The Vampire's Crimson Kiss (Editing)

Chapter 6/A Shadow for a Heart

Victoria's POV.

It was a few hours later after the Duke had left our private meeting. He had been quite polite and immensely pleased, agreeing to my deal.

I had won, and I now felt he was the kind of enemy I could do business with. He had been civil and polite enough not to gloat. He had even agreed to keep our arrangement secret. He had left promising to return and the room felt slightly deflated in his absence. I never knew anyone with such a presence in person.

In the dimly lit chamber, Mary observed as I ritualistically took my old garments from the ancient chest, burning them one by one in the flickering fire. It felt like an act of farewell to my old self, my youth dissipating in the haunting dance of the flames. Each article of clothing, mended time and again, was imbued with echoes of my childhood, now turning to ashes. In the end, I was left with only a handful of keepsakes, relics of a life now forever changed in the shadow of the vampire realm.

Mary and Cub then took me to the tiny room they called a 'shower.' My mother had told me about them, but indoor showers were a novelty to me. The warm water felt better than the local lake I normally used. They rubbed me with soap and then applied something they called shampoo to my hair, which stung my eyes. Then, they had left me alone for a moment, and I played with the dial that controlled the flow of water—on, off, on, off—magical. I stopped when I realized that in my village, all the young girls went to the well to fetch water twice a day. I wondered how many of them it took to provide all this water here; poor things. They would have to carry it up to the top of the tower and I felt the shame of it.

The Duke had sent his finest food along with a new dress. Mary and I broke our fast and recuperated. Then I allowed Mary and her assistant, Cub, to dress me in one of his coven dresses.

I began the transformation by first slipping into the voluminous skirt. Its layers of rich, black fabric rustled softly as they cascaded around me, pooling at my feet in a dark and velvety sea. The skirt was adorned with intricate lace detailing, reminiscent of spiderwebs glistening in the moonlight. The train of the hem trailed behind me, sweeping the floor as I went, lending my presence a refined quality.

"Put these on," said Mary getting down as I sat, her voice as smooth as the finest silk, presenting my feet me with a delicate pair of patent black stiletto pumps. Their slender heels glistened like obsidian, and the deep crimson of the shoes seemed to pulse with an otherworldly allure. I hadn't worn flimsy-heeled shoes like this before. Even as a 'princess' of the Barrenlands, I was expected to do my share of the work. Sometimes, I went hunting with my dad and brothers to keep me out of my mom's hair. So anything but scavenged boots and trainers would be unsuited to life in our rough camps. Shoes that only looked good were outside our survival needs even for the vainest of girls.

Mary, with the grace of a seasoned courtier, knelt and gently slid the gloss black pumps onto my feet. I stood up. The dress's height had been sized with the shoes in mind, and I stumbled around, trying to get used to them, like Mary and Cub seemed to be.

"How do you run in these?" I said, trying not to wobble, my voice filled with both wonder and trepidation.

"A princess does not run. Plus, they like the occasional chase of their food but don't appreciate them getting too far too fast. I don't think that will apply to you," said Mary, her tone carrying a hint of sympathy.

Next came the corset, it was I was promised, a masterpiece of craftsmanship and design. It was fashioned from sumptuous black satin, and its front was adorned with rows of tiny, glistening buttons. I cinched it tightly around my waist, the laces pulling snugly against my form, creating an hourglass silhouette that would make any Victorian lady envious. The sensation of the corset pressing against my body was both restrictive and curiously comforting. I stopped feeling hungry almost immediately, which was a relief. I also found the elegance and poise that wearing such attire imposed to be unnervingly hypnotizing. I felt prouder, more elegant, and with confession, more confident. My body had never looked less like the girl I had been; I had a newfound maturity. A strange sensation that I could only characterize as assertive and commanding, tinged with a seductive and alluring aura, surrounded me in a feeling of sensuous confidence and sultry charm. I had never felt so mature and so feminine in my life. I began to understand why the vampire women did it and why Mary and Cub did not complain. If my grandmother was alive she would say I looked hot, I never got that until now.