It was about 7 o'clock when Aerilyn felt her tummy rumble, she opened the door to speak to the guards, but no one was there, that was odd, she was going to ask them if she could grab a snack and some water.
In fact, she had never tried the door before out of how scared she was and had thought it would be locked anyway.
She tried to remember the way to the kitchen but heard voices, she came closer to the door and opened it slightly, trying to listen to what was going on. Someone sensing her, pulled the door open and she almost fell flat on her face.
"What do we have here, a snack" A leechy old looking vampire spoke as he saw her in her silk night dress, Aerilyn recoiled into herself as she had stumbled upon a party that she had clearly not been invited too.
His hands were roaming her body, groping her and gripping her.
There was no escape.
Another vampire who was stood next to him chipped in "she smells out of this world, lets have a taste"
He came over and sniffed her neck, his fangs coming out as he licked her neck.
The girl cringed and tried to escape their grip.
A young man with blonde hair approached cautiously but swiftly as the old man lay his hands on Aerilyn.
"I'm afraid she is off limits General, this is the Queen's personal blood bag and pet" he spoke.
At this others looked shocked "the Queen doesn't participate in those types of things I am sure she will not mind if I have a drink, she is making me rather thirsty" He shook his head at the blonde.
"I think you will find she is wearing the Queen's collar" at this they all looked at Aerilyn's neck, the old man pushed her hair to the side to have a look.
"Then why hasn't she drank from her, or used her for pleasure, I smell nothing on her and I see nothing on her" he spoke arrogantly.
"She is mine General, now pass my pet here, no one is to touch her" those who were near went quiet as they watched the interaction.
The Queen had approached from behind and Aerilyn was yet to see her, she had to keep her head down as it was a formal event. The general let go of the girl and pushed her towards The Queen making her fall onto her knees.
Aerilyn felt a prescience next to her, she could see her shoes, she wore an elegant pair of heels and a forest green dress that looked fit for royalty, and there was Aerilyn just wearing her nightdress, which by the way was silk, low cut and short, not what you wanted to be wearing around vampires, her hair was long and flowing to the side.
The Queen simply held her hand out for Aerilyn to take, the girl was unsure whether to take it but they were in front of everyone, it would be rude not too and she didn't want to be punished.
Her hands were surprisingly warmer than Aerilyn had expected for a vampire, she felt a tingle shoot up her spine as she held her hand, the Queen was surprisingly gentle with the girl, careful not to squeeze too hard.
Aerilyn wanted to look up at her face, she really wanted to but couldn't, stupid rules. "You should keep a better eye on your belongings your majesty" the General commented.
"I keep an eye on my belongings just fine" she replied curtly. Aerilyn stood awkwardly next to the Queen who hadn't let go of her hands yet. The emotions Aerilyn felt were overwhelming her and her heart was beating rapidly.
Aerilyn waited to be berated for leaving her room but it didn't happen.
"Your majesty, the food shall be served" a servant announced and bowed.
Aerilyn pulled her hand away from the Queen, not liking the way it was making her feel, she needed to get back to her bedroom.
Everyone started to leave the room, at this point Aerilyn noticed there were a lot of blood slaves with the vampires, it hurt her heart to see them all, so young and lifeless. Most of them had left the room and the girl thought she could escape, she turned around to start walking away, but a guard grabbed her and pushed her back.
"How dare you turn your back on your Queen" a guard said, ready to beat her.
"My Queen?" Aerilyn laughed, she was definitely not her Queen. The guard kicked the human girl to her knees for the comment, that hurt.
The Queen was not happy at all, she dismissed the guard.
"So you thought you could try and escape" her voice lathered with anger as she circled Aerilyn, she had to keep her head down, her heart was racing and she was scared.
"No" Aerilyn replied curtly.
"No what?" The Queen was an impatient woman and had no time for this, she didn't even want to be at the party as it was.
Aerilyn found Solenne to be so hot and cold with her that she couldn't make sense of it.
"No your majesty" she spoke timidly.
"Then what were you doing crawling around my castle at this time?" Solenne tapped her foot impatiently, Aerilyn could feel the Queen's glare burning into her.
"I was hungry, your majesty" Aerilyn mumbled.
The Queen could tell that the girl was telling the truth because of her intuition and by the sound of her heart beat.
"Well, I cannot keep my guests waiting, you will accompany me, they are now all too curious about my new pet" the Queen declared, her eyes never leaving Aerilyn.
It was hard to not look anyone in the eye when she had been so use to looking at friends and family directly.
"I would rather just go back to my room, your majesty" Aerilyn said.
"This wasn't a negotiation" Solenne turned and began to walk to the next room to dine with the others, the guards forced Aerilyn to follow.
As she walked in, she couldn't believe what was happening. Their pets were sat on either their lap to feed them blood or on the floor next to them, they were so obedient it was degrading.
The Queen went to the head of the table, as she was in front of Aerilyn, the girl was able to have a good look at her, she had her crown on and her dress was like nothing she had ever seen, this left her feeling scared at this moment, fear coursed through her.
Aerilyn was brought around to the Queen's side, a guard pulled out a chair for her and she sat down, saying hello to those sat nearest her.
Where was Aerilyn to sit? The Queen's brother was to her right and there was a woman to her left, that is when she saw Pax and Eamon sat on the floor.
"Sit" Solenne commanded, pointing to a spot on the floor next to her. Aerilyn looked at how the other pets were sat on their knees, it must have been painful to be like that for hours upon end, they have had practice yet she was so new to this.
Having no choice she got down on her knees and kept her head down as they all spoke, with her hands neatly in her lap.
"Are you sure you're pet can handle this, she is too new to it all" a woman to the left of her spoke, she had red hair, blue eyes and pale skin.
"Yes Luanna, she can handle it" Everything was starting to make sense, now Aerilyn knew who people were, she carried on looking around, watching them drink from the wrists of the slaves, the slaves were fainting and in a state.
Would she drink from Aerilyn tonight? Her heart raced at the thought, tears began to fall down her face, there was a boy who reminded her of her brother, she couldn't take her eyes off of him, he was delirious because of the amount of blood that had been taken from him, he was sat next to the general.
"Calm your heart" Solenne quietly said.
The Queen had noticed her change in behaviour, she was sad and upset, how she wanted to wipe those tears away but she couldn't. Solenne knew who the girl was looking at, she almost felt jealous that he held all of her attention.
Aerilyn couldn't take her eyes off of the boy, did she know him?
"Quite a curious soul she is" Luanna spoke.
"Yes, you should have told us you had a pet and introduced us properly" her brother argued.
"She wasn't ready as Nilsa kept telling me" Aerilyn's ears twigged at Nilsa's named, she had wondered where Nilsa was. The guards must have been taken off of her door to patrol the castle whilst this event was on.
"What is her name" Luanna approached bending down to the human girl.
"Aerilyn" the Queen spoke, her voice wavering ever so slightly. It was the first time Aerilyn had ever heard her the Queen use her name.
As she approached Aerilyn tried to move away like a fox chasing a chicken, but ended up closer to the Queen in doing so, up against her chair, nudging the Queen's legs. If this had been anyone else Solenne would have gone mad at the pure disobedience, but she felt comfort with the girl touching her legs unknowingly.
"It's okay, I won't hurt you, it's nice to meet you, I'm the Queen's best friend" Luanna spoke softly.
"That's enough" Solenne spoke, noticing her pets uncomfortableness.
"Yeah if she touches you she can read your thoughts" her brother laughed.
"I'm not going to read her thoughts you muppet, you really shouldn't be so cold Solenne, you need to get laid" they both laughed at that but Solenne sat there ignoring them.
The conversation soon changed and they were talking with the others about politics, the resistance and war. Aerilyn shut off at that point and was in her own head space because her legs had started to go numb.