Lady Dhampir
Chapter 83

While the hunters and huntresses were suddenly called to gather before the official start of the hunt, Milena couldn't get her grandmother's words out of her head. How was Rayan's scar related to her mother's death? She couldn't understand how it could have been related. All she knew was that her mother had been assassinated the same day Milena was kidnapped... She had no memory of her mother, but she could vividly see her, those features she had learned by heart after hours and hours of staring at the family portrait in the De Crescent Manor. Milena put on her black leather gloves, took out one of her skirt's layers that would hinder her, and gratefully grabbed Bella's bridle. Her horse was obviously happy to see her, and so was Milena. Aside from Blanche, the patient Black Bella was the only animal Milena really liked. She gently brushed her horse, as the Queen was giving some usual speech and security measures. Since The Archduchess de Crescent seemed to be patiently waiting under her tent, sipping her blood and not saying a word, the Queen had retrieved some of her self-confidence. Milena didn't bother to listen much, however. She couldn't help trying to glance at Rayan from behind Bella. The vampire Prince had a big brown and white horse and was already seated, ready. He wasn't looking her way but talking to one of the guards by his side.

"Good Luck, Dear Friend."

Milena jumped, surprised by the voice coming from right behind her. As she turned around, Prince Ellias chuckled awkwardly, a bit embarrassed to not see Milena as happy to see him as he had expected. The young Duchess was making some neutral expression, too surprised to react. Milena took a deep breath, regaining her composure. The human prince was holding his horse's bridle and was already equipped with his g*n.

"Your Highness," said Milena. "I thought you were with... the knights."

She truly didn't expect him to be standing right behind her minute before the actual hunt! Ellias shook his head.

"No, I actually wanted to hunt with everyone else, especially the candidates. The Ladies are making so many efforts for us, we just can't act all mighty and somehow ignore them! We barely get any time together..."

It was clear that saying that wasn't about the candidates as a whole, but Milena solely. She blushed a little. He was standing very close, a bit too close, and with both horses behind her and him, there wasn't much space to retreat to, either. Milena even felt a little bit overwhelmed. Had he seen that she was actually eyeing his twin a minute ago? She hoped not. She nodded, trying to put on her usual polite smile. "That sounds like a good idea, your highness."

"Oh, would you let me help you?"

Milena was speechless. Before she could reject him, Ellias put one knee down and offered his hands to help her get on her horse. Seriously, in front of so many people? They had servants and stools for that! Milena couldn't resist looking around and, sure enough, a few people were catching that! In a split-second decision, she thought this should not be so awkward, or ambivalent; So, she accepted as if it was natural for the Prince to help her up, and stepped on his hands to get on Black Bella's back. She could even have gotten on her horse by herself, as she had learned since her first riding lessons, but that would have been deliberately ignoring the prince's goodwill.

Once on her horse, standing taller than most people, Milena made sure to avoid looking down at the prince, pretending to take a look around and pat her horse's back.

"Thank you, your Highness," she said.

"You're very welcome, Lady de Crescent."

Milena smiled a bit, and turned around, trying to regain her composure. She glanced at the crowd, who had gathered to see the hunters depart. It wasn't as many people as a usual Royal Hunt, actually. Aside from the hunters, there would be about fifty people; All of this had been arranged so fast that, aside from the Queen, the people she had actually invited and the ones who had managed to come despite the last-minute notice, there were only her Highness' followers and some Royal attendants.

A lot of those were unknown to Milena, as she hadn't spent much time in the Royal Castle's main living area yet. As she kept looking around, her eyes inadvertently met those of Philomenie, out of all people. The young Duchess looked a bit cold, in her pale blue dress, despite the layers of brown fur. However, despite her trembling lips and rosy cheeks, her eyes were riveted on Prince Ellias, looking like a child in front of a candy shop. Milena wondered how could a noble lady be so transparent and oblivious of their own expressions...

As if to mirror Philomenie's attitude, Milena unconsciously turned around, looking at Rayan. The Vampire Prince was still busy discussing with one of the Royal Guards that would come along, for the security of the hunters. She wondered if really none of the candidates found Rayan appealing? Was it just her, being attracted by his words and actions like a moth to a flame? Did it have to do with his flirtatious bites...? Milena's fingers wandered around her neck, caressing her velvet necklace. She couldn't help but feel like she wasn't herself. She was always in so much control, but now, she was worrying over something like this, making a fool of herself...

"Hunters, get ready!" Suddenly announced one of the Royal Knights.

Milena took a deep breath. This wasn't the time to be lost in such impure thoughts! Checking the weapons she had been given once more, the young dhampir lady wanted to grimace. Those were good quality weapons but made for men, not ladies. Recently, arms houses like Chartiana's family business made ones much better, dedicated to the Ladies' handling. Milena's guns were usually lighter than those, and custom-made for her, too. Even her bullets' weight was precisely calculated and each order was made on-demand. She was almost offended that the Royal Castle would give her those instead of letting her family members bring her own weapons! Their excuse was security measures, but Milena didn't think it was any more acceptable. It was as if she had to write with some big chalk stick instead of her favorite fountain pain!

In any case, a smart lady should make fire with any wood, she thought. Even if they weren't perfect to her taste, some guns from the castle were probably not completely useless...

A strident sound echoed in the air, and all hunters ventured into the forest one by one. The usual custom would have the hunters go in small groups, one after the others as to not scare the horses or make too much noise. Milena's group only included people she didn't know and departed among the last ones. She didn't mind, as there weren't many hunters anyway. The quickly spread inside the woods, the competition officially starts.

Due to the snow and icy temperatures, the human habitations were gathered in one place or scattered towards the south. Everything north-east or north-west to the Royal Castle, however, was nothing but miles and miles of forest and, further away, mountains. The human and vampire populations were very small compared to the animals freely roaming in the wild. Hence, to keep them away from the human habitations, the hunts were held regularly, at least to make sure the closest part of the forest wouldn't be dangerous for the common people. There was an area within which the hunters were allowed to go, and after that, it was considered illegal and useless. The hunting area was large enough already.

Milena made sure to leave her group early, venturing by herself to the east. As a Duchess, she was allowed a knight by her side, but she didn't know him and didn't care much to know if he was able to follow or not. She made Black Bella galop until she found herself in an area free of other hunters. Milena had learned how to hunt since she was twelve. She was pretty good at it, but she didn't especially enjoy the killings themselves. She saw it as a necessary task that had been monopolized as a rich people's hobby. Their winnings would be all retrieved and made of use, like food or fur. Hence, she quickly got her first prey, a couple of wild hares she shot one after another.

"Superb shots, your Highness," commented the man who was with her, before going to retrieve them. "Thanks..."

Milena didn't really care about compliments, she was more interested in what was happening further north, in the mountains. Were the giants really coming this way? She had never seen one aside from the pictures in her history books. They were nothing like humans. Just giant humanoid creatures, as dumb as they were big. Some only had one eye, some had two, and they were considered a very primitive kind. No one knew how many giants there really was. In each war recorded by the Kingdom's historians, there seemed to be more. However, no one had ever ventured far enough in the mountains to know, as it was way too cold up there, even for the vampires.

One of the main problems was that, as they couldn't push them as far as they wanted, the giants were always bound to come back, sooner or later. The battle's main difficulty wouldn't be the fight itself, but its conditions. If they sent their men there, many of them would die just from the sickness and the cold. Hence, they had no choice, every time, but to wait until the giants were close enough to chase them back to their territory.

Milena sighed, her breath making a little cloud of steam. Valentin and Lucian would most likely be sent there, as Royal Knights. In any case, all the noble families had to send at least two of their male members to war. Some of the old generals from Rachael's family would have to go, and Philomenie's brothers as well. As for the Royal family, at least one of the princes would be sent to the battlefront...

"My Lady?"

She had stayed in her thoughts for too long. Milena turned Black Bella towards another position and resumed moving. She was keeping an ear out for the other gunshots. The hunters usually made sure to spread into a wide enough area that they wouldn't risk shooting another hunter by mistake. There had been a few accidents, but with so many trees and such a wide hunting area, it was truly bad luck for the victim. If a hunter was suspecting one of his peers was close, he would shoot into the air as a warning, and nearby hunters had to look for them.

Milena was probably one of the most careful hunters around. She only shot when she was sure the target was worth it, and didn't care much about winning. She'd rather come back empty-handed but safe, especially after her experience from the previous time. Hence, she froze when she heard several gunshots at once. She counted them. There were three, not too far from her. She frowned. Either the hunter was bad, or reckless, but it didn't seem normal. She took her weapon and shot into the air, listening to her own echo for a few seconds, and waited. After a few minutes, the other hunter still didn't appear, she didn't even hear any horse. The knight by her side frowned.

"My Lady, this might be dangerous. We should..." "Silence."

The man obeyed, and pinched his lips, though he did seem worried. Milena kept her g*n close to herself and was trying to focus on wherever the sound had come from. Coming down her horse, she quietly walked in the snow, heading in the direction of those gunshots. There wasn't any reason for a hunter not to rally her position and make himself known to her when they were this close. This might be a false alarm, but she wanted to be sure...

The knight had come down his horse as well and was following her from very close, holding his g*n up and ready to shoot. He was human, though, and his vision wasn't as good as Milena's sharp eyes. The young Duchess discovered the scene a bit faster than him and started running.

The knight had come down his horse as well and was following her from very close, holding his g*n up and ready to shoot. He was human, though, and his vision wasn't as good as Milena's sharp eyes. The young Duchess discovered the scene a bit faster than him and started running.

"My Lady!"

However, Milena wouldn't have run if there was still danger for herself, or Blanche would have come out. She knew Ruby was probably nearby too, her personal assassin always staying close to her mistress to ensure her safety, at least from external threats. "What is..."

The young man had seen her coming, unsurprised. He was still wiping his g*n, standing with his victim at his feet. The body was still tainting the snow with fresh blood. Milena couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. He was fine, apparently. "Are you alright, Prince Rayan?"

The vampire prince nodded, but his usual smirk was gone. Instead, he had a dark expression on, and his red eyes were glowing from the sight of all that fresh blood. Milena stayed a few steps away, a bit tense.

"As you can see, Lady de Crescent... Sorry, I didn't come forward, my horse was unfortunate collateral damage."

Indeed, a few meters away, the poor animal was injured, laying in the snow with a terrified expression. There were two clear gunshot wounds on his flank, and he was bleeding... Milena felt sorry for that poor horse, but he clearly wasn't going to make it. Prince Rayan, once his g*n was clean, walked over, and with one more shot, ended its suffering. A sad silence resonated for a few seconds before the knight that had come with Milena ran to the dead man. He was wearing the same uniform as his. "Did you know that man?" Asked Milena, who had quickly grasped what might have happened.

"Not really, my Lady. He was among the recent young recruits..."

Milena frowned, turning to Rayan.

"Why were you given some unexperienced guard? What were they thinking!"

"I asked for this change," explained Rayan very calmly, walking over to check the dead man's uniform. "I had some suspicions... I asked the captain to assign him to me."

So that was what Rayan was chatting about right before the hunt... She turned to the other knight.

"You, go and replace someone to report this to. Have the Captain of the guards send more people here to protect his Highness."

"B-but your security, my Lady..."

"You're doing a marvelous job of insulting the Duchess and myself if you think we can get killed that easily," hissed Rayan.

The man didn't dare add another word, and hurried back to his horse, to go and replace help. As soon as he was out of sight, Milena turned to Rayan, furious.

"What were you thinking!"

"My own safety, as you can see. This is a hunt, after all... I might as well clear my surroundings."

She sighed. Even if he had clearly survived this murder attempt, it was a bit infuriating that he seemed so nonchalant about it. That kind of over self-confidence could get even the smartest man to lower his guard and get killed. "Did he shoot first?"

"He tried. I was only waiting for him to, so I pretended to aim at a target, and moved my horse right when I heard him raise his arm. How dumb are they to think they can use a human to kill a vampire so easily..."

Milena didn't like his arrogance. He could have been killed, yet all he could think about was brag about his capacities! She glanced at the man, unwilling to approach the body. She wasn't afraid, but she doubted she could replace anything the knight assigned to her wouldn't have found already.

For now, she was a bit concerned about Rayan. How many assassination attempts had he faced until now? She had just realized how much of a target the vampire candidates were in the Royal Castle, was it the same for him? "Lady de Crescent, you're going to make me blush if you keep staring."

Milena rolled her eyes and looked elsewhere, a bit embarrassed. She had almost forgotten that they were alone, again. Rayan chuckled and walked to her side. "So? Were you worried about me?"

"Why would I worry for you when you're obviously doing nothing but have fun!" She protested.

The vampire prince sighed.

"Why do you always replace a reason to get mad at me? A compliment on my shooting skill would have been enough."

Milena ignored him again. As if she was going to applaud his recklessness... She crossed her arms, hoping that Knight wouldn't take to long in bringing reinforcements. The vampire prince was getting too dangerously close, and it was becoming hard to ignore him... Rayan chuckled, as the pink was starting to show in the undertones of the young Duchess' skin. He loved to see her blush. Milena didn't blush like a human, it was much more subtle. It was like seeing a very pale pink flower bloom on her cheeks... "Prince Rayan," she suddenly called him, finally directing her eyes at him. "I had a question for you."

"Fire away, my Lady."

"Are you related to my mother's death in some way?"