Solenne quickly went back to the party to entertain the guests.
"Did you drink her dry your majesty?" One from the council asked.
"Yes, but she will live" the Queen lied. Her mind was pacing as if she herself was, but she remembered she was in a room full of fellow vampires.
Hurting the girl like that wasn't suppose to happen, really she was never suppose to bring her here, but seeing the other vampires at the auction brought on a wave of something she had never felt before, the thought of them touching her or feeding from her destroyed her.
The fear the girl let off disgusted her, she was ashamed of herself for the first time.
"Why after all these years do you have a blood bag, do you plan to keep her?" The Queen sighed at the questions.
"If this is what I am going to be subjected to all evening then I shall retire to my room, enough is enough" she commanded, they had to be put in their place.
"I will do what I see fit with her and it is nothing to any of you" she finished her sentence and began to float around the room making everyone feel welcome before sitting on her throne to escape them all.
Tessa made a bee line towards the Queen, ready to pounce at any given moment, she was clouded with desire, part of her wished the Queen was her mate but the other half knew she wasn't hers at all.
But still, she chased after her.
"Your highness" she bowed, Solenne sighed.
Tessa walked behind the throne and began to massage the Queen's tense shoulders.
"You know I could make you feel much better" she purred, elongating every word to try and seduce the Queen.
"Not now Tessa" Solenne tried to shoo her away. She was in a foul mood.
"Will we be meeting in your room later?" Tessa had carried on trying to touch the Queen, but any touch that wasn't Aerilyn's was like being burned alive.
"I said not now" she erupted.
"Oh that human has got you so worked up over nothing" the Queen's eyes snapped towards Tessa, the red head knew she had got to her. How could a pesky little human have her so worked up, it didn't make sense.
Tessa had never seen the Queen react like this over a measly human.
She leaned in and pecked the Queen's cheek, Luanna arrived back into the room and appeared at the Queen's side in a flash.
She knew Solenne was going to do something she would regret and felt she had to protect her best friend. Matheus had done a good job at covering everything up and keeping everyone entertained.
All eyes had been on him for most of the night, this relieved some of the pressure on the Queen.
"You aren't wanted here Tessa, go be a mistress some where else, I'm sure there are plenty of men for you here" Luanna scowled.
Tessa's face was steaming with anger at her dismissal. She stormed off leaving the two of them alone.
"You know we need to talk about this Sol" Luanna used her nickname for the Queen.
Solenne nodded her head knowingly, tapping her hand against the chair.
"Not here though" she replied.
"I know, don't worry, let's just try and enjoy the night" they both smiled at each other.
Nilsa did not leave Aerilyn's door all night, she knew that the Queen had been in there every night but tonight she would confront her.
However, the Queen never showed up and so Nilsa was content with knowing Aerilyn would be okay for now, she had grown to like the girl, she didn't look at Nilsa like she was a monster and she made her realise humans weren't all that bad.
Night after night the Queen never appeared, she could neither smell her in the room anymore or had seen her lately, Nilsa suspected she had thrown herself into her work and was isolating herself in her office.
Aerilyn had confined herself to her room, isolating away from everyone. She would talk to Nilsa but it took a few days for her to really open up again. She mostly spent her days looking out the window or reading.
One morning Luanna came to see Aerilyn, she knocked on the door and walked in, this was the first time they had been alone, Nilsa stood outside to give them privacy. The vampire stood awkwardly, this was a first for her, she wanted to comfort the girl but didn't know how.
"Hi, how are you holding up, I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you are okay" she stepped closer into the room. Aerilyn pulled her hair behind her ears and sat back against the bed on alert, uneasy as to whether she would be attacked.
"I won't hurt you, don't worry, your blood does not have the same effect on me, I only have the best intentions" the vampire smiled with a toothy grin.
As she reached the bed she stayed still, she didn't want to intrude on the human or make her feel uncomfortable. "You can sit...if you'd like" Aerilyn managed a shy smile with a bit of a croaky voice.
Luanna sat down on the edge of the bed, this was the first time they had really spoken to each other.
"I am very sorry for what happened Aerilyn and I can tell you Solenne is really beating herself up about it" Aerilyn rolled her eyes but then had realised what she had done. Immediately her face paled thinking she would be punished.
Luanna chose to ignore it and carried on. "She feels awful about it but is too stubborn to come up here and apologise, or embarrassed actually. But anyway, I wanted you to know that if you need anything just ask and I will see to it" Aerilyn appreciated what the vampire was trying to do and was shocked at how civilised she was but that didn't take away from her being locked up in the castle.
"I don't give a shit how she feels, just a blood sucking vampire who thinks she can take what she wants when she wants, I'll be happy when she is dead or I am. So yes what I need is my freedom or my life to end" the tears fell down her face as she broke down.
Luanna reached over to wipe the tears forgetting that once she touched her she could read her thoughts. They both pulled away as they felt the shock of it. Luanna had read enough to know that the girl was confused by the hot and cold Queen, that she missed her brother, Ev and everyone else.
"Get away from me" Aerilyn started to get worked up knowing she had read her thoughts. Nilsa entered the room. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I will leave you to it and again I'm sorry for everything" Luanna cowered her head in shame.
Nilsa knew something was going on for Luanna to have got involved. She had already half figured it out but now this had just sealed what she first thought.
Nilsa walked over to the bed and sat down "I'm sure she didn't mean to, she's actually one of the good guys" trying to cheer her up.
Aerilyn wiped her tears away and headed into the bathroom to sort her face out, as she looked up into the mirror she could see the marks around her neck were all bruised, even where the collar had pressed against her, that damn collar, she wanted it off.
"I know, but doesn't make it any better, I'm still trapped up here with a collar on arent I" she whispered.
Solenne stayed away from the girl, not even staying with her through the night, she couldn't believe what she had done, realisation had kicked in. She almost killed her.
Nilsa had checked on Aerilyn and stayed with her most of the time, it killed Solenne that it wasn't her, but she didn't deserve it. As she was walking down the corridor she bumped into Nilsa, Nilsa had kept things formal since and bowed "your majesty".
Solenne ignored it and instead asked "is she okay?" The worry etched in her face. Of course she could hear her heart beat no matter where she was in the castle and hear her laughs and conversation, but she wanted to be the one making her feel that way.
"Yes, but you could always go and check on her yourself, you know she is yours after all" Solenne frowned at the last comment.
"I don't think that's a good idea she is probably scared of me, I don't want to make it worse" Nilsa was impatient, she had plenty of things to be doing that didn't involve sorting out the Queen's relationship issues.
"I don't mean to be frank, but in order for her to feel the bond you actually need to get to know her" Nilsa smirked and walked off, she knew.
She left the Queen speechless for once in her life, her jaw dropped, but if she knew that meant her relationship was purely of a friendship base and that gave the Queen hope.
Solenne wondered how many other vampires had figured it out, it couldn't get out and that worried her, she was worried about the girl and her mortality, how fragile humans were and mostly how unaccepting Aerilyn is of the Queen.
She had to turn things around.