Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter Thirteen

Grace

I sat in my history lesson, filling out a quiz Ruth had prepared for me. I had to match up battle sites to specific dates. However, my mind just couldn’t focus on the task at hand right now.

News of the impending war had reached my ears tonight. Rosworth’s war declaration against us was all over the media. There wasn’t a single soul who didn’t know the peace treaty had officially now been broken.

The reason for the war declaration was already widely known as well. Silas had attended a press conference and let everyone know that Rosworth’s leader, Logan Sherman, had kidnapped me and that, despite attempts to resolve the matter peacefully, the other king had decided to go to war with Estone anyway.

“I can’t allow anybody to harm my wife. With a heavy heart on behalf of Estone and its King, my father, I acknowledge the war declaration from Logan Sherman. Starting today, Rosworth and Estone are again at war,” Silas had announced in a calm tone.

People had immediately bombarded him with questions, and the conference had lasted well over four hours as my husband patiently addressed any and all concerns.

Many questions, unfortunately, couldn’t be answered in a way that gave much hope for the swift return of peace. The war had only just begun, and of course Silas didn’t know how long it would take to convince Logan to surrender. Still, the reporters hounded him about the anticipated length of the conflict anyway.

I tapped my pen on the table, looking at the battles and dates and not really registering them.

I heard papers rustling, and I looked up. There were two people besides me currently in my little office. Ruth was one, of course – she was busy reading a heavy tome. When she felt my gaze on her, she looked up and gave me an encouraging smile.

I responded with a small nod, but my gaze immediately wandered behind her to where a second desk had been set for my shocking but not unexpected second guest today – Silas.

Two days had passed since Silas had brought me back home, and ever since our return my husband had been acting strange. On the first day, after the press conference, he had asked me if I would mind him joining me when I studied, doing his paperwork while I had my lessons.

The request had surprised me. The past two weeks Silas had been avoiding me, and now he wanted to spend time near me? I thought the sight of my husband might distract me, but deep down I already knew my answer to his plea.

I wanted to be closer to my husband, and if we spent more time together – even if we would be doing separate things – then maybe we could form more of a bond?

I looked back down at the battle dates and bit my lip. I scribbled a few answers down.

Ever since Silas had brought me back to the safety of the palace, he had been at my side throughout the nights while I learned and he worked. He was by my side during the days as well; I blushed thinking about all of the times we had spent being intimate.

The attraction between Silas and I was scorching hot. Every time we started kissing, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. Soon our clothes always ended up on the floor, and our hands ended up roaming each other’s bodies. With every carnal experience we shared, I became bolder and bolder about exploring my husband’s body.

I wanted to have sex with him. I wanted him inside me, bringing me pleasure.

Shockingly enough, I wanted him to bite me too. I knew how much pleasure drinking my blood brought him, and I wanted him to have that good feeling as often as possible. I had gotten used to the breaking of my skin and the wave of ecstasy that came from a vampire’s bite; Silas’ bite.

I doubted I would ever want another man as much as I wanted Silas. A pang of anxiety went through my heart. What if he grew bored of me? What would I do then – I was already too invested in our marriage, wasn’t I?

We had promised each other forever, but what if Silas changed his mind?

“Is something wrong, Grace?” I looked up to see Silas giving me a concerned look.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my fast-beating heart. My husband must have heard the quickening of my pulse. He had once told me that my blood shimmered whenever I was aroused or nervous.

“It’s nothing,” I gave him a soft smile. “Just… I’m a bit distracted.”

Silas arched his eyebrows, but I only shook my head.

“It’s not good that you’re distracted during my test,” Ruth said, giving me a look of disapproval, but I knew she was just kidding around.

Ruth was slowly becoming my friend. Out of all my teachers, she was my favorite. We talked for long hours not just about history but about other topics as well. Ruth was particularly fond of sharing gossip about vampire society.

“Do you want Lord William to ask you a history question you can’t answer again?” She winked at me now.

I made a face. “Definitely not.”

“Back to the test then.” Ruth waved her hand in the direction of my paper.

I nodded, and when I looked at the dates again, the answers finally began to come to my mind. I noted them down.

Silas had been nothing but attentive towards me the past two days. I really appreciated his company, but the more he… doted on me – I think I could use that term to describe his approach towards me – the more I realized how much this private side of himself he was sharing was vastly different from the image of him I had come to know from the media.

The cold killer, the ruthless general, the man who had no feelings – that was the Silas I saw on TV. When I had first met him, I had known I couldn’t refuse his marriage proposal since he was a Prince of my country, but I still remembered how afraid of him I had felt.

When I looked at Silas now, focused on paperwork as he scribbled something with his pen, his brow furrowed, I couldn’t see him as a murderer. Yet, Ruth had told me he was a skilled fighter, and I couldn’t forget he was a vampire too – brutality was supposedly running in his blood.

Even so, he hadn’t shown any violence toward me. In fact, around me he was so very sweet and caring. On our first night together, he had put my pleasure before his own. When we had danced together at the ball, he had cared for my comfort and prevented me from embarrassing myself in public. Now, for the past two days, he had become my constant companion, seeing to my every need.

Maybe there were two sides of Silas – the one that history had recorded and the one he was showing me in private. I couldn’t deny my husband had fought and won a war with brutal methods, but who was I to judge him for the choices he had made under these circumstances? I wouldn’t be any better than the vampire nobles, whispering bad things about him behind his back.

I didn’t want to be so judgmental. I wished to see Silas the way he presented himself to me; as a doting husband. He could be something else to the world, if he wanted. However, I had the impression that the harsh way the media and society had painted him wasn’t to his liking.

Maybe I could do something to soften his public image. Nothing was coming to mind right now, but I would try to think of something.

When Silas had first proposed to me, I hadn’t thought I would ever end up feeling so attracted to him or so pleased to be his wife.

Maybe, just maybe, Silas’ true nature wasn’t as scary as I had initially thought.

Perhaps we could have a harmonious marriage after all.

I noted down the last dates on the test paper.

“Finished,” I smiled at Ruth.

She nodded, taking the paper from me. She looked at my answers with a focused expression.

“Everything’s good,” she finally said, and my shoulders relaxed. “You got all the answers right.”

“Great,” I beamed.

“That’s excellent,” Silas pitched in too.

The praise coming from my husband made my cheeks heat up.

“We can move on to the next part of the material then,” Ruth said. “Finally you will learn about the battle that Lord William mentioned.”

I sighed. I grabbed a clean sheet of paper for taking notes and gave Ruth a firm look.

“I’m ready,” I said.

During the next hour Ruth told me about a war much older than me, and I wrote down every detail.

Next came my embroidery and etiquette lessons. I was praised by my teachers for making quick progress.

When the sun rose and the servants closed the curtains, Silas and I retired to my bedroom. We slept little again that night, unable to let go of each other or to resist being as close as possible.

I wasn’t afraid of my husband anymore.