"A commoner?"

Velkan stood on the spot that evening, his hands behind his back as he held his head high, refusing to allow his father to intimidate him. He turned his gaze to Anna for a second, watching as his younger sibling turned to glance out of the window, chewing on her bottom lip as she did so. Velkan glowered at her for a few moments before his father spoke again, demanding his attention. Why could she not have kept quiet and lied for him?

"You have been spending your nights with a commoner?" he checked with his son and Velkan inhaled sharply. "Do you have any idea how worried I was to come home and find you gone? I thought that he had taken you. I thought that something had happened."

Velkan nodded his head in agreement, fully understanding that he may have seemed reckless in his actions. He should have left Victoria earlier. He knew he was pushing to spend as much time as possible with her, but there was a reason for that. He cared for her more than anyone understood, even more than he truly understood.

His father sighed as his son refused to respond to him. He sunk down into his chair, crossing his legs before looking at the fire in the fireplace, his brows furrowed and his hand running down his chin. If Dracula wasn't the end of him then his children would be.

"Who is she?" he finally dared to ask and Velkan moved to sit in the chair across from his father, sinking onto the plush material as Anna slowly made her escape, not particularly wanting to stay for the awkward conversation which was to come.

Boris Valerious was not an unreasonable or unkind man. He was weary from his years of trying to slay the Count, and his weariness often translated into snappiness in front of his children. They understood, of course. They were no fools and could see when their father was stressed, but it was only when they were old enough to understand the full extent of their situation.

"Her name is Victoria," Velkan spoke. "She works in the tavern. I met her one evening...well...after we had fought that night. I met her on her way home. She is a lovely girl, father."

Boris nodded once to him and Velkan's lips pulled up on their own accord at the mere mention of her. Boris noted the motion and he inhaled sharply, shaking his head back and forth as he thought about what he wanted to say to his son. The truth would hurt, but it would be necessary.

"She knows who you are, I trust?" Boris checked and Velkan nodded.

"We keep ourselves hidden. Only her friends know that we spend time with each other, but no one else. We have been careful." Velkan promised his father.

"It matters not, Velkan," Boris whispered to his son, his voice soft as he leaned forwards, his hands clasping together in front of himself. "He will find a way to hurt her. He is no fool and even if you did continue on your path with her then nothing can happen until Dracula has been killed. You cannot marry her and subject her to this life, never mind if you had children."

Velkan shook his head, his teeth grinding together as he did so. He took a moment to calm himself, resisting the urge to tell his father how unfair he was being. He had married and had children so why Velkan should be denied the same right was beyond his understanding.

"Your mother and I had faith that we could kill Dracula," Boris told his son, answering his unspoken question. "I had faith that it could be done...I still do...but now...my faith is dwindling. I am struggling to comprehend how to kill him and I know that I am running out of time."

"Then let me help!" Velkan snapped suddenly, pointing to his chest as he did so. "I want to help kill him. I want to do this. I do not wish to subject Victoria to a life of worry, but I do not wish to give her up as though she means nothing to me."

Boris shook his head back and forth, knowing that he was being unfair to his son. He was denying him what he had, but he was doing it to protect him from getting hurt. Perhaps he would kill the beast before the end of the year? Perhaps he would succeed where his ancestors had failed?

"I am trying my best to give you and Anna the future you deserve," Boris promised his son as he slowly moved to stand up. "You are a young man now, but I do not want you to help me. I cannot risk your life. As for this girl," he paused for a few seconds and watched as Velkan remained hopeful, "she knows of you and your burden. If she is willing to be with you then so be it. I cannot stop you, but I would like to meet her."

"Of course," Velkan agreed hastily with his father, nodding profusely. "I have tried to urge her to leave Transylvania, but I do not...I am not selfish, but I would miss her if she left. I know that I would."

"You have known her for a week," Boris frowned.

"And how long had you known mother before you knew that you cared deeply for her?" Velkan retorted quickly, not skipping a beat as his father's frown intensified. "I should bring her to you in daylight when it is safe."

"Yes," Boris nodded in agreement. "She must be special to have captured your attention."

"I would like to think she is," Velkan slowly agreed.

...

Verona was no fool. Out of all of their master's brides she knew what was running through his mind more than Aleera and Marishka. She prided herself on being the knowledgeable one. She loved him more than he knew, but she also knew that being with him had brought her heartbreak. She did not know how many children she had lost, but she knew that there had been too many.

She longed for a child. She longed to bring something other than misery.

But even she could not cheer his miserable state up once he returned home the evening he had been to the village. He had commenced pacing whilst Aleera and Marishka decided to go and spread their wings for a while. Verona remained with him, her hands on her hips as she watched him hang on the ceiling.

"Something troubles you," she spoke loudly and clearly.

Dracula remained where he was, hanging from the ceiling as he pressed his hand to his face, wondering if her touch still lingered on his fingertips. He wondered if he could still feel her warmth or whether it was his imagination.

"I only mean to help," Verona promised him. "Did you visit her this evening? The human girl?"

"Victoria," he spoke her name.

It sounded foreign against his lips as he did so. He was almost struggling to come to terms with it. Foreign though it sounded, he could not deny that it was pleasant. If only he could have spent his human years with her, staying by her side and making sure no harm came to her. He could not help but think that he had failed her.

"Why is she so important to you?" Verona dared to question. "What powers does she possess to have you under her spell?"

He fell from the ceiling then, his glare intense as he looked to the eldest of his brides. "She holds no power over me."

Verona wanted to scoff at hearing him say that. She was no fool. She could see that this Victoria meant something to him. She only wished to know what it was.

"You are besotted with her. She consumes your every thought even when you are by our sides. We have been with you too long. You should know that your lies do not work on us," Verona hissed back, tiring of cowering on the matter. She moved closer to him, her hands holding his shoulders as he sighed loudly and closed his eyes, shaking her image from his head. "Who is she, master?"

Dracula gulped loudly and looked down at Verona as her hand rested in the hollow base of his neck and he shook his head back and forth slowly. "She is from my past," he finally admitted.

Verona nodded; her other hand running up and down his back as she did so. "Your human past?"

"The only past I have," Dracula replied slowly and cautiously. "I was to marry her but she was snatched from me by a man who I considered my friend...but now she has returned to me again. She has returned and I have no intention of letting her slip away from me. She is mine."

Verona froze for a moment as she heard him speak so possessively. Never before had he sounded so protective over her. It almost made her angry, but she knew anger was no use in front of her master.

"You wish to make her a bride?" Verona checked and he shook his head.

"I have yet to decide what I intend to do," he said and arched a brow at her, his head cocking to the side as he did so. "Regardless, it matters not what I intend to do with her. She is mine to worry about and nothing to do with you, my love."

Verona moved back to kiss him slowly, watching as he turned into putty in her hands. A small smile spread on her face as he pulled back and moved his lips down her neck. Perhaps she may have to speak with this girl simply to quench her curiosity.

...

"Your father wishes to see me?" Victoria checked with Velkan as the two of them stood in her garden again, Velkan perched on the stone wall of the well whilst Victoria paced.

"He thinks it would be prudent to see you," Velkan confirmed, a teasing smirk forming on his face as he did so. "Are you scared to meet my father?"

Victoria scoffed and rolled her eyes as she heard him, dropping her hands to her hips. She had continuously raked her hands through her dark locks, pushing them to the side as worry took hold of her once Velkan had recited his conversation with his father back to her. The dress she wore languished in the mud as she refused to hold it up as she continued her pacing. The blue material was slowly turning brown and her cloak was slipping down her shoulders.

"Of course I am," Victoria responded. "He does not think it wise for us to be together. How can I not be worried that he will dismiss me as soon as he sees me? Besides, I am nothing but a common tavern wench."

"And I am a Gypsy Prince," he responded, standing up and moving to rest his hand on her arm in a feeble attempt to soothe her. "It matters not who you are to me, Victoria. I care for you and that is enough."

Victoria took a deep breath as he fixed her cloak over her shoulders and moved his hands to cup her cheeks tenderly, his forehead resting against hers whilst his hot breath tickled her cheek. She moved closer towards him, her own hand moving through his hair.

Both of them remained so caught up in the other's presence that they failed to notice the flying figure sweeping silently towards them. Velkan reacted first, his eyes peering over Victoria's shoulder as soon as he saw it.

"Get down!" he roared at Victoria, pushing her to the side and watching her fall to the floor before the creature hit him.

"Velkan!" Victoria yelled loudly, watching as he tried to fight the creature, failing miserably and toppling over the stone ledge and into the well. Victoria shrieked as soon as she heard the splashing of water from the well and the breaking of the wooden alcove over it.

She crawled over, struggling to stand on her feet as she went. Her breath was coming out in short pants before she reached the ledge, hauling her body to look down the depths of the well. She squinted, doing her best to see if she could spot his body down there. She yelled his name again, waiting for some kind of answer but only receiving a small moan.

"I will help you out of there," Victoria promised him weakly before she saw the crumble of stones across from her. She gulped slowly and lifted her gaze up, the sight of a vampire greeting her orbs. She looked on with widening eyes as the vampire morphed from a demonic creature, slowly transforming into a beautiful woman with flowing black hair and a revealing dress.

Victoria fell onto her behind, crawling further away from it as it slowly advanced towards her, its hips swaying with each move, the green dress it wore flowing with the movement.

"Victoria," she whispered her name and slowly bent down, grabbing the human by the throat and examining her with an intense stare. Victoria whimpered as she was hauled to her feet, her neck still being held by the vampire as she wondered what she wanted with her.

"What is it that you have?" she hissed; her other hand pushing Victoria's hair tenderly from her face as she gasped loudly and felt the warmth of her skin and the flow of her blood. It was intoxicating and almost too much for her to comprehend how she was going to leave her alive.

"I don't understand," Victoria managed to whisper as she gasped for breath. "You..."

"What, dear?" the black haired temptress responded. "What is it that bothers you?"

Victoria had no understanding of what was about to happen to her. All she knew was that the next shriek she heard was one which made her blood run cold as the vampire dropped her from her grasp, pushing her to the floor.

Crawling backwards again, Victoria's back hit the stone wall before she looked up, the sight of a beast flying towards her enough to make her cower in fear. She watched as it moved closer towards the wailing female vampire, its wings spanning the length of Victoria's entire bedchamber whilst its face was one which instilled fear into her. Whimpering, she wondered if Velkan could hear everything that was happening.

She looked to the side, reaching for a plank of wood which had broken from the alcove. She stood up as the vampire slowly morphed into human form, the sight of him something which caused Victoria to hold the wooden plank tighter in her grasp, regardless of the splinters which formed in her hands.

The man stood tall, his black coat hanging down his body whilst his flowing black hair remained pinned behind his head, loose strands occasionally hanging in his face. He failed to look at the woman who Victoria assumed to be his bride, his words harsh and laden with a thick accent.

"I shall deal with you later."

He continued to advance towards Victoria, a gleam in his eye as he did so. She waved the wood around, almost threatening him. He chuckled darkly and she only hoped he would not take Velkan from her. She had no doubt that this man was the monster parents told their children about during the night. He was the hidden vampire in the mountain. Dracula.

"Now, now, my dear," he spoke, his voice soft as he pushed the wood from her hands in one clean sweep, watching as she turned to look at where it had been swept to. She groaned, trying to bend and pick up another piece before she felt his cold hands wrap around her chin, holding her body to his.

"Is that anyway to greet me, Victoria?" he wondered, his voice a mere whisper as his other hand moved down her neck slowly, pushing away any stray hair which hung there until her skin was vulnerable to him.

"How do you know me?" Victoria wondered, hoping that he did not know of her and Velkan and intend to use her.

"I have known you longer than you care to remember," he promised her in a soft hiss, his eyes searching hers as he willed for her to remember. But all he found was fear. Fear that he would take her life from her. Fear that he would take her beloved Velkan from her.

"It will take time," he admitted, nodding awkwardly at that. "But you will remember me and I will have you again."

Victoria gulped loudly, trying to fight her way from his grasp as he kept her against his body, his arm pressing into the small of her back as he lowered his head towards her neck and she instantly felt nauseous, his lips tickling against her skin as the top of his hair brushed under her chin.

"My sweet Victoria," he spoke in a hoarse voice once his lips moved away from her neck and he released her from his hold, almost regretting the motion as soon as he had completed it. He could never undervalue the warmth of her skin against his.

He nodded brusquely at the black haired bride before they both left, transforming once more and flying into the distance. Victoria pressed her hand to her neck before turning around and looking into the well.

"Velkan! Everything will be fine. I shall help you!" she promised him as she moved to grab hold of a piece of rope. She dropped it down the side, waiting for him to grab hold of it. She struggled to haul his weight back to the top, grateful that he was using his feet to help him climb up the wall.

As soon as he was dangling over the edge she reached forwards, grabbing hold of him by the underarms and hauling him over, failing to care as he fell on top of her, his hands holding her waist as he rested in between her parted legs and his forehead bled slightly.

"Velkan...I have you..." she promised him and he looked down at her, his eyes instantly moving to her neck for any sign of what could have happened to her.

"Did he hurt you?" Velkan worried. "Did she hurt you?"

"Neither of them hurt me," Victoria promised him as he began to stand, offering her his hand to haul her to her feet. Velkan didn't look content as he moved his hands to roam over her neck, checking that they had not harmed her. "I promise you, Velkan...they...I thought they came for you...but he...he said something...things I don't understand..."

Velkan furrowed his brow as Victoria finally cracked and allowed tears to fall down her cheeks, her arms wrapping around Velkan's neck as he held her tightly to him, his eyes still scanning the sky in fear of the creatures returning.

...

A/N: So thanks to Trying to Put Pen to paper, PamMik and Anthaliaxstories for reviewing the previous chapter. Please do let me know what you think!