The Royal Palace of Port Cressida
His Majesty King Casper I
"We found her."
I took the tablet from my head of security. I examined the image of a young woman standing in front of a run-down building, wielding a makeshift sign that read 'SAVE OUR COMMUNITY CENTER".
My heart tightened as a mixture of relief and joy washed over me. Finally, after months of searching, I'd found her.
"Is there a husband or a boyfriend on the scene?" I asked.
"She has no partner or living family. No one would miss her if we were to pick her up now. With your permission, I would like to send a unit out to bring her back here and- "
"No. Not yet."
"You must claim her. The sooner, the better."
"I'm not going to make the same mistakes my brother made."
"Your brother was never King."
I ignored Nico's remark and zoomed in on the image of my bride.
She was exactly how I remembered her.
"What's her name?" I asked.
"Sophie Reese," Nico replied.
"Sophie," I echoed.
I'd met Sophie in a vision five years ago. I was lying chained to a concrete floor, half-mad from hunger and loneliness. The blackness gave way to a bluesy grey mist that disappeared to reveal a large twisted black tree.
The mist pooled and swirled around the tree, and through it, I could make out the faint silhouette of a woman in a white dress.
I knew this woman - I knew her even though I had never met her.
It was Sophie.
My mate.
For the first time in years, I began to fight back against the chains that held me. In my mind's eye, I could see her waiting there. She had no idea, but she was destined to be there in that spot, at that exact time, just for me.
The mist cleared a little, and I saw her brown hair moving gently in the breeze. My body burned for her. I wanted to reach out and drag my fingers through that hair. She was beautiful, and she was all mine...
I pulled at my chains harder.
The night of my claiming was here, and my bride was waiting for me under the hangman's tree. I needed to get to her before she disappeared. But I could not let her go. My fangs ached to claim her. They dropped into my mouth as images of me drinking from her beautiful neck danced in front of my eyes.
She was made for me and only me.
I had to get to her.
She turned her face towards me, and I saw her large earthy brown eyes looking straight at me like she could see me standing in front of her. I felt a tiny ember of hope ignite in my heart - maybe if she could see me, she might come and rescue me...
But then, the time finally caught up with me.
The church bell rang out its first chime.
My bride looked away from me. I watched her soft lips move as she silently counted down the church bells as they tolled midnight. And when the last bell finished, she turned her back towards me and left.
I remember screaming in agony.
She had been right there in front of me. My bride, my mate, the one who was destined to complete me.
In hindsight, there was something bittersweet about losing her that night. Although it nearly destroyed me to see her walk away from what should have been our wedding night, I did get to see her. I soon found that no matter how grim my circumstances were in that miserable cell, just knowing she was out there waiting for me gave me enough hope to keep me clinging on.
Even now, two years after my liberation from that prison cell, she is always in my thoughts. I want to find her and claim her, but my search so far has been unsuccessful. I thought that becoming King might help, but without a name or a picture, all the resources and manpower in Port Cressida could not help me find her.
But now I'd found her, finally.