Chapter 1

Dawn when Kaleen entered the back gate of the palace Vel. As knights approached her as soon as she landed on the wet ground, she took off her head armor and gave it to Sebastian, the chief of the knights.

“Your father searched for you for the whole day. We ran out of excuses to tell him.” Sebastian reported walking alongside Kaleen with her horse.

“I had enough talking and discussing with them,” Kalee grumbled and took off the saddle of her horse.

“I thought you won’t be coming back. Heading to the den of fanged beasts is still quite outrageous. I can’t blame the king if he was worried about you.” Sebastian said.

“I didn’t even expect to come out alive from there. They were neck to neck with me when I showed myself up at their gates. Feels like having jaguars breathing under my throat.” Kaleen recalled.

“Did it go well? I mean, I don’t expect anything at all. However, seeing you alive and well, I might as well hear you.”

“Well, sooner or later, the Vel would be welcoming the fangs at our palace doors. Not as hungry blood suckers but the aides to defeat the other demons proliferating our lands.” Kaleen took her time brushing her horse manes after such a long travel to the other kingdoms.

“They agreed to help us?” Sebastian asked in disbelief, halting with what he was doing as the brush on his hand was left hanging to his hold.

“Barely. I made a deal with the king.”

Sebastian scoffed and continued on brushing the horse gently, smoothing the path he brushed through with his other hand. “That king is known to be cunning and greediest among the rest of the kings they hid underground.”

It was well known, that the vampires woke Marcus from a supposed-to-be deep slumber when the reigning king died. It was unknown what caused it but it was the source of celebration among the humans in the Vel when she was younger.

At the resurrection of Marcus, there followed lamentation as a town was covered with bloodless bodies of people there. Since then, the Vel hunters continued on hunting for vampires in the hope to behead that young king who was still sitting unharmed on his elevated throne in his prideful palace.

“Indeed,” Kaleen said in contemplation.

Sebastian watched her closely. “You didn’t offer anything crazy to make him agree that easily, did you?”

“ I don’t know. Crazy times call for some crazy measures.” Kaleen sighed.

Sebastian knew exactly what she was talking about but he can’t still believe that the champion hunter in Vel would be willing to do such extent as to offer her hand for marriage to the king of vampires.

“There would be a lot of hollering in the court at the daybreak,” Sebastian warned.

“I know but we have no other option,” Kaleen said.

“Would you turn like them?”

“I will die first,” Kaleen promised.

“What if you don’t have a choice?”

“I always have a choice. If I ever forced to be one of them, the silver stake would find its way to my chest first and foremost.” Kaleen said.

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Kaleen was head down as the king released his anger to him over the breakfast table. She stared longingly at the stake on her plate which was left untouched since the breakfast started. They certainly had no audience at the long table but them since the queen fled among the princesses in the distant lands to save themselves from the incoming.

While Kaleen didn’t blame any of them for doing so, it was still quite unfair for the citizen to be shown a such display of hopelessness when the hunters refused to back down in fighting werewolves twice their size.

“And he wants to just bear you an heir and no marriage?” The king went on, hitting his fist on the table which made the plates jump slightly.

“It is not a typical arrangement, father. I do not wish to be bound in a loveless marriage to that vile monster.”

“But you are willing to be defiled in bed by the same person you called a monster. There is no greater curse than being used as a bed warmer at night. You are no less than a prostitute than a revered hunter or a princess in this case.” The king said.

“We have nothing to fight for father-,”

“We will have blood to spare until the last of the hunters in Vel stand.”

“That is almost foolish idealism.” Kaleen snarled.

“They vowed their lives to protect the Vel.”

“That didn’t merit for them to die in a fruitless fight. I can help through the deal.”

“If you forego this deal, then I will have to forget that you are part of this family.” The king declared.

Kaleen let out a gasp as she looked at his father in disbelief. “You would rather honor your daughters who ran away with mother instead of staying to assure the people of our presence.”

“I made them go. I made you too.”

“And yet I refused because people needed assurance at this time,” Kaleen said. “You have been mocked for not having a son to inherit the throne and yet I managed to make the people see that having daughters as your children certainly didn’t make you a lesser king.”

Kaleen stood up from the table.

“Sit down, Kaleen.”

“I will forego my own plan no matter if this sacrifice would even mean a lot to you. After all, you still got many daughters to spare. I won’t even matter much for you when countless princes refused to wed me.” Kaleen can’t help but felt a little overwhelmed with the many memories of social events in the palace where it was arranged for all the princes in the other kingdoms to take the hand of the princesses of the Vel one by one.

“Kaleen-,”

“I will leave tomorrow. The soon this nightmare will be over, the soon the people’s despair will be unlit.” Kaleen turned away from the king and marched toward her room.

In the hallways, she came across Clarin who was bringing a tray of roasted turkey.

“Princess, I just brought this food as ordered by the king. I know this is your favorite.” Clarin said worriedly when Kaleen was wiping her cheeks dry. “Are you weeping?”

“No. I shall take this to my room if this is intended for me.” Kaleen said.

“Right away, princess.” Clarin followed the princess with no hesitation. As she placed the tray on the table, she happily sliced one for Kaleen. “I had Hestia squeeze some fruit juice for you. I know you are weary of the travel. I will get it.”

“Thank you, Clarin,” Kaleen said.

Clarin just smiled brightly at the princess before she exited from there.

Kaleen didn’t wait for more and started to eat the food before her. She refused to be emotional while she did so. Ahead of her will be much more challenging as she would be heading back to the vampire community to honor the deal.

She won’t even fancy some welcoming there as the animosity between the human and the vampire races was still clear to see. She just hope that Marcus would honor the end of their deal.