Lilly surveyed her home for the last time. Everything was neatly in its place even though the furniture was worn-in and drab. This was what she was used to. Simplicity, homely, refined, and morbidly normal. She had no comprehension of what to expect from Bartelona. Its riches were unknown—but based on the styles of Lord Vespacelli and his clan, there appeared to be no end to it. She wondered, for a brief moment as her eyes swept across the sunlit happiness of her home, if the Italian Empire knew just how much they had acquired.
The sun rose higher and higher as she stood there in her new traveling gown feeling stiff and rigidly different. Lilly's heart slowed to a distant pound as she allowed the sun to touch her somewhat tanned skin. Would this be the last time she felt it? Would she ever see the sun again?
"Stop it, Lillith. It's not like you're going to go live in a hole." She grumbled to herself while footsteps behind her rumbled with hooves and carriages. They were finally arriving to take her away.
Two ladies whom Lord Vespacelli had sent for Lilly's own personal use came into the room carrying three fans and a small trunk full of games to play on their ride out to the boundary between Italy and Bartelona. They bowed and smiled kindly towards Lilly, but the smile was strained. She wondered if it was forced or if it was shyness that kept them from allowing their smiles to burst in full. She was envious of them with their voluptuous figures of maintained balance, their skin so pure it glowed. She glanced up at the windows to see if the sun was causing it only to find clouds covering the sky like thick wool blanket. When had that set in? Her brow crumpled into confusion when Pridora came in dressed in her finest traveling suit that she owned. Her most expensive gown would be worn at the wedding.
The ceremony of Lillith's wedding would be small and simple, nothing aggravatingly long or splendid. Lord Vespacelli was saving that for later when she truly became a "Bartelonian." Lilly still didn't understand the context of those words. Did that mean right when they arrived? Or did it have an entirely different meaning…?
Pridora checked herself before asking the opinion of the ladies who were waiting patiently on Lilly's right and left. She wanted to shiver—the cold was with them as well. "How do I look, my dear?" Pridora grinned offering her best smile to Lilly. She had been kind enough not to show her remorse at her departure and had been the only one who felt it was in Lilly's best interest. Liam and Father left early so they wouldn't have to deal with the "cold ones". Lilly was a little aggravated at their nicknames for them. Yes, they were cold, but they couldn't help it. There was no sunlight in Bartelona—it must have become a normal trait of their people. Lilly gulped. Would she become as cold? Lilly shivered inwardly but her train of thoughts continued while Pridora came to straighten out her dress. She was able to manage a compliment to her mother before settling back into her own mind.
She still could not get the definition of her father's title for them to come out in full but he said it was because of their sins. Lilly decided to ignore it believing Corpus and his clan to be just as religious and goodly as they were. Had not his entourage treated her with respect asking little questions with the exceptions of inquiring to her health or status of leg?
"You look lovely." Lilly heard the ladies murmur in a sing song voice to her mother that was too sweet to stand. Lilly's heart sank. No, she wouldn't be going to a place where ladies would forgive her for being such a country bumpkin. They would surely laugh at her, call her names.
Lilly couldn't bring her tear filled eyes to her mother. How was she going to be able to fit in when everyone one of them was perfect? Each one the meaning of beauty? She was simple, nothing special pertaining to her features. She forced a smile on her lips when Pridora ordered that it was time to leave. Lillith's heart began to pound in her ears. She couldn't move her feet. They were rooted in place to the floorboards.
This wasn't happening. She wasn't leaving her home. She was in bed, dreaming. Tomorrow she would wake up and Marcellus would be there to tell them of their engagement. She would marry him and bear him children. She would see Liam who longed to have her company. Maleksi would cling to her skirts once more and they would all be happy. Pridora would chastise her for still climbing trees. Her father would ask Marcellus to take her on hunting trips like he used to do in the rare times of full harvest.
Pridora's eyebrows rose. "Is something wrong, Lilly?"
Lilly swallowed harshly. "I'm feeling nervous."
Pridora's motions went into mother mode, suddenly jumping at the chance to help her be comforted. She shot herself into a long speech about what it meant to be a wife and all the things she must do to make Corpus happy. Never did she mention children in this speech much to Lilly's dismay.
Her feet eventually gained momentum out of the house and onto the gravel outside in the front of the estate. Lilly turned around, the rain tinkling on her shrouded frame. The windows were dark now as if sad to see her go. Lilly's cheeks burned up, their pinkness enflaming her skin. Pridora's hand was instantly on her cheek, rubbing it softly to comfort her. This was something Lilly would miss truly—mother's love. There would be no mother where she was going. Only beauty and the cold. She made her eyes focus on her mother's sad expression. Her stronghold of emotions was breaking. Lilly could see it plainly in her eyes. This was the day she had dread since Lillith had come to them.
For two days they rode half in boredom and half in excitement. Lilly couldn't help but have butterflies in her stomach at the thought of actually being married. She would make a suitable match for Lord Vespacelli and might even become a grand woman of court. Lilly's mind swam with ideas of being introduced to the royal family—and she firmly ignored her gut feeling that that would never happen.
Pressing her face against the glass of her black and gold carriage that had recently been bought for her, she surveyed the upcoming grounds. There loomed the large encasement of tents all prepared for their marriage ceremony. It would be a long and tedious day but none the less she would be married.
"Now, Lillith, come down and I will explain the process to you." Pridora called from the woods outside the carriage.
Lilly took the hand of their driver right as her feet hit the cold ground. It would be the first of many things cold and hard she would have to deal with for centuries to come, unbeknownst to her. Pridora shrugged into a heavy cloak before handing Lilly her own cloak of silver that matched her gown to perfection. She hated it. She felt stuffy and worse of all—she felt like it didn't fit her. Men's clothes made her look more physically appealing, she thought at least.
Pridora's hand was firm on her arm as they made their way—all four of them, ladies of waiting included—towards the far left tent. She suspected Lord Vespacelli to be in there somewhere preparing himself for their marriage. That's when Lilly caught a good glimpse of what their carriage would have traveled into had they not stopped. Darkness, a thick covering of greenery, rain, mud, and grey skies. The trees were thicker in that direction and more scanty the other. This was where she would leave one life and start another.
Lilly's skin prickled into goose bumps for the first time in months just looking at the darkness ahead.
"…and Lord Vespacelli shall grant you two kisses on the cheek. You two will then be escorted to the marriage bed by the ceremony. But I warn you now that Lord Vespacelli has given us strict orders for you to be secretly taken off towards a separate set of chambers. The reason for this is a secret which I cannot reveal, but he shall tell you what this is all for later on."
Lilly had caught the last bit of her mother's speech but it didn't matter. She knew what was to happen having been taught it at an early age. She would enter into the room on the left and he on the right, they would join and the service would commence. They would bow, he would kiss her cheeks and then they would both be lead to straight to the back by the crowd of their wedding party. Corpus and Lilly would stand in the center, balanced, almost like equals except for the way in which they stood. Being on the left meant submissive and being on the right meant dominant. This was the way both of them would stand until the doors closed. But usually the deflowering would take place which made Lilly's curiosity spike. Did he not find her desirable? That could not be for if it were, Pridora would seem disappointed in her daughter.
Lilly stepped into the dark and musk scented room where she was to reside in her thoughts meandering as to how they would inform the people that they had consummated the marriage. She had little time to worry about that because her mother had decided it was high time for the dressing to commence.
Corpus glared out the flap of his doorway at the far off woods that surrounded them. What was she doing right now? Was she thinking of him? Was she imagining their wedding night?
Corpus stifled a laugh. Lillith would certainly not be thinking about that. Pridora had kept her bluntly innocent—rough around the edges—but she knew little of sex. Corpus sighed. He wished he could say the same…that she was his first. But being as he was a vampire and the bloodlust ran thick throughout his every intake of breath, sex made the draining of corpses even better. He thought, more than a couple times, that he could actually see heaven when he combined love making and the drinking of one's blood together. But alas, it was merely hell. His eternal damnation would never give him such a wondrous glimpse as that. Never again would he see heaven unless….
Corpus brutally shoved the thought from his mind. He wouldn't touch Lilly's blood until it was necessary! In fact, he wouldn't touch her at all if he could avoid it. His fists clenched uncontrollably. How was he going to handle that? Self preservation and patience was not a skill he handled easily. Hell! It took him this long to wait for her to be "accomplished" and now he was telling himself he wouldn't touch her. Maybe he would—while she was sleeping. Yes, he would lull her to sleep and then he would glide his fingers against her skin.
Corpus' face fell. Lilly would be so warm, pumping red hot liquid to her muscles and heart. He couldn't be that warm for her. He would be ice—like everything she about to jump into. There was hardly ever a sunny day in Bartelona and when there was, they all stayed indoors. What was the point of allowing a few moments of sun to trickle down onto the already cement skin of a monster? It would only upset them more seeing their skin sparkle like a diamond. God how they already felt like jewels locked up in a giant glass box for all to gawk at. Night was better for them and most of city thrived at night. But there were a few who preferred to keep the human schedule which was perfect for watching over the city.
Corpus moved around his side of the massive tent, acknowledging the sudden presence of his brothers. He paused in his thoughts hoping not to disturb them.
"Don't bother, Corpus. We've been listening to your moods shift for hours." Caius grumbled while he flung himself into a chair already seeming to be comfortable in his surroundings. Corpus sneered at him, the brutality of his features frightening a maid who had come into deliver a message.
"Damn! What was that message?" His attentions focused on the brother he held more closely to his liking. They were almost exactly the same. Long dark colored hair, though his was black and his brother's brown. Their features were both Grecian with a hint of the old Roman Empire lingering in their chiseled chins and noses. They were the only two that held a special art in their race despite the serenity that Marcus' being overflowed with—even after the murder of his wife. Corpus ignored the tremor in his heart at the thought of what Aro had done…his very own brother killing his other brother's wife. It had been such a mess.
Thankfully, Marcus was an obedient man who didn't wish to cause a stir. Unfortunately, he rarely ever spoke now.
The pull of the outside world brought him back to what Aro was whispering. "The establishment is ready."
Marcus help him shoulder on his Groom's jacket and all four of them stepped from the tent ready to meet the fate they had hoped on for so long. His entire race had. She was the key to their survival—little to Lillith's knowledge.
"Do you believe she will truly have the strength to do what must be done?" Caius said to quick for the humans who had gathered around us. "I have studied her. She carries herself with an air of uncertainty."
"She is innocent, dear Caius. It is only innocence and the belief that God will save her from all things terrifying that makes her appear so. But I see the Lillith I once knew." They wouldn't understand that. They don't think for one second that I knew her in heaven and in the ancient times of Christ. They thought that I was merely infatuated with the opportunity to wipe out the vampire slayers that followed Corpus' fellow creatures about. But they hadn't been there. They had only lived for a half a millennium with him. Corpus had saved all of his brothers from uncertain death—he had given them what they needed most. He chuckled to himself, remembering the first time they had discovered their powers.
Aro touched the back of Corpus' hand to see what he was amused by and laughed himself. "Those were certainly inconclusive times."
Corpus only nodded, having found himself in a daze. He had come to wait outside of the doors, impatient to enter on queue with eyes watching him. He sighed. Finally they would be sealed in matrimony and there was nothing they couldn't do together. They wouldn't be living in sin. They would simply be.
It was silent except for the traveling orchestra Corpus had ordered to attend. His eyes swept gracefully over the crowd that wasn't very large. A few people from his side and a few from hers. They all looked happily towards the door where Lillith would enter just as he would. No one was paying attention to him. Perfect. Just as he had planned.
The doors opened for both of them at the same moment. He couldn't loath himself for doing such a thing to Lilly without her acknowledgment. She would know what he was soon enough and she would want this life too. Or, at least, that's what he believed. He felt as if his chest would implode in an odd sort of combustion of air and muscle tissue. It was cold sweat now that kept him on his toes. What if she never fell back in love with him for what he was? This vile creature that tried his very best to fit in for her in her own town to make her comfortable, but would eventually return to his carnal behaviors? He would have to eat sometime. Possibly, he could leave without her noticing. Hunting trips were always acceptable...but he yearned to spend his time with her. She wouldn't be bored and yet...
His mind stopped working as his eyes focused on her. His train of thought had taken merely a fraction of a second compared to a mortal's, but Lillith had caught him off guard. He was just as observant as the rest of them and here she was throwing his conscious off guard by her new appearance in looks. The way she walked in—it was a miracle. She had suddenly transformed from the young female who commonly composed herself as a boy to that of an articulated lady. She usually pranced about her father's estate with the pose of a man, swinging her bow and arrow about, or carrying a paintbrush as if to suck the colors of life into it with the twirl of her tiny fingers. Everything about her was tiny, almost like a child and Corpus wondered if that was on purpose. If she had been born to be small for a particular reason. His lips quivered into a smirk. Maybe to make her soon-to-be-enemies underestimate her. He certainly did just by the way that she looked...but he knew better. The scar on his back left shoulder blade proved to him that he should never underestimate Lilly Dark.
Her gown was of muslim and silks, pearls and diamonds (he repressed another giggle to himself). The clouds sent of a reflection of shimmering light against her quiet posture that made her appear the fallen angel that he was. Corpus began to wonder if others thought the same—which he was determined to ask Aro about later. But all of that didn't matter. The browned gloss of her skin didn't matter. The way she floated resembling all of the ladies around her was nothing. The only thing that mattered was the assuredness of her steps, the still movements of her arms and hands as they met each other in the middle. But above all, it was the way she took his hand without revolt. Was she watching him with curiosity or fear? Was she screaming inside to run free from him? He was freezing, to be sure, but she held on as if she had held on all her life. What was she thinking about him?
He would have to retrieve the information from Aro when they arrived in Bartelona. He couldn't contain his curiosity anymore. He had to know. He needed to know what she thought of him now, at this moment, if she was worried or scared about her future with him. Whether or not she believed that he future life would be full of red eyes and the whitest faces she had ever laid her eyes on. His obsession with the idea spiked until he couldn't even comprehend his actions. He didn't even notice when they pecked each other on the cheeks. It would never be enough for him to just kiss her on the cheek. He wanted to kiss her everywhere....
His attention snapped back for the second time that day and that was more frustrating than anything. She was taking his attention from life—and he wasn't sure if he didn't like it.
They were walking towards the back of the tents, the party following. They're hands were intertwined, stretched out before them and he thought she was accepting how different he was. But when his eyes found her face underneath the veil, he could detect the blue that was coming from her lips, her chin quivering. Her mother and the rest of the party would believe it to be tears that struck her—but that was all wrong. She was cold, shivering, encased in ice when touching him. If this made her cold…
He couldn't bring himself to think of what would happen in Bartelona.
As soon as he could, he dropped her hand. The crowd had clapped and cheered, wishing them children. Even a few of his own gave the empty blessing that would never come to them. The party left, including her mother, and they were alone. It would only be for a little while, but they were alone. And they were allowed to do this because…Corpus couldn't suppress the smile…because they were married.
Without touching her, he lifted the veil from her face to fully see the expression that lay there. A sigh of relief threatened to leave his lungs. "There you are." He whispered so quickly she wouldn't even have noticed his lips move. With his eyes he traced her features pleased to find that there was nothing of fear or hatred—just plain curiosity and the want of a fire and wool blanket. His lips turned down knowing that he couldn't keep her from reviving her vital organs again. Leaning down, he planted the smallest kiss he had ever given her, making their previous wedding pecks seem like devouring kisses of passion. Corpus could not bring himself to touch her, however, because of the way she shivered just standing next to him. She may have been like the sun upon his skin, but he would always be the ice that traped it.
"Well, Lady Vespacelli, I bid you goodnight." He turned and left for his flap that lead secretly towards his other chambers having all the knowledge in the world that he would never be able to shut his eyes. She would sleep sound yet he would stand staring at the colors in the night dreaming about laying next to her alive. He paused at the flap finding guilt rise in his throat. Lilly really must hate him for leaving like this, not even giving an ounce of explanation. Corpus glanced over his shoulder at her, taking her in one last time until the carriage ride in the morning. "Your mother will see to your dressing. Until tomorrow."