A/n: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. It's a better reception than I thought I'd get. I've got a few scenarios running around my head that I'm sorting through right now, trying to figure out if they're going to fit into the story. I have a perfect one that I know is going into this story, but I just have to find the right place for it.

Disclaiming my right to any of this; it's just for fun for me, and belongs to Beth Fantasky.

Enjoy.

Chapter 4

That night I had a dream. I'll admit I've had my share of dark, violent nightmares that were half-remembered from my days in Romania. I've only been witness to a few instances of bloodshed and fighting but they've worked their way into my subconscious mind.

But this dream, this vivid yet dull, terrifying but somehow completely right dream was about me, not a battlefield or an almost-empty highway. It was about me and my betrothed.

I was running through the corridors of a large manor house, the brackets in the stone walls holding torches whose light flickered over the doorways and bare granite. In some passages it was much narrower, and then I'd rush through another door to a balcony or another room. Sometimes I'd traverse a walkway over an open courtyard with no railings to catch me if I slipped and fell. Every time I came across the open air, it showed me a dark night sky, stars shining brightly against the velvety soft expanse. I could tell it was Romania by the luminosity of the stars – in America, there was so much pollution that even out in the Pennsylvanian countryside where I lived the stars were infinitely duller than in my homeland's skies. I never stopped to enjoy the sight, though, because in this dream there was something watching me. Something watching, following, waiting for me to arrive. All-encompassing paranoia was wrapped around my mind and I had to keep moving unless it grabbed me.

The strangest thing was that I was wearing a blood-red strapless ball gown, a ruffled train flowing out behind me. As I ran down corridors and across entranceways the dress constricted my movements and in the process tangled me within its yards of satin. It was a ridiculously formal dress for what seemed to be no occasion at all. I was not wearing shoes, my hair fell down my back, free of hairpins or ties, and I wore no jewelry on my wrists, fingers, or neck. It made no sense, as I ran through the foreign manor, and only served to completely confuse me.

I stumbled into a door and it took me a moment to realize that I hadn't just flown through the doorway, as I had through the rest of the large castle. It scared me, as the darkness was closing in on me. I struggled with it for several frantic seconds before the heavy oak finally gave way and I nearly fell into the large room.

There was an odd glow to it, as it had floor-to-ceiling windows as one of the walls, and the eerily bright stars shone all around. At the polished dark wood table sat my betrothed, his face half illuminated by the stars and moon outside the window. On the surface in front of him there sat a shining silver tea set, steam slowly rising in spirals from the pot. He watched me as I straightened up, adjusting my dress and trying not to show how his intense gaze affected me. I remember that since our first meeting, I've been slightly afraid of him. I was eight when he was first presented to my parents at our court, but as I had not been presented, I did not meet him then. It's a tradition that goes back generations, but by our lifetimes, it had become a warning of sorts. It was each family's way of showing off what they were raising to be the next ruler. This was the first time in either clan's history that a female child was born the only child, making me the rightful heir, in contrast to the male Vladescu. I was presented weeks before I was smuggled out of Romania, and even then, at age ten, I was terrified of Lucius Vladescu.

He waited until I finished adjusting my dress and then stared into my eyes. He lifted one hand from its resting place on the arm of the chair, turning it palm up before beckoning me towards him with two of his gloved fingers. I glided across the cold stone floor, towards the lighted windows and the mysteriously dark form of Lucius.

As I approached his chair, he turned his face up to me. Motioning towards the shining tea set embossed with his mother's family crest with one hand, he slid his other hand around my back, and murmured, "Serve the tea, darling."

I have been taught the proper decorum for serving tea, for formal and informal occasions. I turned to the set, feeling his hand slide to my hip in a gentle caress. I gently laid out the cups and began to pour, fixing his cup without a thought. I picked it up and turned around, getting myself tangled in his arms. I held out the cup and saucer to him, and watched as his face slid into a dark smirk. Pulling me slowly closer by the hips, he eventually settled me in his lap, my legs straddling his and my voluminous skirt hiked up between and around us. I hadn't spilled a drop of the tea I was holding in my hands.

He again murmured, "Serve the tea, darling," and I leaned into his body, lifting the cup to his lips.

[…]

I woke with a start, gasping in a breath. Was this my fate? I was afraid to even contemplate it.

I rolled over to look at the clock on my nightstand. 4:32 AM. Flopping back into my original position, I didn't know if I would be able to fall back asleep that night. After the discussion with Lucius, I took a bath, crying for an hour or more while the bubbles disappeared around me, until I was in a tub of lukewarm water and seemingly numb. By the time I got dressed and went down to help with dinner, my parents had set Lucius up in the apartment above the garage. He came in for dinner, sitting across from me. I refused to look at him for the rest of the evening.

My life as I knew it was over. I wasn't going to be able to date whomever I pleased – not that they were lining up out the door to get to me, but I had wanted that freedom of choice while I was still in America. I knew I would be married politically, but I never knew it would be under pain of my parents' death and to a man who seemed to be obsessed with owning the Dragomir clan, beginning with me. I guess I'd still had a little faith in fairy tales: I would meet a nice young man at court when I made my reentrance, and we would have a lovely courtship, my parents would approve, and we would rule the clan together.

The long weekend had not been at all what I planned and I dreaded returning to school later that day. It was late March and I had only a few months left until graduation. Mindy would understand the situation, but Lucius would be coming to school with me. I didn't know what he expected of me, whether I would have to remain by his side the entire day or if he would go off and do as he pleased.

It was only 4:45 in the morning, and I was completely stressed out. Not only did I have to worry about the coming day, but thinking back on the dream, I began to worry about my future life. Would we rule as equals or would he demand that I walk three paces behind him? Would he drink tea from my hands as he had in the dream? I never planned on being a domesticated queen. I was trained to be an aggressive ruler, dealing with internal and external issues, even contemplating war. Would I have to give up these musings in exchange for the life of bearing heirs and running the court's ornaments?

I think not. After he releases my parents, he'll find out exactly who he's dealing with.

And with that thought, I slipped back into sleep until my alarm and a dark-haired vampire woke me for school at 7:00.

A/n: I know it's kind of short, but it just struck me as an interesting topic for her to contemplate. I actually got the idea of the drinking-tea-from-his-wife's-hand from a history class I'm taking. Interesting stuff.