Chapter 4 #2
This had other vampires whispering even more. Annoyed, I turned around to look at them, all but littering the hallways. Some of them I recognized, some of them I didn’t. But all of them stared at me like I was some freak. A circus show for them to watch.
They didn’t look at me in fear. They only showed a gross interest that made my skin crawl.
“Keep looking, and I'll have your eyes gouged out. Anyone got anything to say?” One of them actually had the audacity to open their mouth. “Rhetorical. If anyone utters a single word, I will have your tongue cut out. Now get back to it.”
There was a moment of silence before I heard, “Aurelia!” and Dalia wrapped her arms around me. “I missed you! I can't believe they tried to tell me you were dead. I knew you weren't, but I never expected you to be bumming it with some witche—”
“Okay, okay,” I interrupted with a sigh and let her pull me to the side. “Just because I like you, it doesn't mean you're exempt from the tongue-cutting rule.”
She gave me a wicked smile and continued to pull me further into the house. The party had continued behind us, with Dalia breaking the ice far better than my threats could.
Fredrick was sitting in his seat, waiting for his lover to bring me back to him. But he didn't meet me with a smile this time. His face was filled with… concern? I couldn't tell if it was for me or the state of the world, given what my brother's rule meant for him.
Every time there was a bloodthirsty uprising in the vampire world, it never stopped at one kingdom. Once the vampire got a taste of power, they would try to expand, usually by starting a war with the ones closest to them.
“We’re glad you showed up,” he said as Dalia went to sit on his lap and he pulled her to him with ease. “We thought maybe that brother of yours wouldn’t let you come to this.”
I looked around, my eyes scanning the room to see if I could make out a familiar face.
“He knows image is important,” I murmured, then turned to look at them. “I have some important things to take care of tonight. Dalia, I will be reaching out to you soon. For something I think both of you will be interested in. For now—”
“Whose side are you on?” Fredrick asked just as I was turned to leave them.
The dark hardness of his tone told me to tread carefully.
“What sides are you talking about?” I countered, raising a brow at him.
“The other royal families are wondering. Your father’s or your brother’s? Will you uphold the Castle dignity or let it go to ruin?”
Voices in the room silenced.
“Be careful, Fredrick, or you may catch the wrong type of attention.”
Dalia’s face twisted, her eyes shooting to Fredrick as he looked me up and down.
“Simple answer,” he said. “If you can’t answer, we will have to assume…”
“Mine,” I replied and turned away. “My side. Back then, and now.”
He didn’t stop me this time. I would need them, but not now. I needed to find the person that was going to change all this for me first.
I found him in the corner of the furthest room on the second floor. He was slouching in a chair, a cloak covering his face and casting a shadow over him. If he were human, I might think he was sleeping.
No one else was in here, knowing to leave him alone, so he growled when I grabbed a chair and pulled it up to sit right in front of him.
“I don’t give a shit who you are, if you don't get away from me—”
“Caspian Hart, parents died months after you were exiled. Your sister, set to take the throne, was killed by a rogue vampire. You were the last living heir, meaning that, regardless of your exile, you became the new leader of the Hart royal family. A family that was once one of the most powerful in the region is now just sitting there with unused resources and power.”
Slowly, he started to look up, glaring at me.
“You spend all your time in this house, but you've never been seen with anyone. All your meetings take place in this small room, and you leave in the morning to go back to your kingdom, only to come back at night. You’re trying to ruin your family’s image and spend the entirety of your fortune until there's nothing left.”
His head was raised now so I could make out his features. Growing up, I had seen him with a clean-cut face. His aristocratic air ran in his family. He was one of the more powerful ones, one my father hadn’t dared touch because of how extensive their resources were.
All it meant was that they had money and people. But they kept to themselves for the most part.
“I could live a millennium and never spend all our money,” he growled.
I sent him a smile.
“But that doesn't mean you won't try, hm?”
He pushed his hood back and leaned forward.
“What does the disgraced Castle princess want with me? Shouldn't you be busy shining your brother's shoes or something? How does it feel that he so cruelly pulled the rug from under you? Doesn't it make you angry?”
My smile wavered.
“I never wanted to kill anyone more than I want to kill my brother,” I replied, truthfully. I caught him off guard, his eyes widening, but then he slowly sat up straight in the chair.
“Well, at least we have a few things in common,” he said.
“The rogue…” I said, letting my voice trail off.
His jaw ticked.
“A coincidence that the rogue attacks stopped when your brother took over, isn’t it?”
Unease settled in my chest.
“But you're here, sulking in a dark room all alone, every single night. It can't simply be that you're running away from the responsibilities of your family… Aren’t you ashamed?”
He lunged forward, his hands on the armrest of my chair. His face was now close to mine, his fangs bared, and a growl rumbled from his chest.
“Don't talk about shit you don't understand.”
I got him right where I want him.
“I understand more than you think.” My voice didn’t waver, and I didn’t flinch. “My mother. My friends. My lovers. All of it has been taken by the Castle family. Which is why I need to do this.”
“I don't care,” he said, pulling away and setting himself back on the chair. “Now get out or I will—”
“Caspian Hart, I want you to marry me.”
Silence spread out then. Until he threw his head back and let out a booming laugh. It was so loud that I jerked back, surprised by the suddenness of it.
When he finally calmed down, he looked at me, wiping away fake tears.
“I haven't laughed that good in a long time.” Remnants of his laugh still played at the edge of his voice. “Are you insane or just stupid?”
“I have been forced to marry someone one too many times,” I said with a sweet smile. “I don't give a fuck about marriage. The real people I want to marry are not an option. My brother is going to make my life miserable, so the only way I can do this is if I pick my husband.”
“And you chose me?” he asked disbelievingly.
“Don't you have a fortune you want to get rid of? And I can promise you that we will make my brother pay.”
For the first time that night, it felt like he was truly seeing me.
“Why did you come back?” he whispered. “You could've stayed hidden.”
“I…” A knot gathered in my throat. There were so many reasons. It was complicated since I was trying to protect myself and my lovers while fulfilling the prophecy. But all of it would end only one way. “I'm going to kill my brother. But first I need to be married off.”
He looked me straight in the eyes. There was another long silence before a smile spread across his face.
“Sure, why not? I think I could like you.”
He sounded so nonchalant about it, it had my jaw dropping.
“That's it?”
He nodded and stood.
“There is a lot that goes into this, but let's just say that, for the most part, you're right. I want to get back at him for my sister. But there is another person who dropped me as soon as the news came out. Someone who’s just as ashamed to be with me as I am ashamed of myself.”
He held out his hand to me.
“What do you say, Aurelia Hart?”
I cringed at the name but slipped my hand into his and let him pull me up.
“We have a lot to discuss,” I said, but the weight of the universe felt just the slightest bit lighter.
“We have time. First, let me show you your new kingdom.”
I let him walk me out of the room, taking the first step into a life that I could finally control.