Something happened to me. Something I did not expect, but I knew the moment I saw her. She walked into the bar and took a seat at table behind us. Her hair, red as fire, her beauty as deep as the ocean, eyes as black as my own. Her name… Merida.
I have loved this instantly, this deeply before… but in over 500 years, it has happened only twice. Once, my dear Marius… my maker, my teacher, my most poignant heart break. I had fallen in love with him as a young mortal boy. He had taken me under his tutelage, showing me how to master my art. As I got older, the love I felt was finally returned and we became lovers. Together we ruled Venice, but he denied me the right to the Dark Gift that he only possessed. As much as I begged him to turn me into a vampire, he’d refuse. My longing to be with him forever only served to draw a rift between us. He kept his promise to himself, never turning me… until tragedy struck. Our Venetian home raided, I was poisoned and left to die a slow agonizing death. These vampires wanted Marius to suffer deeply and watch me die or be forced to turn me. As expected, at the brink of death, Marius had no other choice. He made me vampire. I was finally the vampire I had always wanted to be. The attacks kept coming, and at one point they took me hostage ripping me away from Marius and setting the entire place on fire, hoping he’d burn. But he did not. It was then that he sought out Bianca Solderini, secretly the Madame of a brothel and publically a Contessa in Venice, turning her in order to heal and regroup. But, instead of looking for me… Marius went off looking for Pandora. It was then I realized, it wasn’t me he wanted to spend forever with.
Then, Louis… Louis de Point du Lac. He happened upon the Theatre de Vampyres that I was somewhat in charge of in Paris, with the young child vampire Claudia. I knew immediately the clan would want to destroy her. And in doing so, it too would destroy Louis. I couldn’t save her, but him I could request to be spared. The coven agreed but told me they would imprison him in a box for all his days for not only the murder of Lestat de Lioncourt, but creating a child vampire, both of which were against our laws. It was then that Lestat came… begging to have Louis set free. But I knew if we set him free, Lestat would reclaim him. I wanted him for myself and would stop at nothing to do so. So I denied him. Because one of the sins against Louis was proven to be false, I was able to convince the coven to set him free. Finally they let me dig him out. They said, only I could do it. I knew once free, he’d seek revenge against the coven for the loss of his daughter and the new vampire Madeline. But I urged him to breathe, to save it for another day. I had thought that since he had created a replacement for himself in Madeline for Claudia, that he had every intention to stay with me. That he loved me. But that was not case and he blamed me for their loss, just the same. The rejection I felt was the single most devastating time of my life, of which sent me spiraling, lost, abandoned. It made me realize the errors of my ways; it made look for Marius. It brought me home, but I remained broken. Unwhole if that’s a word.
Bianca, late in life became my adoring wife. She was the one to help me out of the deepest despair for my unrequited love for Louis. It is why I married her, because I knew… I just knew… she would always have my back. She is someone that I count on, can depend on, but while she occupies a small piece of my heart, it is a love between best friends. She feels the same way. Perhaps it is because of the union that we share as progeny of Marius. Marius too broke her heart, we shared that as well. Because of this I sought to tie myself to her, and did so, both us willing to do so. But we share an understanding, an openness to one day experiencing the love that has eluded us both. I knew she would be happy for me if I should ever find it, and she would not deny me.
So today, I went with her to Earth, back to our home town of Venice. There we sought the finest jewelers to design her a custom ring for our engagement. With a hope in my heart that Merida would join us; join our house as a Romanus. Bianca is overjoyed at the prospect of having a sister wife; it will certainly help to heal her own despairs and loneliness. She encouraged me to wear a ring myself. Something I had not done since the first few decades of our marriage. She too no longer wears hers. But officially I had to file a petition for a plural marriage with Marius and Pandora. Bianca happily signed in agreement. Now the hard part will be doing the right thing with her maker, Va’lis and asking for her hand in marriage. Other than that, everything is set now.
All I need is a YES!
– Armand