Lady Dhampir
Chapter 15

Milena was shocked to see her there. Wasn't she supposed to stay by the Queen's side? Now that she thought about it, the Oracle indeed wasn't there when she had bid her goodbye to the Queen... And she was standing instead of in a wheelchair, too.

"I beg your pardon, my Lady, but our little sister is quite tired. We were hoping to go home soon," said Raphael.

Milena could feel the tension in his voice. His hands tightened around her. Raphael didn't want her to get close to the Oracle, or the other way around. But the Oracle stepped forward anyway, her legs shaking a little as if the effort was almost too much for them. It would have been too impolite to walk away after witnessing that...

"I only wished to meet the young Lady. We haven't been properly introduced."

Resigned, Raphael let his younger sister down but still stood very close behind her. Milena did a little reverence, staying polite. She didn't know what was the Oracle's exact status, but she was, in any case, a close friend to the Queen, and with a powerful position. One could never be too careful.

"Pleased to meet you, Oracle."

"I looked forward to our encounter, Lady Milena."

Milena was surprised. No one had ever called her that. It was polite, yet oddly familiar. The young woman stepped forward again, looking at her like one would look at a friend. She smiled softly. "You don't remember me, do you?"

Her brothers looked at her, intrigued, but Milena was clueless. Was she supposed to remember the Oracle from somewhere? Nothing came to her mind. Not from the many faces she had met or seen in her books, neither from the dark days before she was reunited with the House de Crescent.

"I'm sorry, your Holiness, I..." "Ora."

"Pardon me?"

"Please, call me Ora."

Milena couldn't believe it. How could she get on a first-name, no, nickname basis with the Oracle? This was truly going too fast for her, and none of this made sense!

The strange young woman, whoever, stepped forward again, with this enigmatic smile of hers, her white hair falling down around her face. Milena could now see her from up close, to the pink of her lips and the dark circles under her eyes. "... How do you know me?" She asked.

"Who hasn't heard the young Duchess de Crescent?"

Milena frowned. Wasn't she toying with her? She hinted they had personally met just a few minutes ago! Whatever game she was playing at, Milena didn't replace it funny. She shook her head, and stepped back, away from the Oracle, to get closer to Raphael. "I'm sorry, Your Holiness, but I..."

"Ora."

"I mean to..."

"Please call me Ora."

What did she insist so much on this! After a hesitation, Milena breathed in.

"All right, Lady Ora. Do you want something with me?"

"Why didn't you ask? About your prophecy?"

Milena hesitated for a second.

"You have a prophecy about me?"

"I have a prophecy about anyone. But not everyone is ready to hear them."

"Well perhaps I am not ready or do not want to hear mine," immediately replied Milena.

"Why?"

She took a moment to think about her answer. The quick and blunt replies of the Oracle were too unsettling. First, she thought that she had refused because her brother didn't want her to, but after thinking a bit more, Milena thought that wouldn't have been the truth.

"I think... I do not want to be bound by the words of a Prophecy I wouldn't believe in, to begin with. So, there is no reason for me to listen to it."

"Then why do you care if you hear it or not, if you already know you won't believe in it anyway?" Asked the Oracle.

"Because words have weight. Once I hear that Prophecy, those words will weight on me, not matter how I try to ignore them. It will be too late, and maybe this will influence me by causality."

"You're the one who influences the Prophecy, Lady Milena. Not the other way around..."

"I don't believe so. This prophecy you're talking about is made of your words, not mine. Now that you've heard my reasons, if you'll excuse me..."

She slowly stepped away, thinking the Oracle wouldn't dare to insist. After all, she had been patient and polite with her. Lucian and Raphael followed behind her, but just as they were about to leave, the Oracle's voice rose behind them.

"A daughter who broke her chains, The Wanderer and the black hand. With sunrise the roses will burn, but in darkness the heart mends. Break the balance and the fence, the dark crown shall rise at dawn." Milena stopped. That was....

"You didn't even touch me!" She argued, completely at a loss.

"I never said I needed to, my Lady."

"But... Her Highness, she..."

The Oracle shook her head.

"Queen Lyriana doesn't know everything about me, though she would certainly like to. But what I said was real, my Lady. That was your prophecy."

Milena stood for a while, shocked by what she had heard. She really wanted to ignore it, but those words felt familiar.

"What is this nonsense?" Said Raphael. "That's almost the same as the Young Duchess de Winter's Prophecy!"

The Oracle chuckled.

"Intriguing, isn't it?"

"This isn't real," sighed Milena. "You are just saying all this to confuse me."

The young woman shook her head, a sorry look on her face.

"Oh, no, Lady Milena. It's your prophecy and this is very real. Your destiny and the Young Duchess de Winter's are so closely intertwined into each other, even I cannot help it." "Who is the Wanderer?" Asked Lucian, looking curious.

Milena thought this question was odd. This was the last of her worries! But the Oracle shrugged.

"I do not know. I know the Prophecies, young Duke, that doesn't mean I can explain them."

"....Nonsense. Let's just forget this and go," said Raphael.

He carried Milena again, taking her away from the Oracle. Over his shoulder, Milena saw the young woman wave at her with a satisfied look on her face.

Once they got to the carriage, Raphael helped her sit, but he was furious.

"That damn Oracle! She did this on purpose to mess with us!"

"Do you believe it, big brother?" Asked Lucian while getting in.

"No. We should ignore it, not believe it."

"Didn't you said all she had said before turned out to be true sooner or later?" Whispered Milena.

Raphael bit his lower lip and sighed. Changing seats, he came to sit beside her, putting his arm over Milena's shoulder. His crimson eyes looked truly worried.

"Millie, I know what I said earlier, but I really didn't want you to hear this Prophecy and worry over it."

"I'm not worried. I'm just intrigued. Most of this is way too vague to understand anyway, isn't it? It's as Lucian said. We don't have a clue who the Wanderer is, what the black hand is and so on."

"Do you remember the full prophecy?" Said Lucian, impressed.

"Yes."

She had heard only once, but Milena felt like she would never be able to forget it. Raphael sighed.

"Well then, you should say it to Father. He will want to hear it too, I suppose..."

Indeed, when they arrived at the Manor, their Father was waiting for them. Lucian was sent to bed right away, but Milena and Raphael stayed in their Father's office to tell him everything that had happened in detail. The more the siblings said, the darker the Duke's face got. Once they reached the part of the Prophecy, Milena recited it without fail.

"A daughter who broke her chains, The Wanderer and the black hand. With sunrise, the roses will burn, but in darkness the heart mends. Break the balance and the fence, the dark crown shall rise at dawn." Raphael shook his head.

"I'm sorry Father, I should have kept Millie away from that Oracle."

"She followed us out, Father, Raphael didn't do anything wrong!"

But the Duke was more preoccupied by something else. He frowned and turned to Milena.

"You said she followed you out?"

"Yes, right after we left the Winter Garden, too."

"Alone?"

To Milena's surprise, their Father seemed more concerned about the fact that the Oracle was interested in Milena than the prophecy itself.

"You are sure you've never met her before?" He asked again.

"No, Father. But you know I've forgotten a lot of my past before you found me. Though I would surely remember someone like her..."

"I see..."

Raphael exchanged an intrigued look with his sister, and turned to their father.

"Father, what do you think of the Prophecy?"

The Duke thought for a while. Of course, there was no need for Milena to repeat it. He could think the words over again and try to understand their hidden meaning.

"I do not know... The first part is probably related to Milena's childhood in s*****y," sighed the Duke.

Milena had come to the same conclusion, but it was hard to be certain. Each word had so many possible meanings...

"What is the Black hand? She mentioned a white hand in the Lady de Winter's prophecy..." Said Raphael.

"That's exactly the problem, it could mean many things. It could be an action, a burned hand, a glove, even an organization or an individual!" Said Milena. "That's why those Prophecies don't mean much, they are just enough to mess with our mind."

At that moment, her dress moved a little, and Blanche, who had taken the form of a silver stoat, pointed her head out. She had been hidden in Milena's dress pocket all the time, and just came out now. Milena suspected she had only been sleeping in her mouse form most of the time. "You even brought Blanche?" Said Raphael, surprised.

"Of course. She comes everywhere I go. Right, Blanche?"

She didn't answer, but the ermine climbed up to go and curl around her neck like a furry scarf. Milena caressed her head a little.

"She's my bodyguard."

"You need real bodyguards, Milena," said her father. "With the Lady de Winter's Prophecy, she probably has gained a lot, more and more nobles will support her."

"Because of the mention of the gold crown?"

"That, the angel's fate and the Saint, too. There are too many clues that the Young Lady de Winter will have the Church's support from now on. Milena, what did you think of her?"

Milena took a while to think about an honest answer, from her experience with Philomenie and the brief talk they had. She looked up at her father.

"She seemed genuinely nice, Father. She was indeed raised like a proper Lady, but... I feel like she is more to be a symbol than a real ruler."

"Really?"

"Her answers are too innocent, in my mind. She doesn't know the harsh reality and the world. It's like she lived in a golden cage and has no idea what's really going on outside, how difficult it is to survive in this Ice Age for common people..." They stayed silent for a while, but Milena stared at the window. Outside, a frosty wind was blowing again. The large window's frame was covered in ice by the blizzard. Every night, the same terrific scenario, snow and ice taking over the whole country. Even the Vampires, who had a stronger skin against the cold, couldn't venture outside in such terrible weather. Frowning, Raphael put his coat over Milena's shoulders, worrying his little sister could get cold despite the fireplace nearby. "She was born privileged. Unlike you Millie, she doesn't know how common people live."

"That's not an excuse. You can't live as an innocent little girl your whole life and turn a closed eye to what's going outside," said the Duke. "We will watch closely how the young Lady de Winter grows up. For now, I'm more worried about Milena's Prophecy." "Father, is it worth worrying for? I don't want to believe in it."

"It's not a matter of believing it or not, Milena. If the Oracle spreads it, or informs the Queen, the Prophecy being true or not won't matter, they will believe it."

"It would be bad?" Asked Raphael. "Many things seemed... wrong."

"Are you thinking about the dark crown, brother?"

"It could be a bad omen," added the Duke. "With sunrise, the roses will burn, but in darkness the heart mends. This sentence intrigues me a lot also."

Milena thought about it too. She had a rose garden right here, at the Manor. Her father had it done when he had known about how much she liked roses, and it wasn't uncommon to have a few like these.

"The Darkness has often referred to the bad times in the country, in the previous prophecies," whispered Raphael. "Like when an epidemic broke out, or when the weather was bad for a few days."

"Great... So her Highness will think my Prophecy is very bad, compared to Lady de Winter's."

"....Not necessarily. The Queen probably won't do anything yet. She will wait to see how you and the other young Ladies turn up."

"Not to mention, there are the young Countesses and others, too," added Raphael.

Milena sighed and stood up, looking at her Father and Brother with a very serious look in her purple eyes.

"So I still have time, right? Time to improve myself."

"Milena, you don't have to..." started her brother, but Milena interrupted him.

"No, I want to. Someone already tried to kill me. Doesn't that mean I have enemies already?"

"We have enemies, Milena. It's the House de Crescent," corrected her father.

"But this is my Family, Father. I don't want to be a victim again. I don't really care about the nobility, the Royal Family and all the politics. What I'm scared of is losing my family all over again. If I can grow stronger and protect us all, I will do it." Raphael and their Father exchanged a look, and she saw them nod a little.

"Milena... Come with me. I have something to show you."

"What, Father?"

"Our Family's oldest secret."