Lady Dhampir
Chapter 199

Milena stood still, her heart beating fast in her chest as the only sign she was still alive. Her whole body was frozen in fear and anger. She took a deep breath, trying to contain the whirlwind of emotions that were threatening to win over right then. She closed her eyes for a second. She couldn't lose it now, she had to be responsible. "...Are you alright, my Lady?" Whispered Dinah, with her arms extended as if she was ready to catch Milena at any moment.

The Princess reopened her eyes, looking down at the two men. They were still down on their knees despite the thick coat of snow drenching the fabric of their pants. The two were still out of breath, the sweat pearling on their foreheads and their mouths letting out thick white smokes of steam.

"...Are you sure about the information?" She asked in a voice colder than ice.

"Our second master's private falcon flew into the De Boreal property two hours ago, my Lady. The letter had our master's private seal on it, and no one else but our Lord Henry De Boreal saw it. He recognized our second master's handwriting, too. He called us and told us to replace you as quick as possible to deliver the news, as Master Bryce had asked." Milena shivered.

...So it was true. She and the De Boreal family weren't exactly on good terms, but Valentin was Bryce's best friend, and Henry wouldn't lie about this. He most likely honored his younger brother's demand right away, out of respect both for the deceased and his family.

"...Can I see the letter?" "Yes, your Highness. Here."

The man took out the paper, already crumbled, but as soon as she opened it, Milena recognized Bryce's handwriting too. It wasn't an official letter, it had obviously been written in a hurry. Yet, it was genuine. The first sentences were for his older brother, begging him to send news as fast as possible to Milena herself. Then, it was the hardest part.

Milena read it all in one go, unable to keep her eyes away from those lines, full of emotions both in the raw words and the shaky handwriting. He really had died. A group of giants had attacked them by surprise, and the second Division had been separated from the rest of the group. Bryce was the unfortunate witness of what had happened, as he himself had lost sight of his own men in the chaos. The violence and suddenty of the attack had taken everyone by surprise, and the usually organized ranks had fallen into disarray just as fast. A lot of firepower had been misused and sent towards their own troops in the confusion. Through Bryce's hurried and desperate words, Milena could almost replay the scene in her mind, the chaos that had happened miles and hours away. The snow and blood flying, the sounds of gunshots and the hellish shooting. The roar of the giants as well as the men's yelling to try and bring back order.

In the midst of that nightmare, Valentin had been shot. Not once, but twice. Those weren't fatal wounds, however, but the damage they caused had condemned her brother. One bullet had gone right through his flank, the other had hit his left leg and stuck itself inside, probably near the bone. Bryce described how he had run to try and save the young Duke, in vain. Valentin was pinned down by the pain of his injuries, both had come at the same time, and despite his attempt to get himself out of there, he couldn't save himself. The giant's mass had swiped his body and sent him flying. His head had hit a rock. Bryce then said how his men had managed to pull Valentin out of there and evacuated him, all too late already. No one could even tell if the Commander had died from the hit of the giant's mass, the injury given by the rock, or in the minutes that had followed, from the blood loss.

Milena read everything as if her mind wasn't in her body. For a few seconds, nothing else around her existed but that terrible letter in her hands, giving her the detailed tragedy of her older brother's death. Bryce, probably at his own wits' end, ended this letter by giving his sincere condolences as well as sharing about his own pain of having lost the man he considered his other brother, his best friend since childhood. Knowing the letter would end in Milena's hands and her family's, he ended the letter by swearing he would send the body back as soon as he could. At the time of the letter, Lucian had just arrived at the location Bryce was writing from, and was with their brother's body, while her husband had just been notified as well. His last words were for Eugenie and Antonin, and finally, the Duke.

Milena watched her own tears wet the edge of the letter, unable to react for a few seconds.

"...My Lady, I'm so sorry..." Cried Dinah next to her.

Next to the carriage, Jeremiah and Mateus exchanged a look, both in shock as well. The two men then got down from their horses, and down on their knees, their heads low. Dinah and the other knights accompanying Milena did the same, lowering their heads in a respectful silence.

The only one left standing was Milena, her hand frozen on that letter. She kept crying, silently but beautifully. The tears trailing down her face couldn't be stopped, she wouldn't even attempt to wipe them away. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, strongly, to try and collect her senses.

Valentin was dead. That truth hit her hard, with a torrent of emotions of memories. From the first memory she had of him, in the Manor, to that last letter of him she had received, just a few days ago. Milena felt a part of her world crumbled under her feet, in a terrifying earthquake. Her brother was gone. Her older, oldest brother, the one she had always seen as a reliable figure, her second father, was really gone. Valentin was the one who always looked over her, silently, taking her to the libraries as a child, seeing that no harm came to her, keeping men at bay and being here for her when she needed his shoulder. Milena let go of the letter, and covered her face, unable to stop her own flow of tears. She couldn't care anymore for the knight's presence, the men from the De Boreal house or Dinah. Not even Blanche, silently whimpering on the seat, could stop Milena's frantic crying. Just for a few minutes, she needed to be a girl who had just lost her beloved older brother forever.

When her great-grandmother had died, Milena had been able to hold it in because so much was already going on, and Maribella herself had prepared her family for the eventuality of her death. Milena had never prepared herself to lose one of her brothers. She hadn't dared to envision that Val or Lucian wouldn't come back. Just a couple hours ago, she and Eugenie talked as if it was absolutely certain he'd come back, meet his son and take over as head of her house...

Milena's hand moved from covering her eyes to covering her mouth. She muffled her loud sobbing, trying to see through her eyes. Dinah had taken the letter she had let go off, and was holding it folded back up with trembling hands. Blanche was sitting up on the bench, staring at her with her sad golden eyes.

Milena was still crying, sobbing loudly behind her fingers, but she was already thinking. What should she do? Valentin was dead, her older brother was dead. She knew there were things to do, protocols to follow in those cases, but right now, she just couldn't think of anything. Bryce had sent the letter to her first, so now she had to be the one to let them know... Milena gasped, painfully, as her throat was starting to hurt from all the crying.

"M-my Lady, you should sit... please..." Dinah begged her, worried about Milena standing like this for a long time.

Milena didn't answer her. Instead, the Grand Princess tried to take another deep breath, which turned out to be too erratic. She opened her arms, and Blanche jumped, in the appearance of a white ermine, to curl up against her chest. Milena closed her eyes for another second, hugging her friend tight.

"...Jeremiah," she called out with a blank voice.

"Yes, my Lady."

"Ride to the Manor, and ask my brother to come and see me at the Royal Castle. Tell him it's... urgent and private. No need to let my sister-in-law know yet, nor my Father, I will... handle it later."

"I will, my lady."

Without asking anything else, Jeremiah got back on his horse, and rode away fast, back to the Manor. It was cruel to send him back like this, but Jeremiah was the knight she trusted the most among her men. Milena let out a long sigh, and turned to the two men of the House De Boreal.

"Should you ride back to the Royal Castle with us?"

"Thank you for your concern, your Highness, but our Master ordered us to come right back once we delivered the news, and the House De Boreal is close enough. We will be alright."

"...Then, please send your masters my regards, and let the Duke know I will write to him tomorrow. Thank you for travelling at such an hour for this."

"Our respects to the Grand Princess De Crescent."

They both got back on their horses and rode away in the night. Once again, Milena waited until they couldn't hear the sounds of their horses anymore to let out a long sigh. This time, she let herself fall on the bench, very tired.

"...My Lady, are you alright?" Muttered Dinah, still on her knees next to Milena. "You're very pale..."

Milena grimaced.

She wasn't alright at all. Her heart was in pieces, her head hurt from all this crying, and her tummy was suddenly aching, too. She shook her head. If they had been close enough and it hadn't been so late, perhaps she would have gone back to the Manor herself, but it would have been dangerous, both for herself and the babies. At night, a coach lost in the snow on the roads was a death trap for its passengers, the temperatures fell too low. Although she was a dhampir, Milena couldn't forget half the knights accompanying her and Dinah were human, and more vulnerable to the cold. If she was very cold, they ought to be freezing. None of them would even dare protest, but she could see Dinah's purple lips, and her men's bodies freezing too under their armors.

"...Let's move," she declared coldly.

Milena didn't utter a word for the rest of the trip back.

Dinah was worried for her mistress, on top of her own sorrow for the first young master. She was worried about how Milena hadn't moved a muscle since the carriage had begun moving again, and was blankly staring out the window. It seemed like the time for tears was over now, or perhaps she couldn't cry anymore. She had rarely seen her mistress lose her emotions like that, and it made it all so much more heart-breaking. Now, Milena was like a glass statue, although she was holding Blanche against her chest like a child would hold a stuffed toy.

From time to time, she made a grimace, and Dinah was worried about the babies. Could they feel their mother's sorrow? Could her pain trigger the labor early, or make her sick and lose them? Dinah wished Olivia was here, so her senior would know exactly what to do, what to tell their broken-hearted mistress...

The carriage silently pulled up in the Castle's court, and Dinah immediately realized how there was no trace of her previous crying on her Lady's face. Aside from perhaps her eyes a bit redder than usual, there was no way to know Lady De Crescent had been crying just minutes before. Dinah, too, decided she ought to contain herself; She sat up straight, clenching her fists on her skirt, and waited for the knights to open the door to get up and help Milena. She bit her lower lip to repress herself from asking her Lady if she was alright, as she knew the Princess wouldn't say anything somewhere their enemies could hear.

The yard was empty though, aside from the usual guards of the Royal Castle. It was too late in the night for anyone to be coming back at this hour except for the Princess. Dinah helped her up the stairs, hoping nothing else would happen this evening. However, one of the Royal Butlers showed up, looking annoyed. Dinah immediately stepped between him and her mistress with a glare.

"Your Highness!" Exclaimed the Butler. "We were worried for your safety, we sent guards after you!"

"I'm back," coldly retorted Milena, not sparing him a glance.

Perhaps because she had cried earlier, her voice was deeper than usual, and sounded more angry too. The Butler hesitated, so Dinah stepped in.

"My Lady is tired and is going to her apartments. Surely there's nothing else she needs to hear right now, I hope?" "N-no..."

"Well then, if you'll excuse us. Good night!"

Dinah was young to be talking to one of the Royal Butlers this way, but she was one of the Grand Princess' personal attendants, so her status was peculiar. The Butler hesitated, but he didn't follow or add anything watching the two women walk up the stairs. Dinah tried to help her lady to the best she could, a bit worried to see Milena so out of breath for a few stairs.

"Are you alright, my Lady?" She asked in a whisper.

"I'll... sit down upstairs," said Milena.

Blanche ran ahead of them to fetch Olivia, and the vampire servant ran out just moments later to help the Lady from the other side.

"Are you alright, you look exhausted!" She exclaimed. "...Why is Matheus following upstairs? What happened?"

"My brother is dead," coldly dropped Milena.

The Grand Princess pushed the doors to her office, out of breath, but angry. Olivia stood there, stunned, and glanced towards Dinah, who could only answer with a nod. The vampire servant took a deep breath, keeping her composure despite her own visible sorrow. "...My deepest condolences, my Lady," she muttered.

Olivia then regained her composure to help Milena inside, having her sit on the couch near the window.

"...I sent Jeremiah to warn Raphael, but I don't know when he'll be here..." Groaned Milena.

"My Lady, you don't look alright," said Dinah, worried.

"She's right," nodded Olivia, coming closer to Milena. "My Lady, please. What is going on?"

"I'm not sure," sighed Milena, rubbing her belly. "I don't feel well and I have those... pains..."

The two maids exchanged a look. If there was one area their mistress was cruelly unexperienced and uneducated about, it was childbirth, and especially its risks. Although Milena had little concerned herself with her pregnancy aside from hiding it so far, the two maids had dutifully learned about it. It was part of their initial formation received at the De Crescent Manor, of course, but they had recently made sure to study even more about the matters, especially as it was Milena's first time carrying a baby, and she happened to be carrying very likely more than one.

"...My Lady, you should..."

"My Lady, you're bleeding!" Exclaimed Dinah.

Her eyes were down on Milena's ankles, where she had just taken off her shoes out of habit. Indeed, a long, single trail of blood was coming down from her leg, and staining the carpet slowly. As soon as she realized, Milena's heart dropped.

"I'll get a Royal Doctor!" Shouted Dinah, rushing for the door.

"No!" Yelled Milena. "Go and get the Queen. Call Philomenie, and no one else!" "B-but..."

"It's an order!" Roared the Princess.

Dinah and Olivia exchanged a look, both torn. Olivia bit her lip, and turned to Milena as Dinah ran out of the room.

"My Lady, if we don't call a doctor and something happens to you or the babies..."

"If something happens to me, I need someone I can trust to help," said Milena, clenching her teeth. "I don't trust any Royal Doctor, but Philomenie will know what to do, and who to call. Whether I lose the children or not, I can't afford someone else to know, Olivia. Not now."