“I travel a lot. To secure allies, gather intel ... deliver messages.” That last bit seemed a bit more ominous. I highly doubted the Prince of Svealin was just a simple message boy. As if he could sense my confusion, he added, “Svealin is the most powerful kingdom of Dreigo. It takes a lot to maintain that status.”
“And you didn’t want to be king?”
He didn’t respond for awhile, until his voice finally broke through the quiet of the setting sun. “No.” I thought that was all I was going to get, but he continued a short while later. “I didn’t wantto follow in my father’s footsteps. I knew my sister would do better. I wanted to get out of Svealin. My position allows me to travel.”
I wanted to press him for more. But each sentence was clipped, almost forced as if he didn’t want to say anything but he did to appease me. Part of me wondered why he felt the need to, or maybe he wanted to. And that only brought up more questions.
“We should get ready for dinner,” he murmured. And that was that.
After bathing, I felt rejuvenated. Crossing worlds was exhausting. I moved through a dreamlike state. Nothing felt quite right. But I was slowly adjusting, slowly waking up to this new world. Sebastian wasn’t in the bedroom when I exited the bathroom, but there was a slinky piece of burgundy silk on the bed. Before I could get a closer look, a woman came into the room after giving a quick knock. Her pale skin nearly matched her pale blonde hair that was braided into a crown around her head.
“Hello, Miss. My name is Karina. I’ll be helping you get ready for the evening.”
“Hello, Karina.” I smiled as she made her way to the vanity in the corner. “Does that mean you may know what this is?” I held up the scrap of fabric between two fingers.
She smiled. “That’s your gown for the evening, Miss.”
“A gown?” I eyed it closer. It was only one layer of fabric.
“Ah yes, your fashions from your world may be different from ours. I could ask our Highness for something more suited to your taste if you wish?”Highness? Right.Prince. I realized all too late I had never addressed him appropriately. Though I chose to forgo that realization indefinitely.
“No, no, that’s alright. I’m happy to wear what was selected for me.” It would be rude to go against their customs. I was in their world now. I gave the gown one last sidelong glance as I sat on the vanity chair.
I kept meeting Karina’s eyes through the mirror as she styled my hair. She would smile, and I’d return her smile. I finally just had to stare down at the gilded cosmetics scattered across the tabletop to avoid another exchange. Once she spoke, I realized she might have been holding her tongue.
“I apologize for staring, Miss. This was the last thing we all expected when our Highness traveled to the other world. We have never seen him so serious about a woman before, let alone bring one home. And a human at that. It’s rather exciting.” She grinned. “You must be very special.” She reached for a compact and started working on my face.
I ignored those last words. Special? More like convenient. Or if anything, an accident. I had stumbled upon him that night, figured out myself that he was a vampire. He had to come up with a plan to keep my mouth shut. He probably never planned on talking to me. My father’s plans of our courtship likely foiled his own. The more the thoughts roiled within my head, the more my throat began to tighten. My chest ached.
I was betrothed to a prince, and it wasn’t even real. In another world, I supposed this one, I’d be revered. Special. But in my own world, even with a prince at my side, though he was my father’s secondhand which was just as good as a prince there, even so, it was seen as an arrangement. The only way to make something like that possible. The only way to keep someone with me was to force them. And everyone knew it.
I swallowed past the lump wedged in my throat. “What about Odette? She is here after all. He must have invited her before.”
She snickered. “She brings herself here, and if anything, it’s just politics. I’m sure you’ve heard our Majesty and Highness are allies with her family. But I’m delighted to see you engaged to our Highness. You seem like a lovely person, with such beautiful, unique features.” She ran a hand through one of my curls. “I’ve never seenhair of this color, like falling stars or a river of silver.” I would have thought she was just flattering her future princess, but the look of awe in her eyes told me her words were genuine. All I could do was smile back. I was hardly ever complimented. I didn’t know how to respond.
I stood frozen before the mirror wrapped in the small piece of silk. The deep blood red made my pale skin nearly glow with an ethereal blue hue as if I were under a full moon. The neckline was square, though rather low cut. The straps were an incredibly thin string. The cool air of the room grazed my exposed back, and although the gown did reach the floor, there was a daring slit all the way to my very upper thigh. The heeled, satin slippers were a bit higher than what I was used to.
When I walked out of the bedroom and into the sitting room, Sebastian was lounging on one of the couches. His arms were draped over the back, and he looked up to me through hooded eyes. He exuded a dangerous energy, a viper hungry to strike at any moment. Though there was one thing that let me through his hard exterior, to the softer parts that showed me he wasn’t just filled with malice as his exterior displayed. And that was the shirt he wore that matched my dress. It was fitted around the middle with loose sleeves, his pants his usual black. His clothing appeared a bit differently here too. Everything was a bit sleeker, tighter ... sexier.
“Why are you walking like that?” There was not a touch of emotion in his voice, nor on his face.
“I’ve never worn heels this high.” I kicked one of my legs out through the high slit to show him the shoes. His eyes fell to my slippered foot, and they lifted, trailing along my leg, perusing every part of me, lingering on hidden places, and by the time his eyes rested on my face, I was flushed with heat.
The look in his eyes hit me like a wall. I nearly stepped back from the intensity. He stood, every part of him dedicated solely to me.The full weight of his attention buried me. He moved slowly, closing the distance between us. It took all of my willpower to remain firmly rooted where I stood. To not retreat. For some reason I felt the need to stand up to him, to stand my ground against the power he exuded. He never took his eyes off mine as he stood before me.
“Perfect.” It was a declaration. A final word. And I couldn’t find a response. My lips parted in effort to say something, anything. His dark eyes fell to my lips, to my throat as I swallowed the words I never found.
He stood beside me. His hand rested on the small of my back, his warmth directly on my bare skin. I shivered from the contact, and he smirked as if he knew the effect he had on me. Which was what exactly? It was an effect that I couldn’t even define. Or one I refused to acknowledge. He was a vampire. A vampireprince. My sworn enemy. A demon I grew up to fear. My father hunted them. It was treasonous to interact with them in any way other than killing them.
And here I was, certainly interacting with one, with many. And definitely not killing them.
I knew humanity extended to them as well, though they were not human. I once believed they were demons, but I never believed them to be mindless. Ever since Father forced me to watch my first sacrifice, ever since I saw the fear on that young vampire boy’s face, I knew there was more within the demon everyone viewed them as, what we were taught to see them as. I felt it within myself, the shifting of bones once stagnant and stiffened. I had begun to accept that they were just others. Not an evil plague that had to be cleansed from the world, but another group of beings, like humans, just as Sebastian said they were.
And that was exactly what my father feared. When I could never meet my marks. When I couldn’t watch the sacrifices. When Icouldn't stand the blood. He feared that I cared. My sympathy was treasonous, but he could never quite wring it out of me.
I didn’t think anyone could. It was part of what made me abnormal.
It was what kept me alone in my world.
