Lady Dhampir
Chapter 123

"I have to go!"

"My Lady, please! We can't let you go there, it's too dangerous!"

As Milena kept trying to get past the Knights, the two men, utterly confused about what to do, were doing their best to try and hold the young Duchess back without being impolite in their actions. She was in a state of absolute panic since she had heard the news. She couldn't even fathom what had happened to her family while she was away. She kept thinking about her brothers, her father, her niece, her maids, hoping everyone was alright.

She kept trying to push the two knights out her way, furiously. They couldn't restrain the future Princess, but they were standing like two walls in front of her, doing their best to prevent her to reach the stables. Yet, Milena was using her whole strength to push them away, almost screaming.

Suddenly, she felt two strong arms wrapping around her waist, blocking her. She got agitated, but Rayan grabbed her wrist.

"Calm down," he whispered against her ear. "Milena, calm down and listen."

She was so out of breath, it took her a second to realize she was crying. It wasn't like her to cry, and she hated crying in public. That thought helped contain her panic just a little, and the vampire prince wasn't letting go of her either. He turned towards the two men with a dark expression. "Tell us exactly what happened."

"Yes, Your Highness. A fire broke about an hour ago on one of the aisles of the Manor De Crescent. It took us a while to realize, as it was an unused one, so, unfortunately, the fire spread quickly..." "Where?" Asked Milena. "Where did the fire spread?"

"...O-on the ground floor, my Lady. Towards the guest rooms and the maids' rooms. We have yet to replace if there are any victims. When we left, the fire was spreading to the winter garden, and..." "Grandmother," Milena gasped.

Her great-grandmother's rooms were located above the winter garden, in the most secluded area of the Manor. Realizing quickly she wouldn't win this fight, Milena struggled to turn around, facing Rayan. "Let me go," she gasped.

"No."

"My family is in danger! What if my grandmother..."

"The Archduchess knows how to take care of herself, Milena. However, we don't know who started this fight and why. What if this is a trap to lure you out? Or Blanche? What if you were the target in the first place?" Milena shook her head, not listening to a word he had said.

"Rayan, please, please... It's my family if anything happens to them..."

"What if something happens to you!" He yelled, getting mad. "Milena, stop being so unreasonable, you have to calm at a..."

"I can't stay calm when all of my family could be burning in flames at the moment!" She screamed. "Rayan, if it was me in that fire, what would you do!"

He stayed stunned by her words, the frown on his face clearly displeased. Not at the thought of what she had said, but because he was about to take something that looked very much like a wrong decision. He took a deep breath and turned to the royal servants. "Get our horses. Now!"

The men ran to grab Rayan's horse and Black Bella, and Milena immediately got on her horse, her hands shaking. Yet, before she could depart, Rayan grabbed her hand, having her look at him.

"You stay close to me, and close to the guards, Milena. Alright?"

She nodded, and the horses left at the fastest speed possible. The thumping of her horse's heel was resonating with her heart. Never had the way back to the De Crescent Manor seemed so long. She was imagining the worst scenarios, and as they got closer, her fear grew.

A large cloud of dark smoke appeared in the sky long before they even reached the Duchy's territory. Milena could have broken in tears again if she hadn't been focused on her riding. The smell of the fire reached them at the same time the manor got insight. The fire was terrible. As the knights had said, it had taken over a large chunk of the manor, about a fourth of the main building, and extended itself to the gardens. Milena couldn't even recognize the spot she used to read between the roses, everything was disappearing in flames. She began crying again, her eyes stinging from the dust. She could see many servants and Knights, acting to stop the fire. The men were shoveling snow to throw it at the flames from the outside, while the maids were evacuating what could be evacuated, and extinguishing the little fires.

It took Milena a few minutes to realize the fire, despite its size, was spreading slowly. The air was too cold for it to continue burning more than what was already hot. She glanced around, and spotted horses on the left, among them, her father's black mane. "Father!"

She almost jumped off her horse before Black Bella had stopped, and ran to the Duke. He caught her, immediately taking her face between his large hands.

"Milena, what are you doing here! You should have stayed at the Castle!"

"I was worried, how can you order me to stay put! What happened? Is everyone alright? Where are my brothers, and grandmother?"

"We don't know what happened, the fire broke suddenly. We heard something akin to an explosion..."

"An explosion?" Milena gasped.

The Duke nodded, with a dark expression. Milena couldn't believe it. Was it an attack? Who would be crazy enough to put a bomb at a Duke's house! Moreover, it couldn't have been accidental, with this weather, the circumstances in which an accidental explosion could have occurred were close to non-existent.

Her father had dust all over his face and was wearing too light clothes too, yet he was smelling like something burnt, making Milena panic even more.

"What about my brothers?"

"Lucian is on the other side to help them put out the fire, and Valentin wasn't here. I haven't found Raphael yet..."

Just as he said that the Duke turned around, and started walking towards the fire. Milena grabbed him, desperate.

"Father! Father, what are you doing!"

"Stay here with his Highness, Milena, I'll get your brother back."

"You can't!" She screamed.

She couldn't even think rationally at that moment. All that she knew was that she couldn't bear to see her father go towards that hell, with the thought he might not come back. He may have been a vampire but he was in no way immune against fire. Milena kept shaking her head, crying.

"Father, please don't. I'll go get Raphael, but please, don't go!"

The Duke took her hands, but only to push them away from him, staring at her very seriously with his red eyes glowing.

"I am not losing another child, Milena; You stay here."

She felt hands grabbing her, pulling her away, as the Duke ran towards the flame. Milena heard her own voice screaming in panic, and dying in horrible sobbing. She could hear Rayan trying to calm her, hugging her and talking to her, but she just couldn't stop. This was one of her worst nightmares coming true.

"Millie!"

She only raised her head upon recognizing Lucian's voice.

Her brother came running from the other side, his face covered in some black dust too. He was coughing a lot, but he ran to her and hugged her first.

"Thank God you're fine!"

"Lucian, have you seen father?" She cried. "He went to get Raphael! He went back into the fire!"

Her brother's eyes grew wide with terror, and he turned towards the manor, shaking his head.

"Father went back inside?" He muttered. "He can't be serious..."

Milena kept crying, unable to think. The Duchy had become a war zone, with more people gathering around the Manor to help put out the fire. The knights were exhausted, and the servants even more; She kept looking around, trying to figure a solution, completely at a loss. What could she do? Her father had disappeared into the flames, half of her family's whereabouts were unknown, and she had no idea how to handle a fire!

Suddenly, she felt pushed into Lucian's arms, as Rayan was taking out his coat.

"W-what are you doing?" She gasped.

"I'll go and help. You take care of things outside."

"You can't! Rayan, Rayan you can't, if something...!"

"Milena!"

He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to face him, with a very serious expression. He took a deep breath.

"Look at me. Milena, this is like war. You have to stay calm and take quick decisions. We don't have time for tears, we have to save your family. Focus on that. I know you're strong, Milena. Please."

His words were like a slap to her face. She blinked a couple of times and very slowly nodded. It was like the electric shock she needed, and Milena began nodding.

"I-I understand," she gasped.

"Alright. Now you stay with your brother, outside. I promise I'll get your father back, but please, don't come inside. Al right?"

Milena nodded, having retrieved all her senses. She furiously wiped her tears. Just then, Rayan grabbed her and kissed her. It was a desperate, intense, and furious kiss. Just enough to give them both the strength they needed. The couldn't care less about the eyes around, the situation going on, or how impossible that kiss was at that moment. They just needed it, to be in the right state of mind. Rayan pushed his forehead against hers, determined.

"Ready?" He whispered.

"Ready."

He kissed her forehead just once and began running towards the castle, following the same path as the Duke just seconds before. Yet, the Prince took off his jacket, leaving it in the snow, and took off his shirt right after, sweeping it several times in the snow until it was completely soaked. Only then, he put it over his head and ran inside.

Milena took a deep breath, despite the horrible dust and ashes flying around. Her eyes had gone dark from all the tears, the makeup, and dust that had run all over her face. She took off her coat as well, threw her shoes off, and began running barefoot in the snow. Blanche jumped out of her pocket to run with her.

"Milena!" Called Lucian.

"Go help the knights!" She yelled over her shoulder.

Milena ran until she recognized Digory, the butler, out of breath and yelling orders without stopping.

"My Lady!"

"Digory, we need to dig around the fire, and prepared to destroy the eastern side!"

"W-what?"

"The fire will die by itself if it can't spread anymore, it's too cold! We need to make sure it stays right where it is..."

"But my Lady, the manor..."

Milena glanced at her house, her home that was going in flames; She took a deep breath.

"It's just an old building. It can be rebuilt later. For now, we just have to keep it from destroying the whole domain. Even if we lose an aisle or two, it will be fine."

Despite her words, Milena was shaking in anger. She didn't want to see the house of her childhood disappear, but Rayan was right: this was war, and she had to sacrifice a bit to save more. She glanced over and started yelling orders. Recognizing the young Lady's voice, all servants listened up and began working like one. They spread into one group, digging as fast as they could around the fire. Blanche jumped in too. She took the appearance of a large wolf and began digging along, faster than human hands and shovels could. Her furious growlings motivated the nearby servants, even more, seeing how her white fur quickly turned brown and grey.

"Olivia! Dinah!"

Milena's maids ran from the crowd, and for a second, she felt relieved to see them both. Dinah had obviously cried, and the two of them looked both panicked and exhausted. Milena put a hand on each shoulder's.

"Olivia, take my horse and go ask the d'Artsein's help. They are the closest ones to us and they will know what to do. Dinah, you replace the Family Doctor and Sofia, and you set up a first aid camp under the trees, towards the east."

Olivia nodded and ran to get Black Bella, but Dinah shook her head, grabbing Milena's hand.

"In the open, my Lady? Shouldn't we take the injured to another aisle or the stables?" Milena sighed and shook her head.

"No, there might be more bombs inside the Manor that we don't know off, and the stables will be the worst environment for the doctor. See if you can replace a large tent in the storage room, like the ones we use for hunts, and get some of the men to help you set it up." "Yes, my Lady!"

Although Milena was doing her best to make decisions and take actions, she was dying with worry inside. In whole this time, neither the Duke or Rayan had come back, and there was still no sign of Raphael. She wanted to burst out in tears and cry again, but she couldn't. People were counting on her and Lucian's guidance outside, while her father and Rayan were probably doing their best to survive and get out of there. "My Lady!"

Digory ran back, out of breath.

"It looks like the fire is spread to the western tea room, above the unused family rooms!"

Milena's heart froze. They could stop the fire, if they provoked another smaller explosion, on the kitchens of the second floor. She remembered studying the architecture of the manor, years ago. The floors above were basically used for storage, and all the tea rooms should be empty. It would collapse like a sandcastle and cause a clear break between that aisle and the main domain. However, there was one big issue.

The floors would all collapse above the Ancestors' Room. Milena had never forgotten that room, where it was located, how to go there. This would seal the access to that room for months, maybe years to come. She shivered, looking at the fire. What choice did she have? She wasn't sure they were ever going to use that place in her lifetime anyway...

"Go to the knight's armory, and bring back what we have to cause an explosion big enough on the second floor," she said, with a bit of a dry throat.

The Butler nodded and ran. Milena was crushed. What was she about to do? However, as she stared at that hellfire, she knew she had no choice. Even if she didn't provoke that explosion, that aisle would end up collapsing anyway. Was that the goal of their enemies, whoever had started that fire? Anger took fear's place in her mind. She was going to crush them like insects. Whoever had dared to do all of this, she would send them to hell personally.

"Milena!"

She heard her elder brother's voice and turned around just in time to spot Valentin's horse rushing towards her.

"Val!"

She hadn't been that happy to see her older brother in a long time. He was followed by more knights, who rode past them to go help their peers. Meanwhile, the young Duke ran to his little sister, looking in absolute disarray.

"Are you alright? What in the world happened? I saw the smoke from afar..."

Milena tried to resume all she knew, and it only took two sentences. Explaining that nightmare to Valentin made her cry again, and quickly, he pulled her in his embrace to hug her.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "It's alright, Millie, everyone will be alright. Where's Father? And Raphael?"

Just as she was about to tell him, his expression froze, and his eyes grew wide from the vision of something behind her. Milena knew something was wrong just from those panicked blue eyes, and she felt about to faint. She slowly turned around, spotting the three silhouettes coming out of the fire.

She and Valentin began running at the same time.

Rayan and the Duke were in a horrible state, but compared to them, Raphael was much worse. He had blood all over his face and looked like he was struggling to stay conscious. They were half-helping him walk and half carrying him, his arms over their shoulders while they got away from the fire. Exhausted, the three of them fell in the snow one after another, and Milena rushed to their side.

Rayan got back on his knees immediately, but Raphael wasn't moving, and the Duke was groaning in pain. More people gathered around, as Milena discovered their injuries with horror.

The Duke had his shoulder and back completely burnt, the flesh exposed and black. A horrible smell was coming from his injuries, and he was sweating horribly. Two maids ran to help him, covering the wound with towels wet with some snow. He groaned from the pain, but the two young ladies seemed to know what to do.

Moreover, Raphael's state was even worse. Milena knew what a stab wound was, and her brother had a deep hole in his shoulder, bleeding horribly. His clothes were even clearly cut from the blade that had attacked him. She gasped, falling on her knees next to him. "Raphael..." She whispered, her tears running out again. "Who did this? Who attacked you!"

"Ro..."

"What?"

"Rowena... She took Rowena..."

Milena's blood went ice cold. Her niece. She had forgotten about the baby in this situation. No, she hadn't even thought about something happening to her. The aisle of the fire wasn't the one her brother used, she had assumed someone had taken Rowena to safety! "Who? Who took Rowena?"

"Raphael, who attacked you?" Repeated Valentin, his eyes bloodshot with anger.

"The... Ora... The Oracle. She... she took Ro..."

He passed out before he could finish his sentence.