Princes of the Undead

Part 46

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Dracula had tried saying no...he had tried...but it was very hard to see the hope in Agatha's eyes and to deliberately squash it. So, he had muttered some half-hearted argument about if she could get Isabella to agree, then he would consider it.

That was akin to giving his blessing, or at least it seemed to be in Agatha's eyes, as the next moment she was pressing a kiss to his lips, before pulling away, babbling about finding Isabella and getting her to agree.

"Sir I know you don't want to hear it..." Mycroft finally interjected, the silence that had descended after Agatha all but run off on her quest.

"Oh, I imagine I already know what you are going to say Mycroft." Dracula sighed, running his hand over his face, taking a moment to wipe away the smudge of stickiness from Agatha's lipstick.

"It would have been more sensible to refuse completely rather than let Agatha raise her hopes...Although I will admit the legalities are somewhat conflicting and her loophole might just work; what is certain is that adopting Isabella out from under Elder de Rais will be taken as an open declaration of war."

"A war we are already fighting." Dracula reminded him, albeit half-heartedly. "I know this is doomed to fail Mycroft, honestly I can't even see Isabella agreeing in the first place, that would require a spine of some kind."

"I shall continue to hope for the young lady's spinelessness then." Mycroft retorted, earning him a scoff of laughter from his Elder.

"Yet it would be sensible to prepare for the opposite as well. Agatha..." Mycroft trailed off somewhat unsure how to proceed and not irritate Dracula any more than he already had. "Agatha has a track record of accomplishing feats that other people would consider...unlikely."

"Yes, and it would just like my fucking luck too." Dracula nodded, his gaze narrowing on Mycroft. "But how can I know I can trust you Mycroft. Trusting you to put in contingency plans for our escape if Agatha does accomplish her task, how do I know you won't simply deliver us into de Rais's hands as a show of good faith?"

Part of Mycroft was offended, after everything he had already done in the hopes of joining Clan Dracula, still his commitment and trustworthiness was questioned. "Just because I question your decisions from time to time does not make me disloyal. Nor does the fact that I prefer a quiet life and careful planning to going from dealing from one crisis to another. Surely if I kept my opinions to myself and let you careen into danger without fair warning that would be more disloyal?"

Mycroft once again made a fine point, but Dracula was torn, this wasn't just his wellbeing, but it was Agatha's and Dracula was more than a little paranoid when it came to her safety. He could only imagine how much worse it would get when they did have children, would he start jumping at shadows then?

"Make plans for a quick escape, make several if possible, I just have a bad feeling that this is going to go south quickly."

"You know it would be easier to go after Agatha and stop her." Mycroft couldn't help but point out.

"You could not show more clearly that you are not married." Dracula retorted with a shake of his head. "No, we will have to roll the dice and deal with the consequences...just stay alert and stay close to Agatha. If we get separated, you are to prioritise getting her to safety over me. I have experience getting myself out of difficult situations."

Nodding Mycroft did as he was bid, his analytical mind already considering every angle, as he left the Count alone in the garden.

Things had been so close to perfect. Dracula had been certain Agatha was going to agree to marry him earlier, they could have announced their betrothal tonight like he had always wanted, then retreated to his castle to wait out the situation with de Rais. This cold war between them could go on for some time without the need to break into actual fighting. Yet it seemed fate hated him. Still it wasn't in his nature to get hung up on what might have been, and there would be another perfect moment to continue his proposal, he just had to make sure they survived long enough to reach it.