The Dragomir Heir (Watty Award)

Christmas with the Romanovs

It was now the Christmas season and Lucius hated the snow that littered the Winter Palace in Russia. They call this ‘cosy’, he thought to himself. He had been invited to ‘holiday’ with the Romanovs by the Regent King and Queen under the pretence of forming an alliance or a trade agreement; really Lucius couldn’t remember what he said but he knew he was very convincing. Unfortunately, Alek wasn’t fooled and the tsar made sure that Lucius and Dante were located in the East Wing while Valentina was at the West Wing, where the tsar’s chambers were.

To ease the friction between the two vampires, Lucius thought he should attempt a good deed. Argh, the spirit of Christmas was making him soft but he didn’t want Valentina to be uncomfortable with the aspect of having her boyfriend (Lucius will have to fix that) and fiancée under one roof. So when Lucius heard that Alek was planning a raid on some rebels in the north, he decided to help. Deep down, he thought Alek’s strategies were lacking and repetitive. Ok, maybe it was stupid as well, but Lucius wasn’t going to voice that out.

Entering Alek’s rather small office, he was greeted coldly, which wasn’t news to him. He suggested that the tsar should allow the rebels to gather in the north, allow them to get comfortable and loosen their guard then eliminate them all at once. Alek was absolutely against Lucius’ brilliant plan.

“You are going to lose some good soldiers, Alek”, Lucius reasoned. “These are rebels, they are not animals…they will learn and soon they will overcome your battle strategies. It is best that you get rid of them once and for all but you must wait until the time is right”.

“I will not allow a rebel to linger on my land any second”, Alek was adamant; “I ride out in an hour and please do make yourself comfortable and lock yourself in your suite. Don’t bother coming out”.

Without proper salutations, Lucius stormed out of the office. Now in his suite, he glared out of his bedroom window, calling Alek every name under the sun.

“Who has pissed you off this time? Wait…I don’t have to ask, do I?” joked Dante, who was putting on a coat, and getting ready to go out.

“That pig-headed waste of tsar is an imbecile” fumed Lucius. “I will tell you now cousin; if we war with the Romanovs…I don’t think I’ll have to lift even a finger to win that war”. Turning around, he asked his cousin, “And where are you going?”

“I’m going into town with Vera”

“Good, I’ll come along with you, Vera and Valentina…” Lucius went to get his black fur coat. “I need to get out of this cave with bad interior-”

“It’s just me and Vera. Valentina is staying back…she has a habit of walking through the garden lately”. With that, Dante left and Lucius made his way to the garden. He has not had a moment alone with his fiancée; he had missed their conversations.

In the frosty garden, he spotted her in a black fur coat, pondering and fingering a dead flower. Upon his approach, she stopped and turned. “Hello”, she said pleasantly. Lucius smiled and together they walked silently. Unable to stop himself, he voiced out his concerns about Alek’s raiding plans. He expected anger on her behalf, which he didn’t care because she needed to see the truth. But instead Valentina nodded and said, “I know”.

“So you see flaws in his plan and the way he is ruling his kingdom?” he asked, to which she nodded guiltily again.

“Of course Lucius”, she said sadly. “I have been trained since I was four on warring and how to become a queen”. Lucius was impressed at their similarities. “Alek’s training was different; it was…”

“Easy? Sheltered?” suggested Lucius, but Valentina didn’t answer. Looking at her seriously and preparing himself for some backlashing, he asked, “Valentina…do you really see Alek as King of the Dragomirs?”  

“If we do marry, the kingdom will most likely make me queen and he would properly be relegated to high prince”, she admitted. “He show signs of admirable ruthlessness but cunningness is a different story”.

With a sigh of relief, Lucius murmured “Thank you for your honesty”, and he continued walking when Valentina asked, “What?”

Lucius turned around and reasoned, “I was afraid you might lie to yourself about Alek’s flaws…I’m proud that you have admitted this to me. It shows that you are ready to rule and accept the responsibilities. Don’t worry. I won’t tell him about this”.

Valentina smiled warmly at him and to his surprised, she hugged him. He returned the hug too and they stood like this for a minute before releasing each other and continuing their walk. They talked about books, hunting, weaponry and other petty things that Lucius didn't mind. He found out that her favourite novels were The Count of Monte Cristo and some of Jane Austen’s works.

“I liked the intellect behind Dumas’ work but it saddens me that Dantes did not get back with Mercedes, when she was innocent of the crime done to him”, Valentina said animatedly. “I found Marianne in Sense and Sensibility annoying and pathetic. I liked Elinor instead”. Lucius grinned and it was at this moment that he wanted to kiss her but he knew they were being watched by the guards at the door. Instead, Lucius turned to Valentina and said, “I bought you a Christmas present. But it is not here…so would you like to accompany to Italy to retrieve it for you?”

Looking curiously at Lucius, she analysed his features before accepting the invitation.

It was nightfall when Alek returned from the raid successful and only losing two men. But Valentina still frowned at him because she knew the raid could’ve been handled better. It was dinner and everyone was frivolous at Alek’s win. Looking over at Lucius and Vladius sitting next to him, she knew the two men didn’t share the same outlook as the rest of the guests. However, while Vladius tried to enjoy himself, Lucius looked bored and simply annoyed. Catching his eye, he gave her a is-this-really-necessary look to which she just shrugged to.

Sitting next to Alek, she questioned him about the raid and as predicted, it was a simple charge and kill; no structure or strategies. She didn’t let her disappointment show and kissed his cold cheeks to show her support. Deep down she prayed that he will learn sooner rather than later.

Alek looked down at her, wanting to do more when he show admiration in Valentina’s eyes. He didn’t know why he was so worried when the guards reported that his girlfriend was out walking with her fiancée in the garden and talking happily. For the whole week so far, the couple have been together no more than ten times and nine of the times were in company with Vera and Dante.

He found out from Isaac that Vera had broken off their relationship, which was alright with Isaac but it disturbed Alek a bit. Isaac reasoned with Alek that their relationship was more of a companionship in answer to the Alek-Valentina and Nathaniel-Vanessa coupling. They simply felt alone at school. Looking at Valentina as she held his hand, he couldn’t help but kiss her neck. He also couldn’t help but smirk when Lucius excused him from the table and retired early.

Valentina frowned at Alek when she saw Lucius leaving the dinner room silently. He didn’t throw a mocking laugh or a smirk her way. He just left. After saying good night to Alek, she entered her chambers and switched on her phone, and was about to call Lucius when…

“Valentina, it is time”, said Vladius, sitting on a chair next to another vampire she haven’t seen in months.