Chapter 3

Bethels face paled as the tea cup slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor. “I-I- I'm not sure that I know what you’re talking about...A Familiar?” Seraphina frowned and crouched down to pick up the remnants of the cup as Rose and Melanie exchanged a glance. 

Rose took the broken cup from Seraphina as Melanie began to mop up the spilt tea. “Bethel, I have known you all of my life, I know when you’re lying. Please do not think me a fool and tell me the truth. What is a familiar?” Seraphina tried to be firm but her soft voice betrayed her. 

Even still, Bethel sighed and seated herself next to Seraphina. “Familiars are the animals which Vampires can shape shift into. When a vampire child is born, they will have a silver birthmark which shows what their familiar will be. Familiars are a reflection of a Vampires true character.” Seraphina’s brows were knitted trying to make sense of what Bethel was saying. “Is that why Lord Stevano of House De-Buccleuch has that silver serpent on his face?” whispered Rose. “Yes, his familiar is a serpent, in fact the whole House De-Buccluech are reptiles of some sort, bunch of cold-blooded snakes” Bethel trailed off. 

Seraphina shook her head confused, “so why do I have a mark, I don’t have a familiar?” “Well, some Dhampirs have familiars, it is very rare and usually only Dhampirs born to strong noble vampire Houses...”. “What does any of this mean then?” sighed Melanie throwing her arms up. Bethel cast a glance at her, surprised at her sudden outburst. “It means that Seraphina has a familiar” explained Bethel. “It can’t be, I’ve never shape shifted, it must just be a disfigurement like our Lady said!”. 

Seraphina didn’t like to think herself as special or unique, she even despised her bi-coloured eyes, they were too different, too special. “In order for a Dhampir to embrace her familiar, she must first drink blood, you were only a babe when you came here, barely even 6 months old. Dhampirs don’t usually try blood until they are at least a year.” Seraphina was utterly dumbfounded. “Well...” said rose “what is your marking?...” All three looked intensely at Seraphina waiting for her to answer. “A dragon” replied Seraphina, not realising what this meant. 

Bethel looked as though she would faint at any given moment “By the Gods...It can't be”, she rushed to Seraphina and pushed her hair out of the way and started to pull on her dress. Seraphina jumped up startled and exclaimed “BETHEL! What on earth or you doing?!”. “Show me, I need to see, do you really carry the mark of a dragon familiar?” Bethel sounded almost deranged. 

Seraphina looked from Bethel to Rose and Melanie who were all stood waiting. Seraphina felt her cheeks flush under their stares and then slowly started to pull the arms of her dress down to reveal the large silver dragon that started on her left shoulder and gradually made its way across her chest, stopping slightly before where her Dhampir markings sat. 

The dragon's body was delicately decorated in tiny silver scales. Against her tanned olive skin, it was strikingly beautiful. Even Rose and Melanie, who did not know the magnitude of this where breath taken. “How could you ever think this was a disfigurement?...Seraphina, its beautiful.. You’re beautiful” rose uttered breathlessly. Seraphina blushed deeply and quickly pulled her dress back on, Seraphina never knew how to respond to compliments, after all of the vile tongue lashings she had received from their Lady, she could not believe someone to say something kind towards her. 

Bethel looked like she had seen a ghost, Melanie quickly grabbed her a chair and ushered her to sit down. “Not since-since King Xaveris” whispered Bethel. She quickly shook her head realising the girls before her wouldn’t know who King Xaveris was. “King Xaveris was one of the first vampires in the Empire, his familiar was a dragon, the strongest, most powerful Vampire King we have ever seen. It is said he was part God, no-one has worn the dragon markings since him, not in 900 years.” Bethel continued to shake her head trying to absorb the magnitude of what she was seeing. 

Melanie pulled her blade from her belt and quickly sliced her wrist “Drink, Seraphina drink, I have to see this”. Seraphina paled and grabbed a cloth to slow the bleeding “Melanie, don’t be so silly! What are you thinking? You could get an infection!” “And you can heal me if I do! Now drink” retorted Melanie. Seraphina grimaced and looked at Bethel who was nodding encouragingly “do it child, we have to see if this is true, it...it could change everything!”. Seraphina frowned and sat back down, ignoring Melanie sticking her wrist out. “Bethel” Seraphina titled her head preparing herself to ask her next question “who were my parents?”. Seraphina had always wondered but, she had never asked the question, too afraid to hear the answer. 

Bethel looked down at her hands and started fidgeting “In truth child, I don’t know.” She paused before continuing “The night you were brought here, the House DeBeaux Angelo was sieged, every man, woman and child in there was slaughtered. Not a single soul was spared.” “I have never heard of that house” said Rose, in fact neither had any of the girls. “It is not often great tragedies like such are spoke off after the mourning period has passed.” answered Bethel “The House DeBeaux Angelo was a very very powerful vampire house; they were closely aligned with the Royal family and it is said that the Lord and Ladies daughter was fated to marry our Crown Prince Achilles. They were betrothed from when the girl was still in utero, it was foretold by a powerful eunuch....” Bethel went silent for a moment as her eyes brimmed with tears “the whole empire lamented the loss of the DeBeaux Angelo House, the Prince especially, from the moment she was born, their souls were intertwined..” “Is that why Prince Achilles is yet to take a bride?” asked Rose. “I can’t say for certain” responded Bethel “but I would imagine so”.

Seraphina’s eyebrows knitted together, “I don’t understand what this has anything to do with my parents”. Bethel braced herself to continue speaking “I know dear... The night you were brought to the De Vandor house, we all just assumed you were Lord Isiah’s bastard child, I assumed that is why our Lady treats you so despicably but... when our Lord tried to force himself on you, I knew it couldn’t be true, surely no man would lay with his own daughter! So, I started to believe maybe you were abandoned as our Lady claims. Surely no human house would attempt an attack on a Vampire house and succeed, especially not one as strong as the House DeBeaux Angelo but, now I am not so sure. You were the right age to be their daughter and there is no way you could wear the dragon’s mark without coming from a strong household!”.

Seraphina had a blank look on her face, there is no way she could be the baby from the House DeBeaux Angelo. “And what of my other marking, my Dhampir marking, do you know what that is?” asked Seraphina. “Unfortunately, no Dear” replied Bethel “I have never before seen such a marking or heard of another Dhampir or Vampire that shares the same marking, maybe it is unique to your dragon”. 

For a moment, all of them stayed silent. “What were the Lord and Lady’s names?” asked Melanie. 

Bethels face blanched “Lord Seracian and Lady Phina!” It was not uncommon for children to have names resembling either or both of their parents' names. 

Seraphina couldn’t allow herself to believe this was anything more than a coincidence. She did not want to believe she was a long-lost princess or the wearer of the dragon's mark, she preferred to stay an anonymous orphan than to believe that her family was all brutally slaughtered. Finally, Seraphina broke the silence with her answer, “It cannot be, it its merely a coincidence, a strange one at that but, still just a coincidence”. The 3 women looked at her almost appalled, Melanie opened her mouth to say something but Bethel raised a hand to silence her. 

“Seraphina, I know this may be a lot to take in, to think you have endured so much when your life should've been filled with joy...Your Dhampir skin may not show marks of your suffering but, I know your heart wears more scars than one body alone could carry...However, you need to know the truth.” Bethel spoke softly, hear voice filled with pain and compassion for Seraphina, that girl had truly been subject to much torture during her years of servitude, endless physical beatings for simply breathing, never mind the emotional and mental torture the Lady Persephone subjected her to. 

“A broken heart need not be crushed also” uttered Seraphina through tears.

“Your heart will be crushed by our Lady if you stay here, if not worse. If you drink my blood, we may know the truth and you can leave, leave here and have a life elsewhere, a happy life, maybe even with the prince.” Melanie pleaded with Seraphina. She loved Seraphina like a sister and watching her endure such heartache had pained her over the years, she would see her body be drained of all of her blood if it could allow Seraphina the chance to be happy.