His Queen

6. The Pledge

Damien's POV

I teleported right into my study room, opening my eyes I blinked a few times to adjust to my surroundings. It was late at night and the sun had already set, leaving the room dark and cold with only a few candles burning to provide some form of light.

Spotting the person who called me here telepathically, I walked closer towards him.

"What happened?" I asked Eric.

He was sitting in a chair, preoccupied with some documents, as his eyes carefully scanned each one. The way he was tapping his feet continuously informed me whatever he was staring at, it wasn't a good news.

His head snapped up as soon as he heard me, standing up as he almost dropped the papers on the floor. He clutched them in his hand before making his way towards my desk which was situated in the far middle of the room. He placed the documents on the desk before turning towards me.

"I just had the meeting with the council, like you asked me to," he said, clearly hesitant.

I recalled asking him to meet up with the council again and try to convince them out of the situation they had put me in. Since he was the second in command, I always trusted him to sort out matters for me where my presence wasn't required. But this time I asked him to take my place because I knew the council wasn't ready to reason with me.

Some of the court members were my elders, they had helped my father rule over the vampire realm. They would do anything to ensure the safety of the realm, to prevent it from falling apart. No matter the threat, they had always fought beside my father.

Although I was the king, they still held half the power to keep peace and justice alive among the royals. Their service and selfless acts has earned them much respect over the years, not just from other royals but also the commoners. Going against them would be equivalent to going against all people. I didn't want to risk being in the same room as them during this time and dent our relationship. What happened today at the meeting was enough to make my blood boil, they were trying to force me into a proposed marriage and have an heir.

"How did it go? Were you able to convince them I do not wish to get married?"

"Yes, Damien. I tried everything in my power to somehow change their minds. I even made up an excuse that you would like to wait for your mate to show up before settling down, also what if you do get married and then end up meeting her later on in your eternal life. But even that didn't work, if you didn't have a reputation of being a player and actually believed in love, they might've listened to me."

I groaned, frustrated by their stupid decision to interfere in my personal life. So what if I had a reputation of being a player? I never had to force myself onto anyone, it's not my fault every girl I crossed paths with wanted me in their chambers.

They can't seriously be punishing me for my good looks by tying me up with somebody for the rest of eternity.

"Here," he held out the papers he was buried in when I came into the room, "this is the contract they were talking about. But they've also added that you have a month to find somebody to marry or they will find you a suitor, an arranged marriage."

"What?!"

I ripped the papers out of his hand, reading over each word carefully.

I was beyond furious at this point. There was no way in hell was I going to let them treat me like a puppet and plan out my destiny.

He was right, the document was signed and dated for today. A month from now they will hold a meeting where I would have to decide on a bride and then announce her in front of my subjects. There is to be an event exactly a month away where the world will know who the next vampire queen will be. The marriage must take place within a week after that.