Royal Renegade

Chapter 3: Trigger

"Your Majesty," the wardens bow when I glance over to them. The shorter of the two takes a single step forward.

"A-are you stable?"

Before I answer, I take a moment to see that my skin is tan. My senses sharpen and I am able to distinguish voices at the entrance of the dungeon. The Keeper is about to send guards to report to my mother. Disregarding his question, I rush to the dungeon entrance.

"Return to your posts," I command the guards, who don't hesitate to obey. Then, I approach the Keeper who nearly trips over himself trying to back away from me. Snatching the collar of his tunic, I pull him close. "Be the Keeper of your tongue tonight."

"Y-yes, your Majesty," he squeals.

"Leonidas!" A melodic, powerful voice fills the room. "Don't threaten the man for trying to do his job."

The Keeper grins in gratitude of our Queen. I narrow my eyes, but release him from my grasp turning to face my mother.

She stands tall for a woman at five feet and seven inches. Although she is a vampire, her skin shows the age of a mortal in their forties with wrinkles around her neck and down her cheeks. Regardless, she is stunning. A mix of shiny silver and bright white strands draw one's eyes to her short hair. Deep blue eyes stand out from her pale skin, but are as mesmerizing as lake water. The casual black gown she wears only draws out her features more.

"Why does the smell of a corpse and the sound of cries creep up the tunnel?" She asks with a tilt of her head as though she already knows the answer.

The wheels of a wagon whine and squeak as the wardens remove my mess. My mother watches as they pass by and looks at me expectantly.

I know I should answer her, but I can't find the words. She can't find out where I was or about who I was just with.

"Come," she says and begins to walk from the dungeon.

We don't engage in conversation as we take the back staircase up to the North Tower where my quarters are. She walks ahead of me the entire way, but stops when we reach the door to my bedroom. I continue forward to open the wooden door for her, but before I can pull down the handle, she stops me.

"Bathe and I will wait here until you are done. Looking at you like this might trigger me," she says.

The wardens would hate me. She would kill until sunrise.

Nodding, I enter the dim room and shut the door behind me.

"Leonidas, you're hurt!" My thirteen-year old servant, Alec, exclaims. His short leather boots tap across the white wooden floor as he runs up to me and reaches out a hand that I briskly slap away.

"Too hasty," I hiss, critiquing him with stern eyes. "Use your senses."

Cupping the hand I hit with his other, he takes a single step back. His thin blond eyebrows scrunch together and wrinkle his forehead as his blue eyes assess me. I wait as his nose twitches and eyes rise to mine.

"You killed someone in the dungeon, and you-" he takes a few tentative steps back realizing I could relapse to my trigger-state. "Who triggered you?" he asks next.

Ignoring him, I begin to peel out of my clothes. He stands still as I toss the bloody fabric into his arms. As soon as I finish, he balls them up and tosses them into the flames of my fireplace at the center of the north wall.

My skin has dry flakes and streaks of blood in various places. When I finish glancing over myself, I find Alec also taking in the sight. Veins as thin as hair strands begin to darken under his eyes.