Chapter II : Mother

Vlad was aware of the stories, the whispers and the rumors, the not so, nice names that the courts like to bestow upon him and the stigma his reputation carried. Lesser vampires, counts and countesses feared him and gladly kissed his ass, in the hopes that his rage nor ill-will would fall upon them.

He scoffed internally; cowards, their all bunch of cowards. You've seen one, you've seen them all.

And despite, his cruelty, despite his brutality, no one dared speak against him. No one had the audacity well, except his own family of course, they had no problems voicing her complaints , or having a joke at his expense.

He excused it mostly, not that he actually sat back and took their jeering; he was more than capable of making a reference or jab or two, blackmail also came in handy at family get- togethers, as well.

Lost in thought he hadn't realized that he had reached his mother's bedroom chambers. He stood there a good while, contemplating whether or not he should knock or just came back another day. However, he had no way of covering up his absence, if Mircea caught wind of his broken promise. Not that he actually promised, but he wasn't stupid he could read in between the lines, and more than likely he risked the possibility of being screwed by him, if did find out.

His dear, big brother, was known for softness and mercy, but rubbed the wrong way, well, he was a force to reckoned with. And seeing that hidden side of him , isn't something that he would particularly enjoy. He did once and never again, will he play with fire.

He dusted some imaginary dirt of his black cloak, while simultaneously taking a deep breath, he knocked. For a moment, nothing happened, maybe she was asleep, that temporarily relieved him, until-

" Come in." He heard the gentle, yet feeble voice of his mother. He felt his throat go dry and felt body silently shaking. He took another deep breath and opened the chamber door as quietly and slowly as possible, when he stepped in, he was greeted to kind smile of his mother. She was sitting up in her rather large bed. The bottom half of her body covered by various blankets and covers. Her long dark blonde hair was braided and rested at the side of her shoulder. Her clothing was light and a large scowl covered her bare shoulders. He took note of the assorted colors of yarn that decorated her bed and the make-shift quit and knitting needles that rested in her lap.

" Darling."

" Mother." he nodded.

" How long do you plan to stand there. Come. sit." she scooted up a bit, moved her the yarn and patted down some area of her bed. He obeyed and took a seat. He folded his hands in his lap, and tried his best to avoid awkward glances. He heard her clear her throat to grab his attention.

" So, how did the meeting go this morning."

" A nightmare."

She placed a delicate hand upon her lips to suppress a laugh at his deadpan answer. " I see than. It didn't go as fruitfully as you wished."

" Not particularly."

" I see, was your father acting like a stubborn mule again."

" Sorin and Radu acted no better, while your eldest, son, my brother ditched last minute." he scowled.

" I'll be sure to give them a stern talking too then." despite her rigid words, her soft face still expressed nothing, but solemn tenderness.

" Mother."

" Yes."

" Ho-" he paused for moment, to make sure his thoughts were in order " How have you've been feeling."

" Hmm, oh. Hh, just fatigued, nothing too serious you know how anemia is." she didn't look him this time, as she knowingly trailed off, and opted for gazing down at her half-knitted quit, her gentle fingers smoothing out all the wrinkles and nicks. " please, don't worry, dear, I'm fine." she looked up again, placing her hand upon his shoulders. Another smile graced her lips, however, he couldn't get over how sad her emerald eyes looked and how frail she was. She lost some weight he thought quietly to himself, and that struck a chord in him, and it stung, painfully. He desperately wanted to bolt out the door, or anything to divert his attention away from his mother's sickness. Unbeknown, to him, she was thinking the same thing -

" But anyways, I didn't call you all the way down here, so we could talk about my...illness."

" Ulterior motives I see."

" Maybe."

" Well."

" Vlad, how old are you?"

" Is this one of your trick question?"

" I'm being serious dear."

" 500 something, I suppose, I don't kept track."

" I do."

" Mother, where are going with this?"

" Well, I'm just wondering..

" Wondering about…

" Darling, when are you finally going to find wife? Oh, dammit, not this again.

" Mother, I have no interest in marriage."

" And why not, you don't plan on staying bachelor forever do you."

" I was married once before… " he shrugged offhandedly. He really wasn't in the mood to talk about this particular subject.

" Yes, and it ended in separation." she laced her soft fingers around his " Look, dear, I know it's hard, I know that your marriage with Mina ended quite…

" Disastrously." he chipped in bitterly.

" But that doesn't mean everything has to come to a stop- there's always second chances, you can't remain in this stump forever. I know you loved Mina and very much so, but it's time to move on now."

" Mother." he turned to her.

" I just want you to be happy. I want you find someone else."

" There is no one else. I appreciate the concern-"

" However?"

" However, it won't happen.." he says quietly, staring off into some corner of the room. He feels his mother's hand squeeze tighter, as she lets out a small sigh.

He huffs heavily, he was tired of this disheartening topic at this point, but his mother was persistent and he didn't even know why, she was so pushy about him remarrying again. However, what really annoyed him was that she only like that towards him, Sorin and Radu seemed to be exempted from her ire, well at least for now, he thought sourly to himself.

A/N: Gosh, I finally updated. Sorry for the late chapter, I was having issue with inspiration and having no idea where I wanted to go with this story, but here it is, again sorry that it short hopefully the next chapter will be longer.

Comments and reviews are very much welcomed! : -)

And thanks again Kyoand yuya for the suggestion.