Yeah, it has been years! But I found that spark I lost and had to come update. Hopefully people see it, cus FF alerts have been an absolute mess.
To anyone who finds their way back here… thank you!
To anyone who finds this when I copy it over to AO3… there was a loooong wait from ch38 to now haha.
-YD-
"Hello darling. Won't you invite me in?"
Vlad blinked, still reeling in shock. He stepped back, inviting her in before he had a chance to fully think it through. His unlife had been so damned messy lately, a lapse in judgement was inevitable.
Magda Westenra slithered in to Stokely Castle, and Vlad realised a beat later that one reason having her there was a terrible idea was currently standing in the throne room. Wearing…
"Is that mine? Good garlic, your father is getting worse. What is she, a hundred?"
Ingrid was immediately annoyed, Vlad could tell as she crossed her arms and scowled up and down at Magda.
"I'm sixteen. And it might have been yours, but it clearly looks much better on me."
His mother turned to Vlad, as though it was up to him to explain. He sighed quietly.
"Mum, this is Ingrid. She took some of the stuff you left behind back in Transylvania. It was fair to assume you didn't want it back. Ingrid, this is my mother."
The two women continued to stare at each other. Vlad had to look away briefly when Ingrid bared her fangs, because he was not having uncomfortable and forbidden thoughts in front of his mother.
"So is this one yours? Surely you could do better now Vladdy."
Oh, that was a loaded question.
"Oh, so that's why you're here. You heard about Vlad's new title and wanted to get in on the action."
Ingrid spat back, and despite Vlad not having spoken that much about his mum, Ingrid seemed to have sussed her out already - it sounded right even before that brief uncomfortable look on Magda's face. Vlad gestured subtly for Ingrid to come stand by him. She sped over, already pretty good at zooming through the air near-silently.
"The thing is... Ingrid is my sister. A Dracula."
He left off the Dimidius, and watched the cogs turn as Magda did the maths in her head. As though summoned by imminent threats, the Count chose that exact moment to swoop dramatically into the room.
"Magda?"
"You! This is your spawn?"
The venom in Magda's voice came along with a sharp crack of thunder, showing her rage. Vlad watched his dad wince, then straighten up.
"You are hardly in a position to take the moral high ground on fidelity! What's wrong, bored until the next full moon you fur-loving witch?"
Oh great. His parents were having a spat. Right as Vlad was expecting…
Knock.
Yep, perfect timing. Vlad groaned to himself.
"That will be Roque. Renfield!"
He sent Renfield to answer the door, then went to grab his crown from his room. As he descended the stairs, Vlad saw Roqueloire staring at the vampires who were at the 'throwing things' part of their argument.
"Evening Roque."
"Good evening Your Grandness. Is this normal behaviour here sir?"
"Only when my mum visits. Anything you can do?"
Roque frowned, and Vlad hadn't been entirely serious but the security vamp didn't seem to pick up on that. He raised two fingers to his mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. That was enough to shock even his parents out of their fight.
"Now what!?"
Magda glared over at Roqueloire with a huff. He indicated Vlad, then gave the two adults a look Vlad could only describe as 'disappointed teacher'.
"The Grand High Vampire requires peace and quiet to work efficiently. Would you mind taking this feud elsewhere?"
"Which is why I came here. To ensure my boy has the best guidance!"
Vlad winced at the simpering tone of his mum, then shook his head.
"I have a tutor. And dad doesn't get a say in what I'm doing either, even though he's actually been here to raise me."
The sharp intakes of breath he heard from everyone else was quite something, especially given none of them actually needed to draw breath.
"Would you like me to remove them sir?"
Vlad considered it. A lot.
"No, they can go fight in the crypt or something. Safer here than out in Stokely Village."
The Count clapped, then turned with a dramatic cape twirl.
"Excellent idea! I keep my best weapons down there! Come along Renfield!"
"Yes Master!"
Vlad watched the three disappear, then turned back to Roque.
"Sorry about that. She never actually gives any warning she plans to turn up."
"Oh, no apology needed sir. The tales my daughter could tell of her mother… but that is not a professional matter."
Vlad inclined his head in agreement.
"Here was me thinking he was only ever married to the job."
Ingrid quipped, and Vlad caught Roque fighting amusement just a little bit.
"Is Miss Dracula attending your tutoring sir?"
"Couldn't stop her if I wanted to. Not that she's big on studying."
Vlad joked back, and Ingrid rolled her eyes but swiped a bottle of blood from the table. It was good timing, as the thumps and shaking of the castle made half the things on that table fall over. Roque raised an eyebrow at Vlad.
"Yeah, it's fine. They'll smash stuff, try to kill each other, kiss and make up for fifteen minutes and then she'll be gone again" another knock at the door sounded "that will be your personally recommended tutor."
Roque insisted on answering the door. Of course he did. Bertrand followed him in, an ominous box floating along behind him and a shiny black leather bag swung from one hand.
"Good evening Your Grandness."
Vlad sighed, thought still not used to that! to himself and then spun his crown right way up and dropped it on his head. Just in case. The sensation of recognition from it was still as strange as ever, as was the oddly calm sense of energy vibrating beneath his skin.
"Evening Bertrand. If you hear screams, banging or explosions downstairs, it's just my parents. What's in the box?"
He bit back a laugh as Bertrand made sure to bow his head before he dared answer. The castle shuddered again, and his new tutor looked briefly bewildered. He exchanged a look with Roque, who nodded as though confirming all was fine.
"I see. The box contains books, and this" he raised the bag "contains scrolls. Bloodlines, wars, politics. Just as you asked."
There was a small explosion, and Renfield came staggering out of the door to the crypt dazed and covered in soot. He ambled off in silence.
"Right. So… I am gonna get a drink. A not blood one. Then I guess we can get started."
He grabbed a bottle and some cups from the kitchen for the vampires too, since he did not expect Ingrid to share. They both looked confused when he presented it to them.
"The Grand High Vampire is not usually so…"
Vlad rolled his eyes and cut Roque off.
"Look. I think the whole point of this" Vlad indicated the crown on his head "is that how things have been done is not working. And I am not meant to be like those who came before me. Otherwise, what am I chosen for? I would just rather you guys weren't thirsty in a village full of breathers I have to live in. Now, shall we get on?"
Roque inclined his head, took a polite sip from the cup of blood Bertrand poured (after pouring himself one), then stood perfectly rigid at Vlad's side while Bertrand placed his box and bag on the table.
"Where would you like to begin?"
"VHC History. Ramanga said his clan have been there since the start, and he definitely wants to trip me up. So I better start to catch up. If Roque disagrees with you on something, I would appreciate you two having a polite discussion. Not whatever that was."
He gestured to the door to the crypt, which was still lightly smoking. Vlad wasn't worried - he had three sets of vampire senses who would have known if there was a serious fire, and the castle would have reacted if Magda had staked the Count by then.
Bertrand handed Vlad a sheetbook of parchment, which looked very odd next to the basic ballpoint pen he laid next to it. At Vlad's confused look, Bertrand shrugged.
"They leak less than inkwells, which is handy for travelling. I prefer a quill, but I also know you would use a breather pen at breather school. Sir."
Being called sir was already getting on his nerves, but Vlad needed to get used to it, and he needed others to get used to the boy leader and take him seriously.
Bertrand definitely appeared very knowledgeable, but Vlad knew he would have forgotten most of what he heard that night if he had not written it down. He also intended to check his dad's texts to see if they matched what Bertrand showed in his.
Roque barely moved the whole time, stood stock still and silent while they worked. Ingrid meandered in and out, but Vlad noticed her listening when she was in the room.
It was a solid two hours before Vlad's parents resurfaced, and he grimaced at the state of them both. They looked surprised to find them working quietly at the table. Or perhaps 'caught' was the better word to describe how they looked.
"Don't want to know. Busy over here."
Vlad said before either parent found their voice. His dad gave a dramatic hair flick, straightened his clothes a bit and then flitted off. He listened for Magda as he took notes from the bloodline book Bertrand had put in front of him. She hovered, obviously debating whether to push her luck a bit more.
He wasn't shocked when she left. She was good at that. The castle door slammed loudly, and Vlad felt the plastic casing of his pen creak as his hand tightened.
"I think that may be enough for tonight. His Grandness must rest to absorb this information well and continue his… unique experiences amongst the breathers."
Vlad was absolutely certain Roque was trying to be nice in his own weird and maybe fatherly way. Because it was not a coincidence that he said that immediately after it was clear Vlad was annoyed at the end of the latest instalment of 'Dracula Family Nonsense'.
"Very well. When would be best for me to return?"
Bertrand either understood or wasn't about to argue when Vlad didn't insist on continuing, and simply stood to tidy up his things.
"Same time tomorrow night, I guess. Roque, would you mind checking if the crypt is safe to re-enter?"
"Of course Your Grandness."
He was back within two minutes, and let Vlad know that while there was a mess, nothing looked ready to blow and he saw no booby traps left behind.
"It's always a mess, just don't want any more explosions tonight. Thanks. I will see you both tomorrow then?" Both vampires nodded. "Very well. Dismissed."
They took turns giving Vlad that little head-nod bow, and Roque naturally waited for Bertrand and his study materials to leave before he took his own leave. Vlad slumped in his seat, pulled off his crown and scrubbed a hand through his hair with a deep sigh.
A bar of chocolate clattered across the table in front of him. When Vlad looked over, Ingrid had become very interested in her nails. He chuckled to himself at her little way of being 'nice', and ate the chocolate with a sense of rebellion against his dad.
"Well, that went well enough, but I think I'm gonna go up to bed and read over these notes before I try to get some sleep. Roque said the crypt is safe, so you should be fine."
"You asked for my sake?"
Ingrid said, looking confused. Vlad nodded.
"Of course. No reason for you to get caught up in their spat… well, more than you already were. When do I need to go down there?"
She eyed him oddly, then shrugged it off and flitted away. Vlad wasn't sure what to think, but the crumpled wrapper on the table still made him smile. He traipsed up to his tower room and got ready for bed, hid his crown again and sat flicking through his notes for a while until he felt ready to sleep.
"Ah, Vladimir."
His dad's voice interrupted Vlad's quiet revision, but he had already had his fill of their dramatics that night.
"Not interested, dad. If you want to undermine the family reputation like that in front of my staff, I'm not going to stop you. Mum is already gone now she knows she can't get any grips on my position anyway."
That was the worst part for him. Vlad was used to her being uninterested in him as her son, but it still stung to see her turn up the instant he might have been useful before leaving again instantly. Those human-like emotions that seemed to single him out amongst vampires didn't feel like the superpower it apparently was when he had the familiar pain of parental abandonment surging up.
"And here I was thinking she was here for me!"
The Count crowed. Vlad rolled his eyes.
"Well, she does have a track record for adultery. Hope you were careful, else she might be back in nine months to interrupt me working again."
He caught his dad wincing and instantly knew more than he ever wanted to about where those two were while he was studying. Vlad rubbed his face with a groan.
"Dad. If you want to have any chance of getting 'use' from my position, it might help to not be a massive embarrassment. It's hard enough to have them take me seriously!"
Vlad waited. He was about to ask his dad to leave so he could get some sleep when he finally answered.
"You might be right. Alas, we Dracula men are weak for a beautiful lady! But you have a point, I must ensure our clan remains as ill-reputed as ever."
"Awesome. Now go away, I need to sleep before my brain explodes."
His dad finally flapped off, and Vlad let out another long sigh before he turned off the lamp and wriggled down under his covers.
Weak for a beautiful lady… Vlad immediately thought of Ingrid, and gave himself a mental shake. Yet another way I don't want to take after dad.
-YD-
Do I know when I might update again? No idea! But it's here!