The Vampire Prince’s Bride

Chapter 2

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Despair spread throughout the entire palace the next morning when Princess Ravena was discovered missing. It started from Her Majesty’s chamber when she screamed in the early hours of dawn, and like a plague, it spread throughout the entire palace before eventually making its way beyond the walls.

As though the heavens had learnt of the sorrow, the skies turned a bleak grey with dark storm clouds drifting across the land. It seemed almost unbelievable that anyone in Hyland and even the entirety of Dridell had been laughing just last night. Laughter seemed a forgotten memory, like a dream which was soon forgotten after waking up.

King Nazar stood from his window and watched his kingdom with a bleak expression. Gone was the joyous smile which graced his lips. In its place was a frown deeper than anyone could remember seeing on his face. His knuckles bled from when he punched the wall in a fit of rage. The pain was nothing compared to the ache in his heart however.

Even now, he could hear the Queen’s cries drifting up to his chambers. He’d gone to comfort her, but her pain only resonated with his, and so he’d left her to wallow in his own misery.

A knock on the door soon drew his attention however. He didn’t have to turn to know who it was as Ophelia entered the room.

“Your Grace,” she said, bowing at the door. “I have done as you asked.”

“And?” he asked bluntly.

“I’m afraid there was no trace of magic in or around the Queen’s chambers,” she said. “I’ve checked for spells, hexes and jinxes but there was nothing traceable there. I’ve also used talcum powder to check for the presence of anyone who might have entered the room, but I’m afraid I didn’t find anything. Whoever it was must have been using a concealment charm.”

“I see,” he said. “So you’re saying there’s no way of finding Ravena?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said. “Although I could try something. It’s very dangerous, and it could very well be classified as black magic.”

“Tell me,” he said.

“The Royal’s blood contains powerful magic which can be tracked,” Ophelia explained. “As I’m sure you’re aware, Royal blood is entirely dependent on the parentage. Your great-grandfather, King Harman married outside the Royal bloodline, thus weakening the strength of your magic. But over the last three generations, the Royal bloodline had cleansed itself, and your daughters have more magic than any of their ancestors. I felt it from the moment they were born. Magic as powerful as theirs can be located with the right spells. But they are powerful spells which have been forbidden by my coven. With your permission however, I can try to locate Princess Ravena by using these spells.”

King Nazar considered her words carefully. Naturally, a part of him detested the idea of using black magic to locate his daughter. He would have much preferred a safer way of doing it. Black magic was dangerous, to say the least. It was uncontrollable, and lethal in the wrong hands. It was why he’d worked so hard to banish any trace of it from his lands. But the situation was a dire one, and his heart ached with every moment of being separated from his daughter.

“Do whatever needs to be done,” he said.

“Of course, your Grace,” she said, bowing with a concealed smile. In truth, Ophelia had other reasons for wanting to get access to the forbidden collections in her coven. With the King’s permission, she could very well do as she pleased.

“It should take a week for me to reach Danestia,” she said. “I will leave immediately, but I shall need a letter from you stating that I have your permission to access what I need.”

“Ophelia...,”

“Yes, your Grace?”

“Are you sure those vampires had nothing to do with this?” he asked.

The question had haunted King Nazar ever since he heard the news of the disappearance. In his mind’s eye he saw a dark, cloaked vampire stealing into the palace and fleeing with his daughter in the night. He saw the creature’s eyes, blood-red and sinister as he swept through the very halls which he walked through today. The image made his blood boil, and his rage threatened to overcome him.

Then again, vampires couldn’t make their way into the palace. There were ancient, powerful spells woven into the walls which prevented them from even coming close to the building. These spells were centuries old, and King Nazar made sure they were strengthened at the start of every year. His suspicions were surely baseless; no vampire had been involved in the k********g of his daughter.

“I’m afraid they don’t, your Grace,” Ophelia said, carefully to not let her emotions transfer to her words. “I checked for vampire presence earlier in the Queen’s chambers. If a vampire had somehow broken through the palace spells, then I would have felt their presence.”

Her words confirmed the King’s suspicions.

“You may leave,” he said.

Ophelia bowed before retreating from the room. King Nazar remained at the window for half an hour longer before he returned to see his Queen. She was sitting silently on her bed, staring blankly at the crib where Adaria was sleeping peacefully. King Nazar stood at the door for several minutes, not sure of what he should say or how he should even say it.

It was Queen Regan who spoke first.

“Was it the vampires?” she asked. In her voice was an emptiness the King had never known. It seared him, in ways he could never explain.

“Ophelia says it wasn’t,” he replied. “Whoever did it was smart enough to conceal themself magically.”

The Queen stared at the door with her eyes red from her endless crying. It’d taken a great deal of effort to calm her down. Even so, her pain broke the heart of anyone who saw her. Her confusion was like that of a hen whose chick had just been swooped away by a hawk. Her pain did not know which direction to head in, much the same way that the hen would circle around in madness after her offspring had been carted away.

“I want those guards hanged,” she said. “They are the ones responsible for my daughter’s death. If they had done their job properly, then Ravena would still be alive.”

“She’s not dead,” he said. “We will find her. You have to trust me on this.”

Queen Regan looked at him sorrowfully.

“And then what?” she asked. “What happens when the next wicked person decides to hurt us again? Will they take Adaria and kill her as well? Will I not know the joy of holding my children close? Will I be robbed of the chance to see them grow old?”

“It will not happen again,” King Nazar said. “I won’t let it happen again.”

“And how will you stop it from happening?” she asked bitterly. “How can you guarantee my daughter’s safety while this senseless war prevails?”

“Senseless?” the King thundered. “You call this senseless? They invaded our lands and murdered our people. They killed our children and r***d our women. Do we let them go scot-free? Do we sit back and allow those creatures of the night to take what is rightfully ours?”

Queen Regan turned away from him.

“I don’t care about it,” she said. “I don’t care about any of this. Lazaro can take the whole of Dridell for all I care. My only concern is my child. And if you truly love her, if her life means anything to you, then you will stop this madness and make peace with them. That is the only way you can assure me that Adaria will be safe.”

King Nazar kicked so hard at the door that it splintered at the hinges.

“Do not ask this of me,” he said. “I cannot make peace with them. Never. They will pay for every last drop of blood that they took. I cannot allow my people’s lives to be wasted this way.”

Queen Regan was not convinced.

“In the name of your daughters,” she said, “I beg you to stop this. I beg you to put your pride aside and do what needs to be done. Reason with the vampire king. Do not throw away my daughter’s life like this. I’ve lost one already. If I lose the second one, then God alone knows what will happen to me.”

King Nazar stormed out of the room. He couldn’t bear another word. He couldn’t stand it. He made his way straight to the chapel, where he dropped to his knees at the altar and bowed his end.

Even a King was humbled before his Lord.

He couldn’t do it. Not when the souls of his people still cried out to him, begging for vengeance. He had to avenge their deaths. Otherwise, it would have all been for nothing. What would he gain by surrendering and allowing his enemies to claim victory? They would mock him; for the rest of his life they would hide behind closed doors and tell stories of his cowardice. He would be remembered as the King who yielded.

Ravena was gone. He didn’t want to admit it, but in his heart of hearts he knew that he’d lost her forever. There was no use telling the Queen the same, as it would serve no purpose but increasing her pain. Everything he did from the moment her absence was discovered felt like he was simply going through the motions. Sending Ophelia to Danestia was a waste of time. She would find nothing, and they would remain exactly how they were now.

But then he thought about Adaria, sleeping peacefully in her crib, oblivious to the fact that the world had snatched her sister from her. His soul burned with the thought that someone might try to harm her as well. He would die before he let that happen.

It might not have been the vampires today, but who could say that it wouldn’t be them tomorrow? Who was to say they wouldn’t try to kidnap Adaria once they found out what had befallen her sister?

Peace was the only way forward. He hated it, and he hated himself for even considering it, but there was no other way. As the sound of rainfall broke out above him, King Nazar felt that his own soul was weeping as well. He looked up at the stained glass window, where a single drop of rain fell across his Saviour’s cheek. King Nazar got his answer, even though it wasn’t the one he’d been hoping for.

That night, an emissary was sent to parley with King Lazaro. While King Nazar awaited his response, he busied himself with the protection of Adaria, now his only child and the only heir to the throne. Much was put in place for her safety, so that even a fly couldn’t come close to her. She was to be watched every minute of every hour of every day. The King himself made sure of that. Her mother stayed with her at all times, and could even be found watching her carefully at night, waiting for someone to attack.

The emissary returned a week later with a surprise. King Lazaro and half of his court rode behind him, ready to discuss the terms of an armistice. King Nazar welcomed him, even though his fingers pulsed with the urge to run his sword through the man’s heart. His fangs seemed to mock him, and his dark red eyes seemed to taunt him from the very first moment they met.

King Lazaro was much shorter than him, but thickset and with a sliver of hair across his chin. His mane fell to just between his shoulder blades, and his dark robes seemed to struggle as they contained his powerful build. He wore the black and red colors of his house, and on his middle finger was a blood-red ring which pulsed with a life of its own.

They met on the tourney ground behind the palace, at King Lazaro’s insistence so that his Dridellian counterpart would feel safer in his presence. On his part, King Nazar ordered that every cross in sight should be removed except the banner of his house which hung over his seat. One could never be too careful after all.

“Before we begin,” King Lazaro said, “I wish to offer my sincere condolences on the tragedy which has befallen your great house. I hope that your daughter will soon be found and returned to you safely.”

King Nazar barely paid attention to his words. He instead focused on the man’s eastern accent, and how he seemed to say ‘er’ between each sentence.

The parley was short. King Lazaro explained how his people’s resources were dwindling, and so they were forced to stray into Dridellian lands to hunt. He apologized for his err in judgement, and instead an agreement was reached that they could hunt in the forest of Clarion, the easternmost faction of Dridell. Lord Cole, the warden of the east, would monitor their activities henceforth.

That wasn’t the only agreement that was reached on that day. In honor of their newfound friendship, King Lazaro pledged his son’s life to King Nazar, in the hope that when the King’s daughter would come of age, they would wed each other and thus unite the kingdoms of Kovia and Dridell.

King Lazaro’s sons were actually present during the parley. They bowed before King Nazar, both of them nearly the same age. The older one had golden blond hair, while the younger one had darker hair like his father. They presented the King of Dridell with gifts from their father, which were accepted promptly.

Meanwhile, up in the Queen’s chambers, Adaria slept on peacefully beside her mother.

*