Belladonna - Meet the Parents (Patreon)

Note: This is an AU where Bella's parents never died.

Belladonna held court at the front of the cathedral. Pale thighs crossed each other while black spider silk draped across the rest of her body. Each forearm rested upon the edges of her throne, black lacquered nails tapping impatiently.

“I don’t think I’m making myself very clear,” she was saying, addressing a room of vampires that all had the bloodless look to their cheeks. Not because they hadn’t fed, but because they were very much aware of just how much danger they were in if they continued not to listen to their mistress.  “When I said, ‘find other accommodations’ I truly did mean, ‘get the fuck out’.”

“But, my lady…”

Her molten eyes snapped towards a young woman with long silver hair and deep blue lips.  “What? What could you possibly say to me about any of this that is going to make me stand up and tell all of you that I was wrong. Of course you can stay and continue with your unnecessary debauchery.”

The woman went silent.  She backed into the crowd a little, her head hung low. It didn’t stop others from speaking up, however. Stepping forward with ambition and high hopes of becoming the next Baron.

“You cannot kick us from our home.” This time it was a darker haired woman who spoke. I recognized her from many of the meetings prior. Most notably because she often liked to speak out against Belladonna. The woman had been planning a coup that no one had been brave enough to support her in.

“Your home?” Belladonna laughed. “I wasn’t aware this was your home. You are not paying rent. You do not give tribute to me. You lounge in my bottom rooms, sucking the necks of whoever comes your way. You all are lazy. Mooching off the good graces of your betters and lounging until your food comes to you.”

“Because you will not let us hunt!”

“Through the streets, you are correct. I don’t relish our dwindling numbers. But if you would like to disobey me, please. Your dust will be swept away with the morning trash. You very well can hunt in the areas that are designated. It’s funny how no one seems to want to do that, however, when I have food delivered to you here. Perhaps I should cut that off as well, hm? You’ve all grown too soft in the mind and fickle of the tongue.”

Standing, she looked around the room, her red hair cascading down one shoulder and brushing against her waist. “Now, do I need to repeat myself or will you all be leaving without complaint.”

I stood off to one side, watching the room. They grumbled like normal but in the end, each and every vampire left. They filed out one by one, some of them dragging their feet in a weak form of protest. Their complaints followed them through the door and the heavy iron gate snapped closed behind them.

Belladonna stepped off the throne, rolling her eyes. “Petulant children.”

“They just don’t like change,” I told her. Though, I couldn’t help but agree with her frustration.

“I don’t like half of them and yet I still put up with their attitudes.” Her heels clicked sharply as she walked to my side, pulling me to her so she could kiss me soundly. I could feel the cool slide of her tongue against my own and the way her nails scratched low on my back.

When she pulled away, I couldn’t help the little grin that reached the corners of my mouth. “You’re nervous.”

“I am not,” she bit back at me, her body stiffening.

I smiled softly at her. It was the tone that she used when I caught her in something. A lie. Or, in this case, what Belladonna considered a weakness. “How long has it been?” I asked.

Belladonna’s eyes went upwards, like she was tired of this line of questioning already. “Since seeing them? Not that long,” she said truthfully. But they hadn’t been here. They had never been to the Night Market. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get dressed.”

I rolled my lips into my mouth and nodded. I supposed seeing her parents again in a high slit lace dress wasn’t exactly ideal.  When Belladonna was just about to slip through the door, she looked back at me.

“Will you wait out here? In case they come early?”

My look softened. “Of course.”

A gate was to open to Bella’s old world. She had gone home a few times but as of yet, her parents had not made the trip here. The Night Market was far different from the rolling wheat fields and farmland of Bella’s childhood. While she wouldn’t speak of it, I knew she was concerned about what her family would think.

When the front doors opened, I looked up. Gabriel stood in the doorway with two middle aged individual’s. I locked eyes with him and knew immediately that this was Belladonna’s parents. Immediately I could see familiar features on the woman. A high brow. Beautiful rolling locks of hair. Upturned lips that knew more than they ever told.   And while Belladonna looked nothing like her father, there was something behind his eyes. A clear look of authority. I’d seen it in Bella’s several times before.

“Hello,” I said pleasantly, walking forward. “You must be Bella’s parents.”

They looked at me, confused. Gabriel cleared his throat, giving me a pointed look.

“Madeline,” I corrected. “You must be Madeleine's parents.”

“Are you her lover?” Bella’s mother asked.  Her father didn’t look thrilled with the connotation. I was surprised she had even said anything.

“I… yes.”

Gabriel cleared his throat. “It was very nice to meet the two of you. I’ll be back to escort you to your gate tomorrow afternoon.”

“How can you even tell when it is afternoon?” her father said, eyes narrowing. “Nothing here seems proper.”

“Alden, hush,” the woman admonished.  “Thank you, Sir Caine. Our journey to this cathedral has been enlightening.”

“At least she’s in a cathedral,” Alden murmured. “She has not forgotten where she comes from.”

Gabriel gave me a look that clearly said, ‘good luck’, before he left the room.

“I’m Annmarie,” her mother said, bowing slightly.  “And this is my husband Alden. We’ve heard plenty about you.” Her accent was thick. I could hear it even with the Night Market’s translation. I hadn’t realized that Bella had even spoken of me. The fact that she had filled me with a point of warmth.

“Where is Madeline?” Alden asked. He had a harsh voice and was not the kind of man that stayed still to partake in pleasantries.

“I think she was just getting changed. She had a meeting today and wanted to freshen up before you both arrived.”

“A meeting?” Alden shook his head.  It was clear that this was not what he had imagined for his daughter. As he looked around the cathedral, noticing the dark tapestries and the pews with small tables for making conversation, his face fell a little more. “Is service held here?”

I cleared my throat. “Not exactly.”

“She has remained unclear about what she does for a living. Is she a priest of some sort? Can women take on that role here?”

Annmarie rolled her eyes, stepping past her husband. Her eyes landed on a small little bar area, the crystal wine glasses glittering as they hung from the wrack above. “Oh, how lovely. What is all this?”

“Drinks are served there,” I said, willing Belladonna to come through the door.

“Like a tavern?” Annmarie asked excitedly.

Alden narrowed his eyes. “In a place of worship? What exactly is she thinking? I told you. She should not be here Annmarie. We will be bringing her home at once.”

The door opened to our right and I had to do a double take. The woman who stepped out was not the same woman who walked away from me. In place of the spider silk dress was a long cotton shift. It cinched in at the waist with a looser corset, leading up to a high collar of white frills.  But not even that was what shocked me.  It was her hair. The bright red was toned down to a soft auburn brown and the heavy make up was replaced with a clean and dewy face.

“Father,” Belladonna said as she walked in the room. “We’ve spoken of this before. It will not be something we speak of again.”

Annmarie gave a small squeak of delight upon seeing her daughter, running over to her and throwing her arms around her. “Oh, you look so lovely,” she cooed.  “I love this dress on you. The fabric is decadent, darling. But why such a high neck line? Come now. We both know that is not necessary.”

Belladonna gave her mother a wane smile. “It’s what is proper, mother.”

I tried to hide my wide eyes.  Annmarie obviously was a bit more loose with her propriety than what Alden wanted and what Bella had been raised with. I found I rather liked that about her. When she rolled her eyes at Bella I saw every inch of where Bella got her attitude from and I tried hard not to laugh.

“Oh, pff. Proper,” she said. “Showing a small bit of neck is not improper, my girl. Hush with that nonsense.”

Bella’s lips twitched a little as she leaned in and kissed her mother on the cheek.  She then turned to her father.

When he first entered the cathedral, he had a harsh line to his face. He was a stern man with a brow that looked in a constant frown.  But when he saw his daughter, it all melted away.  He stepped forward, smiling widely at her.

“It is good to see you, father,” Bella said.

“Madeline,” he breathed. He met her halfway before embracing her and I could see the way he looked. Like the moon rose and set on his little girl. “This place is… interesting.”

Belladonna smiled at him. “I told you, father. It’s not the type of cathedral you are used to.”

He bit his tongue to not say anything unkind. “But you are helping people?” he asked. “You are not letting anyone walk all over you or take advantage of your state?”

“No. Of course not, daddy.”

‘

Taking a deep breath, he took both of her hands in his own, looking her in the eye. “Then I am more proud of you than any father can be.”

I couldn’t believe the switch. It felt odd, seeing it play out in front of my eyes. The way the man had come in with a harshness to him I thought he was going to criticize everything she had done. But instead, he suddenly was looking around the room as if he was seeing it for the first time. What his daughter had built with her own two hands.

“Come,” she said. “I have tea. I would also like you to get to know my partner more.”

“We’ve met,” Annmarie said, looking at me. “You and I are going to be thick as thieves. I’m letting you know that now.”

I smiled at her. I had a feeling we would get along.

“Right through there,” Bella said, motioning towards the back room where I knew she had set up an afternoon tea service.  She came to me, however, threading her fingers within mine. I could feel the squeeze of her hand.  “What do you think?”

I looked up at her with a small smile. “They love you dearly.”’

She looked out towards them, watching as her parents walked through the cathedral, arms wrapped around each other. “They will love you as well. Beware of that.”

Honestly, I couldn’t wait.