Vladimir was a man who had cut off his arms. No one knew how hard he was trying to keep himself from falling apart. He was to be blamed for his miseries and for the pain of those who don't even know yet that what they had lost.
His eyes had run out of tears yet Vladimir felt like he still hadn't cried enough for the treasure he had lost.
The King was at war with himself~
“For how long are you going to punish yourself?” Mercy’s voice pulled Vladimir out of his thoughts.
“For as long as I carry her mark. A constant reminder for what I have lost." His words were softly spoken yet they didn't hide the fierce longing behind them.
Tracing the mark with his fingers Vladimir whispered almost to himself, his voice breaking at the end. “Sometimes it burns as if compelling me to go after her. Pushing me to find her... Sometimes it sets my soul on fire, a constant reminder of what belongs to me but I can't have.”
When he looked up his eyes collided with Mercy’s eyes in the mirror. Her eyes held warmth in them for a cold and cruel bastard like him.
Mercy stared at the King of Vampires, a man who was known to slit his enemies throat with a smile on his face was yearning for his bride behind the closed doors of his chamber.
Taking a step closer Mercy hugged him from behind, resting her face against his bareback. ”Maybe it burns to make you let it go. You haven’t even met her maybe it’s time to move on. It has been more than 16 years, my King.”
Mercy was right he had never met her but he had felt her presence deep into his bones. He had been there when she was born. Years ago only the feel of being on the same ground as his bride had nearly bought Vladimir to his knees.
What would have happened if he had met her?
"How can I fall in love with someone I had never met?" Vladimir's voice was barely above a whisper. Mercy swallowed hard at his declaration of love for his bride.
Mercy understood Vladimir because she was swimming in the same waters that were drowning the Vampire King. She longed for his love that wasn't meant for her while he yearned for a woman who wasn't in his reach.
”It has been only 17 years, 11 months, eight days, four minutes and twenty seconds since I lost her yet my heart is ready to wait for an eternity if I have to.” Vladimir sighed.
Stepping back from Vladimir Mercy blinked back the tears that formed in her eyes. She can't understand what did that woman had that Mercy lacked. She can't understand why the King yearned for a woman who he had never met yet can't see the affections and love in Mercy's eyes for him.
Why do we always have to long for what we had lost and can't appreciate what we have. . .?
How long will it take for him to let go of his Lost Bride and make Mercy his woman, not just a bed companion?
Swallowing the lump formed in her throat Mercy changed the subject. "The Royal Ball is a week away. The invitations had been sent. Do you want me to add any acquaintance of yours on the list?"
"No just stick to the old drill." Vladimir's answer was short and stiff as he turned away from the mirror and started walking towards the bathroom. The vulnerable side he had shown a few moments ago was long gone replaced by a lethal merciless killing machine the supernatural world feared the wrath of.
"You have received another Royal letter from the Queen of Wastelands." At the mention of Queen Amber Vladimir's breaths quicked and his shoulders stiffened.
Seeming to be getting a hold of his emotions he spoke after a few moments. "Burn it.” And then he was gone.
Mercy couldn't help but wonder what had happened between Queen Amber and King Vladimir. It had been more than 17 years since the last time King Vladimir visited the mysterious Queen also known as the Breaker of Unwanted mate bonds.
It was the same time Vladimir had lost his bride. Mercy doubted that somehow these two incidents were related.
Vladimir had never told Mercy how he lost his bride and Mercy had never dared to ask. It was an off-limits subject. Mercy only knew the bits and pieces that King Vladimir had shared with her in the moment of weakness.
Walking out of Vladimir's chamber Mercy absentmindedly walked through the corridors of the Royal Castle.
The Vampires bowed respectfully as she walked past them. No one was aware of the fact that the Vampire King had lost his bride except Mercy. Mercy's position in the Kingdom of Vampires was the King's mistress and personal guard.
She was respected as a Queen but she wasn't one. . .
Entering her chamber she held the Royal letter of Queen Amber in her hand. She walked towards the fireplace and threw the royal letter in it. No matter how much she was tempted to read it she wasn't going to defy her King.
Yet another letter she had burnt over the past years of a Queen that was known to be a fearsome being with an alliance of a Goddess.
A Queen who was the daughter of the Lycan King Aric & Fey Princess who was the successor to the Fey throne.
Queen Amber from the House of Untouchables, also known as the Cold Queen. Who was as cold as the wastelands that surrounded her, as lethal as the poisonous snow covering those wastelands.
The crowned Queen of witches who had a Queendom of her own. And there were rumors that she was a being with the powers of a Goddess.
A Queen who had abducted the Vampire King right from his own castle. From his Royal chamber when he had been sleeping without a care.
Mercy couldn't help herself as she stared at the burning words of the Cold Queen while wondering. 'What had happened between the Cold Queen & the Vampire King that the mere mention of her name distressed Vladimir?'
'Was the Cold Queen and King Vladimir's Bride was somewhat connected?'
'Who was his Bride? If he had never met her then how did he know that he had lost her?' 'And how did he recognized her as his woman without meeting her?'
These were the questions only Vladimir had the answers to and Mercy wasn't strong enough to question her King. No matter the bond they shared, Vladimir won't hesitate to end Mercy's life if she stepped out of her line. That was who the King of Vampire was. . .
Cold and Ruthless. . .
Yet he was also a man who sobbed for a woman he yearned for in the confinement of his chamber when he thinks no one was around.
Mercy did know which side of him had she fallen for. . .
1. Marked By Her
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