Morning in Bartelona wasn't really morning at all. It came to Lilly in a slow process, the skies darkened over with an enduring rain that pounded against her windows with a vengeance. Slowly she sat up to survey her surroundings. She wasn't home anymore and it took her a moment to recollect where she was. Sitting up completely she found it oddly easy to move around. She glanced down noticing that she was only in a nightgown. Had someone undressed her? How? She was a light sleeper and any subtle noise woke her. Her eyes met the doors of a large wardrobe and to it she scampered. The floor was freezing the moment her skin met the stone. It was worse than any part of Corpus.

Throwing open the doors, she found blankets, blankets, and more blankets. There was another wardrobe across the room but that proved to be even less helpful. She found only various colored fabric that hung down like drapes from their ties. None of her original or new outfits could be found. So, what were these for?

Running back across the room she dug out several blankets, hoped back into the bed that swallowed her whole, and arranged all of them around her to keep the heat retained. She knew it must have been early morning and that no one would come to wake her for a few hours.

She fell back asleep her eyelids moving with the scenery of home and her family. When she woke, it was nightfall. How could she have slept so long without anyone knowing? Someone would have woken her.

Lilly sat up once more to find a visitor sitting calmly in an ornate chair of oak wood. Her husband.

"Why did you not wake me?" The first words out of her mouth were not supposed to be accusing and yet she couldn't help but make them so.

"You needed to sleep. The rain soothes you. Plus, you looked so peaceful I did not have the heart to…wake you." The words were so kind that Lilly was stunned. Smiling, he stood up from his spot and planted himself beside her bed. "I had Didyme place you in something more comfortable. She has decided that she likes you."

Already she was making friends and she hadn't left the solace—or entrapment—of the room. "Th-thank you. Is this…is this my room?"

"For now until you find a place suited to your liking. You may choose any place to stay."

"Then, if that is the case, will you unlock the doors?"

His lips twitched. "They've been unlocked. I forgot to mention that the doors stick when it's cold outside."

"Which is all the time."

"Precisely."

"Is there anything else you have forgotten to mention, my lord?"

"Yes." He was grinning now. "Stop calling me that. Protocol is much different here and I prefer it if you revered me by my name, Corpus…of Corpse for short or—" His words caught in his throat and the grin vanished.

Lilly didn't press the matter further. She had a feeling Corpus was a man who needed time to explain things. There was other business to attend to. "Corpus?"

His attention snapped back to her from his lost meanderings in the mind. Eyes blazing, he urged her to go onward.

"Would you like to sit down?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "That would not be wise."

"I could use some company."

"I'm right here talking to you."

Out of options Lilly spoke the first thing that came to her mind. "I'm no strumpet but I assure you I can do my best to please you."

Corpus' lips tightly sealed themselves off into a thin line of disapproval. "Good night. Didyme will see to the explaining of protocol in the morning."

He left her awkwardly and she began to cry. Was this her punishment for climbing trees? She had been a good Catholic, a worthy servant. Of course she didn't attend mass every Sunday because she had to help father find food for the table and of course she didn't say her prayers every night because she was working all day cleaning the house.

Slamming herself back down on the pillows she brought her hands up to her face. Is it because she was too strong? Did Corpus somehow know that she was abnormally destructive? The headboard wouldn't survive under her fingertips.

She turned herself around to face the wood that elegantly enforced the bed. Placing a hand on it, she gripped a piece and pulled.

Nothing.

But now her hand hurt. She yanked out her fingers to look at the damage. There was a small cut with a trickle of blood leaping wondrously down her palm lines. Lilly didn't curse but looked about for something to cover it up. Why didn't her strength break the damn thing? This had never happened to her before. She had never….

Glancing down at her leg she realized that it had. She had broken her leg. Never in her life while climbing trees had she broken any bones or received any scrapes. She was uncharacteristically strong for a human being. In fact, after the town fair, she was the recipient of many bumps, scrapes, bruises, hits, whacks, and thwacks. She hadn't crushed Corpus' hand either while holding on to it with all her might.

What was wrong with her? One day she had it and the next….

After the fair which meant after she had met Corpus.

There was a knock on the door and before Lilly could run to grab something to cover herself, Didyme appeared. "Good evening, Lilly."

Lilly stood there like a frightened child caught doing something naughty. The blood from her hand dribbled onto the stone of the floor. Didyme acted is if she heard it, her eyes narrowing on the small drop of blood on the floor.

The look Lilly beheld was unlike any other. Didyme's eyes slowly crept up the length of her body and around her flesh. Her eyes sparkled with some new found emotion she had yet to discover. Lilly took a step back in retreat. Those eyes were not the ones she had been greeted with. "Didyme?" She whispered to the woman hoping that her cracked voice would reach her.

With one snap, it was gone. She smiled, instant warmth reassuring Lilly that what she had just witnessed was most likely shock from seeing her hurt. In only a few minutes she was bandaged, the blood gone, and striped naked of her clothing.

"Tonight we have a dinner celebration being held in your honor. Corpus has changed his mind on me speaking with your in the morning and he has requested to get you dressed."

The items that were pulled from a wardrobe were odd to Lilly. Did people actually where these? She took a quick look at Didyme to find her dressed in robes of all colors, her hair wildly cascading down her back, jewels entwined in it. Was she to be dressed like that?

"I must teach you protocol of Bartelona. Don't worry, it is nothing compared to the rules of the Italian court." Didyme faced her, a soft emotion leaping about her face. It was love. Love for Lilly? She could not tell. Possibly it was kindness—or pity. Didyme would probably be her only friend…and they were related somewhat through marriage. Slipping the thin material of a dark purple, Didyme's hands brushed along Lilly's skin. Coldness surrounded her. "Here in Bartelona we dress differently. It is to keep our skin protected from—the cold. We enjoy it but we have always been cold so the more warmth, the better. These robes have all been hand selected from you for a reason. Only the Lady of the village is allowed to wear the color purple." She titled up my chin to get a better look at my eyes. "And a true Lady you are." Endless robed were wrapped around her in intricate patterns with ropes of gold's and purples. It was almost Grecian the way she looked in her small figure draped in endless variations of purple. "I believe that these styles derived from Vladimir and Stefan's people but they would be unhappy about it." Her grim smile was disturbing as she went on to explain. "They ruled a thousand years before but Corpus drove them from here with the help of his brothers and renamed their establishment. Vladimir and Stefan were the only ones to survive the attack and now hate us for it."

Lilly's eyebrows rose. "Corpus?"

Didyme's fast paced hands that were tying her robes together stopped abruptly. "I meant Corpus' ancestor. His name was Corpus as well."

Somehow, no matter how irrevocably happy she suddenly felt, she didn't believe Didyme. And for some reason…it didn't matter.

"Now to your hair. Ugh, these braids must be forgotten. Our hair is meant to shine with the beauty of our people, not scrunched in tight braids." One by one, Lilly's hair fell down in a wildly curled state. It was usually straight with a few kinks here and there, but today it was massively curly. It took Didyme only a few minutes to arrange it in the same fashion as hers placing golden strings—or what looked like strings but were actually chains—around the back of her hair that connected to pieces that sat on her ears. Purple mixed with gold were then shimmering from around her like a hazy glow of colorful light. She didn't wish to look in the mirror, however, knowing she would never amount to the beauty that stood next to her. Didyme was a Goddess. Lilly was a farmer's daughter.

"I sense that you are very unhappy with your dressing."

"I just," Lilly turned her eyes down to her slightly tanned fingers, "can't pull it off as well as you."

There was an arm around her shoulder. "Of course you don't. Each woman has their own elegance about them and I may look good in a certain color, but for you, purple makes you look ethereal. You fit in with us and soon—someday when Corpus is ready—you will be better than any of us. Has he told you the truth yet—of why he chose you, I mean?"

Shaking her head, Lilly willed herself to look into Didyme's calm eyes.

"I will leave that to him, then. But you are very important to us, Lillith. Don't forget that."

Didyme took Lilly's already shivering hand and led them both out the door.

Picking at his food with disinterest, Corpus waited for the guest of honor to arrive. He didn't want to make a big show of her arrival but his brother had other plans. Aro had taken immediate liking to Lilly just because he found her thoughts "fascinating". If he even laid a finger on her tonight…

"Brother, you have been very quiet tonight. Is it because of what Aro told you?" Caius was enjoying the pain that racked through his brother with each hour that Lillith resided in the palace.

"No."

"It's not as bad as all that. She is a mere human," he spat the word, "so her mind cannot grasp the complexity of what you are. You will need to show her."

Corpus had no doubt that Lilly was already piecing things together. That's how she always worked. And once she found the answer she would endure any pain, torture, or annoyance to get what she wanted. He knew that when she did figure things out there would be no hope in keeping her humanity. He would have to change her because the more time they spent together, the more their emotions bonded. They wouldn't be able to leave each other now without causing physical pain and very soon it would be awkward to not be in the same room. Yet time would take its course in revealing to her the truth of her new home. "I cannot show her. She needs to find out for herself."

"As you wish. I'm not surprised that the girl is confused but I am surprised that she isn't cowering in fear. It is strange fore if I had not been able to open a door that I thought to be locked, I would have screamed for terror—if I were a mortal that is."

"She has been taught that whatever I wish is her command. That will soon be changing." Corpus smiled into his hands as he rubbed his face clean of emotion. Lilly and Didyme were coming. Everyone gathered—the whole village—was quieting with the approach of her footsteps. They pounded throughout the room and Corpus smirked. They were rushed, tapping eloquently along like a little child's. He glanced at Aro across the room that held onto the newly found child of tormenting ideas. Jane glared at Corpus before smiling lovingly. She blew a kiss and then turned back to her master. If anything went wrong Jane would take care of it.

The doors opened without a squeak. There were bright lights from the hall and for a moment the two figures were black blobs illuminated from behind. Corpus's world slowed down, each movement that Lilly took radiated around the room. There was a small breeze from the open windows and her hair billowed out, the purple amethysts sparkling, flickering, twinkling about her. Her eyes were filled with the feeling of being obscure, out of place, and self conscious. Her eyes glanced down to the floor and he could hear the breath that she sucked in.

But Lillith was not beautiful because of the looks she made or the way she walked or was dressed. Her scent was more alluring to him than any other persons—vampire or human. It wasn't because she smelt like roses or musk—which she didn't. It was because when he inhaled, he felt home. Corpus felt like his wife had come home.

Leaping up from his chair, he calmly made his way towards Lilly. The air stirred behind him and a few of his people groaned in longing. They knew the consequence if they touched her…they knew.

He paused in front of her not caring if he exhaled. She was immaculate, simply graceful. He took her hand quickly impatient to hold it in his. Her skin was cold and with a snap of his fingers, the windows closed. She glanced about in the dim light, unsure and completely aware of the people glaring at her with red eyes. Then her eyes fell on the food and he could just hear her stomach screaming for something to eat.

"Thank you, Didyme, for your kindness." He turned to Lilly. "Shall we?"

The two of them went to dinner and ate with Corpus dreading the hour when he would throw all of the food up. She watched him eat his first bite. His chuckle rippled underneath his breath at the small sigh she relieved. He was right—she had been placing things together.

The evening went on just as jovial as it could be. Everyone was polite to her much to Corpus's surprise. She was shy to all of them yet that wouldn't stop his people. Lilly was the key and they wanted to know that she was the right one. Didyme was by her side, holding her hand the entire time.

Corpus was more than relieved himself to see things go so well. Didyme had taken to her like a sister, Caius was quiet and non-responsive on the happy outcome of her arrival, no one had tried to kill her, Lilly wasn't hounding him with questions, and the enemies that lingered far off would not bother him with the news of his new beloved.

Corpus's mind drifted off happily into ease knowing little of the plot that would soon tear up his coven….