Vampire's Bride

#3 The Beginning

They were living in a cruel world. The winter was getting longer and longer and colder every passing year. When the vampire princes were kids, they would visit their summer house. A lot of flowers blossomed, making the garden colorful. But with each passing year, a lesser and lesser variety of flowers grew. The snow has covered most flower beds, even during the time, which was supposed to be the summers.

As the cold increased, the council pondered if they could expand the borders of Solaris to the south. But with each unsuccessful trial, they soon realized that the wendigos had grown stronger and meaner. King Adrian had fought the great war and successfully shoved back the wendigos to the southern land separated by a river. Wendigos were cannibals who consumed the flesh and the blood of their species first and foremost, in the process losing their sanity. They have only one desire to feed.

The thing is, King Adrian and his council with Hedwig had initially chosen the northern side of the continent to establish Solaris. It had an ambient temperature and enough potential to flourish. But as the years surpassed, the cold only grew stronger. It was growing difficult to survive as each day passed. Not only the cold but also the mindless ogres from further north bothered the kingdom. They were constantly attacking the northern borders to come down. The Ogres were also trying to survive the harsh conditions. They were out of food, and the excessive cold was intolerable. Honestly, no one could not blame them for willing to have a better life.

Contradictory to popular belief, Vampires are pretty much okay with the sun. It is just that they dislike the excessive heat like many supernatural species and prefer the nighttime. Vampires seemed to have better resistance to cold than any other species, even the ogres to whom they pushed further north. But as days passed, the cold has got unbearable for the vampires as well. Many vampire nobles lost their children in the winter over the last few decades. The new generation found it more challenging to adjust to the climate.

The vampire royal family's male members had always chosen a human or a vampire as their partners. But today, they had opened the doors for all the species except for ogres and wendigos. Times were changing, and they needed better co-existence to sustain the future. The vampire princes were still free to choose a human or a vampire, but that would only mean that all this was a farce. So, they have to be careful with their choice. If they settle with a vampire or human, they have to make sure that the selected bride can reach out to other species and expand the message of unity and harmony.

Every faction was going to send maiden girls of marriageable age as representatives from their side. The council has decided that the princes would spend one day and one alternative night with the girls. The royal family, the council members, and Hedwig would accompany them in this stage. Then, finally, they would pick the best for the bridal competition. Having more girls would only lead to confusion. After the final selection, each prince could choose a maximum of two contestants from the rejected lot, only if they wish.

It sounded fair. There would already be at least a human, vampire, werewolf, witch, and elf. Damien felt picking up someone from the rejected tally would be reckless. Why would someone agree to vote for some unwanted girl they had voted out to pick later for crowning? He had only one option: - Marry the best girl. His queen should be like him - fierce, goal-oriented, influential, popular, friendly, beautiful, and amiable. Too many qualities to find in one girl, but a future queen should be cultivated and unique.

On the other end, Vladimir knew it was just a stage to bring everyone to a common platform. It will help them realize they can co-exist. At least, he hoped so. He was definite that he would never find his bride in that competition. He needed someone reckless, impulsive, quirky, street smart, who thought way ahead of her time. She should be courageous and bold to stand by his unconventional choices. She should be sharp to convince people, even if she was not a popular choice. She needed to be intelligent, to understand his need for change. External beauty was not relevant. But her heart should be of gold. They were too many qualities to be present in one girl. And definitely, someone with those extraordinary abilities won't settle for a bridal selection. It would be too much for her self-respect. How bleak were the chances that she would have a dreadful fate like him to take part in such an arduous competition? Probably none, Vladimir scoffed.

It was already a week, and the council has already started receiving the candidate list. Each section tried to send its best. The girls who took part were skilled and beautiful, forged to rule someday their species. A few royal ladies like Guinevere's niece, Henry's sister, Manu's daughter took part. It was only Sylvius who had to send his adoptive daughter, whom he had rescued long back. She was a maid's child who had died saving Sylvius. So no one really cared for her so much.

Other noble ladies for wealthy merchant families, extended families of the royals, duchesses, marquesses, countesses, baronesses from each section took part. It was a plush affair. One could tell the competition was going to be stiff. Only fifteen girls would stay from the lot. And if both the princes pick two more, then at peak, it would be nineteen. It was going to be a painstaking task to select a handful of them among these tough competitors.

The selectors were already feeling the burden of it. The only one who enjoyed this farce was Hedwig. For a change in his otherwise long and mundane life, he had the opportunity to witness something as good as a circus. He felt it was bizarre. Nevertheless, he took his sweet time enjoying all the absurdity. It amused him that the queen and king had gone as far as creating a committee to handle the affair. The only reason he kept mum was because of Ursa. He still had high regard for her, despite their differences.

Hedwig was a prominent member of the council and the most experienced. Now that he was awake, he was aware of the current crisis. Hedwig was the only known druid. He could sense things and help them in dire situations like no other. Ursa believed that even if the king hated the idea of his presence, Hedwig is an asset to this kingdom. Ursa had nothing to feel guilty about approaching him for help. She loved her king. She had a deep respect for Hedwig, but that's it. What was between her and Hedwig felt like a distant memory that existed in mere words for her? Her heart only belonged to Renard. So she had nothing to worry about while she approached Hedwig as a queen and a mother. Ursa had pleaded with Hedwig to stay for the competition and guide her sons with the selection. Despite his reluctance, he stuck around. He did not understand how that woman still had so much hold on him.

The girls kept coming with their maids to show off their wealth, only to get dejected when their maids were sent back by the committee. Some went berserk as they had no idea how to make their hair or even look good without their maids. Some did not know how to pick their dress, and most of the ladies were concerned about their corset. The queen believed that this helplessness of the ladies who arrived for the competition would make it easy for the committee and council to reject the girls. A girl who cannot take care of herself, how can she ever take care of a kingdom?

The princes were not allowed to go to the section of the palace where the ladies were staying. The queen was stringent that once the ladies stop arriving by the end of the week, the doors would be open for the princes. It would only be fair for the girls. Ursa was adamant that a girl who arrived first should not get an unceremonious advantage. Anyone who made it to the palace for competition in the stipulated time should have an equal opportunity. Who could stand against the queen's wishes when the king was mad enough for her to follow her to death?

Vladimir was bored to death. The queen had restricted their movement to their respective apartment sections. It flooded the palace with gossips about the ladies taking part. Even his stewards did not spare his ears. So being who he was, he waited for the night. It was his opportunity to escape and breathe outside the palace campus. It was almost a week now, and he was starting to feel suffocated.

As soon as it was dark, Vladimir asked his favorite steward, Tim, to exchange their clothes. He was going to go out and have some fresh air. He was least interested in checking out the ladies. It was not the first time they were doing this. Vladimir took Tim as his personal attendant only because Tim could pose as him, and no one who wasn't looking closely at Tim would doubt. They had the same height and hair color. Underneath those extravagant clothes, it would be difficult to notice the difference in their muscles. Vladimir was much more handsome and powerful than Tim, who was a human he trusted than most.

Vladimir crossed his apartment and the garden stealthily. He did not want to garner unwanted attention and raise doubt. Tim was strolling on the balcony so that no one would doubt where Vladimir was. He headed towards the stable. He needed his horse.

A big smile folded over Vladimir's thin, flat, sultry, attractive lips when he realized that he was far from the watchful eyes in a secluded part of the palace. He was finally free. No one would stop a steward of the young prince who was probably going out to do some errands for him when he could not go out. The people were busy taking care of the valuable guests to notice him.

Since that particular place of the palace was empty, as most of the servants were busy handling the guests, Vladimir did not feel the need to hide or withhold his moves. He strolled, breathing in the fresh air, far from his apartment compartments. He was not paying attention to where he was walking, as he was sure there was no one else here except him.

Out of nowhere, a petite figure bumped into Vladimir. He groaned in surprise. For a brief second, he got tensed of being caught. But then his eyes landed on the girl. She had fallen to the ground after hitting his flat and sturdy body. He looked at her closely. He could tell she was not a servant or someone from the palace. The people working in the castle had a dress code. Perhaps a thief? But who would dare to steal from the palace? Or a maid of some noble lady inside who was trying to stay close to her mistress? Whoever she was, she was brave enough to be here at this place.

She looked up. She had covered her face except for the eyes. That's when Vladimir's eyes landed on her shoes. It was expensive for a servant or a maid. Probably she was one of the contestants who lost her way. But why would someone come to this section? If his stewards were right, the ladies were not allowed outside their area as well. The queen had taken all measures to keep the princes separate from the ladies until the competition has not started. The more Vladimir looked at her deep black eyes, the more he got curious. They had so many emotions he could not quite understand. All he wanted to do was remove the veil and find who she was.

She was still lying down, and Vladimir tried his best to get a decent view of her. But nothing! He finally extended his hands to her. But the lady was fierce to reject him. She immediately stood up, adjusting her clothes. It was the most beautiful and profound pair of black eyes that Vladimir had ever seen. He was mesmerized and lost in them when he heard her faint apology, snapping him out of his train of thoughts. Probably she realized he was the prince, or maybe she was decent for a change.

But before Vladimir could say anything to her, she ran as fast as she could as Vladimir stood there unsure of what happened.

The stupid competition was finally turning out to be interesting for Vladimir! Looking at the retreating figure of the girl, he wondered who she was!