(Elizabeth/Arya Grace)<br/><br/>As Elizabeth strode from her room and into the throng of caterers, servants, and guards who made the new estate both safe and comfortable, one of the Renfields* - a young, handsome man perhaps twenty, approached. His large, dark eyes reflected awe and innocence that bordered on stupefaction as he approached the powerful woman.<br/><br/>Extending a tremulous hand, he passed the Bride a letter written on old parchment, the red seal that of twin fangs on an ornate family seal. Dracula’s own. Although Dracula could have communicated with any living vampire telepathically, sometimes he held to the old ways and being formal with a woman he’d known for three hundred years, but not seen much for nearly the last fifty of that, clearly felt appropriate to the ancient creature.<br/><br/><strong>The Letter</strong><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body">Darling,<br/><br/>I apologize for my extreme reticence of late. Working on this project has been daunting, to say the least. The witches have a way of extracting milk from stones and the costs associated with having such powerful beings aide in my designs sapped me greatly. As a result, I may not greet our guests tonight. It depends on how well I feel. Tomorrow is a certainty though. Would you mind being my face to throng?<br/><br/>As an aside, I have been told that a mortal woman has discovered our move to this place and that there are arrangements for a private meeting with me. I suspect that either she, or some power motivating her, wishes to form a romantic entanglement with me. If you see a striking redhead by the name of Arya Grace, feel free to take her under your wing and assess her as you see fit. <br/><br/>In the meantime, please enjoy availing yourself of our new home. You know that I will always love you and place all trust in your diplomatic skills. <br/><br/>-   D<br/></div></div><br/>With that delivered, the servant remained poised to answer any questions or obey any orders that the mistress of the house should relay.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">*In case it isn't clear, Renfields are humans who consume vampire blood without being near death. These beings are exceptionally long lived, strong, fast, resistant to damage, and so forth. They are slavishly bound to those who feed them, however, and eventually (over a hundred or so years on average) degenerate into worthless husks. </span>