." Theo gently took Angie off of her shoulder and handed her back to Donna. The doll crossed her arm in a slight pout. She had liked her new chair.
"Wait, is that your new woman?" Karl laughed.
"What of it?" Alcina's tone was deadly. Even though it was meant to be threatening, Theo's heart skipped a beat.
"Hey, she's a cute girl. She could do much better than you. What do you say, babe? Wanna have some real fun?" Karl winked.
Alcina straighten up, as if she were ready to start a fight. Theo thought about playing along for a moment, just to see how far Alcina's feeling went for her. Deciding against it, Theo shook her head politely. "Sorry, you're not my type." Theo didn't miss the pleased grin that appeared on her favorite blood red lips.
"It's because Big Sis is taller than you." Angie snickered. Theo chuckled to herself as she walked out of the room as a whole new argument started.
Theo stepped outside the castle doors. One of the newer maids, Ana if she remembered right, stood by the door. The redhead watched as the girl's eyes flickered nervously to the fairly large pack of lycans that were scattered amongst the yard. Theo assumed they were pack that Heisenberg mentioned.
One of the lycans stepped toward the frightened maid. Theo raised an eyebrow at it. "Don't even think about it."
It bared its teeth and sized her up. It let out a warning growl, but backed away. It turned its attention to one of the others, picking a fight with it instead.
"Thank you, Miss Theo."
Theo put interlocked her hands behind her head as she looked up to the cloudy sky. "No problem Ana."
"You know my name?" Ana questioned. She had only been working within the castle for a few weeks. The only ones who bothered to speak her actual name were the other maids. The Lady and her daughters had only ever referred to her as either 'maid', 'girl', or 'maiden'.
"Yeah! I've been trying to learn everyone's names." Theo explained. She knew that Alcina and the girls had only seen the staff as less than worthy, but that didn't mean she did. "Anyway, our Lady sent me out here to see if Mother Miranda has arrived."
"I think this is her."
A large carriage approached the entrance. Theo watched as the mysterious woman stepped out. The first thing that caught her eyes were the large black feathers that covered her. A golden bird shaped mask shielded her face. She walked towards the pair.
A growl caught Theo's attention. One of the lycans had another pinned to the ground. The pinned lycan used its feet to throw the other off of it.
Ana watched as he fell into the large stone statue that sat at the beginning of the path. The statue teetered from the impact, before starting to fall.
"Mother Miranda, watch out!" Ana cried out as she covered her mouth.
"Woah, that was a close one." Miranda turned around. Theodora stood behind her, holding the statue the lycans had knocked over. Gently, she sat the statue up right, back into place. She looked at the base, examining her work. "Al wouldn't have been happy if they broke that statue."
Theo dusted her hands off before turning to the raven woman. She bowed. "My apologies, Mother Miranda. It seems the lycans got a little carried away. If you'd follow me, the Lords have all gathered and are waiting your arrival."