Talks of Titles

Now, this... or rather, he... he was royalty. Undeniably.

He was by far, the most beautiful being I'd ever seen, and I remained frozen to the spot, lamp still in hand.

His presence was so intoxicating, it felt dangerous because it was like I couldn't control my hormones around him.

"Who are you?" he asked, moving around with grace. His straight shoulders were poised, his voice smooth, with a very distinct accent.

"I-I'm the new household manager" I stammered, caught off guard. "I was sent here to-to check out your room, sir"

I hated that I was stuttering like an idiot, but it was what happened when one was unexpectedly met with a handsome, dark, stranger who happened to be the son of my employer.

Dragos eyed the lamp in my hand, his left brow lifting in disbelief, and I quickly moved to return it to the shelf I'd snagged it from.

"I'm sorry about that sir. I was caught off guard and had no idea you were present"

"Household manager" he muttered, glancing at me once more and ignoring my apology. "I had no idea my mother needed one"

I shrugged, forcing a laugh. "Apparently, she does."

"It's a rather tasking job, don't you think?" He asked "Managing a house this size. Are you cut out for it?"

"You'd be surprised at how versatile I am, sir," I replied confidently. "I've worked as a cleaner, a cook, a waitress, a personal assistant… I've even pulled multiple shifts at once. I'm very capable."

I knew I'd started rambling again, as I always did when I was nervous, but I felt the need to assure him of my abilities. The last thing I wanted was for him to suggest to his mother that I wasn't needed here.

"You look rather young," Dragos said with scrutiny.

"Not too young. I'm 22."

"Still young," he said pointedly, a light smile gracing his lips briefly. "What is your name?"

"Dawn Carter, sir"

"Dawn" He repeated, pausing for a brief moment as his head tilted to assess my features, his eyes lingering on my coppery red tresses "Because of your hair?"

I smiled, pleased that someone had finally made the connection.

"Yes. Because of my hair"

My mother had named me Dawn because of the resemblance my hair bore to the colours of the rising sun.

"So, you were named after the sunrise," Dragos muttered. "Interesting"

His eyes glistened and I peered at them intently. They were a rather odd pair of eyes. The golden brown was an unusual shade, with the yellow almost overshadowing the brown.

I gulped the saliva that had collected in my throat and managed to look away. Something was intimidating, yet comforting about his presence.

I tried to stare into the far corners of the dim room and wondered how one remained at ease in such a depressing place.

"I am Dragos," he said finally, breaking the silence and I bowed my head respectfully, remembering Darcia's words about their royal heritage.

"Lord Dragos"

"Lord?" He scoffed, shaking his head "I see my mother has already filled your head with talk of titles. Just call me Dragos"

"I was told this is a family of royalty, and that I should address everyone with the proper respect," I explained.

"I don't care about titles," he said with a frown, his voice hard. "I am just Dragos"

I nodded, unsure of how to respond, and he turned away, moving toward a chair I hadn't noticed before.

"You don't need to be here. My room is fine. It doesn't need whatever it is you've come to do. You can go, or proceed to the next" Dragos said, sinking into the chair.

"But..." I hesitated, remembering Darcia's specific instructions. "Don't you have any tasks you'd like me to attend to before I leave?"

I shuffled my feet nervously. "Ma'am gave me orders to see if there were any specific requests you had. The way she said it, it seemed like there was something to be done," I explained. "She told me not to leave till I'd fulfilled them."

The frown was back on his face again except it was more terrifying this time around.

"What did you just say?" He asked through his teeth, shooting up from the chair, the sudden action causing me to flinch.

I panicked, unsure of what I'd done wrong.

"P-perhaps needs, sir," I blurted out, my mind racing. "D-do you have any needs I can help you with?"

The moment the words left my mouth, I realized how badly they could be misinterpreted. Why did I always manage to make things worse?

"Needs like maybe the lighting problem?" I added quickly, desperate to clarify things.

Dragos seethed. "My mother ordered you to come here and not leave till you've fulfilled my requests?" He demanded again, a frightening sneer on his face as he took a menacing step in my direction.

I quivered in fear. "Yes, sir"

"Get out"

I blinked in surprise "Lord Dragos, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"GET OUT!" He snarled, his golden eyes flaring "GET OUT AND NEVER RETURN HERE AGAIN!"

I ran out of the room extremely frightened, my heart beating insanely in my chest.

As I stopped to catch my breath, the sounds of his yell still ringing in my ears, I heard a voice speak behind me.

"Easy darling, what gave you such a fright?"

I whipped around to find a tall, handsome, young man leaning against a wall. He had blonde hair, clear, kind blue eyes, and a warm smile.

I shook my head, trying to regulate the irregular beating of my frightened heart.

"N-nothing, I-I'm alright"

The man moved away from the wall and edged towards me.

"I saw you come out of Dragos' room. He's a lot of work, that one"

As he stepped closer, he smiled again, and strangely, I started to feel better.

"I'm Rafael" he introduced courteously.

"Nice to meet you, sir, Rafael" I responded.

"Oh, stop it" he chuckled. "There's no need for the formalities, I'm just a friend of Dragos. I assume you're new here?"

"Yes. I'm Dawn. The new manager"

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," he remarked, a smirk on his face.

"Thank you"

A small smile crept across my face. Just seconds ago, I was fleeing from one man I thought was going to harm me, only to find myself face to face with another who was seemingly flirting with me, and still in the same household.

And to make matters even more complicated, both of them turned out to be drop-dead gorgeous.

"Come on, I'll show you to Azrael's room. He's not home at the moment, but I'll warn you. Azrael's far worse than Dragos" Rafael explained carefully "You've got to tread carefully around him. Make sure not to attend to his room when he's around and try as much as possible not to annoy him. He can be a real... beast"

"Do all the men in this house have anger issues?" I asked worriedly, starting to dread the decision of taking the job, but I had no choice.

I needed the money and desperate times did call for desperate measures.

There had been rumors about how unkind and strange they were in the household but I had chosen to overlook all that because the pay was way too substantial for the work I was required to do.

Rafael threw back his head and laughed, leading me down the hallway and towards another room. "Well, I'm here and I haven't yelled at you to get out, have I? Cheer up, it's not the end of the world. You've barely even started, darling"

†††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††††

DRAGOS VLAD.

"What was that stunt you pulled, Mother?!" I demanded angrily, barging into my mother's room, a few moments after Dawn left.

"Bring your voice down" She responded in her usual calm manner, walking towards me. As she attempted to touch my face, I released a nasty hiss, baring my fangs.

My mother released an exasperated sigh, getting the message. Without another word, she turned around and headed towards the window.

"Employing a new staff now, are you?!" I snapped sarcastically. "A young, innocent girl, at that! Sending her to my room, and instructing her to "fulfill my every request"?! I know exactly what you're doing, Mother"

My fists clenched and unclenched in anger. "You should know better than to think I'd fall for this silly trap of you trying to tempt me to feed. This pathetic attempt of yours will fail, just like all the others"

My mother remained calm and refused to utter a word.

Further enraged, I reached for a vase on her small glass table and hurled it in her direction.

It smashed into the wall and shattered into a million shards.

"Vorbesc cu tine, mamă!" (I am speaking to you, Mother!)

Her eyebrows were knitted in anger when she sharply whirled around to face me "It's been a year since you awoke from your slumber, you need to feed properly. Don't you grow tired of the blood bags? There's only little they can do to quench your thirst"

"They do enough" I bit out coldly.

My mother was persistent "Surely, you must crave the warmth of fresh blood from the vein and the feel of biting into a human carotid"

I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress my spiking anger, and failed.

Suddenly, I reached for the glass table in the middle of the room and forcefully upturned it. The table crashed to the ground with a loud shatter. Then I started to storm off in her direction.

"Do not test me. You know how much I hate it"

My mother moved away from the window and walked towards me. "You are a vampire" she began "The purest of our kind... the purest of our line, since Dragavei"

Her voice was steady "And you are the chosen one. You should feed..." She gestured to her neck in anger, a huge frown on her face. "...from the source!"