Pull yourself together, Aurelia.
My mother had once told me to hold onto my fierceness, but now was the time to push it back. The time to act like the perfect submissive princess and let the rest fester until it was time to unleash it all.
“Princess?” another voice spoke.
I looked to see my driver for the night waiting for me at the edge of the garden, who had obviously been standing there longer than necessary, based on his pitying look.
“Coming!” I said with a sigh and stood.
One last night. One last party. One last chance.
It was a strange feeling to be back at the club. It had once been the only outlet from the chains of my father’s rule.
I had almost expected my brother to shut it down, but since it was on the outside of the boundaries of our family’s rule, it was supposed to stand on its own. A place for all the powerful vampires in the area to gather.
I pushed open the door, the loud music swirled around me, and for a second I wondered… If I closed my eyes, maybe I could pretend to be the Aurelia I had been back then. The one who would use these parties as an escape.
But then came the stares. The whispers. We all knew there wasn't much you could hide from vampire ears unless you werebehind one of the reinforced walls of the upstairs bedrooms, so they whispered things under their breaths, knowing I could hear all of it.
I walked in and slipped my coat off, giving it to a random person off to the side. I didn't even care if they were the actual hostess.
Slowly, the party started to try to go back to normal, but most of the stares lingered. Still, I held my head high and walked through the middle of the foyer. The small stage at the end of it had four vampires, one of them sliding down a pole with hardly any clothes on, and the other three covered in blood, teasing the vampires around them.
“Want to play?” one of them asked as I got close.
“So sweet,” I replied, reaching into the pocket of my dress to hold out four jewels for them. “But no, thanks.”
The woman took them faster than I could blink and divided them between her fellow colleagues.
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?”
