His Queen

11. Greetings

"King Nicholas," I recalled his name rather quickly, making Damien look at me in surprise.

"Hey, Aliya," Nicholas took my hand and brought it to his lips and placed a small kiss on it, "I am thrilled to see you remember me."

Of course I remembered him, he was the only person who actually talked to me at the winter royal ball. Damien and I went there in his private jet and then he abandoned me at the party where I didn't know a single soul. King Nicholas was kind enough to introduce himself to me and even asked me for a dance, which was cut short by ever so furious looking Damien who dragged me away from him.

We all know how that ended up, with Damien also stealing my first kiss that same night.

I snapped back to reality when Damien cleared his throat, rather loudly. He held his hand out to Nicholas to welcome him but his eyes seemed more interested in the ceiling. Basically anywhere but the person right in front of him.

Remembering the time when Nicholas had mentioned him and Damien were practically rivals, the situation made perfect sense. Damien was trying his best to be a good host and put their differences aside. I knew this was the best he could do, at least he wasn't glaring at him to drop dead. At least not yet.

"Well, I'll be around," Nicholas said to me, "let's catch up later."

I nodded at him, as a promise to find him later.

Another person came into my view who I could've sworn I had seen before, but couldn't place my finger on the memory.

"Brother," his icy blue eyes greeted Damien as a smirk played on his lips.

Then it finally hit me.

It couldn't be, I assured myself. It couldn't possible be the man who had made an attempt to kill me and pretended to be Damien. It seemed almost too long ago, but the memory was now fresh in my mind. I had bumped into him and spilled my drink on his shirt at Damien's birthday party, we then went upstairs so I could give him a clean shirt to change into. I don't remember much about how our conversation went but I recalled he called himself a prince, said he was a prince once.

Later on, when Emma showed me a picture of him and told me the whole truth about Damien's innocence, I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was all a part of his plan, to distract me and get me away from the crowd. 

Damien let go of my hand and instantly took a hold of his neck, "what the hell are you doing here?!"

The people around us gasped and stepped back in fear.

Valentino coughed once before saying, "I would be careful if I was you, you don't want to kill the rightful heir of the vampire world for a mere human, just because I stabbed her."

Damien seemed to have tightened his grip on him, "who said you're next in line? The throne will never be yours, for as long as I shall live."

"You don't have to die for me to have that power, brother. I know about the deal."

What was going on? What deal was Valentino talking about?

It must be something far more serious, because as soon as he said that, Damien let him go.

Valentino adjusted his shirt and collar, as if Damien's threats had no effect on him. There was clearly something on his mind that I was not aware of or couldn't pin point.

"The court members invited me here," he narrowed his eyes at Damien, "I don't think you'd want to upset them by killing off their only hope of continuing this legacy, me."