Scarlet Queen Ch. 08-09

"Here Ellie, looks like Rain's been struck dumb," Dante said as he helped Ellie pull on a fluffy black silk and lace underskirt to go with the dress Rain had picked.

"Not dumb, dolt, just horny," Rain complained.

"Hope it's not permanent," Ellie mumbled as she pulled the dress over head.

Dante chuckled as he pulled down the dress and did up the ties on the back. Ellie ran her hands down the dress to smooth wrinkles. Ellie looked in the full length mirror and took in her appearance.

"I hate to say it Dante, but you were right I do like this dress. It looks Victorian, only darker."

"I agree, I bought it instantly when I heard the name of the dress."

Rain looked over and asked curiously, "What's it called?"

"'Queen of Hearts', it's from the dark Alice and Wonderland collection at a small boutique store that sells our normal stuff. I bought all the other dresses in the collection too," Dante replied.

"Well worth it I say if they are anything like this one," Ellie said.

Rain agreed with her. The dress was deceptively racy. The skirt was poofy, and fell to mid thigh, showing the lacy bottom of the underskirt. It was a deep red colour that complimented Ellie's hair and brought out her eyes. There was a black lacy heart pattern sewn in the middle, and along all of the hems. It showed what had to be considered 'tasteful cleavage', with a heart neck line.

Ellie sat down at the desk and summoned a mirror and makeup bag to her. She dug out a black kohl eyeliner and lined her eyes.

Finishing both of her eyes, she held it out to the guys and summoned another mirror.

"What are you waiting for? We only have about ten minutes left, come on hurry up and put your eye liner. Don't give me that look, what kind of Goth rockers don't wear make up?"

Rain took the liner from her and turned the other mirror to face him, as Dante picked up a brush and dressed Ellie's hair. He tied a red ribbon with a bow like a hair band, and curled the ends with the brush like Alice in Wonderland's hair style.

Rain finished with his make-up just as Ellie did. He brushed back his straight shoulder length hair and added a pair of goggles on top and a silver chain with a gothic style cross pendant.

Ellie added the heart pendant that came with the outfit and leaned down to pull on the matching red and black lace old style high heels.

Dante slicked back his ear length hair, added the kohl around his eyes and quickly did up the laces to his black doc martins, just as someone knocked on the door.

Rain opened the door to see Rhyder, Craven's second in command standing there.

"Right I see that you three are ready to go," Rhyder said.

"Wait, where's Gabriel?" Ellie asked.

Dante walked out of the room and knocked on the Gabriel's door.

He emerged pulling his suitcase, dressed in fancy dress suit. Rhyder took one look at Gabriel and the corner of his mouth crooked up to the form a faint smile.

"Leave that suitcase in this room, I'll make sure it gets to the manor," Rhyder directed.

Gabriel did just that and everyone looked up to Rhyder.

"Right, the car's waiting below, let's go."

"Where's Craven, I thought he said he was here?" Rain said.

Rhyder gave Rain a bored stare as if to say, you really believed he was here?

Rain sighed as all four followed Rhyder into the elevator and down to the lobby. Rain and Dante both grabbed Ellie's hands, and squeezed them reassuringly having learned of her phobia about elevators, or as Ellie referred to them, 'death traps'. Gabriel confirmed that she often took the stairs, unless there was no other option or she was grievously injured.

They moved through the lobby quickly, using a thrall spell to keep the normal people in the lobby from noticing them.

Ellie, Rain and Dante sat in the back of the car, as Rhyder and Gabe sat in the front. There was no idle chatter as everyone, with the exception of Rhyder, collectively held their breath and thought about what lay ahead for them.

Chapter Nine

Ellie felt dread build in the pit of her stomach at the thought of seeing Craven again. What if he hated her? By all rights, he really should, but Ellie didn't like that thought. No matter how much she 'supposedly' hated Craven, she had secretly missed him too. He had been the only stable character in her childhood, and he always knew what to do. His wisdom still guided her today.

The car stopped in front of a large manor house facing a cliff, and Ellie almost had a full blown panic attack. All four men got out, but Ellie still sat in the middle not moving.

Rain, who had been sitting on the right, bent down to offer a hand to help Ellie out, but she didn't move to take it.

"Ellie, are you alright?" Rain inquired.

"Give me a moment," she whispered taking in a deep breath in trying to ward off the pending panic attack.

"What are you scared of Ellie? You grew up with Craven you know the man," Dante stated bending down to look at her.

"I tried to stab him the last time I saw him, what if he really hates me?" Ellie asked the two of them.

"Like I'd hate you because of that, you were a confused grief stricken girl," Craven said from beside her.

Ellie jumped and she scooted back to see him.

"Damn it Craven, you scared me! Wait you're seriously not mad? You have every right to be," Ellie stated looking down at her shoes feeling very guilty.

Craven pulled Ellie into a hug, she was shocked but she hugged him back tightly.

"Welcome back, Ellie, and no I'm not mad about that. Other things sure, but we'll talk about those in the house. Come on, we're making a spectacle of ourselves here in front of the guests."

Ellie scooted out of the car as both Dante and Rain gave her a hand out of the car.

"Guests? It's just Rain, Dante, and Gabe," Ellie enquired with a frown.

"What do you mean 'just Rain, Dante and Gabe'?" Rain asked with a frown also.

"Sorry, it wasn't meant to be offensive but you're use to my minor paranoia, or at least you should be."

Everyone guffawed at Ellie, but it was Dante who retorted.

"'Minor paranoia'? I'm sorry but you must be joking. You make an army of deranged conspiracy theorists look normal."

"I'm not that bad," Ellie retorted.

"Non, you're worse," Rain laughed.

"Getting back to the earlier question, no it's not just you lot. I've invited some of the local vampires for a rather small shindig. There are no more than a hundred guests, I promise you."

Ellie tugged free of Rain and Dante then spun on her heel, and marched back to the car saying, "Well it's been lovely seeing you again, Craven, but we really must be going."

"Stop!" Dante and Rain declared as they grabbed her hands to stop her from getting back into the car.

Ellie gave both of them a dirty look and muttered, "Let go! There are a hundred strangers in that building that know I'm here."

"You've stayed at our apartment building and been in public places before where there's been more than that."

"Yes, but no one knew that I was there, people are expecting me. Nope, not for me, I don't need this level of exposure, call me when they're gone Craven, please."

"Eleanor Reina Aquitaine Prescott, don't you dare think about leaving. We're going to finally have a fancy dress party tonight and you will be inducted into the vampire realm. If you don't want to do it willingly, then I will force you to go, think of it as your punishment," Craven commanded.

"What, why? You said you weren't mad about that. Why are you punishing me?" Ellie demanded.

"I said that I wasn't mad about that but we still have to talk," Craven said sternly, like a father would to a misbehaving child.

Rain and Dante bit back their amusement, as Ellie huffed out an angry sigh. She tugged her hands free again, spun around with her arms across her chest and marched into the hall in an angry fit.

"Oh, she is super mad at you," Gabe muttered.

Craven looked over at the other man ready to deliver an acid retort, but stopped. Rain watched Craven's expression go from stern to interested, and he inwardly groaned. If Craven seduced Gabe right this minute, Ellie would erupt and then there would be hell to pay.

"Craven you might want to speak to Ellie quite soon, she's liable to do some damage," Dante advised trying to diffuse the situation.

Craven sighed, and misted into the house after Ellie.

The door closed and the four men all broke out in a chuckle that they'd been holding in.

Dante and Rain shared amused lustful glances as both came to the same conclusion; an angry Ellie was a hot Ellie. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittered and her chest heaved. Rain stopped that train of thought dead in its tracks before it got too out of hand.

All four started walking to the main door, slightly wary of what lay behind it.

* * *

Ellie scowled at Craven as she sat facing him in front of a large fire. She was still in a fit of temper.

"No means no, Ellie, this isn't up for discussion, the party will go on as planned. We should have had it ages ago, especially since you were the first dhampir born in nearly a millennium."

"There are other dhampirs, have a party for them. Besides I thought I'm not dhampir anymore, Rain said that I was somewhere between dhampir and vampire."

"No, you're still a dhampir just with none of your human weaknesses. You still have a greater tolerance to sunlight, and you'll still need to eat food like before as well as drink blood."

"How do you know so much about dhampirs?"

"Because my younger sister was one," Craven said a matter of fact.

"You said the last one before me was created nearly a thousand years before and... hold on, you're a full vampire how can your sister be a dhampir?" Ellie sputtered.

"Vampires can be born too, it's rare but not as rare as dhampirs."

Ellie snorted, "You say the word rare like it's suppose to be a honour; it's a hassle is what it is."

Craven rolled his eyes at her, "Thank you very much for that Eleanor."

"I aim to please, though I have missed this banter. I really am sorry, Craven, but it took years to get over her death."

"I don't hold it against you, I just wish you sought me out a lot sooner. I promised your mother that I'd take care of you and I obviously failed you there."

"You didn't fail me, there is nothing wrong with me; I am fine as I am."

"You've always lived a half life Ellie and, if not for knowledge that the Ellingtons were looking after you, I would have gone mad with worry. I should never have left you with that harpy," Craven said with the sigh.

"Don't call Aunt Lila that!" Ellie snapped.

"You're right she was much worse."

"You have no right to say that. It's not a big deal that she was crazy, because I knew she loved me in her own way. I grew up happy, that's better than most people."

"Can you really say that you were happy, Ellie, truly? Because you were never truly happy, pet, I wanted to whisk you away with me, every time I visited."

"So why didn't you?" Ellie demanded, voicing the question that had always been with her since childhood.

"Because I was more messed up at the time than your aunt, but let's not go there. One day, I will tell you that sordid tale but today's not the day. The point that I'm getting at, Ellie, is that we vampires, and yes I'll include dhampirs in that too, are social creatures yet you are one of the most anti-social people I know of."

"I'm not anti-social, I've got Rain and Dante now, they've chosen to bond with me," Ellie defended herself.

"Now there's a story I want to hear because, last I heard of from you, you'd rather be boiled in a vat of hot oil then be bonded to anyone."

"How it happened shouldn't matter, it should just make you happy," Ellie retorted, not wanting to tell him how it happened.

"No, you're wrong, it's your happiness I wanted not mine. Now out with it, how did they manage that one?"

"It's not that big of a deal, I was just sick at the time," Ellie said vaguely, downplaying the incident, but Craven would have none of it.

"I don't buy that you were merely 'sick', if you were merely 'sick' they would have never found you. Something tells me that you were dying and accidentally chose to live, whereupon they bonded themselves to you to save your life, am I right?"

Ellie scowled at him, refusing to admit that he was a 100% correct. Craven made a noise of aggravation.

"Argh, you could try the patience of a saint!"

Ellie was peeved at his remark and responded acidly, "So when did you earn a that title, when I was gone?"

Craven took a deep breath and counted to ten, then an idea struck him.

He eyed Ellie with a smirk and said, "Well now that you consented to the betrothal and you chose to bond, you won't mind completing the circle with an actual wedding ceremony."

Ellie looked like she wanted to be swallowed up by the earth, and Craven was torn between amusement and dismay at the extent of her fear. He knew that Ellie wasn't balking at being with Rain and Dante, but merely at the thought of an event.

Had Ellie always been like this? Craven thought back to his earliest memories of her as a child. He remembered Ellie skipping out of her own birthday parties, when someone had their back turned. He remembered that she had suddenly developed an illness before her first societal debut. In fact, every time he tried to get her to go to some societal function, she'd skip out somehow, or hide like the proverbial wallflower.

It amused him to think of her partnered with two highly social people. Granted Dante was a bit on the quieter side, but Rain was as flamboyant as they came. Ellie wouldn't be able to avoid all social functions with them, but Craven knew that she'd try.

"Well, Ellie, what's your answer?" asked a voice from the door.

Craven looked up to spot Rain and Dante standing in front of the closed door, he realized that it was Dante that spoke.

Ellie surprisingly looked very guilty, and torn.

"I guess a small one, with no more than five guests, is do-able. Though, could we hold off for a while?" Ellie pleaded.

Rain looked mildly angry and Craven actually felt guilty over opening this particular can of worms. He had done it to make Ellie realize just how ridiculous she had become.

Rain broke off and cursed in French, but Dante held up his hand for peace for a moment from his lover. Craven could see he was trying to rationalize the situation, and find middle ground between both Ellie and Rain, but he looked hurt not mad.

"What's wrong with a ceremony Ellie? We're already bonded, and we've consummated it, so why are you afraid of a ceremony?"

Ellie looked terrorized as she visualized it in her mind and shuddered, "Where to start? Lots of people I don't know staring at us. They'll be whispering about nonsensical things, like who designed the dress, or being catty, wondering how I managed to end up with you two. Then there will be an old minster, scowling like I'm wasting his time, prattling about love, honour, and obey. Obey? Me? I can't see that happening ever. He also ends it with 'until death do you part', I'm immortal - that's a long time to love, honour and apparently obey. The kissing part really is the only upside, then there will be another party with lots of fake well wishing, and congratulations, when they're secretly taking bets on how long it will last. No!... no, thank you, it's not for me. Can we not be happy as we are, without all the pomp and circumstances?"

Rain and Dante suddenly looked a lot less hurt and angry, but more disappointed. Ellie got up suddenly and she knocked the chair back.

"Excuse me," she said fixing the chair with a wave of her hand before she blew right past them, and ran out of the manor.

Both looked like they were about to run after her, but they also were torn on how to broach the situation where they could all be happy.

Craven decided to try to fix the matter, "Let her go, she needs some time to compose herself. Come on lads, sit down a spell."

Dante shut the door, walked to the couch and sat down heavily. Rain joined him, and rested his head on Dante's shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think it's you two that she's objecting to. It's about the exposure of a large event, and the poisoned nonsense her aunt fed her that she'll have to give up everything after a wedding."

"We realize that, but it still feels like a big rejection. Besides, who says it has to be a really big event, I'd be fine with a smaller one, I just don't want to have to hide everything," Rain muttered.

"Give it time, you've only been together a matter of days. It's really not a good time to speak of marriage so early. I was only needling her to show her just how bad her phobias have gotten, and that's something that you'll have to work on together," Craven said.

Dante was the one coming around to the idea, looking marginally happier, "You're right, we're trying to help her with those and it's a lot to take in right now. We've been looking for her so long, and we're happy to finally be able to be with her, even if it's mostly in the carnal sense. Now that I think about it, it's kind of insane to expect someone who's actively hid from the world to suddenly want the whole kit and caboodle. We'll just continue on with the original plan, right Rain?"

Rain looked up and smiled, "Yeah, I'm not mad anymore. I love it when one of us is the rational one and it doesn't have to be me, I was ready to pitch a fit."

Dante rolled his eye at Rain and kissed him before responding with, "You did pitch a fit, albeit a mini one. Besides you've always been the diva between the two of us."

"On that note, all the power to you, but it's my sworn duty to inform you that if you hurt her, there is not a place that you can hide, that I can't find you, 'kay?" Craven said sternly.

Dante and Rain nodded solemnly.

"Didn't think that it would be a problem, otherwise I would have buried you both in the backyard years ago. Oh, and before I forget, please don't infer to carnal activity with Ellie around me. Otherwise I might have to hurt you out of principal."

Dante bit his lips to hold in his laughter. Craven was trying to act nonchalant about it but Ellie was still very much like a daughter to him. It was the whole 'you mess with my baby girl with impure intentions, I will kill you and it won't be painless.'

Dante decided to move quickly, before Rain unwittingly crossed the line by stating his exact intentions of seducing Ellie and relish in giving explicit detail.

Dante jumped up and said his goodbyes to Craven, as he grabbed Rain's arm and dragged him out.

"Why'd you drag me away?" Rain asked once they were outside the manor.

"I was just being cautious, and promise me that you won't go telling Craven that you have every intention of seducing Ellie at a moment's notice."

"Spoilsport," Rain muttered.

"No, I'm not suicidal. Come on we have to find Ellie and reassure her that everything will be fine. Don't get upset about it, Rain. I promise you that we will have one, but please remember Ellie's super shy and super paranoid. She's probably already having a panic attack about tonight, so we need to do everything to make her feel safe. I'm hopeful that she'll enjoy herself though I really won't hold my breath on that one."

Dante followed the link that they had to Ellie to a small space behind a bush in the rose garden. Ellie had brought her knees up and hid her face, trying to look as small as possible, and Dante felt any remaining disappointment disappear.

"It'll be alright, Ellie, I promise you that," Dante soothed as he reached out and stroked her hair.