“Throughout history, the wolf has been portrayed as a loyal creature… but in reality, the hungry wolf would fall slave to its monstrous nature, and consume even his own brother.”

- A Tenebris Proverb

Excerpt from the Book Of Doctrine

###

Life is… fleeting.

This was something Victoria Speranta knew all too well. Her own eyes had seen it first hand, and she couldn’t help but feel like she would be the next to die.

Others knew it, too. They had to. It was the only way to explain why her parents had kept her secluded inside of their family’s castle for the past seven years. It had been seven years since her elder brother had been murdered. Seven years since she had been holed up within her tower with only guards and tutors for company. Seven years since the heir to the vampire kingdom of Sangera had died. Now it was time to protect the spare.

Victoria Speranta was the first in her name and now the only child to the king and queen of the nation of Sangera. It was she, who would be queen one day. From the outside looking in, most would marvel and admire at her life. After all, who wouldn’t want to live in a dazzling castle with servants and gowns and parties?

But it had nearly been a decade since the last party was thrown by the Speranta family. Seven years, to be exact. While Victoria had all kinds of clothes and jewels, she didn’t have a family. It was as though the royal lineage had been cursed. Nearly ever member of the monarchy had all experienced untimely deaths. 

Due to these circumstances, everyone in the Speranta family was under heavy watch, not just Victoria. Queen Alina Speranta was headmistress of Sangera’s high school, Viata Academy, and it was at the school where she usually stayed. And, while king Vladimir Speranta was usually a common resident of the castle, his duties as reigning monarch had kept him traveling outside of the kingdom, as of late.

This was the reason why Regula Palace existed. In the palace were ten chairs for the ten kings and queens of Terrarum. It was they who were considered to be the most powerful people in all of the world. Victoria’s father was among those people.

However, Victoria found it difficult to believe that the night would come when she would take her place among them. Her ever constant goal to become strong kept her in the battlegrounds night after night, but it was never enough.

The vampires, considered a powerful magical race, each had abilities connected to the universe around them. Victoria’s father was known as a Metamorph who drew his powers from the earth and was capable of changing his appearance at will. Her mother was what was called a Fire-Breather, able to summon and manipulate flame. And Victoria… she was nothing. In thousands of years, Victoria was the first crippled vampire she had ever heard of. She saw weakness in herself, and she couldn’t stand it.

This was the reason why she trained so hard. Every night was the same. She would wake up, strap on her fighting gear, and head outside to the training arena. This evening was no different. A cool, summer evening met Victoria as she again made her way down to the lawn and stood before the array of weapons before her. After careful deliberation, she picked up the spear, but after training for so many years, Victoria was capable of wielding every single one of them. In addition to the spear, she also took a small, fire-opal dagger strapping it onto her calf. She knew all too well that it was better to have contingencies in place in case one’s first plan of attack failed. In her light, black armor, she felt more comfortable than she would be in her normal clothes.

Not long after Victoria had finished prepping for a sparring match did another figure appear on the training grounds. An absolute giant, as most gargoyles were, her bodyguard appeared far more frightening than Victoria could ever hope to be. For the majority of her life, Victoria had only ever had one person constantly by her side; that was Maria. Her bodyguard, tutor, and trainer Maria walked out onto the grass in golden Piatra armor, holding a sword.

“Are you prepared to actually win tonight?” she asked Victoria.

“Bring it on,” Victoria replied.

And just like that, the evening began just like every other night. Victoria and Maria clashed metal against metal. While Maria was considerably bigger and stronger than she, Victoria had both speed and agility on her. This is precisely why she chose the spear to the sword. She spun the spear around in her hands like she was born to and took a fighting stance. Maria did the same. 

Victoria quickly surveyed her opponent. She knew Maria better than anyone. Her movements were predictable, her fighting style similar to her own. That predictability was key for her to win this fight.

But the predictability of others could only get her so far. It had only been a matter of time before the doors of her own home would close on her, sending her into the fray of the real world. It was in that world that Viata Academy was waiting, along with all of the unpredictable strangers within. The thought of it made her want to vomit, but she had no choice on the matter. This was something her parents had made extremely clear. 

This was the reason she had to be stronger. If she was weak, the others wold see it, and she would continue to be her kingdom’s running joke, or worse, a target.

Victoria blocked Maria’s sword with her spear, but ended up losing her footing as Maria kicked her feet out from under her. With a sword to her throat, Maria shouted, “Yield!”

Victoria let her arms fall to her sides in defeat causing Maria to let down her guard. It was the perfect opportunity for her to strike. Victoria quickly grabbed that fire-opal dagger from her calf and put it up to Maria’s throat. “Yield,” she said.

Maria laughed and sat back in the grass. “That’s not very fair.”

“Since when has a fight ever been fair?” Victoria pushed herself up and sat across from her mentor.

Maria was looking her straight in the eye. “If you think you’re still not ready to rejoin the real world, you’re wrong. I can count on one hand the number of people who have beaten me in a fight, and you just made the list.”

“Are you sure you’re not a telepath?” Victoria joked.

Maria just shook her head. “Maybe the telepath is you and you can’t control who you speak your mind to.”

“Very funny.” But the irritation was clear in Victoria’s voice. Maria was always insisting that she was stronger than she actually was, but the truth was that Maria was a gargoyle. Therefore, she didn’t possess any magical abilities. If Victoria ever found herself in a fight against another supernatural being, she would surely lose.

###

It was the beginning of a new era. Not just for Victoria, but for all of Terrarum. Shortly before the summer ended, the news had been circulated that the king of Frumos, King Cenric Remington, had died. Apparently, he had passed away from a heart attack in his sleep. Victoria chuckled to herself when she heard this. It was truly astonishing how fragile the lives of those mortal witches and wizards were.

As the king was now dead, his only son, Bruce Remington, was to be crowned the new king of Frumos. The coronation of a monarch was not to be taken lightly in Terrarum and was celebrated by every nation. The continuation of the Remington bloodline was no exception. It was during this time that a worldwide peace was called, so that each member of the royal families from each of the ten kingdoms was to be present during the coronation ceremony. Despite this, it was only Victoria’s father who would attend. 

As these times were changing, Victoria felt herself unready to change with them. Her problem was that she didn’t trust people. She found others to be a rather messy business. Having seen what selfish people did to one another, she knew that she didn’t ever want to see it again. Therefore, she was always on her guard. Always ready for the people closest to her to disappoint her one way or another. She supposed it seemed rather archaic to believe everyone in the world so capable of evil, but then everyone has their reasons for believing what they do. She never expected others to understand hers.

Now, on this dark night, she was expected to face her worst fear. Victoria stood, quaking in her tall black heels and red and black prep school uniform, waiting for the carriage to arrive. Normally, Victoria would have scoffed at the sign of such clear monarch superiority, but, on this night, she was grateful for the little bit of privacy. 

The carriage that Victoria rode in was all black save for the elegant golden leaves decorating the sides. It resembled the old fashioned stage coaches the humans would ride in before cars were invented, but, while those were pulled by your typical horses, the royal carriage was pulled by two Abraxus Horses. Abraxus Horses were both rare and expensive. Their glossy black coats were accentuated by the fires of their mane, tail, and breath. There was no mistaking it, the vampire riding in this carriage was of royal blood.

Victoria peeked through the black velvet curtains as they made their way up the steep mountain road leading to Viata Academy. All around them, the faces of those who walked up to the castle were in awe of the magnificence of their transport. Victoria felt her stomach twist into knots as she knew she was going to be the talk of everyone at school. Princess Speranta, who had not been seen in public in seven years, was finally making an appearance. She replaced the curtains and reserved herself to staring at her feet and sitting in silence for the rest of the trip.

As they arrived at the school, a light pattering on the roof of the carriage caught her attention. Maria opened up the door and stepped out before her. As Victoria exited the carriage, she lifted her hand out in front of her where small droplets of rain fell onto her pale white palms.

‘Typical,’ Victoria thought. ‘Just typical for a day like today.’

She felt the presence of a thousand eyeballs on her as she got out of that carriage doing her best to ignore it. Her Sangera red cloak still covered her face far too much for anyone to see her. Despite this fact, Victoria knew her elaborate entrance had caught everyone’s attention.

Beneath that dark, cloudy sky, the slow trickle of rain eventually turned into a downpour and the city of Batara found itself being drowned because of it. Muddy puddles formed on the previously neat cobblestone streets. Victoria found herself reminded of funerals and sorrow.

And fear. There was always fear.

But Victoria had trained all her life in the name of fear. Surely a little rain couldn’t wash that away.

“Come on, kid,” Maria spoke up for maybe the first time that evening. She seemed just as grim. It was then that Victoria remembered that this was Maria’s last official night as a member of the Speranta household. After all these years of watching her, and teaching her… stars, after all these years of raising her, it was finally time for her to move on.

“This is it, then?” Victoria asked, fighting away tears.

Maria took a deep breath. “I’m afraid so.”

Everything was changing fast.

Too fast.

Hundreds of vampires spilled into the city to wish their children farewell and good luck for the coming school year. Among them, Victoria stood in the rain, hoping for something better than what she had before.

It was here that people from all walks of life came together; the rich and the poor, the powerful and the ordinary. All of these people had likely lived simple and normal lives as they’d grown up and gone to school together. She felt as though she were intruding into a world where she did not belong.

Entering the grand foyer of the school, Victoria realized how much the architecture of the school mirrored that of Castle Speranta. Around her, dozens of vampires shook rain off of their umbrellas and jackets under the light of magnificent, crystal chandeliers. She walked across those black and white checkerboard floors to where Maria led her up a grand staircase towards the Headmistress’s office.

Her mother’s office.

She felt like a prisoner being led to the gallows walking up those steps.

A wiser woman, Victoria did not believe there was. Her mother, Queen Alina Speranta, had not come from anywhere special. She was the youngest daughter of two commoners who lived in the farmlands outside of Batara and had fought in Sangera’s military for nearly two hundred years before marrying the king. However, as she sat behind her desk examining papers with those piercing electric blue eyes, Victoria felt like her mother had always been meant to be someone great.

Both Maria and Victoria stood before the queen for a few silent moments before she said, “Thank you, Maria, that will be all.”

Victoria quickly shot a look at Maria who was frowning as she remained in place. Typically, those russet eyes of hers were so hard to read, but now, she was an open book. It was clear that she was upset.

When Maria noticed that Victoria was watching her, she smiled. “It’s been a real adventure, kid.” She quickly squeezed her in a one-armed hug before exiting out of the door and their lives forever. Victoria felt numb. How was it that everything she had ever known could be ending so quickly? She knew that her mother wasn’t big on sentimentality, but this whole charade of hers seemed a little too unfeeling. Maybe, after all these years, she still expected someone like her mother to still have a heart. How foolish of her.

Victoria looked back at her mother with grief in her eyes, realizing the queen had put down her stack of papers observing the two with a sour expression. Behind her, a giant battle-axe was hanging on display. It was a subtle reminder to whomever came in here that she may be headmistress and queen, but there was a time when she was a warrior who made armies shudder and fall before her.

That was a fact that Victoria was quite aware of as she stood there by herself.

The queen silently examined her daughter as though she were someone in great need of fixing. 

“You’re new bodyguard will be here soon. Instead of Albert, you will be guarded by a student from the Academy who graduated at the top of his class. I trust you two will get along.”

Victoria was shocked for a moment before replying, “Yes, ma’am.” Albert was her only friend, a young lord and warrior who was destined to become her husband. His presence was the only thing that would have made this experience bearable.

“As long as you are attending this school, you have a reputation to uphold. That means no horseplay as if you were a common child. In addition to this, you should dress as the monarch you are.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“For the same reason, I expect your grades to be above everyone else’s… despite your circumstances.”

Victoria paused for a moment before replying, “Yes, ma’am.”

It was a knock on the door that saved her.

“Enter,” her mother replied in a callous voice.

The door opened in response and a man walked in with a boy around Victoria’s age, maybe a little older. She observed their tan skin, large bodies, and the clawed, bat-like wings rising above their backs and realized that they were gargoyles. As they bowed to the royals, the boy flicked his eyes over towards Victoria’s and all she saw was indifference. She resisted the urge to frown.

“General Marcellus,” the queen greeted the man.

“My queen,” the man said. “May I present my son, Alexander Lupe.”

Alexander Lupe would have seemed absolutely terrifying if it weren’t for the fact that his nature seemed similar to that of a puppy. He was very tall and very muscular. His large gargoyle fangs were barely contained behind his mouth as they threatened to protrude out. Tribal tattoos common in the kingdom of Piatra adorned his arms wrapping around his large biceps. All of this was very aggressive, indeed. However, his blond hair was wild and windswept, and those blue eyes of his seemed to hold more light than darkness.

“My daughter,” the queen said as she gestured over to her child. “Victoria Speranta.”

Victoria just stood there and observed them. She did not bow, nor did she even nod her head. It was not her place to do so. Rather, she was bowed to.

Mostly, she observed Alex. His eyes widened and she noticed his eyebrows raise a little before quickly darting his gaze back to the queen.

“I took the liberty of collecting all of my daughters documents ahead of time,” she said as she passed a black folder to Alex. He bowed his head as he took it and said, “Thank you, your majesty.” Victoria stared at that folder both wondering and fearing what was written on its pages.

“I trust this year will go by very smoothly.” She looked at Alex for a moment, and then to her daughter. For whatever reason, her gaze lingered on Victoria for quite a while. 

Still, Victoria remained obedient as she looked down to her feet and said, “Yes ma’am.”

Queen Speranta stood up from her seat. She seemed to tower over all of them, even Marcellus, who was actually much taller than she. She had that kind of power. Both she and the king always seemed to be the strongest people in the room. Victoria doubted she would ever become that powerful one day.

“You two may leave. General Marcellus,” she directed her attention back towards the man. “If I could have a word?”

“I am at your service, my queen.”

###

“I guess causing trouble is a habit of the nobles?” Alex asked Victoria as they navigated the crowded halls of Viata Academy.

Her first impression of him had been correct. Ever since the two had left her mother’s office, a goofy grin had appeared on his face. Victoria would have called it smugness if it didn’t seem so sincere. In addition to this, another gargoyle would occasionally high five or wave to him in the halls. He seemed to know an awful lot of people.

“What?” she asked him. She wasn’t really listening all that much. Instead, she was mostly just focusing on keeping an eye on her surroundings, locating exits, paying attention to anyone who seemed at all strange. The scene before her was way too chaotic and made her far too uncomfortable.

“You’re kind of a troublemaker?” he asked again. “I only assume so because of what your mother said and, well, other vampire nobles I know.”

“No,” she replied rather absentmindedly. “Not really.”

They were silent for a moment longer before he said, “You’re not much of a talker, are you?” His sudden aggression made her finally focus on what he was saying. “I know I’m just some lowly gargoyle cadet to you vampires, but you could at least cut me a little slack.” His goofy grin fell from his face as though it had never been there and was replaced with a stern expression to match his harsh words.

Victoria suddenly found herself filled with all kinds of confusion. She just met this boy and out of no where he seems to dislike her. Was she already doing something wrong? “I don’t know what you’ve been told,” she said stopping in the middle of the hallway. She did her best to channel the strength of her mother, but felt that she was failing miserably. The flowing river of students bent around the two of them. Every few moments a disgruntled look would meet them before they got a good look at Alex and decided it would be better not to cause a scene. “But I’m really not that shallow. The fact that you’re a soldier or a gargoyle holds no judgment from me. I’m just not a big talker. Not everyone is. It’s as simple as that.”

She continued her march through the crowded halls of Viata Castle with Alex trailing close behind. She could feel those sky blue eyes piercing into her back, but she simply ignored him.

“Why does no one know who you are?” he asked her. His voice had become softer. His tone, more gentle. Victoria decided that she wasn’t a fan of his unpredictable nature. Sizing him up for a moment, Victoria decided that she would in fact be able to beat him in hand-to-hand combat, especially in these close quarters. But then she thought of how her mother would react, and decided to attempt civility instead.

“It seems that I am not as social as you are.”

“You’re certainly not what I expected.” Alex quickened his pace to walk beside her rather than behind. 

“Based on what you said earlier, I suspect that is a good thing.”

Alex looked at her quizzically as though he were still trying to figure her out. “You know, I figured you would hate me.”

“Why is that?”

“Albert Vasile was the one who was supposed to be with you, not me, some gargoyle from a little village in the mountains of Piatra. Also, your betrothed doesn’t exactly have a whole lot of manners.”

That fact, she knew all too well. For as long as she’d known Albert, he’d been a bit of a wild child. Whenever he was out from under his father’s watchful eyes, that is.

“You have to understand, Albert is… pretty much my only friend. Unlike you, I don’t know anyone here, so I was looking forward to his company. He’s strong, too. I always feel safe whenever he’s around. I don’t understand why my mother switched my bodyguard at the last second, but,” She looked up into Alex’s rugged face. “Let’s do our best to make this year go by smoothly, yeah?”

Alex nodded and relaxed a bit beside her. Gradually, Victoria began to relax herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Alex twisting his head this way and that as he looked at the architecture around them.

“I had all kinds of expectations of what Batara would look like,” he said. “I imagined monsters living in a world surrounded by dark magic, but this…” He looked around himself in a state of awe. The white marble walls of Viata Castle were adorned with ornate, golden crown molding. The lush, velvet curtains had been pulled back to allow the moonlight to shine on the paintings of constellations on the high domed ceilings. Golden candelabras hung from the walls and dazzling chandeliers held lit candles that broke the darkness of the night. “I suppose I never imagined a place could look like this.”

Victoria resisted the urge to frown at his use of the word ‘monster.’ “Really? I suppose it’s all that I’ve ever known. I’ve never been to Piatra, or anywhere, really. I suppose it’s a lot different than this?”

“To say the least.” This was all Alex offered. The conversation between the two quickly died out making Victoria realize just how different the two really were. It made her wonder just how smoothly this year could really go.

It was in silence that she and Alex continued to wind their way through the hallways of Viata Academy. It was better this way, if a little awkward. It allowed for Victoria to monitor her surroundings more carefully. Every doorway, every dark corner, every breath that the other students took, it was all observed by Victoria’s paranoid eyes. Life and death went hand-in-hand. In a single second, one could bleed into the next. Victoria wondered just how much Alex really knew about the darkness that hunted in this world.

When they at last arrived at Victoria’s assigned room, Alex stopped her, his mood suddenly serious.

“There’s people inside,” he warned. “Let me go in first.”

Victoria held her breath as the gargoyle carefully slipped inside. His movements were eerily quiet for someone of his size. As soon as he was in, he was opening the door with a frown on his face. “It’s safe,” he groaned.

“If it’s so safe, then why are you upset?”

He opened his mouth to speak, but was pushed to the side as another boy appeared in the doorway with a broad grin.

“Victoria!” Albert exclaimed as he took in his oldest friend wrapping her in a hug.

“Albert!” a smile stretched across Victoria’s face for the first time that evening. Albert was here. Maybe everything would be okay. “I’m surprised to see you here,” Victoria said focusing on him. In the corner of the room stood Alex, completely forgotten about with a frown on his face.

“I may not be your bodyguard, anymore, but I still have guard duties that your father asked me to attend to while here at Viata Castle.”

Relief flooded Victoria’s heart, but then Albert was casting malicious eyes over to Alex who was doing the same.

“As appreciated as your presence is, Vasile,” Alex said with a bite in his voice. “What is it that you think you’re doing here in the girl’s dormitories?”

Albert rolled his eyes, moving over to recline on a vacant mattress

“Am I not allowed to visit my friend? Not to mention that I always like to make myself familiar with the living arrangements of females,” Albert Vasile laughed. Victoria rolled her eyes. 

Alex groaned. “Ever the charmer, I see.”

Albert narrowed his eyes at him. “Always the judgmental stick in the mud. Sorry to tell you this, Lupe, but you’re the odd one out this time. You’re in vampire country now.”

Alex let out a low growl, which Albert ignored, running a hand through his previously neat auburn hair, clearly frustrated by the situation.

So much for this year going smoothly. It seemed unlikely that the civility between Alex and Victoria would last long given that Alex and Albert were mortal enemies.

Albert, unwilling to let the issue go, spoke up again. “Lupe, is it really necessary for you to guard Victoria while I’m around? It seems rather redundant to me.”

“Maybe if you’d actually gone to class every once in a while, I wouldn’t have to be.”

Victoria cast Albert an aggravated look, and he had the good sense to look sorry.

Wild as he was, Victoria had never known Albert to be the kind of person to skip classes. He was typically very ambitious. They may have been old friends, but Albert had been unusually distant these past few years. For a while now, Victoria had been wrapped up in her own family drama, completely forgetting that Albert had some of his own. She wondered if maybe that was what had brought about such a change in him.

“Albert Vasile!” a girl yelled from where she stood in the hall. Victoria jumped having not even heard her approach. Observing her black uniform, Victoria noticed that Albert wore a similar one. It was the Noctis cadet uniform, the uniform Victoria was supposed to be wearing had her life turned out differently.

Shaking her head, Victoria willed the thought out of her mind. It did no good to dwell on the things she couldn’t change.

“It’s time to go! Stop slacking off!”

Rolling his eyes, Albert dragged himself up from the bed. “Alright, no need to yell. Who do you think you are, my mother?”

The girl walked away angrily and Albert trailed after giving Victoria one of his trademark winks before he left. As the two walked down the hall, Victoria heard Albert’s voice trail off, “Do I need to remind you about something called a chain of demand?”

That was all Victoria heard before the two were out of earshot. She let out a sigh as she realized that, even though Albert was her only friend, she certainly wasn’t his.