The Dragomir Heir (Watty Award)

Where is she?

“Make sure the place is set up as requested”, Lucius ordered over the phone. He was going to propose properly to Valentina but he must get his house in the Swiss Alps ready for his queen.

He had already ordered a new engagement ring for her; he felt the old one held too much bad memories and he didn’t want Valentina reminded of their hostile times together. He was ready to make her his wife and he was ready to claim her as his own.

Lucius walked out onto his balcony with his mobile. Valentina hasn’t called and it must be midnight in Paris by now. At least she was having fun, he thought and just before he returned to his office, he routinely searched for her presence. He stopped in his tracks as he felt her further south than where Paris was. He concentrated again, pinning her exact location.

“She’s in Rome?” he asked himself. Maybe she grew bored of Paris but how could she be in less than 24 hours. He called his pilot.

“She landed in Paris and I loaded her luggage in the car”, replied the pilot.

“Did you follow her to the hotel?”

“Um…no sire”, replied the pilot with an undercurrent of fear.

“You did well”, finished Lucius. He didn’t want the pilot to spread rumours of this crack in his relationship. He decided to call Valentina instead and on the third ring, she picked up, “Hello my love.”

Lucius smiled at hearing Valentina’s voice and said, “I’m sorry for waking you up…but I needed to hear the voice of an angel”.

“Lucius…you are such a flirt”, she laughed. “Voice of an angel? Have you been hallucinating throughout our whole engagement? I believe there were times when I’ve yelled and swore at you”.

Lucius laughed at the memories and upon being reminded about their forced engagement, he sobered and asked, “I’ve scheduled some time for us to spend together in the Swiss Alps. Would you like to holiday with me? I need a short vacation”.

“Yes, of course…I would love to come with you”, she answered.

Lucius released a breath of relief before changing the topic, “How is everything so far?”

“Yes, Paris is wonderful… we ended the day by going to the Moulin Rouge”, she replied.

“Paris?” he knew she was lying but he wanted to give her a second chance to redeem herself.

“Yes…whatever you might think…Paris is still wonderful”.

“Yes…well, I’ll let you sleep”, he said darkly and hung up. He paced his room, wondering why she would lie about her holiday destination unless…

Lucius stalked to the bar where he knew the one person, who could answer the question was there. He pushed the double doors aside, causing Vera and Dante to jump away from each other. He then sat menacingly in front of them and asked Vera, “So… where is my fiancée?”

At this, Dante turned to Vera with a surprised look.

“In Paris, of course”, she answered as if the answer was obvious.

“Not in Rome… residing in Rome Cavaliari?” asked Lucius cynically, which caused Dante to groan.

“Tell him the truth, Vera”, said Dante.

“You think I’m lying over such a petty thing? How dare you?” Vera shouted.

“Stop being dramatic…I know you’re lying”, said Dante exhaustively then he explained what happened when Lucius drank a drop of Valentina’s blood. After he finished, Vera glared at Lucius and got up to aim a punch at him but was immediately stopped by Dante.

“You bastard…how dare you!” she seethed over Dante’s shoulder. “That’s an invasion of privacy!”

“I did it because I feared for her”, answered Lucius menacingly. “Now tell me what is she doing in Rome?” But he couldn’t trust Vera’s words so he called for several gypsies, who arrived within minutes.

“She’s on a mission with Derrick”, replied Vera.

“Why not tell me?”

“Because you would not let her go”, answered Vera neutrally. There was no passion in those words, which was very unlike Vera. Lucius knew there was more to the story.

“Yes…but I would’ve come along with her and watch from a far”.

Lucius knew Valentina was wise and proudly aggressive in her reign. Was she targeting the Borgias, who were deceitful but harmless? The Borgias were the epitome to chicken shit, he thought, they were too scared to lose their pretty heads. He had to know. So he called his own assassin, which he had positioned in Rome to spy on the vampire royal family there.

“Your Majesty”, the spy greeted. “Is there a problem?”

Lucius put him on speaker so that Vera could hear the whole conversation. “No soldier…I’ve decided to do routine checks on all my positioned men. Evening is best for your disguise…have there been any news?”

“No, Your Majesty. Just the same thing as always; the Borgias holding balls because they can…”

“No assassinations?” asked Lucius with an evil laugh, “What a pity”.

“Nothing much… just Cesare wanting something he can’t have without consequence”.

“Hmmm…very good soldier”, Lucius let out a breath of relief and just before he hung up, he casually asked, “Let me guess…he wanted his sister? It has been over four hundred years”.

“Actually…it was some mob Lord’s fiancée. Though I must admit, she was beautiful…”

“How beautiful? Gold hair, red lips and blue-eyed like his sister?” asked Lucius curiously. It was always good to know your enemy’s weakness and use it against them.

“No … black hair, red lips and green eyes”, corrected the spy. Lucius was still for a moment and looked over to Vera, who was in shock. “Her fiancé is very possessive of her … he is someone I would need backup for. Shall I take him down? He has killed Dragomir members or so he says he has.”

“Very good soldier”, Lucius hung up. Turning to the gypsy, he ordered, “Show me who this lady is?”

He watched as the mist in the crystal cleared up to show a beautiful woman being dragged to the car by a brown haired vampire. As the car drove away, the couple removed their masks and doubled over laughing. Straightening up, Lucius saw that the woman was Valentina and the vampire next to her was handsome. She was seeing someone on the side? Lucius’ heart broke a bit as he watched the vampire put his arms around Valentina and laughed. The stranger was obviously happy to get away unharmed.

“Very good, V”, the male said. “And I thought you wouldn’t be able to get me into Montenegro in time for the game. I’m sorry I doubted you”.

“I guess you owe me”, said Valentina with a smirk. “Questioning me is punishable by death, your highness”.

“Then I shall owe you”, the male replied and he kissed her hand. “What will it be, dearest V?” Dearest?!?! Lucius glared at the vampire who addressed his fiancée as dearest. “Come, let’s get back to the hotel…”

“Who is that vampire?” Lucius demanded, pointing at the vampire.

“It is Crown Prince Darim”, answered Vera.

“Really”, Lucius said menacingly and then he turned to the gypsies and ordered, “I want to know about them, how they met, and what is their relationship. EVERYTHING!”

The gypsies nodded but Vera interrupted, “No Lucius…it is not what it will seem”.

“What are you saying Vera?” asked Dante. “If it is as innocent as you say it is, why stop Lucius?” Vera couldn’t answer. She knew a romantic relationship between Darim and Valentina existed. She knew when he bought her the loveliest dress and when they started to ‘hang’ out with each other a bit too much. But Vera never questioned Valentina… it was her decision.