Lady Dhampir

The Crescent Knights

“Milena? Milenaaaaa…”

The young Duchess frowned.

“I’m reading, Lucian.”

“So boring! Girls are really too boring! All you do is drink tea and read books!”

Milena looked at her brother, annoyed. Lucian was older than her, but he was still too childish and whimsical at times. He was pushing on her armchair and balancing from right to left, unable to stay still. She closed the book she was reading and turned to him. From the clothes he was wearing, he had probably run away from his piano lesson… She sighed.

“Father is going to scold you again for skipping classes, Lucian.”

“But playing the piano is so useless! Musicians can play it, it’s too boring!”

Really, too childish! Who was the oldest between them? Milena brushed her long hair, split into two ponytails, with her fingers, but of course, Lucian wouldn’t stop, and insisted.

“Millie, come with me to the garden! We can watch the knights practice! I want to learn to fight!”

“Don’t you already have classes every morning with your swordmaster? Why spy on our family’s knights so late…?”

“Come on, it’s going to be fun!”

Milena hesitated. It was getting a bit late, almost night time. The dinner would be served soon, and Valentin had yet to come back from work. However, Lucian’s bright expression convinced her. After all, she was almost done with that book, and it was so hot inside the manor… She got up, putting her books back in an orderly pile first, and followed him. Blanche, too, got up and started throttling after them.

Milena didn’t spend much of her childhood acting like a normal child. Hence, when following Lucian’s adventures in the large corridors, she couldn’t help but smile. It definitely wasn’t the first time they snuck around the manor. They played like this quite often and already knew where to go or not to go.

They had to be careful to avoid the maids, who might scold them for running around and leaving their apartments without an adult with them. Blanche was acting as a look-out, shape-shifting a couple of times, like her bird form to fly ahead and warn them if people were coming. Milena and Lucian hid several times behind statues or large curtains, or in the corridors’ blind spots. Just getting from their family apartments to the training grounds was as fun as a game of hide-and-seek.

“Alright, one last door…” whispered Lucian, holding his sister’s hand as they had reached the first floor.

“But it’s in front of the kitchen,” murmured Milena.

The children were crouching down behind a large curtain, next to each other, with Blanche as a bird on Milena’s shoulder. The kitchens were the last trial before they could get outside, but it was one of the busiest places in the manor, with servants coming in and out regularly. Lucian frowned, searching for a solution. But Milena smiled.

“We need a distraction.”

“A distraction?”

“Like in my book! To catch the King’s attention, the thief set fire to a room and lured him away from his office.”

“We can’t set fire to the manor!” exclaimed Lucian, a bit too loudly.

Milena put a hand on his mouth and rolled her eyes.

“Of course not! But we need something that will distract all the servants for us.”

She took Blanche the bird on her finger, smiling at her little companion.

“We need something big and loud, Blanche!”

The bird tilted its head and changed into a silver squirrel. She jumped off Milena’s hands and ran towards the kitchen on her little paws, followed by the two children’s eyes. Lucian frowned.

“A squirrel?”

“Silly, she has to get away from us first, it wouldn’t be a distraction otherwise!”

“Oh, right! But how do you even know she will…”

Before he finished his sentence, a sudden uproar came from the kitchen. A horse’s whinny was heard, and the servants screamed so loud they could hear from the corridor. Milena and Lucian smiled at each other, amused.

“A horse! What is a horse doing here!”

“That’s Blanche: the young Lady’s companion! Blanche, enough! What is wrong with you? Get out of here!”

The racket lasted a long time, during which both children had a hard time repressing their laughs. They even heard the butler running down to the kitchen.

“What in the world is going on here?! You will wake up the Duke and the second young master!”

“Sir, it’s Blanche, she is not listening to us! Oh, come on, a dog now? Blanche, enough!”

As the servants were loudly arguing, Milena grabbed Lucian’s hand and they both ran outside, past the kitchen’s door which, despite being wide open, no one was watching. They finally made it outside, catching their breaths and laughing out loud.

“That was so fun! I wish we could have seen the butler’s face,” said Lucian.

“Come on, we have to go. They will realize soon that Blanche is not with me and look for us…”

They quickly walked to the training grounds, a few minutes away. They had forgotten it would be so cold outside, and Lucian started to regret not bringing his coat. It wasn’t snowing, but night had started falling and so did the temperature. However, Milena loved the wintry air on her face and didn’t feel cold at all.

The siblings hurried up until they finally reached the large terrain where the Crescent Knights were training. Immediately, Lucian’s eyes lit up. They found a little spot to the side, in the bushes, where they could stay, watching, and be mostly hidden from the knight’s view. Milena had only been there a couple of times before, but she enjoyed watching them too.

“This one is good! Look at his posture. His wrist's movements are so fast,” said Lucian, an enthusiast.

While her brother kept commenting on the various knights, unable to hide his admiration, Milena listened carefully, genuinely interested.

“I want to learn too…” she whispered.

“What are you saying? Girls don’t fight!”

She felt a bit offended at his pompous tone and frowned.

“Why not? I could learn too.”

“No, no. You are too weak. You need muscles, like a man.”

“You don’t have muscles either, Lucian. You’re still a boy,” she replied sharply.

He pouted a bit, looking at his tiny arms and trying to force his biceps. Indeed, he was only eleven years old and had yet to hit puberty… Milena chuckled and looked at the knights again. Actually, she had very few occasions to see them, except when they escorted her out in the streets. The Crescent Knights belonged to the De Crescent family, and obeyed the Duke and his family over anything. Even if their father ordered them to go against the King himself, the knights would obey. Every family had such a small army, but the Ducal ones were, of course, the most elective and impressive ones.

Those men were first-rate fighters, capable with every weapon or barehanded. They had been trained since childhood and would keep training and improving until their retirement. They were truly the most dedicated and finest warriors in this country, thought Milena.

“Young Master? Young Lady?”

They both turned around, surprised. The captain of the knights was standing right behind them, arms crossed. They were both caught spying! The man, in his black armor, smiled, scratching his white beard.

“We just came to inspect!” Lucian suddenly blurted out.

Milena glared at him. That was the most unbelievable excuse he could possibly have thought of! What inspection, when they were just kids! The captain laughed loudly, catching the attention of the other guards. A little group of the knights noticed their duo and walked towards them.

“An inspection, really, young master?”

Lucian blushed, and Milena was a bit upset with him. Not only did they get caught, but this was also getting more and more embarrassing by the minute!

“Oh, isn’t that the young lady!” said a knight, waving at her with a large smile.

“My Lord, our young lady is so cute…”

“Right? It’s my first time seeing her from up close!”

Milena felt a bit shy and intimidated in front of so many soldiers gathering around them, hiding her hands in the folds of her midnight blue dress. She had never been surrounded by so many people wearing armor, and it was a very impressive sight from her perspective.

But suddenly, someone lifted her up, carrying her in sturdy arms.

“Raphael!” she exclaimed.

Their vampire brother, in a long black leather jacket, his red eyes glared intensely in the darkness of night. He looked down, scowling at Lucian.

“What were you two thinking? The whole Castle is looking for you!” He scolded them.

“We wanted to see the knights!”

“We? More like you took Millie with you in your misdeeds, Lucian!”

But the youngest only pouted, ignoring his brother. Milena, feeling a bit less intimidated now that she was in Raphael’s arms, turned to him.

“Lucian didn’t force me, Big Brother, I followed him of my own will...” she said with an apologetic expression.

“From the ruckus Blanche made in the kitchen, I figured so,” sighed Raphael.

Only then did Milena notice her silver shapeshifter wolf was at her brother’s feet, sitting patiently like she hadn’t caused a mess right before. Milena felt a bit ashamed. She was indeed as guilty as Lucian…

“Young Master, you’re up already,” said the captain.

Raphael turned to him, a serious and cold look on his face as usual.

“You should have brought those two right back, Captain. Our father will be mad if he learns about this…”

It was a bit odd for Milena to see a teenager scold the middle-aged knight, even if Raphael looked older than his actual age. Maybe because he looked like a younger copy of their father, Raphael had the natural authority to act like this, so much so she often forgot which of him or the gentle Valentin was the oldest.

“Sorry, young Master.”

“I don’t want to go back! I want to watch the knights train!”

Raphael glared at him, his crimson eyes intimidating Lucian right away. The youngest son took a step back and looked down, a bit upset. Milena put her arms around her brother’s neck, feeling a bit less wary now that Raphael was holding her. She had always felt very safe whenever she was with her vampire brother, for some reason.

“Can’t we watch the training a bit longer? It’s too hot inside…”

Raphael frowned, putting a cold hand on his little sister’s forehead.

“Did the doctor come today? You feel hotter than usual.”

Milena nodded, but indeed, she didn’t feel too well. It had started when she was running with Lucian, but now that they were outside, she did feel very strange, and a bit drowsy too.

“I don’t feel well,” she admitted softly.

“Heh? You’re sick?” asked Lucian, looking concerned all of a sudden.

One of the knights immediately stepped forward and took off his cape to cover Milena with it, but Raphael was still staring at her, looking concerned.

“Let’s get you inside and call the doctor. We need to tell Father too. Captain Corzan, can you…”

But before he finished his sentence, Milena suddenly retched, a taste of iron covering her tongue. She felt totally embarrassed, until she saw Raphael’s horrified look, and the blood on his shoulder.