Delice turned in bed, her eyebrows furrowed, her facial features twitching sharply under the dim red light of her room.A groan of pain. An unintelligible whisper through trembling lips.Nightmares were battles. Battles Delice always fought with but never won, because they kept coming back. Hitting her with more intensity than the last, more real everytime as she relived the saddest moments of her life in her dream, just like she was doing right now. She turned violently in bed, her attempt to wake up futile, her mind been pulled further into an abyss of memories she would give anything not to relive.But suddenly everything became blank and she was doing that exact thing she didn't want to do. Reliving. Dreaming.Once again, there she was, in that cottage, on that raining night, that was filled with flashing lightening and deafening thunder.The room was dark and it was noisy outside with the rain beating against the transparent window glass. Delice moved around with her protrud
She stood up, dragging out a box from under a her bed quickly.In a blink, she flipped it open, then snatched out one of the carefully arranged packaged blood in the box, draining with desperation till it's very last drop before she collapsed on the floor, her gaze fixed on the dim red light at the up, center of her room, tears running down her face.It had been ten years and still, the pain remained the same. Would she ever heal?___The idea of becoming friends with the King last night had sounded almost easy to her despite how she had taken the proposal, but waking up this morning and realizing how real it was and that she had to start putting action for it to happen, made her feel absolutely pressurized.She could almost feel the weight on her shoulders, pulling her to down to the ground.On one side, she had her hatred for him to battle with and on the other side, she had his possible suspicion to avoid.First, she had her breakfast and Gwen had been her usual calm self. She tri
Trigger warning - The word "blood" comes up a lot in this chapter.___It was a bloody mess.Blood on the floor, blood on the walls, blood on their bodies. Just splashes here and there, not a enough to form pool of whatever size, yet it was no exaggeration that they had gone at each other crazily.Laura had Zezi trapped on the floor beneath her, her claws raised, her eyes red with burning rage, while Zezi looked up at her with sick smile on her face. "Why do we always got to find ourselves in this position, uhn?" She chuckled, the slight cut across her face healing, it was just a nick anyways. "Do you need more encouragement again?"Laura hissed. "Alright then." The smile wiped off her face. "Do it.""You fucking bitch!""You curse like a trainwreak. Good thing we don't have kids around, right?" She chuckled again.Laura frowned, standing up and offering her a hand to do the same, but Zezi didn't accept her hand, she stood up on her own, dusting off her gown. "You almost tricked m
"You are all the King ever talks about," he added the cherry on top with a goofy smile."Is that so?" Zezi asked, her lips tugged up in a smirk. "Did you really attack him? Like with the dagger thing right through his heart?" Oliver asked, his hands folded across his chest, his eyes glimmering with excitement and expectation.Zezi nodded and immediately, laughter bubbled from his throat. "Maybe you can do it some day again and I'll be there to watch."Zezi's observing eyes didn't leave him as she accessed him thoroughly.Oliver was just like a child. A plain book to read. But she couldn't be so sure, people with this kind of personality were often dangerous and easy to miss out in the line of suspects. Chameleons.She would have to be careful with him.Besides he was a vampire. He must be just like the rest. A monster."What do you say about dinner? You and me? I think we'll get along very well, infact, I can see the future." His hands formed into circles around his eyes, and h
Still, she stood, listening to the voices of Oliver and Laura as they passed by the door and went further away till their voices became a distant echo and soon they could no longer even hear them again. They were gone."I don't want Oliver seeing you weak, he is a big mouth." He said before she would even ask him why he had done all that he did earlier. "So he is not your friend?" "Friend? No. The only reason I endure him is because my sister loves him.""And you love your sister." She said with an annoyed chuckle, not directly at his statement but something else she was thinking about."I respect relationships. Chosen or fated mate situation, I always respect.""Except mine." She said coldly."You can't blame me, Zezi, for wanting what is mine. You are mine, as I am yours." His grip on her hand tightened, the voices of Oliver and Laura moving around the hallway again seeping into their ears, while they both stared each other down. Soon enough the voices were gone, and then tensio
Never in her life, had Zezi feared the coming of the night, not once since she could remember, had she so much wished that the moon would never come up in the dark sky, never had she dreaded that white glowing, majestic ball of the night, as she did tonight."Milady." Gwen's voice called to her, as she put away the food on the table that her Mistress had refused to eat. She had also skipped lunch too and with the way things were going, she would skip dinner too."Are you sure that you are strong enough to hold me down, Gwen?"She nodded. In true honesty, Gwen didn't share the fear of her Mistress. In fact, she was only trying to hide her excitement out of respect and worry for her Mistress.Gwen was beyond glad that this was happening and the only reason why she would even be an obstacle to this was because her Mistress had asked her to be. If the 'Heat' she had read about was what would be happening tonight, then her efforts to stop her would definitely be rendered useless.Because
Gwen moved to her line of sight, blocking her view of the door. Zezi frowned, noticing the obstacle with narrowed eyes.She shouldn't have done that. With a desperate yank, Zezi pulled the chains she had been bonded with, and the bed collapsed underneath her. When Zezi stood up, her sight was increasingly blue, the chains were still around her wrists and ankles, dragging at their ends, the heavy woods that used to be the ends and tops of the bed. "Milady, you ordered me to--"Gwen didn't have a chance to complete that.Chains swung in the air, the woods hitting her from either sides, quickly twisting around her body, flinging her right across the road where she crashed into the dressing table, destroying it, wreaking it down to pieces. In a flash, Zezi was in front of her, then by her side, slowly raising Gwen with her hand interlocked into her hair that was before in a bun, now loose, forcing Gwen to look up at her. Gwen hissed, baring her fangs, her claws quickly digging into
Pleasure was the feeling of the mate bond. The good entirety of it. The sparks that flew at its friction, the tingles that consumed whoseover it possessed fully, the need for another till the point that it was absolutely wreaking not to pursue.The mate bond was filled with quest of boundless pleasures screaming to be attained. But if pleasure lingered for too long in one's veins without any satisfaction to quench it or at least lay it to a temporal rest, it became sour, bitter and morph into the other taste of pleasure...Pain.That unpleasant sensation pushed through her whole body, her head fogging with a desperate need for relief against the anguish, the tingles turned into ache, and it spread through her veins. That part of her neck where a mark should already be, burning.Her jaws clenched in agony and a groan pushed out through her gritted teeth, as she pushed forward again, with a cry that sounded like a plead, collapsing against him for the comfort she knew he only could p
Regret threatened to overcome her but this was not the time to think of her past actions and question herself as to why she had made those decisions without thinking properly. Every second was important and she would not waste of by dwelling on the past. If her assumption about the White Circle was right, Zezi knew she would need the help of everyone she could get, and to test Lord Rosil, she had asked her if she really didn't want her head for killing her son."I totally understand if you do. What kind of mother wouldn't want the head of her son's murderer?"Well, it seemed like she had hit a nerve because, after that, Lord Rosil had plenty to say. "The kind her son wanted to murder. That silly boy thought draining my blood would give him magic, then gave his sister a hard time because she had orchestrated my escape. Sometimes, it had felt like he was two vampires, stuck in one body. He has one that played the role of a Governor perfectly, and the other that displays just how much
"It is different." Zezi finally declared and Lord Rosil frowned, taking a step closer to her. "Are there any other bonds you know of that could be mistaken as a matebond?""No... This..."Zezi shook her head. This wasn't the time to get overwhelmed by sadness or Lord Rosil's stuttering answer. This was the time to get her head straight and think probably.Lord Rosil snapped her fingers like she had just gotten a groundbreaking idea."Well, of course, it is different! Both of you are different." Her green eyes glinted with excitement at her coming explanation and for that brief moment, Zezi remembered Gwen and missed her. "The King is a Soul Seizer and you, are his mate."Zezi nodded, waiting for more, there just had to be more. "And?""Your Majesty, the King had to make a really big sacrifice to kill his father." Everything somehow felt a little quieter to Zezi, and all her focus zeroed in on Lord Rosil as she approached her. "Only self-sacrifice could kill him and he made that. He s
Had Akeem also been taken by the Volakys?That was what Zezi started to worry about when she still hadn't gotten a message back or seen Akeem and it was already some minutes past midnight. She had also gone to the library to check on him, but as expected, his seat was empty. The library had looked untouched by the chaos going on the the castle, it felt peaceful and Zezi lingered around longer, hoping to walk into Valerick.He had said his mother loved the library, and she thought that he was probably here to find peace in that knowledge.But no, Valerick wasn't here either. With a long and heavy sigh, Zezi stood up. She should probably ask Delice if she had seen Akeem, it was good to confirm everything before jumping to conclusions. She wouldn't want to report anything and arouse suspicion regarding her relationship with the librarian, if things turn out differently. Zezi didn't want more walls thrown between her and Valerick, they already had so many problems to deal with at the m
Zezi's heart was pounding with regret as she ran up the stairs of the castle at an unfathomable speed.Why had she left to watch the execution in the first? She should have never left. She should have never convinced herself that she needed to be at the Execution for all the reasons she had thought it was important before. Right now, they all felt very useless.George and Aunt Alice had stayed behind to be with Mira. Not like they would have been allowed to watch the execution, not like they wanted to either. Gwen had stayed too.Oh, by the Moon, Zezi hoped they were all okay. She screeched to a stop right in front of her daughter's door, flinging it open as fast as she could. Her eyes combed the room and horror seeped through her veins at what she found... or rather what she didn't. Mira's bed was empty. George and Aunt Alice were nowhere to be found, along with Gwen who was...Wait!George and Aunt Alice were on the floor, unconscious. Zezi ran to them, accessing the situation
Valerick looked unmoved and it was hard for Zezi to figure out what he was feeling through the bond. His side of it was still blocked.This was frustrating!She was sitting right by his side but it seemed like a whole wall had been thrown between them. Her attention moved to the Princess, who sat upright, her gaze unmoving from Riza as she clocked her claws together. Zezi wondered if she had poison beneath them, and mentally noted to herself not to get too close to Laura no matter what. She couldn't be trusted right now. But then, when was she ever worthy of trust? They were all unworthy.From the other corner of Zezi's eyes, she watched Lady Delice's reaction. The Royal Advisor kept a calm demeanour but something about hers and Laura's aura were off.From what Zezi could deduce, they were scared that Riza was going to talk about the White Circle.That made Zezi curious. What about the oath she had made before joining the White Circle to keep their business secret? Everyone had
After that, Zezi had gone to see Delice. She didn't even have to share her suspicion, the Royal Advisor had beat her to it."Just be vigilant," Lady Delice had said, as they hurried away from the den, and up the stairs. "I think there is more to this than we know, I will ask Laura soon." Leaving Lady Delice, she had ran into Akeem, whose path she had blocked. His eyes which were originally filled with worry turned into those of attack but she refused to move. Instead, she pulled him aside into the Hall of Statues. So much was going on in the Castle lately, their presence here would most likely go unnoticed. "She turned you, didn't she?" Zezi said the moment the door was shut behind her. "But something had been different in the process. That is why you are different."Hope lit in Zezi's heart. Maybe she would be able to get what her daughter was before the tests would be conducted.Maybe her daughter was just like Akeem. Akeem's face shadowed with secrecy. "I don't know what you a
"I don't have it. I gave it away.""To whom?"Her eyes found his, it had only been for a moment before she looked back at the King, pleading."Please, he didn't do it. He didn't mean it--""Who did you give it to?""Oliver. I gave it to Oli, my mate.""It was a gift of trust." Oliver stood up from the chair, his eyes twinkling with the glint of the ever-present humor. "I didn't even use it. I didn't do this, I didn't do anything. Tell them, Laura!" He ended with a smile. Rage blazed in her eyes, seamlessly mixing with helplessness. It was such a sight. Beautiful."You did it."His smile dwindled."I know you did it and that is why things haven't been the same between us.""Things haven't been the same between us because I spent a night with Riza."Gasps filled the court at the implied reference to cheating. It was a scandalous thing and very distasteful thing to happen between mates, fated or chosen. It was an act deserving of punishment.How hypocritical these vampires were, Zez
"What gives you the audacity to put a royal Pureblood in these filthy chains?!" The Princess's voice rang through the hall, bouncing off the walls, her glare directed to the guard that had just dragged her in and pushed her into the Accused box.Raising her head, she accessed her surroundings, a formation that seemed so high, that it made her feel like she was in a pit, with iron railings camping her. On the high chairs on her left side, different Lords were seated, while on her right, the Governors along with her sweet Delice, Oli. Behind her were the people.Wait!Next to her brother was that fur bastard whose existence was an absolute irritation. This was the Royal Court of Lavida, what an absolute disgrace it was to be in this box. Laura felt repulsed by everything. "You stand in the presence of the King and Queen of Lavida, Royal Adviser, Governors, Lords, and the people, to speak in your defence against the accusations that you are the one behind the Volakys attack!" That br
Valerick was nowhere to be found and even though she didn't want to, Zezi started to panic.Until, she had met Nicholas who told her that the King had to attend to other pressing issues that had more priority than "chit-chatting" with her. When she asked about Mira's health, he tried his best to seem reassuring but Zezi could see straight through his lie.Dr. Nicholas didn't know if her daughter would ever wake up. It was strange. If she really was a vampire, then why was she at the risk of dying without the Volakys venom ever being in her veins in the first place?This just didn't make any sense. "She has been starved for too long. Years! I don't even know how she had survived this long. My guess is that she is some kind of hybrid and that other part has been the one keeping her alive, and the overworking has been killing that part of her. That is why she is always sick. It will be a medical breakthrough to get to the root of this."He had declared in absolute excitement."My daug