Forbidden Love (IronStrange)

2.2

Summer, The Year Of Our Lord 1628
Stark Castle, Stark Lordship, Isle Of Stone, a province of King Edward I
Stephen

I wake up on a large, elegant bed. For a minute I'm worried, then I remember where I am.

The home of the Iron Man.

The home of the man who killed my sister.

The home of Lord Anthony Stark.

I have to get out of here.

I stand up, joints aching slightly. I roll my shoulders as I walk to the tall mirror against one wall and finger comb my hair. Then I straighten my tunic, offering a prayer for protection to Lai. I open up the bedroom door.

Lord Stark is asleep with his head on the desk he sits at. I nervously walk over and shake him.

"Milord. Milord. Wake up." He starts up, looking confused. He blinks a few times, his long lashes fluttering over chocolate brown eyes.

Oh, he's pretty.

"Wha—what? What day is it?" I sigh. Clearly the man hasn't slept in a while.

"June the twenty-third, Milord. How late did you stay up last night? It must have been the twenty-second hour at least when I fell asleep, and even now it is only about the tenth." Lord Stark sighs softly.

"Maybe until the third hour. Why didn't anybody wake me up before now?"

Oh, Lai, he needs sleep!

"I don't know, Milord."

"Drop the Milord. I'm only twenty-f*cking-seven years old. Call me Tony. Natasha should have tried to wake me up by attacking me at the eighth hour." Tony stands up, yawning softly. He's so sleepy it's adorable. He eyes me and suddenly harrumphs.

"We need to get you clothes of your own. Clearly I was too tired last night to notice how badly those fit. I'll call Pepper up to take your measurements." I raise one eyebrow.

"How come you are letting me stay here? How come you haven't tried to kill me yet?"

"I don't have any beef with your clan." Oh, Lord Stark, if only you knew... Your tiny stature and large blade would have me dead in a moment. "Plus, once I see something while it's hurt, I have to help it and make sure it's alright and happy. Is that such a bad thing?" He continues. I can't tell that he has any ulterior motives, he clearly doesn't recognize me.

"No, Sir Tony, it's not. But you could understand why I'd be hesitant. You're the man responsible for countless vampire deaths. You're the man who killed my adopted daughter's family. My whole clan is nervous about encountering a Stark hunting party. We've heard so many stories, Wanda's included. I honestly thought you were going to kill me last night. We've heard and seen things, things that make us nervous." I shudder as I finish, thinking of my sister's body, cold stone in the moonlight. Tony reaches out and grabs my hand, making me flinch.

"I know. I have been very horrible before, and I'm trying to work on it. I promise you I will not hurt another vampire, unless it is the one who killed my mother. On the other hand, the one who crushed my father's arm was a f*cking blessing to me, he would get instant pardon here. I promise I won't hurt any more vampires." There's a very sincere look in his eyes. I smile at him, trying to hide all the awkwardness from the fact that I have no personal space and he is squeezing my hand way too hard.

"Thank you. That makes me feel much safer." Tony releases my grip and steps away, fiddling with his hands. I sit down in a chair in his study while he walks downstairs. A few minutes later he walks back up, talking to a strawberry blonde.

"A vampire? You've spent eleven years of your life hunting them, and now you want to host one? Are you out of your mind? Why weren't you like this when I wanted to launch vampire peace processes?" The titian-haired woman demands. She stops talking when she sees me, then sends Tony a calculating look.

"I understand now, Tony."

"Good. Stephen, this is Baroness Pepper Potts, one of my captains. Pep, this is Stephen Strange, leader of Sky Clan. He needs to visit the seamstresses."

"Pleasure to meet you, Stephen. As Tony said, I'm a captain, so you'll be seeing me quite a bit," Pepper says, extending her hand. I shake it with a warm smile.

"Lovely, Baroness Potts." Tony coughs softly.

"Stephen. Pepper. Seamstresses." Pepper rolls her eyes but beckons for me to follow her.

We walk down two staircases and past a blond man who looks inquisitively at me. "Pepper! Who is that?"

"Steve, this is Stephen Strange, who is visiting as part of Tony's vampire peace processes. Stephen, this is Steve Rogers, another captain." Pepper keeps walking, narrowing her eyes at me to tell me to do the same.

"Why did Tony finally agree to the peace process?"

"Probably because he saw sense and realized that vampires aren't the mindless murderers you and others see them to be. That was the late Lord Stark's downfall. Do you really want it to be yours?" Pepper whirls around and stares at Steve until he looks uncomfortable. She then smiles at me and leads me down a staircase into an area much more badly done.

The whole floor is one room, walls covered in banners and looms spread across the floor in an effort to hide the natural stone and gravel the room is cut from. Several armor stands serve as mannequins on one wall, outfits hang upon each. The banners seem to be darker colors, but most of the outfits are reds and blues mixed in various ways. A tall, bustling woman fires orders at a group of five girls, all dashing around.

"Hello, Baroness Potts. Who's the vampire? What's his height, waist, and sleeve measurement? What outfit does he want?" She shoots the questions in my direction, even though she addressed them to Pepper.

"I'm Stephen Strange, leader of Sky Clan. I've grown a good bit since I was last measured, so any measurements I give wouldn't be accurate, madam," I say uncertainly. The woman huffs.

"Just as well. I don't trust other seamstresses' measurements. Lexi! Get over here and take this man's measurements!" A small girl zooms over with a knotted rope in her hands.

She struggles to hold it up to my neck and squeaks, "Fifteen knots, mistress." Then she grabs my arm and holds the rope to it, calling, "Seven, mistress." Finally she wraps it around my waist and cinches it like she's trying to cut off my nonexistent circulation. "Fourteen, mistress." The woman sighs.

"Very well, Lexi. Anita, cut three everyday tunic sets to match that in red, black, and blue. Elisa, two riding outfits, black and blue. Cassidy, use the rest of that polar fox fur to make a sable, white. Jessi, one ceremonial tunic set, black and red. Lexi, accessories. Go, ladies. Sir, your outfits will be ready in six days, sir. I'll have Lexi bring them up as they're completed. What barrack and bunk are you?" Pepper stops her.

"Royal floor, Seamstress Keisha. Lay them on the couch across from the staircase. That will be all." Pepper beckons for me to follow her back upstairs.

"That was the top level of my least favorite place in the world. The servant floors are foolish, seeing as the only way out is the way in and one other emergency exit far under the castle. And the people! Seamstress Keisha is the nicest one down there, Healer Morgen and DungeonMaster West are horrors." I absorb the knowledge in silence, then realize something.

"The people you named are the heads of each group, right? Healer, DungeonMaster? Why didn't you name the servants like Jessi and Lexi?"

"Jessi and Lexi are live-in underlings. They hold no importance."

"But without Jessi, you wouldn't have ceremonial clothing, or Lexi, measurements and accessories. How are they unimportant?" I argue, knowing that may be a bad idea.

"Stephen, I am a captain. You are a visiting vampire with no idea how the human world works. Don't interfere with the balance of generations." Pepper stalks ahead of me up the spiral stair to the royal floor and points me to Tony's study. She doesn't bother to speak to him on her way out.