"
"We sincerely apologize for awaking you this early in the morning when you were up so late pouring over the royal documents and then painting, but unfortunately, I must. Mistress Katherine has run off again and left another suitor sitting and waiting, and I'm afraid that your presence is necessary to soothe his blistered ego, Madam Victoria."
A muffled groan mixed with a sigh was the only sound that escape the mound of blankets that were piled high on the beautiful bed. Stray locks of dark hair could be seen peeking out from beneath them, and after a moment of shuffling under the warm covers, a head slowly began to emerge, the blankets falling away. The reveal was nothing too tremendous - simply a young woman with long, tangled hair, a sleepy look on her porcelain complexion, and a red nightgown covering her body.
Stifling a yawn, her fingers splayed daintily across her ruby lips, the young lady turned her dazzling aqua eyes on the two maids who stood at the side of her bed. A slightly disgruntled expression crossed her features before she smoothed them and placed a gentle smile on her face.
"It's no trouble, Clarice - Trista. I know that it isn't your fault, and what with it being Katherine, it was undoubtedly for the best that you fetched me instead of either of my brothers. Who knows what kind of mischief they would cause if they were to speak with the young man. If you would be kind enough to inform the suitor that I will be there momentarily, I'll go ahead and dress myself. Take him to the study."
Tossing back the covers, Victoria dropped to the cool stone floor beside her bed. It sent a small jolt of chilliness through her body, but she quickly brushed the feeling away, instead approaching her closet. When Trista began to follow her in an attempt to help her dress, she waved the girl off with a simple toss of her dainty hand. The maids scurried from the room, the door falling shut with a small swish behind them.
"Oh, how I love my dear sister - but sometimes ... Sometimes I want to strangle her until she's blue in the face," Victoria sighed, shifting through the beautiful gowns that hung in her formal attire wardrobe. She finally stopped when she came across a beautiful red gown, which matched her ruby necklace that currently rest against her chest.
In a matter of minutes she was dressed and pulling her hair free from being tucked beneath the gown. She approached her desk, which held a large mirror and a wide array of makeup and hair styling products.
"Oh, the twenty-first century is rich in pointless material objects," she sighed, seating herself to begin preparing her hair.
Once done, she rose and approached the doors to her bedchambers and swiftly left the room, pausing in the hallway outside of it.
"Vocare Dracul," she said softly, her voice echoing with an otherworldly tone to it. "The study."
With her summons for her guard to appear out in the air, Victoria began the short trek to the study, where Katherine's 'suitor' awaited.
It didn't take her long to reach it, and by the time that she did, the young vampire was pacing across the room, hands clasped impatiently behind his back, and a dark scowl on his features. The maids from her room stood at the doors and opened them for her, the man whirling around to face her with the cloudiness of anger in his features.
"Are you Lady Katherine? I understand the importance that young women place on being 'fashionably late', but I find it extremely rude for you to take the better part of an hour to grace me with your presence!" he snapped, his beautiful features twisted with the nastiness of his personality.
Lifting her hand, which was glad with a beautiful red glove, Victoria stopped the man with a single look. She took her time approaching the large chair that sat behind the equally impressive desk, and by the time she had done so, he was practically quivering with fury. With a single motion of her hand for him to sit, she rest her elbows on the desk, her chin placed lightly on her fingers that were clasped together.
"A word from the wise - do not allow your emotions to control your personality. It gives you a very nasty appearance to others," she began, her expression blank but her eyes holding a darkness that spoke of what would happen to him should he speak out of turn again.
"I am Lady Victoria, the eldest sister of the Vidali's. Whether or not I was Katherine, does not permit you to speak in such a way. You are not my superior, and from what I've seen so far, I would not welcome you as an equal should you ever take my sister's hand in marriage. I admit that what Katherine has done is wrong, but that does not permit you to speak in such a disrespectful manner to a lady, especially one who is undeserving of it, such as myself."
The man went to speak, and in a swift motion Victoria had straightened, her gaze meeting his.
"Silence," she ordered, her voice echoing with a mixture of other feminine voices. He quickly shut his mouth, the sound of his teeth connecting together loud in the room.
Pushing herself to her feet, Victoria placed her hands on the desk before her.
"My sister, Lady Katherine, will not be accepting your offer for her hand in marriage. As one of her appointed guardians, I decline your offer as well. It is with my sincerest apologies that I must send you away, but if she is unwilling to even meet with you, than I cannot change her mind. I may be one of her guardians, but that does not mean that I control her. It is her life to live, and she will live it how she pleases, whether or not my maniacal uncle has a say in it. It is her decision and her decision alone. She is not a child. And from what I've seen form the moment that I've walked in, I would want nothing to do with you, either. You may leave now," she stated simply.
Without another word, she made her way around the desk, the two maids opening the doors once more for her to leave. The sound of the young man scrambling to his feet made her pause, however, and when the sound of quick footsteps across the carpeted floor approached her from behind, she turned only slightly. His hand reached out for her, and before it could connect with her shoulder, she had gripped his wrist and twisted it sharply, a loud snap echoing in the room. The man let out a howl of pain, the two maids gasping in surprise, and when he went to reach with his other hand, she swiftly tugged on the arm belonging to the wrist that she had broken, dropped her weight down, and flipped him over her head. In the same motion she turned, twisting the same arm painfully behind him, and slammed him into the floor. Her heeled foot pressed down on the back of his head, pushing his face into the ground, and she held the twisted arm up and in the air above his body. He squirmed only slightly, otherwise immobile in this position.
The maids were frozen in surprise and in fear, but in an instant Trista let out a cry of terror. The thundering footsteps belonging to the regular brigade of guards that patrolled the halls at all times approached, and the two young women were brushed aside. One of the guards approached and bowed to her briefly before taking the suitor's arms and hefting him up, ignoring the shouts of pain the man made as his injured arm was pulled on.
The entire situation happened in less than three minutes, and in an instant the guards and the suitor were disappearing down the hallway, trusting her solely with her reasoning for blunt force without requiring an explanation.
Hefting a sigh, Victoria began down the hallway, freeing her slightly-unkempt hair from its braids. The movements of protecting herself had pulled strands free from their confines, and she didn't have the energy nor the time to redo it.
The long waves cascaded down over her shoulders, back, and chest, and she made her way to the dining hall to join everyone with breakfast.
"Good morning, everyone," Victoria sang out, brushing some wrinkles out of the top of her dress. She whisked over to her seat and allowed a maid to pull her chair out before seating herself and fluffing out her skirts. "How is everyone today?"