Bambi and the Duke

"Raped?" she whispered, as the wind picked its pace ruffling both their hair. Some strands of her hair stuck to her face.

"It is a secret in the public but not in the family. Wilhelhum was Nicholas' mother, Louise's paternal uncle. To hush the matter, her parents arranged for a wedding to take place but she ran away, pregnant with Nicholas," as Leonard explained, Vivian had already begun to formulate her theory of what she had seen today.

If her calculation was right, Nicholas would have lived with his mother after his mother had run away from her home. She doubted they had come back to the Rune mansion and maybe the blood she had seen with shredded pieces of flesh, it could be of his mother as he cried in the corner. It was hard for her to digest that a young boy was subjected to such great lengths of pain. Humans always cried, cried for the fact that vampires were much more superior while they were at the disadvantage when in truth it was the other way around.

She felt Leo pick her hair and push it away as the wind swayed it in one direction. She now understood the previous scenes she had seen during the time of her stay in the Rune mansion. Lord Nicholas had killed his father out of sheer hate for what he had done to his mother. For driving her away from her own and happiness.

"What are you thinking?" asked Leonard, stepping closer to her as he made sure to keep her close to him. Her bottom sat on the railings, a little uncomfortable in the beginning but she had adjusted a little, worried that if she moved a lot there were chances of her falling down.

"My life seems much easier than everybody now," she replied to see him cock his head to his side.

"Is that what you think?"

She nodded her head, a smile coming up on her face, playing with the buttons of his jacket, "I have a roof above my head, food that I get to eat...you, take care of me," her words turned shy and she cleared her throat which made him smile.

"And how do I take care of you?" he pressed her for an answer.

Vivian chewed the bottom of her lips before letting it go. This was typical Leo right here who always wanted her to tell him things in proper words so that he could gain satisfaction in them.

He knew the answers yet he always wanted to hear it from her mouth. Wanting to savor the feeling that she needed him.

"You gave me the position of the lady from being a mere maid."

"That would change anyways once we would marry," his blunt confession made her heart somersault within her chest, "What else?"

"You take care of me?" she repeated, "Mm, you..."

"I?" he asked her, his face leaning closer to her. He circled his hands around her waist, keeping her just where he needed her as he leaned down to kiss full on her lips.

This time the kiss felt sweeter than before. Warmth began to spread across her body. From her lips to the tip of her toes which made her curl her toes. She felt his lips move against her soft ones, pressing and coaxing her as she fell under his spell in the cloudy night of Bonelake. She felt him lick her lips before snaking in his tongue to taste the sweet cavern of her mouth.

One of his hands moved up to hold the nape of her neck, bringing her closer than ever before and just as he pulled back, he spoke on her wet lips, "I haven't taken care of you the way I have been wanting to, Bambi," she could see lust swirl behind those dark red eyes of his.

She didn't need to ask to know what he was hinting on, gulping her black eyes stared back at him.

"There is someplace I would like you to go. The night theater which plays only for the pureblooded vampires and a few privileged humans," he said, placing both sides of her waist, he placed her back on the ground.

"Night theater? Is it different from the rest?" she asked him curiously as they walked inside the room.

"Very," he answered her honestly, "It is the theater so that men and women can enjoy each other's company," the night theater was far from any normal theater which played plays for the families during the day.

"Okay," came her reply.

"We could go attend the play when you're done with your written exam," he placed his hand on the small of her back, "What's that?" he asked noticing the ragged cloth around her hand, "Looks similar to the ghoul," he was always quick to finding and noticing things around him.

"The ghoul was there at the council."

"I didn't know it was capable of emotions. They don't speak much apart from following orders," he commented, taking off his jacket, he began to unbutton the sleeves of his shirt.

Nicholas must have sent it to search the switcher in the council. The matter hadn't gone all and out to every councilor's ear and had been kept confidential. If he didn't know Nicholas he would have been kept in the dark too but now that he knew he had to be wary in finding who had been either kidnapped or killed, the latter being a possibility.

Far away from Bonelake and the building of Council, three men shared their time together by burning cigars and taking smokes in the dark,

A middle-aged vampire sat leisurely with his legs crossed one over the other. His pepper black hair combed back with an eye patch over his left eye. He took a long drag from the cigar before blowing it through his lips.

"Did you get the evidence on the white witch?" asked another middle-aged man. On the other side sat a young blonde man who was content enough not to smoke with the other two in the room.

"Yes," the younger man replied, "Enough to burn the fair maiden who is trying to track our feet. Why are the witches so stupid?"

"They will be stupid only for a while. Don't drag it like a mouse and finish the case," his superior scolded him, "We don't want history repeating itself. Vector's stupidity and lack of caution cost him his life."

"But it wasn't a fruitless mission, Abel," the young man responded back, "Thanks to his death, the humans had rioted against the white witch in Valeria in the middle of the street. It wasn't a lost cause," he smiled.

The man who had been quiet all this time spoke, "How's the preparation for the exams? Anything we need to look for?"

"It's as good as a peach, general. By the way, I heard something very very interesting from Weasel," he said the young vampire leaning forward from his seat, "A human girl is taking part in the exams"

"How foolish," commented the general with tch in his tone, "Reuben should know the strength of each creature, thinking the weak can handle everything which a mere paper. This is why we have so many bodies to be fed on once the exams are completed. The girl will be one of them."

"That is true," the young vampire smiled as his eyes shone in the light of the room. When the day of the exam finally arrived, Vivian couldn't help but be anxious about it. Getting ready, she stepped down the stairs to see Leo who hadn't got ready. It looked like he wouldn't be accompanying her there.

Stepping close to her, he asked, "How do you feel?" he fixed her collar.

"Nervous."

"That's normal. Remember the things you have studied. It won't be that hard. The first exam is always the easiest," he assured her. He leaned down to kiss her forehead, "All the best, Vivi."

"Thank you," standing with him in silence as a minute passed by.

"The exam won't write itself until you leave," he joked to see her smile. Bowing her head she headed out and into the carriage, hoping her nervousness would cool down.