I trailed behind Ms. Haroldson in silence, unable to fathom why the headmaster would want me. I mean, I knew that he was an Immortal because Georgie told me he was, but why would he want me now? Maybe he knew about someone coming for me-maybe he knew about Victoria.
Well, that was good since I really was kind of suspicious (and partly terrified) of the girl. I truly believed that she was Anne...not that Mr. Corsemithe would know about my past life with Anne, exactly, but who knew? Maybe he did.
I gave a little exhale through my nostrils, silently walking a few paces behind my terrifying math teacher. I furrowed my brows. Did she know some students here were Daevas? Was she an Immortal like the headmaster? Or maybe she was just ordered by Mr. Corsemithe to call me; nothing more.
When we reached a gigantic oak door, Ms. Haroldson faced me. She was in her usual mood so I wouldn't ask her why the headmaster wanted me. I'd never even seen her smile, for heaven's sake.
"Go inside, Miss D'Onofrio. I have been instructed to simply escort you here, nothing more," she clipped. As soon as she gave a nod to the guards on each side, she turned on her heels and went back to her classroom. I entered the room with my head cast down onto the floor.
"You called for me, Mr. Corsemithe?"
"You can look up, my dear," I heard a familiar baritone voice say gently. My head quickly snapped up, seeing my father (my real father) sitting at the headmaster's large cherry wood desk. His hands were linked together as if he'd been expecting me for many hours. I saw Mr. Corsemithe standing behind him, while there were very good-looking people sitting in front of the fireplace, looking at me expectantly with a smile on their faces.
"I think this is a rather bad time..." I began, backing away slightly to the door behind me.
"Nonsense." Matteo waved a hand, gesturing for me to stop. "Indeed, I called for you, so you needn't get back outside again."
"But-" I glanced at the two young people sitting beneath the fire on my left.
He saw where my gaze went and smiled.
"Don't mind them. They are here to meet you." Matteo looked at the people and gestured toward me. "Won't you two kindly stand up and meet my daughter?" I winced at the way he affectionately called me his daughter. I still wasn't used to it. I was still confused and hurt about the life I was now beginning to live with. God knew how many painful memories I had through the hundreds of years I'd lived.
I could tell Matteo read my mind because he only gave me an apologetic smile. I looked away, unable to meet his eyes that I clearly inherited from him.
The young woman and the boy stood up, coming near me. They looked like a couple, seeing how the girl's hand looped around the guy's elbow affectionately. She had crow-black hair that shined into a dark brown when in the light. Her almond eyes were a strange yet beautiful mahogany, with a long and straight nose, and full, rose-petal lips. Her delicately winged eyebrows rose as she saw me speculating her. She snorted a laugh, displaying such adorable dimples on each cheek. She looked like some glamorous girl from Spain, to be honest. I turned my gaze on the young man beside her. He had an olive complexion, with hair the same shade as his beau's. He had eyes that were a soft brown, his nose aquiline. His jaw was firm and when he smiled, everything was charming, as what was happening now. He had a dot on his chin that looked adorable on him like the dimples on his girlfriend's cheeks. He was about six-foot-two, while the girl was about five-foot-eight.
The girl was a student here, I knew, because she was wearing the school uniform. But why hadn't I seen here go out and about in the halls or the classrooms? The boy, on the other hand, was wearing a white polo shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black slacks, and shiny black leather shoes.
How old are they? I thought. The girl looked no more than eighteen, while the man looked twenty-one.
I heard Matteo chuckle from where he was at, but I ignored him. Let him read my thoughts, then.
The young woman gave me a hug. "It's very nice to meet you, your high-" I stilled in her arms, bracing for the words to come, but they didn't. I saw all three males expressions turn. They were trying to make me feel at ease, not letting me know about my title as a princess. Little did they know how much I knew about my past now. When I was walking through halls with Ms. Haroldson, I saw visions of my pasts again. From Georgian to Renaissance. It was a good thing I didn't bump and, not to mention, Ms. Haroldson seeing my eyes glow dark green. What'd happened to me had been...I couldn't even describe it on my own. I never knew my life was miserable even then.
"Er...Venise. I am so happy to finally meet you!" she back-pedaled. She offered her hand. "I'm María Claveria. People call me with my last name joined; but whatever you wish to call me, I'm fine with it. María, if you want."
I smiled. "I've heard a lot about you, María."
"Let me guess," she said with a laugh. "It's Georgie, isn't it?"
"Don't forget Axel."
María raised a delicate brow. "That knave?"
"I'm sorry? Knave?"
She shrugged her shoulders prettily. "Rake, playboy. Whatever you wish to call it." She grinned.
"I don't think he's that much of a playboy anymore," I said, defending Axel a little bit. "Seems like a one-woman man."
María and the guy looked at each other with amusement. "I think I know the reason why," she told me, wiggling her eyebrows.
I blushed crimson, averting my eyes from her beautiful ones.
"Excuse my little fiancée here, Venise," her beau interjected, chuckling. "She can be very teasing at times." María swatted him playfully. He extended his hand. "I'm Andres Penitente. People in college call me Andie, but the Daevas go for Andres."
Andres and María were talking in normal English like me, but when they said their name, there was a roll of their own accent in it. Like when they said the R in their names, it was rolling on their tongues like Spanish people. But, of course, I knew that María was half Spanish and Filipino, while Andres had the Filipino blood running through his veins. They were too beautiful to look at, actually. What with their exotic looks and all.
"I think you should call him Andie," María suggested helpfully. "The reason why the kids in college call him that is because they can't pronounce his given name very well." I heard Gregori, Mr. Corsemithe, and Andres laugh softly. She leaned forward. "It's because, instead of Andres, like Andrrres (rolling your tongue when you say the R), they pronounce it like Undress, which would be totally strange for my dear Andres here if he would be called that. Daevas, you know, are good with languages and accents so they do not have trouble saying his name."
I gave a shaky laugh. "Andie, it is!" I still wasn't good with the whole accent/languages thing, so I was still unable to say Andres without referring to his name as undress in the process.
"Glad you made up your mind," Andie commented, patting me on the arm.
We took a seat in front of the fireplace.
"I heard," I began, looking at Andie, "that you just came back from the Philippines, helping the people there who needed help."
He nodded, leaning back in his seat. "Glad I cured them all."
"All?" I gasped, my eyes wide.
Andie and María laughed. "Don't seem so surprised, Venise," he said. "I've had a lot of experience with my skills being a Daevas."
"You guys still refer to your powers as 'skills,'" I told him, my eyes blank. "That's what they call it in the olden days."
He raised a fine brow. "How'd you know about that?"
I shrugged. "Visions."
"I see," he said softly.
"Oh, come on." I stood up, my arms akimbo. I looked at all of them in the room, but I settled my stare finally on my father. "Don't act like you don't know what's happening to me, because I don't believe you people. I know that you know. And for the record, even back then my life was in shambles! Completely confusing and miserable. And you"-I took angry steps toward Matteo-"where were you when I needed you the most?" When he opened his mouth, I raised a finger. "Don't speak, I'm not through! Where were you when Mom was still alive? Look, I know that she agreed to be apart from you because she believed that that would keep me safe from any harm, but why?" I didn't care if there were three more people in the room. All I could see was my father who left my mother and me. Even though I couldn't remember him being in my life when the modern times came - when she met Stewart, when I had Greg and Jemma with me - I still had a feeling that some part of me was missing. And now here I was, angry with my father. I still had this feeling inside of me that was screaming to come near him and embrace him like everything in the world would be mended.
Matteo read my mind again when I thought about this, because I saw him frown and grow silent.
"I did that," he began quietly, "to protect you. Your mother and I agreed that she should get away from life as a Daevas with you because we thought that it was the right thing to do. And at first, we thought it was right. For years, after World War I was finished, when we were in England, that was when Madeleine and I thought it best to hide you from our people. You were a frightened sixteen-year-old-looking girl back then, and so many..." he choked back tears and looked at me with sad, olivine eyes. "So many...things had happened to your life that your mother and I tried to change for you."
I heard the door to my right click, and I knew that María, Andie, and Mr. Corsemithe left Matteo and I for some privacy together and talk things out. I was catching my breath, so I unsteadily sat on a chair in front of the desk where my father was sitting at. A tear rolled down my cheek as I looked at him. "Go on," I said shakily.
He took a deep exhale and continued. "Madeleine and I tried to make you happy again, and it would always work at times, but you were too smart. Every time you were at a ball with us, you would always be charming to the people; but when you were home and in your room alone, you would always be in your bed or just staring out the window, thinking of all the many things that happened to your life several decades before. Sometimes Madeleine and I would hear your soft whimpers, but even though we did not have the heart to let you stay miserable, we knew that you would not let us change you. We once tried, but I remember that you said you wanted nothing changed though it had pained you greatly. It was a cold English morning.
"The date was November 11, 1918 that time. Your mother and I entered your room. We saw you sitting on the windowsill in your beautiful dress, your eyes out the window.
"I remember you smiling wanly out, your eyes never leaving the window. You said, 'Germany has surrendered, Father. We won. I can feel it, though I do not know whether the war has started. I can only feel. But I am positive.' I nodded and sat on a chair near you with your mother beside me. 'Long live England, my beauty,' Madeleine told you. You turned your head to look at us and said, 'Do you ever think that everything in this world shall change? Like nothing terrible will ever happen again? Look at the world; see it anew. War has been taking peoples' lives, murdering what should not have been murdered. Have you ever thought that, just once, life would go on peacefully?'
"Your mother and I looked at each other worriedly, knowing that you were thinking of your past once again. 'Oh darling!' Madeleine choked, coming near you and grabbing you into her arms. I took your hand and gave a gentle squeeze. 'If you are thinking of what happened to you for many centuries back then," I said benignly, 'you ought to believe that one day things shall get better soon. There is nothing wrong with having a little faith.'
"'I know,' you said, squeezing my hand back. Madeleine was crying, and you hushed her. 'I know that my life has not been what I imagined when I was a little girl; but I wouldn't change it all. This is what life has brought me. Molly once said to me, in her exact words, It is a part of life. Life is nothing without a little imperfection in it. We all learn from the mistakes we make; we all learn from the hardship that life brings us. It is the way it is. And I believed her. I know she was right.'
"'My child,' Madeleine said softly, her voice shaking slightly, 'I know Molly is-'
"'Dead, though it is impossible for an Immortal to die?' you finished for her. 'I miss Molly so very much, Mother, but even if it is impossible, I learned to accept it. Just like what happened to me. To my first married life, to my sister, to my second marriage, and to...' And you began to cry. But you were to prideful to cry more than a soft one. You learned that weakness could do nothing to anyone, so you changed all that. You taught yourself how to bottle your feelings inside you, and we couldn't see you like that anymore. So after England declared that Germany surrendered, Madeleine and I began to think of what to do to you to keep you safe from the way you have become, and from your pasts haunting you. Even back then, Venise, Alexander was searching for you. For many, many years," he said.
I felt hot tears stinging my eyes, but I couldn't control them any longer. I let them fall down freely. I couldn't speak, so I just let Matteo go on. "We wanted you to be safe. It was hard for your mother and I to part our ways, but we both knew that it was the best possible way to keep you safe. I didn't want to let you go, Venise, believe me," he choked, standing up slowly, walking toward me. He went down on one knee, cupping my face in his large hands. "Believe me when I say that I never wanted my daughter and my wife to leave me. But it was to keep you secured, to keep your mother safe as well. We didn't want Alexander to find you; we didn't want your princess duties to add up to your confused mind. You were...arranged to be married to a wealthy Daevas duke in five months, and your mother and I did not want you to start married life again knowing that there was still those painful memories when you were married two times before.
"It was your grandparents' wish to see you married again to secure the Gansevoort and D'Onofrio bloodline and the Daevas throne but Madeleine and I could not bear seeing you so...empty. Even if you had hard times way before the twentieth century came, at least you knew how to be happy. Daevas life was not for you, and so we came up with a plan: I wrote to the royal palace in Spain, telling your grandparents that you and Madeleine met both of your fates tragically. I wrote that the two of you passed away from a terrible car accident and crashed into a building when the vehicle swerved without control anymore. You knew nothing of what we planned. At dawn the next day, Madeleine visited you in your room, telling you that the two of you would be leaving for the country in Yorkshire to ease your mind. She said that the country would do you good. You asked if I would be coming, but when your mother said no. You only nodded obediently like a docile girl and got your things packed. You were too blank to even be shocked by the sudden move to the country.
"I hugged you tightly like there was no end when you were about to leave, same thing I did to your mother. She put on a brave smile and said that the two of you would be back after two months. But the two of us knew that we would never see each other again forever.
"'Au revoir, chérie!' she said, blowing me a kiss. Then both of you rode the vehicle and were gone. I watched by the doorstep, seeing your vehicle disappear in the fog of the London. I cried when you were too far away to be seen that morning. I knew it would be hard to see my wife and my only daughter go, but it was the only thing to keep you safe and my wife along with you. While you were in the car, it was our plan that your memory should be erased. Your mother had that skill and so that was what she did to you. The two of you would go to the pier and set sail for America. She would tell you that both of you would meet me there for a family vacation in the States. For decades, she took off your memory over and over again.
"Her final removal of your memory was two years ago. You didn't look older than sixteen, so you believed you were only fourteen that time. Your mother and I never wrote in fear that something might happen to the missive. María was the only one who helped me in knowing what was happening to you both. That woman had the skill to know what was happening to anyone in the world. I was surprised that your mother moved to Woodville, just near where my castle was. María said that Madeleine wanted to go to me, but she always changed her mind even if it was hard. We hadn't seen each other for ninety-one years, Venise.
"I told her in 1918 that she should be happy to live her life with you and find someone new to love. Though it was hard for the both of us, she agreed. She didn't want you to grow up without a father. It took ninety-one years before she fell in love. A man named Stewart who lived in Woodville was whom she married. María said Stewart reminded your mother of me with his red hair and warm smile. I felt heartbroken, but I learned how to accept the fact that I wanted her to be happy. But, not even once, had your mother forgotten about me, María said. I felt the same way. She had children with him. I couldn't be happier for her, but I felt a pang in my chest because I had no family of my own anymore.
"That was a part of the consequence your mother and I made for you. Madeleine wanted me to seek love someday, but my heart couldn't-would not-replace her. So I didn't marry again, I didn't fall in love. I still visited the Court around the world. Your grandparents had been so kind to me" He laughed sadly. "Little did they know that you're still alive. Now you are with me. But your...your mother is not."
I sobbed hard, choking at my own tears. "Oh, Dad!" I cried out, putting my arms around his neck, tightening my hold on him.
He hugged me back. "We shall work things out, my poppet," he whispered achingly, using his old endearment for me when I was a little girl. "I promise to be the father you lost. I will do the best I can to protect you from the dangers that are now coming your way."
And I know I would be well.
But that did't mean I would be safe for long.