Married To The Mad Vampire Lord

Belle had just finished her bath and was dressing up, her thoughts weighed down with what to do about her milk-full breasts that had become heavy again. Angel wasn't here to take his morning milk as was their usual routine before coming to this place, and she found herself contemplating pressing away some of it to feel relieved, since she knew she wouldn't be able to nurse him anytime soon.

She was still considering it when she heard footsteps outside her room, followed by a hard rap on her door that made her turned from the small mirror on the desk where she sat, wiping off her leaking milk with a wet cloth before she would dress.

Turning to the door, she already knew her family were outside, but her state of undress made her stand up quickly and grab her chemise from the bed behind her. She pulled it over her head in haste and then reached for her silky robe, which was the closest garment she had pulled from her trunk, and slipped it on.

Another sharp knock came at the door, making her roll her eyes in frustration at her family's impatience to scold her about what she did to their precious daughter.

She tied her robe belt firmly around her waist as she moved toward the door, silently praying her milk wouldn't leak through before she faced the people waiting outside. She must not let them notice anything amiss, or it would give away the very secret she was struggling to keep hidden from them, her child.

She unlocked the bolt and opened the door.

As expected, her parents stood in the hallway with Eve beside them, her younger sister crying and holding her wrist with her mother's handkerchief wrapped around it. All three of them glaring at her with accusing eyes.

Belle put on an innocent, clueless look as she greeted softly, "Good morning, Papa, Mama." She stepped aside and let them into the room when they walked forward.

They didn't acknowledge her greeting and instead walked into her room, going straight to the point of why they were there, but not before Lady Louisiana sized her up from head to toe, taking in her damp hair and the smooth silk blue robe that clung closely to her form.

Lady Louisiana's green eyes lingered, just for a heartbeat too long, on the fullness of Belle's bosom, her brows drawing together as she finally spoke.

"I don't remember the time I gave you the impression that you could hit your sister, Isabelle," Lady Louisiana said with a disapproving, stern look, still sizing up her elder daughter and trying to pinpoint, even as she spoke, what exactly stood out that made the girl appear more mature. "You two used to be close, and you used to protect her somewhat fiercely. What has changed for you to lay your hand on her?"

Belle had already anticipated this confrontation when she decided to take back her things, so it wasn't a surprise. She had been prepared to face it all the while she got ready for the morning, but she hadn't expected it to come this sooner before she was completely dressed.

"I didn't hit her. I just took back the things she took from me," Belle said calmly, her eyes shifting from one controlled, angry face to the other.

Lady Louisiana let out a laugh that sounded halfhearted but carried a chiding tone at her eldest daughter's words. "Might I remind you that you don't own anything in this house, Isabelle? Eve didn't take anything she didn't believe belonged to her, and you going there to hit her was wrong and completely crossing the line. Now, apologize to her and give back the things you took."

Lady Louisiana had not slept a wink last night because of her fear of the vampires. She had woken up feeling frustrated, unable to relax even in her own home. Then, to add to her unrest, her precious daughter had come crying to her, saying that Belle had struck her and stolen from her.

"I didn't take anything from her," Belle replied steadily, "and I didn't hit her, so I have no reason to apologize, Mama. She pulled my hair first, and I only pried her hand off."

She was done apologizing for things she had not done wrong. She was done being a doormat. If they would no longer accept her as their daughter, then she was ready to live with that and move on from those childhood memories of having their love. But she would no longer let them walk all over her. Yes, she would still do what was necessary, pretend she didn't love her husband, pretend she didn't have a son, to keep everyone safe from unnecessary bloodshed, but she would never again be the daughter they could push around.

"You see what I told you, mama?" Eve cried from behind her parents, glaring at her sister with resentment in her glossy green eyes. "She thinks she's something just because you married her off to the vampires. She even said you and papa don't have any sense!"

Lady Louisiana gasped, and the duke, who had been silent since entering, letting his wife handle the matter first before he could speak about the reason he had come, went red in the face with fury and rebuked her before he could control his rage.

"How dare you insult your mother and me? Have you forgotten who provides for you and gives you a roof over your head, even though you've done nothing to make us proud in society? You ungrateful little vermin!" Duke Griffin spat, barely reigning in the urge to slap her.

The only reason he wasn't disciplining her physically was because he knew she held something far too important to their land and his reputation. Isabelle was the key to creating their own weapons, whether she knew it or not, to saving the people in Aragonia, who had fallen prey to the vampires and forced the king to announce that no children or young girls should roam the land freely anymore.

"I said no such thing, father. Eve is lying." Though she indeed believed her parents were senseless, she hadn't said the words aloud to Eve. Before her marriage, Belle's greatest fear had always been her father's fury, he never hesitated to strike her or lock her away when angered. Now, she was amazed at how unfazed she felt in the face of his flushed, trembling anger.

"She said that, mama! Tell her to give the trunks back to me!" Eve cried, tears streaming down her face. She didn't care about anything but those dresses in those trunks! She had made plans to wear them all and had called for a seamstress to make adjustments for her today!

"If you are here to collect my things, I'm afraid you won't be taking them," Belle said firmly.

Lady Louisiana's eyes narrowed. "And who do you think you are to tell us whether or not we take the things you stole from your sister?" The nerve of this girl!

"I have a say in that because they are mine. If you want them so badly, buy them for your daughter," Belle said, meeting her mother's eyes without fear of the consequences of her words.

"Did you hear this insolent girl, my Lord? She's talking back at me now," Lady Louisiana turned to say to her husband in disbelief, as this girl had never before had the nerve to talk back. "It seems you have forgotten your place and—"

"I know my place, Mama. And unless you want me to let the vampires know how you sent them the wrong daughter and the reasons for it, I suggest you take your eyes off my belongings. They asked for the most pampered daughter, but you sent the least pampered. What do you think will happen if I let them see who you favored the most?"

Belle gave the subtle threat with an innocent, calm look, her eyes meeting the shocked green gaze of her mother and the pale face of her father.

Lady Louisiana noticed for the first time the clear changes in Belle. Her suspicions were right, it wasn't only the physical changes but something deeper. The girl had grown more confident, less fearful, and Lady Louisiana didn't like it at all. But her husband had warned her against showing her extreme dislike or punishing the girl as harshly as she wished. The vampires of Nightbrook might take back their agreement if they sensed any foul play and their so-called peace would be over again.

Whatever she did, Lady Louisiana thought to herself, it must not push the girl into ruining things for them. So she reined in her anger just as her husband had, and overlooked the fact that the girl had just dared to threaten them.

"You can keep your things. I will get better ones for Eve," Lady Louisiana said with forced calmness. When Eve began to protest, insisting she wanted those trunks and attires and nothing else, her mother glared at her to silence her. "Your father will buy you better attires and gold trunks."

The duke quickly chimed in, "Yes, dear, you can go shopping later with Beth and get whatever you want on my account."

Since matters had come down to threats, they did not want to take any chances. If Isabelle went ahead and revealed this to the vampires, who had agreed on having the most liked daughter, because they knew with their most favored child in the vampire land the humans would never dare to incite an attack, it could spark greater conflict before the people of Aragonia had the chance to secure themselves with weapons.

"Isabelle, you don't have to take things so hard. Eve is your sister, and sharing something of yours with her isn't wrong. But if you want to keep those things, nobody will force you to give them away." The duke softened his voice, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Belle shrugged his hand off and stepped back from his touch. "I appreciate that you understand I don't want to share my clothes," she said curtly.

The duke curled his fingers into fists, hating that he was losing the reins of control he and his wife had once had over the girl. She was showing dangerous signs of rebellion. "Have you written the reports?" he asked instead, changing the subject before she refused to provide what she had been sent there for.

Belle bit the inside of her cheek, mentally chiding herself for forgetting to read through what Rohan had written for her last night. She had completely forgotten about the report until this very moment. With everything that had been weighing on her mind, combined with the fear of the old family history with the Marchants that might haunt her sleep, the report had slipped entirely from her thoughts.

"Yes, I have written it," she mused.

"Good. Hand it to me so I can keep it safe until the day of the event, when you will present it to the king."