Human fingertips wrestled with the unyielding windowsill, trying to pry underneath the cold metal in order to open it.
"Fucking hell, did they magically glue this shit together?" Lily mumbled to herself as she footed herself more appropriately on the bed. Whipping her messy blonde hair around her shoulder, she reached up and continued trying desperately to open the window, but it was beginning to be hopeless.
"Trying to escape again?"
"Agh!" Lily jumped at the sound behind her, falling backwards and onto her butt on the bed, being mercilessly bounced up and down as she scrambled to get on her knees. Once she did, she whipped around to see those calm yellow-green eyes watching her.
Rose looked back at her in amusement, her lips tightening into a restrained smile. "Caught in the act."
"N-No," Lily mumbled, feeling suddenly nervous to be in Rose's presence. "I was just trying to get some outside air," she explained as she sat more comfortably on the bed. "I feel like I can't breathe in here. " She chuckled inelegantly, but it quickly faded as she saw that Rose only stared at her with an unchanging expression.
Rose looked thoughtful for a moment, her lips turning into a frown and her eyebrows depressing downwards as if heavy with the weight on her mind. "I'll take you outside," she began, but cut off the beaming excitement that immediately crossed the girl's face with, "Under one condition."
Lily stopped herself from getting too elevated about being able to go outside, unsure of what exactly Queen Rose would ever need from the girl.
"You apologize to Holden. He's been such a little salty prick ever since you two's quarrel or whatever, and he has also been refusing to guard you because of it. And I don't trust any other guards to guard you."
The blonde's lips pursed, and Rose could sense that familiar defiance about to come from her. "I don't need to be guarded," she declared, but there was a streak of uncertainty in her voice.
"After the events the other night, yes, you do need to be guarded. For your own protection just as much for your confinement."
"Imprisonment," Lily corrected her, her eyes hardening. "Imprisonment is what this is."
"Tomato, tomato," she mumbled dismissively.
Lily scrunched her eyes upon realizing that Rose had used the phrase incorrectly, pronouncing "tomato" the same way each time she said it. Blinking incredulously, she spoke, "You do realize that you just—"
"Apologize to Holden or no outside for you, child," Rose interrupted her, raising her chin and placing her hands behind her back, her svelte shoulders held back in an authoritative stance, although her tone was slightly playful.
Letting out a sigh of defeat, Lily's small body deflated as she stared at the duvet. "Fine."
"Good girl," Rose purred with a smirk, sensing the heat emanating from the girl as she snapped her blue eyes towards her, thrown off by the nickname. "Get changed."
Blowing off whatever feeling that Rose's words had given her, Lily squeaked in excitement as she began to dream of the fresh, crisp air. She hopped off the bed and, without thinking, grabbed the hem of her dress and lifted it up to pull it over her head.
Rose froze, pupils dilating and lips parting in shock as she caught a flash of the girl's pale thighs and her white underwear that seemed to fit her so perfectly, dividing her delicious hips from her toned stomach. A tightness forming in her stomach, Rose quickly whipped around so that she was staring right into the wall with widened eyes. Her entire body was tense, every single muscle rigid as the image kept flashing through her mind. She clenched her jaw and tried to focus on staring at the blank wall and not looking so awkward, but all she could see was soft thighs and delicate hips.
Wishing for the girl to hurry up and be done so that she wasn't finding herself feeling flushed all over, Rose pulled a face of confusion as she listened to erratic scuffles and muffled grunts, the sound of fabric being pulled desperately causing her to slowly turn around. What she saw was a Lily with the dress stuck over her head and seeming to be tangled in her blonde hair. She wobbled around like a newborn calf, her arms sticking straight out as she huffed from behind the fabric.
Completely unaware of Rose's stifled laughter but blushing because she knew she was watching her, Lily stopped struggling and stood upright, her head hidden under the white dress and arms straightened upwards like antennas. "R-Rose?" she gently called from inside the fabric of entrapment, still a tad unfamiliar with using the Queen's real name.
Rose had to place a finger over her mouth and close her eyes, feeling like she was going to burst out in laughter at the sight of the pitiful girl. "Yes?" she calmly answered her.
"Can you...help me, please?" Lily asked in the most embarrassed of tones, also fully aware that she was half-naked. This was a factor that had went completely over her head when she had impulsively tried to tear her dress off with Rose still in the room. She was unsure if she could trust the lascivious vampire to not look.
Rose removed her hand from her crawling smile, glancing at the girl. Despite her hilarious situation, she still stiffened and tried to not look at her halfway bare body. "Of course," she said between a chuckle and a strained voice, taking a sharp intake of breath as she neared the girl.
She looked over the tricky predicament, not being able to understand what it was making her stuck. She carefully took the dress and tried to pull it upwards.
"Ow! My hair!" Lily exclaimed at the tug, jerking herself away.
"Sorry," Rose mumbled, focused on trying to understand how her hair had somehow wrapped itself into the arm of the dress. She tried to tug the dress again, this time tugging the strand of hair she thought was stuck, but she earned another whine from the girl.
"Just," Lily mumbled, backing away, "You're no help. Let me do it myself." She tried to reach her hands down inside the dress, which was difficult considering her arms were being tightly upheld.
"No, I can—" The vampire reached for the girl, but the girl could see her movements from behind the thin fabric and jumped away.
"You're too rough!" she exclaimed, bending forwards as if that would make it easier to undo her knotted hair.
"Well, if you would just be still!" Rose tried to reach for her again, but the girl squealed, dashing behind her and towards the door that she had left open, running straight out into the hallway with the dress still stuck on her head. "Lily!" she exclaimed, jogging to the door after her.
She went to chase after her, but she stopped and simply watched what was gloriously unfolding before her.
Lily was running, still squealing like a frightened pig, half-naked with her bare feet padding against the floor. Her run was something between a waddle and a sprint, and her arms were still sticking straight up, her hands flopping as the guards at the end of the hall tensed, not knowing if the unrecognizable creature was something to be threatened over.
Rose raised her hand to ease them, watching with a wide and slightly sheepish grin as the girl still tried to floppily sprint, her squeal echoing through the hallway. Since she was basically blind, her sprint began to become diagonal and led her to run straight into a wall.
Slapping a hand over her mouth, Rose watched as Lily fell to the ground rather dramatically onto her back, but the part that caused her to not be able to stifle a laugh anymore was when Lily tried to sit up but couldn't because of the dress. She wobbled up and down on the floor like a fish out of water, and Rose decided she needed to help the poor girl for her sake and also for the guards who looked terribly confused as to what to do.
"Stop flopping like a fish," Rose called out to her as she neared her, her voice wobbly from her laughter.
"No, I demand you not help me!" Lily exclaimed, turning to her side as if that would make her struggle easier.
Crouching down, Rose turned the girl back onto her back and placed a knee on the ground on either side of her to steady her. Without warning, she simply took the hem of the dress and easily ripped it down the middle, tearing it apart and revealing a red-faced Lily beneath it. Smirking, she tore the rest of the dress in half and pulled it out from under her, successfully freeing her from its hold.
Lily, panting from her struggles, stared up at the vampire in mere shock and also embarrassment at their position.
Rose, her brunette locks falling down and nearly touching the girl's face, stared down at the half-naked girl with a smug look. "Your heart is beating awfully hard," she whispered huskily, something dark swirling in her eyes that made Lily squirm.
Feeling heat spread all over her entire body, Lily blinked and mumbled, "It's just because I was r-running so hard." She gulped, not being able to pull her eyes away from Rose's. The way that she straddled her and looked down at her with that darkened look on her face, one that made her lips look even more delectable than usual, caused her nerves to feel electrified.
Rose hummed, deciding to slowly get off the girl, as hard as it was with the lust pulling her body downwards like gravity towards the blonde who watched her breathlessly.
Although released from the tension that made her cheeks burn, Lily suddenly felt cold as she stood slowly from the ground, looking up at the vampire nervously.
"Go get some real clothes on and try not to get stuck." Rose smirked at her and winked before handing her the torn dress, watching the girl sheepishly take it and walk back to her room. It took everything in the woman to keep her eyes away from the exposed girl, and as soon as she heard the door close, she let out an immense breath. "Shit."
✞
"Put this on," Rose commanded as she led the girl down the staircase, handing her a large, black mink coat. "It's cold out."
Lily took the heavy coat, surprised at how soft it felt. Back at camp they had made coats out of deer fur and sometimes the wolves they had killed out of defense, but never had she felt the silky fluff of a mink coat. She slipped it over her shoulders, feeling immediately encompassed by its warmth. It was way too large for her, even though it was supposed to be a hefty piece of clothing.
Nuzzling her face into its collar, she gently inhaled and recognized it as Rose's infectiously glorious scent. It smelled like autumn, as if she could hear the crunch of brown and orange leaves being picked up by the wind. It had a hint of myrrh to it, and as she glanced up to the Queen who walked so diligently down the stairs, she felt a sense of comfort. Quickly brushing that away, she turned her attention to where she was taking her.
As they reached the entrance hall, the vampire led her behind the staircase where the hall continued, past several doors which all drew the girl's curiosity, until they reached two large doors in the very back where two guards stood stiffly. They both moved to the side as the Queen neared them, each grabbing the handle of a door and pulling them open.
Lily was struck with the extremely cold air, her bare ankles getting the most of the coldness. She and Rose exited through the doors, and Lily's jaw dropped at the sight.
The mountains had looked large and looming from the sixth floor where her room window sat, but there, standing on the ground right in front of them, she couldn't see the tops no matter how far she craned her neck. "Woah," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself and pulling the coat closer to her.
Rose, who wore only a thin sweater and slacks, was completely unaffected by the cold. "They're quite majestic, aren't they?" she mumbled as she looked up at them, but her attention was more so drawn by the girl beside her who looked deliciously cute wearing her coat. Her eyes flickered to the bite on her neck that was exposed by how much she was craning upwards. It looked a bit better, but the reminder of it made her throat tighten.
"Is it always snowy here?" Lily asked, oblivious to the emotional struggle Rose was feeling. She stared up at all the snow flurries that were gently falling down. One fell on her cheek, causing her to smile and wipe it away.
Leaning down, Rose slid her fingers into the snow covering the ground, feeling its coldness but not being affected by it. It was like she could measure its degree of coldness and feel it numb her fingertips, but it did not actually make her fingertips cold. "There's always snow on the tops of the mountains, but it doesn't always snow." She stood, slipping her hands into her pockets and looking out at the landscape. "Spring here is quite beautiful."
"Spring is my favorite, but I love snow." Lily crouched, combing her fingers through the soft snow. Her fingers immediately went numb, so she slipped them into the cozy pockets of the coat. Standing, she looked at Rose who was already watching her. "You're not cold?"
The vampire smiled, turning her head towards the ground and gazing upon the white snow in which she could see every individual flake resting together. "I can control my body temperature."
Lily kept her eyes on her as she looked at the ground, analyzing her strong jaw and the indention of her cheek that led to her cheekbone. She remembered running her hand along it the day before, the memory making the coldness in her hand go away. The woman was so achingly beautiful, as if she was Aphrodite and had stepped right out of the Greek mythology book that Lily grew up reading. It made something in her chest burn, as if her breath was being pulled right out of her lungs, so she quickly looked away.
Rose, sensing that the girl had been staring, let a smirk cross her face. "So, you and Jasmine?" Her voice drew out clear and thick, sensual in its tone.
The girl tensed, immediately snapping her eyes back to her. "W-What?"
The vampire looked at her with slight amusement. "Your girlfriend." She clenched her jaw at the word.
"Oh, um, yea." Lily hugged the coat tighter to her, staring at a sloping valley between the mountain before them and the one farther away. She had somehow almost forgotten about Jasmine, and the memory of their argument the day before made her bite the inside of her cheek.
Noticing her pensiveness, Rose took the opportunity to press the issue. "Is something the matter?"
Her face crestfallen, Lily hesitated before speaking, "I don't really know. She's mad at me, and so I don't really think we are even..." She didn't dare to finish her sentence as a sick feeling overcame her. Even though Jasmine had hurt her and shown her her true colors, Lily couldn't help but feel like she would lose a part of herself if she lost Jasmine. They had known each other for years, being each other's only friend apart from being romantic.
"What could she possibly be mad at you about?" Rose asked, laughing in amusement as her posh accent showed through more clearly. "That your room is bigger than hers? No, wait, that the counter in your bathroom is two inches wider than hers?"
"Stop," Lily muttered, closing her eyes and growing ill at Rose's sarcasm.
The vampire picked up on the actual annoyance in her voice. She could tell that Lily was truly upset. "Then what is it, then?" she tried to ask more gently, but she couldn't help but be irked by the mention of the other human girl.
"Because I'm the reason that we are here, and I'm also the reason that we almost got killed the other night," Lily sharply spoke, her eyes blankly boring into the side of the mountain. "I've ruined her life, so she has good reason to be mad at me."
Rose watched the side of her face intensely, feeling a spark of anger at the fact that the pathetic human had Lily so worked up. "Don't pay mind to her," she quickly spoke, growing stiff from talking about the human she hated more than any other. "She's just a childish girl who doesn't know how to handle feelings besides deflecting them onto other people."
Lily turned to her, taking in her words and wondering if Jasmine really was like that.
"I can smell selfishness reeking from her every time she's around. And she can't blame everything on you. I don't know what happened before you two got here, but you didn't force her to try to escape with you." She turned to her, meeting her eyes and letting her pursed lips soften. "Although I can't blame her if she was a little persuaded by those horribly manipulative blue eyes."
The blonde blushed, letting herself smile as she nervously looked away. She sighed, feeling a little comforted by Rose's truthful words, even if they were a bit harsh. But she was still upset at the entire thing, it being the first time there was ever friction between her and Jasmine. "But she's all I have," she whispered, her voice cracking as she fought back the moisture welling in her eyes.
The brunette watched her carefully, trying to calm the infuriating jealousy in her at the fact that Lily was yet again burdened by tears that the stupid human had brought about. "Maybe that's the problem." Her words caused the girl to look at her again. "She's all you have ever known, so you try to idealize her, when in reality she's quite a dumb little bitch." She looked away, taking a deep breath through the guilt that was suffocating her. She knew, deep down, that all of it was actually her fault. Maybe she was the selfish bitch deflecting her guilt.
Lily didn't say anything else about it. She wanted to hold a grudge against Rose for being the whole reason they were even being held hostage, considering she was the Queen who gave all the orders, but something in her wouldn't allow her to. She only stared at the snow-covered ground, not able to see every individual flake like Rose could but still enjoying the pretty sight nonetheless. She began to tremble from the cold, her bare legs left exposed from the knee down by the short length of her dress. Her nose felt deviated from her body, like the iciness of the air had sliced it right off.
Rose noticed the way she trembled and held herself tightly, her teeth chattering as her face turned a bluish hue. "Let's go back inside," she said, turning to head towards the doors.
"No, I want to stay out here," Lily argued, tugging the collar of the coat closer to her neck.
The vampire stopped in her tracks, looking at the girl who was obviously ridiculously cold. "You're going to get frostbite staying out here in the cold."
"I don't care," the girl stubbornly retorted, not moving from her place. She felt relief in the crisp air, as if it was filtering out the castle air that she had been breathing in which was dirtied by everything that had happened inside that tall place.
Rose looked at her dumbly, letting out a sigh of frustration and defeat. She felt bad enough that she was the reason the girl was upset; she didn't want her to feel like a caged animal even though that was essentially how she was treating her. So she did the only thing that would allow the girl to stay out in the freezing cold safely.
Lily tensed at the sudden hand that rested upon her lower back, chills that were not incited by the cold running down her spine as the hand slipped around her waist. She felt the vampire's tall body press against the back of her own, glancing down to see two pale hands interlock on her lower stomach. "What are you..." She trailed when she felt sudden warmth spread from her back and infect her entire body, melting away the iciness that the snowy outdoors had brought her even through her thick coat.
Rose looked down at the girl as she stood behind her, letting her nose breathe in the glorious scent of her blonde tresses. She smiled softly at the way she stood nearly an entire head over the girl, and her smile deepened when she felt two cold hands rest upon hers.
"Jesus, you're so warm," Lily breathed as she ran her hand along Rose's unnaturally warm one, tracing the blue-green veins that protruded from her skin. She then carefully turned around in her arms, the woman not daring to unlock her hands as those blue eyes met hers and seemed to steal the breath from her lungs. Lily gazed up at her, noticing a somewhat hypnotic look in her light green eyes. "I thought vampires were cold," she whispered as her front pressed against hers, being infected by her warmth. Her breath hitched at their closeness.
The Queen smiled gently, that beloved dimple reappearing. "I told you we can control our temperature."
Lily returned her smile, adoration filling her eyes. She thought back to when she had first met Rose, when her mere presence made her want to shrivel away in a corner. She chuckled softly, shaking her head in disbelief at how she was practically cuddling against the Queen of Vampires.
Rose could sense what she was thinking, and she definitely harbored her own disbelief at the fact. She also could not believe she was treating a human with such kindness and that she felt a fluttery feeling as she stared into her baby blue eyes.
The girl's eyes flickered down to the woman's swan-like neck that rested so elegantly below her sharp yet feminine jaw. She let her eyes trail to the small expanse of her chest left exposed by her shirt, and something inside her pulled her to lean her head towards it and rest the side of her face against her chest, immediately feeling how hot her skin felt against hers.
Rose's lips parted at the skin-to-skin contact, a trembling feeling overcoming her as she let her hands slide slowly up the girl's back that was covered with her coat. Her eyes began to glow brighter as she let them focus on the mountains before them, as if they would give her comfort at the sudden realization that hit her when the girl's cold face pressed against her chest.
Feeling the vampire's hands slide up her back and bring warmth with it, Lily let her hands rest upon the woman's upper abdomen, feeling how firm and warm it felt. She could suddenly pick up on an accelerating, rhythmic beating behind the chest against which her face pressed.
As she felt the girl smile against her chest, she knew exactly what she was about to say, so she whispered a quick, "Shut up," that reverberated into the girl's ear. She clenched her jaw to restrain her smile.
✞
"I already apologized to him, you know. He chose to deny it," Lily gambled in an attempt to get Rose to stop leading her towards Holden's office. "Also, why does he have his own office?"
"He manages communications for me," Rose answered before casting a glance back to her. "And that was probably because it was in the moment. But I'm tired of him slamming things around like a housewife whose feathers have been ruffled. Holden can hold quite a grudge when he feels he's been so horribly aggrieved." She turned back around and scoffed, shaking her head as she mumbled, "Such a victim."
Sighing, Lily gave up trying to convince the stubborn Queen as they rounded the corner of an open doorway. "Holden," Rose spoke as soon as she entered, startling the guard who stood from his desk immediately.
"Your Majesty?" he greeted her, eyes shifting to the girl who appeared and stood behind the Queen nervously. "Ah, and the human who went running around the castle naked like a chicken with its head cut off."
"How did you know about that?" she asked sheepishly.
"The entire castle has gotten a good laugh from that, sweet pea," he spat, giving her a condescending smile.
Her cheeks burned in embarrassment, and she stepped out from behind Rose to shake her finger at him and say, "Yea, well at least my hair doesn't look like a dirty mop."
He only stared at her finger blankly, unaffected by her rather weak comeback. "And what do you suppose you're gonna do with that thing?" he asked in amusement.
"Shove it up your—"
"Children!" Rose barked, causing both of them to jump. Lily quickly put her finger away. "Look," she sighed, stressfully pinching the bridge of her nose. "Just work out your shit like adults. You're vexing me to the point where I'm considering throwing both of you in a dungeon together until you resolve this." She looked to Lily. "So apologize to him." She then snapped her eyes to Holden, holding up her finger that was much more intimidating than Lily's. "And you hear her out and stop being so goddamn resentful."
Holden rolled his eyes in defeat, not being able to stand up to the Queen. He huffed and looked at the blonde expectantly.
Pulling her mink coat together sassily, she sucked her cheeks in and stared at him before saying, "I apologize for my behavior—"
Rose cleared her throat and tilted her head at the girl, silently reminding her of the wording she had told her to use.
Rolling her eyes, Lily reworded, "My bratty and horrid and delinquent behavior." She sighed, looking at the guard who had once been unnecessarily kind to her with more sincerity in her eyes. "You were so gracious to me, and I took it for granted. I was disoriented and angry at the whole situation, and I took it out on you when you were only trying to help."
"Don't forget the one where I saved your life," he added with his arms crossed, feigning a begrudged look. "Which I am still pondering if I should have or not."
Rose clenched her jaw, feeling that seemingly inevitable guilt wrap its merciless fist around her throat. She tried her best to ignore it, but it was something constantly twisting in her chest.
Lily could hear the playfulness in his tone, her face softening into a halfway relieved smile. "So, do you forgive me?"
He bit the insides of his cheeks and squinted his eyes at her. "Only if you refer to me as Master Holden from now on."
"Not gonna happen."
"Worth a shot." He uncrossed his arms and gave up his angry facade, giving her an eye roll and smile. "Sure, you little dumbass. Partially only because my job probably depends on it." He side-eyed the Queen.
Rose rolled her eyes, walking backwards to the door. "Now that you two aren't bickering like children, dinner will be in an hour." She moved her eyes to Lily, something sparkling across them before she turned and left the room, probably off to tend to Queen duties.
Lily watched her, her face buzzing as she remembered the feeling of pressing it against her warm skin.
"We can get you a personally painted portrait of her if you would like to stare at her even longer."
The blonde whipped around to him, threading her brows together. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing," he said with a smirk before sitting down and attending to some papers he was looking over before they had interrupted him.
Lily wanted to press him further, but she was afraid to do so because of what she might find inside of herself. But there was not much she could do to hide away from it anymore, the strange connection she and Rose seemed to have.
Little did she know that Rose had come to the same realization the moment the girl had snuggled into her chest for warmth and brought her dead heart back to life.