Rouge stood on the doorstep of the Angelus family home. It was a huge red brick house with large tower-like structures on either side and a huge oak door in the centre at the top of some worn stone stairs. It was an intimidating building and she felt a shiver run over her, she could feel death clinging to the place. The locals had seemed a bit cagey about the family when she'd asked for directions. She could have just peeped through mirrors till she found them but it was a bit rude to just crawl into someone's home, not to mention a really good way to get herself killed. Pulling her hood up about her face and checking her veil was down to shield who she was, she clutched the small mirror concealed in her pocket and pulled the bell. After several moments the door swayed open and the dwarven butler who'd told her Raphael had left stood before her.

"May I help you, madam?" He spoke with a professional and polite tone but she could see his eyes searching behind her. Women as well dressed as Rouge May did not travel alone and never rang doorbells themselves, they waited in carriages while their servants knocked and handed over a business card.

"I'm looking for Raphael." She pulled the veil aside so he could see her face.

Winston stepped aside to let her in and closed the door.

"Madam, I am afraid Master Raphael has not returned home since he left Venice." Rouge looked disappointed

"But that was months ago." The butler nodded and gave her the kindest smile she'd ever seen. The way it wrinkled the skin about his brown eyes made him look like a kindly father or uncle.

"Master Raphael has always been somewhat of a free spirit my lady, he has disappeared before without contact."

"How long might he be gone for?"

"The longest was nearly seven years, Miss." her face fell and she felt tears prick at her eyes

"If Miss does not mind someone as humble as myself saying. You look exhausted. Please come in and allow me to get you some food and a safe bed for the night." The way he said safe made her think he knew more about her than she felt comfortable with.

"Safe?" She was sure the dwarven man blushed under his heavily braided mahogany beard.

"If Miss does not mind me saying, young women do not usually hide their faces beneath heavy veils unless they do not wish to be seen. A family as wealthy as yours could afford you many servants to take care of your needs but you travel alone and unattended. Forgive my forwardness, Miss. It is purely an observation" Rouge couldn't help but like this odd obviously half-breed dwarf for reasons, she couldn't put her finger on.

"If Madam would allow it I will set up the dining room and bring you a meal." Rouge did feel safe with this odd little man as he looked at her with his kind eyes.

"How about you take me down to the kitchen and fix me some bread and cheese and we talk there? And please call me Rouge May or just Rouge." Winston bowed his head to her and took her cloak and veil as she removed them to reveal her plain black velvet dress.

"Very good, Miss Rouge." He bowed to her and turning showed her the way. If there was one thing Winston knew it was a good person, he'd quietly made inquiries with the other serving staff. The high-ups often forgot about the staff and that they knew everything. He found out a lot about the beautiful Witch with melancholy eyes. The rest he'd worked out for himself and seeing her now he was rather sure his working out was right.

"Can I ask your name?"

"Winston, Miss Rouge." She couldn't help but quirk a small one-sided smile. He wasn't all dwarf but he definitely had their sense of propriety. Maybe if she'd ever felt she could trust anyone she would have hired a dwarven butler. But that was too much trust for her to place in anyone.

"That's a very good traditional dwarven name, Winston." He inclined his head to her

"The one thing my father thought of giving me, Miss Rouge." She puzzled at that answer for a moment but the thought was fleeting as they entered the huge kitchen. It was pristine and beautiful with copper pots hanging from the ceiling and a large wood-burning range in the hearth and a huge wooden table running down the centre of the room.

"What a beautiful kitchen Winston." He was mildly surprised she'd even seen a kitchen. Many a high-born would never step foot in one, the fact she had endeared her to him. He felt more and more he was right about the Witch and she was the perfect match for his kind and easy-going Raphael.

"Thank You, Miss Rouge."

She watched quietly as he crossed to the fireplace where a big comfy wing-back chair stood by a small table that was littered with books. Picking up the chair he placed it at the head of the table. Holding it out for her she seated herself and allowed him to slide it towards the table for her, he disappeared into the pantry returning with a wooden box, placing it on the table then repeated the process with a second box. Fetching a plate, platter, breadboard, cheese knife and bread knife he took the bread out and cut several slices which he placed on the plate and put before her followed by several kinds of cheese from the other box onto the platter along with the bread knife and placed it next to the plate. Lastly, he placed a glass butter dish, butter and knife on the other side of the plate.

"Anything to drink Miss Rouge?"

"Some water would be lovely, thank you, Winston."

"Water Miss?" He questioned, "I have a very nice Bordeaux I think you'd enjoy far more Miss Rouge."

"I would hate you to get into trouble, Winston. I'm already eating your Master's food." Winston smiled

"I am allowed anything I wish, Miss Rouge, the Bordeaux is only purchased for me. My Masters are good men but" he paused for a moment "What they know about a good wine wouldn't cover the top of the cork." Rouge laughed.

"Bordeaux sounds lovely, thank you, Winston." He disappeared again and returned with a bottle and glass. Uncorking the bottle he allowed it to breathe for a moment before pouring it carefully into her glass.

Rouge tore off a piece of the thick-sliced bread and cut a piece of cheese to go on top

"Where do you believe Raphael is Winston?"

The dwarf took a seat a little way down the table from her

"I'm afraid I do not know Miss Rouge. There are a few possibilities but they are only hunches Miss. Master Raphael is prone to disappearances when life is getting too much for him, Miss. It's how he copes."

"You sound fond of Raphael, Winston, if you don't mind me saying. Your voice changes when you speak of him. How long have you known him?" Winston inclined his head to her

"Since birth Miss Rouge. I came to the family with the Mistress of the house, may the God's protect her soul."

Rouge knew the story, she was pretty sure every Creature in Europe did. Marcus Angelus was a cold evil vampire who'd somehow ended up with a sweet and gentle tree Nymph as a fated bride. She'd given him five children, three vampire sons, one nymph daughter and the youngest was a crossbreed of the two. The story went that Marcus had tried to marry his daughter off to another vampire who was almost as infamous as Marcus, as a second Bride. She had refused, wanting to wait for her fated one. Her mother had tried to stop Marcus from killing her for humiliating him by her refusal. Whatever happened both women ended up dead. The most remarkable thing about that night though was not a vampire killing his fated bride which it should have been as that was pretty much unheard of. It was that the youngest son who was rumoured to be only about nine years old at the time somehow killed the far more powerful vampire. No one knew how exactly, but it had made the entire family even more infamous as vampires did not kill their own, it was even more unheard of than killing their fated brides.

She could see a deep sadness in Winston's eyes at the mention of his Mistress.

Rouge was sure the story of how this dwarf had ended up with her was an interesting one. But she wouldn't ask, that was a step too far from someone she didn't know. They both looked up as they heard footsteps coming down to the kitchen. Gabriel strode into the room his face buried in papers. He walked past them into the pantry then spun around.

"I... I didn't know you had company, Winston." He looked baffled, his blue eyes scanning first one then the other. Winston stood up,

"Miss Rouge May Sir, she is in search of Master Raphael, Sir." Gabriel's eyes almost bugged out of his head

"Can I get you anything, Sir?"

"Why would you bring Lady Rouge May to the Kitchen Winston?"

"I asked him too, Mister Angelus." Gabriel's lip turned a little as she used his proper title as the eldest of the house.

"Gabriel please, I'm afraid we have no idea where my brother is, my lady."

"Winston told me."

"I said you would not be adverse to Miss Rouge May staying for the night Sir." Gabriel looked baffled

"Well no, of course not. She is welcome to stay the night'' He looked at the food in front of the Witch.

"Would you think I was terribly rude if I borrowed my Butler for a moment, My lady?" Rouge shook her head and indicated the food and drink before her

"I will be fine, thank you, Gabriel."

Winston followed Gabriel into the corridor and shut the kitchen door behind them. Rouge could still hear everything that was said

"What the Hades is going on Winston?"

"The lady rang the bell Sir, unaccompanied, in search of Master Raphael."

"Why does she want him? Tell me he didn't bite her, or worse."

"Gabriel!" Both Rouge and Gabriel jumped at the sudden angry tone from the butler. Winston composed himself quickly, "My apologies Sir. Master Raphael was a gentleman from what I am aware. On his discovery that she was his Fated Bride and his belief that a Creature he believed to be so far above him in rank would reject him. He left so he wouldn't know where she was so could not be driven mad chasing her." Gabriel decided to let Winston's anger go. He knew the butler was fond of all of them but particularly so when it came to Raphael who had spent much of his childhood in the kitchen with the dwarf.

"Put the lady on the second floor in the blue room Winston and see if she wants anything more than bread and cheese to eat."

"Very good Sir." Gabriel reentered the room followed by the dwarf.

"Winston will show you to your room my lady as soon as you are done eating. I am sorry we were unable to assist you but my brother is prone to disappearances." Rouge inclined her head to the vampire "Would you care to join me for dinner tonight?" She could tell she was making him uncomfortable and she was hoping to find out more about Raphael.

"Thank you, Gabriel, but Winston has promised me a tour of your beautiful garden and then I had hoped to sleep. I have been travelling for days to reach your home." She hadn't, she'd popped through a mirror in the haberdashers in town in the early hours of this morning and then waited for the local tavern to open so she could make enquiries. But she didn't fancy a stiff uncomfortable meal with the vampire. Not when Winston seemed to be the better option to find out about Raphael. Winston's eyebrow had twitched slightly at her announcement that he'd promised her a tour of the gardens but he said nothing. Gabriel seemed almost relieved.

"Very good my lady, I would not want to keep you up if you are tired. If you want anything at all ask Winston and please know you are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish."

"Thank you, Gabriel." She gestured to the papers in his hand.

"You look busy. Please don't let me interrupt whatever important work you are about." Gabriel looked down at the papers in his hand.

"Indeed. Thank you for understanding my lady." He seemed even more relieved to have a reason to leave. He dived into the pantry and made for the kitchen door with a ceramic bottle in his hand.

"I bid you good day my lady and if I can be of any service please inform Winston and he will get me forthwith." With that, he was gone.

They stayed in silence and listened till his footsteps had disappeared.

"You wish for a tour of the gardens Miss Rouge?" She blushed a little.

"Actually I was just hoping to speak to you alone for a while and find out more about Raphael if you wouldn't mind." The kind smile came back to the butler's face.

"Not at all, Miss Rouge. The gazebo would be the perfect place. No one will be there but the gentlemen's mother." She was baffled, how would their mother be there? Their father killed her, didn't he? Feeling too awkward to ask what he'd meant, Rouge got up from the table and followed him to a back door and out into a beautiful garden.

"Master Cassiel maintains the gardens himself," Winston said conversationally. "He spends much of his time out here." She knew Cassiel was half wood nymph so that made sense with the connection to nature. They walked quietly through a seemingly wild but well-maintained mix of flower beds and trees. Then they came to a gazebo, beside it was a delicate silver birch tree in a giant terracotta pot. The witch in her instantly recognised the tree as the resting place of a nymph. They must have got her back to her tree before she took her last breath.

If a dying tree nymph could make it back to their tree before their last breath they could join themselves back into their tree and never truly die. Those trees were easily recognisable if you knew what you were looking at. They had a stillness to them, a peace, and for an instant, as you looked at it you would think you'd seen a face in the bark. As long as the tree was never cut down the nymph was never truly dead.

Winston bowed slightly to the tree and then held out his hand to the gazebo.

"After you Miss Rouge." Walking past him she took a seat to the right of the gazebo, Winston sat to the left near his former Mistress. She noticed that despite it being autumn crocuses, bluebells and Daffodils covered the foot of the tree. As if reading her mind Winston offered the answer.

"Spring flowers were her favourite. Cassiel maintains them throughout the year for her."

"Her tree is beautiful, Winston."

"As was she, Miss Rouge." Winston cleared his throat. "You wished to know about Master Raphael Miss Rouge?"

"Please. If you wouldn't mind."

"What is it you'd like to know?"

"He's my fated one. All I know of him is he's the second brother of a..." she hesitated

"Notorious family?" Supplied Winston.

"That's not quite what I was going to say." She blushed profusely.

"Miss Rouge, you know of the father and the events he set into action. My dear Mistress and her sons are not him. She was the dearest, sweetest, kindest, most beautiful woman you could ever have met. She, like other gentle creatures before her, tried to run when she discovered the Fates cruelty in selecting her fated one. But he found her and claimed her. For a short while, she tried to fight him. Then she discovered she was expecting Gabriel, that's when she accepted her fate for the sake of her children. She could not rejoin her tree so knew the child was not a nymph. It was both the happiest and saddest day of her life when Gabriel came screaming into the world. Within the space of one hundred and forty years, she'd birthed Marcus three Vampire sons and one nymph daughter. Having his heir and spare and being disgusted that he had a nymph for a child he began to leave my Mistress alone to live her life as long as she stayed in his home. He had long ago had her tree uprooted and placed in his garden knowing a Nymph would never travel far from her tree. But he didn't understand that she loved her children and that tied her to him more than her tree ever could." Rouge tucked her legs up under her and settled down to listen to the dwarf's words.

"Raphael was the second son born a hundred and thirty years after Gabriel. Gabriel was an adult man who'd reached his immortality and was completely disinterested in his mother's new baby. He was caught between his parents' opposing views of the world, as well as being in the Olympian Army, and didn't want much to do with a hapless infant. Despite being a vampire Raphael was exactly like his mother, kind and gentle with an inquisitive mind and not a cruel bone in his body. This infuriated his father, especially when he hit his immortality and refused, and still does to this day, to kill to feed. He's never had a drop of human blood, only animals. He was a good child though, at least for his Mother. I remember once as a child he was so proud of a tomato plant he'd grown all by himself as a gift for her as she was pregnant again that he made the mistake of showing his father. Marcus flew into a temper, accusing Raphael of being no vampire but a simpering nymph. He tore the plant from the boy's hands and threw it in the fire. When Raphael cried he beat the boy, not letting up till he stopped crying. Then banished the boy from his sight until he could behave like a vampire. Marcus also had little to do with Gabriel who stayed out of a sense of duty to his Mother. But Raphael's treatment from Marcus did not soften Gabriel to Raphael, he still believed he had more important things to devote his time to, like defying their father as much as their family bond would allow.

With his mother ready to give birth any day and his brother not caring Raphael came to me. His back sliced to pieces he dropped into my arms shaking in pain. I bathed the wounds, gave him pain relief and tucked him up in my bed. After that Raphael frequently came to me beaten and in pain. He was resolved to defy his father in everything, family bond be damned. He didn't care if he ended up banished from vampire society, he would make his father's life as difficult as he could. His mother had given birth to the twins, Azrael and Ariel. Marcus was furious to have a nymph for a daughter and after that gave up his attempts to create a huge vampire clan of his own. The risk was too great of getting nymphs or worse half-bloods. He resigned to marrying his children off to other clans and bringing vampiress' in for them to breed with. Gabriel refused outright to marry anyone, he was waiting for his bride. To save face Marcus claimed the girl offered was inferior to their bloodline but in private he tortured Gabriel for his refusal. Had he not been his first born he'd have killed him, but that left Raphael who he hated more than Gabriel.

Raphael was twenty-eight when he came into his immortality, the boy had been beaten so many times that his torso was a mass with scars." Rouge recalled his huge muscular chest and back being covered in crisscrossed, long faded scars. She'd barely noticed at the time but now she thought of it, a vampire couldn't get those scars in adulthood. They didn't scar once they were immortal, she felt sick now remembering them, he was covered. It had all been as a boy. Winston paused seeing her sudden realisation and let her think for a moment before continuing.

"Raphael was told if he didn't take a vampire bride, Ariel would be killed. She was only eighteen at the time and her father could have done it easily. Marcus' plan still backfired though. The vampire house chosen was the Nocte family. One of the oldest and most brutal vampire families there is. They insisted on inspecting Raphael to ensure he wasn't a half-breed as they knew Marcus' bride was a nymph. Marcus ripped Raphael's clothes from his body intending to parade him like some prized cattle. But the girl and elder from the Nocte family saw his scars and rejected him as either being a weak child or a disobedient one. They didn't want either to be tied to their family. Once they rejected him none of the other big families wanted him. So with Gabriel's refusal and Raphael being deemed as damaged, that left few options for Marcus other than to wait for the twins to get older.

After that was the first time Raphael disappeared, he didn't return for six months. His dear Mother was beside herself with worry. His father only cared that he had not sought permission. I don't know where he went but he was different when he returned. He'd hardened and seemed to care less. Of course, that was only on the surface, I knew him better than that.

Despite anything Gabriel might say, Raphael is a good and loyal man. If he wasn't he wouldn't have stayed with the family after the deaths of their Father, Mother and sister that awful night. If you saw him with Azrael when he is having a bad day, he cannot cope with the loss of his twin, you would understand."

A large magpie swooped into the gazebo and landed on the bench Rouge sat on, hopped closer to her and began to caw. She looked up in horror at Winston.

"I need to leave."