Lady Dhampir
Chapter 216

The door slowly closed behind Olivia, but Milena stayed a long time with her thoughts a bit lost, her hand holding that quill without writing a single word. Then, she left out a faint sigh, and put it down, grabbing that cup of warm milk instead. As usual, they had added a faint lavender and honey flavor to it. In silence, Milena slowly drunk it, feeling a bit soothed by the warm liquid going down her throat.

The snow was slowly falling outside, and the crackling of the fireplace was the only sound to be heard in her large bedroom. She had never found that kind of warmth and peace while sleeping alone at the Castle. In fact, each second spent in the large canopy bed, she missed her husband twice as more, no matter how hot her bed was. Here, at least, she could relax in the familiar scents of her childhood bedroom, with the old wood, the familiar view out of the window, and her quiet surroundings. In the Castle, it felt like everything was always going on in the floors above or below, maids whisperings and servants cleaning in all corners. The De Crescent Manor had never been sparkling clean. They had one big spring cleaning each year, when more servants were hired to deep clean as much as they could, but that place was much too old, and the family didn't like changes very much, so their own apartments were spared. Milena did notice a few things around her room, sometimes. The mattress and curtains had been changed, and the floor was waxed between each of her visits. The old chimney had also been resculpted into something a bit more modern, and the trinkets of her childhood were probably in some chest, in the ceilings. She wondered if her family had never bought child beds because they wanted to be able to welcome their back at any time. Once they grew too big for the crib, an order would be made for another king-sized bed, and their bedroom would be their bedroom for life, even after they moved out. She sadly wondered if her sister-in- law was feeling lonely too, tonight. One evening, Sofia had whispered that Eugenie often fell asleep in the nursery, rather than her own room, so they had added a chaise longue for the Duchess to fall asleep in comfortably.

Milena caressed her belly, trying to feel her babies moving. Those two were scarily still at times, and then, she would feel a bold little bump, that would make her smile. "Millie dumb dumb."

She raised her eyebrows at Blanche, who had suddenly shape-shifted in the bed, sitting with her legs crossed and giving her an upset stare.

"What was that?" Scoffed Milena, surprised. "What are you about now?"

"Millie dumb. Dumb Queen, and dumb Millie. Can't tell her secrets! Dumb Queen! Dumb Queen doesn't care about Millie babies!"

Milena sighed.

"So this is what this is about... Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"No, not fine. Millie Babies in danger! Dumb Queen will speak with Dumb King! Millie dumb, dumb, dumb!"

Milena rolled her eyes, refraining the desire to throw her teacup at her best friend. Blanche kept leaning forward, her hands pressing on the mattress and her fingers tights on the blanket, her nails as sharp as claws threatening to rip it.

"Will you stop that," she sighed. "I'm not dumb, you're the dumb one if you think I'm... dumb enough let Philomenie know of all my plans for my children. Don't worry Blanche. I trust her, but I certainly don't trust her husband. I won't make a mistake and put my twins in danger. In fact, I wanted to tell you about my plan, if you're willing to calm down and actually listen, you bird brain."

Blanche pouted at the nickname, but she didn't add anything, meaning she was willing to listen indeed. Milena sighed again, and took a sip of her milk, before talking and detailing her plan. Although it was just the two of them in that bedroom, she was whispering out of caution. Blanche just kept nodding the entire time, except for a couple of times she needed Milena to repeat her explanation, or had a suggestion herself.

Once she was done, a few minutes later, Milena poured herself another cup of milk, letting Blanche soak it all in.

"See? I'm not dumb, I'll be extra careful, even. As if I'd let anything happen to my babies..."

"Sorry," pouted Blanche. "But Blanche doesn't like Dumb Queen anyway."

"You don't have to like her, anyway."

"But Millie likes."

Milena frowned, a bit surprised. Did she really like Philomenie, after all? She leaned back against her cushion, thinking seriously about it. She couldn't say she hated her sister-in-law, that was one. In fact, she couldn't even remember if she had ever really hated her at all. Like Philomenie had once mentioned, their childhood felt far behind them already. Milena didn't feel like holding things up against her sister-in-law now, especially when Philomenie was finally starting to show she had a brain for herself... "Millie never honest," grumbled Blanche. "Millie likes dumb Queen who has dumb brother, dumb King and dumb Saint..."

"What's with you today? What dumb Saint? He's obsessed with you, what has he done wrong to you?"

"Blanche don't like him."

"That doesn't tell me why!" "Don't. Dumb Saint."

Milena rolled her eyes again. This wasn't unusual, but always very odd to her how the shape-shifter's process of thought was different from hers sometimes. At least, Blanche was very clear about her likes and dislikes. She didn't need a reason for it, most of the time she would just follow her guts and stick to it, or she kept in mind those people's relationship to Milena. It just turned out she didn't like the Saint at all. She was free to dislike the Saint anyway, Milena wasn't very fond of that character either. He felt too suspicious and ambiguous at times. Unlike his shapeshifter peer, he was a master at acting like a human, and lying just like them. Perhaps that was why Blanche couldn't stand him. She had mentioned several times she hated the one she called the "fake human"... "...I wonder how many people like you were created," sighed Milena. "I'm scared of what the Church is capable of to get more... or get you."

"Can't get me. Blanche too smart. Very fast, too."

"And you're with me all the time," chuckled Milena. "They wouldn't be so dumb as to steal something from me directly. I think they don't want to kill you, so they have no choice. Moreover, I don't think you'd be very useful to them. They like people who can perform miracles, like the Saint, or the Oracle. They don't even know you can turn human..."

"Blanche not human."

"With what mouth are you talking now, then?"

Blanche pouted and turned back into a wolf as if to make her statement clearer. Milena chuckled. She was so easy to get mad, anyway... And it's true Blanche couldn't be considered as a human at all. She only took the appearance of one, but even that wasn't perfect. In fact, she realized that as more time went on, her friend's human appearance got less perfect. She had some scales on her skin, where Milena usually wore clothes, which showed she had a hard time mimicking something she had never seen herself. It was the same for animals, in fact. Blanche couldn't mimic mythical creatures seen in books or even animals she had never seen herself. As time went on, out of curiosity, Milena had begun to realize there were some limits to her friend's ability. She had no issue maintaining an appearance for hours, days, and weeks, and she had no issues shape-shifting, but the closer the animal was to the appearance she had just before, the faster her transformation was. She also had to stay within the said animal's normal capacities, hence she couldn't be faster than a normal wolf, or see better than a cat. In fact, Blanche adapted her appearance to the circumstances, so she shape-shifted into nocturnal animals at night, and took appearances more suited for walking around or moving during the day. Her fur also never changed its length, if Milena cut it short in her cat appearance, it would be shorter in any other appearance, although Blanche hated that, so she had only experimented twice and with small patches...

She sighed and began petting Blanche, although she received a faint growl in response. She knew Blanche would never attack her, so this was just to show she was a bit pissed.

"...I'm tempted to go and see the Oracle," she sighed. "Just to see, you know. If she had any input to give of the future..."

Although she didn't bother to shapeshift to answer, Blanche's growl got louder, clearly meaning she was fully against the idea. Milena couldn't really blame her for that.

"I wish I knew Rayan's Prophecy... What could it be that got Queen Lyriana so riled up? I guess I'll never know... I can only replace clues in mine."

Milena sighed. She knew her own prophecy by heart, but she still couldn't understand a sentence of it. In fact, every single word of it felt terribly ambiguous. Some would sound like tragedy, while there was also a part that made her feel like things could eventually work out in the end.

"The roses will burn... which roses?"

She could think of a dozen places with roses, half she owned. Which made her even more worried. As if some sort of downfall was preparing...

While she was lost in her thoughts, Blanche stood up and moved closed to her, leaning her whole body against Millie, her head against the large belly. This was what Milena needed to stop her dark train of thoughts. She smiled, and, with a bit of struggle, got the bed table and her letters out of the bed to finally lay down with Blanche, preparing to sleep. She hadn't even realized how exhausted she was until then. She blew out the candle on the bedside table, emptied her cup, and let out a long, tired sigh. "...Can you hear them?"

Blanche didn't answer, her eyes closed and her breathing already slow. Milena put a hand on her belly, trying to feel her babies' movement. She wished they would say in there for as long as possible... where she could feel them, sense them. That was all she wanted. Having her children close. She just knew she wouldn't be able to send them far away, like she had seen Rayan go. She would need her children close enough so she could be ready to defend them if needed, like a wolf mother would protect her young pups. She had tried to imagine her children a thousand times. Which of her or Rayan's features they would like. If they would be human, vampire, or dhampir. Boy or girl, each of them. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how it didn't matter, how she'd love them unconditionally regardless. How she already loved them more than anything... and how she'd do anything for them.

Slowly remembering they had bid a final farewell to her brother, she thought about his son, too. She silently promised she would look after all of the De Crescent children. Antonin, Rowena, her twins, and those who would come after, too. She finally understood why her grumpy grandmother had stuck around all this time instead of retreating herself to one of her private mansions or something. It was the sheer will to protect this future generation that would come first; Milena could feel it, right now. As long as she'd have to protect those babies, nothing would stop her. She could almost feel the weight of all her ancestors and elders behind her, those who had protected her own generation before. Her mother, too, and Valentin, from where he was now. She knew there would be one day where she'd quietly come to watch over those children, while they wrote the story of their own generation. She wasn't sad, or afraid. She knew life came and went, she knew why those who had died had passed as they did. As long as there would be younger ones to protect, anything would be worth their safety. For the first time, perhaps, she finally understood Val's choice to replace his father at war. He hadn't gone to protect their Father, but for his son's sake. Probably for hers and their brothers, too. Valentin had always been more mature. He had understood long before her that the present wasn't nearly as important as the future they were protecting now.

Milena drifted calmly to sleep on those thoughts, her hand on her belly.

Next to her, Blanche spent the night half-asleep as usual, opening an eye to follow Olivia's movements as she walked in to add a log in the chimney anyway, or glare at any suspicious movement out of the window. The most agitation came from Millie's belly, though. Through her silk nightgown, Blanche would sometimes feel a faint movement, and, as she had learned, putting her cheeks against the round womb was a risk of getting a little punch. Still, she happily slept as close as she could to Milena, like her personal hot bottle, her tail wagging unconsciously.

"...Good feisty babies."

Just like this, the night passed quietly, and the Grand Princess was able to sleep through the night.

Milena woke up the next morning to a bright blue sky, clear of any clouds, for once. Up early, she got up alone to go and open her window wide. The white coat of snow was shining on the De Crescent land, still spotless and shimmering under the sunlight. A couple of servants were brushing it away from the Manor's main entrance route, but other than that, everything was coated in a thin layer of frost, so quiet at this hour. Behind her, Blanche got down the bed after a loud yawn and came to rub her back against her mistress' leg, using her cat appearance to easily jump on the window's border.

"...Val loved pretty morning like this the most," Milena said with a faint smile.

Her heart was still heavy, but there was also something freeing about her sadness, and those feelings she finally allowed herself. Raphael was right, she didn't have to hide anything here. She should just do as she wanted, and let the people who couldn't handle it to piss off. Not waiting for her maids to show up, Milena grabbed her thickest bathrobe to wrap around her, and left her bedroom, meeting Olivia outside.

"Good Morning, my Lady! Did you sleep alright?"

"Yes, thanks, Olivia. I'm hungry, actually... Is breakfast ready yet?"

"I am not surprised my Lady, you barely ate anything last night... I will tell the chef to bring you something nutritious and warm right away. Lady De Pristin and your brother are seated, but I think the Young Duchess is sleeping in."

Milena nodded. Of course, Eugenie deserved all the rest she could get... Although, she noted Olivia hadn't mentioned her father. The Duke was probably locked back in his room, again.

She let her maid leave ahead to the kitchens, while she went by herself to their dining room. Just as Olivia had said, Chartiana and Raphael were seated together, but they weren't chatting. Chartiana was deeply absorbed in reading a letter, while Raphael was quietly drinking his glass of blood.

"Lady Milena!" Exclaimed Chartiana as soon as she walked in. "How are you? Did you sleep well?"

"I'm fine, thank you Chartiana... I'm sorry I left you after this. Was the night too long?"

"Of course not! Sir Raphael was nice to keep me company all night."

"We just read books and worked each on our own," sighed Raphael. "It turns out Lady Chartiana was deeply interested in the new infrastructure of the Manor..."

"It's not new at all! I can't believe you're going to follow the old plans! Those are so outdated, I'm sure you could use this opportunity to have the Manor be a bit more modern... Lady Milena, please, would you mind if my Father took a look? I'm sure he can offer you new plans!"

"Isn't it too late for that?" Frowned Milena, taking her seat. "The reconstruction has been going on for a while already..."

"From what have seen, your workers are focussing on the main foundations, but there is definitely still a few rooms for improvements we could work on! ...Pretty please?"

"I don't mind," shrugged Milena. "Just ask Eugenie when she's up... Anything else I missed?"

"The mail will arrive soon, my Lady," said Digory, appearing out of nowhere to pour a cup of warm tea in front of her.

"I hope we will hear from Sir Lucian..." muttered Chartiana.

"He's fine, from the last we've heard of him", said Raphael. "I just wish he'd take time to write longer letters. The longest one we have received was the one he sent after... Valentin's passing, and even that was so cruelly brief..."

"Really?" Frowned Chartiana. "It has been a little while, but I thought he's doing fine from the one we have exchanged, though?"

Milena and Raphael exchanged a look.

"Chartie... How long are Lucian's letters to you, exactly?"

"I'm not sure... About three to five pages, for most? It's a bit shorter when he sends two within the same week, but..."

Raphael's cup of blood made a strange sound, the metal squeaking under his fingers.

"Lucian, you little piece of..."