Velkan watched on with intrigue as he stood in the doorway of the library. His gaze was focused on Victoria as she sat on the carpet in the middle of the room, flicking pages of books with her finger. She had her eyes downcast onto the books, her gaze intense and narrow as she read their contents. He had been watching her for a while and she had not moved away or noticed him. She was too engrossed.

He knew exactly what she was doing. She was looking for anything to help him. She wanted to help him. He didn't entirely know if she wanted to destroy Dracula, but she did want to find a way to break his family's curse. She barely spoke of Dracula and if Velkan brought him up then she would simply close her mouth tightly, her eyes going to the floor.

Velkan was certain that she was still in love with him. He knew that those feelings could not go away easily, but she had not gone back to him nor had she shown any inclination of wanting to go back. Yes, she had said that she would return because she felt it was the right thing to do; not the thing she wanted to do.

He took a deep breath before he wandered into the room, closing the door and alerting her to his presence. He moved towards her as she remained seated, her skirts fanned around her. He took his seat behind her, one of his arms stretched as his palm rested on the floor to support his weight.

Moving his other hand, he moved it around her, his arm brushing her waist as he let his hand go to rest on top of hers on the page that she was reading. He moved closer to her, his chin going to rest on her shoulder as he kissed her neck once.

"Have you found anything?" Velkan enquired.

"Nothing that looks like it will help us," she responded to him. "In every single book I can only find something that talks about how he has to die for the curse to be broken."

"And he will die," Velkan assured her in a hushed voice. "I will see to it."

"Velkan," Victoria complained to him, "he has sent a werewolf after you. He does not do his own work. He sends things to do it for him."

"Then I shall kill them too," Velkan responded. "If he believes that a werewolf will stop me then he is sorely mistaken."

"Do you believe so?" Victoria wondered, her voice a whisper as she let out a soft sight. It was another moment before she felt her chest begin to tighten as she moved her hand into Velkan's dropping the book and letting their hands rest on her lap. "You know that I am here for you for as long as you need me. I have no intention of abandoning you."

"I am very glad to hear it," Velkan said, his lips tugging into a smile as he moved to kiss her on the lips quickly once more.

"But," she said and Velkan arched a brow, "how much more can you take of this? The curse is proving to be impossible to break. You either kill him or he will kill you. I understand that, but there has to be another way."

"I doubt it," Velkan said. "Regardless, Dracula deserves to die, Victoria. After everything he has done, he deserves to die. He has killed innocents. He has slaughtered hundreds. He is not the same man you knew all those years ago."

"I know," Victoria said to him. "But that still does not mean that I want to see him dead, just as I do not want to see you dead. Simply because I do not want to be with him does not mean I wish to see him dead."

Letting out a soft sigh, Velkan nodded. Victoria sensed his hesitance. She moved her hand to his cheek, stroking it softly as she let her fingers run along his cheekbones, the motion soothing as he moved closer to her and his lips pressed against hers tenderly.

"I chose you," Victoria said, searching his gaze. "I know why I chose you, Velkan."

"Do you?" Velkan whispered back. "Because sometimes it seems as though you don't entirely know why you did choose me, my love."

"No," Victoria said, shaking her head. "I know…and I know that…well…I understand that I might not be able to tell you what you want to hear, but I do care, Velkan. I care for you deeply and I know that there must have been a reason why I married you and I can see those reasons. I just want to feel like I did back then."

Velkan nodded as he listened to her speech. He moved to kiss her once more before he felt her pull back, her hand moving to cover her mouth. He looked to her as she turned away. Before he could say anything, she was on her feet and rushing to the doorway. Velkan's brows knitted together before he followed her.

She was running down the corridors towards her chamber and he caught up with her just as she entered. Pushing the door open, Velkan saw her bent over her basin. Moving towards her, he took hold of her hair inside of his hand, tugging it back from her face as she wretched and emptied the contents of her stomach.

"Victoria," he whispered her name, his hand running up and down her back as she continued to be ill. She soon collapsed with exhaustion, her hands either side of the basin as she struggled to hold herself up.

Pulling her upright with his hands on his waist, Velkan looked at her. He moved to grab the towel that was next to her basin and he wiped her mouth clean, his hand then going to her forehead as he felt her temperature.

"You're warm," Velkan commented. "Are you ill?"

"No," Victoria said with a shake of her head, chewing down on her bottom lip. "I…I must confess that I have been ill for the past few mornings."

Victoria looked away from him, wondering if he would be able to place the pieces together. She had thought about it, but a part of her suspected that she could simply be ill. After everything that had happened it would not be a shock. She could have eaten something undercooked too? There were many possibilities for her feeling the way she did. But for the third morning in a row one possibility stood out more than the others.

"I shall send for a physician," Velkan spoke, clearly not realising what she had just said. "Lay down and rest. I will be back as soon as I can."

"Of course," Victoria nodded her head.

She suspected it would be best to have confirmation before she told Velkan. What if it was true? She laid down on the bed as Velkan left, a feeling of nausea taking over her as she rested a hand on her stomach. She knew that bringing a child into this world was not wise, nor was it desired. But if she was with child then she had no other option.

…

Velkan paced along the corridor as he waited for the physician to finish with Victoria. Once the man had left, his hands rubbing together as he moved closer towards Velkan, his brow arched.

"Is she well?" Velkan demanded.

"Well enough," the man responded. "Prince Velkan, I suggest that you speak with your wife."

"Why?" Velkan enquired. "Why can you not tell me?"

"I…well…just speak with her," the man said and hurried off away.

Velkan watched him go before entering the chamber, closing the door behind him. He saw Victoria sat on the bed, her eyes wet and her hands shaking in her lap. The blue dress she wore was slightly loose around her frame as the physician had examined her.

"Victoria, what is it?" Velkan wondered. "He would not inform me what is wrong."

"That is because he believes I should," Victoria said in a whisper. "He…Velkan…I…"

"What is it?" Velkan began to worry as he rushed towards her, bending down in front of her and taking hold of her fingers inside of his. He held them tightly in his grip, eyes searching hers as she shook her head and Velkan began to fear the worst.

"I am so sorry," Victoria whispered. "If I had known. If I had not been so foolish…"

"Talk to me," Velkan urged from her.

"I'm pregnant," she blurted out, voice bordering on hysteria. "I am pregnant and I can only assume it is your child because I never…I did not lay with Vlad when I was with him…"

"I see," Velkan gulped lowly as he heard her. "We…when we married…we did consummate the marriage, Victoria. But we only laid together one time. I promise you."

"One time?" she asked from him. "And now I am pregnant…I am so sorry, Velkan. I am so sorry."

Velkan moved to cup her cheeks in his grip, holding them tightly in his fingertips. Closing his eyes, he moved to sit besides her on the bed as she folded herself into his arms, holding onto him as Velkan moved his arms around her, his hands resting on the small of her back.

"This is not your fault," Velkan informed her. "We should not be sad, Victoria. A child…"

"A child brought into this world…and the curse…the curse will be passed on," Victoria said, her hand going to her stomach. "If we can't kill him then the curse continues to live on. That's scary, Velkan. It's terrifying."

"It will not come to that," Velkan promised her.

"And Vlad?" Victoria asked, her mind going back to him as she pictured the look on his face.

She moved away from Velkan then, a feeling of guilt taking hold of her as she moved with haste, pacing up and down the room, her hands on her hips as she moved. Vlad had died for her. He had died for her and now she was pregnant with another man's child. She was pregnant with a Valerious.

"He will find out," Victoria said, terror rising up inside of her. "He will find out and he…what will he do? Would he hurt the child? The curse…could he do that?"

"I will not allow it to come to that," Velkan said, voice full of determination as he spoke. "Listen to me, Victoria, I will not let him hurt your or our child. I will stop this."

Velkan stood up then and Victoria wondered what he was doing as he moved to stop her from pacing, his hands holding her waist and grounding her. He looked her in the eye as his hand curled under her chin to force her gaze to his.

"I will take my men and we will kill the werewolf," Velkan said, voice full of determination. "We will kill the werewolf and then we will kill him."

"No," Victoria said, her hands going to hold his chest. "Velkan, going out there is too dangerous."

He pushed her hair behind her ear, looking at her lovingly as he bent down to kiss her cheek. "For your safety and the safety of the child inside of you, I will do it."

"How can you be this calm?" Victoria demanded, realising that his voice had no faltered once. He chuckled and shook his head at her, his teeth bared as he continued to smile.

"Believe me, I am anything but calm," he assured her. "I'm shocked and happy and scared all at the same time. I just need to make sure that this child is safe…our child…"

Moving a hand to rest on her stomach, Velkan let his lips linger on her forehead as she closed her eyes and let his hand wandered along her stomach. It took her a few moments before she opened them again and her gaze was met with Velkan's neck. Both of them remained stood where they were, their minds whirling over everything that they had just discussed. They only hoped that they could get through this in one piece.

…

A/N: Moving onto Van Helsing now!