Crimson † Chess (Vlad Dracula)

Courtship (22)

Vali put the weekend trip to Prague on hold and moved the Masquerade ball to the end of November. His given reason was due the the inept attack on him and he was expecting the assassin to step forward to be punished. No one defied him. Gabriel half heartily welcomed the possibility of escape but most likely just another vampire's pet.

The Vampire King stayed close to the Manor. He spent his days resting in her room and holding her. Vali had not been this affection ever in either life or undead life. At the moment, the game was almost forgotten in his mind.

The Vampire missed her giggle and feisty arguments. Her tiny smirks, sacrastic humor and intellectual discussions. Now she only called him by formal name and always asked what he wanted. One time he tested her with a chore. He wanted her to kill a kitten and pour the blood in a glass. She grabbed a hand axe off the wall and raised her arm to deliver the death blow. She never questioned him and when he asked why, she said, lacking any emotion:

"Voivode does not need justification for anything. I live only to do his bidding..."

The lack of emotion was something he was not use to. Emotional people cried and begged. They yelled and screamed. They groveled and pleaded for mercy but Gabriel would just kneel down and wait. She would look him in the eyes and stare deep into his until he had to look away. He was feeling remorse (a most baffling sensation or was it regret?) and had tried to apologise, unusual for him.

She simply replied 'his right by birth.'

His pet was not her self because of him...His pet didn't play like she used to...His pet didn't feel anything towards him not even hate...

His pet was a wounded animal who flinched at his mere touch...His pet was growing on him and he wanted her acceptance in somethings now...His pet was becoming a beloved companion...but had he lost her?

Why did any of this matter?  What made her special?  He had broken her yes?

This should make him want get rid of her and move on. He broke rules and promises but didn't want to break this one. What the fuck and why?

Time to pick the baby profiler's brain and maybe get her back in the game.

"Dragostea mea, Leu (Romanian currency) for your thoughts..."

"I am thinking of happier days in my short life," Gabriel swallowed, "but I am also thinking of what my life could have been...my friends suffered greatly but they are not suffering any longer. Death brought them peace and their family has closure."

"But no answers..."

"Sometimes one must go on without answers..." Gabriel shifted slightly in his arms.

"How rough did you get..."

"That is not something that needs to be talked about..." he replied.
"Normally I would find great pleasure in telling such things.."

"Of course Prince Draganu, you have all the moves already played out in your head, just like chess. A small hope I have survived your 'mating' the best. Foolish vanity of a girl to think she was better than any other you tormented. Quite stupid, forget I said it..."

Vali let a faint chuckle out. "Only you have survived one of this level. The punctures were quite deep. I just didn't hit a major organ or blood vessel..."

"Don't know why it matters to know...it had nothing to do with anything but random luck," Gabriel closed her eyes.

"If you could wish for something simple and small, what would it be?" the Vampire King whispered in her ear again.