Blood red love
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When Charlie had taken her shower, she wrapped herself in a large towel and peaked out into the bedroom. On the bed there was a dress laid out, but the room was empty. Charlie sighed with relief and hurriedly got dressed. Beside the dress there was underwear and slippers. Once dressed, she felt a lot better and more confident. The dress was nice with three–quarter sleeves and the skirt went below her knee and was flowing when she moved. It was white with small yellow flowers all over it. It made her feel happy. She opened the door out of the bedroom and saw Mauritius sitting in a armchair in the room outside. He was reading a book
but looked up as she looked out.
“Maiden Charlie, everything alright?” he asked.
Yes. Thank you for the dress. It’s lovely,” she said and walked out of the room. She sat down on the arm–chair opposite of him.
“It’s the least I can do,” he told her. Then he sighed heavily. “I’m afraid my son has dragged the family name in the mud. That is the saying, isn’t it? I am sorry for the pain he has caused. you and Vidar. You seem to be a lovely human, and Vidar is a good man. None of you deserve what he has put your through,” he said. Charlie heard the pain and fatigue in his voice.
“It’s not your fault,” she comforted him. He gave her a weak smile.
“Thank you for that. But I think it is. His mother and me indulged him too much and didn’t think to discipline him until it was too late.”
“Still, he’s a grown man. He makes his own decision and he has been around the others in the clan long enough to know how to be a good man,” she told him. Millard’s father nodded.
“It’s one of the reasons I asked them to include my son in their clan. I was hoping he would
learn how to be a man.”
“I don’t think it is something I need to learn.” Charlie jumped to her feet when she heard Millard’s voice. He was standing in the doorway leading out to the castle and he looked
between her and his father.
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“So you are back,” Millard’s father said in a calm voice.
“I am. And imagine my surprise when I found my guest gone and one of my men crying because he had lost her. And here I find her in your rooms, dear father.”
“Really, Millard? Locking a maiden in the dungeon? I thought it was you that is always telling me I’m old–fashioned and need to realise we have entered a new millennium. I guess you are more stuck in the old ways than me,” Mauritius told his son.
“You don’t know what you are talking about. Charlie is mine. She needed to understand that. I would have let her out when she learned her lesson.”
“She is not yours! She is not a toy you want to play with. Charlie is a person and when she turned you down, you should have moved on. Where did I go wrong with you if you think this is how you court a woman? What will I tell your mother?”
“I don’t have to listen to this. I’m just here to get Charlie, and then you don’t have to be around me. It has worked this far. Why change a winning concept?” Millard said. The hurt and teenage rebellion was clear in his voice.
“Take one step closer to the maiden and you will not like what happens,” his father told him in a growl. Charlie inched away from the two vampires. She did not want to get caught up in their fight. Millard looked at his father. It looked like he was trying to figure out if his threat was seriously meant or not. This was a son that had never had an ultimatum being followed through. He looked at Charlie and she knew he would be coming for her. He had barely taken his first step towards her when his father moved Charlie’s eyes couldn’t see the movement. To her he was sitting in his armchair one moment and the next he had pinned his son to the floor. Millard was trying to get out of his fathers hold, but his father didn’t even seem to break a sweat holding him down. One of his knees was on his son’s ch*st and his hands. pinning Millard’s hands so his sides. Charlie stood rooted and just watched the struggle. The door opened and one of the most beautiful women Charlie had ever seen stood in the doorway and took in the scene in front of her.
“Will someone explain why you are breaking our son’s ribs in front of a maiden?” she said in a cool voice. She was talking English but with an accent.
“Hello dear. This is Charlie, she is imprinted to Vidar, he is on his way here,” Mauritius said
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in a manner as is he wasn’t kneeling on his son that was fighting to get loose.
“Hello, maiden Charlie, it’s an honour to have you in this house.”
“Hello, thank you.” It was all Charlie could think of to say. The situation was so absurd that
she didn’t know what to do.
“It will be nice to see Vidar again, it has been far to long. But I wish you had given me a little more heads up, darling,” she told Mauritius.
“I’m sorry, my heart, but it was decided not an hour ago. If our son would calm down a little, he can explain it all to you.” Charlie felt like she had taken a step into a alternate reality, like
Alice in Wonderland, and she wondered if it was she that was crazy for thinking this wasn’t how one should react when coming home to find your husband forcefully holding your son to
the floor.
“It can’t be helped, we will do our best to be hospitable. I would love to hear the story, but
since you and Millard seem a tad busy, maybe Charlie and I can have some girl talk over a cup
of tea and she can explain it all to me,” the woman suggested. Charlie looked at Mauritius.
and he nodded at her.
“I would love to,” Charlie said. Anything to get away for Millard and this strange scene.
“Wonderful. I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Britta DeVoen, I’m the imprinted mate of the man on top and the mother to the one on the bottom. Let’s leave them to their thing and go into the sitting room,” she told Charlie and placed a gentle hand on Charlies lower
back. Charlie let herself be guided out of the room into a sunny and airy room. There was a round table by a window with three chairs around it. Britta signed for Charlie to sit and she did. Britta called someone on her phone and asked for tea, she sighed as she sat down, she pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment and the smiled at Charlie. “Please tell me what my son has done this time.”
After Charlie had explained the last couple of months to Britta she apologised, like her husband had. Charlie repeated it wasn’t her fault and then they moved on to other subjects. It was a surprise that charlie liked Britta. She was funny and easy to talk to. In her company the hours ran by. Some times they would hear Millard and Mauritius in the other room. Britta just patted Charlie on the hand and said not to worry. It was the screeching of tires and
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sound of gravel flying that alerted Charlie that someone had arrived. She looked out of the window at the courtyard below and just caught a glimpse of Vidar and Caine rushing toward the door. She stood up, ready to find Vidar. But she had no idea where to go.
“This way,” Britta said and led her out of a different door than they had entered the room. Soon they were going down a grand staircase and Charlie saw a gigantic entrance room below. She saw Vidar walk into the room bellow and she started running. She saw him running as well and the only thing she could think was the she would finally be back with him. She had two steps left to run down as he got to the stairs, she just threw himself into his arms and the second she felt them close around her and hold her close to him she knew there was no where she would rather be for the rest of eternity. In the next heartbeat, a pain radiated through her b*dy and she threw her head back and screamed out. She heard Vidar calling her name. Caine was there as well, growling at anyone trying to get closer. Charlie felt Vidar lowering her to the floor as he called her name. She reached for his face with a trembling hand. She was with Vidar, she was happy. She let the pain take over and surrendered to the black void that swooped down over her.