Chapter Six #3
He sighs. “Perhaps you are right. I do not think it is mere coincidence that it is only vampires being taken.”
“Does anyone from town know about the disappearances?”
“Not that I know of,” he says.
This is a hell of a secret.
I look at the wall. “Everyone on this wall is off the table at this point?”
“Yes.”
I look all over the room at the scattered papers. This man needs serious help and I feel bad for him. The amount of pressure he is under and still not being able to solve this is probably detrimental.
“What has your dad said about it all?” I ask.
“Father is trying to not get involved with it and let me handle this on my own. He is slowly trying to push duties onto me, one at a time. I have pretty much taken over mostly everything.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He does not want to be king anymore. He is ready to cross over.”
“Oh,” I say, relieved and confused at the same time.
Seconds pass by with no response from him.
“The thing is, I do not want to be king either.”
The silent omission sits in the air between us. Just a few words that have so much weight behind them.
“I do not blame you,” I say honestly.
He lets out a deep breath.
“I could not begin to imagine the pressure you are under. Does your father know you do not want to be king?”
“Yes, he does not care because it does not work like that. The only way for me to not be king is if I had someone else to be.” He pauses for a second, suddenly looking more guarded than usual. “An heir.”
Everything is slowly starting to come together. It makes sense as to why the king’s threats toward me included me creating an heir.
I shiver at the thought of becoming a simple breeding tool.
I shift my attention back to Draven, ignoring the heir topic. “Okay, well where is your dad going to go?”
“He will cross over into the Afterealm. He is ready to go. He has been ready to go for many years now.”
“Like as in he will die?” I say, as confused as ever.
“Essentially, yes.”
Interesting.
“Well how long has he been king for?”
“Five hundred years.” Draven states this like it is a completely normal occurrence.
I look back at him, awe struck. “Did you just say your dad is five hundred years old?”
“I said he has been king for five hundred years. He is much older than that.”
I sit back in my chair and a thought crosses my mind.
“Wait, how old are you?”
He looks at me with that smirk again. “I am not sure a prince should reveal all his secrets.”
“I mean I will tell you how old I am. I am twenty-five.”
Draven starts to laugh. “Very cute. I am two hundred and fifty years-old, and you will be too.” He looks down at his watch. “In two hundred and twenty-five years from now.”
My mouth drops open, then closes once more. I cannot even wrap my head around the thought of living that long, and even longer apparently.
Immortality seems more like a prison sentence than a gift.
I give him a fake smile. “How very funny of you. That is daunting, so let’s talk about something else, please. Back to the case. I have a proposition for you.”
“Okay let’s hear it. I am all ears.”
“Let me help you.”
Draven looks at me like he’s deeply contemplating, hopefully preparing to set terms.
“No,” he says simply.
My head jolts back. “No? What do you mean no?”
“No as in no. It is too dangerous and I do not want you involved.”
“Please, I promise I will not do anything out of the ordinary or risk my life, or whatever. I just want to help. You probably have a lot of princely duties and while you are doing those, I can work on this for you. We can figure it out together.”
He looks at me through narrowed eyes.
I keep going. “Please. I need a purpose again. I want to help.” The words come out softer and smaller than I intend.
Draven’s eyes soften at my admission, and he starts to chew the inside of his cheek. We sit in silence staring at each other for what seems like forever.
“Fine, under one condition,” he says.
“And that is?”
“You have to start training with me during my free time, once a day, every day.”
“Deal, how hard can that be? Just a little work out here and there. I can definitely do that because I worked out back at home.”
Draven looks at me with another smirk. “Yeah, just a little work out that is all. You need to build your strength up. It should be settled by now, but it clearly has not.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Okay, I get it.”
He starts to laugh again, the sound becoming strangely addictive. Comfortable silence settles between us again as I start to scan his study. The walls in here are brown, not black, with wooden trim and tan accents all around. Shadows fill every corner, almost as if they are watching us.
Draven looks down at his watch and stands up. “I have to run to a meeting. I will have Ludwig walk you back to your room so you do not get lost. Although it seems like you know where you are going.”
I stand up quickly, feeling heat start to color my cheeks.
“Who the hell is Ludwig,” I say over my shoulder.
The door opens and in steps the stout man who opened the door for me the night I met Draven.
I nod in recognition. “Ah yes, Ludwig.”
Draven starts to walk toward the other door. “Good night, little sun. I will be seeing you very soon.” He opens the door and leaves, a shadow seeming to almost cling to him as he walks.
That sounds a lot like a promise and a threat, and it makes me equally excited and nervous.
I walk toward Ludwig as he opens the door for me. We start down the hall as I very pointedly act like I do not already know where I am going. I let Ludwig take the lead.
We walk in silence until we reach my door. He opens the door then turns toward me, bending at his very short waist before he quickly walks away. Alright then.
I walk into my room and see that Ivorie is back and setting up dinner.
“Oh, Solene, where have you been? I was getting very worried. I almost sent the guards for you.” She starts wringing her hands in front of her.
Noting her anxiety, I walk over and give her a small hug.
“I’m sorry. I just ran into Prince Draven and we got to talking. I lost track of time.”
Her features immediately change as her eyebrows shoot up. She presses her hand to her mouth in attempts to hid a smile. “Oh okay. I did not realize you were with the prince.”
“Yes, I was. I am going to wash before dinner.”
I walk toward the bathroom, turning my back to her in an attempt to hide my own smile.