Dimitri's Big Secret - Chapter Forty One

We pull up to this beautiful house. It looks to be three stories tall. Natural ivy grows on several parts of the house, with flowers decorating the landscape. I climb out of the car as Dimitri leads me up the driveway. "This is my house. I come here when I get a break from training or being a guardian," he says. My mouth is probably hanging down to the ground as I try to imagine this being Dimitri's house. "So, when you would take breaks from guarding me, this is where you came?" I ask. 

"Most of the time, I would come here to relax and unwind. When I wasn't here, I would travel to China for my old training camp to visit some of my instructors. It's beautiful there, one day I will take you back and show you all the sights," he says as he takes me by the hand and leads me up the driveway. 

Instead of going into the house, Dimitri leads us around to the back of the house. There are more flowers and nice wooden walkways. I have not seen such beauty before. His house is even nicer than the royal house me and my family lived in. 

"Dimitri! This is beautiful, you should have taken me here when you went on vacation," I say as I shove his shoulder.  

"Well, you know your parents would never agree to me taking you here by yourself. You were underage at the time, and security was tight at the time with the royal family," Dimitri replies as he shrugs his shoulders. 

"I have to ask, If you have a house like this, why would you come to live with us as our guard. I don't understand," I say with what I can guess is a puzzled look on my face. "I will explain everything, let's go inside," Dimitri says as he takes my hand.

I stop right in the doorway. "The inside is as pretty as the outside. I'm still so confused as to why you would live with us instead of living a quiet life here," I say. "It's alright, I know you are, and I will tell you everything. Let me show you around, and then I will show you the answers that you have been waiting to hear," he replies. 

Heading up a set of wooden stairs, I enter what looks like a sitting room with a beautiful piano. "This room was set up just for you, I know how much you love to play so this room is yours," he says as he pulls me by the hand toward the piano. "This looks like the piano I use to have," I say as I approach it. 

"This is your piano from your house. I knew you loved it so much, so I had someone get it," Dimitri says. I turn to look at him with no words. I'm beyond surprised. "I thought everything from the house would be gone," I say as I turn back toward the piano. "Not all was lost, I was able to get this with some of my connections," Dimitri says. I let my fingers glide across the keys. Slowly I begin to play losing my thoughts as the melody takes me away.

"I'll never get tired of listening to you play," Dimitri says as he smiles at me while he watches me play. 

Next, he leads me into this massive kitchen. My own parent's house didn't have a kitchen like this. I'm still trying to figure out how he lives in a house this amazing and kept it a secret. 

Dimitri then takes me by the hand and leads me down a hallway. He opens the door to this beautiful bathroom."This is your bathroom," he says as he gestures around. I could get lost in this bathroom.

He shuts the door, then leads me into a bedroom that is breathtaking. Before I can take in the view, he pulls me into his arms, crushing his lips to mine. "This is our room, soon I will have you all to myself," he whispers against my lips, making me weak at the knees. "Let's go and find Amelia, I know she's waiting to take to you," he says as he leads me back downstairs into the living room.

We find Amelia standing by the fireplace in the living room. She gives both of us a smile when we approach. 

"I would like to get to know you a little better. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me as well," she says as she walks over to the couch.   

 "Have a seat. My name is Amelia, which you already knew. I know Dimitri introduced me as his grandmother, but I'm his great, great, great, great grandmother," she says. "What? Your how many great's grandmother? Is this a joke?" I choke out. "No, it's not, I figured it would be easier for you to look at her as my grandmother than add all the great's in. I just call her my grandmother.  I will explain it better," he says. "I do apologize for that, but I figured it would be easier for you if we waited to tell you here. I know that makes me very old, my dear," she says as she must have read the expression on my face. I'm what they call a Pureblood. "I'm cursed kind of like Dimitri here, but I'm much different. Instead of being turned like him, I was born this way. I stopped aging when I turned into an adult. His grandfather, James, is the same as me. He, too, was born like this," she says. "So, do you drink blood too?" I ask. "Yes, we do, but we can also eat regular food as well. When we need blood, we have people that donate blood to us, and we take care of them. We don't force anyone to do anything they don't want to do. Think of it as we have our own blood drive. Our skin is really sensitive compared to the Nightwalkers. We can go out in the daylight because of a fruit my son-in-law found. That allowed him to create a potion for us. We all have the pointy teeth, but my eyes are like a golden color while the Nightwalkers have red eyes. This gives them away. I have no idea why we are different in looks from them, but that is how we are. There are no others like us. It's only me and James that have this curse now; the rest are Nightwalkers," she says. "So, Dimitri can only drink blood to survive?" I ask. "I'm afraid so," she says. My heart sinks. 

"When James and I grew into adults, his mother found a cure. It would take the curse away, but in the process, it tore our family apart for a while. My husband James and I decided we wanted to stay the way we were born. We didn't want to change. Our children were born cursed except for one of my sons that was a human. Later they were cured of their curse, a decision they chose," she says. "So can Dimitri be cured?" I ask. "I'm sorry, but no. He was created, not born like a Pureblood. Although he has Pureblood in his blood, he is a Nightwalker. "There has to be a way to cure him," I say with desperation. "I wish there was, but the only cure I know of is for Purebloods. I feel my heart drop as I realize what she means. "It doesn't mean we will not try to find a way to cure him, it will take time. I can not guarantee that there will ever be a cure. I can't experiment on him like we were experimented on when we were little. I will not do that to him," she says as the pain shows on her face. I can only imagine what she has experienced at the hands of her husband's mother. "Oh, no," I say. 

"Ever since I have watched over all the generations of my children. Dimitri is one of my grandchildren from my oldest daughter. When My husband's mother died, that is when we saw them for the first time. The leader, called Ella, wanted to rule all the kingdoms, including ours. We have been at war with them for years. I thought they had left our territory until I got news of your sister's disappearance. By the time we arrived, everyone had been murdered, and several of you were missing. I feared the worse when we couldn't find traces of anyone. Then one day, Dimitri contacted us needing our help. Dimitri led us to their hideout, and that is when we took control. Once I learned that they had turned your sister, Luke, and Dimitri, we all were devastated. "We killed a lot of them, but a few escaped before we could capture them," she says. "Did Ella escape?" I ask. "She was one of them that got away," she says. "Ella will not let us live, you realize I am one that she is obsessed with having her hands on. I am the last of my bloodline and the last of my royal bloodline. She will never let me live. So will I constantly fear that Ella or another Nightwalker will come and take us or worse, kill us?" I ask. "No, you are safe. You have Dimitri's bond, and you have my family's protection. They will not come into my territory. I have an army that would crush her," she says. I'm speechless. I'm quiet for what seems like an eternity. "Emily, say something," Dimitri begs. "I... I don't know what to say," I finally blurt out. "Did your family know what happened to you?" I ask Dimitri. "No, not at first. They had no idea what had happened to me. They thought I was dead for a long time. I didn't want them to know either. I wanted to find you. So I figured that if I stayed with Ella, I would find you faster. Ella thinks she's so powerful because she was the one that created the Night Walkers in an attempt to be immortal. She also used it as a weapon to build her army. She just didn't realize how powerful my family is," he says. "I just don't understand why you would choose to be a guard instead of living a peaceful life," I say. "Now for my secret," he says as he leads me down a flight of steps.

It feels like I should be entering into a basement, but when we reach the bottom, it's not what I expected. The room has bookshelves of scrolls and lots of old books. I see what looks like the same stand that once was at my house in the secret room. It held the same big leather book that Dimitri showed me that one day. There were lots of other things that I have no clue what they are. Dimitri opens a book on a stand as Amelia, and I watch.

 "This book contains my history, ancestors, and the secret that you have waited to hear," he says as he flips through a few pages. "Keep in mind, Emily, there was a reason I have kept this secret," he says as he finds the page. 

Amelia heads over to the other wooden stand as she lays out another book. "First, let's start here," he says as he points to the page.

"You have just met the queen of Winchester, which makes me a prince.....," he says. "You're what!" I shout, taking both of us by surprise. "Amelia is the queen of Winchester," I shout. "Calm down, let me tell you a story to help you better understand. I was born into a family that goes way back. They are one of the oldest and highest royalty families. My great, great, great grandfather rules as king," Dimitri says. 

"Ok, wait, you're not making any sense," I start but shut up as he holds a finger up."I'm a great, great, grandchild of the wizard named Nolan. He married Annabell, the daughter of Amelia, making her my great, great, great, great grandmother. Nolan is a great and powerful wizard that does many wonderful things, including when he cured the baby that was given the gift of Fairy, "Dimitri explains. 

"So you're family saved mine way back in Medieval times?" I ask in confusion as I try to piece everything together. "I have read stories of how we were created by a wizard, but I didn't know they were royal," I tell Dimitri, who grins at me. "They left that part out because they didn't want that part of our history told. They had to guard our secret until we wanted to tell it," he says. "Why?" I ask. "I'll explain everything. My family has ruled for centuries in Winchester. Many knew their story, but as time went by, the stories got lost and locked away from everyone. In the stories you have heard, there was a wizard that saved the life of a baby princess of King Stephen and Queen Caroline of  Kingsdon. She was the start of the Fairies or what some would call Lightlings, the ones gifted with light. When Nolan saved her, he asked for one thing in return, that the baby girl was to marry one of his grandchildren. However, when the girl came of age, she fell in love with a human. The grandchild of the wizard did not want to tear the relationship between the princess and the human apart, so the grandchild refused to marry her. The wizard decided to respect the wishes of his grandchild and cast a spell that one day one of his grandchildren would be destined to be soul mates and fall in love with a decedent of the Fairy, and they would be brought together by love. So, Nolan told his grandchild that he had to protect the princess from those who would want to do her harm. At the time the grandchild didn't understand what he meant when he said those who would do her harm. Nolan was talking about the Nightwalkers that went into hiding. He must have known that they would come back to track her down. I'm not sure how Nolan knew this, but he must have known, or he wouldn't have had his own grandchildren serve your family. As time went on, we all were given a choice to serve as guardians as long as one male descendent served. In my generation, I choose to serve, and my brother Daniel chose not to. My cousin, Chris chose to serve with me," Dimitri says. 

"Still, why would you give up your life to protect someone like me?" I ask. Dimitri tilts his head with a small grin playing on his lips. "Is it not obvious, I'm in love with you, a grandson that was by fate to find his soul mate," he says with a shoulder shrug. My mouth is still on the floor. "How did you know that we would be soul mates?" I ask. "My father told me of you when I was just a child. I knew from then that I was born to protect you, to love you, to be with you. I was placed here on purpose to be your guardian for that reason. Your parents knew about it from the time you were a small child. It was arranged with my family and yours for me to be your guardian. They wanted us to get to know each other while you were still a young teen so we could grow and start this journey together. When I came here, I was informed that the queen had twins, and they did not know who I was to be with. With your sister dating Luke, they put me with you as your guard; that way, they could see if it was her or you. I was so unsure for a long time who I was supposed to be with. I was attracted to you, but that could not determine it. They told me that it would happen on its own, and I would know without a doubt who it was," he explained.

"When did you know it was me?" I ask. "I had the pull toward you on the very first day I met you when I arrived to be your guardian. I was for sure when you kissed me in my room. I couldn't tell you the truth at the time. I wasn't sure if it was a schoolgirl crush or if you truly loved me. I wanted to give it more time, so when you did find out about my family and the history between our families, you would want to be with me because you loved me and not because it was our destiny to be together. I just hope you're not to mad at me now that you know the truth," he says.

"I could never be mad at you, I will always love you. Our connection that day was strong, that is why I was confused when you denied me the first time, I was so crushed that it felt like you ripped my heart out," I tell him as he looks at me with a sad look. "I'm sorry, but I had to do it that way. I even told your parents what the plans were before I even accepted your feelings. They were in agreement and vowed to keep my secret from you until I decided to tell you myself," he says. "Oh," I gasp.

"When your parents were killed, and after I was turned, I went back and got this book and some of the other stuff that I had stored at your house in the hidden room that I showed you that day," he says as he opens the book and skims through the pages. "Here is the document that my family and yours had signed to allow our relationship to be recognized. I am royalty, but I am not a Lightling like you," he says as he points to the page in the book.

I stare at my own mother's and father's handwriting giving me the one wish that I asked for before they died. I feel the tears start to form in my eyes as I run my finger over their signatures. "They knew all this time that we would be together. I bet my mother was so happy when I came to ask her if I could be with you," I say.

Dimitri turns around, pulling me into his arms. "She was thrilled when I told her that it was you that was destined to be with me. She was hoping that it would be you," he says as he strokes my hair.

 "So we could have been together after all," I say as I poke him in his ribs. "Yes, but I wasn't ready to reveal my identity. They swore to keep my past a secret. It was part of the deal."Why didn't you tell me sooner?" I say with a huff. "I didn't want you to know yet. I wanted to make sure you loved me for me, not what I was," he replies. "I'm curious, so how did you manage to get me from Ella?" I ask. "I sent word to my family, they would bring Ella down with such ease that Ella was glad to let me have you without putting up too much of a fight. Amelia is the queen of Winchester and much more powerful than her, and she knew it," he says. So she ran when she found out they were coming after you and me," he says.

I knew you were holding something from me, but I would have never guessed this. "So, where does this leave us now?" I ask."Now we write our own story," he says as he pulls me into his arms.