I awoke to find the eyes of the raven prince, Mika Ver Leth, staring at me uneasily. I yawned and smiled softly. "Good morning, Mika." I whispered, noticing that Lily was still asleep. He raised a brow at me as Darren stirred from his sleep. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked awkwardly. I looked down to see that at some point in my sleep, I straddled Darren and he had wrapped his arms around my waist.
I blushed and pushed myself up from a confused and sleepy Darren. "Um, no, I, uh, what do you want?" I stuttered as I pulled my cut offs back on. He smirked some and cleared his throat. "Well, we have come to a decision regarding the child. Paris requests that you bring her to the Hall of Princes in an hour so that we may present judgment." Mika said.
"We?" Darren asked as he pulled on his shirt. Mika nodded. "Yes, we. All the Princes will pass judgment to her." Mika said. My eyes widened. "Are you serious?" I gasped. Mika nodded. I glared at him. "What the hell, Mika! She's only like, what, five years old? And she's only a human! I won't let this stand. I won't let her face you alone." I hissed.
Mika sighed. "She wouldn't be alone. Did you not here me? I said 'Princes', not 'Princes and Princess.'" He said, giving me a wink. I sighed in relief. "Oh thank God." I muttered. I heard a little yawn and a squeak, signaling me that Lily was awake. I turned to her and smiled.
"Hey sleepy head." I said, picking her up. She yawned again and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "Morning, momma." She smiled. I grinned at her. "We have to go back to the Princes soon, so we need to get cleaned and dressed, okay baby?" I asked her, setting her down on her feet. She nodded and took my hand.
I looked up to Mika. "We have an hour, right?" I asked him. He nodded and turned to Darren. "Oh, and Larten has been looking for you, he said he had something important to tell you." He said before ducking out of the doorway. I sighed and looked at Darren. "I guess I'll see you soon, then?" I asked. He nodded and hugged me. "I'll see you later." He said. He crouched down to Lily's level.
"Bye Lily, you look after your momma, okay?" he said. She giggled and nodded excitedly. I rolled my eyes as he came back up to my level. He hesitated and gave me a quick kiss. I blushed as he pulled away grinning. "See you soon, love." He said before walking out.
An hour later…
"Lily, come on! We can't be late for this!" I said, pulling her up on my back and running to the Hall of Princes. We were running a little because Lily had been difficult with the bath, what with it being cold water, and so I had no choice but to bend some of the water from the waterfall so that it would rinse her off.
I was welcomed by my mentor when I reached the doors. He was frowning at me. "Vanessa, one does not keep a Prince waiting, especially not on a decision as important as this." He chastised as we walked in together, a few guards closing it behind us. I snorted, shoving some hair out of my face. 'Well, it's a good thing I'm a Princess then, eh?" I retorted.
He merely rolled his eyes and took his seat on the edge of the bench in the first row so that he was sitting next to me. I looked up at Paris. "My apologies, Sire Paris. Children aren't very fond of cold baths." I joked. He smiled and nodded. "It is fine; you made it just in time." He said. I nodded and let Lily off my back and held her hand.
Paris cleared his throat and the few Generals that came to the meeting fell silent. "My fellow Vampires, we are here today to give judgment to a young girl who has come here with Princess Vanessa." He said. Murmurs broke through the crowd. Arrow held up his hand, calling for silence.
"We have decided that she may stay human if it is her wish." Arrow said. I sighed in relief and gave Lily a comforting squeeze. "But," Mika said, picking up where Arrow left off. "If it is her wish to stay human, she must leave this place and never come back." He finished. My heart fell, my knees shook, and I fell to my feet, tears threatening to come through.
"Vanessa, do you understand what we are saying?" Paris asked softly. I looked up at him slowly, willing myself not to cry. "I can't…she can't stay with me if she says no?" I whispered. Paris shook her head no. I bit my lip and looked at Mr. Crepsley for help. They were trying to take this girl—no, my child—away from me, surely he would understand. He shook his head slowly. "They have made their decision, Vanessa." He said. I started shaking slightly.
"Momma…it's okay. You can come home with me; we can go back to the circus." She said, oblivious. I shook my head. "No Lily…I can't." I whispered to her. She stared at me, shocked. "But…but you're my momma! You have to stay, momma!" she started screaming. I grabbed my hair and squeezed my eyes shut, shaking my head. "No, Lily…Lily I'm not your momma. Momma is gone, I'm so sorry, Lily." I looked up into her teary eyes. "Lily, I will find you a family, I'll leave tonight if I have to." I said. She started bawling. I shook my head.
"Baby, no. you must be quiet." I whispered. She shook her head and kept crying. Mr. Crepsley came up behind her and knocked her out with his breath and then picked her up, setting her down on my throne. "Vanessa, I am sorry." He said quietly. I shook my head. "I knew it was coming…I was naïve to think they would allow her to stay." I said, rubbing my tears away with the back of my hands.
"Vanessa? There are other matters of business we must speak to you about." Paris said. I nodded. "Yes sir, what is it?" I asked shakily. "While you were gone, Mr. Tiny came to the Mountain, telling us of three Vampires who would seek out and only they could kill the Vampaneze Lord." Arrow said. I frowned. "Oh? Is that so…" I murmured, something tickling the back of my mind. He nodded. "Yes, the hunters are Vancha March, Darren, and Larten." He said. Every cell in my body froze.
"No…no, you can't do it." I said sternly. "Not without your help." Mika said. I raised a brow at him. "How can I help?" I asked him. "You know Steve; his strengths, his weaknesses. How he travels, how heavily guarded he is." Mika said. I frowned. "So, I provide the information and then send two Princes and my mentor off to their deaths?" I asked, seething. Paris glared. "Vanessa, silence yourself. Yes, two of our warriors will die, but one will live." Paris said.
I stared at Darren and my mentor, all the nightmares that have been plaguing my mind for the past few years starting to click. They weren't dreams…they were vision of what were to come. Maybe…maybe there's something I can do… I thought. I bit my lip and nodded slowly. "I will provide the information, on one condition." I said. Darren glared at me. "Vanessa, no. This is our destiny, not yours."
I glared back at him. "Hush, Darren. You don't know what you're talking about." I turned to Paris. "I go with them." I said. "Absolutely not!" Larten roared. IU turned to him. "Why not? Because it's dangerous? I don't care! You have to trust me when I say that I know more about this than you do!" I snapped. He shook his head. "Vanessa, you will not go, as your mentor, I forbid you to." He hissed. I glared. "Well, as Vampire Princess, I allow myself to go!" I hissed back.
"Enough!" Arrow shouted. We were silenced immediately. "You are acting like children! Vanessa, you will not go. Only three Vampires are allowed to make this journey, you may not go." He said. I groaned. "But Arrow, you don't understand!"
"And you do?" Darren yelled. I gave him a stiff nod. "Yes, yes I do. I know what's going to happen; you have to let me go!" "No, Vanessa! I won't let you come with us; I won't let you anywhere near him again, not after everything he's done to you." Darren said. I started shaking in rage; the temperature started rising slowly, steadily. "Darren, I will be part of this. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way." I growled.
By now, everyone had gone silent and watched our showdown. "Oh really now? And what's the hard way?" he hissed. I stared at him for a long time before speaking. "I will fight for my clan, even if I have to be along side the Vampaneze to do." I said.
Silence.
"This is treason!"
"She's crazy!"
"Traitor!"
I heard all of these after those words left my lips, but none of them hurt as much as the look on Darren's face. Appall, anger, depression, hurt, betrayal. "Darren, I know how this is going to end. Those nightmares I've been having since Sam died? They're not dreams, they're visions, and I can stop them from happening, it's my destiny. I know it is, so please let me come with you." I whispered.
He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, burying his face into my hair as the other Princes tried to keep Larten and one of the Generals from having it out because of some rather rude names the General called me.
"Vanessa, I can't. Don't you know what you're doing? I could lose you forever." He said, his voice choking up. "And I could lose you forever, Darren, if I don't do something about it. You and Larten both…Darren please, you two are the only ones I have left. I couldn't do anything but sit back and watch as my mother and my cousin died, please don't make me watch you and Larten die too." I whispered. He stiffened and looked at me. "Your mother? Vanessa, who is your mother?" he asked, confused. I shook my head. "Now isn't a good time Darren." I whispered. He stared at me. "You have to tell me, you know this right?" he said. I nodded. He hesitated and walked over to Mr. Crepsley, whispering into his ear. At first, Mr. Crepsley seemed angry, but Darren quickly whispered to him and finally, Larten sighed in defeat.
"Paris...I believe taking Vanessa with us would be a choice we should make. After all, we could use her as bait, it seems that all Steve wants is her." Larten said. I stared at Paris pleadingly. "Please, Paris. I could find Lily a new home too, and I swear I wouldn't' be any trouble or get in their way." I urged. He thought for a long time before sighing.
"You will be the death of me, my child. I spoil you too much." He said, sighing. I bowed low. "Thank you, Paris, thank you so much." He nodded and looked at Darren, Larten and I. "We will send you off tomorrow." He said. We nodded and left to make our preparations for our journey.
Look out Steve, I'm coming for you…I will get my revenge.
Sorry if this seems really bad and rushed, I'm trying to get this fic done so I can really start on the sequel :) I can't believe this story is coming to a close…oh dear, I'm so proud of this little fic and so thankful and grateful to my readers and reviewers.