Vlad had taken Anna to Victoria, letting her into the chamber as he heard the screams from outside of the door. He knew exactly what was happening to her, but he knew that she did not want to hear it from him. He did not know if she would pull through. He had heard tales previously of women who went through the exact same thing she was going through. He knew that Victoria might not make it and he wondered what he would do if that was the case.

He would do anything in his power to bring her back. He had tried that before and he had ended up the monster mothers told their children of at night. What could happen? What could happen to punish him further? Was there anything? Or was this it?

He was snapped from his thoughts as he heard her continue to roar in pain and he bent his head. He remained stood on the hallway, his hands holding onto the bannister as he bowed his head. He could hear talking from downstairs and he knew instantly that the soiree was continuing despite what was happening upstairs. He was in half a mind to go downstairs and tell Aleera to tell the guests to leave. But he did not. He remained stood where he was.

It was another ten minutes before the door to the chamber opened and Vlad saw the doctor step out, his hands covered in blood as he dried them off with a towel. He looked to Vlad who arched a brow. The doctor shook his head as he looked to the vampire who was moving towards him. Both of them understood exactly what had happened.

"If she is going to make it through the night then she needs…well…"

"Blood?" Vlad guessed and the doctor nodded.

"That I can provide," Vlad said to him.

The doctor walked back into the room and Vlad saw her on the bed, Anna holding her by the waist and propping her up, her arms tight around her as Victoria's head rested by her chest and shoulder. Anna was moving a hand down the back of Victoria's hair, trying to soothe her as silent tears fell from her eyes. Her eyes were hooded and almost closed, her lips parted and her face pale. But Vlad instantly looked down. She was dressed only in her underclothes now, but they were mainly covered in blood. The white material was stained crimson and bunched up to her knees.

"What is he doing here?" Anna demanded at the sight of Vlad.

"She needs blood," the doctor answered, grabbing hold of a wash bowl and dipping his hands into it to clean them further. "If she is to live then she needs blood."

Anna said nothing then. Instead she kept a hold of Victoria, watching as Vlad moved closer to the bed and moved his wrist to his mouth. His fangs tore the skin of his wrist before he sat down on the side of the bed and placed his wrist to Victoria's mouth, his hand moving to cup the back of her head and guide her to drink from him. She remained silent as he saw her drink the blood slowly, gulping it down without question. He suspected she was too far-gone to ask questions. Instead he kept cradling her head until the doctor nodded and said that should be enough.

He wiped her mouth clean from the blood with his handkerchief before pressing a finger to her lips as Anna laid her down on the bed, watching her head fall to the side as her eyes closed. The doctor picked her wrist up; his fingers move to rest on her pulse point.

"That is better than it was before," he commented and Anna nodded.

"She will survive?" Vlad asked from him.

"She will," the doctor said. "Although I would like to spend the night here to check on her regularly."

"Of course," Vlad said.

"I need clean nightclothes too," Anna requested. "And a bowl of clean water. She cannot wake up…like this…she needs clean clothing."

"I will see to it," Vlad said and Anna wondered what was happening. She suspected he would change as soon as she was away from Victoria.

…

Vlad returned once Anna had finished what she had been doing. She had wiped the dried blood from Victoria and changed her from her underclothes while she slept peacefully. Vlad had come into the room to see Anna curled up on a chair she had dragged next to the bed while Victoria slept. She had the duvet thrown over her. It rested at her chin while her hair was a mess around her head. She had her cheek pressed against the pillow and her lips were slightly parted as she breathed lightly.

"You can go back to your chamber. Igor is outside waiting to take you."

"I am staying with her," Anna said defiantly.

"You are doing as I command," Vlad snarled at her and she remained seated for a moment before she saw an inpatient look cross his face and she moved from the seat.

"What does she see in you?" Anna demanded from him as she passed him by. "She asked for me to be here. You know that."

"You may see her in the morning," Vlad snapped at her and he knew that she was angry with him, but she said nothing as she stormed off.

Moving to the chair she had just left, Vlad took his seat before he saw the door open again. He was about to yell at Anna for coming back in before he noted the familiar figure of his wife, his only wife, to be precise. Aleera closed the door behind her and stepped forwards, her hands behind her back as she looked to Victoria on the bed.

"She lives," she stated.

"That she does," Vlad responded in a curt tone.

"But her child does not," Aleera continued.

Vlad inhaled a sharp breath. "What do you want, Aleera?"

"I wanted to see," she said simply as if that was a good enough explanation. He kept silent, choosing to bite his tongue instead of demand that she leave. She ambled closer to the bed and moved a hand down, her fingers sweeping Victoria's hair from her cheek. "I know how she feels."

Looking to his bride then, Vlad's eyes widened as he watched her intriguingly. She remained still, snapping her hand away from Victoria and then looking to her master. It took her another moment before she contemplated leaving, suspecting that he would want time on his own.

"She is only human, Aleera," Vlad spoke. "She needs time to recover."

"And the ball tomorrow?" Aleera questioned him.

"Host it," Vlad said to her, "but I shall not be in attendance. Alert me when Van Helsing make his presence known."

"But master-"

"-There is nothing else to discuss," he interrupted her, cutting her off and stopping her from saying anything else as he turned his glare to her and she nodded her head once and moved off from the room, leaving Vlad alone with Victoria.

Picking up her hand, he held it loosely in his, not wanting to hurt her with his movements. Kissing the back of her hand, he let her knuckles remain against his lips as he closed his eyes and longed for her to pull through.

…

The doctor had said that she needed rest, but that did not explain why Vlad then found her perched in the window seat of her chamber. Her white nightgown was askew on her body, dangling off of one shoulder as her hair hung down her back. She had her knees bent slightly, her elbow resting on a kneecap as her fist supported her chin. She was looking outside, her cheeks puffy and her eyes red. She didn't need to turn around to know that he was in the room with her.

"I want to go home," Victoria simply whispered.

"Victoria, I know what has happened is difficult-"

"-No," Victoria interrupted him. "I want to go home. I want to go back to London."

Vlad was shocked at hearing her, noticing the way she had turned to look at him. There was a glance of determination in her gaze as she watched him and he took a sharp breath and let it out shakily before stepping towards her. He kept his distance, not touching her as he placed his hands behind his back.

"Victoria, there is nothing for you in London," he said to her. "You parents passed away."

"But that does not mean that I do not wish to return," she said back to him. "I should never have come here. I should never have come to Transylvania. I should have stayed at home and none of this would have happened."

"Do not say that," he urged from her.

"Why not?" she demanded back. "I cannot be with you. I cannot be with Velkan. I cannot even look after my own babe. What use am I to anyone? What is the point of me being here?"

Vlad saw the tears begin to fall down her cheek, but she wiped them away with the back of her hand and sniffed loudly. It was another moment before she moved from the windowsill and back towards the bed, picking up her dressing robe and shrugging into it, pulling her hair from the collar.

"Do you intend to keep me a prisoner here?" Victoria wondered from him.

"I never have kept you a prisoner."

"Then let me go," she urged of him.

"No," Vlad said, but continued speaking before she could argue. "You are not going until you are recovered, Victoria. You will rest and recover and then you can go if that is what you so wish. You can return to London."

Victoria sniffed. "And you are not lying to me?"

Vlad almost looked hurt. "When have I ever lied to you?" he wondered of her. "I want the best for you, Victoria. Do you not see that? I have gone about it wrong in the past, but now I understand the error of my ways. I see what I did wrong…I should have…well…none of it matters now."

Victoria was about to ask what he was going to say, but he shook his head. Moving past her, he let his hand cup her cheek for a few brief moments, kissing her on the forehead before walking to the door.

"Can I see Anna?" she wondered from him and he nodded without saying another word.

…

Preparations for the ball were well underway when Vlad knew he had to go and take Anna from her position by Victoria's bedside. He had a trade to make and he had no intention of letting Van Helsing get the better of him. He pushed the door open in time to see Victoria huddled against Anna's side. Anna had her arms around Victoria, holding her tightly as she sobbed openly. Vlad closed the door a moment later and wondered when he had gone this soft.

But he had always been soft for Victoria. She had always been his weak spot.

But he was the spawn of Satan. He could not feel this way. He should not feel this way. Would people think him becoming weak if they knew about his affiliation to her? Would they use it against him? No. He had to prove that he was still the same vampire everyone knew. The entire crowd had seen him cradle Victoria out the other evening. Word would have spread.

And so Vlad did what he thought best. He went to change for the ball and prepare to prove to himself that he was not weak. He would start with Van Helsing.

…

A/N: Do let me know what you think!