At the Back of Beyond

Nighttime had fallen upon Saint-Germain-en-Laye hours ago. Its chilling darkness gave an eerie feeling to its ancient cemetery. It was almost a cliche with how a light fog permeated the place, as footsteps crunched falling leaves, recoiling into future dust. Gabrielle's eyes did not wander from their focal point, which was the tomb she had come to visit. The vampire was holding a large bouquet of purple chrysanthemum, as it was the regal color her mother deserved. Once a woman of incredible power, Athenais de Montespan had been rejected and vilified, dying on her own, and even betrayed by one of the many children she had had with the one who had named himself the Sun King. How ironic and fitting it was that it was her vampire daughter, creature of the night, who had given honor to an outstanding woman since then. History had wanted that her half-brother died of normal death. Gabby smiled to herself, for "nature" had definitely been helped in that case.

She walked up to the Montespan family tomb in a far corner of the cemetery. A number of well-known French people had been buried here in the last century, few having given thought about the Montespan family buying a place of eternal rest there in the early nineteenth century. After all, the great and hated Marquise had died over a century ago. Yet, Gabrielle had then retrieved her mother's remains from the Poitiers convent where she had been buried with no honor. It mattered not what history would know about her mother's remains locations. She, and other descendants who mattered, knew.

Coming to a halt, she stopped in front of the beautiful stone secular monument. She treasured both her British and her French heritage, but the pregnant secularism, the laicite, so dear to French people in the last centuries, definitely suited her soul.

Climbing down the stone stairs after opening the creaking door, she lit the torches from their wall holders. She still holding the flowers, she looked at the different names inscribed. Bright eyes stopped upon her mother's. Too manipulative, too beautiful, too proud, too cunning, too much of a free thinker, they said. Given how the French court had vilified her, Gabrielle was infinitely proud she was not a Sun King's bastard. A grim smile passed on her lips. Oh, her mother did not have one single love and fell hard for a British ambassador, who also had a devious pride in having conceived a child with the Sun King's favorite. Bloody kings, always thinking they could get away with everything....

With reverence, she placed the bouquet in its dedicated spot, before her pale fingers brushed some dust from nameplate.

It was not more than moments later when Arabella's footsteps descended the same steps after her beautiful, ageless aunt. Only half of her blood was of the Balfour line, on her mother's side she was a de Montespan, and these were her ancestors as well. She and Gabrielle came here sometimes, to spend time together with, and remember those they had lost. Arabella's mother, Katriane de Montespan Balfour's bones had been brought here as well, returned to her family. It was to that resting place that Bella now walked, placing a small posy of forget-me-nots in a brass holder, removing the dried bunch from her last visit.

For a moment, she sat on the marble bench opposite, carrying on a private conversation with her mother, telling her what she had missed in the time since her last visitation. As always, it made her melancholy. She missed her mother, but the mother that she missed was the mother of her childhood. Katriane had been a different person at the end, and no matter how forgiving Arabella could be about it - hurt remained.

Rising, Bella said goodbye and continued on after Gabrielle, who was by far better company.

Gabrielle heard Bella's footsteps, and she smiled as her niece walked in. It was far from the first time they visited together, whether on purpose or by a twist of fate. Honoring their shared maternal lineage was important to both of them. Bella had been closer to her mother than Gabrielle had been, but the older de Montespan nevertheless had a lot of affection and admiration for the Marquise who had given her life. She had been raised by a nanny, away from court and from the Marquise's husband, but her mother had visited on a few occasions. Gabrielle hadn't been able to do anything upon her death, due to her own new vampiric life being over complicated at that time. Yet she had done what she could later on.

She finished dusting off her mother's tomb and made a mental note to get the marble corner fixed up. Time was kind on very few things, but Gabrielle always made sure her mother's last resting place was in good condition.

With a last smile to her mother's grave, she turned on her heels right when Bella continued towards her. Without hesitation and with warm fondness, she reached out to her niece, kissing both her cheeks. "Les de Montespan demeurent les plus belles emmerdeuses," she mused with a melancholic grin.

"It is good to see you, Bella." Gabrielle wasn't known to be an affectionate person, but Bella was one of the exceptions who knew this other side of her character.

Arabella returned the greeting, kissing both of Gabrielle's smooth, cool cheeks. That her aunt was now, and always had been a vampire, had never bothered Arabella. Had it seemed strange at the time? She could hardly remember now. What she did remember was that when she was small, Gabrielle had been there. When she was grown, about to make her debut, Gabrielle had been there, lovely as ever. She had changed, eager to show off her new ladylike, less girlish dresses - Gabrielle remained the same. Today, she was more like an older sister. "Gabrielle, as always, my cherished one."

She laughed about their bastard family, wholeheartedly agreeing with the sentiment. That had always been another part of her melancholia about coming here. Not the past, but the future. She had always assumed that one day her lovely bones would rest here too, one more beautiful corpse. Gabrielle would visit, and remain inviolably unchanged. That sad imagery did not bother her for the first time, but she said nothing about. Arabella had perfected the art of always smiling like she had a secret, so that when she really did it would not be discovered.

"What has France's loveliest Toreador been up to?", she inquired, genuinely curious about what was current with her relation.

As a vampire, family was a tricky subject. While she was a born leader and no prayer could save anyone threatening her people, Gabrielle longed for a family more often than she would say. Bella was the closest thing she had to a family, and it made her love the brunette fiercely, although she wasn't overbearing. Maybe it was because of how she had been raised centuries ago. She'd speak her mind but was mostly a supportive figure rather than a patronizing one. The de Montespan never took well to patronizing in the first place. She briefly thought about how Anne, one of her sired creations, had brought up adopting a child vampire, but Gabrielle just couldn't put herself to it. She had thought many sleepless nights over it but it was not an option she entertained.

She smiled to Bella, genuinely delighted to see her. "I have cleaned up mess, pour changer..." She chuckled darkly. "A member of the clan sired for the first time, and they were not ready. And one of their friends decided to do the same. I am down one vampire, but got two newborn ones." She didn't say how one of the unready vampires who had sired had died, but she guessed that Bella would either fill in the blanks or ask.

She rolled her eyes. "Ces petits vampires sont insupportables! But it really is the ones who sired them who caused this."

She canted her head to her side. "What about you, my lovely?"

Gabrielle cleaning up messes, oh dear. That rather sounded like someone was in for it.

While the Kindred beauty made the joke about her clean up being 'for a change', Arabella grasped the sarcasm behind the words. That was Gabrielle's job after all, as the leader of her clan. Or to scare the little vampires, as she'd called them into a properly respectful fear. Arabella did not pry for details of the Toreador business, though. If it was something Byron needed to know about, Gabrielle would apprise him. She had known him longer, Bella mused fondly.

"Sounds like you have matters in hand.", she grinned.

Arabella's wilting flower look had been chased away, replaced with a flush of joie de vivre that she could only have gotten one way. By indulging her insatiable need for their Gangrel prince, and there didn't seem to be any regrets for the ghoul about that. Now that she had made her decision, there was a strange sense of liberty in throwing up her flag of surrender. Knowing that whatever happened she was not going to have to suffer her affliction much longer. Not have to live off her love, like the flea to his wolf..

"Oh, you know.. the usual." If she were capable, she might've blushed. Instead Arabella just shrugged "I suppose I should get back to work, but I just.. can't seem to help myself."

Sometimes it was an easy thing to play, the ghoul card.

Gabrielle gave a proud but slightly tired smile, at least as much as a vampire could, to her friend's observation about how she had matters in hand. There were days the vampire felt older than she was. It felt that she had always had to fence either solely for herself, or for her people. She wouldn't have it any other way most of the time, but every once in a while, she longed for a vacation from her own life. Quite the irony for an immortal, she knew. She was set to visit Anne in Burgundy soon, although it was more of force of habit to the first vampire she had sired many moons ago. Anne was capable and Gabrielle didn't overstep boundaries, but she knew Anne still valued her input.

She observed her friend as the lovely brunette gave her that little shrug. It made her smile and she tilted her head to the side. "Oh, Bella, this is your ghoul blushing right there. That shrug always connect to the corner of your mouth, always so subtly lifting." She winked to her friend and chuckled. "And you looked irresistibly heureuse just before saying 'the usual'."

Arabella could not hide her expressions from Gabrielle, she knew her far too well. She was happy, terrifyingly so. It made it seem like the perfect time for something to go horribly wrong. "I had strayed too far from all that makes me who I am. That's all. I'm quite myself again.", Bella chuckled.

And would be better still soon..

"How is Anne?" Arabella asked after Gabrielle's childe with a knowing smile.

Gabrielle's smile widened at Bella's words. She was delighted to see her close friend be so happy. "This is wonderful, ma cherie," she said in utmost honesty. She cared deeply for the ghoul and hearing that things were much better were a balm to her unbeating heart. She had missed the distractions of romantic and carnal entanglements in the recent times, but she had been so busy she didn't have too much time to reflect on it. Granted, it didn't mean she was without fantasies, especially since a trip she and Bella had taken, a certain American be damned.

"Anne is doing fine. She misses you and plans to remind you that you have a blanket invitation at the Menessaire estate in Burgundy!" Gabrielle chuckled softly and clasped her hands before her. "I am proud of her. I know some had doubts about her capacity to be a Primogen, but she has proven to be ready, even to herself."

"I miss her as well..", Arabella said truthfully, wondering when in the last months of her chaotic life she would have the time, or more to the present point the inclination, to visit. Bound as she was, she had to constantly fight against her own ghoulish nature.

"And so you should feel proud, Gabrielle. You made her strong.."

It made Arabella wonder, not for the first time, would she be as strong someday?

While Gabrielle prided herself in her resilience and strength, power could be a lonely affair. It was why she was so grateful to have individuals such as Bella and Anne in her life. It sweetened the deal, or rather spiced things up at time, when trouble and adventure beckoned. She smiled fondly to her friend's praise. "Siring your first one is always such a challenge, but I am glad that she turned out so well."

Pausing for a moment, she considered an upcoming event she had, although it had mostly been in her head so far. "You know, I am planning to have a gathering for the first century spent in my estate. You will definitely get to see Anne then." She hadn't even started planning, because fun matters could easily end of the back burner.

She nudged Bella with a hint of playfulness. "I haven't said a word about it to anyone, but if you feel so inclined at offering any suggestions, I will be very happy to hear them."

Bella's gaze settled on the resting place of her Great-Grandmother, the infamous Marquise de Montespan. Her brown eyes smiled sadly, having never met the woman, but empathizing with the way she had been cast aside. Athenais had deserved better. Madame de Montespan had been the maîtresse-en-titre of the Sun King, but for a time she had been a queen herself. If not in official name, she had most definitely ruled over the court of Versailles. She hoped that wherever she was now, her grandmother was proud of how strong and beautiful Gabrielle was, and maybe just a little proud pf her granddaughter as well. Byron might not quite be King of all France, but he was the Prince of Paris, and Arabella would argue that her universe revolved around him.

"A challenge... I'm sure.", Bella barely breathed, quietly concerned about her own fate on that count.

Perhaps it was something in their blood, from her, Bella mused. Perhaps that was why she had always been just a little wicked. Just a little more enchanting than the other girls had been. Her one and only season of husband hunting had produced no legitimate offers. No indeed. Plenty of offers of another shade though, and those eventually had tempted her parents. Her father particularly, who had lost any family money they'd once had, investing unwisely and gambling at his clubs..

Arabella glanced up from her moment with her Grandmama, back to Gabrielle.

"Any suggestions that come from me will be delicious, but expensive..", Arabella cautioned. "And why not, after all..? Where would you like to host this event, milady?"

It was interesting how being immortal changed one's perspective. Gabrielle hadn't planned to be a vampire. Some humans longed and even pleaded to be sired; but the French de Montespan hadn't chosen as such. She didn't regret it though. It had made her stronger than she could have ever dreamed of. And she also got to witness so much history, and to share a sister-like bond with her great-niece. She was proud of Bella, and was grateful they had survived for so long. Thanks to her mother Athenais, they were too much by many's standards; but Gabrielle considered that a measure of their power and their resilience. Even when an actual human, she had been told she was too stubborn, too unconventional, which said a lot by those times' mores, too outspoken, maybe even too cunning. She had faith she had made her mother proud. It wasn't as if back then, women didn't already have knowledge of how to get rid of unwanted pregnancies. Not only had her mother kept her, and her twin brother Gaetan; but she had witnessed Gabrielle survived while some of her half-siblings had died at a very young age. Gabrielle, just like Bella, would make it through, even when fate handed them ordeals that would break others.

When Bella said her suggestions would be expensive, Gabrielle grinned wickedly to her protegee. "You know this is no issue for me, ma cherie." The source of part of her fortune still made her deviously giddy; and she had no shame about it.

She already knew where to hold such a feat, for she had realized she had no want to celebrate in her personal mansion, too private about her personal life. She liked to keep things separated; but that didn't mean it would prevent her from a most decadent celebration, bien au contraire...

"I already settled a deal to have the palace and the gardens all to ourselves," she admitted with a proud grin.