A/N: Tell me what you think. In review form. (Excuse the lateness though. ) :

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my dearest friend Sydney, because I failed to dedicate the last one to her. She really helped me out on the wedding dress, so go and sing praise to her!

xxxx

Amira knew that when the doors were opened, the first thing she would see was Dracula, waiting for her, and she was correct. He stood atop a slightly raised podium, turned towards the decrepit minister as he waited in almost eager anticipation for Amira to walk through those doors. When he heard the doors open he turned around slowly, and even from so very far away, Amira could see his eyes, his blazing blue eyes. He looked absolutely magical, a dark prince from some sort of twisted fairy-tale. He was for once not wearing a military style uniform, instead he was wearing a sort of typical aristocratic medieval style groom's wedding suit, every inch of the silk fabric black and crisp and clean. It matched so well with his stark white skin, and he somehow managed to make it look to much more elegant than anyone else could. His hair was pulled back in that gold clip Amira had rarely ever seen him without, but those few strands of raven hair still fell in front of his face.

Dracula raised his head high and gazed down at Amira, drinking in her every feature, her every move, making sure that it would be etched into his memory from now until the end of time. She looked...stunning...absolutely angelic, no other words could be used to describe the woman he was about to be bonded to until the day they died. And suddenly he did not want to turn this woman, this angel, into a vampire, she looked far too innocent and pure and to take that away from her would surely be some sort of heinous crime, but he squashed those thoughts and just allowed himself to bask in his darkly glorious triumph.

The guests, all prominent and powerful vampires (and Zane), simultaneously twisted their necks to look at the bride, as if it had been rehearsed a thousand times, their pale faces and intelligent eyes scrutinizing everything about her. Everyone was wearing black or deep shades of red or green.

Zane was perched on one of the high wooden rafters, dressed in a somewhat stylish tuxedo that no one would have the pleasure to see, for he had made himself invisible. He clutched the beam next to him as he leaned forward, and the softest of sighs escaped from his lips as he watched the exquisite beauty began her walk up the aisle.

A soft melody began, filling the room with hauntingly beautiful music. The music was playing from nowhere and everywhere, no one could tell who was playing it, not that anyone particularly cared at the moment. It was not that normal wedding music, not that sickeningly happy tune that made people smile, no, this music was far different, a little classical melody that could make someone weep.

Amira barely felt herself gliding across the floor, her gaze transfixed on the man that she was drawing nearer to with each coming step. Amira almost wanted to turn back, to run away and just pray to God to cleanse her of her sins and allow her to enter heaven in peace, but she did not, and it was not just because she knew that that would be hopeless.

Dracula could hear Amira's heartbeat from across the room, pulsing in his mind. The closer she got, the quicker and more frantic it became. He felt it drumming in his head, as it always was, for she was (and always had been) the only living human in this entire castle. He had constantly wanted to bite Amira before the wedding, that heartbeat could drive a man mad, but he waited, knowing that he would be the one to still it forever in the end was enough to keep him from doing it.

Amira tried to clutch the bouquet harder until she realized that it was no longer in her grasp. Someone must have taken the roses from her, or perhaps there had never been any roses. Amira suddenly couldn't even remember any roses, but her thoughts were so jumbled together she wasn't all too worried about the absence of roses in her hands.

Each step brought her closer to the man she hated and loved, the man she cherished and wished to die at the same time. The wretched walk to the podium took an eternity or no time at all, Amira wasn't exactly sure which. One second the doors had been opening to all her entrance to this unholy sanctuary, and the next she was standing next to the count. It also felt as if each step took a lifetime to take, and that she would never get to podium. It was strange how very contradicting her thoughts and emotions could be.

And then finally (or far too soon) Amira was standing there, next to the vampire king. And I am about to become his vampire queen. Amira had never really thought about that before, and she wondered briefly what life was going to be like once she was turned. She couldn't believe she hadn't thought about what her future as a vampire was going to be like at all. The wedding had always seemed to be so far away, and now she was standing next to Dracula himself, about to be wed to him.

Dracula stared down at Amira, his eyes wishing to penetrate that mysteriously defiant soul of hers, but she was staring up at the ancient minster, waiting for him to begin the wedding sermon that would bind them together forever. Dracula turned his face to the minster as well, and the music faded into nothing, and the man began.

"I welcome you tonight to the marriage of Count Vladislaus Dragulia and Amira Erelah Valerious." The minister's voice boomed across the room, filling everyone's ears with a deep baritone that did not seem to suit his body at all. "We are met together to join this man and this woman in a most unholy matrimony."

"This covenant is held sacred only to vampire and the humans that are to be turned into vampires, for it involves the death of a human and the rebirth of that human as something much more. This is a volatile covenant, it could be used as a way to show just how deep one's trust is to another, or it could be used for revenge. This bond also goes far deeper than any covenant a human could have with another human, for this one requires the exchange of blood. A blood covenant is the deepest of all covenants, and only the most powerful can break this oath." The minister glared down at them both, looking as if he were just daring one of them to try and break it after they were married.

He stopped and then turned to Dracula, "Vladislaus, will you have Amira to be your wedded wife, to live and die together in this covenant of marriage? Will you turn her and bond yourself to her in a pact so unholy, that it will cause this Amira to never again be able to step foot in the light of day, for she will become a creature of the night?"

Dracula turned to Amira and spoke loudly and clearly, his Romanian accent making it sound so rich, "I will."

The minister turned to Amira, "Amira, will you have Vladislaus to be your wedded husband, to live in die together in the covenant of marriage? Will you allow him to turn you and bond you to him in a pact so unholy, that it will cause you to never again be able to step foot in the light of day, for you will become a creature of the night?

Amira turned to Dracula and stared deep into his eyes, and when Dracula stared back he saw that they were filled with defeat and unhappiness, but when she spoke, her voice did not waver or quake, "I will."

The minister nodded and turned to the vampire guests. "If anyone knows any just cause why you may not be joined together in matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace." The silence was absolutely deafening. Zane fought the urge to cry out, but he knew that death would befall them all if he did. "The rings please." A very small vampire child rushed forward with his head bent low, carrying a blood red velvet cushion with two shining silver rings rested on the center of it. "Vladislaus and Amira, please join hands." Their hands entwined, Dracula's were deathly cold, and they continued to stare at each other. "Vladislaus, take Amira's left hand in your left hand and with your right hand, place the ring on her finger." Dracula picked up the ring and slipped it onto Amira's ring finger. The metal band was as cold as Dracula's own hands. "Give Amira the vows she that she will follow."

And Dracula began, his calm voice did not betray the emotions roiling through his body. Emotions of hate.

"With this ring you give yourself to me.

You will place your strength in the service of my happiness.

Your dreams will not be shared.

Your burdens will be bared.

From now until eternity, you will be not complete without me."

"Amira, take Vladislaus' left hand in your left hand and with your right hand, place the ring on his finger." Amira did as she was told, slipping the plain silver band on Dracula's ring finger. "Give the vows."

Amira wondered fleetingly how she was supposed to remember them until they came tumbling out of her mouth.

"With this ring I give myself to you.

I will place my strength of your happiness.

Your dreams I will fulfill.

Your burdens I will still.

From now until eternity, I will not be complete with you."

The last phrase was uttered through her lips at a whisper, though the room was so very silent that everyone heard them as if she were shouting them in their ghostly white faces. It felt as if once she said them, she was now truly bonded to Dracula, though the turning hadn't even begun yet. Amira wasn't sure how deep these vows were, but she had a feeling that unpleasant consequences may befall upon her if she broke these vows.

"You have entered into a most unholy covenant of marriage, held sacred by all vampires since the dawn of time. May your bond last forever and your disappointments be few." He turned back towards the vampire guests and swept his hands wide, Amira had the impression that is this had been a movie, the pits of hell would have opened up behind minister and flames would have shot out, giving him an even more satanic appearance than he already had.

"By the power vested in me and in the name of the almighty Satan himself, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may bite the bride."

If anyone in the room had needed to breath, the would have been holding their breath at that moment. Zane had scooted to the very edge of the rafters and was currently biting away at his fingernails, defying gravity as he let go of the beam he had been holding onto and leaning completely forward without falling, watching in dread as Dracula closed in on Amira in almost slow motion.

Dracula's eyes blazed the most brilliant blue Amira had ever seen them as his fangs lengthened and sharpened to deadly points. Amira's heartbeat raced in everyone's ears and he inched nearer. Dracula was drowning in her scent, it was so rich and pure and heavenly. What little humanity that had shown in his composure had disappeared in an instant, and it was replaced by this satanic creature Amira had never known before, even when she had seen him in his hell beast form he had never been quite so frightening. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her near, her head rolling back to one side and exposing that smooth pale neck Dracula had always fantasized about tasting, but had never been able to. Amira suddenly very desperately wanted to struggle, she willed her body to wriggle away from this wretched beast, but it would not comply. All she could do was wait tensely, her head held back as Dracula inched nearer and nearer. He leaned forward, any thought that had been passing through his mind at the time had been wiped out of existence, only to be replaced by the need to complete his revenge, to turn this beautiful young woman into the very thing her ancestors had hunted for so long. And right before he was about to bite, an impulse struck him and he turned and whispered in Amira's ear, "You will now truly be bonded to me." And without another word, he tightened his grip and crushed Amira against his cold body and sank his pearly white fangs into her neck.