The Beast of Dacia

"Dead."

Valerius Costin drained the heavy silver goblet in his hand in one gulp, but the bitterness of the word still coated his tongue. The wine was supposed to warm him, but as the finality of his situation slithered into his gut he was chilled to the bone. He wondered then if anything would ever warm him again.

"What do you want to do, Valerius?"

He turned then, his gaze travelling up the steps to the palace entrance. An old woman stood at the top, her long grey hair rustling gently in the autumn breeze. Her ice blue eyes were sad as she waited for his answer.

"Wantto do, mother?" he replied, his voice cracking as he stood from the bottom step and he swayed on unsteady legs before catching himself.

"What Iwantis for someone to tell me that my wife is alive. Iwantto walk into her chambers, kiss her, and then hold our daughter in my arms. Iwantto grow old with her!" He was shaking in his anger, in his pain. His voice reverberated against the marble columns and echoed through the atrium.

"But what I want is of no consequence, is it? No, only what the gods want. Tell me, mother, what did the gods want with my wife? What did they want with my Sorina?" he sneered. "Tell me!"

Viorica Costin descended the steps warily, approaching her son as one might a wounded lion. She shook her head sadly and rested a hand on his cheek. "One cannot say what the Fates would ask of us, my son. One can only hope to serve their purpose well."

"The Fates?" he asked, incredulous. "Were Sorina and I not Fated for one another? Were we not meant to be? It cannot be the same Fates which brought us together that now so ruthlessly tear her away from me!"

"We cannot know," she repeated patiently. "We must serve them in whatever capacity they have need."

A large solemn woman appeared at the top of the stairs then. In her arms was a small bundle of cloth. It took a moment for Valerius to believe his eyes. The woman was holding a swaddled newborn. Sorina's child. His child.

"She lives? Our daughter lives?"

His mother smiled sadly. "She is strong, Valerius, and even more beautiful than her mother."

"She lives," he breathed and fresh tears fell.

"Valerius," his mother said carefully, "the prophecy." Her gaze searched his and she felt simultaneously relieved and sorry when she saw recognition in his eyes. "You know what this means. We are the last of our kind, my son.Sheis our only living female now. We have to protect her. The vampireswillcome for her. They will kill her. We have a decision to make."

He marched up the stairs away from her. The woman who held his daughter drew back and new fury boiled within him. "You would keep my child from me, Pavla?"

She nodded. "Anything to protect her, my liege. She is not safe here."

"That is not your decision to make, servant!"

His mother hurried to stand between him and the wet-nurse. "You're right, Valerius, it's not her decision. It is yours! Choose life for your daughter! Send her away from here!"

"Away from me, you mean," he growled. "I am no danger to my child. I wish only to protect her. Would you have me send her away if Sorina had not...had not died giving birth to her?"

Viorica shook her head. "You know that there would be no need for this if Sorina were still here. Euric and his vampire horde have only allowed us to live because of Sorina, because he feared her powers. If the prophecy is true, this child will be much stronger, much more powerful than her mother. Hewillstrike before she's matured. Hewillsucceed and she will die. If you love her, let her go!"

Valerius ran a frustrated hand through his thick black hair. "I could take her far away from here, I could protect her."

"They must believe that she is dead, Valerius. They must believe that she died with Sorina, else they will go searching for her."

It was going to kill him, but Valerius knew his mother was right. He had to send his child away. "But where does one hide a princess?"

Viorica nodded to Pavla. "I will take her, my liege. Before I came to the palace I was a slave. I was born in the mountains north of Relicium. There was an estate there, owned by a powerful family from Thrace. They no longer inhabit the villa and the land of their estate is now known as the town of Riasa. I will take her to Riasa, and there I shall hide her. She will be a servant girl in the house of Marcus Gerian and his wife, Antonia."

"My daughter? A servant!" Valerius seethed. "Never!"

Viorica shook her head sadly, "My son...it is the only way."

"And what of your Fates?" he spat. "What Fates would make the last Phantom, our princess and future queen, a servant in the house of some rural mountain lord? Time and power have made you crazy, old woman."

"Perhaps," Viorica responded evenly, "but you will send her with Pavla away from this place. You will do this if you love her."

Valerius looked from his mother to the face of the angel who slept swaddled in the arms of a madwoman. Her hair was a halo of golden curls and even her skin seemed to glow with a subtle golden light. The bow of her pink lips reminded him so much of her mother. Even her nose was a miniature replica of Sorina's. He wondered what color her eyes were. Grey like his? Or violet like her mother's? That he might never know pained him greatly.

Viorica could see that her son was beginning to come around and moved to pull the child from Pavla's arms. She handed the princess to her son. "Look at her, Valerius. She is new life. What the fates have in store for her I do not know, but you must find it in your heart to send her away. When she grows up, when she becomes what she is meant to be, she will understand."

"When?" he asked, his throat tight as he gazed into the face of his daughter. "When will she leave?"

"Tonight."

And so it was. Pavla took the child that very night and King Valerius never saw his daughter again.

{19 years later}

"It's quite pathetic, isn't it?"

Mirela Gerian, daughter of the lord of Riasa, sat on a lavish cushion overlooking the stream that bisected the villa's land. Flanking her, were her two best friends, Gizela and Juliska. The two sycophants nodded and laughed. All three of them were watching a servant girl struggle out of the stream, her arms full of fabrics.

"Washing clothes again, are we?" Juliska shouted around a mouth full of grapes and cheese. "Poor Alina, always working. Would you like to come and have a break with us." The other two snickered at the sarcastic offer.

The servant girl didn't look up at them. She pulled the clothes out of the water and set about spreading them out on the rocks along the bank. The tips of her long blonde hair were wet and her dress was soaked, revealing a lithe yet curvy body. Violet eyes brimmed with tears, but she kept working. The hour was getting later and she needed to finish the laundry before she joined her mother to prepare dinner for the household. She'd need to freshen up because she was certain she would also be serving that night.

"Alina, it's rude to ignore someone when they're speaking to you," Mirela advised in a sickeningly sweet voice. When the servant girl continued working, Mirela became agitated. She hated being ignored. "Servant!" she shouted. "Look at me!"

Alina raised her head slowly and turned to face her mistress directly. "Yes, my lady?"

"We require your assistance. Come here at once and don't dally," Mirela relaxed into the pillows as Alina made her way over to them.

"Yes, my lady?" Alina's tone was expectant as stepped to the edge of the cushion.

"Yes, my lady...yes, may lady," Gizela mocked. "Is that all you can say, servant?" She and Juliska snickered once more.

Mirela waived a hand to silence them. "Leave her alone, Gizela. I'm sure she can say more but she's very good and knowing her place." Mirela rose then and sauntered up to Alina. She put her fingers under Alina's chin and raised her face so that they could make eye contact. "Youaregood at knowing your place, aren't you?"

Alina nodded timidly as a rush of dread slid through her. Mirela was up to something, she could feel it.

"Good." Mirela moved to stand next to her and pointed to a spot on the other side of the stream where several young men were playing a game, their strong arms and backs glistening in the sunlight as they moved.

"Do you see them? Those men over there? The tallest one, his name is Cyprian and I rather think he likes me." She tilted her head to the side and bit her bottom lip as she watched him move, stealthily avoiding his opponents as he maneuvered down the field. She sighed wantonly as she stared before snapping out of her reverie. "Yes, he likes me, but he's too shy to come over here without an excuse."

Juliska wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and asked, "Alina, can you think of a reason to get him and a few of his friends to come over here and see us?"

Alina shook her head and cut her eyes at the pile of laundry that still sat in moist clumps downstream.

"Ican think of something that might bring them down here," Gizela offered and Alina didn't miss the sly look in her eyes.

"What would that be?" Mirela asked in a deceptively innocent tone.

Gizela stood and walked over to Alina. She stared at the girl for a moment then winked at Mirela. Before Alina could stop her, Gizela ripped her soaking dress off. Alina gasped and tried to cover herself but Gisela and Mirela held her arms out. The blazing sun felt like a spotlight on her high, supple breasts. Though it was warm, the breeze tickled her nipples and she flushed as she felt them harden.

Gisela and Mirela smirked at one another before lowering their heads to her breasts, tongues extended. Sweet Alina whimpered as their tongues flicked at her nipples wetly. Alina noticed that she could hear their tongues moving over her sensitive breasts as well as the light sucking noises that sometimes punctuated their insistent moaning. Too late, she realized that the men on the other side of the river were staring at them. Tears sprang to her eyes as unadulterated shame washed over her.

"Are they watching, Alina?" Mirela stopped to ask, before she sucked her nipple back into her mouth. "Mmmmm, I can feel their eyes on us!"

Gizela's wet the tip of her tongue, stiffened it and lashed at Alina's other nipple. "You like this, servant, I can tell. Look at how hard your nipples are! And they're so delicious. I could taste them all day."

Alina knew better than to beg them to stop. She knew they wouldn't and it would only make things worse. Just as that thought came, she felt the cushion shift as Juliska moved in behind her.

"She's got a beautiful ass," Juliska wheezed. "Let's see if it tastes as good as it looks."

Alina's muscles clenched as she felt Julisha's thick fingers pulling her cheeks apart. She felt the warm breeze directly on her puckered little hole. Then, she felt the tip of a very wet, very long tongue.

To be continued in Chapter 2...