Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter Eight

Silas

The Rosworth vampires were attacking the Athalis vampires ruthlessly, driving their stakes through their enemies’ hearts. The cries of the dying filled the air. The ground, muddy after it had rained, squelched under the fighters’ boots.

“I think this is enough to confirm that a war is indeed going on,” I glanced over at Luke.

We were both hidden in the woods near the active battlefield. With our advanced vampire sight we could see the details of the fight easily even from a large distance.

A part of me, however, wished I couldn’t see how the violence was unfolding. Yet I couldn’t run from the truth.

“Athalis is getting their ass kicked.” Luke said aloud the exact thought that was on my mind.

“Yes, this battle doesn’t seem good for them,” I nodded.

“The previous one I witnessed earlier wasn’t either. Rosworth is getting deeper and deeper into enemy territory and closer and closer to Athalis’ capital,” Luke said in a worried tone. “And they’re showing no sign of stopping or slowing down.”

“Athalis is still in disarray after the civil war,” I noted.

Recently there had been an uprising of vampires of lower standing against the Athalis ruling caste. The high nobility had won but they were still in the middle of sorting out their problems. Rosworth had observed their current weakness and decided to attack.

“Yes, and the situation is worse than I initially thought. They can’t seem to repel any attacks due to the total current lack of organization and discipline in their ranks,” Luke said.

“Right. That’s my take on it too,” I agreed.

“If…” Luke licked his lips, and I realized he was nervous. “If Athalis falls, do you really think Estone will be next?”

I thought about his words for a moment. “We don’t have enough information to say one way or the other, but if Rosworth wins this war and they incorporate Athalis vampires into their army, we will be in a lot of trouble.”

Luke nodded. “Rosworth will end up stronger than us, even with the Athalis vampires resisting their commands.”

“The outcome of any war would still come down to who commands their army better, but they would have a huge advantage in numbers.”

“We need to figure out some way for the war not to come to our doorstep in the first place then?” Luke gave me a curious glance.

However, I didn’t have an answer for him yet about the strategy we should take. “For now just have your people observe the situation and report back to me.”

“Right,” Luke agreed.

“Let’s go back to the castle. I’ve seen enough,” I got up, turned around and started my quick vampiric sprint back towards Estone.

Luke ran next to me, and the world became a blur of shapes and smells around us.

While we ran, I thought more about the possibility of war. I had a bad feeling that Rosworth really would come after Estone after they were done with our neighbor. They had always wanted our lands. As soon as they saw the opportunity to take them from us, they would seize it.

Still, I had no evidence yet that would definitely be the case.

One of our options would be to join the Rosworth-Athalis war as a third party, fighting in the name of defending Athalis. However, that action would mean dragging our people straight into a fresh war, and nobody in Estone would be too happy about the idea.

Another option would be for us to assassinate Rosworth’s commander. That plan would throw the enemy forces into disarray. However, I had no reason to believe that the King of Rosworth was the only one who wanted the war. What if another leader took his place and turned out to be even more bloodthirsty than his predecessor? Our efforts would turn out to be pointless then.

No, for now the best thing for us to do would be to wait to see what happened next. The war wasn’t public knowledge yet. I would reach out to the media to block any reports on the situation. I didn’t want the people of Estone to panic unnecessarily.

***

After running for a few hours, Luke and I arrived back at the palace. When we came through the main entrance, we saw a few human servants carrying a large garland into the throne room. Behind them came two others carrying huge boxes.

Luke and I shared a glance. I gestured for him to follow me into the grand hall.

Mom was in the middle of the room, her dark brown hair braided into a beautiful chignon. She wore an elegant black dress, almost befitting of a ball. With a bright smile on her face she commanded the servants to do her bidding – decorating the grand hall with what seemed to be garlands full of leaves and other items suggestive of an autumn theme.

“What’s going on here?” I approached her.

Mom smiled even more brightly when she saw me. “Oh, Silas. I’m preparing the great hall for the Autumn Ball I’m throwing in three days.” She beamed at me.

I arched my eyebrows. “The Autumn Ball? Do we have a tradition like that?”

A pout appeared on her lips. “Now we do.”

Uh-huh, so mom probably just wanted an excuse to throw a celebration. Sometimes she had these sorts of festive urges. She loved getting the nobles together, drinking blood wine and dancing all night. She was the jewel of Estone, and she loved all the attention.

Her balls always turned out great because she had decades of practice at organizing them. However, was now really the best time for a party, what with the war at our doorstep?

Mom didn’t know of the Rosworth-Athalis war yet, and I didn’t want to worry her. Perhaps I shouldn’t share the truth with her just yet.

“Is there any special occasion for this ball?” I asked, even though I didn’t think there had to be one.

Mom puffed out her cheeks even further. “Do you really have to ask?”

My eyes widened. Was there something I was missing?

When I said nothing, mom huffed. “Men are so hopeless. It’s your wife’s societal debut.”

“My… wife…” I did indeed have a wife; a wife I hadn’t even had the time to speak to lately.

“Yes, you do have a wife now, and you should be seen having a wife,” Mom stabbed my chest with her well-manicured finger.

“That’s… correct… I guess…” I said, still processing what was happening.

I heard a snicker from my right and sent Luke a glare. He looked away, suddenly busy looking at a nearby garland.

“Grace has been learning how to be a princess, but do you really think she’s ready for her debut in the noble society?” I asked.

It had been a week and a half since Grace had started taking her lessons. I had thought we would be giving her far more time to learn her new role.

“The nobility has been pressuring me to make it possible for them to meet the princess,” Mom bit her lower lip. “Grace’s debut has to happen, and it has to be soon.”

Ah, so the situation wasn’t just my mom wanting to throw a ball. If Grace had been from a Family, having her debut right away wouldn’t have been an issue; she would have already known all the things a princess had to know – etiquette, history, embroidery, music and dancing. The nobles had to realize she wasn’t familiar with all those subjects yet since she wasn’t from a prominent position. So why push for an immediate debut?

Did they just want to see her embarrass herself?

A shiver went down my spine. With how ruthless and rude the nobility could be regarding myself, I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn they wanted to direct their ire at Grace now too.

I’m sorry, Grace. It’s because of me that you will have to suffer.

Maybe my wife would be alright at the ball? After all, I had received nothing but good reports on her progress. I would have to put my faith in her to succeed in showing our society that she was fit to be a princess.

I wanted to nod at mom, but her attention was already elsewhere. She turned around and walked over to two servants who were decorating the table.

“Do you think having a ball with that war looming on the horizon is the right thing to do?” I asked Luke.

Luke thought for a moment. “Since you’re going to tell the media not to speak about the war just yet, they will need another topic to cover instead. This ball would be a great distraction.”

“I hadn’t considered that benefit, but you’re right, Luke,” I gave him a grateful look.

“I pity your wife, though. Your mother is throwing her to the piranhas so soon.” The piranhas was the term Luke loved to call the vampire nobility.

I chuckled, but the sound was a grim one. “I’m going to do my best to stick to Grace’s side. I’ll help her through the ball.”

“We’ve returned from one battlefield only to find ourselves facing another,” Luke ruffled his hair.

“We have, indeed.”