Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

By the time Ruelle and Lucian left the Slater estate, the morning hunt had long since come to an end. Now in the carriage, she sat beside Lucian inside the carriage, while the strange vision still lingered at the back of her mind.

Ruelle could feel Lucian's eyes that didn't leave her and her eyes moved to meet his. He didn't force her to speak, as if giving her time and space to sort her thoughts, and it was something she appreciated about him.

"The witch you lived with in the past... Did she ever try to do something bad?" Ruelle asked him.

"In general she did. Trying to butcher me. Why?" Lucian searched her eyes.

"What I saw earlier in the dream. You said you wanted to kill all the witches," Ruelle began, her fingers resting in her lap. "And I think you meant me too." A slight smile touched her lips, as though it would lighten the subject. "I was only wondering if a witch had ever done something to you before. Something terrible enough to make you lose control."

Lucian replied, "The witch I learnt from passed away a few years ago. I don't think I've ever concerned myself enough with witches to feel that strongly about them."

Ruelle turned her eyes towards him.

"I've killed a few," he continued with the same unsettling calmness, "but only when they became a nuisance to the towns or villages they were in. Beyond that, I've had little reason to involve myself in their affairs. You're the only witch I've ever involved myself with this deeply."

Then... what had she seen?

Ruelle's eyebrows drew together as another possibility slowly crept into her thoughts. Could it have been something that hadn't happened yet? A glimpse of a future still waiting for them?

But almost as quickly as the thought came, she rejected it. No, she knew Lucian. Whatever happened, he wouldn't simply turn against her. He wasn't that kind of person, and she trusted him enough to know that much. Which only made the vision all the more confusing. If it wasn't a memory and it wasn't the future, was she idly dreaming?

When they finally arrived at Elder Minister Carnifex's estate, the tall iron gates opened almost immediately after the guards caught sight of whom the carriage belonged to. The vehicle travelled along the path before the carriage eventually slowed to a halt in front of the mansion.

Ruelle looked out of the window. The mansion stood wide and imposing, built from dark stone that appeared almost black against the pale sky. Several pointed spires rose from its roof.

Stepping out of the carriage, Ruelle followed Lucian into the mansion, her eyes wandering across the unfamiliar surroundings as they entered. She had barely begun to take them in when the sharp sound of approaching footsteps drew her attention away.

A woman appeared at the other end of the hall.

Ruelle's eyes caught the midnight-blue dress that trailed elegantly behind the woman before moving to the person's face. Her black hair was neatly tied back, revealing a pair of red eyes whose sharpness seemed to have softened with the many years she had lived.

"It has been a while since I last saw you, Mr. Slater," the vampiress greeted pleasantly as she approached them. Her gaze then moved to Ruelle. "I heard about your betrothal. Congratulations to you both."

Lucian offered a polite bow, and Ruelle followed his lead. "My apologies for arriving so suddenly, Lady Amelia. We needed to speak with the minister," he informed the lady.

"I'm guessing you already sent word to him at the courthouse?" Lady Amelia asked, receiving her answer from Lucian's expression before she gestured farther into the mansion. "Come inside. It is colder today than it was yesterday."

Ruelle quietly followed, though her gaze lingered on Lady Amelia.

It would have been a lie to say she hadn't felt a slight sense of dread at the thought of meeting this person on their way here. After all, the woman walking ahead of them was her biological father's lawfully wedded wife, and Ruelle couldn't help but wonder if Carnifex had told her about his connection to her mother or about her.

"Are the preparations for the wedding complete? If I'm not mistaken, there's only a week left," Lady Amelia remarked as she led them into the drawing room which was warm. "No matter how early one begins preparing, something inevitably appears at the last moment."

"Most of it is complete," Lucian replied.

Once they were seated, a maid stepped into the drawing room and offered a polite bow.

"What would you like to have?" Lady Amelia asked, turning towards Ruelle. "The cook prepared a fresh batch of chocolate chip biscuits this morning, seeing as the cookie monster ate them all last night."

Ruelle blinked at the unexpected choice of words. She couldn't quite imagine anyone living beneath this imposing roof deserving such a title, but a small smile nevertheless touched her lips and she replied,

"The biscuits would be lovely, thank you."

Lady Amelia turned back to the maid. "Bring those, along with warm milk and blood tea." The maid bowed once more before leaving the room.

By the time the refreshments were served, Elder Minister Carnifex had returned to the mansion. Ruelle heard the approaching footsteps before he appeared at the entrance of the drawing room, with Peyton following closely behind him. Lady Amelia looked towards her husband before rising gracefully from her seat. She remarked,

"I seem to remember something I need to attend to," she said, smoothing a hand over her dress. "Please excuse me."

With a slight nod towards Ruelle and Lucian, she quietly left the drawing room and the door closed behind her. Ruelle's eyes met her father's, who wore a grim expression. She wondered if he was wrapped up in work when he was suddenly called out of it.

"Peyton informed me about what happened. Are you alright?" Carnifex asked, his attention settling immediately on Ruelle.

Ruelle nodded. Apart from losing consciousness, she hadn't been physically harmed, though the memory of what she had seen continued to sit uneasily in the back of her mind. She replied, "I'm fine."

Carnifex walked farther into the room and took one of the seats across from them which was near to where she sat. He then asked, "What did you see?"

Ruelle recounted everything she had seen in the dream that felt like she had spent several hours there. By the time she finished, Carnifex had gone unusually quiet. She watched the severity settle across his features, and the unease she had tried to push aside slowly returned.

"Did Ruelle's mother possess the ability of premonition?" Lucian asked point blank.

Carnifex's eyes shifted towards him before he answered, "She did."

Ruelle's eyes widened. Then...did that mean she had actually witnessed something that was going to happen?

"But it doesn't have to mean what you think it does," Carnifex's voice pulled her abruptly from the thought. Ruelle looked up to find his eyes resting directly upon her. "Premonitions aren't always as straightforward as they appear. Because if it were true, then you would be dead by now, Ruelle."

"My mother..." Ruelle began hesitantly, still trying to wrap her thoughts around what Carnifex had revealed. "She saw me die?"

Carnifex didn't answer immediately. He reached for one of the biscuits on the table and took a bite, though there was something absent-minded about the action, as if his thoughts were somewhere far from the drawing room. He then began,

"Mira was pregnant with you when she came to see me. By then, she had already married Harold."

Carnifex's gaze lowered, his expression distant for a moment. "It was the first time I had seen her in several months. She looked exhausted. Pale. She never mentioned about the child she was carrying being mine, and I assumed it to be Harold's."

Ruelle's fingers tightened around the teacup she held on her lap.

"She came because she needed a favour from me," Carnifex continued. His eyes shifted to meet Ruelle's. "Mira told me that her daughter needed to be protected. That if nothing was done, one day she would be killed by one of the princes."

Something bittersweet settled heavily inside Ruelle's chest at the thought that her mother had seen her. Perhaps not in the way a mother should have been able to watch her daughter grow, but before Ruelle had even taken her first breath, her mother had already known her. She had seen a future in which her daughter existed and a future in which she died.

Beside her, realisation seemed to settle across Lucian's face and he stated, "That's why you proposed the treaty."

Carnifex gave a slow nod. He explained in a grim voice,

"Mira believed Ruelle would die at the hands of a pureblooded vampire, a prince, though she couldn't tell which one but she was certain of what she had seen. When she turned six, I presented the treaty to King Septimus. But instead of keeping it within the direct royal family, the king passed its responsibility to the children of his half-sister. Which eventually fell into your hands, Lucian."

Ruelle felt something strange settle inside her chest. All this time, she had believed the treaty existed for something much larger than herself. A way to maintain peace between humans, vampires and witches. But it had been made for her.

Carnifex's expression grew more solemn.

"And now, after everything I've witnessed over these years, I believe the person Mira saw was you, Lucian. She saw Ruelle die by your hands. Had you and Ruelle been brought together for the first time as adults, I suspect the events surrounding the war would have followed then too. Your corruption may have occurred now, when she was old enough to become caught in its path."

"So you believe it was cause and effect," Lucian said, clearly displeased by the conclusion. "Our paths cross. And it ends with Ruelle's death."

Ruelle's thoughts came to an abrupt halt and her eyes moved instinctively towards Lucian.

Carnifex fell quiet, and Ruelle realised he didn't have all the answers. But then, she doubted there was anyone alive who understood her mother's premonitions better than he did. Maybe a witch.

Her lips quivered slightly before she asked, "But if my mother changed my future... wouldn't there be consequences?"

If she had been meant to die and hadn't. Something dawned on Ruelle and her eyes widened. The women Ezekiel had killed. Those women had looked like her. For so long, she had believed they were simply victims chosen because of their resemblance to her, but what if there was more to it?

If she had escaped a death that had already been written for her, could fate have taken someone else instead?

"Your mother never mentioned any repercussions," Carnifex replied as if to ease her mind. Yet something in the way he said it failed to reassure her completely. He said, "I doubt altering one person's fate would create a butterfly effect of any harsh magnitude."

Something shifted across Carnifex's face, as though a memory had suddenly surfaced from somewhere long buried. "She did say something about two negatives would make a positive."

Lucian's lips pressed into a thin line, his expression darkening as he understood the implication before Ruelle did. "Then there are repercussions," he stated. "If changing Ruelle's fate was one negative, something else has to change."

"And for that I need to be able to see the future..." Ruelle felt her stomach tighten.

"Why did she receive a residual premonition today?" Lucian demanded. The ease that had been present in his expression earlier that morning had disappeared entirely, his dark red eyes narrowed.

Carnifex considered it, his expression thoughtful before he answered, "What you saw today might have been nothing more than the residue. You must have reached the age at which you were originally meant to die."