Filed to story: The Vampire Prince’s Bride
“Because she’s claiming she’s from a kingdom that doesn’t exist,” Laila hissed. “Her claim was preposterous. She should have been thrown out of the Vale immediately for expecting us to believe such a ridiculous tale.”
“How do you know that the Seventh Kingdom doesn’t exist?” I asked.
The carriage gave a small tug as it went around the bend in the road that led to town. There, vampires surrounded the streets, cheering and waving as the carriages approached. The trumpeters who marched ahead of us started playing, and the crowd cheered louder. The way that they reached out into the streets made it seem like they were worshipping us.
“Because it’s a myth.” Laila smiled at the surrounding crowd, fixing her hair in front of her shoulders. Her serene expression gave away none of the irritation that I heard in her tone.
“Until a year ago, I thought that vampires, werewolves, and witches were myths,” I pointed out. “Yet, here I am.” I glanced out at the crowd, acknowledging them with an occasional nod. A few of them screamed out their support, saying that they loved the queen, myself, or my vampire ” siblings.”
The vampires had donned their finest jackets-leathers and furs-for the occasion. Some of them pointed to the carriages behind us-I imagined they were sizing up the princesses and sharing their opinions with one another.
“Then perhaps I should put this in a way that a human would understand.” Laila elongated the word “human,” making her distaste of the race clear. “A vampire claiming to be from the Seventh Kingdom is like a human claiming to be from Atlantis. It’s impossible.”
“There are some that say Atlantis exists,” I reminded her. “And wouldn’t we be throwing away a fantastic opportunity if we kicked Princess Ana out without trying to get as much information from her as possible?”
“The only information we can get from her is proof that she’s lying.” Laila’s eyes were hard despite her smiles at the onlookers we passed.
“Perhaps,” I mused. “And if you find proof of that, then you’re welcome to do what you want with the false princess.”
“I would feed her to the wolves for daring to lie to the royals of the Vale,” she said. “But doing so would anger her sire and potentially cause war with whatever kingdom she truly hails from, so permanent exile from the Vale will have to suffice. And if she isn’t acting alone and was sent here on behalf of her sire… well I’ll deal with that if it comes to it. But if whatever kingdom she’s from is attempting to trick us, they’ve certainly lost all chances at forming a possible alliance with us.”
“If she’s found to be lying, then I agree that’s the appropriate punishment,” I said. “In the meantime, I want to learn more about her and the Seventh Kingdom. If it does exist, they could be a strong alliance.”
They could also be the key to taking down the Vale, I thought, since beyond her habits that reminded me slightly of Scarlett, that had been my logic for keeping Princess Ana here. It would have been foolish to exile someone who could potentially help my cause-especially someone so daring to have claimed to be from a kingdom that most vampires regarded as a myth.
“The Seventh Kingdom doesn’t exist,” Laila repeated, and then she laughed her bright, tinkling laugh, appearing as confident as ever. To the vampires surrounding us, she must have looked as if she were enjoying every second of the parade. Someone even threw a flower at her feet, and she picked it up, making a show of smelling it and enjoying the scent.
“Until you prove the princess a liar, I would like to continue as if she’s telling us the truth,” I said.
“Your blind trust shows your youth,” Laila said, still holding the flower to her nose and smiling. “I recommend you not get close to her, as she will not be eligible to become a princess of the Vale once she’s found to be lying. However, the girl is no threat to us. I’ll even admit that it’s likely that the vampires and humans will find her intriguing.”
“Keeping their attention focused on the celebrations is exactly what we want,” I said, since with the recent attacks from the wolves, we needed all the distractions we could get right now. The citizens of the Vale had been assured that the boundary had been strengthened since the attacks, but the entertainment provided by my search for a bride would keep any potential worry at bay.
“That it is,” Laila agreed. “But make no mistake-I will get to the bottom of who Princess Ana truly is. And her sire have better not have had a part in this deception, or else they’ll soon see the true strength of the Vale, and they’ll regret ever trying to play us for fools.”
She stared forward, the anger in her eyes hidden as she smiled and waved at the crowd.
Sean
T he procession continued through the vampire town, and soon we were approaching the start of the human village. I recognized the differences immediately. Stone houses turned to flimsy wood, paved streets turned to broken cobblestones, and everything in general was more run down and ramshackle. It was like entering a slum-minus any worries of danger.
Humans lined the streets, dressed in their threadbare, patched up clothing. Most of them were so thin that their eyes bulged, and you could see the shapes of their bones under their skin. They didn’t cheer and scream of their love for us like the vampires had. They simply watched us with their sallow eyes, moving around as little as possible. They were clearly attending the parade due to obligation and not due to want. The trumpeters continued to play, but the music failed to bring out enthusiasm in the miserable-looking humans.
I’d been able to smell their blood from the start of our procession, but now that the sweet aroma surrounded me, venom filled my mouth and my fangs throbbed with an urge to slide past my gums.
The humans were all so weak-so helpless. It would be so easy to rush to the closest one, sink my fangs into their soft neck, and satiate my thirst until my body was bloated with their blood.
But I forced myself to stare ahead, taking shallower breaths to reign in control. I wasn’t actually thirsty-I was just tempted. Like a human who’d just had a full meal of tofu salad with no dressing and was then presented with a juicy cheeseburger and French fries.
I could beat this temptation. I needed to beat this temptation. Because vampires of the Vale were only allowed to drink from the veins of the prisoners in the dungeons-and even then, we were only permitted to drink to the death on extremely rare occasions. As a prince, I could drink from the prisoners whenever I desired, but I resisted the urge and drank refrigerated blood instead. I feared that indulging would only make me more tempted to drink the human dry.
The humans who surrounded us-the ones who lived in the village and weren’t prisoners in the dungeons-were necessary to the ecosystem of the Vale. Not only did they do the menial labor that kept our kingdom running, but their donated blood provided us our daily rations. Any vampire of the Vale who lost control of their bloodlust and attacked a human who lived in the village was staked in the heart for breaking the law, no questions asked. Without order and rules, the kingdom wouldn’t be able to thrive.
I’d been lucky to receive a second chance after the bloodbath I’d ravaged upon the village after being turned. Queen Laila had blamed the attack on another vampire, and she’d had him staked in my place. But I wouldn’t be permitted such an allowance again. If I lost control now-or ever-I would be killed. And while it was tempting to have my torture put to rest with my soul, I now had a higher calling to live for with my desire to overturn theVale.
I would not give in. I would not give up.
I would bring justice to all of us who’d been wronged by theVale.
Suddenly, someone screamed from behind.
The sweet scent of exposed blood assaulted my senses, and my fangs descended before I could turn around.
One of the princesses had jumped out of her carriages and was feasting upon a human. Her long, dark hair made me instantly recognize her as one of the South American princesses from the Tower. But with her face buried in the human’s neck, I couldn’t tell which of the two princesses she was.
All of the carriages halted in their procession, and the guards were on the scene in seconds. They pulled the princess off the human. One of the guards brought the human away-likely to the infirmary-and two others marched the princess toward me.
Now that she was facing me, I recognized her as Daniela. Her face was smeared with blood, and her tongue flicked out as she licked what she could of the remaining blood from her lips. A guard held onto each of her arms, and she squirmed, but her attempts at escape were futile.
She glared at me and hissed, somehow managing to look feral and beautiful all at the same time.
I imagined that’s what I’d been like when I’d lost control after being turned.
Except that unlike Daniela, I hadn’t had guards nearby to stop me from killing.
“What should we do with her, Your Highness?” one of the guards asked me.
In normal circumstances, a vampire of the Vale would have been staked for such behavior. But since Daniela was a princess and a guest, this was hardly a normal circumstance.
Staking a princess would mean war with her kingdom.
So he’d asked me-of course he’d asked me. After all, the princesses were here for me. I was the one who would decide upon their fates.
I swallowed down my bloodlust and forced my fangs back up into my gums. As prince of the Vale, it would be extraordinarily un-royal of me to appear as if I didn’t have full control over my thirst.