The Vampire Prince’s Bride

Chapter 6

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Nero would never remember how long he stood there. He would never recall the long hours he spent perched up on the tree, watching the lady below. His deer friend was soon forgotten after it took off across the field and disappeared between the trees on the other side.

It wasn’t her beauty that captivated him, although it might have had something to do with it. The other women she was with were beautiful as well, but Nero didn’t feel as drawn to them as he did with her. Her flaming red hair held a lustre that seemed almost unreal. It caught the sunlight perfectly, and as she turned her head in his direction, he felt a shiver run down his spine.

There was something about the way she moved; something about the way she carried herself that reached into the deepest corners of his cold heart and tugged at it. She was definitely of noble birth, as far as he could tell. No commoner would carry themselves the way she did. She sat with her back straight, head tilted back with her nose pointed up in the air. When one of the other girls said something funny, she laughed quietly.

Her ivory dress with white lace trimmings was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. It was made for her, and Nero could have sat there and watched her for hours.

Which he ended up doing.

There was something familiar about her, like a long-forgotten memory which resurfaced suddenly, or a lover from a past life you didn’t know you’d lived.

His thirst burned at the back of his throat, and the scent of her blood was maddening. It drove him insane just sitting there and observing her existence. He could feel the blood pulsing in her veins, and it called to him like a siren at sea. How ecstatic would it be to have just a taste of it? How wonderful would it be to feel the taste on his lips, and know that it came from the fairest of them all?

But he couldn’t imagine himself doing it. Nero couldn’t imagine destroying this fair creature, even for something as intoxicating as her blood. Despite its heady and intoxicating call, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

It could have been easy. He imagined how it would be to wait in the shadows until dusk fell; his strength would return with it after all. Those guards wouldn’t stand a chance. He would rip through them like a demon, and once everyone had been slaughtered, he would take her in his arms. He would feel the warmth of her body against him, and the feel of her breath, hot against his face. He would claim her then, and when his fangs would touch her neck, the whole world would melt before him. He imagined piercing the soft skin of her neck, gently so it wouldn’t hurt her. She would cry out of course. But he would be done before she realized what he was doing.

He nearly cried out in agony. He wanted her; coveted, even. Never in his years had he come across a person who his soul yearned for like her. It was torture to look at her, torture to watch her being so perfect and oblivious to his existence. Even worse than that was imagining her dead. He imagined her body going cold in his arms, the life drained out of her completely. He saw the vacant look in her eyes, and it tore him apart worse than the flames of hell could. He couldn’t do it; the sin would stain his soul forever. Surely there wasn’t another like her. Surely there couldn’t be another who would imprint on his heart the way she did.

It wasn’t love; he knew that. One could only love if they had a heart. And his had gone cold since the day of his awakening. What he felt for her was desire, the rawest and most basic desire a person could have for another. Right there and then, Nero knew he would never be able to forget her. She wasn’t someone you could look at and forget that easily. This was a person who changed your life entirely. And in that moment, dangling from a tree branch his heart hammering in his chest, he knew his life had just changed completely.

Adaria, meanwhile, was oblivious to his presence. She did feel uneasy however. It was that type of feeling one gets when they know for certain that someone was watching them. Time and time again, her eyes kept drifting towards the darkness of the forest, and she struggled to see if anyone was lurking in the shadows. But she saw nothing, and it only caused her to worry even more.

But she was safe. The guards were there to protect her if anything should happen. And besides, she could always use the butter knife to stab at someone’s eyes if they got too close. Ophelia had taught her exactly how to wield a small blade perfectly so that the victim would never suspect a thing.

But all was well. No dark spirit emerged from the forest to haunt them. And so she relaxed, absorbing into Liana and Regina’s conversation.

“Will you rule Dridell one day?” Regina asked, buttering a muffin.

“Yes,” Adaria replied. “But it’s not something I have to worry about now.”

“I’ve never heard of a female ruling a kingdom before,” Regina said. “I don’t think it has ever happened before.”

“Except if you count Princess Morgana,” Liana chipped in. “But even then, she only ruled for a short time before she married Prince Darian and he began to rule in her stead.”

“I can only imagine what it must be like,” Regina said. “How would you live with the knowledge that you are responsible for every person in Dridell? Wouldn’t that keep you up at night?”

Adaria pretended to be concentrating on her muffin too much to have heard the question. It was the one thing that haunted her soul, and Regina had hit the nail right on the head.

“So will you marry a prince as well?” Liana asked.

“I don’t know yet,” she said. “When the time comes, I’ll know for sure.”

They soon dropped the topic however, seeing how it was beginning to irritate Adaria. They asked the servants to ready the horse then, and together they rode across the field several times. Old John was so powerful that Adaria struggled with the reins several times. But when he took off, the blast of the wind on her face was refreshing. His speed was greater than the two mares combined. And when he leapt over a stump, the earth seemed to shake when he landed on it again.

But then the feeling of being watched returned, and Adaria’s eyes shifted towards the trees once again. Could someone really be watching her from there? A hired assassin maybe? Then why hadn’t he made a move? The forest seemed eerily quite, as though it had sensed the presence of something sinister; something evil.

Her slight moment of confusion cost her however, as Old John felt the reins slack and he took off in the direction of the trees. Adaria screamed, gripping the reins tightly and trying to stop him. But the great stallion had already cut through the trees and leapt over a shrub. He darted between several trees, ignoring the tugs on the rein. Perhaps he’d been spooked by something, and his flight instincts had kicked in. Either way, he was headed for the river. And Adaria was sure that he didn’t know how to swim.

Behind her, the guards were barking out several instructions as they ran towards her, telling her to yank the reins harder or cover the horse’s eyes. Their voices all mixed up to confuse her even more. She could hear Liana and Regina screaming behind her, racing to catch up. When she heard the sound of the river, panic seized her completely.

Nero had been watching the moment the horse took off. On his part, he knew what had happened. The stallion had noticed his presence, and it frightened him into his gallop. But before Nero could react, the horse had flown past the tree he was perched on, speeding towards the river.

He turned around swiftly, just as the guards all darted towards the chaos. Nero flew across several branches, following the sound of thundering hooves. He barely made a sound as he flew from branch to branch, his eyes narrowed at the stallion which was beginning to gather speed.

He couldn’t risk being seen; the guards would misinterpret his presence and think he was trying to attack her. But he couldn’t let her be killed by a rampaging stallion too stupid to see the danger it was heading towards.

Thankfully, Nero was able to overtake the beast several yards before it reached the river. He clung to a single branch as he stared at the stallion speeding towards him, his mind racing to look for a solution. He could jump out and frighten the beast into turning the other way. But that would be at the risk of getting seen. If she saw him, then she would know what he truly was.

Nero struggled with his choices. His only other option was to let her drown and then rescue her, but that didn’t seem like a sensible plan. About eight hundred yards due north, the river dropped off into a waterfall. No human could survive the fall.

If he was going to do something, he had to do it now.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Nero leapt out of the tree and straight towards the stallion. He dropped just in front of it, and within a second he’d bared both his fangs and claws. He snarled at the beast, causing it to leap into the air in fright. It stopped however, lifting onto its hind legs. The sudden movement caused Adaria to fall backwards out of her saddle and straight to the ground.

Nero couldn’t do anything else. Now that he knew she would be safe, he clambered up the tree and disappeared between the leaves.

“Adaria!” Regina and Liana yelled as they ran up to her. “Are you okay? Oh no! Father is going to kill us.”

“I’m fine,” she said, trying to stand up. “Just a bit winded but there’s nothing to worry about.”

“What happened?” Regina asked as she helped her up. “You didn’t seem like you couldn’t control Old John. Why did he take off?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I think something frightened him. Or maybe I lost concentration and I allowed the reins to go slack.”

“Thank God you’re not hurt,” Liana said just as the guards finally reached them.

“Your Grace,” the leader said, “are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Adaria said. “There’s nothing to worry about. I’m not hurt or anything.”

One of the men moved forward to restrain Old John, who was still cantering about in a circle. Adaria dusted her dress, still trembling from the whole experience. The guards were not convinced. They hovered around the spot, checking to make sure that all was well.

Adaria, who knew what had really happened, kept her mouth shut. She was still shaken from what she’d seen, but she knew it was real. There was no way on earth that she’d imagined what had happened.

“I think we should return to the castle,” Regina suggested. “It’s getting dark. And father said we shouldn’t be out until dusk.”

“Right,” Liana said. “Adaria, you can take my horse. I will ride back with Regina. I don’t trust you to sit on that horse ever again. Next time, he might try to kill you in a more terrible way.”

“I’m fine,” Adaria said. “Really. I’ll ride him back.”

They were all astonished as she grabbed the reins of Old John and led him back towards the clearing. The horse followed her meekly, as though it knew it had almost done something terrible.

Adaria had seen him. Despite his efforts to conceal himself, she’d seen the man who saved her. The memory sent a chill down her spine, and the memory of his eyes would haunt her through out the rest of the day.

Who was he? And why did he help her? Was he the person who’d been watching her? She remembered clearly the look in his eyes. And she clearly remembered the fangs.

Nero, who watched her leave with the guards and the other girls, smiled to himself.

“Adaria,” he whispered to himself, the name sounding familiar on his lips; as though he had been meant to say the name his entire life.

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