The Vampire King Wants Me

6: The Wedding

They stood in front of each other with the priest before them. The red colour of the net over her face making it so hard for her to see what was before her as her tears clouded her vision but she was hell-bent on not crying today, she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction he wanted. Today was the day she was going to get married to the king, and if someone would’ve told her that this day would come, she would have killed herself before then. How could she be married to him? They both hated each other, he might have his reasons-but she didn’t have hers, but then, she hated him equally. 

“Danika Graygrove, do you take Ezra Covenbleeder, the King of Phaya Empire to be your wedded husband?” She heard the priest’s voice amidst the chaos in her brain and she sighed.

Lifting her face through the net, she met his eyes. They were the shade of blood that she wondered if before he came to the hall their wedding was to take place, he had added more redness to its original colour. His pangs stood even more prominent and he had a look in his eyes that she wasn’t able to decipher. It seemed as though he was boiling within, and as though getting married to her wasn’t just her punishment, it was his punishment as well.

When the ends of his lips began to twitch up into a smirk, Danika took her eyes away from his and nodded her head. “Yes, I do.” She felt the weight of her words immediately weighing her down and she nearly lost her balance. What had she signed up for? 

The side of her lips pained from how much beating she had gotten from Lamya and Riah for the past two days, Papa included. And even though they all were present in the hall, one look at their faces and one could tell how much grief their hearts accommodated. 

“Your highness, do you take Danika Graygrove to be your wedded wife?” She didn’t care to look up at him for she could feel his intense gaze on her. As though he were going to eat her raw and she gulped down a lump in her throat. Her heart was so bitter that she didn’t know what to do that would ever make her feel better from this pain. How she wished she had a lover, she would’ve run away with him the very day the king proposed to her. What an iconic proposal it was!

But she knew even if she did, no one could’ve dared ran away with the king’s would-be bride because everyone now knew and all the people she knew from Faline’s shop were here to congratulate her today as if she told them that she was over the moon because of this!

“Yes, I do.” His voice was barely audible if not for the mic that was placed close to his mouth and she wondered what the hell that was that made him sound so low and there was pain or grief whatsoever. She didn’t know if other people present in the hall had sensed it, but she did. 

The remaining wedding ceremony passed away in a blur as her mind was prettily occupied with how she was going to start living her life as the Queen. What would she even do now? How the hell was she supposed to act when even in her father’s house she had never been treated fairly for her to know that kind of luxury. She knew it wouldn’t be all luxurious for her, because if for anything, the king and her would never get along but for the rest of the people, she would have to act like the real Queen would.

“You may now kiss the bride.” What was that? Who was going to kiss the bride?! She jolted upwards, making her net fall back and her face got revealed. There was panic in her expression as Ezra walked majestically toward her with a gait even the strongest person on earth would’ve trembled from. 

Her hands trembled slightly when he pulled the net back onto her face and covered them both with it, smirking at her as he leaned in a position that everyone thought that they were kissing but in the actual truth, they both were sharing a heated look that nearly made Danika punch him in the chest. “You must’ve been fantasizing about this moment, right?” She heard his mocking tone and her eyes cut to a slit due to the anger that rose in her.

“What precisely, your highness?” They both knew the use of ‘Your highness’ in her sentence was barely due to the arrogance she felt or how so bad she wanted to let him know that she knew he was the king but yet, whatever came to her mind would surely be heard by him. 

“The kiss, perhaps you’ve been wanting that for long.” She didn’t even let him finish his words when she chuckled even though her heart had been racing violently for some time now. 

“That’s rather funny of you, Your Highness. To think so highly of yourself that someone would fantasize over a kiss with you? I’m sorry to burst your bubbles then,” she said through gritted teeth as she pulled her eyes into his, flashing him a look full of hatred. “But I’ve never thought of you as a man, to begin with.”

King Ezra was still not over her words when they heard the coughing sound the priest made which was a sign for them to split apart and she grinned at him, “I think your kissing time is rather over, Your Highness.” He slid out of her net and stood by her side, their fingers nearly touching when she quickly pulled her hands together.

She heard the chorus of the people as they congratulated them as just as the king did, she only bowed her head slightly to show them her appreciation. They walked down the hall as she was about to be taken to the palace, and that would be it. She stood in front of the Rolls-Royce Phantom as she couldn’t bring herself to get into the car. She wanted to speak with any of her family, but she knew that none of them would ever bid her goodbye.

But to her utmost surprise, Papa walked up to her with an amalgamation of sadness and anger on his face. He held her hands and stared into her eyes with a soft smile, something she had never seen for over a decade now on his face, aimed at her. “You’ve now grown up, Danika. You should never cause any trouble to His Majesty, okay?”

She nodded her head, choking on her tears. “Can’t I continue to live with you, Papa?” She asked with a choked voice and Papa smiled as he patted her arm lovingly.

“How can a Queen stay in that shamble we own, Danika? You’re a queen now, don’t you ever forget that, okay?” She hugged him instead of an answer and her tears rolled down unchecked on her cheeks. She didn’t care how many people were there, witnessing the queen’s tears as she hugged her father. 

Papa broke their hug and waved at her before he guided Lamya and Riah that hadn’t even flashed her a look away from the crowd, he couldn’t bear to see her off. Faline walked toward her and gave her a bone-crushing hug as they both broke into tears, “I’ll miss having you in my shop, Danika. Oh, I’m sorry, Your Highness.” 

Danika whined and broke their hug, a pout visible on her lips. “Why would you call me that? You of all people should know that I’d rather be killed than be this…” Softly, Faline nudged her shoulder to show her that she had to stop and smiled at her afterwards.

“You shouldn’t keep His Majesty waiting, okay? I’ll visit you soon, Danika.” They hugged again before Faline carefully helped her into the car and closed the door. She broke into tears the moment she sat in the car, palming her face as she felt so much pain searing through her heart. 

She had missed them already, she felt empty and so lonely that she didn’t know what she would have to do with her life from now. To hell with being a Queen, nothing will ever be the same, she knew. Her whole shoulders shook as she cried, she had missed her teddy bear, the things she didn’t use from her childhood but cleaned and smiled at every day. But Papa told her that she couldn’t take any of her things, instead, she took the ring only. 

“What a pleasure to see you looking this miserable.” She heard his voice that startled her and immediately turned to see who it was beside her. When she saw that it was him and she was looking directly at him with tears smudged face, Danika wanted to kill herself for being so careless to notice he was together with her in the car.

There was a satisfied grin on his face as he said those words and she wiped at her tears before she looked away on his face. “And I wonder how a king could be so invincible for me not to have noticed him. Aren’t kings supposed to stand out wherever they are?” She turned with a taunting glare and watched the way Adam’s apple bubbled up and down in his throat. 

He was silent for a while, and that gave her the satisfaction she wanted. At least she had made him angry or whatever feeling it was that she could see him trying so hard to suppress. It took them some time before he spoke again, “I believe you’ve gotten yourself prepared for life in the palace, as a Queen? Oh…” he lifted his face in amusement to his wordings. “How careless was I to forget that being one has always been your life?” He turned to an outstandingly confused Danika that didn’t even try to hide her confusion. What did he mean. “Don’t you think that the gods want you to be a Queen in whatever life you find yourself in?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve never been a Queen.” She sounded so stupid that she wanted to slap herself right in front of him but doing that will only show him how crazy she was. Instead, she added, “And if I were to tell the gods what I wanted for my life, being your Queen would’ve to be the last thing I’d ever want.”

She expected anger, but instead, she heard him chuckle. “Is it because you want to be just a Queen without a King to obey and do as he pleases?”

She chuckled too, to show him that no matter what he’d say or do, she would never show him her anger or that she was trembling with fear due to how they were seated in the car. “I believe that you know even if there were Queens that do as they were being told by their Kings, I will never be that Queen to you, Your Majesty.” She slightly bowed her head to add more to the mockery of her words. 

“What a Queen you’d be, Your Highness.” He said softly, and they both could sense the sarcasm dripping from his words. But she didn’t care or showed any sign that would tell him she had realized that he was being sarcastic. 

The car came to a stop and it was only a few seconds before the guards stood by their doors to open them for them. “Welcome to the Phaya Empire, My Queen. And congratulations on being married to the vampire king.” She could only glare at him as she hopped out of the opened door. She didn’t want to hear more of his words, for she could have to show her weakness in front of him had it been she stayed any longer.