7. The Process to Unification

"You want us to what?!" Both Angelica and Julius spoke out in outrage to the words Jadamine had just spoke to both of them. If the air between everyone hadn't been as awkward or stressed, their reactions would have been more tame. But now, They were fuming. Not from anger, but of unsureness of what to do or say further.

"I know this is a sudden proposal for both of you, but it isn't one I made without too much thought, and research." Jadamine sighed as she looked to Julius and her daughter. "This is the only thing I could think of besides a blood pact that could solidify and change the differences of our two houses."

"You are talking about marriage here Jadamine" Julius spoke up after the shock of the proposal lessened it's grasp on him some. "You want me to marry a woman I just met as the way to unify our two houses. And you and I both know how much the council is against the thought of love and any form of it."

"That is why we can get away with it Julius. Because our two houses are some of the rare few that exist without the councils guidance, and without much worry for the code" Jadamine explained as she stared at him.

"Dracula's code is the law with the council. If they were to find out about such a unification process we would be wiped from the face of the planet." Julius retorted as he stared at her.

"It makes sense for it to be this way, doesn't it?" Angelica spoke up interrupting the two of them as they began to move into unknown territory for her. She didn't know much about Dracula's code or the council due to her being raised on how her family viewed things. Which apparently are so much more different than that of the united nation of the vampires.

"I am not saying that it doesn't..I am just saying that forcing a marriage and wrapping it up neatly as the sign of unification won't go down smoothly for people within both of our houses." Julius sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "But it caught me off guard more than the food did and that is saying something."

"It..caught me off guard as well...since my mother never mentioned it to me before now." Angelica said in a low tone as she glanced to her mother. Who kept her gaze fixed on the man who she wanted her to marry.

"I couldn't give you time to think on it due to how you tend to be around most men. I made the best choice I could based off of how you are Angelica. I didn't do it to punish you in some way" Jadamine said in a reassuring voice looking to her daughter. "I want this to teach you have real relationships are, and what chances the world has to offer besides being confined to this manner."

"You didn't even think to mention to this to me? So I could make this kind of choice to myself...And you want me to accept it as the best thing for me? I am not a child anymore mom, and I thought you saw me as more than that" Angelica said as she stood and hurried out of the dining room leaving the two there alone with a awkward silence.

"Forgive me Julius. It wasn't supposed to go this far south." Jadamine spoke after a while before the two were brought a glass of chilled blood. "I never raised her like a vampire. Didn't teach her what she really needed to know and for that I am paying for it"

"I can see that you didn't make this decision lightly..So I will go through with it..on my own terms with it. And if we are to marry then I do not want my house to know about it. Since to be honest they are quite old fashioned, and don't really like anything that seems human in nature. They barely tolerate me and the cigars that I smoke from time to time." Julius responded as he slowly stood up stretching where he stood. "I am going to go talk to your daughter and see if I can reach some form of common ground with her."

Jadamine nodded as she looked at the man. "She would probably take to you better if she doesn't feel like she is being forced into the matter completely. So go, she is probably in the garden. That is where she usually goes when she is upset."

Nodding Julius walked off to find the garden since the tour had ended the moment that he had smelled the delicious aroma of the food. Walking for a while and seeming to be lost he stopped to ask one of the staff where the garden is and eventually being led there.

As he walked out he felt the gentle breeze of the cool night air against his skin he took a deep calming breath of the fresh air as he looked to the night sky where the full moon sat within the middle of the sky reflecting the light of the sun down to the surface where he stood. It was the only kind of light from the sun that they could handle. Indirect sunlight. It reminded him of when he used to be human and looking up to the sky watching the stars and the moon wondering what else was out there in the world, when it was so much smaller.

Looking down from the sky he turned his gaze to the garden as he looked around for the sight of Angelica. Walking through the garden which he slowly realized was one big maze. Continuing his way through he kept his hearing focused for any noise that wasn't the natural sounds of nature.

He continued through the maze as he slowly made it to the end where he stopped his breath being caught be the sight of the moonlight being reflected by the water that lay in rest in a sizeable pond. The light being reflected onto Angelica as she sat there in silence looking into the water.

"This has to be the most beautiful addition to this garden that I have toured so far." Julius spoke in a low hum as he slowly walked over removing his overcoat and placing it upon Angelica's shoulders who flinched at first from surprise but slowly looked up to him.

"The pond looks nice huh? You should really see it when the water is clearer." Angelica spoke softly as she cleared her throat some. Upon first glance he hadn't noticed. But he slowly began to see that she had been crying a small trail of tears. Tears he felt bad that she had to cry, and tears he felt he needed to fix.