Greetings from The Lady Mage
Welcome to chapter 8! This is some more filler- next chappie will pick up the story though, so no worries! Thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed this story- your reviews all really made my days brighter!! Read, enjoy, review!!
Disclaimer: *The Lady Mage stands* I, The Lady Mage, do NOT own Underworld or any of its characters- I merely borrow them for an hour or so a day.
Rating: Hmm . . . about the same. PG-13
* ~ * ~ *
*drip*
*drip*
*drip*
Selene cracked her eyes open with a sigh, turning her head to glare at the open bathroom door across the room. Michael's sleeping face blocked her view, his arms loosening around her stomach when he felt her move.
*drip*
*drip*
*drip*
Another sigh escaped her lips as she turned her head back to the clock on the nightstand. She scowled when it only read 3:00 PM. It had only been six hours since the others had left them to bed down, and now, she didn't think she ever would get back to sleep. As if to confirm her suspicion, the baby began to kick just behind her bellybutton- the slightly sharp pains enough to get her moving.
With a groan, she sat up, untangling Michael's arms from around her middle, then headed for the bathroom to turn off the damn leaking faucet. That done, she went to the closet, picking out a pair of black sweatpants and a black t-shirt, and slipping them on.
She checked to make sure that Michael was still asleep, then silently crept from their room. Selene really had no idea where she was going; this castle was gigantic- vastly bigger than Ordoghaz- and had many more ways and places in which to become lost. She meandered down the hallway, passing through the giant doors, and headed down a set of stairs.
The castle seemed eerily silent as she wandered down its many hallways, stopping now and then to look into the many rooms. She found a library, a small study, a parlor, and a ballroom, but no people- vamp or lycan- until she found another set of stairs heading down.
At the bottom of the stair was a sign that clearly read: 'POOL AREA - TRAINING AREA' on a pair of hospital style double doors. She pushed open the doors, and stepped inside. Now, she was in a large concrete room- an indoor multipurpose room. To her right, another set of doors were propped open, and she could see the pool on their other side.
She could hear the sound of splashing, of someone swimming on one side, just out of her line of vision. Curious, she walked to the doors and peered inside.
Erika was in the pool, leaning up against the side to check on Nicolas who lay sleeping in his bouncer just out of her reach. Kindra was beside him, sitting on a little stool in front of a canvas.
"You should be asleep, Selene." Kindra suddenly said, glancing at the vampiress over the top of her canvas before turning her attention back to her painter's palette.
Selene almost jumped, but quickly composed herself. "I couldn't." she said, coming into the room.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked the girl, turning to look up as Selene neared her. "Would you like a sleeping pill?"
"No, I'm fine." Selene murmered, coming around behind Kindra to see what she was painting.
"It isn't finished." Kindra said quickly, her head lowered as she mixed her paints.
The canvas was only half coloured, but Selene could see the outlines beneath the colourwash. The painting was of a sunrise- of a field of wildflowers in front of a beautiful old, crumbling castle. The castle was already painted- it's mossy detail finished- but the field of flowers was still canvas white.
"It's lovely." Selene commented, "Do you paint often?"
"Yes." answered the girl in a soft voice, a light blush staining her cheeks.
"Want a swim, Selene?" Erika asked from her place in the pool, resting her chin on her hands.
"No thanks." Selene muttered, crossing her arms.
"It would be good for you." Kindra commented, dotting her field of flowers with violet. "And it might make you relaxed enough to sleep again."
"I think I'll pass." murmered the vampiress, moving to sit in one of the deck chairs around the pool. "I'm not big on swimming."
"Join the club." muttered Kindra, chewing delicately on the end of her paintbrush as she examined her painting. "Erika?"
The blonde vampire looked up to her. "Hmm?"
"It needs something." said the girl, turning her painting so that Erika could see. "But I don't know what . . . "
"There are lillies blooming in the field." Erika said. "And the ivy growing on the wall is beginning to bloom again- big purple flowers."
"Ah, yes." agreed the girl, dipping her paintbrush in her dark purple.
"The castle is real?" Selene asked, watching the girl paint.
"This is where you are at, Selene." Kindra said, turning to smile at her. "This is Bainesworth- at least, this is the particular castle we are in right now. Pretty, isn't it."
"Hmm."
Erika pulled Nicolas's bouncer to the edge of the water. She unbuttoned his little tadpole-patterned sleeper but left on the white onesie underneath it, and lifted him up out of his bouncer.
"Nikkie swim?" Kindra asked absently, her mind back in her painting as she continued to colour her flowers.
"For a minute." Erika answered, gently easing the newborn down into the water, holding him so that his head rested on her shoulder. "I'm about to get out anyway." she murmered, cuddling her son when he began to whimper. "Oh Nikkie . . . " she cooed to him, "You're alright . . it's just a bit of water . . . "
Selene crossed her arms over her stomach, watching the blonde vampiress and her newborn son in the water. She didn't think she'd ever get used to this new Erika- the Erika who wasn't jealous or haughty, but pleasant. She was happy for her, in her own way, but still wary of her.
As interesting as Erika and Nicolas were, the young vampire next to her was even more intriguing. The baby blood was the complete opposite of any other vampire she had ever met. Kindra was all smiles and sunshine- at least what she could remember of it. The other vampires, the ones at Ordoghaz at least, were all conceited and dark.
The girl, feeling eyes on her, turned and gave Selene a small smile, her green eyes lighting up for a few moments before she returned to her paints.
"I'm getting out." Erika murmered to herself, moving to the ladder and climbing out with one arm, the other holding Nicolas tight to her. "Kindra, are you staying down here?" she asked, walking to a nearby table and lifting the towel and robe laid out on it.
"Well, I can't just leave Selene down here- she doesn't know the way back upstairs." answered the girl with a grin. She capped her paints and dipped her brush in her cup of water. "Think my canvas will be safe down here?"
"No one ever comes down here but us." said the blonde. She settled a newly bundled Nikkie down in the bouncer before wrapping her robe around her. "Set it over by one of the tables."
Kindra nodded, standing and lifting her easel. "Is Michael still asleep?" she asked, settling her painting next to one of the tables.
"Mmhm." Selene nodded.
"Won't he be worried about you if he wakes up?" Erika asked, hefting Nikkie- bouncer and all- up and heading for the door.
"Probably." Kindra answered for her, coming and ever so lightly placing her gloved hands on Selene's left shoulder. "Would you like to accompany Erika upstairs, or would you prefer to stay down here?"
Selene looked up to see the girl. "There's nothing to do down here."
"Unless you want to swim or paint, no there isn't." agreed Kindra. "So let's go." Her hands were removed from Selene's shoulder as the older woman stood up to follow them.
The three quickly made their way back upstairs, Erika and Kindra leading Selene to the main hall and foyer.
"If you ever get lost," Kindra began as they walked to the grand stair. "Look for the big stairs. Everything connects to this foyer down here, and the long hall upstairs."
Selene only nodded, following the two up the stairs and down the hall, trying to memorize the way from the grand stair to the particular hallway their rooms were on. "Where is everybody?" she finally asked as they reached the double doors into their hall.
"Everbody?" Erika asked, opening her door and holding it for Selene and Kindra.
"Yeah. People. Vampires, lycans, anyone? Is it just the few of us?"
Kindra nodded. "Well, there are only twenty people living in this castle beside the five of you- oh, and Nikkie." she answered. "Bainesworth is three castles. The rest of New House lives in the other two, bigger castles."
"Oh." Seleme murmered, taking a seat in Erika's chair. "Where is Lucian and Marcus?" She glanced at Kindra. "Or your Damon?"
The young girl immediatly blushed again. "Damon is with his mother and father in Castle Lupus. Lucian is with them. Marcus is in Castle Sanguis."
"Sunlight does not hurt him?" Selene asked.
Erika shook her head, placing her robe on the vanity chair next to the bathroom. "Not anymore than it does your Michael." she answered. "I'm getting in the shower. Be back in five minutes." Without waiting for a reaction, she stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
Kindra walked to the bed and sat down, smoothing her denim skirt over her knees as she sat. "Are you hungry, Selene?" she asked quietly.
Selene shook her head, but Kindra could hear her stomach growl from across the room. "A little perhaps."
"Want some more blood pudding?"
"Not really."
"Did you not like it?"
"I'm just not hungry for it."
"You prefer straight blood." observed the youth, laying her hands in her lap. "It's only natural I suppose."
"And you don't?"
"I don't care either way." murmered the girl. "Blood is blood whether it is mixed in with a bowl of pudding or used as milk for cereal."
Erika's voice sounded from the bathroom. "Kindra, will you come take Nikkie?"
Kindra stood from the bed and entered the little bathroom, coming out a few moments later with Nikkie, freshly bathed and wrapped in a towel. "Care to join me?" she asked Selene as she pulled the bathroom door shut.
"Where?"
"Nursery." answered the girl, walking to its open door and flipping on the light. She walked inside, headed for the little dresser for a diaper and an outfit. Once Nikkie was dry and dressed, she headed back into the bedroom. Selene had stayed quietly in her chair.
Kindra rounded the chair and walked to the bed, laying Nikkie down on its center between two of the many pillows. "There you are, darling." she murmered to him. "Mummy will come feed you in a few minutes."
From her chair, Selene let out the softest of gasps. Kindra immediatly turned to her, a concerned look on her face. "Selene?" The vampiress didn't answer her, instead wrapped her arms tighter around her stomach, her now ice-blue eyes squeezing shut in pain. "Selene!" Kindra was immediatly at her side.
Erika stuck her head out the bathroom door to see what the commotion was. Her eyes widened when she saw Selene. Throwing on her bathrobe, she hurried from the room and to the vampiress's side. "Where does it hurt?" she asked.
"Everywhere." croaked Selene, hunching over in the chair.
"Kindra, run fetch Michael." Erika said. "Go!" Kindra turned, scrambling for the nursery. Erika turned back to Selene. "Don't clench up- you'll make it worse." she said, crouching down to see Selene's face.
Michael ran into the room, Kindra at his heels. "What happened?!" he demanded, rushing to Selene.
"We don't know yet." Erika answered. "Take her and put her in bed. I'll go get Audra." She turned to Kindra. "Kindra, watch Nicolas."
"Yes'm." murmered the girl, watching Michael lift Selene and carry her back to their room. Erika shut the nursery door behind them, then sprinted into the hallway to retrieve the midwife. Finally, the girl turned and went to Nicolas, lifting him up into her arms and carrying him past the rocking chair, ignoring the soft splat as Selene's blood dripped from its seat to the floor.
* ~ * ~ *
So, what did you think? Hmm? . . . What was that? . . . I can't hear you . . . Hmm, guess you'll just have to leave me a review then! =^.^=
The Lady Mage
Welcome to chapter 8! This is some more filler- next chappie will pick up the story though, so no worries! Thanks to all the people who have read and reviewed this story- your reviews all really made my days brighter!! Read, enjoy, review!!
Disclaimer: *The Lady Mage stands* I, The Lady Mage, do NOT own Underworld or any of its characters- I merely borrow them for an hour or so a day.
Rating: Hmm . . . about the same. PG-13
* ~ * ~ *
*drip*
*drip*
*drip*
Selene cracked her eyes open with a sigh, turning her head to glare at the open bathroom door across the room. Michael's sleeping face blocked her view, his arms loosening around her stomach when he felt her move.
*drip*
*drip*
*drip*
Another sigh escaped her lips as she turned her head back to the clock on the nightstand. She scowled when it only read 3:00 PM. It had only been six hours since the others had left them to bed down, and now, she didn't think she ever would get back to sleep. As if to confirm her suspicion, the baby began to kick just behind her bellybutton- the slightly sharp pains enough to get her moving.
With a groan, she sat up, untangling Michael's arms from around her middle, then headed for the bathroom to turn off the damn leaking faucet. That done, she went to the closet, picking out a pair of black sweatpants and a black t-shirt, and slipping them on.
She checked to make sure that Michael was still asleep, then silently crept from their room. Selene really had no idea where she was going; this castle was gigantic- vastly bigger than Ordoghaz- and had many more ways and places in which to become lost. She meandered down the hallway, passing through the giant doors, and headed down a set of stairs.
The castle seemed eerily silent as she wandered down its many hallways, stopping now and then to look into the many rooms. She found a library, a small study, a parlor, and a ballroom, but no people- vamp or lycan- until she found another set of stairs heading down.
At the bottom of the stair was a sign that clearly read: 'POOL AREA - TRAINING AREA' on a pair of hospital style double doors. She pushed open the doors, and stepped inside. Now, she was in a large concrete room- an indoor multipurpose room. To her right, another set of doors were propped open, and she could see the pool on their other side.
She could hear the sound of splashing, of someone swimming on one side, just out of her line of vision. Curious, she walked to the doors and peered inside.
Erika was in the pool, leaning up against the side to check on Nicolas who lay sleeping in his bouncer just out of her reach. Kindra was beside him, sitting on a little stool in front of a canvas.
"You should be asleep, Selene." Kindra suddenly said, glancing at the vampiress over the top of her canvas before turning her attention back to her painter's palette.
Selene almost jumped, but quickly composed herself. "I couldn't." she said, coming into the room.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" asked the girl, turning to look up as Selene neared her. "Would you like a sleeping pill?"
"No, I'm fine." Selene murmered, coming around behind Kindra to see what she was painting.
"It isn't finished." Kindra said quickly, her head lowered as she mixed her paints.
The canvas was only half coloured, but Selene could see the outlines beneath the colourwash. The painting was of a sunrise- of a field of wildflowers in front of a beautiful old, crumbling castle. The castle was already painted- it's mossy detail finished- but the field of flowers was still canvas white.
"It's lovely." Selene commented, "Do you paint often?"
"Yes." answered the girl in a soft voice, a light blush staining her cheeks.
"Want a swim, Selene?" Erika asked from her place in the pool, resting her chin on her hands.
"No thanks." Selene muttered, crossing her arms.
"It would be good for you." Kindra commented, dotting her field of flowers with violet. "And it might make you relaxed enough to sleep again."
"I think I'll pass." murmered the vampiress, moving to sit in one of the deck chairs around the pool. "I'm not big on swimming."
"Join the club." muttered Kindra, chewing delicately on the end of her paintbrush as she examined her painting. "Erika?"
The blonde vampire looked up to her. "Hmm?"
"It needs something." said the girl, turning her painting so that Erika could see. "But I don't know what . . . "
"There are lillies blooming in the field." Erika said. "And the ivy growing on the wall is beginning to bloom again- big purple flowers."
"Ah, yes." agreed the girl, dipping her paintbrush in her dark purple.
"The castle is real?" Selene asked, watching the girl paint.
"This is where you are at, Selene." Kindra said, turning to smile at her. "This is Bainesworth- at least, this is the particular castle we are in right now. Pretty, isn't it."
"Hmm."
Erika pulled Nicolas's bouncer to the edge of the water. She unbuttoned his little tadpole-patterned sleeper but left on the white onesie underneath it, and lifted him up out of his bouncer.
"Nikkie swim?" Kindra asked absently, her mind back in her painting as she continued to colour her flowers.
"For a minute." Erika answered, gently easing the newborn down into the water, holding him so that his head rested on her shoulder. "I'm about to get out anyway." she murmered, cuddling her son when he began to whimper. "Oh Nikkie . . . " she cooed to him, "You're alright . . it's just a bit of water . . . "
Selene crossed her arms over her stomach, watching the blonde vampiress and her newborn son in the water. She didn't think she'd ever get used to this new Erika- the Erika who wasn't jealous or haughty, but pleasant. She was happy for her, in her own way, but still wary of her.
As interesting as Erika and Nicolas were, the young vampire next to her was even more intriguing. The baby blood was the complete opposite of any other vampire she had ever met. Kindra was all smiles and sunshine- at least what she could remember of it. The other vampires, the ones at Ordoghaz at least, were all conceited and dark.
The girl, feeling eyes on her, turned and gave Selene a small smile, her green eyes lighting up for a few moments before she returned to her paints.
"I'm getting out." Erika murmered to herself, moving to the ladder and climbing out with one arm, the other holding Nicolas tight to her. "Kindra, are you staying down here?" she asked, walking to a nearby table and lifting the towel and robe laid out on it.
"Well, I can't just leave Selene down here- she doesn't know the way back upstairs." answered the girl with a grin. She capped her paints and dipped her brush in her cup of water. "Think my canvas will be safe down here?"
"No one ever comes down here but us." said the blonde. She settled a newly bundled Nikkie down in the bouncer before wrapping her robe around her. "Set it over by one of the tables."
Kindra nodded, standing and lifting her easel. "Is Michael still asleep?" she asked, settling her painting next to one of the tables.
"Mmhm." Selene nodded.
"Won't he be worried about you if he wakes up?" Erika asked, hefting Nikkie- bouncer and all- up and heading for the door.
"Probably." Kindra answered for her, coming and ever so lightly placing her gloved hands on Selene's left shoulder. "Would you like to accompany Erika upstairs, or would you prefer to stay down here?"
Selene looked up to see the girl. "There's nothing to do down here."
"Unless you want to swim or paint, no there isn't." agreed Kindra. "So let's go." Her hands were removed from Selene's shoulder as the older woman stood up to follow them.
The three quickly made their way back upstairs, Erika and Kindra leading Selene to the main hall and foyer.
"If you ever get lost," Kindra began as they walked to the grand stair. "Look for the big stairs. Everything connects to this foyer down here, and the long hall upstairs."
Selene only nodded, following the two up the stairs and down the hall, trying to memorize the way from the grand stair to the particular hallway their rooms were on. "Where is everybody?" she finally asked as they reached the double doors into their hall.
"Everbody?" Erika asked, opening her door and holding it for Selene and Kindra.
"Yeah. People. Vampires, lycans, anyone? Is it just the few of us?"
Kindra nodded. "Well, there are only twenty people living in this castle beside the five of you- oh, and Nikkie." she answered. "Bainesworth is three castles. The rest of New House lives in the other two, bigger castles."
"Oh." Seleme murmered, taking a seat in Erika's chair. "Where is Lucian and Marcus?" She glanced at Kindra. "Or your Damon?"
The young girl immediatly blushed again. "Damon is with his mother and father in Castle Lupus. Lucian is with them. Marcus is in Castle Sanguis."
"Sunlight does not hurt him?" Selene asked.
Erika shook her head, placing her robe on the vanity chair next to the bathroom. "Not anymore than it does your Michael." she answered. "I'm getting in the shower. Be back in five minutes." Without waiting for a reaction, she stepped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.
Kindra walked to the bed and sat down, smoothing her denim skirt over her knees as she sat. "Are you hungry, Selene?" she asked quietly.
Selene shook her head, but Kindra could hear her stomach growl from across the room. "A little perhaps."
"Want some more blood pudding?"
"Not really."
"Did you not like it?"
"I'm just not hungry for it."
"You prefer straight blood." observed the youth, laying her hands in her lap. "It's only natural I suppose."
"And you don't?"
"I don't care either way." murmered the girl. "Blood is blood whether it is mixed in with a bowl of pudding or used as milk for cereal."
Erika's voice sounded from the bathroom. "Kindra, will you come take Nikkie?"
Kindra stood from the bed and entered the little bathroom, coming out a few moments later with Nikkie, freshly bathed and wrapped in a towel. "Care to join me?" she asked Selene as she pulled the bathroom door shut.
"Where?"
"Nursery." answered the girl, walking to its open door and flipping on the light. She walked inside, headed for the little dresser for a diaper and an outfit. Once Nikkie was dry and dressed, she headed back into the bedroom. Selene had stayed quietly in her chair.
Kindra rounded the chair and walked to the bed, laying Nikkie down on its center between two of the many pillows. "There you are, darling." she murmered to him. "Mummy will come feed you in a few minutes."
From her chair, Selene let out the softest of gasps. Kindra immediatly turned to her, a concerned look on her face. "Selene?" The vampiress didn't answer her, instead wrapped her arms tighter around her stomach, her now ice-blue eyes squeezing shut in pain. "Selene!" Kindra was immediatly at her side.
Erika stuck her head out the bathroom door to see what the commotion was. Her eyes widened when she saw Selene. Throwing on her bathrobe, she hurried from the room and to the vampiress's side. "Where does it hurt?" she asked.
"Everywhere." croaked Selene, hunching over in the chair.
"Kindra, run fetch Michael." Erika said. "Go!" Kindra turned, scrambling for the nursery. Erika turned back to Selene. "Don't clench up- you'll make it worse." she said, crouching down to see Selene's face.
Michael ran into the room, Kindra at his heels. "What happened?!" he demanded, rushing to Selene.
"We don't know yet." Erika answered. "Take her and put her in bed. I'll go get Audra." She turned to Kindra. "Kindra, watch Nicolas."
"Yes'm." murmered the girl, watching Michael lift Selene and carry her back to their room. Erika shut the nursery door behind them, then sprinted into the hallway to retrieve the midwife. Finally, the girl turned and went to Nicolas, lifting him up into her arms and carrying him past the rocking chair, ignoring the soft splat as Selene's blood dripped from its seat to the floor.
* ~ * ~ *
So, what did you think? Hmm? . . . What was that? . . . I can't hear you . . . Hmm, guess you'll just have to leave me a review then! =^.^=
The Lady Mage