Compeer

Chapter IV

True to his word, the prince had woken me when we reached Vittoris, but I almost wished he hadn't. My head still pounded, and the carriage ride to through the kingdom was painfully silent.

Even in the darkness, I could sense the worried look on Evanon's face. Every so often I would see his eyes flash in the low light and I found him shooting worried, guilt-filled looks in my direction. The prince had made sure that Elliot was taken to the palace before we left the ship, and had ordered many of his guards to accompany him in order to ensure that he was locked away again. I had tried asking him what was going to happen to him, but he had refused to answer me.

I felt bad for Evanon, to say the least. I could tell that he was torn between his loyalty to his loyalty to his best friend, his loyalty to his kingdom, and his loyalty to his brother. Elliot's actions affected the prince, his closest companion in the kingdom, and Evanon had a certain duty for him. As for his kingdom, he knew his brother had broken one of the laws; one of the most important ones, from what I understood, and that meant death. However, despite all this, no matter what Elliot did, he and Evanon were still brothers.

The next time Evanon looked at me, I winced.

I pushed the black curtain aside, putting my hand over my eyes to shield them from the sudden burst of light and ignored my headache. When my eyes adjusted, I dropped my hand and looked at the streets of the kingdom.

"How much longer do we have?" I asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"We should be there shortly," the prince murmured in response. "We are in the capital, Imperia, near the castle on the upper side. All of the members of the Court who do not have their own rooms in the castle live here." That would explain the intimidating gilded gates to large mansions that lined the streets. I saw another flash of light and turned my head to see that the prince had brushed aside the curtain, looking out the window as well. "Right there"—he pointed to a gate leading to a Gothic mansion made out of gray stone—"is where Lord Florenta lives with Lady Florenta and their children."

Children? The house didn't exactly have a child-friendly atmosphere. I imagined children trying to run around in the well-manicured yard, eventually getting yelled at for doing so. I suppose that little vampire children could be content with staring at the vast property they were sure to inherit.

"The closer the houses are to the castle, the higher ranking the owners are," he explained.

"Oh," I answered, watching the gates flash by.

"That is where Evanon lives." He pointed to the largest mansion I had seen yet, made out of black stone. Dark vines of blood red roses climbed its walls, and purple curtains were pulled shut in each of the many huge windows. A silver 'D' was on the left of the iron gate leading to the house, and a 'P' was on the right of it. I looked over to Evanon, who hadn't shown any acknowledgement at his name being said.

The carriage stopped suddenly, almost making me launch out of my seat again. A cold dread washed over me. Even though the ride hadn't been the best, I instantly knew that we had arrived. I heard a low creaking sound and the harsh scrape of metal against stone before we continued to move again, only to stop a little while later.

I practically cowered away from the light that was let in when the door opened.

"Welcome home, Your Highness," the man who opened the door said, bowing respectfully. The prince nodded, got out of his seat, and walked out of the carriage with Evanon right behind him.

"Hurry up!" he exclaimed from outside of the carriage. I could picture the irritated look on his face.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," I grumbled. Ignoring his hand and the dry look that was a direct result of that action, I hopped out of the carriage, smoothing down the skirts of my black gown as I set my feet on the hard ground.