Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 120: Cost of a Ribbon

Lucian sat before the glass bowl, his gaze fixed on the dark soil within. A faint damp scent rose from it, rich and earthen, as though the ground itself breathed. The surface lay undisturbed just as he had left it a week ago.

"I wondered if that scent of soil clinging to you came from your new companion in the stables," his mother remarked from behind him. He turned at the sound of her voice and noticed her one elegant brow arched in quiet inquiry. "I didn’t know you were into gardening."

"I am not," Lucian replied.

"No matter," his mother said, waving her hand. "I have books, if ever you wish to learn about such things."

"I have read them," Lucian answered. Lady Irina tilted her head, accepting his words without surprise and took the seat beside him, her dress faintly rustling as she settled. "Was there something you wanted, Mother?" he asked at last.

"Why?" she asked lightly. "May I not visit my own son simply to see him?"

Lucian’s eyebrows drew together, the faintest crease forming between them. "I never said that."

Lady Irina smiled, though something thoughtful lingered behind it. She remarked,

"I sometimes think that if I close my eyes, time will steal you from me as it did with Dane. Children vanish into adulthood so quickly and quietly. One day they reach for your hand and the next they walk ahead of you," she sighed softly.

Lucian reached for her hand. Holding it, he said, "You have nothing to worry about."

Lady Irina squeezed his hand. She said, "I sent a letter to my brother about the elder minister’s decision. The news might take him by surprise."

"You seldom see one another," Lucian stated. After a brief pause, he asked with quiet bluntness, "Is it because you are half-siblings?"

The vampiress drew a slow breath, her gaze moving toward the window where the snow had begun to soften at the edges, slipping into thin rivulets along the glass.

"Not entirely. When we were children, we quarrelled and reconciled in the same afternoon," she said before adding, "Your uncle took great offence at my marriage to your father, as he had once lost a sword fight to him. Pride is a stubborn thing. But they are more civil now." An amused smile appeared on her lips.

Lady Irina paused in thought. She then mentioned, "Perhaps we ought to host a small gathering. It has been far too long since we have all sat in the same room." After a brief pause, she changed the subject.

"Dane said he would return soon, but I suspect his friends have detained him. Or he detained himself. I promised Ruelle to find her ribbons before her next visit."

"I don’t think she would remember it," Lucian said, his head slightly tilting.

Lady Irina hummed in agreement. "She likely would not. The child does not yet know what to want, and that makes choosing for her... delicate. Ribbons are simple. They will do for now."

Lucian studied his mother a moment longer before asking, "Do you want me to go with you?"

"You will?" Lady Irina asked, a note of surprise lifting her voice. Though the smile that followed betrayed her quiet satisfaction. "It is a fine day for stepping outside."

"Very well."

Soon the carriage rolled out of the Slaters’ Mansion and after what seemed more than half an hour, it finally came to a gentle halt at the edge of a town and the horses’ breath rose in pale clouds.

The coachman opened the door at once and Lady Irina stepped down first, her gloved hand resting lightly on the door frame as her boots met the damp cobblestones.

Lucian followed her.

The faint scent of thawing earth rising around them with mud, melted ice and the distant promise of spring. People walked up and down the streets carefully to avoid the shallow puddles that had begun to form. Smoke curled from chimneys above the buildings.

"Wait for us, Claude. We will be back from the ribbon shopping," Lady Irina informed, her tone warm.

"Yes, milady," the coachman offered a bow.

"That is all you need to buy?" Lucian asked and saw his mother nod.

"Mhm," Lady Irina smiled as they walked down the street. "Is there anything you would like to buy?"

"I have everything I need," came the prompt response from Lucian.

They finally stopped before a narrow shop tucked between a tailor’s and a confectioner’s shops. Stepping inside the shop, they noticed careful rows of satin, silk, and velvet fabrics in different colours.

"Oh, these look wonderful. Perhaps I should have brought her here," Lady Irina murmured, her gaze drifting over the display.

"Lady Slater. It is an honour," the shopwoman, who was a human, lowered her head into a deep bow. She straightened and gestured toward a small seating area. "Please, do sit. What may I bring you to drink?"

"Thank you, but nothing today," Lady Irina replied with a gentle wave. "I would like to see ribbons suitable for young girls."

The shopkeeper blinked, then lowered her gaze to the vampiress’s stomach. "My apologies. I did not know you were expecting a child..."

A soft laugh escaped the vampiress’ lips, which was light and unoffended. She replied warmly,

"As much as my husband would welcome such news, no." Then her hand came to rest upon Lucian’s shoulder, giving a small, affectionate squeeze. "But I am expecting one to come home. She is about this tall," the vampiress continued, lifting her hand to indicate the height. "A very sweet child with brown eyes. She has exactly your hair colour. So something to match with it."

"A human?" the shopkeeper asked with a slight hint of surprise.

"Yes," Lady Irina turned amused. She then asked, "You can find a suitable ribbon, can’t you?"

"Of course, milady. I will bring the best ones," the woman obliged. She walked by the racks, while her eyes met a man in a hat, who was standing two stores away from hers. She pulled out the lean boxes before bringing them to the lady and started displaying the ribbons one after another.

Lady Irina’s hand moved from ribbon to ribbon with patient care, letting the silks slip through her fingers as though testing their quality.

over a small ledger. Lucian’s

you think of this one? We picked a dress in

at her. "Dane would have

escaped her before a weariness passed her eyes. She murmured, "Sometimes he

and Lucian turned. He caught sight of a man removing his hat. The man

silver," producing a

course," the shopwoman replied

palm and something thinner lay folded among them without the pureblooded vampires’ notice. She

which was soft

these," said the vampiress.

to see, milady. Just give me a moment.

the next set of ribbons was laid before the Slaters, the vampiress’s eyes lit up. She stated, "They look

rarely step into such a small shop, especially one owned by a human," the shopwoman replied. "It

better. I will let people know about your lovely shop," Lady Irina pulled out coins and handed them to the

slowly over wet cobblestones. For a moment, everything felt normal. Then a scream tore through the street

looking beyond the glass door. The vampiress placed her hand in front of

moments ago was gone, replaced by something colder and precise. She turned to look at the

each other as he watched his mother step outside, while her hand pulled out a dagger that was

who had begun to fight against each other on the streets. Some were injured. Others lay motionless on the

rightfully belongs to us! These are ours! Not yours!" A human screamed as he drove a stake into a vampire’s chest and face. Screams of pain

Irina from her side, trying to catch her off guard, but before

you attacking the vampires?"

to die," the human grunted in pain. "Acting all high and mighty, trying to rule us as if we are your

most of the humans had stakes in their hands, Lady Irina let go of the human. But when the human turned, she swiftly

unprepared, while the humans used the stakes and arrows, stabbing one after another. Lady Irina caught a human’s hand midair, who was going to stab her neck. She ran her dagger into his arm, which had the man shout

"ARGGGHH!!"

a vampire’s shout somewhere in the

who they were. Each kind was trying to do damage, while Lady Irina

stared at him with an expression that lacked panic and looked like someone who was waiting for this to happen. Her hand inched towards the knitting needles resting on

vanished from the table, snatched away in a blur. Her

his mother was outside, quickly stepped

not allow the human to take advantage. He pivoted, driving his heel into the man’s leg sharply. The human collapsed to his knees with

motion, he drove the needles through the back of the man’s hand. A scream erupted from the

fight with a halfling. He pulled out the long knitting needles out of the human’s hand and

halfling hurling into the wall and stone cracked under the

thought I told you to

you were alright,"

before she

Lucian turned, Lady Irina’s gaze

Chairman’s Waltz - John

the axe, which spun through the air in a slow arc before it struck the juncture between Lady Irina’s neck

word tore from

cold and his feet stopped before he began to make his way toward her when another

reach his mother but

dull, brutal sound. When the human pulled the weapon free, it left a dark, gaping

as though reaching for him across a

and his lungs burning—but her eyes were already closing and she collapsed on the ground. Blood pooled around her body, seeping into the

did not remember crossing the distance. One moment the world was filled with noise and motion, and the next he was on his knees beside

though it belonged to a child who still believed that calling

from its careful arrangement, her strands clinging to her cheek. Her eyes, once so sharp and knowing,

hair away from her face before taking her still hand. The warmth was already

as his mother’s blood continued to gather beneath his knees and soak into the fabric of his trousers, while he clutched her hand tighter as if refusal alone

his voice

her fingers to tighten just like they had earlier that day around his

him, but the sound felt distant now. In that moment, something inside

ran through the streets,

the scene, the colour in his face drained as his

Regret and guilt filled his mind. He had told her that he would return and she had laughed with a shake

true, he noticed his

couldn’t protect her,

words but from his brother’s eyes that had turned black now, leaving something

to break free the people

out. The town’s magistrate pushed through the thinning crowd, his cloak dark with splashes of blood that belonged to others. His eyes fell upon Lady Irina’s body

has happened..." he breathed in horror. "S–send for

snapped from their mother to

the magistrate could notice, his hand quickly came to cover Lucian’s empty eyes

his brother’s hold, his breath shallow and his hands stained

ordered and the magistrate didn’t take a step

with us," Lucian murmured and Dane pursed his

his brother’s heart had begun to corrupt and he wasn’t sure if riding with her was safe.

the magistrate, unsurely, bowed before he snapped his

not stay contained. It poured outward,

town where chaos had erupted, smoke curled above the rooftops in another nearby town. Houses and shopfronts burned, their flames devouring wood and the air carried the stench of char and the metallic tang of

feral growl echoed somewhere in the

into the hallway and