Vampire Queen

Chapter sixteen

Cassius held a small celebration in his inner court. However, nothing was small in his concept. It was a grand celebration for the vampires he trusted enough to let into his inner circle.

Joyful music and enthusiastic shouts carried across the wide space. It must have been heard throughout the whole palace. Alcohol flowed in streams. There were all kinds of delicious dishes. Dead bodies of half-naked women littered the floor. The smell of blood hung in the air.

The soldiers hunted the vampires who could not control themselves so that they would not reveal our existence, while the lords, who did not have the same control over their hunger for blood, enjoyed killing for fun behind the walls of the Red Palace.

I always wondered why the Red Palace. Now I know it's because of the spilled blood that nothing can wash out of its bowels.

The screams of dying girls echoed through the corridors. It was the same scream that I always heard and didn't know who it belonged to. What my eyes saw was an exact representation of why the people feared the king and why rumors spread about him as they did. Girls who think they've come to entertain the king never make it out alive after crossing the palace gates. Their lifeless corpses were found torn apart in the forest to make it look like wild animals did it, or washed away on the river bank, with the story that they drowned.

But everyone knows the truth.

Everyone knows that horrors are happening in the palace.

Everyone knows the king is a monster.

Huddled in the corner of the room sat the last girl alive. She was crying. Her eyes were red from tears. The same fate awaited her. She cried and cried. She tried to understand it. She wished she could turn back time. She begged for mercy.

And I gave it to her.

I approached her. I carefully reached out to her. She was avoiding me. Supplications escaped her lips.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." I comforted her.

"Please let me go," she said in a weak voice. "I don't want to die."

"I won't hurt you," I told her.

"Please, I don't want to die," she repeated. "I just want to go home to my family." the words stuck in her throat and another wave of tears flooded her face like a waterfall.

I was aware that Cassius was watching me. I felt the heat of his gaze on my back. I'm sure he heard me.

"I'll take you home," I told the girl.

She looked at me with startled eyes. A faint spark of hope appeared in them. I held out my hand to her, but she continued to cower in the corner as if that would hide her from the monsters that resided within the palace walls. She didn't trust me. She knew I was the same monster creeping through the darkness as them, and that I could easily kill her.

"I won't hurt you," I assured her. "I'll get you out of here."

She hesitantly placed her palm in mine. I helped her stand up. She threw herself around my neck.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." she repeated over and over.

Cassius caught my gaze. He was sprawled out on the couch. He wasn't wearing a shirt. Blood ran down his toned muscles. His lips were red with blood. He watched us carefully.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl.

"Maya," she replied.

"I'm Dragomira," I said.

"I know, Your Highness," she said.

I led Maya away. All of Cassius' companions turned their attention to us.