Vampire's Bride

#5 The Selection

The queen, Hedwig, and the council, and all the bridal candidates had gathered in the hall. Outside, in the garden food, and wine were arranged for the guests and participants. It was an odd choice to start the event on a day, given that the princes were vampires. Perhaps the royals wanted to show that they are really willing to put effort into this selection process.

The princes were yet to arrive. Damien was ahead of Vladimir in keeping tabs on all the influential girls. He had his spies all over the girl's apartment to give him information about how they looked, behaved, and what others talked about them. But he was waiting to see them himself before picking favorites.

On the other end, Vladimir had only one thing going on ever since that night he snuck out and bumped into that girl. He wanted to find her.

"Prince Damien arrives," announces a butler.

But when the announcement for Vladimir did not follow, the council and Hedwig gave a 'we told you so' look at the queen. She ignored them, hoping for her younger son to come fast. As if the creator answered her prayers, the butler announced Vladimir's arrival. Her pale vampiric face now shone confidently.

All the candidates stood in their place and bowed down to show their respect to the princes. 

All the girls had their faces covered, except their eyes. Of course, it had to be the queen's idea. She wished for the princes to select a bride by her qualities and connections rather than outward appearance. It irked both the princes due to entirely different reasons. But Vladimir felt more confident about finding his girl. 

Damien, as usual, turned towards the council and the queen and bowed down a bit to show his respect. But Vladimir just nodded his head that was almost unnoticeable and went to his allotted seat. He was keen on finding the girl with whom he had bumped accidentally yesterday. He searched through the room to be able to find the girl, but it was simply impossible. He was quick enough to realize that it was hard to recognize her in the crowd. On top of that, black was the most common eye color.

After that, the proceedings started after a formal introduction. Three girls were sitting across five tables with two empty chairs at each table. It was for the princes. It confused the princes about meeting the girls together, but no one questioned Ursa's vision. If she thought it was the best way, then probably it was. The only thing that was still common between the princes was that they loved their mother a little too much.

Damien took a deep sigh and walked towards the nearest table. Vladimir simply straddled to the table, picked by Damien. If it was not yet discernible, Vladimir's lack of interest made everyone wary. Few murmurs erupted that the young prince wasn't interested. Damien smirked. But he pretended as if he could not hear those whispers. Vladimir honestly did not care. He had never cared what people thought about him. As the princes sat with the girls, they could hear murmurs coming from other tables.

"I am not sure how the candidates were allocated a seat across the tables, but I guess it is faction-wise, Vladimir. Hedwig must have bewitched the place for us to use our abilities to discover it ourselves. What do you think?" Damien whispered to Vladimir.

"I guess there is only one way for us to find," Vladimir replied nonchalantly. Damien held the urge to roll his eyes or revert. Rather, he put up a pleasant smile on his face to welcome the ladies. But Vladimir scoffed, seeing through his pretense.

"So, to what faction you all belong? My guess would be the Elf kind." Damien aforementioned from what he could make out from her appearance. The girl sitting before him had a small petite figure and large sparkly eyes. She had pointy raven hair that was long enough to touch the ground. She was every bit of a traditional Elf.

"I am an Elf." She immediately blurted out. She was giggling, unable to hide her enthusiasm since the older prince could recognize her kind despite the over-clothing. She deemed her to be unrivaled as the most sought-after since the prince spoke to her first. However, the other two girls rolled their eyes at her.

"Did my brother presume something wrong?" Vladimir asked in a bored tone. Even though he wasn't interested in the particular table as none of them had black eyes, he still had to maintain the dignity of the event. Plus, Ursa was watching in his direction.

"I am a werewolf and, she is a human." The girl sitting on Vladimir's right side corrected the brothers. So Ursa and the council have managed to fool the princes by mingling the sitting arrangements. 

They were serious about the interspecies thing, at least. Vladimir thought.

"I did not see that coming. I thought each faction would be sitting together." Damien spoke the truth, his pleasant smile never leaving his gorgeous face. No one could tell being honest was his nature or part of a game. But Damien created an impact with that. Vladimir just sat there with obligation, waiting for all this to end already.

"I think it is praise-worthy how you could at least recognize one of the clans over these hideous clothes, your highness." The elf girl encouraged Damien, trying to create an impression. Damien chuckled, clearly liking how she was bolder than others at the table. She was not afraid to speak her mind. It was a rare quality to possess. But it was too soon to pick a favorite.

"What about you? You have nothing to say?" Vladimir asked the third girl. He was sure she was the shy one at this table. Since he was bored and wanted to look like he was participating, he felt why not pick on the easy one.

"I am nervous, my lord. But I am also observing. I do not seek to speak about something I don't understand. I am representing my sect here, and I need to be cautious about that." The human girl spoke with honesty. Her audacity and timidity didn't go well with Damien, but Vladimir took it for liking. Vladimir appreciated her honesty. The fact that she was someone like him made him believe that this competition might have some hope. To crawl to the shadows and let others take the spotlight while studying the minute details.

"My lord, I must speak of something." The werewolf girl asked for the prince's permission. Damien nodded his head to encourage her to speak for herself. " I am not sure how a werewolf and a vampire can marry and stay together yet, but what you are doing is commendable. I hope you achieve what you are looking for."

The princes were not sure how to respond to that. The werewolf girl, too, managed to catch Damien's attention with that. She was not afraid to show her apprehension or her boldness. Also, she did not shy away from correcting him. Few sound qualities for a queen, Damien thought. He was already feeling the burden of the process, and he had met only three girls? They all seem to be admirable. No wonder their species rulers chose them as representatives, despite having so many females of the right age.

Before Damien could further his conversation and Vladimir would doze off, Ursa's maid came over to the table and asked them to move to the next table. Vladimir again let Damien pick the table, hiding in the shadows. Vladimir hoped to go to the nearest table, but Damien went to the farthest one.

Vladimir could tell from far that the three girls were happy that they were moving towards them. Damien smirked, enjoying the attention. He already felt the vibe that everyone wanted him. He kind of saw it already that with Vladimir's passive reaction and the girl's interest in him, he was going to win this. As they sat there, they looked at all of them, more observantly this time. But it was again Damien who initiated the conversation after he felt satisfied with his guesses.

"You must be a vampire, you a witch, and last but not least, you a werewolf?" Damien guessed as he moved his finger from right to left. The vampire and the werewolf smiled and agreed to his guess, but the witch girl was a bit disappointed. Vladimir chuckled at that his brother's failure, irking Damien a bit.

"I am a human." She clarified about the faction that she belonged. Well, they had already met two humans. And they could not guess even once correctly. Manu was going to be angry if he learns about this.

"I am sorry." Damien quickly apologized.

"It is not that I have a sticker on my head, my lord. Even if I had one, you wouldn't know." The human girl quickly changed her frowning eyes to an impish one. She could pass as a chameleon too, Vladimir thought.

"At least he recognized us." The vampire girl replied to her.

The human girl was about to say something to counter the vampire girl, and the princes were curious to know more, but the witch interfered.

"I agree with the human. It was merely a lucky guess." The witch smiled at the princes. Vladimir was not so sure if he could even stand the vampire or the witch girl. One was rude and arrogant, while the other was too cunning. Well, the witch might be good, but the way she smiled at the princes did not sit well with Vladimir. It was as if she did that to attract attention.

There was not much left for them to talk at this table. Neither of the girls made an impression on either of them. So they quickly moved to the next table after interacting for a few more seconds about random things.

As they moved to the next table, two of the girls sitting beside the empty chairs welcomed the princes generously. But the third girl seemed to have a zero interest in either of the princes. She was not even paying attention to anything that was happening out there. She looked at the council table, looking at Hedwig as if he was the only one interesting in the hall. But it could be just a wild assumption, and she perhaps was only watching them pass her time. Her aloofness attracted Vladimir more than he would like to admit, while Damien found it outrageous and disrespectful.

Vladimir stared at her, hoping if she was his mystery girl. She had black eyes, but then there was a hint of golden yellow, making it distinguished. Damien furrowed his eyebrows at his brother's interest. But he was not going to correct him. No one would like an indifferent girl like her!

"My lord, I wish I could tell you my name. But it is forbidden." The girl sitting to Damien's right initiated the conversation.

"I am sure you have a pretty name that I will find soon. And you all belong to which faction?" Damien asked without trying hard to guess this time. Vladimir had his eyes on the aloof girl the whole time. He wondered if she was an Elf or a witch.

"I am a witch." The girl sitting to Damien's right said, salivating dreamily.

"I am a werewolf." The girl sitting to Vladimir's left said. She was upset that she was sitting farthest from Damien.

The third girl seemed uninterested, and it was bothering Damien more than he could show. Every other girl had poured their heart on the line for him. And this girl was sitting like she had no care for the world without having any decency, even to answer his question. But this audacity and boldness only attracted Vladimir more and more, like a firefly.

"You must answer your prince." Vladimir toyed around to know her type. He was intrigued by her.

"My lords, I do not understand the basis of your question. And that is the reason I am quiet." She said boldly, looking into Damien's eyes. She did not even spare a glance at Vladimir as if she could see through him already. She never flinched or minced her words. Such fierceness took Vladimir and Damien by surprise. Who was she? So much arrogance!

"I asked which faction do you belong to?" Damien tried to control his rage, repeating his question. She was their guest and represented a faction. He did not want to start this event on the wrong foot. He had a huge responsibility to shoulder. But this girl vexed him.

"And I again repeat, I do not understand it." She was getting bolder. She looked at Damien as if asking him to correct his question. It baffled Damien and Vladimir equally. Had it been any other situation, Damien would have taught her a lesson. Vladimir would have pulled the veil and see her face.

"What is there not to answer, lady?" Vladimir asked in a startled and confused voice. He wanted to understand this girl a little more. He could sense the fear of the other girls. It was an unwanted situation. Vladimir felt sorry for them, but he wanted to find out more.

"My lords, isn't you two who wish to marry someone who would seem fit enough for your heart and the throne irrespective of who she is? You called people from every faction so that you can choose freely, and yet I find you moving around tables and guessing what faction that they belonged? Does it matter that much?" She looked straight into Vladimir's eyes for the first time. She said with such confidence and clarity that it deterred Vladimir's resolute. Damien was taken aback by her ferociousness. She felt like fire.

Damien looked at her with perplexed eyes. It would be wrong if he didn't want to know more about her. He wasn't sure what his opinions were about this girl now, but she managed to leave an impression like no other.

But Vladimir found himself in an unwarranted place. For once in his life, he did not know how to react. This girl was remarkable!