Chapter Sixteen

Dario

It has been two days since we rescued Thalia, on advisement from the healer as well as my parents and Lucian and Willow we left Thalia in the deep sleep state of Vladimir's spell. The bruises on her body had started to fade from blue-black to a lighter blueish-yellow color.

Lord Marcus and Serafina were still imprisoned and awaiting judgment. However, what they have done to Thalia, Skye, Rose, Marcus and the human girl has been made known to all of the realm, and needless to say our people were outraged. Most love Thalia and almost all of the common Vampires adore Skye and Rose. And the fact that they used and tortured a human girl from the age that she was still a mere child sent shock waves of disgust and anger throughout the realm. Even the aristocrats might not like Thalia so much purely due to the fact, that I chose her above their daughters. Could not let go of the fact that Lord Marcus and Serafina did that to a human child or the fact that he practically tortured his own blood daughter almost to death. The fact that she was his blood daughter had become known to the realm as that had to be disclosed to the healers and, well let's just say some could not keep that particular fact to themselves.

I barely left Thalia's side only leaving to eat and shower, Willow and Lucian, and my family came to check on her every few hours staying for two to three hours at a time. They all came to assure themselves that she is still with us and getting better slowly. A soft knock brought my attention to shift from staring at Thalia to looking up at the door. After a minute the door opened slightly and Skye's head pop up around it.

"Good afternoon prince Dario may we come in and see Thalia for a bit?"

I smiled at her greeting even after telling her so many times to call me by my name she and Rose still find it hard.

"Please come in, she is still not awake but I am sure she would appreciate it."

They both came in and I instantly saw the shock and tears fill their eyes as they took in the bruises that covered her body and the two deep cuts that were healing very slowly on her wrists.

"How? How could they do this to her? Finn and Enzo said Griffin said she was in bad shape but… this is awful. Their monsters are truly monsters."

Skye timidly touched Thalia's hand while Rose stroked her crimson hair.

"Will she make a full recovery? She isn't a Dhampir anymore?"

"No, I couldn't save her and still keep her a Dhampir she was too weak. Honestly, I don't know if I would have been able to save her if it wasn't for Vladimir's help. They tortured her so badly and her whole body was covered in salt. They even had her suspended over a pool of saltwater."

"I am not a vengeful person, but please tell me you will make them pay for this for what they did to her."

"They will. My father will show them no mercy, he is only waiting for her to wake up before he passes judgment. She is still under the sleep spell that Vladimir placed over her the spare her the pain of the transformation as she had to endure so much pain already."

"That was kind and caring of you both. We truly did misjudge him, didn't we? If it wasn't for him neither we nor the girl would have made it out of that horrid place alive. Has she regained consciousness yet?"

"I don't know I haven't really left Thalia's side. I know Vladimir is watching over her. He seems quite taken with her and her well-being is very important to him."

Rose smiled as she spoke;

"Maybe fate has stepped in and he found the one that was meant for him. I truly hope he will have a happy ending. I kind of got the feeling when he saved us that he didn't have it quite as easy as we all assumed he did. He did save us and for that, I wish him all the best and lots of joy and happiness."

"That is really kind of you Rose."

"That's our Rosie always the kindhearted one, but even I wish him well. And if he wants to protect the girl, then I respect him even more for that because it didn't seem like she ever had anyone protecting her before."

I smiled at them and found a new fondness for them I could see why Thalia loved and cherished them so much.

"Are you both okay now? Are you doing better?"

"Compared to what Thalia went through we didn't suffer at all. But yes, we are doing better we are actually going back to work today we just came to check in on Thalia and will stop by again after work maybe then she will be awake."

"Are you sure you feel up to working again?"

They both smiled at me before answering;

"Yes, besides if we don't keep our minds busy, we think of things that should rather stay buried for good."

They both gave Thalia a kiss on the forehead and gave me a bow, and a wave. They then left as softly as they had come.

Vladimir

Time felt like it was passing by so slowly the girl was still asleep or unconscious but the healers did a fantastic job her cuts and bruises were fully healed. Color had also returned to her face and she no longer looked like a ghost. I have not yet been to see how Thalia was doing but from the whispers that drifted passed the room, I knew that it was going to be quite some time before she was fully healed. The palace workers say that Dario has not left her side for long since she came back. I was just thinking I should go and see how she was doing and if there is anything I could do when a soft moaning sound brought my thoughts back to the small room and the girl lying in the bed.

I stayed seated close to the bed but just far enough to not make her feel threatened.

I took a breath and as I gazed at her, her eyes dark green eyes the color of a forest snapped open, and just as I expected her first instinct was to escape, and honestly, I could not blame her for that given how she was treated. So as slowly and calmly as I could I got up and in my most soothing voice I tried to reassure her that she was safe;

"Easy now, it's ok you are safe no one is going to hurt you. My name is Vladimir I rescued you from Blood Rose castle and right now you are safe and sound in the palace of the royal family. Trust me no one is going to harm you while you are here. I did place an immobility spell on you just so that you don't bolt the first thing when you regained consciousness. But I promise to remove it if you promise not to run, ok?"

She looked at me clearly torn between wanting to flee and wanting to believe that she was safe.

"Will start simple, ok? Can you tell me what your name is?"

"My name? No one has asked for my name in years or in fact, called me by it. But I use to be called Gabriella. My parents and friends use to call me Gabby for short."

"Ok, one day I would like to be able to call you Gabby but for now I will stick to Gabriella, you are probably hungry, right?"

Standing up I went to the door and poked my head out and asked one of the workers that were walking by if they could bring some food and also let the members of the royal family know that Gabriella was a wake.

"Why did you save me?"

She sounded skeptical and I smiled she was pretty and smart I am liking her more and more by the minute.

"Would you believe me if I said it was out of the kindness of my heart? I couldn't leave you there. They are monsters not all Vampires are like that, if you don't believe anything else, please believe that. I was there looking for… some friends of mine and I smelled your scent and I could not leave you there for the life of me."

"Did you find your friends?"

"Yes, but one Thalia was found in very bad shape prince Dario has not left her side since she was rescued. She is his girlfriend and very much loved by the royal family."

"Your friends are vampires?"

"Two are but Thalia was a Dhampir, she was Lord Marcus's daughter he had with a human woman. Thalia's mother died and Thalia was brought to our realm but Lord Marcus didn't want her so she was raised by her adoptive parents and became a royal guard. But from what I could gather from the whispers, it seems she will not be able to do that anymore as she was too severely injured by them."

Gabriella looked at me while I talked and I could see her trying to process everything I was saying.

"He hurt and almost killed his own daughter?"

"Yes, but to be honest none of us thought he would go to that level that he did."

Just then a palace worker came in with food that smelled heavenly. Waving my hand, the blue light of my mage magic filled the room as I lifted the spell from Gabriella so that she could eat.

"Please don't run away. No one will hurt you. I swear you are safe. I will leave you for a bit but if you need me or feel unsafe or scared just hold the charm and say my name and I will be next to you in the blink of an eye."

Wrapping my hand gently around her wrist I enchanted a magic bracelet with a small green crystal leaf charm on it. It fit her perfectly.

"I will be back soon. Please eat and don't wander off the palace is big and the grounds even bigger. Please enjoy your meal and rest you are safe; I swear it to you."

Giving her my most disarming smile I left her to eat in peace, and to think over everything that was said; as I headed to the room where Dario sat waiting for me to lift the sleeping spell from Thalia…"