Compeer

Chapter XI

I threw open the door of the office, not caring that it hit the wall with a loud bang. The prince was sitting at his desk and didn't even look startled by my sudden entrance. He was looking at me almost warily, as if he expected it.

"Welcome back," I bit out almost venomously. I stopped to slam the door behind me before stalking over to his desk and folding my arms across my chest. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked calmly.

"You just left!" I exclaimed. "After this"—I put my hand over the mark—"you just left!"

"I had business."

"Who fucking cares about your business?"

"That is enough," he said sternly. "You will take care to stay out of my affairs."

"You couldn't even have told me where you were going?"

"It was sudden."

"Does this mean nothing to you?" I asked, pointing to the mark. It seemed to glimmer. "I thought we were in this together! Don't you even care?"

"You are not in the position to accuse me of anything!" he snapped, standing up.

I glared at him angrily. "Despite what you may think, I am not blind!"

"Ah, but that last statement contradicted the claim it tried to make!" He looked absolutely livid now. "You are impervious to everything! Do you understand that you are no longer in your kingdom?"

"And whose fault is that?" I snapped.

"You are in Vittoris now!" he exclaimed, ignoring my interruption. "This is a far different world than the one you have experienced before!"

"Different?" I spat. "The only difference I can see is that the people here worship a throne built on blood!"

"You keep digging yourself a deeper hole." He gave me an even stare. "Do you think I would have chosen this? This… power? Do you realize how frightening it is"—he whirled around—"to know that you have the power to make people do things against their own will? It is unnatural! I am unnatural! Many people would consider it a gift for me to be able to make people do whatever I want, but it is a curse! I am dangerous and lethal, and I would have never picked this life. Not in the hundreds of years I may live.

"I am not looking forward to inheriting the throne, especially since it reeks with the corruption of my father's many years in reign. This kingdom"—he scowled—"is a perverted reflection of what it has once been! Do you want to know the truth?" A haunted look came into his eyes. "The truth is that I would rather give up this ridiculous throne. I do not want to be associated with its reputation. I do not want to sit where my father sat. But at the same time…" He suddenly closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "At the same time, I know that if I surpassed the crown, it would only fall again into the wrong hands. I will not ascend the throne because I am power hungry, not because I want to crush millions under the sheer force that I will be granted, but because I want to change this retched place. For the sake of the Council and the entire vampire world, I need to ascend the throne! Satania is bad enough, but with my father corrupting this place as we speak, I cannot even bear to think of how the future could be! I love my kingdom, I truly do, but I hate what it has become!

"But of course you cannot see that, because you truly are blind! You do not realize that you are treading on dangerous ground. You may recognize the small hazard behind some things, but you do not see the absolute fatality waiting within! You insist on saying that you are not blind." He shook his head. "In your old world, the claim may have remained true, but not here. Certainly not here.