The Vampire's Chosen Bride

Chapter 2

The Throne Room, The Vulcan Palace

King Jordan entered the Throne Room together with Princess Emilia. The Throne Room was a cylinder-shaped room dominated by white, green, silver, and gold. A gold-coated high tapered dome with silver-plated six pillars was the eye-catching feature of the room. The Throne Room’s architect designed the room two millennia ago. He made the throne from green marbles, while the floor was from white marbles. The architect placed two-line seats for the nobles, extending from the front to back in front of the throne.

After the king and the princess took a seat, Jock Holstein, the palace’s head servants, approached and bowed to the king and the princess. “Greetings, His Majesty and Her Royal Highness. Would you like to have breakfast first?”

“Not now, Jock. Please send a man to call Prince Joshua. We expect his presence here,” King Jordan ordered the head servant. 

“Right away, Your Majesty.” Then Jock walked backward. 

After approximately ten steps, the head servant turned his body and jumped high. In no time, the king and the princess could see the servant no more. 

“Emilia, you hold me in suspense. Can you reveal what the vision the Highest One showed you?” King Jordan asked. 

Princess Emilia took a deep breath, and then she glanced at her brother. Then, with a soft and clear voice, she said, “The Highest One has shown me the next king and queen of our kingdom, dear brother.”

King Jordan gasped. “Oh, is it Joshua?”

Princess Emilia shook her head. “I don’t know for sure since the vision didn’t reveal his face, nor his bride-to-be.”

“But… if we don’t know for sure, how can we act to make the revelation come true?” King Jordan’s face was getting older only to hear that. 

“Fear not, my king. The Highest One has sent me a message for my nephew. Though the vision didn’t exactly reveal who was the next king of the Vulcan Kingdom, I believe from the message of the Highest One for Joshua, he is the one.”

King Jordan is gleaming to hear that. “Oh, thank you, the Highest One!” He raised his hands upward, moved them slowly downward, and later crossed his arms in front of his chest--a worship sign to the Highest One. 

“Also, we need to show this vision to all aristocrats too.” Princess Emilia stared at his brother.

“All of them?” King Jordan whispered, “Even the Therons?”

“Yes, my king,” Princess Emilia replied solemnly. “Including the Therons.”

King Jordan took a deep breath and then sighed. “Very well, then. I will call all of them once Joshua has come here.”

Princess Emilia nodded. Afterward, they were busy with their thoughts. No conversation between them until Princess Emilia remembered something. “My brother, has Joshua already had a spouse?’

King Jordan stared at his sister. “Why do you ask? Are you wondering if Joshua’s spouse will be our kingdom’s next queen?”

“It is one of my guesses, but I don’t think so.” Princess Emilia said. 

“Oh, why not?”

Before Princess Emilia could answer it, Prince Joshua came. When he saw his father sitting next to his aunt, Prince Joshua bent one of his knees to respect them. “Father, aunt. I wish both of you well.”

“Arise, Joshua. Please, take a seat,” King Jordan said. 

“Yes, father.” After Prince Joshua sat, he stared at his father and his aunt. Seeing her aunt was a rare occasion for him, so Prince Joshua asked, “Dear, aunt, it is wonderful to see you here. For what do we own the pleasure of your presence?”

“Thank you, my good nephew. I will explain it later.” Then Princess Emilia nodded to King Jordan. “My king, it is the time to invite all aristocrats to join us here.”

Without answering his sister, King Jordan used his power to signal all the Vulcan Kingdom’s nobles. Thus, the king actually could signal his son’s too. However, since King Jordan wanted to buy the time to talk to her sister, he let his head servant find the prince.

 In no time, one by one, aristocrats came and bowed respectfully to King Jordan, Princess Emilia, and Prince Jordan. Then they took a seat according to their position. Prime Minister Xavier Jasper sat opposite the right side, followed by Lord Clark Jasper, prime minister’s son. Next to Lord Clark sat consecutively, Lord Albert Voltaire and Lord Hugh Voltaire. Both of the lords were Prince Joshua’s cousins. Then there were some other aristocrats not related to the king’s family. While on the left side, General Freddie Theron sat on the front. Next to him sat Lady Leona Theron, his wife, and Commander Donnie Theron, his son. 

Prime Minister Xavier was King Jordan’s biggest ally. King Jordan had half the support of his citizens. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Xavier had one-third of supporters in the Vulcan Kingdom. General Freddie Theron was the general of vampire soldiers in the Vulcan Kingdom and the opposition of King Jordan and Prime Minister Xavier. Though General Freddie’s supporters were not as many as the king’s and the prime minister’s supporters, he held significant power in the kingdom as the soldier general.

As soon as they saw Princess Emilia on the throne, sat next to King Jordan, the aristocrats knew an extraordinary thing would happen. So, they started to whisper to each other about it. 

King Jordan greeted them all, “Thank you for coming on such short notice. I am sure you must wonder why my precious sister is here with us. She had received a vision from the Highest One about the future of our kingdom. So, let us hear it from her.”

They set their eyes to Princess Emilia. She bowed a little to them. After that, Princess Emilia raised her hands upward, moved her hands to create a circle, and somehow, a transparent giant silver bubble appeared from her hands. The air orb first showed nothing. After a minute, somehow, a heavy fog filled the bubble. Some aristocrats started holding their breaths. 

As they were waiting, the fog was getting thicker. Somehow, then the wind blew and revealed the throne—the Vulcan Kingdom’s throne. Two people were sitting on the throne. All of them saw the same revelation: a man and a woman wore the king’s and the queen’s clothes and robes—the same as Princess Emilia saw at dawn when the Highest One showed her the vision,  

Some aristocrats whispered to one another, “Why is the vision unclear? Who is our next king and queen?” 

“Dear all royalties, I asked the same question too. The Highest One should have an intention we don’t understand for now regarding the unclear vision. However, the Highest One has revealed to me that the chosen bride is a human.”

Suddenly the Throne Room was noisy with the protests of the aristocrats.

“What?!”

“How can a mortal creature be the queen of our kind?”

“Is this a joke?”

Then General Freddie Theron rose from her seat. “So, who will our new queen be? For the next king, I think Prince Joshua as the crown prince, should be the heir of our king. But what about our next queen?” The general was stroking his long beard. “A human! Dear honorable mage, our beloved Princess Emilia Felice Voltaire, are you sure this is the revelation from the Highest One?”

Before Princess Emilia could reply, somehow, a strong fragrance filled the Throne Room. All the nobles were wriggling on their seats. The aroma they smelled just now was the human blood fragrance—the future bride and future queen of their kingdom.

“The Highest One sent me the message that the chosen bride and the next queen of the Vulcan Kingdom would be the one who changed the next king’s heart,” Princess Emilia said. “At dawn when the Highest One awoke me, I didn’t smell this blood fragrance.” She looked around. Then with a dignified voice, Prince Emilia continued, “I believe the Highest One has sent the clue for us to find our next queen and the chosen bride for our next king.”

A few aristocrats murmured to the person next to them. “Do you think it makes sense for us to have a human queen?

The noble, who sat next to the one who asked, only shrugged. “It will be a war every day for her blood.” The noble then added, “But who knows if somehow, the king-to-be will change her into our kind.”

“True! I agree! It is the most logical explanation.” The first royalty smiled and nodded.

The person next to them also replied, “Agree, it is what will happen then. I believe the Highest One has chosen a magnificent bride for our next king.”

“Indeed. It must be. Otherwise, why should the Highest One choose a mere human?”  

Somehow, after talking with each other, some of them started to nod. The rest didn’t react, but the royalties started accepting the revelation.

Commander Donnie Theron then stood and said, “So, it seems our job is finding this woman now, isn’t it?” 

After that, nods and agreements filled the room. Lady Leona, Commander Donnie’s mother, smiled at her son.  

Commander Donnie then retook his seat—satisfied with himself. He whispered to his mother, “Do you believe father supported Prince Joshua to be the next king?”

“Of course not, silly. Your father was only doing a political maneuver, son. Watch and learn more from him. Then you will be a great successor of your father in the future,” Lady Leona replied in whispering.

King Jordan glanced at Princess Emilia. She nodded, then returned to her seat. Then, somehow, the giant silver bubble started diminishing slowly. 

King Jordan then stood and nodded at all royalties. “Thank you, my dear fellow nobles. We wish for your cooperation to find the chosen bride and the future queen of the Vulcan Kingdom.”