Chapter Text
Aleera still couldn't believe in what had just happened.
She felt happy and so so light, and that had nothing to do with the fact that she was flying again.
She replayed the scene in her mind a thousand times during her flight; again and again.
The soft moment before the kiss, when she had felt more vulnerable than she had in centuries, had had the impression on walking on thin, thin ice, and that all her strenght and healing abilities wouldn't have saved her if she had wronged just one tiny step.
She felt again the pang in her chest when the Anna had freed her hands from her caring hold, remembered how her heartbeat, which had varied like crazy since they had entered that room, had steadied itself the moment the gipsy had taken a decision.
She remembered how she had felt totally defenseless, and at a total loss on what to do.
And then, the unthinkable had happened.
Warm hands on her cheeks followed by even warmer lips on her owns.
A thundering heartbeat in her ears.
A spark, and the vampire had felt the exact moment when her dead heart had come back to life.
It was overwhelming.
For less than a second, she had been too surprised to react, but then her supernatural reflexes had kicked in, and she had finally gotten a grip on what was happening.
And had kissed Anna back like she had always wanted to do.
No werewolves, vampires or anything else to stop them from enjoying that moment completely.
Finally it was their moment, theirs, and nobody else's.
No walls or differences mattered, and no obstacle was in sight. Most importantly, neither of them cared.
It was the coronation of every single moment of tension between them, the end of all their struggles, of all their never ending push and pull.
Finally they had found the missing piece, the solution for their unbearable situation.
And had that been glorious.
For the first time in centuries, she hadn't felt herself to be consumed by lust during a kiss.
She hadn't wanted to take the princess right then and there and make her her own, instead, she had just wanted those wonderful, forgotten and newfound emotions to keep warming her body and surprising her, again and again.
She had just wanted to enjoy the moment.
She had wished for the kiss to never stop.
This is why she had been so uncapable to react when Anna had finally pulled away from her.
For a moment, she had just thought that the gipsy, being human, actually needed to breath from time to time, and so she had decided to keep herself from attacking those promising lips again, but then the princess had spoken, and surprised her once again.
She asked her to come back, and her eyes had been so sincere in her wish to see her again that they had taken her breath away. And, since she didn't actually have to breath to "live", saying that the sensation had left her as unbalanced as it would have if she needed to, well, that was something.
The redhead had needed a moment to gather her thoughts, to realize that what had just happened was real, and only after she had licked her own lips and found the princess' taste still on them she had come back to her senses.
She had seen the resignation in her eyes, the awareness that nothing the gipsy would have said was could have stopped her from going, and the real, genuine worry for her safety.
That alone had been enough to make her resolve vacillate.
But the Valerious wasn't the only one who had duties toward her people.
"I will."
A promise she was quite sure to be able to keep.
A promise that gave her hope for a better ending in their story that the one her Master had planned.
A promise she would have used to stay alive and fight like she had never done before.
With that in mind, Aleera put the memories tied at the first kiss that had succeeded in making her feel more alive than she had in centuries away; she sealed them with care in a corner of her mind, knowing that she would need something to hold onto in case that better finale would have ended to be just a silly fantasy of theirs.
She didn't go down that path of thoughts though, and instead focused on the task ahead.
Battle cries, angry hisses and ferocious growls reached her ears, and she smiled: she was still in time to have her dose of fun, it seemed. Or to assist at the fight from above with her family.
Then the tempting smell of blood found her, and her tongue grew and darted out to taste it.
Mixed with fear and primal rage it was delightful, simply deligthful. Not as much as Anna's, of course, it had something animalistic in it she didn't quite like, but her senses sharpened in its search nonetheless.
Her entire being leaned forwards, claws out, canines growing, wings beating more vigorously without a conscious command from her. That was the power blood had over vampires.
And yet, they simply adored it.
The strain of their muscles in preparation, the instant focus on the target, the increase of saliva in their mouths in preparation of the bite,…
It was exhilarating.
Finally, after a few moments, she saw the clearing where the battle was still raging.
The redhead hissed highly to make her presence known, her eyes running on the battlefield, studying the situation.
She was ready to dive into the fight, when she heard Verona's answering call.
The flying vampire stopped in her tracks and looked around until she spotted the black haired bride coming toward her at high speed.
"Where is the Master?" Aleera asked first, hoping to evade possible questions about her delay, her eyes never stopping searching for Him though.
Verona went straight to the point "He is helping where He can. These beasts are quite though and are offering a fierce resistance. Many of our servants have fallen under their claws."
Aleera nodded and asked "What do we do?"
"Help them. Our Lord has ordered to fight but not expose ourselves too much. He doesn't want to lose us; it would be a pain too great and too soon after Marishka."
Verona looked at her straight in the eyes, and her expression softened almost imperceptibly "Fight fiercely then, but be careful."
The redhead nodded, and the eldest bride showed her teeth in a silent snarl and added, her voice growing monstrous and enraged "Now follow me and let's show this strays our fury!"
That said, Verona dived in, hissing in challenge with Aleera close behind her, bloodthirst in their eyes and battle's cries crawling up their throats.
Anna stood by the window, hands on the sill, looking outside for a long time.
She lingered on the memories of the kiss repeatedly as well, until her cheeks hurted for the wide smile that kept coming back on her lips.
The princess could still feel the redhead's hand on her nape, taking her closer with firmness but also great delicacy at the same time. Her fingers had caressed her hair and skin, and goosebumps had soon followed, less because of the slightly colder temperature of the vampire and more because of the sparks those digits were generating on her body.
And the kiss itself, well, it was everything she had always feared to dream of.
Everything would have been different from then on; different, and definitely more complicated.
She knew she wouldn't have to face it all alone, though.
About that, she had to talk to Carl about many important things, as soon as possible.
With a deep sigh, Anna turned her back to the window and put away the thoughts of the last moments with the redhead vampire, and went out of the bedroom.
She walked fast through the castle's corridors till the friar's room, and knocked loudly.
The man opened the door slowly, trowing a cautious look outside, then, when he saw the princess, invited her to come in and closed the door behind her quickly.
"Anna, thank God" he whispered "is she gone?"
The gipsy turned his back at him to go sit down on a chair, and, moreover, to hide her amused smile at the friar's more than fair fear of the vampire, and answered "Yes, we can talk freely."
The man followed her example and sat down as well "So, tell me, what happened?"
"Well, we followed the traces for a few days, had been attacked once, and then we finally found their den. It's located in an abandoned woodcutters' village. Then the vampires found us and as I was giving them directions to find the monsters' den, the werewolves attacked and Aleera brought me here" Anna summarized.
Carl scratched his head in thought, then commented "Ah, I see. Well, at least Dracula respected his part of the deal, since you are back safe and sound. That's a relief."
The princess smiled for a moment, then leaned forwards "It is indeed, but now tell me: any news about Van Helsing?"
The friar straightened "Yes, actually. A crow came just after midday carrying a message of his."
Anna made a gesture to invite him to go on, her full attention on him.
"It said that he's managed to find a man who will take the news to the Vatican, and that he would have waited for his ship to sail, which should have happened a few hours ago and then come right back here to help" Carl thought for a moment, then added "He should be here tomorrow or the day after at last."
At that, the princess stood up and started pacing.
She had to think about her next moves very carefully.
She knew she didn't want to kill Aleera anymore, but how could she manage to kill the count without having to fight the redhead in the process? And how could she explain this to the two men who came here to her help risking their own lives?
Had they not come, she could have thought about something with the bride, but they came, and they wouldn't have left her land until Dracula was defeated. Could she ask Van Helsing to spare the redhead vampire? Would he hear them out, or would he try to kill the bride at first sight?
And would Aleera even want to discuss a plan to kill her beloved Master with the same man who killed a woman so dear to her?
Anna sighed, frustrated. Too many questions and not even one sure answer.
Then Carl spoke "You must be very tired. Go to sleep, I'll gather the council tomorrow, we could all have lunch together if you want. That way you'll have the whole morning to recover."
The princess appreciated the thoughtfulness, and smiled "That would be perfect, thank you Carl. Have a good night."
"You too Anna" he smiled back.
The princess reached her chamber without really realizing it after that.
She went straight to bed, sitting and then laying down on it over the covers. She immediately understood that she wouldn't have been able to sleep just like that.
With a deep sigh, Anna stood up and went to make herself a well deserved warm bath.
Meanwhile, in the woods, the werewolves were finally starting to show signs of exhaustion.
Their eyes were still wild with hatred and rage, but their attacks were no longer powerful, their movements more and more careless and slower with every passing minute.
That was what the vampires have been waiting for.
They knew well enough that their enemies' strenght was brutal and explosive, and as such it required a lot of energy. The werewolves relied on it to solve their problems quickly and in definitive, and they usually succeeded. After all, there were next to none creatures that could oppose to such a raw power and survive the fight.
Unfortunately for those beasts, vampires weren't among them.
So when the werewolves started to retreat, the Count ordered his servants to follow and finish them all.
Aleera flew closer to him and warned "They weren't all of them, my lord. On the contrary, most of them haven't showed up tonight."
Dracula hissed angrily before answering "Well then, we'll go directly to their den and kill those hiding there."
He was already flying away, when the older bride stopped him "It's almost morning, my Lord. We risk exposure to the Sun if we follow through. Maybe it's what they are counting on."
The Count thought for a moment, then turned to the redhead vampire "We still have a couple of hours before dawn. Go back to the princess and take her to our castle."
Aleera hesitated, her mind going for miles a minute.
She probably took too long to answer, because Verona's eyes narrowed.
The redhead noticed, and immediately replied "Of course, my Lord" a pause, in which she briefly pondered on what to ask without sunding suspicious, then "I'll see you both there in a bit then?"
"No. We will spend the day in one of those caves nearby. I will personally make sure that every single one of those stray will be eradicated" the Count's eyes seemed to flash in anger for a moment, then they softened when he looked at his younger bride again, and he caressed her cheeck as he added "I'm sorry our celebration has to be delayed again. But we will celebrate soon, both this victory and the new member of our family."
The redhead tightened her fists "Do You wish for me to transform her already or wait for Your arrival?"
"You'll wait for me, my dear" his eyes shone evilly "I want to end her insignificant human life myself. I'll thrall her a bit, just to make sure she doesn't try to kill us all in the middle of our reconnection, and then we'll finally celebrate as we are ought to."
Aleera, hoping the smile on her face hadn't turned into a snarl at hearing the word insignificant compared to Anna in any way, and feeling the other bride's eyes still on her, kissed his palm, softening her voice "I can't wait my Lord."
Dracula smiled and caressed her cheeck again, whispering "I know, I know. Safe travel, and careful with the princess. You know how she can be."
The redhead smiled "Don't worry, Master, I can handle her."
Verona had yet to change her suspicios expression from before, and even if it made Aleera uneasy, she had no time to lose. So, with a little bow to both her mates, she turned around and left.
The uneasiness didn't leave her though, so she took great care in checking that no one was following her.
No one did, and yet she still felt Verona's penetrating gaze tearing a hole into her back every time she turned around towards her destination.
Once she finally reached the castle again all her skin had been itching for quite some time. She could feel the day approaching, and every shadow seemed to be calling for her to find a repair before it finally came.
Devil, she hated the day light. The unesiness she already felt for other reasons was growing more and more with the passing of time, and she knew that if she couldn't find a shelter soon it would have turned into crawling dread first, and full panic later.
She had no intention of reaching that stage, but the time was finishing and she still had to talk to Anna.
With relief, she noticed that the window from which she had left a few hours prior was still open.
So she slowed down just how much she needed to enter the bedroom without crashing, and turned back into her human form as soon as her feet touched the ground.
"Ann-"
Her breath caught in her throat, and she coughed, hard, surprised. It hadn't happened to her in the last one hundred years, after all.
The princess was in the bathroom, moving a comb through her hair, all dressed for the day ahead already.
The door connecting the two rooms was wide open, and the warm air of the bathroom was slowly moving out, toward the vampire, bringing to her a combinaton of delicious smells. Expensive soaps, clean clothes and- there it was.
Anna's unique smell.
It was weaker than usual after the bath and all the fragrant products she had used, but Aleera could pick it among thousands.
It was her expression that had made her froze though.
She looked so… at peace. Content. Maybe even happy.
Aleera had never seen such a relaxed expression on her face. And she really didn't want to be the reason for her to change it. And yet, she had no choice.
The vampire took a deep breath to brace herself, an human habit that had never really gone away, when the princess turned her head around and saw her.
Her eyebrows shot up, and after a few seconds her whole body did, and she walked towards her so quickly the redhead couldn't say a word before she stopped in front of her.
"You are back!"
Two hands gently grabbed her shoulders, as the princess looked her up and down, looking for injuries no doubt, since she also asked "Are you hurt?"
Aleera smiled "No, I'm oka-"
"You sure?"
"Yes Anna" the redhead lifted her hands, palms up "They didn't even touch me."
A smirk "Good."
And then she kissed her, again. She kissed her hard.
Aleera felt all her fear, her relief, her joy through it. It was even too easy to return it, return those feeling with a desperation all but new to her. And with that, everything that wasn't there and then, everything that wasn't Anna, her skin, her scent, her blood singing lost all importance to her, and fell into oblivion.
With a growl, she dedicated all of herself to the princess, and to the princess only.
Soon enough she could feel Anna needed more. She was clinging to her strongly, fingertips clenching into her shoulders, mouth becoming demanding, the kiss turning urgent.
And the redhead was never one to refuse something to her lovers. Well, unless they were into it.
With a gentle but firm move, she spinned them around and pinned the princess against the wall, effectively trapping her.
Moving her mouth away from those delicious lips of hers, she attacked the soft skin of her neck instead, licking it slowly and languidly.
"If you want me to stop" she whispered over the crazy beat of the gipsy's heart "tell me, and I'll stop."
She caressed her cheeck with a slow, tender movement of her nose, and smiled when Anna responded by reciprocating the gesture with the same cheeck that had received it.
Anna on her part was..
Overwhelmed.
She felt it all: relief, joy, anticipation for what they were about to do, nervousness and want.
She wanted it, craved the redhead's touch with a passion. A touch that, for once, wasn't violent or meant to hurt her, but to comfort, to espress closeness, to make her feel good. And God, was she succeeding in it.
Realising that the vampire was waiting for her answer, she somehow managed to nod "If I want to stop, I'll tell you."
Then she laid her head against the wall, giving the redhead full access to her skin. She felt the cold breath of the vampire quicken against her neck, and smiled.
Seeing the princess act of trust, of surrender did… things to Aleera.
She inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself, that was the princess' moment after all, she wanted her to be the priority, her pleasure to be the first, and-
And then Anna' scent filled her lungs and she could not get enough of it, of her.
With barely restrained desire, she resumed kissing her neck, feeding on the princess' moans of pleasure, and forcing herself not to bite her, not to make her teeth grow, even if the blood running underneath them was singing, calling her like they told the mermaids did for the sailors.
It took a great effort for her to move her attention to her hands, as she used them to feel the gipsy's beautiful body through her clothes, trying to go slow, to be sensual, even if all she wanted to do was unsheathe her claws and tear the barrier separating her from the warm skin apart.
She gripped the hem of the shirt with trembling fingers, ready to undo it, when a warm hand found her neck, and gently directed her mouth back to the other, starting another kiss.
The sweetness of that action let her regain control on her impulses, and Aleera slowly moved her own hands up the gispy' stomach, up again towards her face, to caress it tenderly.
They never made it though.
On Anna's chest, a sudden burning, hell like burning, sensation made her tear away from the princess with an agony scream.
She felt her eyes change at the pain, her canines grow, ready to face the danger. Hissing, she cradled the hurt hand with the other, and saw it clearly, right there in the middle of her palm: the smoking imprint of a crucifix.
Immediately other hands came into her view, and delicately moved hers upwards, where Anna's human eyes could inspect the damage.
Those same eyes were worried and remorseful when they met her owns "I'm sorry."
"It's okay princess."
Aleera smiled a bit forcefully. Crucifix hurt like Heaven, and silver ones even worse.
"It's already healing, in a minute it will be as if I wan't even hurt in the first place."
Anna grimaced "You come back from a battle with werewolves unscathed and yet I'm the one who manages to hurt you, unwillingly moreover."
Before the vampire could reply, she met her eyes again, hers slightly widened "Speaking of, you didn't tell me how it went back there."
"Indeed I didn't" Aleera took a step forwards, her mouth coming closer to the Valerious' ears as she whispered "There were other things on my mind" her tongue tasted her "We should resume them don't you think?"
She smiled when she felt Anna's sharp intake of breath, but was disappointed when the princess lightly pushed her away "In a minute, when that will be all but an unpleasant memory."
The vampire pouted a little, but leaned back willingly "You are no fun. But to answer your question, it went fine. We lost many of our servants, but they can always be replaced, the werewolves so far away from any human settlement, can't say the same."
She felt her smile turn feral when she added "We pushed them back towards their den. It's highly unlikely they'll leave it again."
The gipsy hummed along, while her hands slowly grabbed the crucifix, and, keeping the eye contact, took it off her neck.
It did not made all that noise in impacting the floor, and yet it seemed to reverberate all around the room.
It felt… definitive. Yes, the definitive show of trust.
They both knew it, and the gesture didn't lose its meaning just because the princess had done it while the redhead was talking, it didn't need a pregnant pause or an escalation of sort to be significant; on the contrary, the vampire was even more pleased by the ease with which the other woman had done it.
There was still a challenge in the princess' eyes though, one very different from the one she used to throw at her, and yet in same way the exact same.
Aleera wanted to devour her whole.
She did not allow herself more than a faltering in her words at the gesture though, and instead she leaned forwards again with a smile, her lips finding the delicious skin of Anna's neck once more, moving on with her speech without even thinking about what she was saying "The Master and Verona stayed behind to utterly exterminate them."
A long lick, then she immediately ended the reprimand she knew was crawling up the princess' throat, reassuring her "The minute is up."
She proved it by pushing the newly healed hand deep into soft tresses and pulling at them, smiling at the moan she obtained.
"Satisfied?"
Without waiting for an answer, she nipped at her, her teasing her skin to the point of breaking with her sharp canines, and then soothing it with her tongue, moving up and down on her neck, from her just uncovered shoulder, to her soft earlobe, which she sucked in her mouth, playing with it.
Anna was not so slowly losing her mind. It was clear as day that the vampire knew what she was doing, and she did it well. She could already feel her body become restless, tensing up like a violin string, pushing her towards something unknown.
And yet, the princess had spent the majority of her life suppressing everything that was unrelevant for her mission, and such an habit couldn't simply vanish in mere moments just because of a pair of very expert hands and a very capable mouth. It certainly tried, but it wasn't enough.
Something wasn't right.
She couldn't really focus on anything other than the delicious sensations Aleera was making her feel, and yet the warning bells in her head were very hard to ignore. It was frustrating for all the wrong reasons.
So it was a relief when the vampire finally released her earlobe with a lustful pop, before moving her hands down and, after her nod of permission, started undoing her shirt's buttons.
It allowed her to dissipate a little bit of the lustful fog into her mind. It was unwanted, but necessary.
With great effort, she remembered the last thing the vampire had told her, and asked "Dracula and Verona stood behind? Why did they let you go?"
The redhead's movements stilled for a moment, then she answered "They asked me to come back here and protect you in the, admittedly low, possibility that some of them managed to escape and come here."
Then she opened her shirt, and looked at her with eyes so hungry that the princess would have blushed till the roots of her hair, had her pause and her response not make her grow suspicious.
She looked at the open window and immediately noticed the change of light: dawn wasn't far.
Even if some werewolves managed to come back to the village, how could have the redhead protected her without becoming ash the moment the daylight shone upon her skin?
Why would the vampires need her protected in the first place when the Count himself had told her the truce would have ended the moment she would have arrived safely into her castle?
With that wording, had the one tasked of taking her back been anyone other than Aleera, she would have expected them to kidnap her as soon as said castle was reached.
A cold tongue started tasting her chest just above her undergarments, but Anna was well past feeling that.
She thought about the conversation that occurred just a few hours prior.
To keep up the charade, she had commented "… I really don't know how will I survive without her company from now on", the sarcasm heavy on her tongue.
However, the Count had answered "..you don't have to worry too much about that my dear."
The looks of silent understanding they exhanged afterwards, as long as those predatory smiles, she hadn't understood back then.
They had confused her. In that exact moment though, as she recalled all the pieces and saw the puzzle they formed, pure dread started to slowly crawl up her spine.
Something terrible, and terribly evil, was up.
Again:
"Then the truce will be no more, but we will see each other very soon, my dear. I promise you that."
She thought about his and Verona's knowing smiles, and how Aleera's one had been forced, while her eyes had been alarmed, worried, afraid, but not less knowing.
And finally, a whispered sentence she had heard what felt like an eternity before, in a cave, just before surrendering to the hug of sleep, something she had forgotten to ask about the following morning.
"But now He has other plans for you."
The goosebumps that erupted on her entire body had nothing to do with pleasure, and all to do with a terrible, terrible feeling.
Anna felt cold all over. With trembling hands, she pushed Aleera back and closed her shirt, slowly raising her gaze to meet the vampire's.
She looked surprise, confused, worried. How dared she.
"Is something wrong?"
The answer came through gritted teeth "You tell me."
A red eyebrow went up "What are you talking about?"
The princess was breathing heavily, as she felt all the air in the room wasn't enough to fill her lungs.
She felt her head spinning, but forced herself to keep it together, or tried to.
Aleera took a step forwards, but stopped when she took a step back in turn.
The vampire's face grew more worried the more the silence went on, but the gipsy couldn't bring herself to speak, not yet. She had to clear up her mind first, and gather her ideas.
If only her stupid body would just calm down.
Yes, if she was right she was probably in danger, but when hadn't she been, honestly?
"Anna-"
Aleera's hands went up towards her, while her eyes went from her face to her chest, and back again, alarmed.
Could she hear her heart breaking?
She put on what she hoped was a firm expression, and held up an hand, and the vampire stopped.
Her fingers contracted, but she moved her arms back to her sides, albeit reluctantly.
Her eyes remained on her though, and the worry into them didn't cease.
The sight of her like that, still pretending to care, angered the gipsy, but that was okay.
Anger she could use.
With a deep breath, she got a grip on herself, and slowly calmed down. When she didn't feel her head spinning anymore, she carefully leaned away from the wall and back on her feet.
If she had seen Aleera's body go tense, ready to intervene should she had become unstable again, and felt pleased by it, well, the vampire didn't need to know.
"Tell me" she started, satisfied when her voice didn't tremble "why did Dracula say to me that I wouldn't have to worry about missing you."
The redhead's eyebrows furrowed, and Anna's mouth showed her teeth in an angry snarl.
"Tell me" she took a step forwards, the dull thud reverberating into the room "why did he say that we would have seen each other very soon, and you all laughed."
Aleera's eyes grew alarmed then, as she started to understand where this was going,
The gipsy noticed, with bitter satisfation, and tilted her head when she saw the vampire gaze become fleeting, catching it again and daring her to lower it.
To her credit, the redhead didn't, even if the shame was all but shining through her beautiful, deceiving eyes.
Anna stopped herself right in front of her, just as close as they had been all evening, except then the proximity didn't bring them any comfort, on the opposite, the air cracked with the tension preceding a fight.
"Tell me" the gipsy whispered, her voice hard with accusation "that your Master's other plans do not include you capturing me tonight."
The vampire kept her gaze a few moments more before surrendering "I can't."
Anna exhaled loudly at the admission, the words more painful than she had anticipated. She didn't step back though, instead, she stood rooted to the spot, and slowly moved an hand into her clothes, shaking her head to capture the redhead's attention with that movement only.
And Aleera's eyes did go up again, without noticing the princess' hand reluctantly closing onto the handle of her hidden silver stake. With resignation and betrayal in her heart, she clenched her fingers around it in a firmer grip.
There was just one thing she needed to know before ending her torment.
"How could you?"
Aleera opened and closed her mouth several times, then whispered "Do you really think I was going to go through with it?"
"Were you?"
The vampire's shoulders dropped, and yet her gaze still held the other woman's "I don't know."
Her voice sounded defeated, but sincere.
And that was what made Anna hesitate.
The redhead looked… miserable.
How dared she?
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
"It's the truth."
Anna scoffed "And what do you know about the truth?"
At that Aleera took a small step back, hissing indignantly.
The gipsy followed her, almost growling, getting into her face "DON'T YOU DARE!"
It was not her stake but her finger that sank into her chest "Don't you DARE being offended or hurt or angry! You did nothing but lie to me this whole time! I am the one who is entitled to feel that way, not you! You pretended to care the entire time, and you still would have I not finally put the pieces together!"
"I haven't lied to you!" Aleera advanced again "Not the whole time at least."
They were face to face, teeth bared, when the vampire took a deep breath and stepped back.
She kept her eyes closed for a long moment, then lifted her hands in a placating gesture.
"I did lie at the beginning. But once I figured out what I felt for-"
She clamped her mouth shut. That didn't seem the appropriate time to reveal such things.
And Anna didn't look like she would have believed her either.
"Once I understood I care for you, actually care for you, I… I stopped pretending! I never pretended to care, I did, I do!"
The princess scoffed, but Aleera didn't let that deter her "You are the one person I get to be my real self with. Not the bride, not the bloodthirsty beast, just me."
She took a step forwards "You went from hating the sole view of me to see and care for the woman behind the monster. You made me feel seen, Anna. You made me feel alive, as if I didn't have to constantly play a role to exist, as if I could be my own person, and you seemed to appreciate and care for that person…"
Her jaw contracted a few times before she went on "And I- I don't know how I can go back to…"
Her fists clenched so tightly her human nails drew blood.
"-to merely exist without that."
At last, she dropped her gaze, the weight of her confession overwhelming, and leaned backwards, getting as far away from the princess as she could without actually stepping back. Her skin was on fire, the vulnerability she felt right then far superior than the one caused by all the things holy.
Well, not exactly.
For someone like her, an undead, an abomination, as the ignorant peasants called her kind, holy was everything against her very existence, everything that opposed to it. She was supposed to hate the very concept of it, and despise those who lived guided by it, and venerating it as well. And she did, she did.
However she also did understand the passion with which those people would desperately clinged to what they retained holy, and the fire with which they defended it, because she was feeling that same strenght and fire burning through her right then.
In that moment, as she waited for the princess to speak, to sentence her back to her empty, mere existence or to give her the grace of a second chance at living, she realised she didn't want to lose what the gipsy gave her, because that would have meant turning back into that part she had played for so long it had become her new skin; a layer of skin that had been slowly but firmly suffocating her ever since the other woman had bursted swinging her sword into her life.
Those, she realised, were the stakes.
Her found family, the one Dracula Himseld had created, the empty existence they represented, the fleeting, superficial pleasures they seeked together, versus a few years of an uncertain, frail life alongside the most shining creature she had ever met. A few years of her feeling vulnerable, raw, exposed, human again.
A life made of moments just like the one she was living right then, in which nothing was ever still or the same, and everything had to be earned and built and strenghtened, never to be taken for granted, price its loss.
It was scary and exhilarating, and that was precisely the point.
Aleera was a creature made to feel, she thrived on it, and that was why Anna's entrance in her life had impacted her so.
The princess had broken her little, perfect illusion, in which everything was always the same, everyday one more grey piece to add to the great mosaic of her dull existence, and the only peaks were those moments of what should have been an absolute wrenching pain for yet another failed attempt to bring the offspring to life, and yet; should was the key word.
Because for how much she believed that family was the very centre of her existence, she had never had a great sense of motherhood, and that hadn't changed with her new life. Oh, she always mourned them with the other brides, she did, but what did she mourn exactly? Their death, or the death of the possibility to have a new, emotionally charged event to finally change their lives? That was a question she had accurately avoided answering to.
Anna had awaken her, with her fire, her determination, and on their mission had fed her starved soul with many somethings, bad and good, and given her a second chance at living.
And was there anything holier than that?
If there was, in her entire existence she hadn't experienced it. And she would have fought teeth and claws to defend it.
Yes, that's what she needed to do. She needed the princess in her life, one way or the other.
When she lifted her gaze back up, she found the other woman looking at her with a pensive look.
She seemed… conflicted. Her body was tense, but her eyes had lost some of the edge from before.
Oh, she was still angry, no doubt, and yet her speech must have had some impact on her.
"If what you are saying it's true" she finally spoke "Then why haven't you told me the truth?"
"Because if I did, you would have reacted the exact same way you are now. The difference being you doing so out there, in the werewolves' territory, and not here, safe in your castle."
"The difference being I wouldn't have felt so betrayed because it would have been just an enemy turned ally to have deceived me! Not whatever we are now!" She screamed, anguished "I could have expected it! I could have protected myself!"
Aleera shook her head, tone defeated "If I ever was going to tell you my Master's plan, it would have already been too late. Our situation is very different from what it used to be, and yet I couldn't tell you and betray him-"
"So you chose to betray me instead."
The vampire looked at her helplessly "Anna come on. It was already in motion, it couldn't have gone differently, I wasn't planning to fall for-"
Bloody Heaven
"I wasn't planning any of this! Was I attracted to you well before this mission occurred? Yes! Did I plan or even want for it to turn into something more? No. And how exactly did you expect me to behave?"
She moved her arm in a frustrated gesture "Tell you all about my life's mate's plan at the first sign that something was about to change? And what if it wasn't mutual? Do you really consider me that stupid?"
Anna clenched her jaw and avoided her gaze "No."
"So you see, there really was no other way you could have prevented getting hurt over this."
A defeated sigh "Neither of us could."
Anna let the silence stretch, contemplating the situation from the vampire's point of view.
At the end she shook her head "It doesn't matter. You had already made your decision, yes, but you've also decided to stick to it at the end, unless you were planning on telling me after we-"
She blushed, and indicated the bed with an undefined movement of her hand.
Had the situation been different, Aleera would have teased her endlessly, but the situation was, unfortunately, very not calling for it.
"-and I assure you that would have been received way worse from me than this."
"I…" Aleera hesitated "I don't know what I would have done."
Her honesty didn't seem to soften the gipsy, if only, it even angered her more.
"Seriously? You would have pretended everything was fine, and then kidnap me out of nowhere?!"
"No! I-I haven't thought that far actually. I wanted to tell you, but-"
"But what?!"
"You distracted me!"
If the blood inside of her could have run to gather in her cheeks, it certainly would have.
It wasn't everyday that she behaved like a clueless blushing virgin after all. Distracted by a kiss, of all things.
To be fair though, it was a kiss she had been waiting for a long time.
Anna raised a skeptical eyebrow, but when she saw her expression she mercifully dropped it, and the matter entirely.
"So what now? What even is this plan of his? Why order you to kidnap me when he could have told you to kill me as soon as the truce was no more?"
Something wasn't right.
Anna observed the redhead grimace with growing unease, both wanting and dreading the answer.
"He wants to take you as His new bride."
Time stilled.
Anna blinked once, twice, thrice, trying to understand the meaning of those words.
When she did, she felt her blood leave her head, and the room started spinning again.
Horror, revulsion, dread all clashed with each other, trying to prevail in a never ending cycle.
She was sure a part of the big mess seething within her was showing in her expression, because the redhead immediately came closer again, arms outstretched to reach her; except in that moment the last thing she needed was that contact.
The comfort she wanted, but the person offering it was very much part of the problem.
So she took a step backwards, leaning against the wall again, and closed the line of her shoulders.
The redhead got it, and her arms fell back to her sides, her face contracted in a frustrated but sympathetic expression.
Anna didn't even know what to say.
The situation was so absurd and wrong on so many levels she got an headache just thinking about it.
"What? But… why? Why would he even think I would agree to- to-…"
God, she couldn't even say it
"He doesn't need you to" Aleera sighed, voice low "He can thrall you for long enough to transform you."
Anna scoffed "Of course, why would he care about what I think?"
She leaned away from the wall and started pacing "Transforming me would be useless: I would still try to kill him."
"Not while you are under his thrall, you couldn't."
The princess turned to her, gritting her teeth "What is this thrall anyway? Some sort of spell?"
"Kind of" the redhead grimaced, unsatisfied with the word "I don't really know how it works, since I've seen Him use it very few times, but what I do know is that while you are under it you must and will do whatever He commands you. He becomes your Master, and you won't even think about harming him."
Anna suddendly stopped her pacing, looking at her with wide eyes "Did he do that to you? Is that why you brides behave like that?"
"No, he didn't, and no, it's not" Aleera's jaw clenched "Is it so hard to believe there is genuine love between us?"
"Harder and harder everytime you tell me something new about him" the princess shot back.
The vampire exhaled slowly, trying not to rise to the bait.
Too bad Anna wanted to vent off the mess within her someway.
"So you may not be under his spell, and live that damned life of yours happily, but that was YOUR choice! Why can't I make mine?" She felt tears prickling her eyes and screamed "Why did you choose to condamn me to it?!"
Aleera's expression broke, pain and helplessness both shining through it, but she didn't come any closer, knowing the princess didn't want the comfort she offered, and she herself didn't deserve it in the first place.
"I didn't, I swear I didn't.."
"You did!" Anna shot back "You chose not to tell me! You chose to follow the orders like the puppet you are!"
The vampire took a step back, hurt, and the princess scoffed, the distance between them so little, and yet so wide with every new exchange "You acted so offended and so hurt when I first called you that, and yet you proved me right all along! To think I even apologised to you! And here you are, following your precious Master's commands as if what we have doesn't matter! As if what you feel doesn't matter!"
"They both do! Both things matter!" Aleera finally shouted back, then she dropped her gaze in shame, as did her voice "That's part of the reason I kept His plan from you."
Anna hesitated, the new demeanor of the redhead making her tense "What do you mean?"
The vampire gritted her teeth, still not meeting her gaze "I was, am, selfish."
A swallow, then a whisper "Even if I started to loathe the idea of seeing your fire being dimmed by what would have occurred, I- I hesitated to tell you because I-"
She met her eyes again then, her own filled with more tears, voice pleading "I got to keep you either way."
Silence.
Anna looked at her with wide eyes, mind blank except for the new confession, emotions swirling and seething within her, not yet formed but violent all the same.
Aleera understood that was her only chance to explain before ruining their relationship beyond repair, so she quickly went on "When the Master first told us his plan, I- I didn't really know how I felt. We have been fighting each other for so long, it would have been strange to have you as part of our family. And yet, as much as I didn't see you fit in, something just clicked. Those were our orders, yes, but there was more."
She swallowed "I have always enjoyed our clashes Anna, and I think you knew that, I haven't tried to hide it after all. Your determination to keep fighting against all odds, against us, against the possibility of exstinguishing your line in doing so, all of that… fascinated me. I found your challenge exciting, and the fact that you were able to keep up with us, as much as an human could, electrifying."
She took a tiny step closer, and relief filled her chest when for whatever reason the princess didn't take a step back in turn "You were the one thing I looked forwards to, the spark of lively colors in my grey days, the fire which made my existence brighter. You still are."
A deep breath "I didn't want that fire to burn out, your days turned dull and always the same, and neither you withering away, imprisoned in an existence forced on you by your greatest enemy, kept under His spell for all the eternity."
A small smile "For I have no doubt He would have to keep you thralled for the rest of your life, or risk his death by your vengeful claws and fangs for the rest of His."
That got her a tiny, tiny uplift of lips in response "He certainly would."
Aleera paused, letting them both savour the little moment of cease fire, then reluctantly went on "I also didn't, still don't want to lose you though Anna."
An exhausted exhale "That's why I hesitated so much to tell you. Following the Master's plan was the easy way out for me" she swallowed "That way I got to keep both Him and Verona and you. The safety of my present and the exciting perspective of an unwritten future. My immortal family and you becoming part of it, part of my world."
A small, melanchonic smile "Would that be so bad? That way we wouldn't have to worry about the time we have to enjoy ourselves. You would be safe from illness, time, death itself. I wouldn't have to worry about losing you by any of those things, and every other I can fight with teeth and claws if necessary."
Anna's eyes dropped, so the redhead could tell she was thinking about it, considering her point of view.
"I'm sorry for hurting you, for making it seems like all I did was pretending when it's absolutely not" she searched and kept her gaze this time, letting her see the honesty of her words through it "I'm sorry for being selfish when it comes to you."
She took another step closer "I'm sorry for wanting to keep you no matter the cost. I know, I realise that lov- that caring imply having the other person's best interest in mind, but also their wishes, and in my desires I didn't consider either."
"I know it's not an excuse, but I'm not used to it, not anymore. I'm not a puppet, but I did follow my Master's orders for a very long time now, and making my own decisions, especially ones concerning other people, is something I have become unused to do. Resolving a situation without smashing everything is something I am less used to do as well."
That admission, despite the light attempt of humour at the end, cost her more than she thought, and Anna seemed to understand it, because her expression softened slightly.
"Still, it wasn't my place, nor my choice to make."
After that she exhaled tiredly, feeling empty. She had said all she could to her, it was out of her hands from then on.
She braced herself as she had never had before their physical fights, clashes that have occurred what seemed a lifetime ago, not merely a week.
The redhead smiled bitterly: she could have never understood back then that the human could never hurt her with her sword as much as she could with her way sharper words. That was a lesson she had learned at her expenses.
She could only hope the gipsy wasn't about to teach her anything more on the matter.
Said gipsy looked at her for long moments, taking in her expression, her eyes, her posture, everything.
Aleera let her, even if it felt like letting her evaluate the best point to drive a stake through. Her skin burned with vulnerability, and yet she stood still, facing the exam head on.
"No" she said slowly after a small eternity "no, it wasn't."
Anna was… conflicted, very much so.
A part of her wanted to end it all right there and then, all the questions, all the moral dilemmas, all her torment, and go back to what she could do best: protect her people from the evil of that Earth. Go back to what was easy, stop constantly doubting herself and close her eyes on what had just happened, pretend that what had occurred during her mission had been nothing more than a delirious illusion, something her brain had conjured up to distract her from the constant sense of danger and dread she felt.
That would have been the easy way out, the one that had tempted the vampire up to that point.
Aleera herself admitted it, as she also admitted of being selfish when it came to her.
Anna was different.
She had always had to put other things before herself; her people, her duty, her family, her legacy. In a life like hers there was no room for selfishness, that her father had made very clear from the beginning. And the princess had understood, and never questioned it.
Hers and her family's was a sacred duty, an higher call, so if the price for it was an holy life of constrictions and battles for the greater good, who was she to complain?
And what would have been the point?
That had been the first choice who had been taken from her, and a not negotiable one.
Still, she had not regretted it, nor felt rancor, and focussed herself on trying to be the one to end Dracula's tyranny, so that her people and her descendants could be free from the threat he represented and just… live freely.
Yes, that had been her motivation, her purpose, the one thought that truly kept her moving forwards.
And it had never wavered, not once, not until-
Her, of course.
Not until the redhead. Not until she had seen beyond her playful, sadistic mask and seen the passionate, caring woman underneath. A woman she still didn't know, but one who had taught her so much in so little time spent together.
A woman who made her feel alive for reasons that for once had nothing to do with the adrenaline of a fight for survival, the caress of death and the exhilarating feeling to know that yes, once more you had managed to delay the inevitable, to win another day of life.
A woman who had made her want to be selfish for once, for the first time in her life, and look how that turned out, with them both on the edge of a precipice. Both of them miserable, hearts bleeding, and yet alive for all of that.
Both of them afraid of the fall that awaited them, but just because they had soared so high the crash to the ground could have been only mortal for them both.
She did not regret it though. That woman had took her hand and brought her through moments that had been the peaks of her entire, brief existence, and had let her see what others, even her immortal family, apparently couldn't.
She was grateful to her, and she desperately wanted to know her better.
Also, what kind of hypocrite would she be if she started pretending then, after she had just accused and cursed the redhead of having been doing the same the whole time? After admitting of being hurt by that even?
No, she was better than that. And if there was something they both had learned during the mission was that actually talking to each other solved more problems than it created. So if they wanted to move forwards in a direction that didn't imply the death of one of them in the next few moments, talking was the one thing to do.
Call her crazy, but that was what Anna selfishly wanted.
The stake in her hand suddendly seemed to weigh more.
The cold of the silver froze her fingers through her glove's fabric, an icy reminder of her duty.
Well, there would have been time to regret and rethink her decision later.
With no little difficulty, as if she could hear her ancestors' urgent disapproval, she slowly unclenched her fingers from around the vampires' bane, and smoothly extracted her hand from her pocket, massaging her chest to dispel the redhead's curiosity and her own worry both.
She took a deep breath, then asked "So what do we do now?"