Deva rose the next day with an incredible headache. Thoughts of her crazy night filled her head, and she realized she was still wearing the same clothes. She pushed back the covers and forced herself to shower and wash away at the nasty evidence of the night. Throwing on a pair of jeans and plaid shirt, she made her way towards her favorite part of the castle, the kitchen. Chef was already making food.
He smiled and laughed in his Italian way. "Bella you look like a dying pussycat."
"I feel like one too," she said sitting on the stool closest to him. He sat a plate in front of her that was filled with pancakes and gorged in syrup.
"Grazie." It only took her a few minutes to finish the whole plate, and when she was, chef handed her some pills. She took them and instantly felt a pain. She groaned.
"Is this the part where you vow never to drink again?"
"No," she replied washing down the pills with water. "The key is to always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me."
His jolly laugh filled the room. "Are you sure you're not Italian?"
"I might be." She slipped off the stool and fixed her appearance.
"Going somewhere?"
"I have some smooching to do." She wanted to thank Darius for checking up on her again and getting her safely into bed. His door was closed, but she didn't bother to knock. Walking in, she came face to face with a shirtless Darius. Her eyes shamelessly shot to his bare chest. His perfect defined abs were more tempting than she remembered. But she didn't look away or show any shame in admiring his physique openly.
"You know there's a door there for a reason," he playfully said interrupting her thoughts.
"Yes, but then I would have missed the chance to catch you half naked. Yeah, nope. I'm very satisfied with my entrance."
Using his speed, he stood in front of her in a flash. "I can think of a better way of satisfying you that involves my bed."
She swallowed with nervousness. "I think I'll pass," she walked around him to put some distance between their bodies. "Who knows what kind of skanks with STDs you have put there."
"Actually I don't bring any girls to my room. This is my private domain. But I am curious sweetheart, how did you find my room? Not that I'm complaining in any way."
Deva was brushing her fingers over the books on his shelves when she replied, "Jeffery gave me a tour of the castle my second day here. I know a few places."
"Aww and you specifically remembered my room."
She turned to him with a sweet grin. "I also know where Marcus and Lucian sleep." That seemed to stop him from smirking. "I came here to thank you for helping me last night. I know I wasn't exactly sober; so thank you for helping get me to bed safely."
"Anything for you sweetheart." He strutted across the room to his bed and pulled on a blue shirt. "You know sweetheart if being drunk puts your life at danger perhaps you should stop drinking."
"Hey I stop drinking......when I'm sleeping."
He chuckled. "Spoken like a true alcoholic."
"I'm not an alcoholic." She knew he only meant it as a joke but she couldn't help but yell back at him for that comment.
He quickly rushed to her side placing his hands on her shoulders. His eyes looked guilty and sorry. "I know you're not. I didn't mean that."
With her jaw clenched, she dropped her gaze to his black shoes.
"Deva last night you told me you hadn't always drank that much. What happened? What's wrong? What is making you drink so much to forget?"
"Nothing," she stepped back to get out of his grip. "It's none of your concern."
Darius closed the gap between them. "You are my concern." He lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to look at him. "I care about you a lot, and I don't want to see you in any pain."
"You shouldn't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look. I promise."
"I know you are, but all tough things crack eventually." His pleading eyes were filled with compassion. "Deva please just tell me. Is it us, this place?"
"Yes."
But he saw through her lie. "You can't lie to a prince of deceivers sweetheart." He leaned in placing his forehead against hers. "Please, tell me Deva. I want to help you."
"No one can help me now," her soft whisper was so broken and helpless that Darius was forced to pull away to look into her eyes.
"Deva-"
She cut him off. "Just drop it Dar, please. I don't want to talk about it." She pulled away making him drop his hands. "Not to you or anyone else."
It was killing him not knowing what it was she was trying so hard to hide, but he didn't want to force it out of her in her current state. She was too upset and hurting her now wouldn't do any good. He convinced himself he would get it out of her eventually.
"Did you paint this?" She asked staring at his painting of a waterfall landscape.
"Yes."
"It's beautiful. I knew you had to have some kind of artistic-ness from all the creative imagination you have to do in order to fabricate a dream."
"I want to show you something." He took her hand and led her to his closet towards the very back. There she noticed a secret door and he pushed it open. Inside was a rather large studio room filled with all sorts of paintings and sketch drawings covering the walls. The center table was filled will all types of brushes, paints, and chalks.
"Wow this room is incredible."
One painting in particular drew her attention. She crossed the room to get a better look. It showed a girl with no face standing by a window looking out. Outside the window was painted a huge tree with a dark figure leaning against it. Darius wasn't done with the painting; the girl and boy did not have faces yet.
"Why haven't you finished yet?"
"I just couldn't imagine the right faces for them."
"It reminds me of a story my dad used to tell me."
"Will you tell me how it went?" He asked hoping to distract her mind from their previous conversation. He didn't want her mad at him. She walked to the small couch in the corner and sat down, waiting for him to do the same.
Darius sat right next to her, their legs touching. She pulled her legs up and hugged them to her chest. He wondered if she pulled away because of his touch.
"When I was seven, my dad would tell me a story about this girl who would always receive a white rose on her birthday. The white rose was supposed to be magical and glow in the dark. It was also a symbol of promise and love. But she didn't know who it was from; so she asked her father. He told her it was from her prince who was waiting for her.
Waiting for her to grow up, waiting for her to understand that he was always there for her, waiting for her to love him just as much as he loved her. So the girl, on every birthday, would wait by the window, but he would never show. Even so, her white roses kept coming; they would never die. So by her nineteenth birthday, she had a collection of eighteen white roses. She waited by the window, and to her surprise, there he was. Her prince was standing by a tree with a white rose in his hand."
"What happened in the end? Did they live happily ever after?"
She shrugged. "Dad never said. I guess it's an unfinished story that needs to be continued. So muffin, it ends however you see fit."
He studied her face for a long while. "Were you like the girl, sweetheart, waiting for your long lost prince?"
"I think every girl waits for their prince charming at one point, but I got tired of waiting pretty fast."
"And now here you are in a castle with three identical looking princes who will perhaps make you their queen one day."
She rested her chin on her knees. "I am not your future queen," she said with much seriousness as possible.
"Why are you so against it?"
"Because I can't be. I feel it down inside me and know for a fact I am not and cannot be your queen."
"Are you afraid of being queen?"
She was silent. "In some ways yes. But you need the heart and will to be queen and rule a kingdom." She looked away. "And that is something I do not have."
"I think you do; you're just afraid to show it."
She got up. "Believe what you will," and walked away, leaving Darius with more unanswered question than he bargained for.
The girls were escorted into the grand ballroom for their next challenge. Deva had forgotten how beautiful and big it was as they walked inside. In the middle of the massive room stood the princes; all three wearing black shirts. Deva wondered what they were up to.
"Ladies today we will challenge your knowledge of how well you know our kingdom and its' history. You have all had a class on the topic; so let's find out who was paying attention."
When Deva was sick with her period and Darius was keeping her company, apparently the other girls were in class learning all about the vampire ways. Deva didn't need any catching up because she felt she knew plenty from all the vampire history books she read from the library.
"And after you've passed the history test it will all be about how well you know us. My brothers and I are wearing the same shirt and believe you should be able to tell us apart by now. First up will be Deana."
A girl with brunette hair walked up to the prince that was talking. He smiled warmly at her approach. "Now dear, can you tell me: if the King is not able to perform his duties, which has the authority to take charge? The queen, the princes, or the council?"
The girl looked like she was really contemplating the answer. "The queen, but with the guidance of her council."
He raised an intimidating brow. "Are you sure?
She gulped. "Yes my prince."
His smile widened. "Well done Deana. Now the second part of your challenge will be to ask myself, or one of my other brothers, one question. Something related to our interest or anything else to that nature. But you cannot ask us for our names. If you can at least get one of our names right you will win the challenge and be granted one request. But if you name all three of us correctly you can have two requests."
"A request of your choosing. Anything your little heart desires," one of the other princes said directing his stare at the group of girls.
Deana flashed them a weak smile as she stepped in front of them. "One question only?" She asked.
"Yes. Only one. And you ladies cannot ask the same question." They wanted to make the game as hard as possible for the girls.
She turned to the brother on her left. "What is your favorite color prince?"
He grinned. "Red."
"Then you're Prince Lucian." She smiled with pride. It was a very good question to ask easily winning her the challenge.
"Very good question my dear. And you are correct. Will you like to guess the others?"
She turned to the brother in the middle. "Marcus?"
"I am not. But you will still have your one request once the challenge has been finished. Please take a seat by the window."
Deana practically danced all the way there. The other girls had their turn. Every girl passed the first challenge, but when it came to distinguishing which brother was which, it was harder than it looked. From time to time, they used their vampire speed to switch positions throwing off the girls completely.
Julia was very close, but changed her answer last minute and lost the challenge. Deva knew what she wanted, what request she'd ask for. She refused to lose the challenge as she stepped up for her turn.
At this point, even she was confused at which prince was which, but she tried not to show it.
The prince in front of her greeted her with a cricked smile. "Deva can you tell me who the first ever vampire was and how he became so?"
The history questions they were asking the girls were all hard and difficult ones to answer if you did not know the facts. Deva remembered reading about the first vampire and the story quickly came to her.
"The first vampire was named Ambrogio. He was a traveler who fell in love with one of Apollo's followers, Selene. Apollo was furious and cursed him to always burn when under the sun. Ambrogio went to Hades begging for help so Hades took his soul and forced him to make a deal. He had to steal the silver bow from Artemis, the goddess of hunting and the moon. Ambrogio slowly gained her trust, and every night he would kill a swan and write Selene a love note with the blood and give the swan as sacrifice to Artemis. Ambrogio had no more arrows and begged Artemis for her bow. She gave it to him and he ran to Hades. Artemis cursed him to burn when touching silver making him drop the bow. He confessed everything to her, and she promised he could be with Selene but he would be cursed with immortality. He agreed, and they moved away. Selene grew old, and Ambrogio stayed frozen never changing. Artemis gave him one last gift."
Deva paused and scanned the brothers' faces. "He had to drink Selene's blood eventually killing her and with their blood combined he could produce others like him. Selene convinced him to do so and Artemis made Selene goddess of the moon so she could watch over her vampire children."
"You are correct my dear." He crossed his arms over his chest, and so did the other two. Knowing her knack for reading faces, they decided to make it as difficult as can be for her. They mimicked each other's moves and facial expressions. "You may ask your question now?"
She took a deep breath and walked to the brother in the middle, getting so close that she brushed against his chest. He smirked at her and by the specific curve of his lip she knew who it was.
"Marcus I don't believe that black does you justice."
He chuckled and kissed her cheek. "And how right you are my love."
She turned her heels to her left and stood in front of another prince. She curled her fingers in his hair while he tried to compose his features. "Now tell me prince is it the French or Germans I should stay away from?"
"Both. You're prone for disaster."
She giggled. "Oh Loosh you wound me. Truly you do." She dropped her hand and turned to the last brother. "That makes you muffin."
"Congratulations sweetheart you've won yourself two requests." He looked to the group of ladies. "You all may go now, except for Deana who also won the challenge."
The girls left, and Deana rushed to the princes' side.
"Who shall go first?"
"By all means, let the overjoyed one go first?" Deva retreated taking a seat on a wooden table. Deana quickly dove in to her request.
"I would like to have romantic dinners with both Prince Darius and Prince Lucian." She tried to say in the sweetest voice.
"I'm sure you would. Don't worry Marcus, I'll take you out on a romantic date." Deva said across from them. Marcus went to sit next to Deva while throwing his arm around her.
"You just can't resist me can you?" Marcus flattered himself.
"What can I say? You're just too darn good-looking pretty boy."
Darius and Lucian tired their best in hiding their irritation. "Deana, dear that is more like two requests. You will have to choose one of us."
Deana pouted. "Then I choose Darius."
"Nice choice, DD," Deva said, and Darius immediately turned his head towards her with a frown.
"If that is what you want Deana, I will come get you later on tonight." Deana exploded with joy and jumped into Darius' arms while kissing him full on the lips. Gently, he pushed her clinging body away from his own and took a step back. "You can go now Deana."
Deana bowed before leaving with a goofy smile plastered on her face. Both Lucian and Darius came towards Deva and Marcus' sitting positions.
"Now what is your request love?"
Deva stared them down with a serious look. She had to make them see, she had to make them let her go. "I want to go home."
Lucian groaned. "You know we can't do that baby doll."
"You guys said any request. Any." She stood up crossing her arms over her chest. "I want to go home."
"Anything but that sweetheart," Darius said with a bit of annoyance.
"Then you're all liars." She threw her hands to her sides. "I want to go home. I am nothing here. I am not your future queen. I know I'm not. I can't be."
"And why is that? Why is it so impossible for you to be queen?" Lucian asked hoping to get something out of her.
"I cannot rule a kingdom, let alone a vampire one. I am not fit to be queen, and I refuse to be queen. You can't make me be queen."
Darius moved in front of her distressed figure. "You will learn to be queen, and you will be privileged to be queen," he practically growled.
Deva refused to be intimidated by his harsh tone. "You cannot make me. I refuse to accept this. I refuse this kingdom, I refuse you three, I refuse the damn vampires. To hell with this place!" She shouted back and walked a short distance to get away from his closeness. "I am not meant for this place."
"Well you better damn get used to it," Darius blurted malice in every word.
She stared into their faces lingering on each of their eyes. She sensed a hidden conversation between them. They were holding something back, hiding something from her view. Deva felt like she already knew what it was. "You're never going to let me go home."
"No," Darius responded sternly.
"You will keep me here even after you've proclaimed your queen?" It was more of a statement, but it came out as a question.
"Yes, love." Marcus looked sad and guilty.
Deva felt hot tears run down her cheeks. "Why?" Her voice sounded broken.
"You're much too precious to lose. We have all agreed on keeping you here with us."
"Until you get bored of me," she spat back with venom.
Lucian took a step towards her, and she stepped back. "We will never get bored of you. We care about you deeply Deva. You will stay with us forever."
"NO! You cannot do this to me. Think of your future queen. It is not wise to keep me." She was getting desperate for anything to get her out of this situation.
"The queen will choose one of us, love." Once the three princes chose the girl best fitted to be queen she will then pick the brother she wants as a husband. The girl chosen as queen will have the power of choosing the future king.
Deva was starting to get sick. "You cannot do this to me. You're being selfish. Some princes you are, forcing a girl into eternal damnation. I do not wish to share the same fate as you."
"Sweetheart you have no choice."
"I hate you!!" She yelled. "You are nothing but nasty selfish creatures that do not think of anything other than yourselves. Neither of you are fit to be Kings."
"It's funny really, you calling us the nasty selfish creatures. Ever since you've arrived you've done nothing but criticize others." Marcus couldn't hold it in any longer. "How many girls here have you judged and assaulted verbally?" Not to mention his brothers.
She knew he was talking about her stereotyping the others. She knew it was wrong. She knew it was wrong to judge them as vampires when they did nothing to harm her. "It's how I protect myself. Do you think I like it?" It was the only way she could separate herself and not get attached to anyone. "I have to protect myself somehow."
"Deva we won't hurt you."
She was afraid to even look at them. "But you already are, by keeping me from my family."
Looking at their hard angry faces, she knew they wanted to put her in her place. She was wondering why they hadn't already. She was speaking out of line, yet it looked like they were holding their tongues. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and composed herself.
"My request will be for you all to leave me alone." She turned to leave, but quickly whispered, "And I want Julia to have my other request. I have no need for it."
The brothers did not try to stop her, even though it was killing them not to do something. They knew she needed time; she needed it to sink in. At least that was what they hoped she needed.
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