Victor gently placed Mignon on her large lush feather-bed. He would have to ask the servants to change the canopy from the default dark blue color of his father to Victor’s newly decided lavender. Victor had never cared before about the fact that his father’s color adorning every single surface in his personal living space. Now it just started to feel claustrophobic not having a color of his own already to surround his Bride with.
Victor looked at Mignon’s sleeping face. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours yet, but somehow this child had made him do a complete one-eighty. He knew that he would have to eventually care for a Bride, but he always just let the other Vampires get to the previous sacrifices without even looking in their direction. He vaguely knew that there was Vampires like his uncle, but he never wanted to admit it. Admit that because he couldn’t accept a Bride, that sacrifices really did just go to the dogs like Mignon’s mother.
Mignon was only a little younger than Victor in Vampire time. Considering that Mignon’s mother was sold right before Victor was born, in terms of human years (the internal clock that she was forced to live with) the time between when being sold and giving birth to Mignon must have felt like forever for his aunt. To see so many people aging around you in what was such a short period of time to Vampires. Victor tried to imagine aging fifty years in just five years. Humans must be really weak all the time.
Mignon shivered and turned on her side. Victor came back to himself and realized that he had just been staring at her sleeping without even covering her up in blankets.
The thin nightgown his mother had slipped Mignon in when she had first started dozing was just that, thin. It draped over Mignon's petite frame and showed every curve and valley. Her ribs weren't as visible as Victor thought they would be. They definitely were there, but she still had fat on her bones, luckily. Especially around…
Victor quickly grabbed some blankets and threw them on top of her. Trying to focus on the image of the curves of her malnutrition over her feminine curves. At least there was evidence of a little bit of good treatment there. Whoever housed her probably let her eat their leftovers.
Still mulling over what his Bride’s life was like before she arrived, Victor blew out the lanterns and went to his own bedroom through the directly connecting door next to her wardrobe.
He awoke early to someone gently petting his hair. He was surprised to see Mignon in a sleek lavender dress through the one eye he had opened. Her bangs were even pulled back into a braid and her lovely curls straightened out to reach the small of her back. The slim silver chain style circlet that was delicately placed with an amethyst centered on her forehead made him think he was dreaming at first.
Noticing that he was waking up she tapped his nose twice to finish waking him up and held up a piece of paper to his face. Noticing the lettering gave Victor another surprise, she knew Vampiric. He was about to ask if she understood the spoken word as well, but realized that she had understood his conversation with Eric the day before which was entirely in Vampiric.
Realizing that Victor wasn't paying attention, Mignon had started waving the paper back and forth so she could communicate with him, obviously annoyed.
Victor finally sat up and took the paper to read it. “Mother assigned me one of her personal human handmaidens this morning. She delivered this notebook and charcoal to me this morning when she came to start the fire in the fireplace. I also asked her to carry me to you since I would feel rude to have her carry me everywhere when her typical job is female preparation. I also figured we should get to know each other a little better since we just met.”
Either Mignon was surprisingly chatty or she had been sitting by Victor for a while. It made Victor feel a little less guilty about staring at her sleeping the night before.
“You could have waited for me to wake up and then start your day.” Victor stretched, dwarfing the small teenager even more.
Mignon just shrugged then quickly wrote down her thoughts. “I have always woken up early and worked, I didn't feel comfortable just sitting in the gigantic bed. Especially after Rebecka, my handmaiden, dressed and groomed me since I was already awake.”
“Try to get used to it Mignon, you're potential royalty. You get to laze around in the morning as the servants get the castle ready for morning events. Try sleeping in a little longer.” Victor wanted to curl up underneath his warm blankets again. His fireplace hadn't been stoked yet since he was strict about the exact time to start the fire.
Mother probably foresaw Mignon waking up early so sent Rebecca in early. From the sound of it, not early enough to get there before she woke up. The fact that Mignon didn't seem to notice the freezing temperatures of the winter air, which was even colder up here than down in the village, worried Victor.
Mignon pulled on Victor’s sleeve when she noticed Victor trying to wiggle back under the warm blankets. She gave him a look that told him that she refused to go back to bed yet.
Victor just pulled her down next to him and grumbled. “Please Mignon, go back to sleep. We can wake up later and chat then.” Having said that Victor quickly let sleep overtake him again so she couldn’t keep bugging him. They had eternity to get to know each other, and he was not used to waking up before his own servants.
Mignon couldn’t do anything since Victor’s arm pinned her down next to him. She soon gave up and curled up next to her soon-to-be. He seemed like the strict type, and she didn’t want to make him angry. Nothing was like the hell she was raised in, but she didn’t want to risk it when it seemed like her life was finally turning around.
She was fidgety at first, but the surprising warmth she felt from Victor curled up with her soon calmed her nerves. I seemed to remind her of a time long ago. A time when she still had a loving embrace to run to.
Right as she nodded off Mignon mouthed the last words her mother ever told her. It was a Vampiric phrase that became a private mantra that Mignon kept dear to her heart and would make sure to regularly repeat to keep herself sane. This time though she wished to say it out loud to Victor. She wasn’t sure it’s exact meaning, but she felt as if it was a perfect thing to say to Victor to thank him for taking her in, even if it was technically forced.
The words didn’t come though, and she just fell asleep, having only been able to mouth her mother’s words.
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