Iris felt pain, but not from the weapon piercing right through his skull, but in his shoulder and only from being tackled to the floor.
Iris was ready to push away the attacker, but when the person turned him over, words were already spewing out of his mouth.
"You again?!"
Kai lowered his eyebrows, his ocean eyes now navy and as dark as a treacherous sea. "Don't sound so happy, prince."
Iris was going to question the vampire but he abruptly leaped away from him to take down the one that attacked first.
A rogue vampire, slim and crazy eyed, hissed at Kai and attempted to attack. Iris watched as Kai effortlessly got behind the rogue, grabbed his head, and twisted it. Though that wasn't going to kill him, it would paralyze him.
Iris widened his eyes and looked up, staring at the dagger stabbed into the wall. His legs were wobbly as he stood up and he ripped the dagger from the wall.
"Hey!" He called out, getting Kai's attention. Iris threw him the dagger, perfectly as though he practiced, and Kai caught it. He gripped the rogue's hair and with one swipe, decapitated him. Iris grimaced as he watched the vampire's body twitch and jerk before falling onto the floor, blood oozing from his neck. Kai tossed its head off to the side and wiped the blade clean.
"Nice throw." He said and did a double take on Iris's expression. He studied the frozen prince with a tilt of his head. Iris had wide eyes, looking almost petrified.
Some sort of realization came over him and he pointed at that dead body.
"Oh...were you not supposed to see that?" Kai didn't know if that was a rule or not. The prince only turned sixteen a day ago, he didn't know if he could handle things like this yet.
Iris blinked out of his daze and directed his stare over at Kai. "What? No-I mean I could..it's..I'm not scared." He pushed himself off the wall and stood up straight, "I'm...impressed."
"Impressed?" Kai wiped the blade of the dagger again, as if subconsciously.
"Well, I've always known what you guys did-witnessed it even-but you made it look so easy." When Iris finished, he found himself standing right next to Kai. They were close to the same height, Iris's eyes stopped directly at the vampire's nose. Iris wished he could compare their builds, but Kai had a lot more muscle than him. It wasn't until Kai shuffled his feet did the prince realize he was staring at him. Technically they were both staring at each other, but Iris got more flustered.
He cleared his throat and looked around, his original task at hand suddenly coming back to him like a curling wave. Iris widened his eyes and jumped.
"My dad!"
Kai watched as Iris rushed to the stairs but he grabbed his elbow before he could fling himself down them.
"Whoa, wait! You shouldn't be out here. It's too dangerous for you."
"I have to find my dad." Iris protested and jerked away from Kai, even though his heart was freaking out at their interaction.
"The King is fine."
Iris paused on the first step down. He glanced at the vampire with narrowed eyes. "How do you know?"
"The King was our first priority. He is being escorted back as we speak."
"How many rogues were there?"
"Four attacked the mansion. I took care of two, includes this one," Kai pointed over his shoulder, "and I ordered other guards to handle the rest."
"And outside?"
"There was a sighting of three in the first village. I scattered the guards to find the lingering ones. The only commotion now is the shock of what happened."
"So...it's clear?"
"Yes, bu-"
Before the vampire could finish what he was saying, Iris was dashing down the stairs.
Kai slotted the dagger in a pocket in his pants before running after the prince.
Blood stained the concrete path leading to the front door of the mansion. With the right strategy and tactics, only one vampire could do unimaginable damage. There were a total of eight, and as Iris rushed to their first village, he slowed down every time a bloodied or deceased body came into his view. It was...no words could describe the pain he felt that surrounded the premises of the corpses. And he wasn't even in the first village.
He was gazing at a little girl sobbing when arms wrapped around his body without notification. He flinched and looked ahead, his mouth pressing against a shoulder.
"Thank God you're okay! I was so worried something was going to happen to you."
Iris sighed and hugged his dad back. "I'm glad you're okay, too."
They were doused in pure relief knowing the other was safe and sound. Iris backed away first, but smiled when his dad hugged him tighter before doing to same.
"And your mother is fine as well."
Iris widened his eyes at her mention. He had totally forgot about her in the midst of the chaos.
"Great."
Arlo chuckled at his lack of interest and patted his shoulder. He smiled when Iris perked up.
"Oh, where's Allison? Did you see her?" Iris searched around the grouping civilians, some familiar faces popping out here and there, but not one he wished to see. Then, he felt Arlo squeeze his shoulder.
"I'm glad you're okay." He repeated, and Iris immediately darted his eyes over to him.
"Dad-"
"Sir, it's still not a hundred percent safe to be out here."
Iris and Arlo glanced at Kai as he informed the King while walking up to them. He looked at Iris, just for a second, before nodding at the King.
Arlo skipped his gaze from Kai to Iris, then smiled lightly and the vampire.
"Kai, have you met my son yet? This is Iris."
The prince looked down, his heart not even skipping a beat despite knowing the vampire was staring directly at him.
"We met," He said quietly, "he saved me from an attack."
When Arlo shot his gaze over to Kai, he quickly put his hands up with a nervous smile.
"It was nothing. I was just doing my job."
"Your job.." Arlo hummed thoughtfully. He narrowed his eyes at Kai before smiling brightly at him. "Thank you, Kai."
The guard nodded at him, then they all walked inside the mansion. The atmosphere was torn and shivering. Arlo ordered away the guards that were walking with them, thanking them first, but made Kai stay.
The reason they all agreed on was that the rogue vampires were planning this scheme for quite a while now. With the borders open freely to let Vridora's guests go, and with the clustered streets, it was a perfect time to attack undetected. Except the amount of people actually there must have triggered one of the rogues, causing them to lash out instead of sticking to the plan of assassination. Or that's the information they got out of forcing it out of one of the eight rogues they killed and captured.
Once the three neared the King's office, which was being watching by a guard far down the hall, Arlo made Kai wait outside while he brought Iris inside to talk.
"What happened?" Iris asked instantly, not letting his dad change the topic.
Arlo sighed. He looked down, at Iris, at the door, trying to find the right way to word what he was about to say.
"A guard found her," He said, "by the looks of it..there was no hope of her surviving."
Iris brought a hand to his face to pinch the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. The situation hurt him a lot more than he thought it would. No, it scorched his heart and painted his skin white. But he did not cry.
Arlo placed a hand on Iris's shoulder, but he backed away before accepting his attempted comfort. He shook his head, not quite in denial but not cooperative with the truth. Arlo watched him walk over to a chair at the long rectangle table and sulked down into it. With another quiet sigh, Arlo invited Kai in.
The vampire looked around the room slightly hesitant. The King's aura changed dramatically, but not in a bad way. He..dulled, and Kai noticed this right away.
"What's your job, Kai?"
Kai raised an eyebrow at the King, though he internally questioned the unexpected quiz, he wouldn't dare question it out loud.
"Um, to lead the fist class guards, sir."
"Wrong."
Even Iris raised his head and his dad's response.
Kai scratched the back of his hand laying on his lap.
"Sorry?"
"I said that's wrong." The King smiled at Kai as he linked his fingers together and rested them on the table. "Well, not anymore."
Iris and Kai shared a sudden glance with each other. They both looked confused.
"Um, I don't understand, sir." Not only was the King's short replies confusing, but why was the prince in here, too? Kai thought simply and decided the King just wanted him close, so he didn't think much about that; but if leading the guards wasn't his job..what was?
"My son is of age now, which means he can't be cooped up in the mansion anymore. Part of learning to be a King is the physical portion, and that doesn't lie within the paper work," He talked slowly, gradually structuring his words to build his main point. "I've always had the idea but from the outcome of the misfortune today..I have made my conclusion. You see, Iris needs someone to protect him when I send him out for errands."
Iris narrowed his eyes, a part of him disagreeing with his dad, and the other half grateful for his consideration. Almost.
"Something like a...bodyguard."
Just like that, the two young males shot their gazes at each other, both having wide eyes.
"No." Iris protested first, and as badly as Kai wanted to second him, he couldn't.
Arlo furrowed his eyebrows. "Why not?"
"Dad, I don't need a babysitter. I can take care of myself perfectly fine."
"I'm sure you can, but-"
"He can." Kai said quickly, ignoring Arlo's stare, and continued drilling holes into the wall next to Iris's head.
"I think this is a good choice."
"Well, I don't. Did you not listen to me when I said you should be considerate of what I want?"
"Iris, let's be reasonable here. I am being considerate of your health. If Kai wasn't there today, would you not be dead?"
Iris didn't spare a glance at the vampire, "I would."
"So, if that situation happens again you'd be protected once more."
"I don't agree."
Arlo sighed and dropped his head. He looked at Kai and quirked and eyebrow. "What do you think?"
Kai swallowed. Honestly, he didn't want to babysit Iris, either, but he didn't want to risk anything, so, he filtered the truth.
"Well, I will obviously do it if that's what you wish, sir. But, I...personally don't see it necessary." Kai swallowed again. He watched Arlo nod at his answer and looked back at his son.
"And you?"
"I think it's not necessary, either."
Arlo nodded again. He looked directly in the center on the table, fingers tapping and stare pensive.
"Alright," He said, a deciding tone laced in his voice. The two boys relaxed when the King looked visibly defeated. He stood up, then, dooming their relief, Arlo smiled.
"Starting today, Iris...Kai will be your personal bodyguard."
††
Oof, okay, I just want to say thank you so much for reading this story and to those who stuck around from chapter one...YOU'RE AWESOME! It's not exactly going how I visioned it to, so I'm shocked I have over a thousand reads(which is a big deal for me!)
So really I just want to thank you :)