Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
I’d cast a spell around her cell to make it appear empty, and to block all sound coming in and out of it. No one knew she was there. No one except me, of course. And she wouldn’t be there for long, since we were leaving for the Crystal Cavern at dawn.
As for that pesky blood oath she’d insisted upon making… she wouldn’t be in my hair for much longer if she ended up dead. Which was exactly what I planned on having happen-after she brought me Geneva’s sapphire ring and was turned into a vampire.
Nothing in our oath prevented me from killing her after she was turned.
Sean stared at the body, saying nothing.
I watched him curiously. I thought he’d cared about the girl, but he was betraying no emotion. As if she meant nothing to him.
“Well?” I crossed my arms, focused only on him. “Do you believe me now?”
His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and they were so empty that I nearly took a step back. For the first time since he’d turned, I saw in him the true makings of a vampire prince.
The vampire prince who would someday be mine.
“Take her away,” he said, his voice hard and strong.
No one moved a muscle. The guards glanced around, appearing as taken aback by his reaction as I felt.
“Did you not hear me?” He eyes darkened, and he glared at the guards. “I am your prince-you answer to me. And I am commanding you to take her away!”
The body was out of the room in seconds.
“Have her strung up in the village square for the next twelve hours,” I told the guards who remained. “As an example to everyone there about what happens to those who break our rules. Once the twelve hours are up, feed her to the wolves.”
I couldn’t help smiling at how perfectly this had panned out. The transformation spell would only last for three days-then the corpse would revert back to its true appearance-but the wolves would ensure that nothing remained.
No one would ever know the truth.
“This amuses you,” Sean observed, his gaze still locked on mine.
“And it seems to not affect you,” I countered.
“Like you said, the girl was only a blood slave.” His voice was so cold that it brought goosebumps to my arms. “She was pretty, but my attraction to her was only physical. After getting bored with her-which I’m sure wouldn’t have taken long-I likely would have drained her dry myself.”
I raised an eyebrow. “So why go to the trouble to help her escape?” I asked.
“It seemed like an amusing challenge.” He shrugged. “An adventure. Can you blame me, after being confined in this palace for nearly a year? I needed a little fun.”
“I suppose not,” I said, matching his indifference. I wasn’t sure if I believed him or not, but I would play this game with him-for now. “So, let’s all be glad that justice has been served. We cannot have rebels in our midst. I helped you, Sean. Not just you, but all the vampires in the kingdom. I hope you don’t forget it when it’s time for you to choose a bride.”
“Trust me, I won’t,” he said, and then he turned to face Laila.
The vampire queen stood near the window, where she’d been watching this entire scene play out. If any of it fazed her, she didn’t let it show.
“Put out a call for the eligible princesses from the six kingdoms to come to the palace at once,” he told her. “I will meet them, and we will enact your idea of creating a show of the whole event. Because soon, I will choose one of them to join my side as a future princess of the Vale.”
Scarlett
T he dungeons were so dark and empty that I had no sense of time.
After Camelia had given me the potion to cure my vampire blood hangover, I’d tried calling out to the humans in the other cells. No one answered. I was either alone, or still trapped within the sound barrier she’d casted earlier.
I’d searched the cell for an escape, but found none. I hadn’t thought I would. No human had ever escaped the dungeons. Once they were brought here, they were never heard from again.
There was no way out on my own. So I shivered and lay on the floor, reminding myself of the blood oath. While it might feel like it, my situation was far from hopeless. I wasn’t just another human who’d been brought here to be fine dining for a royal vampire.
For some reason, Camelia’s special seeing crystal believedI was destined to find this sapphire ring she desired so badly. And once I brought her the ring, I would get what I’d wanted for months-I would become a vampire. I could leave the Vale and fend for myself in the world of supernaturals. I would no longer be weak. I would no longer be hunted.
I wasn’t sure where I would go after becoming a vampire, but at least I would be free. And hopefully, wherever I went, Sean would come with me. We hadn’t known each other for long, but there was a connection between us-I felt it, and I knew he felt it too. He wouldn’t have tried to help me escape if he hadn’t. He wouldn’t have fought the vampire guards after Camelia had found us in the woods. I believed him that he’d changed since going on that murderous rampage one year ago.
However, he was a vampire prince destined to help rule this kingdom. He couldn’t just up and leave.
Then again, maybe staying in the Vale as a vampire wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, especially with the ears of the prince. Perhaps, with Sean’s help, the two of us could change the way the entire kingdom was run. We could petition Queen Laila to stop kidnapping humans, give them actual rights… and give them a choice if they wanted to stay or leave.
But I was getting ahead of myself. I needed to take this one step of time.
The first step was completing Camelia’s task and getting that sapphire ring.
Finally, after what felt like forever, Camelia arrived at my cell. She wore all black-as always-the only color on her outfit the green pendant she wore around her neck.
“It’s dawn,” she informed me. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” I told her, since it was true. The potion she’d given me hadn’t just cured my hangover-it made me feel like I’d just eaten a full meal, too.
“Good.” She lowered herself so she was level with me, reached for my arm through the bars, and suddenly, the world vanished around me.
Scarlett
I n an instant, we were standing on a snow-covered mountain-and my entire body felt like it had been turned inside out.
Camelia let go of my arm and I fell to the ground.
The world spun around me, and I took a few deep breaths, holding onto the ground to steady myself. There were no trees around us, and the air felt so thin that I had to focus on making sure I had enough of it to breathe.