Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter Two

Silas

Silence laid heavy between Grace, her parents and myself as we drove to the palace in my limousine.

I usually enjoyed the quiet and being alone with my thoughts. Yet I couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable my future bride appeared to be. She fidgeted with her fingers and squirmed in her seat. Her eyes darted around the inside of the car, not landing on any object for longer than a heartbeat.

I felt bothered that she couldn’t relax around me. I tried to keep in mind that I had introduced a great change into her life, and she would probably just need time to process her new circumstances.

I decided not to fill the air with small talk. Worthless words wouldn’t be helpful.

My eyes couldn’t leave Grace though. I looked at her beautiful black hair that fell down her back like a gentle waterfall. She had a cute face with large, blue eyes. Her figure was to my liking too – slim but with enough curves to be attractive.

I felt an indescribable pull towards her. It had begun the first time I had seen her photo. Just one glance had confirmed for me that she was the woman I wanted. Where this sudden, strong conviction had come from, I didn’t know. However, during my years in the army I had learned instinct was my best friend, so I decided to rely on my gut feeling about choosing my wife.

Grace’s heart was beating quickly, her blood making a shimmering sound to my sensitive ears. She was afraid, and the thought troubled me even though I understood the source of her fear.

Me. I was the reason she was scared.

Anybody would be afraid of being married to a monster.

Grace’s reaction to my proposal had hurt me, more than I wanted to admit. However, I fully understood her reservations. Any other woman chosen to be my wife would have been shaking in fear as well. I was under no delusion that Grace had accepted me because she wanted to be with me. She had only said yes because in this country nobody could refuse a royal’s proposal.

It didn’t matter that I was no prince charming, that I was a monster instead.

I needed ruby blood to ward off the encroaching insanity, though. With every year beyond my hundredth, I found it harder and harder to live with the strange thoughts that came into my mind. Twisted, scary images sprang up uninvited in the form of waking nightmares each evening. Sometimes horrible thoughts plagued my mind during the daytime too.

The time had finally come to drink ruby blood to fix myself. I needed a wife so I could have a constant source of the delicious, healing blood. In recent years though, no human candidate had caught my attention – until Grace.

Grace was… something else. A beautiful woman. A radiant soul.

I hated that I had to be the one to become her husband. She deserved better. Yet a selfish side of me disliked the thought of her with someone else.

She was mine. I couldn’t let her go. I wouldn’t let her leave me.

The conviction hit me like a wall of bricks. Where had this possessiveness come from? Grace was a stranger; I had known her for only an hour, yet already I wanted to monopolize her.

The limousine stopped. Maxwell, my butler and driver, came out of the car and opened the passenger door for us.

“We’ve arrived, sir,” he nodded at me, then smiled at my guests. “Allow me to welcome you to the royal palace.”

Grace and her parents shared skittish looks.

I got out of the car, extending my hand to Grace. She stared at it for a moment like she feared touching me, but finally she put her much smaller hand in mine. The feeling of her heated skin was a pleasant surprise. Humans were much warmer than vampires, weren’t they?

I helped Grace out of the car.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the royal palace. I took a look at my home, trying to imagine the sight through her eyes. The building had been erected in a neoclassical style with a white facade and tall columns spanning the height of two stories. A beautifully carved tympanum hid the roof.

The windows were tall, the curtains open during the evening. As a precaution, the servants always drew the heavy curtains closed during the day to shield us from sunlight, though every vampire had a sun ring which protected us from being burned. However, the bright sun was still unpleasant to look at, so I preferred the house to remain dark during the daytime.

Since the palace was home to vampires, we operated on a different schedule from humans – we were active during the night and rested during the day. Vampires didn’t sleep but we liked to spend some time lying down and meditating. Resting in this way helped keep our minds fresh and sharp.

“Do you like your new home?” The question fell from my lips before I could think better of asking.

Grace gave me a startled look, like a deer caught in the headlights. “Y-Yes…” Her words were barely a whisper, but I heard her fine.

Warmth came into my heart, and my fear about asking her opinion evaporated instantaneously. A small warmth bloomed in my dead heart. I was… happy that she liked the palace. Why did such a simple thing clear the gloom in my soul?

Puzzled, I simply nodded, not saying anything more to her.

I gestured forward and started walking towards the building. Grace fell into step beside me, and I slowed down my strides so that she would have no trouble keeping up.

Maxwell ran up ahead of us to open the large, heavy entrance doors and alert the servants of our approach.

Grace’s parents followed behind us, silently.

We climbed the ten steps up to the entrance. Maxwell kept the door wide open for us, and we stepped into the palace.

The chandeliers in the foyer were lit, illuminating the marble floors and stucco walls with a bright, warm glow. On either side of the long red carpet leading over to the giant staircase stood rows of servants, their heads all bowed.

“Welcome back, my prince,” they all called out, their words synchronized.

Grace gasped, taking in the servants and the grandness of the foyer.

I simply walked past all the people and turned to one side at the staircase. I stopped in front of the giant oak door that led to my father’s throne room.

I turned back around to see Grace and her parents still standing at the entrance, looking around in confusion and wonder.

I cleared my throat. “My father awaits us.” I gestured to the door.

My words unfroze my guests. They walked past the servants, albeit with unsure steps. The rows of waiting people clearly made them uncomfortable.

An event that was so normal to me – being greeted so formally whenever I returned home –was strange to Grace and her parents. I usually paid the servants no mind. They moved around the palace with purpose, and their goal was to quietly serve my family and me. I was used to their presence. They were a constant in my life.

I supposed it would take a while for my soon-to-be wife to get used to her new circumstances. Perhaps there was something I could do to make her new role easier for her?

As I wondered about the best way to help Grace adapt, I opened the door to the grand hall and we walked inside. A few nobles stood around, watching two men positioned in front of the king’s throne.

We had arrived at the palace during my father’s hearing – an event he held for a few hours every Thursday during which he would listen to the nobles’ problems and pleas then pass his judgment.

The vampire men nodded as father finished his reply to their plea. They turned around and left, their faces appearing disappointed, but they knew better than to argue with the ruler of the country.

I paid them no further mind, strolling towards the throne. I gestured for Grace and her parents to follow.

As I passed by the elegantly dressed crowd, the nobles whispered to each other.

“It’s the scary prince. What does he want from the king?”

“Look at the woman behind him. She looks scared out of her mind. I would be too if I had to deal with that man. I wonder what he wants with her?”

“What has she done to get his attention? Scary… I wouldn’t want to be in her place.”

Didn’t they know I could hear their words? They must – we were all vampires, we all had sensitive hearing. Clearly, they wanted me to hear what they thought about me.

My heart clenched, but I knew I deserved such treatment.

To the world I was the ruthless prince; the terror incarnate. I had already accepted that the nobles disapproved of me. With Grace here though, the thought that everyone saw me as a monster somehow stung even more than usual.

What had changed in the short time I had known her? The fact that the world saw me as an outcast had never bothered me this much before.

My father smiled when he saw us approach, a genuinely bright expression on his face. “My son.”

At the sight of his warm gaze, I pushed the upsetting comments aside and stopped in front of the throne. No matter what, I always had the love and support of my family. What the nobles said didn’t matter as much as my father’s opinion of me.

However, there was one more person whose thoughts of me I cared about now… Grace.

I gestured to the woman standing next to me. “This is Grace Milton. She has accepted my proposal. She’s going to be my wife and Estone’s princess.”

The surprised voices of the nobles resounded in the hall. They no longer cared to keep up their pretense of hushed disapproval.

I tuned out the chatter, focusing only on the king.

My father’s smile grew even wider. He directed his warm gaze at Grace, looking her up and down, then nodded a few times. “An excellent choice. I’m so happy you decided to finally take a wife.”

My dad had been pestering me about getting married for a few years, but I had never found a woman who interested me. Until now.

I nodded. “Thank you, father.”

“You heard my son,” the king spoke louder, his voice booming for all to hear. “Grace Milton will be my son and heir’s wife. We will hold the royal wedding tomorrow evening.”

A gasp escaped Grace’s lips. “So soon…” She whispered.

I glanced at her. I wished I could say something to comfort her or that I could postpone the wedding so she could have a chance to become more comfortable with her new life. However, I couldn’t go against tradition.

Rushed weddings were the norm between vampires and humans with ruby blood. We had to secure the special women and men as soon as possible, binding them to us so that we would always have a source of the healing liquid we needed.

My heart clenched. I didn’t want to see Grace only as a convenient source of food.

“I pity her. She has to marry the prince, of all people,” one of the nobles said with genuine sadness in his voice.

“I hope he doesn’t end up killing her. Her ruby blood is precious,” another replied.

The nobles in this hall found the fact that Grace had to get married to me unfair to her. I had to admit they were right – I wouldn’t have wanted to be bound to a monster either.

As I looked at Grace, standing tall and firm despite her scary circumstances, I admired her. I didn’t want to let her go even if I should.

My feelings confused me. It would be better for Grace if I dismissed her, if she married another vampire besides me. Yet… I couldn’t bring myself to give her to someone else.

No, I would make Grace my wife; no matter what.

***

The next day went by in a flash, and soon I found myself standing in front of the altar of the royal chapel. The person who would perform the wedding ceremony took their position, a small book in their hands. With the rustling of pages, they opened the book to the page where the wedding vows were listed.

The chapel was decorated in red, as was customary for vampire weddings. Roses adorned the altar and the rows of seats.

At the front on the right sat my parents. Dad had a wide grin on his face, and mom dabbed a handkerchief at the corner of her eyes, moved to tears.

On the left side sat Grace’s mom. She was crying too, more openly than mine, but I doubted hers were tears of happiness. Grace’s parents hadn’t outright opposed the marriage, but I could sense the fear in their racing heartbeats.

Marrying a vampire, especially someone like me, wasn’t the future they wanted for their daughter. I pitied them, but their feelings on the matter wouldn’t stop me from going through with the ceremony.

The next rows of seats were occupied by the most important nobles. They whispered amongst each other excitedly. I didn’t want to hear what they might be saying, so I tuned out their conversations.

The camera crew was stationed at the back of the chapel. The wedding would be transmitted on TV; an event all of Estone would gather together in their homes to see.

My sudden announcement about marrying Grace, a human not from a prominent Family, had shaken up the media – or so my best friend had told me, as I hadn’t bothered to follow what the reporters were saying.

More vampires stood outside the front of the chapel. The building was too small for everyone to fit within its walls.

The ceremonial music started playing, a charming and stately tune. The door to the chapel opened. In walked Grace’s father with Grace at his arm.

My eyes widened at the sight of my bride in her red, lacey gown. The outfit clung to her curves just right, making them more pronounced than they had seemed the other day while in the gray skirt and beige pullover she had worn at our first meeting. She looked regal and simply gorgeous.

Red was the customary color for humans to wear during vampire weddings. I, on the other hand, wore a black suit with a red tie. The guests were expected to dress in all black. The unity and specific choice of colors made the whole ceremony look very elegant.

Grace gasped when she saw me, and her heartbeat quickened. Was she afraid of me again? The thought stung, but I swallowed down the pain, trying to focus on positive thoughts like the magnetic attraction I felt towards her.

My bride’s father walked her up the aisle and passed her hand onto mine. With a solemn expression, I gave him a nod.

Mr. Milton seemed to accept the situation, responding to me with a nod of his own. He turned around and went to take a seat next to his wife who now sobbed uncontrollably.

Grace gave them a worried look.

I laced my fingers with hers, again feeling the warmth radiating from her body. It was such a pleasant feeling. My touch got Grace’s attention back on me.

The wedding started. The officiant of the ceremony gave a small speech about unity between vampires and humans and the importance of ruby blood; standard sentiments that anybody who had been to a vampire wedding in the past had already heard before

Then the time came for exchanging our vows. Looking into Grace’s eyes, I promised to treasure her for the rest of her life.

Grace took a deep breath, steadying herself, and repeated the same words back to me. “I, Grace Milton, will always treasure Silas Hoyt as my husband and remain with him for the rest of my life, supplying him with my blood, whenever needed.”

A small smile appeared on my lips. I barely knew her. Someone like me shouldn’t want a radiant person like her. Yet, I couldn’t deny that I was looking forward to sharing my life with her. She was beautiful, like a ray of sunshine in my otherwise gloomy life.

“You may now kiss the bride,” the officiant announced.

I leaned down, cupping one of Grace’s cheeks in my hand. Gently, I placed a chaste kiss on her lips, afraid that she would be disgusted by my touch.

To my surprise, Grace kissed me back.

Relief washed over me. I continued the kiss, licking her lower lip. She opened her mouth, and I put my tongue inside. Our tongues danced with each other, as we continued kissing. My other hand wandered to the small of her back, pulling her closer to me. Grace melted against my body.

The sound of happy cheers brought my attention back to the present moment. Grace broke the kiss, giving me a startled look.

Clearly, I wasn’t the only one shocked by the chemistry between us or by how pleasant our kiss had been. I wanted more – more of her touch, more of Grace.

Soon it would be time to consummate the marriage. Lust flared in my heart. I eagerly awaited the chance to become one with Grace.