Piper
"Mamă?" I spoke up, just before mamă could get up from finishing my bedtime story. The story was about a princess falling in love with a common boy. It was my absolute favorite.
"Yes, dragă?" Mamă asked as she tucked me in, smiling at me with her loving, motherly smile that always comforted me.
She placed my glass of type A blood on my nightstand. Something she did every night.
"How do you know when you're in love?" I asked, drinking from my glass.
The story piqued my curiosity. All of my bedtime stories involved the two main characters being in love, but never really explained what caused them to fall in love, or better yet, what it was like.
Mamă sighed, bringing her gentle hand to push the stray black strand of hair out of my face.
"You will know when you're in love, dragă. When you meet the one for you, you will be willing to do anything for them. You'd sacrifice anything to be with them, just like the Princess gave up her pride to be with the common boy," She explained. I furrowed my brow.
"How do you know if they are in love with you back?" I asked. Mamă gave a small smile, rubbing her thumb on my cheek.
"That's something we will discuss when you're older," Mamă assured me. This made me even more confused and curious. Why did we have to wait until I was older to talk about this? Was it grown-up knowledge on how to know if love is felt back?
I was a big girl! I should know.
"But mamă-" I pouted, wanting to know.
"No buts. You need to get to bed, Iubirea mea," Mamă insisted. I huffed, wishing she would just tell me.
She left my room at that, blowing out the candles as she went. We exchanged "goodnights," and "I love you's," and I found myself falling asleep to the mystery of love.
♱
How do you know if they are in love with you back?
It was the question I thought everyone would ask. Surely, it wasn't that easy to reach into someone's mind and know the answer. Someone whom you had fallen in love with. It would be a mystery until you trusted them enough to believe that they meant it when they said those three words.
At least, that's what I had assumed as a child. The ignorant bliss I had then was gone. No longer did I dream of the love stories I used to hear before bed every night.
At the time, it seemed terrifying, thinking that you could love someone and have no clue if it was reciprocated. Now, I found it intriguing, and part of me wishes that that's how it was.
Yet, it never would be. Not for those of my kind.
As far as I could tell, my species never had to question. Now, I was in the twisted world of Soulmates and unwavering love and devotion. I now understood why my mom waited to explain to me how love was reciprocated. I would have been so confused why I couldn't just be like the princess in the story.
In our species, love between two Soulmates was unquestioned because it became part of their nature. The second the Mortal one was turned, or the ceremony took place between two Vampires, the love was requited.
I'd witnessed this world five years ago when my brother Alec met my Sister-in-Law, Raven. All I can say was that it was a twisted world indeed.
Though I admired their bond, they were much different from the rest. Instead of being turned shortly after meeting, Raven stayed Mortal for a few months. This had a desirable impact on their relationship that I hadn't witnessed ever before, and that I doubt I'd ever get to witness it again.
It made me question love. Seeing my brother and Raven differ from the traditional narrative Soulmates partook in made me question if I wanted a Soulmate traditionally. And as I near my time to find a Soulmate, I still don't know the answer.
"Piper?" A knock came at the doorframe of my walk-in closet. I looked up and saw my mother's head peeking in.
"Yes?" I asked, leaning over my drawer of riding clothes.
"Sir Novak has just arrived from Serbia," she informed me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my riding jacket and tights from the drawer. I straightened my back and turned to her with an annoyed look.
"Then he can watch me from the fence. I have to meet Alec for my lessons," I told her firmly.
This was the third eligible Soulmate she had brought to me since I started aging two weeks ago. At this point, three was already too many. I didn't want to waste my time eating brunch or dinner with some sleazy Sir or Lord who was solely hungry to be part of the royal family.
"Piper..." My mother sighed. I didn't let her speak any further.
"I'm going to get dressed. I'm sure someone can escort Sir Nikola to the stables."
"It's Novak," she corrected.
"Novak, Nikola. Same thing," I huffed and she left the room.
I dressed quickly and made my way out of my room. Throughout the halls of the castle, I could hear multiple women gossiping about the new Sir visiting. They could have him for all I cared. I hoped that one of them actually would catch his eye before he tried his luck with me. That would be a blessing.
I stepped outside and was greeted by a cooler day than I had expected for August. I appreciated it since the summer had been stifling.
When I got to the stables, I found Alec already dressing my horse, Silveia. He had gifted me Silveia a year ago so he could teach me to ride. She was a beautiful horse. Her coat was a shining, ink-black that matched the color of my hair.
The gesture to gift me a horse was much like him. It meant a lot for him to get her for me. As if that wasn't enough, he even offered to teach me to ride her.
"Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Alec chuckled, amusement clear on his face as he studied my expression.
"I have another visitor," I explained. He rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what I meant by 'visitor.'
"Another one? Already?" He asked, giving me Silveia's reigns while he untied his horse, Diavol, from the hook on the wall.
"I guess she thinks I need to meet as many eligible bachelors as I can before my three months are up."
Alec shook his head as we walked out into a separate training pasture.
"She needs to give it a rest. You have plenty of time," he said. "I think you're fully capable of finding your own soulmate without having to choose from a long list of potential suitors."
"I don't think I have a choice," I shrugged, getting on Silveia.
"You have a choice, Piper. This is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make."
"Tell her that," I whispered, scoffing under my breath as our Mother, and who I am assuming is Sir whatever-his-name was, arrived at the fence of the pasture.
He looked even more pretentious than the last two. Which, I didn't think was possible. The last two had the same mannerisms as he did. They walked the same and had their hair styled in the same, greasy way. Although, the last two didn't exhibit the extremely smug look on their face as this one did. It made me want to reject any association with him automatically.
How could my mother even imagine him being a good fit for me? Given, she probably didn't know much more than his name and status before he came. I could tell by how she was talking to him that she was just being a kind hostess.
"You ready?" Alec snapped me out of my thoughts. I cleared my throat and nodded, bumping Silveia, ready to take my mind off of the screwed-up situation I was currently in.
––––––––––•A/N•––––––––––
Ah. That new book feeling. How are we feeling about there finally being a sequel to His Mortal Bride? Can you believe I started writing HMB 5 years ago? So it's fitting the new storyline is 5 years since then.
One Major Note:
The family name is no longer Morgenstern as it was in the first book. It is now Gheata (pronounced g-ye-ta), a Romanian name more fit since the family is from Romania. Sorry if it gets confusing!
I'm looking forward to this book and another piece of this series!
Love you all xx
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