Aria's POV
I storm into the elders meeting room, furious because of my mother. Damon rushes in behind me, grabbing my hand.
"Elders, I come to you with news of the Queen." I say, trying to remember how I'm supposed to speak to the elders.
"Princess Aria, it is a pleasure to see you back in the castle." Elder Reed says.
"What is this news, Aria?" Elder Charles asks, he's the oldest of all the elders.
"My mother, The Queen, had the audacity to demolish The King's throne." I state, waiting for a response. A few gasps are heard throughout the room.
"Guards, bring me The Queen." Elder Charles roughly states, glaring at the guards.
"Princess Aria, do you know why she did such a thing?" Elder Gail asks, giving me a sympathetic look. She always seemed to feel bad for me and what my parent have done.
"She said 'He was never going to use it again' I don't know anything else." I say, starting to feel intimidated by the elders. I hear scream come from outside the door. Soon the door bursts open, two guards holding my struggling mother. They set her down next to me, leaving the room and closing the doors behind them.
"This is all your fault, I should have given you away, you will never be my daughter." My mother sneers in my face. This is nothing out of the usual, this was normal.
"Princess Aria and Alpha Damon, please return to your chambers." Elder Charles says, Damon and I quickly obey.
We walk out of the room and towards my bedroom. Damon seems to be fuming but trying to cover it up.
"What's wrong, Dam?" I ask, squeezing his hand.
"It's nothing." He says, but a growl slips through. I decided to try to get him open up when we get to my room. We just happen to arrive at my door, it feels foreign to be here. I slowly open the door and walk in. It's just as I left it, nothing seems to have changed. I see our suitcases next to the bed. Damon takes a seat on my loveseat in front of my bed. He seems to still be upset, I plop down next to him.
"Damon, please tell me what's wrong?" I say, grabbing his hand and rubbing his arm with the other. He blankly stares at the TV across from him.
"Your mother is so cruel." Damon says, finally opening up.
"I know."
"How did you grow up with her? How do you take her insults like nothing?" He asks, growling.
"Because they are nothing, her insults are my normal. I got used to it and try not to let it bother me." I say, I've never actually told anyone how I felt about my mother.
"Is your father like that?" Damon asks.
"Yeah, sometimes he was worse. I remember when I was younger, all I wanted was to impress my father. I pushed myself so hard, I finished my education at 13, I've read almost every book in the library, I learnt 3 languages, I learnt everything I could. But no matter what, I could never impress him." I say, a stray tear running down my cheek.
"Oh, Aria, I'm so sorry." Damon says, wrapping his arms around me.
"Today when I went to see him, he seemed so proud." I say "I feel like he's actually my father now."
Damon just holds me, I think that's all I needed right now, for him to hold me.
*one week later*
"Princess, we are going to have to speed up your training. We don't have much time till the coronation." My Royal instructor tells me, she's currently reviewing me on the royal laws. Let me catch you up on the past week: The Elders officially overthrew my mother of the throne, keeping her securely guarded in her chambers, leaving the throne empty until the coronation. Any serious matters that come to us, go straight to my father. Who is getting weaker everyday, I'm not sure how much longer he has left. Because the throne is now empty, Damon and I's coronation has now been moved up to two weeks from today. If my father passes away before the coronation date, Damon and I will be crowned King and Queen the day after.
"I know, Madam Elizabeth." I say, whilst getting fitted for my coronation dress. The seamstress is poking and measuring me, making me uncomfortable. Madam Elizabeth is very stressed over her two week deadline, I've hardly gotten a break from her. I keep getting quizzed and measured until I see my handsome mate walk into our room.
"Don't you look beautiful?" He smiles, walking over to give me a peck on the cheek. Over the past week, Damon and I have grown extremely close. I feel like I know everything about him and vise versa.
"Thank you, did you finish training for today?" I ask, flinching as I get poked with a needle.
"Yes, and your done too, you ladies may leave now." Damon says, both of them pack up their supplies and leave.
"I still had stuff to do with them, babe." I say, placing my coronation dress in the closet.
"I don't care, I wanted to spend time with you." He smiles, grabbing my waist and pulling me close to him. He leans down to kiss me, as our lips connect, I could tell this was a sweet peck. He held hunger and lust behind this kiss, and I loved it. I return the passion, running my finger through his hair as his hands run up and down my sides.
I feel him bite my lip, signaling he wants me to let him in. I decided to play with him a bit and deny his request. He continues to bite my lip and tries to force my mouth open, quickly getting frustrated. He suddenly gets fed up and his hands move down, and gives my ass a squeeze. Out of shock, I gasp, glaring at him. He takes this chance to kiss me again, his tongue taking advantage of my shock and exploring my mouth. Damon starts walking backwards, pulling me with him.
We soon fall back onto the bed, still making out. Damon rolls over, so that he is hovering above me. We continue making out, until Damon pulls away. Straddling my hips, he sits up and pulls his shirt off. His mouth-watering torso exposed to me, so close to me, makes me want mark him so bad. He leans back down, kissing my neck, finding my sweet spot. He kisses where he's supposed to mark me and I can't help but moan out-loud.
"Let mate mark you....."
I hear a strange voice in my head, like I had heard before. I wanted Damon to mark me, I wanted to truly become His. He keeps kissing and sucking on my neck, I can't hold back anymore.
"Oh, just mark me, Damon." I moan, throwing my head back. That's all it took for him, he plunges his canines into my skin. Immediately I feel a horrific pain, none like I've ever felt before. I scream, as Damon stills, holding his teeth in the mark. As seconds go by the pain slowly changes into pleasure, tingling erupts all over my body. Damon slowly pulls his teeth out, licking the wound. A mates saliva heals the mark, sealing it forever. Once it's sealed, Damon presses a quick kiss to it, before pulling back to look at me.
"Are you okay?" He asks, staring at me.
"I'm amazing, I feel incredible." I smile, pulling him down for a kiss. But we get interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Ignore it." Damon mumbles through the kiss, trying to start another make out session. I try to ignore it, focusing on Damon. Until another knock sounds, I need to answer it.
"I need to see who it is. It's probably just Maid Sarah" I say, pushing Damon off of me. I rush to the door, trying to fix my hair.
I open the door to see a guard, why is he here?
"Yes?" I ask, barely opening the door, so he could only see me, not my half-naked mate.
"I have urgent news, I regret to have to give you this but the King has sadly passed away a few minutes ago." He says, looking down. "We need you and your mate to make the announcement"
I stand there in shock, how could he have died so suddenly? The doctors said he had a month left. My father is dead.
"Thank you, you may leave now." I state, looking at the guard. I close the door, leaning against the back. I sink down to floor, staring at the wall.
"Baby, what wrong? Are you okay? Aria?" Damon rushes over to me, grabbing my hands. I look over at him, he looks so worried.
"My father is dead." I choke out, holding in my tears. "We have to make the announcement soon."
"Baby, come here, the announcement can wait." He says, pulling me into a hug. I sit in his arms for a little bit, just taking it all in.
"We need to announce his death, it can't wait. We're about to be King and Queen, we have duties now. Get ready." I firmly say, walking to closet. Leaving him on the ground, I feel bad for being rude but we have duties.
I quickly get dressed in the classic mourning gown, our kingdom has a tradition. The kingdom members and upcoming King wear black when a royal dies, but the upcoming Queen wear a classic white dress to represent how she is the strong hold of the kingdom. I walk into the bathroom to see Damon in an all black suit, styling his hair. I do my makeup and fix my hair, as I'm placing my tiara on my head, Damon comes up behind me. As he hugs me, he whispers:
"Are you sure you're okay, A?" Damon asks, that's the first times he's used that nickname. I know I wasn't okay, but I wasn't going to let that out yet. I'm going to stay strong until I'm safe in my own privacy.
"I'll be fine, let's just get this over with." I say, pulling Damon with me out of the room. We head to the Balcony, meeting Sarah and a few elders right outside of it. The Balcony was at the very front of the castle looking over the area the village was allowed into. I could hear the crowd standing outside of the doors leading to the Balcony.
"I'm sorry for your loss, Your Majesty's." Sarah says, bowing towards us.
"You do know what to say, Princess?" Elder Charles asks.
"Yes, I have it memorized." I say, going over the Royal death speech that I was required to memorize.
"Then you seem ready, Damon, if you would like to add anything you may." Elder Charles says, leading me to the Balcony. I stop right before the doors, the guards waiting for my signal to open then. I take a deep breath, trying to prepare myself for the crowd. Damon somehow sense my anxiety rising, as he grabs my hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. I lock eyes with him, I can see the concern in his eyes, the tears in my eyes pushing him to worry even more. I force a smile on my face while Damon grabs my chins to rub his thumb across my trembling lips. He pulls my head to him and places a kiss on my forehead, causing me to close my eyes as a stray tear slips out down my cheek.
As Damon pulls away, I look back up to him, he gives me a sad smile and wipes the tear away. He whispers "you've got this, you're so strong" to me, giving me a boost of confidence.
I signal the guards to open the doors, the crowd quiet downs as Damon and I slow walk into the Balcony. The whole village was here, waiting to hear my news, I feel my anxiety rising.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Royal Village, I come to you today with the terrible news of my father, King Richard of the Werewolf Kingdom's, death. He passed away from a rare sickness that could not be cured. We are all devastated from his death, but we must continue our life, as that is what he would wish for. We can not leave the throne empty, so tomorrow evening my mate and I's coronation will take place."
The crowd starts to cheer, causing my anxiety to skyrocket. I start to feel overwhelmed, I start hyperventilating. Damon notices and quickly takes over for me.
"We are glad you are pleased with our coronation, till tomorrow." He finishes, rushing me off the Balcony. As soon as I'm past the doors, I bolt to my bedroom.
Hyperventilating....
Almost blacking out.....
Having a anxiety attack.
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Word count: 2197