Chapter Text
With every movement of her fingers, she could hear more and more little gasps from Bela, she could feel how close she was. Whispering sweet love words, she she sped up her movements, but then, both of them froze.
"Get your filthy hands off my daughter!"
Donna quickly covered the abashed girl with herself and with one hand started to look for her veil. "Alcina, get out for a moment." Lady Beneviento voice was so husky - unlike Bela's. Younger girl couldn't get the words out, she felt tears in her eyes. She was so embarrassed and even more scared. She tried to cover her naked body with her arms, hoping if any gods existed they would help her now.
The Lady of the castle laughed like she was having the best time of her life and then raised her voice, "Not a chance! After I've seen what you have been... doing with my daughter"
Lady Beneviento seemed to ignore her presence, she slowly put her normal veil on and covered her lover with some blanket. Before she stood in front of Lady Dimitrescu, she had whispered some reassuring words to Bela's ear. Carefully, she had wiped off tears from her cheek. "What problem do you exactly see here, Alcina?" She said, giving the energy of completely calm person - but only the vampire girl could know how stressed really she was.
"You slept with my daughter and yet dare to ask me what problem I do see here?!" Bela started to look for her clothes - at least underwear, the last thing she wanted was her mother seeing more of her, covered in love marks, body.
"She's no virgin, so what's the problem." Donna simply said and her lover almost choked on air. That was the moment when Lady Beneviento wanted to die immediately. Alcina didn't know of anything. Lady Dimitrescu looked at Bela with something new in her eyes. Younger girl wanted the ground to open up.
"Do you have to tell me something, young lady?" The dollmaker stood next to her and put a hand on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture.
"I don't... I don't see here problem, too, Mother..." She said with a shaky voice, stepping closer to her lover.
"I am your Mother, Bela. Of course I am the only one seeing it!" Bela swallowed hard and uncomfortable shifted.
"Donna was right. It was with one of the maids... some time ago. But There was nothing between us." If she could blush, she definitely would now.
"And I'm hearing about it now? For Mother Miranda's sake, I am your mother!"
Donna smirked under her veil - even if nobody could see it. "You're right, Alcina. You are only her mother. Nothing more."
Now, Lady Dimitrescu was the one who almost choked on air. "And what do you mean by that, Lady Beneviento?"
"You're her mother, you are supposed to take care of her, raise her and lover her. But mother's love has its boundaries. There will be a time when there will be things, she will not tell you about, she will not look for help from you. That time is now." Bela could see the expression of anger on her mother's face.
She, in her thoughts, was praying for Donna to stop. "I know everything about her! And you are only bloody dollmaker, what exactly you can give her, that I can't?"
"A piece of normalcy." Lady Dimitrescu laughed again, mockingly wiped off tear from her eye. "Don't you dare laugh at me again, Alcina. As I said, you're only her mother. You don't know how badly your eldest daughter, your biggest pride hates the life she lives." This time, Donna was the one who chuckled. Loud enough for everyone in the room to hear it. "How she loves her sisters, your lifestyle, your castle, you. And yet, how she hates that her sisters are the only people she can talk to, that sometimes she spends all days alone due to your meetings, that the only place she knows is that damn, always empty castle. That you gave her that life, Alcina."
Lady Dimitrescu looked hurt. Was it true? Did her daughter really hate her life? Then why she didn't go to her, talk to her. It hurt, the awareness that her daughter hadn't thought about looking for help from her. But even more hurt the awareness that one of her daughter felt like this. "I was the one who talked with her about anything she wanted, who spent all days with her if she wanted to, making her feel like she matters, who showed her forest, valleys and hills outside the castle, who made her love the life she lives. Do not try to say I can give her nothing."
"Donna, my love and mother, please stop. I'm fucking here!" All eyes on her now, it almost made Bela shy. Her mother gaze was painful but, at least, less angrier than before. She didn't say anything about the language, she thought. "My well-being is a topic for another conversation, I believe. Lady Beneviento can give me more than you can think of, mother. She makes me happy, makes me feel things I've never felt before." She smiled and looked at her lover and then at Alcina. "You always said love is painful and due to that, unworthy of trying. I felt that pain. When Lady Beneviento sent me cold letter, full of numb towards me, when she pushed me away after one meeting, when I imagined her with someone else. But I felt love, too. When she sent me letters with love words and flowers, when she kissed me after your conversation on one meeting, when she called me hers. And that love is worth of try, mother.
Lady Dimitrescu looked at the dollmaker. How her hand was still on Bela's shoulder, trying to give her a substitute of safety. How her daughter was smiling to her, trying to tell her that everything would be okay. "I love you, mama. I always will. I would do anything for your love and you know that." she said with voice full of desperation - like a child who is trying to convince their parents that they are worth of love - she looked at her. "But I would do anything for hers, too."
"I love you, too, daughter of mine. And always will." She looked at the scene in front of her. Her eldest daughter, her biggest pride, Bela was in love with the Lord of the House on the Hill, the dollmaker, Donna Beneviento. Now, when almost all the anger has been gone, she could see the way her heiress was looking at her. How soft and careful her movements were, almost like Donna was some kind of a porcelain doll. How loving and calm her gaze was, like Donna was the only person in the room. How carefully Lady Beneviento put her hand on Bela's waist, making her stood opposite to herself. How slowly and reassuringly her voice was, telling her that everything would be okay. How uncertain her fingers were, trying to wipe off tears from her cheeks. "Get dressed, I will be waiting for you in the dining room." Alcina said with neutral voice and left.
Suddenly Bela let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding and then, started to laugh. "Life scrunches me up!" She looked at Donna with despairing smile, "my Mother saw you, making love to me, discovered I am no virgin, our relationship and my well-being status. I think I wanna die."
Donna smirked and shifted her veil, "calm down, sweetheart" she chuckled a little. "She will be good, you will be. Now, let me help you get dressed, my doll."
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"I need to ask you for understanding. I am her Mother, I don't want you to be hurt, Bela." She looked at them. Donna and Bela sat next to her - elder woman without her veil and her daughter in Lady Beneviento's another dress since her own had broken buttons, but Alcina didn't know anything about it.
Elder woman put her hand in her lover's on her lap. "I understand you, Alcina. But I am no harm to her, you must understand it, too."
Bela looked at her, smiling, "I am happy with her, mama."
Lady Dimitrescu chuckled softly, "how do you feel about her, my darling girl?"
The vampire girl looked at her lover. "Like I'm up to the sky," She said simply and looked at her mother. "It feels nice to know she will always wait for me, always be by my side. I like the way she looks at me, like I'm the only person in the room. How only she can make me laugh while I'm crying and cry while I'm laughing. I've never thought I, with my dead heart, would be able to love someone other than you. But I do now. I love Lady Beneviento, Mother. Please, don't take it away from me."
Alcina looked at Donna. The woman looked pleased with answer. "And you about my daughter?"
The fourth Lord looked at her. "I was human before. I felt pain, love and all humans emotions. I used to love people, to know what being loved mean. Being human meant being happy to me, Alcina, and I miss that. And after Miranda took it away from me, I never was the same. I was an empty shape. I made dolls, hoping they would understand me, help me, take this pain away. But they couldn't. They couldn't make me human again." Bela squeezed her hand a little tighter in a soothing gesture. "But I've met your daughter. She made me cry, scream in desperation, made me feel frustrated, happy, not alone. She made me feet all those things I had felt as a human. She made me feel like a human again. I will never be grateful enough for that. All I can offer her is my love."
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Alcina shifted uncomfortably as mother Miranda ended the meeting. Quickly, she disappeared somewhere, bur nobody really cared about it. Lady Dimitrescu had a little chat with Lord Moreau and said goodbye to Heisenberg. "Nice to see you here, Lady Beneveinto."
She looked at her and stretched out her hand to say hello. "Oh please, that's my wife." Bela quickly came closer to her and hugged her. "I've missed you, mother," after a very long moment, she stepped aside.
"I've missed you, too, my darling girl." Lady Dimitrescu smiled to her and put hand on her cheek.
After minutes of conversation Donna came to them and put her hand on her wife's waist. "Hello, Alcina."
The woman looked at her, "nice to see you, Lady Beneviento. I was thinking earlier and maybe.. do you want to eat dinner with us? In the Castle? Your sisters miss you, Bela. And I do, too."
Bela smiled and looked at Donna. Her wife could only smile at her. "Of course, Mother, always."