I stared in amazement at the page. This was the diary of my ancestors. The ancestor that Mason appeared to be obsessed with and that I was apparently linked to in some way. Unfortunately, the diary was in french, so I would have to translate it before I would be able to learn anything from it.
I found a french to English dictionary and quickly headed back to my room. I wasn't sure why but I just had a feeling that I should keep this a secret from Mason. After a few hours, I had done a relatively decent translation of the first entry.
Dear friend is how I will start my entries in this book. Of course, no one will ever read this, but it makes it easier to write down my thoughts and feelings on paper if I pretend that I am writing to a dear friend. Keeping this diary wasn't even my idea in the first place, but rather my soon to be mother in law, Queen Catherine de Medici. She insisted that a young lady should have a safe place to hide her thoughts and while I'm sure she intends to find and read what I write in here, but too not write in here would be a terrible insult. Some say that Queen Catherine is a witch. I'm not sure if it's true, but either way, I'd rather not cross her, seeing as I am to marry her son. It isn't what I want, but it was arranged by our parents. The most handsome man I've ever seen arrived at court last week, and he's made it clear that he would like to court me. His name is Mason. He offered to take me away from court to his estate in England, but there is no way the Queen would ever let me go. Even if we did manage to escape, they would hunt us to the end of the world. I've rebuffed his advances for both of our safety, but he hasn't shown any sign backing off. He's becoming increasingly bold, and I'm worried that my fiance the dauphin Louis will notice something and either take the information to the Queen or take matters into his own hands. I'm not sure which would be worse. The Queen is cruel, but Louis is every bit her son, and he now views me as his. If he thought another man trying to take what he considers as his the results would be disastrous.
I closed the diary, my heart pounding in my chest. While reading this, I felt like I was actually the girl who had written in this diary. I had just thought that she was an ancestor that I shared an uncanny resemblance with, but reading this made me think that there might be more of a connection between us. Maybe figuring out the relationship between Antoinette and me would be the key to figuring out what was going on with me.
I spent several hours translating the journal, and while it was interesting, it didn't offer me any new information. Antoinette just talked about her growing feelings for Mason and the stress of having to discourage his advances while trying to hide them from the rest of the court. But what was clear was that Antoinette had loved Mason, and Mason had loved her in return. That would complicate whatever relationship Mason and I had. If Mason really thought that I was Antoinette, there was no way he was going to let me go. I couldn't deny that I felt a connection to Mason, but even if Antoinette were connected, yet if we were somehow shared a soul, I had been raised in the 21st century and not 16th century France. I couldn't be that girl, and it scared me to think about what Mason might do to make me that person.
I dressed for the day surprised to see there were substantially more people at the manor than there had been the day before. By people, of course, I meant vampires. Some of them appeared to be part of Mason's household staff, but there were too many of them just for that.
I walked towards Masons study, hoping he would be there since I was too afraid to speak to anyone. I might have trusted Mason not to kill me, but I had no reason to believe that any of these other vampires wouldn't rip my heart out given half the chance. I was still a werewolf from a long line of werewolves. I was their enemy, and I was on their turf.
I knocked hesitantly on the door frame seeing Mason inside talking to another vampire. He looked up his face brightening when he saw me, "Britney, come in." He shooed the other man out who looked at me with barely hidden contempt.
"What's going on?" I asked, confused, "Who are all these people?".
"Oh, these are members of my court," He said nonchalantly. I knew that he was the person in charge of the vampires, but I didn't know anything about their society.
"Yes, a majority of us are from another time, and so our society is structured in what most of us think of as a more traditional," he smiled. "I thought to invite some favored members of my court here to meet you would help sate some of the curiosity about you and quell some of the unrest."
My heart began to beat faster. I didn't want to attract any attention from the vampires. It had been foolish of me to think that I could come here to the home of their prince and then leave before any of them found out about my existence. My hands trembled, and I felt an overwhelming urge to run as fast and as far as I could. But I couldn't go yet. I had come here to get answers, and I had a feeling that Antoinette's diary was just the tip of the iceberg.
Mason pulled me into his arms, sensing my fear. "I promise that nothing bad will happen to you. You are under my protection, and they know better than to cross me".
When I didn't say anything, he rubbed my shoulder in what was meant to be reassuring. "Take today to adjust to the idea, but tomorrow I'm having a party to officially introduce you, ok?" I nodded, feeling small and meek.
I'd grown used to being around powerful werewolves, but where they were all fire and heat, the vampires were ice cold. The cold, unfeeling power the emanated from the vamps was unnerving, and it made me feel like the small insignificant human I had been before everything started.
"I'm going to be in meetings all day, but if you need anything, feel free to ask," Mason said, kissing my cheek as the man from before came back in. I walked back out, heading towards the library. I needed to gather as much information as I could in the next couple of days. I could always take Antoinette's diary with me, so I needed to gather as much information and then get out of here as fast as possible. Preferably before the dance Mason has planned. I knew that once that night came around, it would make escaping from here a lot harder. Plus, I knew Mason had to have enemies out there. He was making his feelings about me very clear, and Mason's enemies might hurt me to get to him.
With all the chaos, it would be easy to slip out without anyone noticing. All I needed to do was take my passport and whatever books with relevant information that I could find and then slip out right before the party starts. Everyone was going to be too busy to keep track of me.
I curled up in the library with a book on mythology that was old and well worn. The spine was cracked, and it looked like it was one of the few books in that library that were frequently read. When I opened the book, it fell open to a section on the Erinyes or the furies. They were three greek goddesses who punished mortals. There was writing in the margins which looked like more french. I tucked the book under my arm, slipping back to my room, avoiding everyone.
I was translating more of Antionette's diary when a familiar phrase caught my eyes. It was from the entry after the Queen found out about Mason's advances towards Antoinette, and she threatened to bring the Erinyes down on him. It could have been just a turn of phrase, but I didn't think so. That was the last entry in the diary, and I fought the urge to throw the book at the wall. It felt like every time I found a clue to figuring out what I also came up with another batch of questions.
Taking a deep breath, I sat back down to read more about the furies. The Furies were female spirits of justice and vengeance. They were also called the Erinyes or angry ones. Known primarily for pursuing people who had murdered family members, the Furies punished their victims by driving them mad. One of the most famous accounts of the Furies was Eumenides, a play written by the Greek dramatist Aeschylus. This play tells of the Furies' pursuit of Orestes, who had killed his mother, Clytemnestra, in revenge for her part in murdering his father, King Agamemnon of Mycenae.
In Eumenides, Orestes' act was depicted as just, and the god Apollo protected him in his sacred shrine at Delphi*. But the Furies still demanded justice. Finally, the gods persuaded the Furies to allow Orestes to be tried by the Areopagus, an ancient court in the city of Athens. The goddess Athena, the patron of Athens, cast the deciding ballot.
Athena then calmed the anger of the Furies, who became known afterward as the Eumenides (soothed ones) or Semnai Theai (honorable goddesses). Now welcomed in Athens and given a home there, they helped protect the city and its citizens from harm.
There were several scrawled notes in the margins next to the last part about the transformation of the furies. I realized that some of the writing was identical to the letters in the diary, but the dialect was that of 18th century french rather than 16th century french like the diary. The note that stuck out to me most read. The only way to end the curse Catherine laid upon us is to transition from Fury to Semnai Theai. Only then will we be able to rest.
I stared at the page in shock. Catherine must have found out about Antoinette and Mason and cursed them. She had made I'm a vampire and her a Furie. His nature requiring him to kill and prey on people to survive, and her nature would force her to punish him for it.
I thought back to that day on the beach, and it made sense. I killed Bastien as a punishment for the lives that he had taken. This meant that I was a danger to everyone that I cared about. Living in such a violent world, I knew that my father and friends had each taken lives before, and even if they had done it in self-defense or retribution, it didn't matter. I hadn't even known that I killed Bastien, so there was no way I would be able to protect my friends and family until I found a way to rid myself of this curse.