Into the Vampire's Lair Ch. 01

A few minutes later, the jet safely landed a distance away from the main castle and everyone scrambled to get off, leaving Fiona and Aramis the last to descend the jet steps.

"Close your eyes my child. Let me guide you," he said, offering his hand to her. Fiona smiled and obliged. She vaguely heard giggles and whispers but did not peek. Aramis was leading her forward towards the sounds of... hoofs?

"Horses?" she asked in bewilderment. She had never seen real horses before!

"Yes, you may open your eyes now." Fiona couldn't help feeling stunned. There were three horse drawn carriages right in front of her. She turned to Aramis and saw him smile. "Alaron's idea," he said, cocking his head in his son's direction.

Fiona stole a glance at the other carriage and saw Alaron's nonchalant face looking at her. He was acting tough but she knew deep inside he was happy that she was happy.

The carriages took them closer to the castle and Fiona saw that her Grandfather had really gone all out with the preparations. The white marquees stood out against the grey walls of the castle and formed a sort of walkway from the entrance all the way to the reception area which was facing the lake. Fiona was so grateful that they were having a day reception for it would give her a chance to really admire the beauty surrounding her.

"Come," Aramis's voice called gently. He offered her a hand to help down the carriage and they were then greeted at the entrance by Draven who looked poised and elegant in his black suit.

"Everyone is seated. Are all of you ready?" he asked as he led them through the great hall. Fiona had no idea where they were heading to but for the moment, both she and her bridesmaids were gawking at the magnificent art collection hanging on the wall and the various sculptures lining the pathway. Eian's taste ran towards the late Renaissance and Baroque periods; a contrast to the more dark, gothic and medieval art found back in her home.

Fiona liked the warmth that Eian's homes always seemed to exude and became increasingly anxious to see him. Draven had led them to the end of the hall where she saw Big Mike and little Alex waiting for them; their faces adorned with smiles.

"Alright everyone. Line up as we've practiced," said Draven, as he got in line beside Amber. Right at the front was Alaron and Erika followed by Draven and Amber then Sydney and Big Mike. Pearl stood alone for she was the Matron of Honour and behind her were her three adorable children; the girls with their baskets of petals and Alex holding the rings on a pillow.

When the ceiling high door opened, the procession was bathed in the warm glow of light from the Orangery. Then the music began the play and slowly the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their entrance.

"Are you ready sweetheart?" asked Aramis, looking down at his beautiful grandchild holding his arms.

"I'm having butterflies in my stomach," she admitted. They were still standing outside the door, away from everyone's gaze. "I love you Grandfather..." she whispered as they took their first steps towards the altar.

"I know. And you'll always have me," he said softly; his lips curling up into a wide smile as they entered the Orangery. Fiona followed his cue and put on her best smile. Everyone turned to look at the both of them and Fiona saw familiar faces beaming at her.

However, there was only one face that mattered to her at that moment and he was staring at her, his smile never wavering as she walked closer towards the altar. Fiona blushed slightly at the intensity of his gaze but didn't take her eyes away from him. He looked truly dashing in his traditional outfit; his tartan kilt with a formal sporran resting neatly in between his thighs and his jacket tapered neatly at the sides to enhance the broadness of his shoulders and lean body. There were silver links on his jacket that matched the silver crest pinning another tartan on his right shoulder. Fiona decided that she liked this look very much.

When they finally reached the altar, Aramis let go of her hand and moved to stand beside Dominic who was the best man for the wedding. Fiona then took her place beside Eian and listened as the priest began the rites of marriage:

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here this morning to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony.

Keiran Alexander MacFarlane, do you take this woman Fiona Reynolds Culzean to be your wife? To love, honour, comfort her and keep her in sickness and in health and forsaking all others for as long as you both shall live?

"I do," said Eian, squeezing Fiona's fingers gently in his. He thought it was nice of Aramis to officially allow Fiona's real last name as her middle name. Apparently she thought so too for she squeezed his fingers back. The followed through with the consent and exchanging of vows, listening intently while trying not to be obvious that they were just brimming with joy and excitement to jump into each other's arms.

May the Lord bless these rings which you give to each other as the sign of your love and fidelity.

They exchanged their wedding rings and patiently waited for the priest to pronounce them.

I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.

Eian let out what sounded like a sigh of relief before pressing his lips lovingly on his wife's. His kiss was soft and fleeting but what stirred inside him was a great tornado of emotions, all culminating into the tears of joy that were slowly escaping his eyes.

When he finally pulled away, he saw that she too was blinking back tears. They smiled at each other before she took his arm and walked down the aisle together towards the reception area.

***

The newly weds sat on a long table with the view of the lake behind them. Every so often, Fiona would turn to gaze at the sparkling water and whisper a word or two to Eian.

In front of them, the guests were seated in round tables draped with white linens. It seemed as though the Vampire guests were seated separately from the Werewolves and the few human guests. Just as well, Fiona thought, since they won't be eating much of anything. However, everyone seemed to know each other, conversing on a range of topics in a variety of languages.

"I'll introduce you to some of them after we have our first dance," whispered Eian, turning his body slightly towards her.

"What makes you think I want to be introduced to them?"

"I can see it in the way you scrutinize our guests. Besides, it would be customary for me to introduce you to the other nobles in our midst. The very old ones would see it as a dishonor on my part," he said. When she gave him a confused look, he continued. "I'm sure you can scent that not all of them are humans. The Vampires especially, who like your Grandfather, are extremely archaic in their thinking. Everything has to be done exactly right, according to all the rules."

"Yes and they are currently pretending to eat out of courtesy," she mused and caught the flash of humour in Eian's eyes.

"Well then. Let's entertain them before they get bored. Shall we dance?" he asked, offering his hand to her.

"I'm a terrible dancer," she replied bashfully.

"Yes I know. You've established that fact before. Not to worry Sweetheart, no one's going to fault the bride on her wedding day if she has two left feet."

The music was soft and slow as it opened for them to begin the first dance. Eian's hands were steady as one clasped Fiona's hand and the other rested at the base of her spine. He moved elegantly with the grace of an experienced and cultured gentleman. Fiona had no idea how he managed to avoid stepping on her long dress but was enjoying herself too much to care. She loved the way he was holding her: gentle as though he was holding a fragile porcelain and yet sturdy enough to let her know he was always going to be there for her.

There was no question, in the guests' minds, that the two were so in love with each other. Aramis was looking on as though he could cry any minute.

Meanwhile, the other guests were starting to get up to dance. Pearl and Mike were already on the dance floor, along with Sydney and Dominic.

Alaron had refused any offers to dance; scowling at anyone who dared approach him. He solemnly wanted to enjoy the view of Fiona dancing happily, hoping to bear that image in his mind forever. However, his eye did glance occasionally towards the human bridesmaid. She was dancing with another Vampire at that moment. Alaron snorted and rolled his eyes. Boy was she in for a surprise if the guy took her home for a snack. Somehow the thought made him frown.

"Fi would kill me if anyone snacked on her pet. Damn," he swore to himself as he got up and made his way to interrupt their dance.

Draven watched as his brother got up and cut into the path of a Vampire. Does that boy even know how to respect his seniors? That Vampire was probably a century or two older than him. Was Alaron so desperate for a dance that he had to choose one already on the dance floor?

As for him, he wasn't in the mood for dancing. He was happy leaning back in his seat and watching his lovely niece in the arms of her husband. If it wasn't because of her, he wouldn't bother to come for any wedding. All the planning, stress, noise, waste of food and then casual sex with strangers was just not his thing. He preferred a quiet room with a good book or even a nice game of chess. Furthermore, formal events such as these meant that his father had invited all the other Vampire nobles from around the country to attend. Aramis had given up trying to match make his son to suitable Purebloods but he still made the effort to expose him to as many of them as possible.

In fact, in the last half an hour alone, Draven had waved off a couple of female Vampires and maybe annoyed a couple more humans when he told them he was gay. Of course he wasn't. It was just a last resort excuse he'd make when they were so insistent.

Lost in his own thoughts, he almost didn't notice when the she-wolf came up and took a seat beside him. He was about to read her mind when he decided against it. He'd let her speak first before he checked what she really was thinking about.

"You should follow your brother's example and join in the dance," she said, although what Amber really wanted to say was that that he looked like an ice cube stuck to his chair but thought otherwise. This was after all a formal, happy occasion and she didn't want to end up arguing.

"Go away," he said, without looking at her. "I'm not interested."

"To dance?"

"No, in you."

Amber bit her tongue slightly. This guy was as annoying as he was blunt. Apparently sweet-natured kindness skipped a generation. Draven turned slightly to look at her with his eyebrows raised. Obviously he had heard that.

"What can I do for you, Doctor?" he said through clenched teeth.

"I'm deciding if I should be nice... or not."

"Be nice," he replied. "Go away."

She was about to retort when Fiona came bouncing lightly towards them.

"Oh Draven! Come dance with me!" she exclaimed, pulling at his hand. Then she stopped. "Oh... I'm sorry. Did you want to dance with her?"

Amber watched Draven's eyes widen as he shook his head in denial.

"You both should dance too. I'd like that," she said. "Anyway, I have something I want to ask you. Ask Al to meet me at my table in a while okay?"

***

When the four of them were seated, Fiona began to speak excitedly.

"I've been thinking...since I can now take in the wolf bite and all, can all of you please help me get pregnant?"

"Hell no," said Alaron instantly. Fiona's smile dropped into a sad pout, causing Alaron to let out a smatter of curses under his breath. "Don't look at me like that Fi. I hate that! What I mean is... I'm not a baby doctor or whatever the word is. I'm just a bio-chemist. What the hell do I know about babies?"

Fiona seemed cheered at his answer but was still adamant on her request. "How about the two of you then? Will you help me? Please?" she asked, turning to Draven and Amber.

"Of course I will Sweetie. I've delivered so many pups before. However, I don't know how well the Vampire body can adapt to a wolf's pregnancy but we'll work on that," said Amber with a smile.

Draven on the other hand had a deep frown between his brows.

"I'm actually with Alaron on this. We're bio-chemists Fiona... I don't know how much of an input I can give."

"It's one thing for Alaron to say mean things to me... but you're the kindest person ever in the world... surely you'd help me right?"Fiona immediately gave him a puppy-eyed look, blinking innocently at him. That did it.

"Okay okay... I'll take a look into it," he said in a defeated voice. "I'm only doing this because I love you more than Alaron, it seems."

"Hey!" said Alaron but was immediately silenced by his brother.

"We'll do a check up at the end of the week. I'll do my best to help you," said Draven, looking at Fiona with soft, loving eyes. He watched as she nodded and went back to Eian's side and felt a small tug in his heart. If she were to have babies, would that make him a grandfather?

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. Hell, he was old enough to be anyone's grandfather... even the little wolf still standing adamantly by his side. Did he really have to dance with her?

***

Meanwhile, Fiona was being introduced to one noble after the other. Her grandfather had wanted to introduce her again to some of the more prominent Lords and Counts in the Vampire world. Apparently, he had invited almost all of the remaining Vampire clan heads and Elders in the European continent.

To her surprise, Eian seemed to know most of them, nodding politely when introduced and making small talk when required. She was truly impressed that he managed to remember almost everyone's names and titles. Clearly, she was having a hard time just remembering a few.

"Well then Aramis my friend, I think it is time to introduce her to my family. Would you like to come along?" asked Eian after being introduced to the last Vampire guest on Aramis's list.

"Oh, I don't know. They're still rather peaky about that whole Count Chervenkov massacre you know?" whispered Aramis softly. "I don't want them thinking I'm going to bite them."

"Oh please. That was centuries ago... Werewolves don't hold a grudge."

Aramis only smiled as he patted Eian's shoulder. "Not all Werewolves are like you Keiran."

Eian gave a sigh then gave a slight nod as he gestured Fiona towards the pack tables.

The Weres sitting there immediately stood up and began to cheer somewhat loudly as Eian came nearer.

"Ah... Fiona I'm sure you remember Rousseau?"

Fiona nodded and smiled at the wizened old man who cared for Eian's château in his absence.

"And this is his second eldest son, Leon who is also my half brother," said Eian, introducing them both. "Leon is the Alpha of his own pack now, am I right?"

The man called Leon bowed slightly towards Fiona. "Yes, south of France. It's a relatively new territory for us Weres. I'm thankful to Keiran for giving us permission to settle there."

Eian nodded kindly then turned to Rousseau. "Where's Pierre? He's been such an illusive guest that I hardly saw him today."

Rousseau's face immediately turned grim.

"Oh I'm sorry Master Keiran... but my son... he has left right after your ceremony. He said he has matters of the state to settle. I hope you will not misread his actions," he said in his most appeasing tone. "However, your reigning grandnephew is here as his representative. I will fetch him for you."

"No, that will not be necessary. I'll just call him," said Eian in a resigned tone. Pierre had always been a difficult person. It was perhaps best that Fiona had not met him on such a joyous occasion. However, the current reigning grandnephew was someone Fiona has to meet. Closing his mind off to the sounds surrounding him, Eian tried to recall the scent of the young Werewolf before calling out to him in his head.

Phillipe, I would like you to meet my wife. Would you please come here? I'm with Rousseau.

Not so long later, a handsome young man came towards the table with a woman in his arms.

"Your Highness," he said giving a gentle nod of acknowledgment to both Eian and Fiona. "This is my wife, Nina."

The petite woman held out her hand first to Eian for a kiss before curtseying politely to Fiona.

"Enchantée," she said with a smile. Eian turned to Fiona slightly and introduced them to her.

"This is my great grandnephew, as you already know... in the ninth generation," said Eian. Fiona gave him a bewildered and he continued. "Meaning great, great, great, great... you get the picture right? He's the current Duke MacFarlane representing me in court."

"Wow..." was all she could say. Philippe gave a small chuckle and held out his hand to take hers in a polite kiss.

"That was my exact reaction when I was told I had to inherit the title," he said smiling at her. "Of course, surely you don't expect the general human population to believe that their Duke never grows old right? Humans have this need to pass things on... like titles. They'll grow bored of seeing the same person in the chair for too long."

Fiona laughed. This guy was hilarious.

"But then... why does everybody still address you as though you're still in office?" asked Fiona turning to Eian for answers. Somehow this whole family tree thing was giving her a headache. Eian smiled and held her hand.

"Because Werewolf bonds are forever; transcending titles or even generations," he said with a warm smile to the other Weres standing before him. "I am still their Alpha even if they have moved on to create their own packs."

Fiona watched as many of the Weres nodded. She could see in their eyes that they weren't just nodding out of politeness but out of a genuine respect towards him.

"Master Keiran has been kind enough to share his estate, his wealth and even his title with my descendents..." said Rousseau when he saw the look on her face. "I am a nobody but he made sure my children and their offspring live an easy life... But... but now that you're both married, we will gladly return the title once your child has come of age," said Rousseau humbly.

Oh... that's why Pierre's so upset... thought Fiona.

Something like that.

Fiona's eyes widen at the response. Her eyes tried to locate the source of the voice and finally settled at scrutinizing Eian's face but he was showing no flicker of emotions at all.

Eian! If you're doing this thing on purpose, stop it! It's scaring me!

His face was unflinching and Fiona wondered if she was truly imagining things. It was seriously starting to annoy her. Not wanting to take any chances, she turned to her guests and made a polite excuse to take her leave.

"That's very kind of you Rousseau. Well, I'm very thrilled to have met all of you and I'm grateful that you have made the time to attend our wedding," she said with a wide smile.

She and Eian bade their farewells and walked back towards their table. Meeting all those people made her tired and edgy. Fiona knew that she was still susceptible to bouts of irrational anger and didn't want to risk endangering anyone or herself. Somehow she was sure it was her husband playing pranks on her and by the looks of it was going to be seriously punished.

"Eian sweetheart," she said in a gentle, melodious voice; batting her eyelashes slightly as he looked at her.

"Yes my love?"

"Mated wolves don't have a secret mind reading bond or whatever do they?" she asked, watching his face closely.

"Ah... I... I wouldn't know anything about that. I haven't mated with anyone before remember?"

"Oh really? Then why is it I seem to get a sense that you're quivering inside?"