Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic)

Subject: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:27 am

Summer had turned into winter and winter into spring, or so Vanessa Sheridan had been told. The information gleamed from unimportant people and discarded just as quickly because the seasons could change all they want but they couldn't take the Sheridan heiress with them. No, Vanessa was still stuck in the summer of last year, at the center of the maze in the Dahlientelle from where they had had to physically pry her from because she refused to leave.

Louis would find her in the maze, if she stayed there long enough. But how would he if she moved.

Restful sleep was also a thing of the past now and the witch spent most nights curled in on herself, tears leaking out of her grey eyes on some occasions, other times simply staring into space as though if she stared hard enough, she would find her lost cousin, lurking just out of sight.

Letters had came from France, letters Vanessa hadn't bothered opening but ones that exceedingly worried father. Wexford Sheridan now lived in a constant state of what he feared more, the reprimands from Versailles or his only daughter's slow descent into madness. As a result, the man spent days away from the family home, hoping to escape the hell his life had suddenly become after fifteen years of peace and isolation.

And though it all, Vanessa continued to exist. Against all odds, against the fact that she couldn't breathe, the witch still existed and did things better suited to the living, the whole.

"Your bath is ready, M'lady," the maid informed Vanessa who, despite being awakened, was curled into bed in her usual fetal position, a stray shift of Louis hugged close to her body much as the teddy bears of her childhood. The one article of clothing she had stolen from the big house which had never been a home, Louis' nightshirt which still smelt faintly of him.

The fact that each day, the scent of the Frenchman disappeared bit by bit sent waves of panic inside hr didn't matter. Because everyone was intend on pretending Louis had never existed but Vanessa knew. And as long as she had physical proof, she would always know.

As long as the blood ran in her veins, she would know.

"M'lady," the maid tried once again, this time succeeding in assisting Vanessa into a sitting position. Brown locks tangled and rough hung down the teen's back as she moved like a ghost, dressed in nothing save her sleeping shift towards the marble bathroom. The maid had a name but for the life of Vanessa she couldn't remember it.

She could barely remember her own name these days.

As the maid reached to undo the strings from her sleeping shift, a dull sound registered in the periphery, making the maid stop.

Vanessa turned slowly, still standing at the edge of her bathroom, and blinked in surprise at the visitor.

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Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Rsz_ve10

Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:31 am

Dominic Clement

Louis had been gone for many months now, and finally the house was coming in to a state of calm that Dominic liked. There was no little cretin demeaning every achievement he'd ever made. There were no sudden explosions, no sound of laughter filtering through the windows as he tried to concentrate on his work. Just silence.

But even the silence was not enough.

Rubbing his temples, Dominic led his aid to the front of the palace well know as the Sheridan's residence. The man was intent on keeping by his side, insisting that Dominic stopped for a moment before he collapsed. But when adrenaline ran through your body, you didn't need a stupid break. The butler didn't even begin to argue when the Clement heir told him he was here for his fiance, the man rightly moved aside, mumbling that Vanessa was in the bathroom.

Name proceeded all in this business, and though Dominic wasn't muscular in anyway, his name did the work he could not. "S'il vous plaît restez ici, je vais faire venir Vanessa peu." Dominic told both men, his kind demeanour dispelling any ideas of what was going on in his head. Without another word, the young man turned towards the stairs and began to climb. The bathroom's location his only intention. As he reached the door, his breathing a little heavier than it should rightly be, Dominic pressed it open, ignoring the shocked look on Vanessa's maid's face.

"Pardonnez-moi, pouvons-nous avoir un moment seul?" The Frenchman asked, waiting for the girl to move, but she didn't. "A moment alone, please?" Dominic translated, watching the girl pause for a moment before doing as she was told. Dominic closed the door softly, turning the lock to keep the staff at bay.

"You have not been answering our letters, Ven. You were due back home, to me, months ago." Dominic explained, not moving from the door as he contemplated the witch before her. The nightdress already somewhat undone, of which he didn't mind her knowing his eyes were perusing the bare skin. "I've come to take you home, Ven. Where you belong." The voice of complete innocence was played as if nothing had ever been wrong, as if she'd always been his. His shaking hands moved inside his jacket pocket, pulling out his wand and flicking it towards the door with a whispered spells. Locking and silencing everything from the outside view.

"Don't be a fool, Ven, you know this has to happen." Dominic added now that no one else could hear, his tone took on the slightly darker nature that he'd always been capable of hiding.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

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Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:32 am

The maid's surprised gasp was enough to inform Vanessa that this visit had not been prearranged. Of course not, the witch shook her head. Father might be absent minded and somewhat oblivious to everything going on but even he wouldn't conspire with them to bring one over here.

And why on earth would that someone be Dominic? If anyone should make the journey, it should have been Grandmere, her authority spoke more than any of the men of House Clement.

"Pardonnez-moi, pouvons-nous avoir un moment seul?"

No greeting, just gentle order to the maid who looked up at Vanessa in confusion. Braithwaite, the witch remembered. Her lady's maid was called Braithwaite.

As Dominic helpfully translated, Vanessa nodded to the maid, reaching up to redo the strings of her shift. When the maid left, Dominic locked the door, momentarily sending Vanessa back to last year, where a similar door had barred her from getting to Louis in time.

But not this time.

"You have not been answering our letters, Ven. You were due back home, to me, months ago."

"Vanessa," the witch corrected coldly, moving to a hook nearby and receiving her dressing gown to pull over her form. "And if it hadn't been for the fact that we were raised in the same house, I would have thought you never learned to knock before entering a lady's room."

There was no cause to be polite anymore, no cause to sing pretty songs to impress a house that had broken her to pieces. For the first time Vanessa was free. She was broken and she was dead but finally free to speak her mind.

"Don't be a fool, Ven, you know this has to happen."

"Please wait in the withdrawing room while I finish my bath," the brunette replied, eyes cold as steel trained on the man before her. "The Butler will arrange for tea before your passage back to France."

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Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:32 am

The correction of her name only brought Dominic to let out a very cold laugh. Always one rule for Louis and another for him, but it would hold up no longer. Dominic didn't take any notice of her words of them once living in the same house. Knocking was something that the woman before him no longer held as a luxury, she had been much too rude to the Clement family to be given such a thing.

"Please wait in the withdrawing room while I finish my bath,"

"Non." Dominic replied, ignoring the comment about the butler, because he was not leaving without her in tow. She didn't seem to understand that much. "I will not be leaving on my own, Vanessa. You are to be my wife, you will come home, and you will come home tonight." There was no longer any nice, sweet Dominic in his tone, only the Dominic who knew he would get what he wanted.

"Now, are we going to do this the easy way, or are you going to make your own life difficult?" He asked, his eyes matching her icy stare. Dominic would not back down. Now was his time to take centre stage, and he was taking his brother's whore with him.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:33 am

When Dominic refused to leave, Vanessa narrowed her eyes even further, tying the girdle of her dressing down tightly across her body. It was hard to believe that Dominic possessed a resilient bone in his body, weak and pathetic as he was. His tone was serious, but sadly lacking in the way his form stooped by the door, his chest rising and falling as it struggled to assist the Clement heir in the simple process of breathing. If Dominic was planning on intimidating, he was failing.

"I will not be leaving on my own, Vanessa. You are to be my wife, you will come home, and you will come home tonight."

Crossing her arms across her chest, Vanessa glared at her cousin. "I will not," she contradicted directly, something she would never have had the courage to do back in Clement Manor. But a lot had changed over the year. Back then she had something to far for. Now she had nothing.

And Dominic would get nothing too.

"I will not return to France with you, i will not be your wife and if Grandmere and the rest of you insist, I will take my own life before I wed you." A bitter laugh accompanied the final statement because even as the brunette said it, she knew it was true.

"I belong to someone else, Dominic. Go seek a wife who isn't already spoken for."

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Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:33 am

The defiance Dominic knew was coming, Vanessa was pretty obvious in the things she did, even if she hadn't always seen it. The manner she'd been treating the letters over the months was mere proof of her defiance, though she likely didn't see it that way.

Even the manner in which she assured him she would take her own life if they tried to force her hand was amusing to Dominic. She always had been far too hopeful on Louis coming back. The three days in the Dahliatelle had not gone amiss to all of those who remained at the Clement Manor.

"I belong to someone else, Dominic. Go seek a wife who isn't already spoken for."

"You'd rather be a whore than my wife?" Dominic asked, his eyes flashing with a mixture of rage and amusement at the idea. Merlin knew she could be either one and it wouldn't matter very much to him. So long as he won one over on Louis. "But not just anyone's whore, Louis Clement's whore. A man who has shamed his house, literally been disowned by his family, and will soil your name in a moment. A man who, correct me if I'm wrong, has not spoken to you since the day he left our home."

Raising his left hand, Dominic looked to her to come and take it so they could leave. Without the need of a commotion, they could just leave.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:34 am

"You'd rather be a whore than my wife?"

The words cut across the bathroom, sharp as knives aimed at her heart. But as with most things, Vanessa had stopped feeling. Perhaps a year ago her cousin, her sweet, sickly, ethical cousin calling her a whore would have surprised her, would have even upset her. This was after all, not simply her cousin but the boy meant to be her brother after marriage.

As it was, now Vanessa only felt a shadow of what that hurt and humiliation would have felt like. The brunette had learned that a few cuts and scrapes simply did not register when one had had their heart pierced in two beforehand.

"But not just anyone's whore, Louis Clement's whore. A man who has shamed his house, literally been disowned by his family, and will soil your name in a moment. A man who, correct me if I'm wrong, has not spoken to you since the day he left our home."

"Why yes," the Sheridan heiress replied coldly, not breaking eye contact. "I would always choose being his whore over anyone's wife." Dominic was naive in his thinking. Disownment, family, contact, shame, as if any of that mattered when two people were as Louis and her had been... would always be.

"I find myself caring very little of family and duty," she continued, ignoring his outstretched hand. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you Dominic?" she asked, her voice soft as poison. "You've never loved anyone enough to understand... You actually think anything you or the fates do will separate Louis and I."

With a scoff, she held up her own wrist. "Very well, lets see if you can separate all the blood from my flesh. And if you can somehow manage to do that, you might come a step closer to separating him from me."

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Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:35 am

"I find myself caring very little of family and duty," she continued, ignoring his outstretched hand. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you Dominic?"

The slight about family and duty made the man cringe sightly. He had turned Louis over for a reason, but it had thrown all family values to the wind. Poor Louis had only been trying to do what he believed right, and his trust in his older brother had broken everything he'd ever had. But Dominic did not feel in any way sorry for what he had done to his brother.

Louis had lost everything because of his own stupidity.

Her words were only grating on his patience. He'd waited months for her to come to him, and now she believed she could throw such words in his path. If their Grandmere knew... No, he would not think of such things. His eyes shone with malice as she dared him to try and take all the blood from her body, take Louis from her. Once again, a cold, bubbling laugh left Dominic, she could be so stupid at times.

"I do not think I can take Louis from you..." He explained, taking a step forward as his wand flicked in her direction, watching as invisible binds pressed her against the wall. He was by no means capable of restraining her on his own, he knew that much. But he had magic, and as her hands were splayed sideways on the wall, her feet pressed down so that she could no longer move, Dominic took his sweet time taking her in.

"But I can take away everything you saved for him." Dominic whispered when he was right in front of her, his eyes gleaming with the message behind it. He knew, Louis had been naive enough to explain it all to him when he'd finally found his way back to school. Louis had always been so trusting, it was one of many of his downfalls in life.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:35 am

Vanessa wasn't sure what she'd expects, expecting things had become somewhat difficult in the past year. She had expected Louis to show up in the maze where she'd waited sod desperately but h hadn't. She had expected a coccoon of safety back in England only to realize her father was almost as powerless against Grandmere as the rest of the world was to the woman. And now, she was not expecting anything except for Dominic to leave. She was more than willing to push him out the door should it come to that.

So when the wand flicked her way, too fast for her to react, the witch let out a gasp of shock as she was hurled backwards, her back to the tiled walls and her limbs splayed out on either side.

"Let me go," she hissed, straining against her bonds before the inevitable truth hit her.

This was the second time Dominic had aught her without a wand.

"But I can take away everything you saved for him."

"You wouldn't dare," Vanessa breathed, shaking her head to dislodge a lock of hair from her eye. "Louis wouldn't let you," she added, the first shred of fear creeping into her tone as Dominic drew nearer. "Free me and lave if you know what's good for you right now."

With that, the witch opened her mouth and screamed as loudly as she could, knowing that the servants will hear her shriek and rush to the bathroom.

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Subject: Re: Woodstock, Oxfordshire - 1989 (Dominic) Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:36 am

"Louis wouldn't let you,"

"Louis isn't coming back, Vanessa. You need to learn that. You can scream and beg for him to come back, but he's not coming." Dominic told her, only having to wait a few moments for her to do exactly that. Leaning in a little closer, Dominic confided to her softly. "And the help won't hear you either."

It was then he moved his trembling hands to the tie of her dressing gown, taking a few moments longer than most from his illness, but the outcome was still the same. "Louis was right," Dominic told her as his eyes assessed her body. "You're not really anything special to look at, are you?" He told the girl, his eyes moving to hers a moment later.

"He told me everything, Ven." Dominic continued to goad as his hands moved to the hem of her night dress, pushing it up her body against her wishes. But no resilience came, the bonds ensured that much. "How your breasts were somewhat lacking in comparison to the other girls..." His hands moved to the mentioned flesh, taking a firm hold and squeezing roughly.

"He explained how you denied him as he moved to your thigh, being swallowed by your own inadequacies and forgetting your future husband's needs." Dominic continued, his hands trembling against her skin as he moved lower, he eyes holding contact with her to watch Vanessa squirm. "Did Grandmere never teach you that you please your husband before you think of yourself?" Dominic questioned, "Or do you forget that you are a self-proclaimed whore?"

With the last word, Dominic's hand moved between her legs, going further than his baby brother could ever imagine. But her didn't stop as his fingers pressed up inside her, finding resilience against the strength a man of his physical health should not have managed. "You'll be mine before Louis even touches you, Vanessa. I hope you're ready to the fate you opened only by yourself." The words were punctuated with another unforgiving thrust of his fingers and then they were gone.

Dominic took half a step back, hands moving to his belt as he very slowly undid it, concentrating to control the shakiness of his hands. His eyes never left Vanessa, enjoying everything he saw, because after tonight, she would no longer be wholly Louis'. No, after tonight she would never be good enough for even a disowned Clement.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

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