Little Princess
Ketti:So, I didn't quite make five updates yesterday. Let's see if I can hit two more today! (1/3) This chapter helps lead into more of the ideas I have for the rest of the story, and it's just adorable. Hopefully three and up will be longer, but we'll see what the muse says. (This is actually a rewrite of the second half, my computer froze, and didn't save the right version. Ugh.)
(*_*) ^(*_*)^ (*_*)
"Would you like another cookie?" Lady Linwood asked as she held out the plate, her dainty white gloves holding steady despite the slight tremble around her mouth as her golden eyes flicked to the mousy brown haired bespectacled male at her side. He raised his empty tea cup to her in a salute as he crossed his ankle over his knee, reclining comfortably in the tiny child sized seat.
Seras nodded and took an almond cookie from the plate, biting it daintily, and patting her chin with the napkin in her lap.
Mister Bear coughed into his hand politely before continuing his story about The Great War, and his role as the Commander at the battle of Bloodwell Hill. Seras nodded as she listened to him tell of his own soldiers' bravery and sacrifice s they were overrun by the enemy's lycan pack.
"Oh enough of this terrible slaughter! This is a tea party." Lady Linwood scolded the giant of a man, who looked disgruntled, his bushy mustache quivering as he was interrupted.
"I thought it was interesting," Seras admitted, as she finished her cookie and took a sip of her tea. Lady Linwood frowned but didn't reply.
"Princess Seras, I daresay that ladies shouldn't enjoy such rough speech," the bespectacled man spoke up, a newcomer to her tea party, his silver eyes made her think of the morning fog. "What would the King say if he knew you were talking about killing men and bloody wars?"
Seras shrugged. "I think the King would like me to talk of blood. He is a vampire after all." She admitted as she poured herself another cup, and the bespectacled man chuckled knowingly.
"But Mummy and Daddy would say that blood and death are grownup things, I suppose."
As if on cue, her Mummy's voice called for her from down the hall, and she canted her head to the side, listening.
"Seras! Dinnertime! Come and wash up!" Seras hadn't realized how late it was! She stood and curtsied to her guests. "My Mummy calls, so I must leave. Please excuse me," she said politely, giving another curtsey for good measure. Not only would her parents hate for her to be impolite, but she was a princess after all, and the King would have expected her to be setting a good example for the other vampires in the kingdom.
Her guests, of course, nodded and bid her good night in equally polite tones as the little girl picked up her skirts and ran from the room, her dress slippers making not a sound on the stone floor. She didn't have to go far before she met her Mummy in the hall and she jumped into her arms with a squeal, laughing as she was tossed up and caught, spinning a few times for good measure. "Mummy!"
"Hello, luv," her Mummy said, nuzzling their noses together, "c'mon then, it's time for dinner."
Seras nodded, and snuggled happily against her Mummy's side as she was propped on the familiar hip and taken into their private quarters. They had their own little kitchen! And Seras had her own room, and her parents had theirs, and they had their own little house within the castle walls.
Her Daddy was here at the table and Seras waved excitedly to him, despite seeing him just that morning. He grinned, waving back, and opened his arms for a hug. She leapt from Mummy's arms to her Daddy and snuggled in close to him, tickling her cheeks on his beard.
They had a grand dinner, Seras' favorite stew and delicious bread, and when that was done her Mummy picked her up and walked her over to the bed, tucking her in with a story.
"Night, Mummy, night Daddy." Seras chanted as they stood in the doorway. Her lids closed over blue eues and she lay her head down on the pillow.
The sneaky child waited for her parents' door to close, listening for any noise from their room. She waited, counting the seconds and minutes until she was sure they were asleep. Pulling her pillows together under the blankets, she slid off the bed and pulled on her favorite blue and white dress with the puffy sleeves. Biting her lip to muffle her giggles, Seras crept carefully to her door and pressed her ear to the wood. Nothing.
Pushing it open very slowly, she closed it just as softly, taking quick but silent steps down the small hallway and out their rooms to the main hall where she passed a few servants who gave her odd looks. She greeted them with a smile, waving as she scampered to the nearest window.
The moon was just rising out of view, and she grinned in triumph, laughing quietly as she ran down the halls, taking a left to veer away from the throne room to the grand dining room.
Screeching to a halt just shy of hitting the double doors, one of the guards crouched down to her level to meet her, "Hello, Little Princess. Do your parents know you're awake?"
Seras grinned, mischief glowing in her sky blue eyes as she giggled and shook her head. He chuckled and nodded, opening the door for her, and she slipped into the vast room with ease, running up the length of the great big table to the King's great big chair. She scrambled up the three steps, nearly tripping on her own skirt, and just barely avoided stepping on Baskerville's tail. The dog regarded her with vague interest before putting his head back down on his paws and she patted the soft fur of his forehead before scrambling up his back, using the hound as a foot stool to reach Card's chair. He was talking with someone, and she wobbled a bit as she stood on Baskerville's back before tipping forward and crawling into his lap, large hands securing her balance and tugging her into place as her feet slipped.
The person Card was talking to sucked in their breath sharply and Seras turned her head to observe a very pretty man with glasses staring at her. Seras blinked, then giggled, realizing the man was actually a Lady, but she wore a man's shirt and breeches, though they looked very nice and fancy on her.
Suddenly shy at interrupting their conversation, Seras buried her face against Card's side and peeked out at the Lady with one eye, waving her fingers in greeting.
"That is a child," the Lady spoke, and Seras frowned a bit. Of course she was a child, did the Lady think she would be a monkey?
"Yes," Card purred smugly as he petted her hair, and she hummed happily, leaning into the touch, "she is."
Seras observed with some alarm as the Lady glared at her, and she whined, pushing herself closer to Card, wondering what she did wrong. Tears gathered in her eyes, and she sniffled.
"How cruel, Sir Integra," he purred, voice silky and low, menace dripping from every word, "you made her cry."
"Child!" The Lady-called-Sir snapped, and Seras jumped, eyes wide, lower lip trembling, "get away from that monster."
"No!" Seras shouted petulantly, grabbing a hold of Card's cape and pulling it around herself defiantly. "You're not the boss of me," she sniffed, raising her nose in the air, "I'm a good girl, and I only do what my King says. So there!" She stuck her tongue out rudely, and jumped when the Lady-called-Sir made a move towards her, cringing against Card's side as he laughed.
"You see, Sir Integra?" He mocked, "she quite likes it here. Don't you Seras?"
Peeking up at him, she grinned, showing off all her teeth – no gaps for her! – and reached up to pet his cheek as he looked down at her, his own impressive fangs bared in his mirth. "My King is the best King," she chirped, "the biggestest and bestest monster!"
He chuckled lowly, and his deep laugh made her bones tickle, pulling her against him possessively with one arm, the edge of his cloak still wrapped around her like a blanket.
The Lady-called-Sir hissed something under her breath, but Seras ignored her. She was mean! Seras didn't want to play with her at all.
Card reached for his golden goblet to take a sip and Seras perked in interest, trying to see over the rim. She was kinda thirsty.
Standing on his thigh, she barely reached his chin as she wobbled on tip toe, trying to look into the King's cup. His chest rumbled with laughter as he lowered it for her, and the mean Lady-called-Sir gasped, making a disgusted noise. Seras inspected the red liquid curiously, "What's that taste like?"
"It's not a drink for children!" The Lady-called-Sir snapped, but Seras looked up at her King with wide curious eyes. His lips twisted with dark humor, and his ginger eyes gleamed. "Would you like to try a sip and find out?"
"Yes, please!" Seras chirped, and she felt all the eyes on the room turn to her, but she was used to that, and ignored it as he held the cup so that she could bring the edge to her own mouth, taking a tiny sip.
It was salty! And tasted weird, kinda heavy and tangy, and she didn't like it. Making a face, she pushed it away, "Ewie."
Card laughed so hard she nearly fell out of his lap, the sound covering Integra's sigh of relief at Seras' reaction to the blood, and he set the goblet down on the table. "It's an aquired taste, Little Monster."
"Oh." Seras paused, "what's a-…uh-qui-erred?"
"It means you need to be older," he grinned, a bit of red staining his teeth, "before you start to like it."
"Oh," Seras repeated, then made a face, "I like sweet things more than salty."
There was a murmur of laughter around the table, and Seras blinked, wondering what she'd said.
The talking started back up again, and Seras yawned, feeling rather tired suddenly. Curling up in Card's lap, she tucked her head against his arm and pulled his cape over her. She was too sleepy to stay up, and Mummy and Daddy would be mad if she slept in…
Sir Integra glared heatedly at the No Life King as he held the slumbering child to him, like a lion cuddling a lamb. "You've fallen to new lows, vampire."
He looked utterly amused as he turned his hellish gaze upon her, "Insulting a ruler in his own kingdom. How foolish. Then again, you Hellsing always have been an amusing lot."
"She is a child!" Integra hissed, glacial stare burning holes in the undead monster's skin.
He smirked at her, licking his fangs obscenely, "Yes," he agreed, "but not for much longer. Another decade or so will change that."
"What's stopping me from taking her from you?" Integra asked coldly, Walter standing at hr back.
Alucard, Dracula, Vlad Teppes, the No Life King, whatever title he called himself, he was still a monster. He sneered at her as he held the girl closer to himself, "What makes you think I'd let you? And even if you did succeed, do you think she would stay with you willingly? You heard her," he purred, "she's a good girl who listens to her King."
Integra felt disgust boiling in her chest and she stood, the farce of a dinner over with, and she felt the eyes of his unholy court pinning her to the spot. "You're a damned thing, hellspawn, but the girl can still be saved. She is an innocent, a child! This is not the last you will hear of us." She threatened lowly before turning her back boldly on the vampires, Walter at her side as she departed the castle.
So much for negotiations, the monster would never change. Once a monster, always a monster.