I absolutely adore the pathetic fallacy at the beginning. The fact that it lacks the comic note of say, Beauty and the un-beastly Beast, means that the angst in Lucien's heart is made clear without being melodramatic, and the eventual impact of the true state of affairs in the castle comes as a shock to the system.

I feel rather upset, however, that Lucien kills all the creatures he encounters. I mean, they might have been not-bad people, with friendly personalities and loved ones! And while it doesn't really bother me when people kill monsters, when people kill potential good people - oh, the pain.

I loved the castle from the moment Lucien met the vampire, Oliae.
"Whatever happened to 'die mortal' and 'I will feast upon your gushing blood this eve'?" he asked.
The vampire snorted. "Hideously overdone. Will you leave yet?"
-giggles- Splendid!

I also was terribly impressed by the way you managed to combine angst and comedy here - comedy from the quirky characters and the dialogue, angst from the situations they escaped from, and the soft tone of the whole piece. Lovely!

Not much more I can really say, unfortunately, except that I *love* Ciaran's hair. So pretty!