Going back to class after everything that happened felt bizarre. Even more bizarre, because I willingly chose to sit next to Claude in every class we had together. None of us had faced any of the students since the Leecher attack, and an amazing number of them wanted to know the details. Suddenly I wasn't interesting because I was a human; I was interesting because I'd fought a Leecher to protect the prince.
I didn't know if the attention was better or worse for me because of that. Fortunately, Claude's presence still repelled the other students, so sticking to him kept too many from straying too close. I didn't like the idea of celebrating killing the Leecher, or seeing the tale as heroic. We almost died. Adora had to kill him to save us. It was horrible.
Although, I didn't think the eyepatch helped. It probably made me look weathered, or something equally as curiosity inducing.
The teachers, on the other hand, didn't care about our clash with the Leecher. They simply piled on more work that we'd missed over the week. At least Ms. Maharaj mercifully offered us after class office hours so she could go over the work we missed, which I jumped on immediately. I'd been too focused on everything else to study diligently, and the grades I'd been shown showed it. Part of the peace treaty agreement was for me to keep up my grades. No matter what else was going on, I still needed to fulfill that role too.
Unfortunately, so did Claude.
So, on Wednesday when I entered the classroom for the supplemental class, Claude was already sitting at one of the desks, posture prim and proper. I nearly dropped my bookbag. "Why are you here?"
"Why do you think I'm here?"
"Shouldn't you know this stuff already?" I asked. "It's your history. Aren't you going to become the king? How will you manage that?"
"Shouldn't you know this stuff already? It's your enemies' history. Aren't you planning to bridge the gap between us and find peace? How will you manage that?" he retorted.
I slowly lowered myself into the seat next to him, hating the expectant look on his face, but not wanting to give into it. "Yeah. Well. Studying isn't my strong suit."
"And what exactly is your strong suit?"
I thought about it for a moment. Then thought about it for a minute more. Was there anything I was particularly good at?
"Nothing comes to mind?" Claude pressed. "I suppose that's to be expected."
I narrowed my eyes at him. Was he trying to start a fight with me? "Actually, I've thought of one. My strong suit is saving helpless princes from dumpsters."
He scowled and adjusted his body so he was turned away from me. I took out my notebook, satisfied with myself. Maybe that wasn't a fair response, considering that really hadn't been Claude's fault, but... oh well.
"Hello everyone," Ms. Maharaj greeted as she came into the room, then paused. "Where are the others?"
"San and Adora stayed after with Lietz today," I told her.
"It's just you two, then?" she asked.
"Unfortunately," Claude muttered.
She raised her eyebrows at him but didn't comment. "Well, it'll be easier for me to get to all your questions if it's just you two. I'll offer them another time to catch up. You don't need help in English, Cleo?"
I shook my head. "No, the course is one I've already done in my home school. But history is different. We, er, we are told different sides."
"Yes, we are," she agreed. "I'm interested in human history as well. I'm glad you seem to be eager to learn about ours."
"Yeah, well..." I didn't know how much to say. All I've learned from my father could be lies. I didn't know what the truth was on our side of history, either. I thought I'd had, but now I realized I knew nothing. I had to learn as much as I could. "I just want to know both sides and see them from an unbiased standpoint."
"You would make a great historian," she noted.
I shook my head. "No, I don't think so. I'm already not doing well in this class. And I have to keep up good grades because of the peace treaty."
"You're doing a great job, Cleo. For someone so young with so much responsibility, it's so inspiring to see you work hard to uphold it," she told me, smiling.
"Ah, I'm not really doing much..." In fact, I was pretty sure I was causing more trouble than helping.
"You are. You might miss the whispering of students, but I don't."
"What do you mean?"
"The students that you didn't have expelled, saving the prince's life from the Leecher, chasing down the intruder intent on harming him," she listed, ticking off her fingers. "All these are causing the students' opinions of you to begin to change."
They were? Just because of that? "I thought they don't like Claude," I said without really thinking. But why would they be so impressed if they didn't care?
"And where did you get that idea?" Claude asked dryly.
I turned to him. "The fact they refuse to go to class with you? And avoid you like you have some kind of plague?"
"They're simply intimidated by me," he said.
"That means they fear you."
He gave me a flat look. "They don't fear me. They hold a healthy amount of respect for me."
"That's not the way I see it."
"Not that I particularly care about how you view it but enlighten me. How do you see it?"
"Intimidation isn't respect," I said. "Or a good thing in this kind of setting. Especially for a leader. Fear is forced, respect is earned."
A tick jumped in Claude's jaw. "And since when are you so well versed in such topics? Do not project your own feelings about your father into my situation. His intimidation is a tactic to ensure obedience."
"And do you really think yours isn't?" I argued. "I'm not trying to start a fight with you, but all intimidation is to ensure obedience. I don't think you're doing it on purpose, but intimidation leads to an each-to-their-own mindset. It becomes about worrying only for yourself and surviving, not working together to find alternatives to an issue, or to change an unfair situation."
Claude didn't say anything for a moment. Ms. Maharaj looked between us, leaning against her desk, considering. "Cleo, did you know that King Cyrios ruled with such tactics you mentioned?" she asked.
I shook my head, slightly afraid to turn my attention away from Claude. I half expected him to snap my neck. "No, I don't know much about his rule."
"He was a problematic ruler to the end. As was his son, King Caelum. I am sure you know the first Blood War started."
"Yes. It's when the first faction of vampire hunters was established and took a stand against the vampires that threatened them."
"Don't you mean when those hunters murdered entire villages of innocent vampires in cold blood because they became power-hungry?" Claude cut in.
"Vampires killed just as many innocent humans," I said, not combatively, just matter-of-factly. "But we had no way to protect ourselves until hunters stepped up. Vampires reigned over both lands for years before that."
"Humans have always had a way to protect themselves. If they didn't, you wouldn't exist today. We would have wiped you out years ago. Hunters formed because they wanted to take over the world and erase vampires from existence."
"They wanted to protect themselves. No one wants to eradicate vampires."
"Your father does."
"No, he doesn't," I said, but my voice lost its strength, betraying my lack of confidence in them.
Ms. Maharaj cleared her throat. "I don't mind you two having debates, but let's remain level-headed and polite."
"You brought it up," Claude told her, sounding annoyed.
"I brought up King Cyrios because our lessons have been on him and your father and you're here to catch up, right? Cleo created a nice leeway into it."
Claude stilled and didn't argue further.
"She has a point which I've brought up in class," Ms. Maharaj continued. "The way they ruled caused turmoil between even ourselves. They stopped any talks of creating peace between humans and vampires. They intimidated every vampire to get them to agree with them. To keep a never-ending war going. And they planned to pass that sentiment down to every ruler, including you."
"I would never be like them," Claude said through gritted teeth.
"Then you should listen to Cleo's point," she responded. "King Caelum followed in the footsteps of King Cyrios for his rule. He did not have the trust of the kingdom, he only had their fear. With the threat of the hunters, the rising rumors of the Levant family's cruelty, and the lack of rational decisions by the monarchs, it's no wonder that the hunters achieved their goal in the end during both wars. The first, banishing vampires to their own territory, and second, creating the peace treaty on their terms. Everyone always questions how Silas Levant has such control over both vampires and hunters, but never wants to think about why."
I had only heard terrible things about both Cyrios and Caelum, but never would have thought any vampires shared the same opinion. Many battles were lost on the vampires' end because of their kings' over-arrogance. And now that I knew, my heart sunk. Because those vampires who simply followed their kings' orders probably had no chance to survive to begin with. Fearing for their lives, they attacked irrationally, without watching each other's backs. And my father knew to take advantage of it, as did my grandfather before him.
"Only having the same ideals as your family when you're young is to be expected," Ms. Maharaj said, breaking me from my thoughts. "You don't know better. You don't know the world yet. But as you grow, as you see things through your own eyes, you begin making your own decisions. You learn history and see mistakes and think of how not to repeat them. I am sure you both can relate to that."
I took a peek at Claude. His gaze met mine. I quickly faced our teacher again. "Yes. I can."
"I can, too," Claude admitted begrudgingly.
"You haven't even started your rule yet, Claude," Ms. Maharaj said. "It's not too late to start gaining respect and trust from your peers. Show them that you won't follow in footprints you don't want to fit into. And having Cleo here is a great way to start creating relations that will shape the future of vampires and hunters. No one can say which side is right when we both have our reasons. It's not black and white like that. That's why I believe one day we will be able to achieve peace between us. And I think you two share the same hope, correct?"
I couldn't help but think again of how Kaz had said Claude and I were more alike than we thought. I would have never guessed that Claude's family life was nothing less than perfect. He was royalty, after all. I would have never thought he felt the same way about his father that I felt about mine.
"Do you really think it's possible?" I asked Ms. Maharaj. "That we can bring about such a change in the future? After all the terrible things that have happened?"
"What's already done cannot be altered. But, the future is yours to mold," she answered. "I'm looking forward to what it holds."
The future is mine to mold...
"Don't inflate her ego too much, Ms. Maharaj. She still has a lot to work on before we can even begin working toward our goals."
My mouth fell open and I turned to Claude. "What? Like what?"
He stared pointedly at my arms. "You know what."
He still thought I was weak? I crossed my arms over my chest. "I am pretty sure I proved to you that I could lift you just the other day. Do you need a reminder? I don't mind showing you again."
"Depends on which part you want to remind me about."
"Which part—" I scowled at him when I realize he was hinting at our position on the bed. "You are so annoying."
"I've never heard that before."
It irritated me to think that was probably true. Who could get away with calling the future prince annoying? Especially considering most of the student body went into a state of alarm just by seeing him. "Yeah, well. Now you have. And it's true."
Ms. Maharaj laughed and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry."
Claude frowned at her. "What's so amusing?"
"Nothing, nothing. I'm just happy to see you two getting along so well."
Is this what she thought getting along was? "Uh..."
"You see, I've known our prince since he was a very small child and I have never seen him banter with anyone like this before. Especially a girl—"
"Ms. Maharaj," Claude snapped.
She mimed zipping her lips shut. "Oops. I'll be quiet now."
I stared between them both, amused. That was surprising. Claude had a close relationship with her? I wanted to ask how that came about, but it wasn't really my business. She seemed like she would be a good influence on him. Did she grow close to him because he grew up without his parents around? His father dead, his mother imprisoned. I found myself wishing that was the case. Someone Claude had to lean on growing up.
Even though my family wasn't perfect, they were there. I frowned, watching Claude as he and Ms. Maharaj made faces at each other. It was easy to forget that Claude was my age and that we were both still children, forced to grow up faster because of our positions.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
I snapped out of my thoughts, noticing Claude was staring back at me now. "No reason," I got out, twisting my body to face the front of the room. "Should we get back to studying? We've already used up so much time."
Ms. Maharaj nodded. "Yes, of course."
By the time the office hours ended, both Claude and I had gotten a good start to our makeup work. My thoughts had returned back to the fact that there had been so much turmoil between vampires themselves, which led to my father and the other hunters easily having the advantage of them. All this time I'd thought of my father as some super-being... and he no doubt thought of himself as the same. But what would have happened if there had been a competent leader during the war? What if Claude had been in charge back then? Would the war still have been won by the hunters?
I couldn't get it out of my head, even as we headed out. Because suddenly the idea of taking my father from his position didn't seem quite as impossible as it did before.
"Cleo."
I jumped at the sound of my name being called. I looked at Claude, but he was glaring past me. I twisted to see Felix approaching us. My heart skipped a beat as I remembered Kaz's warning to not let Claude know about whatever I had going with Felix. This was terrible timing.
"What are you doing here?" Claude demanded.
"I wasn't speaking to you, was I?" Felix responded, not even looking at him. "Can we talk for a moment, Cleo?"
"Uh," I said, my mouth going dry. "I'm kind of busy at the moment."
"Are you?" he said skeptically.
"Um—"
"What reason would you even have to talk to her?" Claude cut in.
"That's none of your concern."
I grimaced inwardly, hating being stuck between these two. I didn't know what beef they had, but I didn't want to be a part of it. Still, it would be rude to just ignore Felix. But the last time we were together it ended on such an awkward note. And it wasn't my fault. "Sorry, we have to go," I told Felix, grabbing Claude's arm and trying to hurry away.
A hand enclosed around my wrist and pulled me to a stop. "Wait a second, Cleo. I'm just want to talk."
"Not now, Felix," I said, trying not to groan.
"Are you still mad about before?"
Ugh. This wasn't going that well. I tried to tug my wrist free. "We can talk about this later."
"I just need five minutes, that's it," Felix argued.
Claude stepped past me, grabbing Felix's arm, wrapping his fingers tightly around it. "Let go of her before I make you."
Felix's lip curled up as he turned his attention to Claude, still not releasing me. "Did you miss where I said this doesn't concern you?"
"You think I would walk away and leave you alone with her? Did you forget I know you?"
A flicker of humor came to Felix's face. "I do believe Cleo knows me better than you. And I'm sure she is more than comfortable staying with me than going anywhere with you."
What the hell was going on right now? What was this? I couldn't even find words. Was Felix trying to provoke Claude? And what was Claude's issue with Felix? And why were they using me as fodder?
Claude's jaw tightened. "What are you talking about?"
"Why don't you ask her? I'd say we know each other quite... intimately."
My eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Okay. That was enough. Felix kept digging me deeper and deeper into a grave that I didn't know would hold. "Fine!" I said quickly. "I'll come with you, Felix."
A smug smile crossed Felix's face and he let go of me. "I'll make it worth it."
My face flamed and I hated that I couldn't control it. He was doing it on purpose. Why? For what reason?
Claude still didn't release his grasp on Felix. If anything, it grew tighter. "What do you mean by that?"
"What do you think, Prince?"
"Felix," I said through gritted teeth. "Stop it."
"If he would be so kind to let me go, then..."
For a moment I thought Claude would refuse, or perhaps use his Sway to bring Felix to his knees, but he eventually released his grip on Felix and stepped back. "Watch yourself," he said coldly and I didn't know if that was directed toward Felix or myself.
I refused to meet his gaze as he twisted on his heel and strode away from us. A heaviness settled in my gut. I almost felt... guilty. But why would I feel guilty? I didn't do anything wrong. Claude couldn't be angry with me for having friends. But then why did I feel like I was betraying him in some way?
Felix moved closer to me, holding out his arms as if he were going to hug me. I stepped back, frowning at him. "Why did you do that?"
"Do what?"
I gestured with my hands. "You know... insinuate that, or whatever."
"Insinuate?" Felix repeated, eyebrows furrowing. "What? Are you ashamed of what we've done together?"
"No," I said. "But when you put it that way, it's just..."
"It's just what? You don't want your new precious pal to know about us?" he asked, voice taking on an edge.
I met Felix's blue gaze, pressing my lips together. "And if I didn't? What would you do?"
"If you're that curious, you can find out."
"What do you mean—"
"I mean there are ways I can leave a mark," he said, lifting his hand and brushing the hair on my neck away.
My pulse sky-rocketed and I pushed his hand away. "Don't even joke about that, Felix. It's not funny."
He cupped the back of my neck with his hand. "I'm not referring to drinking your blood, Cleo."
"Huh?"
He smirked, rubbing his thumb against my skin, causing goosebumps to form. "I'd be willing to show you what I mean, if you want."
My skin crawled and I wanted to back away, but his hold on me kept me still. "Stop it, Felix."
"Stop what?"
"I know what you're doing. Claude is gone. So, stop. I don't appreciate you trying to use me to incite him. Especially not in this way."
"He's never given me such a reaction before, though. I wonder why that is."
Claude had barely even given him a reaction. What was Felix talking about? I ducked out of Felix's hold, hugging my arms to myself. "What is up between you two?"
"I could ask the same of you. Why do you feel the need to hide our relationship with him?"
"Because I don't have a death wish," I said. "I don't know why you two hate each other, but I don't want to get involved. It's better just to keep my relationships with each of you separate."
"What relationship do you have with him? Why do you even want one?"
"Felix, he's going to be the future vampire king. I need to work with him. You know I do. And... he's not really that bad of a guy," I mumbled.
Felix's face hardened. "Really?"
"Really."
"What is your plan? To try and build a new future with him? Does he even know that you're going behind his back?"
"What do you mean?"
"I heard what your father said."
"What—"
"That's why I wanted to talk to you, Cleo."
"Were you listening in on me?" I said, my voice raising a pitch. How much had he heard? What had he heard?
"I told you that would happen," he said, ignoring my questions. "I warned you. Did you really expect any other response from your father?"
I balled my hands into fists, my heart sinking. "So, you came to talk to me just to say I told you so? Not to apologize for your attitude toward me before?"
"What attitude? I was being realistic."
"Wow."
"What, Cleo? Would you rather have me fed you pretty lies when I knew there was no good outcome in that situation?"
I swallowed hard, hating the feeling of embarrassment sweeping over me. "Yeah. You were right. Congratulations, Felix. I hope you're happy that it turned out the way you thought it would so you could shove it in my face."
Felix's face fell at my words. "Cleo. No. That's not—"
"I don't think we're ready to talk yet," I told him, attempting to push past him.
He blocked my way. "Why are you mad? I just didn't want you to get hurt."
"And you thought hurting me in a different way was a solution to that?" I shot back at him.
"How did I hurt you?"
"By having absolutely no belief in me and then rubbing it in my face that you were right. Even Claude believed in me," I said as the realization hit me. Felix had only been negative. But Claude had encouraged me... even though he probably shared the same thoughts as Felix. That it wouldn't go well. But he had still supported my attempt.
"I'm the bad guy because I didn't want to give you false hope?" Felix said in disbelief.
"I didn't say you were the bad guy."
"Then what are you trying to say?"
"I just told you, Felix."
When I attempted to walk around him again, he grabbed my arm, pulling me back to him. "Stop trying to walk away, Cleo. We're having a conversation."
In return, I reached out and grabbed his upper arm, digging my nails into his skin.
He jerked back, letting me go. "Ow."
"That doesn't feel so nice, does it? Stop grabbing me."
Felix rubbed his arm, looking a little bit ashamed, and I felt a swell of satisfaction. I decided to stay, waiting for him to speak again. He ran a hand over his forehead. "I'm sorry. Seeing Claude's face just pisses me off. And I shouldn't have used you as bait for him. But seeing you two together also just..."
I blinked. "Wait. Were you jealous?"
"It seems so," he muttered.
"Oh. Wait. Really?" I asked.
"Why do you sound so excited?"
"I-I'm not," I denied, trying to keep blood from rushing over my cheeks. Jealous? Felix was jealous over me? Was that even possible?
Felix looked like he didn't believe me, but let it go. "I know that's not an excuse. And there is no excuse for my attitude that other morning. I just... The situation is just frustrating to me."
"Why, though? It's my family. And I know we're, um, close to each other," I said, clearing my throat. "But you don't know me that well. You don't need to get so mad on my behalf. Or worry so much. I can handle myself."
"But you don't know what your father is planning," he said, shaking his head.
"Are you saying you do?"
"What? No. I'm just saying I wish you could trust your family less."
"Trust my family less?" I repeated, my throat constricting. "It's my family. Could you—"
He smiled bitterly. "No. I quite literally couldn't."
I closed my eyes, hating myself. "I'm sorry, Felix."
"I'm beginning to understand how we're seeing this differently," he said. "I can't imagine having a family I would trust so much. And you can't imagine what it's like to have a family betray you."
"I know what everyone says about my father is true," I replied, biting my lip. "But I don't think anyone truly understands that I can't just... flip a switch. I can't hate him. He's all I've known for seventeen years. It just doesn't work like that. I can tell myself that he's done terrible things and I should hate him, but my heart won't listen. Am I such a terrible person for that?"
Felix's eyes softened and he reached out his hand again, this time placing it on my cheek gently. "No, Cleo. You're not. I keep giving you a hard time and I'm sorry."
I placed my hand over his and sighed, pressing my face into the soft skin of his palm. "I understand your frustration. I really do. But I wish you could have some faith in me."
"I do."
"Then prove it."
"I'll try to do that from now on, okay?" he said. "I don't want us to keep fighting like this."
"Us?"
"I don't want to keep putting my own feelings on you like this," he amended, smiling sheepishly. "And I want to help you."
I tilted my head to the side. "Help me with what?"
"Your mission."
"My mission?"
"Finding the hidden heir," he said.
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Let's pretend I didn't disappear for a few weeks there... I'm back now though lol.
I hope you enjoyed the chapters and look at these cute little anime renditions of our cute little cast!