His Queen

5. An Unexpected Guest

There was a time when the vampire king was my greatest enemy. As a child he made me wonder why he loathed me to keep me locked up for years. Why not just end my misery and take my life right then and there? Even when I was free from the dungeon walls, he made sure I dreaded him and lived my life in fear. In fear of what he might be planning next or if he will find a new way to torture me endlessly.

As we got thrown into a spiral of events and spent more time together, I got to learn more about him. There was another side to him that not many had the opportunity to witness, his wit and his carefree attitude left me curious. Curious to know more about what hides behind those monstrous eyes. I admired his love and devotion to his people, which in turn made him their beloved king. He was trained intensively to never show emotions, but his vampirism could not kill his angelic side.

Just as he was giving and kind towards his subjects, he was the complete opposite, ruthless and cruel to his enemies. From all the stories I've heard, he never gave his enemies a second chance. Blinded by the prophecy, he spent every second believing I was his enemy. Yet, he never tried to kill me.

His threats started to lose their meaning and became an empty shell when he would say one thing and do another. He would often claim he wanted to hurt me, but then he protected me from the vampire hunters when they broke into the palace. He faked his own death just to see how I would react, as if my feelings mattered to him.

And when his brother, Valentino, stabbed me disguised as Damien, I believed it. How could I not? My eyes saw his perfect features pull up in a sinister smile before he plunged the dagger in me. The scene haunted me even in my sleep for days. I wasn't ready for him to be around me at that time, let alone giving him the chance to explain himself. My mind and my body were beyond hurt.

When Emma sat me down and explained the whole picture, I was already back in the human world and couldn't speak to him. The way I treated him was justified because I was still afraid of him, and he had given me every reason to be. But I still felt guilty he was being punished for something he had not done. He had to face my hatred and the look of betrayal.

"You know, you can still apologize for that. I am a very forgiving person," his voice brought me out of my thoughts.

My eyes instantly fluttered open and widened as I came to the realization.

He was here.

Standing right behind me.

Has he been reading my thoughts this whole time?

My cheeks started to feel warm, and I was too embarrassed to turn around at that point, gripping the balcony's railing in my hands.

"Boo," he whispered in my right ear, startling me and causing me to lose my balance.

Just as I was about to fall, I felt his arms snake their way around my waist and turn me towards him.

Sparks.

Everywhere he touched.

The world seemed to be moving in a slow motion and the time paused as he held me up with a firm grip on my back, my upper body leaning away from him.

My eyes stayed glued to his face; my body frozen with shock of what just happened.

He met my gaze and I watched as his eyes changed from their usual midnight black color to a familiar, majestic gold.

His features remained calm but there was a storm in his eyes that I could not help but notice.

I took a moment to take him in, his hair was styled to perfection, without a hair out of place. My eyes travelled down to his forehead and back to his eyes, then his structured nose and...