The Lost Goddess, A War On Mates

Running through the forest, everything was a blur except the bundle in her arms. Panting quietly to herself she glances all around paranoid of any followers. The forest feels still. Her love for its serenity disappeared and was replaced with an eerie need to hide. Looking around one last time she approaches the vampire coven’s gate. Kissing her beautiful baby girl with silent tears, she lays her down in front of the gate and takes out a knife. She slits her wrist and drops blood in the little girl’s opalescent hair. She was sound asleep, unaware of the blood leaking onto her. The baby had porcelain skin, moonlight white hair, and when awake she would show off eyes that danced like fire due to the red and yellow flecks that swirled together. The baby’s mother whispers a blessing and gives her a bracelet for protection. She crept away and faded into the forest. The baby laid silent until the hint of dawn started to approach. A loud whine from the little baby broke the silence of dawn and caught the attention of a vampire inside the castle. The only one who was still awake this late in the morning, prince Drake. Jolting his head up from his paperwork he listens intently waiting for the noise again. The prince was 900 years old and had never once in his life heard such a noise. It piqued his interest more than boring financial data. So, he got up slowly and walked around the halls waiting to hear it again. Suddenly it became shrill, and he ran with a sudden need to find the noise. Thoughts raced through his mind, ‘Was a coven member hurt, was someone messing around, where is it coming from?’ he abruptly crinkled his nose at the smell of blood as he neared the entrance to the castle. The crying seemed to only be getting louder as the minutes went by and it started to disturb Drake. Pacing in front of the door he thought, ‘What do I do, it is starting to be light out! It’s obviously right outside…’. With that thought came another, ‘Someone is outside…’ Suddenly he stopped with the realization it was a person, his better nature got the best of him, he immediately grabbed a cloak from a closet and without hesitation threw the door open. Luckily, he could see the wailing bundle straight in front of him. It was however shrouded in sunlight. Biting his lip and sucking in a deep breath he dashes out the door hunkering his head down. The smell of blood wafted towards him and made him on edge having not eaten all night. He made it to the small bundle and in shock quickly grabbed the baby coated in blood. Even on edge Drake held the baby to him and soothed it until it was only whimpering. It smelled human but did not look like any human he had ever seen. There was not a note or even a trail as to discern where it came from. Flinching as a beam of light hit his face he quickly ran inside yelling “What in the hell do I do with a baby!”. Looking at her perplexed he mumbled “I suppose you need a bath huh?” She simply made cute baby coos and he smiled unaware that he was already wrapped around her finger. He had not smiled since his mother died according to maids and his father. Walking back to his room he called for the coven doctor who was unamused with the secrecy of the call. Walking to his room, Drake had decided he needed a name for the little baby. He opened his door and took her to the bath and unraveled her small form from the blanket carefully.  In the bundle came a little card that read “Aeris, birthdate: 10/31 at midnight”. He smiled at the name and looked at the little girl eating her toes. ‘So cute’ he thought. Picking her up and taking off her diaper he set her gently in the tub and washed all the blood off her. It felt odd to see a baby unharmed yet covered in blood. He could not understand where she came from or why she was outside the coven. She looked oddly familiar though with a reminiscent aura about her. Humming to himself he picked her up and she reached her hands out to squish his cheeks which made him break out into laughter. “Ahem, my prince, what is that?” doctor Lotus looked at him with a raised brow but was thoroughly amused at the sight of her prince being squished by a young baby. “I found her outside and want her to have a checkup. Also, um how do I take care of her…” Mumbling on the last half of the sentence Lotus broke into a huge smile. “My prince you don’t have to take care of her we can send her to the human orphanage…”  He cut her off “Lotus you will not say that again, she’s mine to care for. She will be here for her life and be cared for greatly. Her name is Aeris, she is the new princess.” Smiling he kisses her head. Lotus’ mouth hung open in shock at his sudden decision but knew better then to question her prince. Wrapping the baby in a new diaper he handed her to Lotus for her checkup. Drake walked out of his room and went to his office ruffling his dark midnight black hair and narrowing his forest green eyes at his laptop as he quickly bought everything he thought a baby would need. He also pondered who would care for her when he slept and steadily built an anxiety for the first time of not having a clue as to what to do. An hour later Lotus came into his office with Aeris. She was wide awake and babbling, melting Drake’s heart. He could not understand how he was so involved with her already. She was just so precious to him it felt unreal. Yet the nagging in his brain wanted to know why she looked so familiar to him. ‘Maybe he knew her parents?’ he pondered for a moment and then took her from Lotus. “She has a clean bill of health, not a single scratch or ailment found. Although she does have an interesting eye color, I have never seen one like it but it doesn’t seem to affect her vision so there is no need for concern your highness.” “Thank you, Lotus, and don’t tell anyone yet about our new princess.” She nods with understanding and leaves. She has always been a close confidant in the coven. She would seem to be more of a therapist then a doctor due to the minimal amount of actual doctoring we needed. “So little miss Aeris, my names Drake. Can you say Drake?” She nods and says “Dwae”. Smiling I give her a kiss on her forehead, and she giggles at that. She seems to be about a year old.  I cannot wait to figure out who exactly she is. Taking care of Aeris was a lot as the day went on, it seemed impossible for one person to do. She was always crawling somewhere and trying to walk. Once dusk hit, I immediately woke the maids. “Your highness, what can we do for you?” They bowed their heads respectfully and I motioned for them to follow. “I need a reprieve from Aeris…” I mumbled lowly. “My Lorde who is Aeris?” they seemed confused because no one in the coven was named Aeris. I pointed to my guest room, and they walked in as I flopped on my bed exhausted. As I closed my eyes, I heard loud gasps and then immediate cooing. It brought a smile to my face. The maids came back out and gave me a sympathetic smile. Most of them had been mothers before they were turned and they had a gleam of excitement in their eyes at the new baby. “Your highness, we will definitely help with little Aeris. She is beautiful. You take a nap and rest, she’s in good hands.” They held her like she was their first and last child. She was going to be the most beloved princess in this covens’ history. I chuckled to myself and waved them off. The maids immediately took their new princess into the kitchen to let her eat. She was not picky and smiled and laughed at everything they did. Although the maids were curious as to why the prince had a baby, they didn’t care missing their own children. Soon many coven members were visiting the kitchen to see the little girl. She smiled brightly at all of them and kept giving out hugs and kisses making the whole coven fall under her cute spell. She was as sweet as O negative in their eyes. The only person who had not met her by the time she was sleepily rubbing her eyes was the vampire king Lucius. As the maids were bringing the sleepy girl back to her crib the king stepped into the castle. They all bowed, and the little girl looked at king Lucius. She smiled and made grabby hands. The king raised a brow and did not move, the maid tried telling the little girl no, but she frowned for the first time that day. She started to whine again and make grabby hands at the king, “Daddy, mine!” and everyone stilled. The king had a look of shock, his pale skin becoming sheet white. He took the little girl from the maid and she beamed at him which made him melt. It reminded him of his son before his wife passed. She gave him a big hug, snuggled into his arms, and immediately drifted off to sleep.   The maids stiffened and reached for Aeris, ” We are so sorry your majesty we can take her back to her room…” The king gave them a death glare at that. All of them hitched in a breath and took a step back lowering their heads. “What is her name, why is she here, and why was I not informed?” The maids frozen in fear at the venom rolling off the king did not know what information they could give the king because of the prince. “The crowned prince brought her in and said her name was Aeris. We do not know anything else. She is extremely sweet though and doesn’t seem afraid of anyone here. She really likes the prince and, well, you as well your majesty.”  He had a small smile on after that and started walking up the stairs. “Very well, you may continue with your day.” All the maids ran off thanking his majesty. Looking at the little girl in his arms he thinks deeply of his wife and how she was always wanting more children. It had been a long time since he smiled and this little girl claiming that he was hers did it. He did always want a little princess running around the halls. She was human though and did not understand why she was here. Although, he did not seem to mind. He took her to his room and laid her on the bed snuggling into her. He watched her sleep and found it calming to hear her heart beats. 'We will just keep her for now' he thought smiling to himself.