Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter Sixteen

Silas

Lukas, Grace and I walked between the tents of the Athalis war camp inside the country’s borders, led by a vampire lord to the tent of their General, King Wyatt Lewis. I had decided to bring Grace with us to the alliance talks. She was the one who had suggested the union between our two countries in the first place, so she deserved to be present when the union was finalized.

I had sent Lewis a letter indicating the purpose of our visit. He had responded that he wished to speak with us. So I had taken my wife in my arms and, together with Luke, ran at vampire speed to the Athalis encampment which wasn’t that far off our common border.

When we arrived in camp, we saw many people giving us curious looks, but we were welcomed in peace. Word must have gotten around that Estone had reached out to Athalis for some kind of friendly proposal.

We entered the command tent where we saw a blonde vampire in military clothing sitting at the head of a large table, much like the one I had in my own tent. He wore a grim expression on his face.

“You’ve arrived,” he nodded at me.

I took Grace’s hand and squeezed it, seeing that she looked a bit afraid of the unfamiliar environment. “This is King Wyatt Lewis,” I introduced him. Then I nodded at Lewis. “My wife – Grace Hoyt, the Princess of Estone. You already know Lukas Carter.”

Lewis arched his eyebrows. “You brought your wife – a human – into the territory of a country at war?”

“Estone is at war with Rosworth too. War is everywhere those days,” I said.

He nodded. “So I’ve heard.”

“Grace was the one who came up with the idea of an alliance between us,” I said, giving her a look full of pride.

Grace responded with a soft smile.

“Did she now?” Lewis said. “A human involved in politics?”

“Not just any human,” I replied firmly. “My wife.”

“Ah,” Lewis nodded. “That explains it – if she can put up with you, then of course she must be something special.”

“She is to me,” I smiled. “Now, as for the matter at hand – what do you think of our alliance proposal?”

For the next two hours, Luke and I discussed with the King of Athalis the exact terms of our potential joint war effort against Rosworth. Lewis was open to the idea, even though the differences in our country's ways of life made him a bit hesitant to work together. I had the feeling he was somewhat desperate at this point though – looking for a way to protect his country, even at the expense of his pride for his people’s traditions.

The structure of Athalis’ society was much different than Estone’s. Whereas we respected humans, Athalis viewed them as nothing but blood donors obligated to feed vampires whenever needed. The nobility was much divided too between a lower caste and an upper caste – the two groups that had fought against each other for the rule over the country in the recent civil war. The upper caste had won, maintaining the country’s traditional way of life and Lewis’ position as king.

Even though Lewis was old-fashioned at heart, he also recognized the threat of Rosworth and finally decided to make an alliance with us – only until Rosworth was defeated, of course.

When we finally reached an agreement and had everything on paper, we shook hands.

“I hope our joint efforts will help us win the war,” the King said.

I nodded. “They will. We’re much stronger together.”

“That we are,” he nodded. He looked at Grace again, his gaze full of curiosity. “I hope to see more of the Princess too. If she can stand by your side, she must be a truly exceptional individual.”

I smiled. “She is my most precious treasure.”

Grace blushed, and I heard her blood shimmer louder in her veins.

We made our way out of the camp. I took Grace in my arms again, and we ran back to Estone.

We were almost at the border when we heard the sounds of pursuit. Leaves crushed loudly behind us, to the right and left. Whoever was trying to engage us wasn’t doing so quietly. They wanted us to know we were being targeted.

It was an ambush.

I stopped running, and Luke did the same a moment later.

“What’s wrong?” Grace asked. I had forgotten that her limited human hearing meant she couldn’t tell we were being chased.

“We’re under attack,” I said.

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. “Oh no.”

“Get between Luke and I,” I commanded. “And stay between us no matter what happens. We will protect you.”

Luke nodded. “No harm will come to you.”

Grace looked pale, but she nodded and did as we asked, her eyes darting around.

A moment later the first attacker jumped at us from our right; he was a vampire, of course, in Rosworth military clothing. At least Athalis didn’t seem to be betraying us; from how well our talks with the king had gone, I doubted he would make such a move. No, this ambush was clearly orchestrated by Rosworth, taking the opportunity to try killing us now that we were cut off from the rest of our forces.

Luke took out his stake and quickly impaled the attacker. The vampire died, his skin turning gray. I didn’t have time to watch what Luke did next though as two more vampires emerged from our right.

I engaged them both in combat, pulling out my stake. I staked one of them in the heart while the other tried to kill me by doing the same. The only way to murder a vampire permanently was to stake them in the heart. Rosworth had come prepared, and they really wanted us dead.

Grace screamed as more vampires suddenly poured out from behind the trees.

I staked one more, but with how many were coming now, I had to up my game. So when the next three came at me, I punched a fist straight through the chest of one of them. It was a gory tactic, and he would heal up later, but at least for the time being he fell to the ground, too injured to fight.

I then ripped the throat out of the next vampire. Another one came at me with a stake, so I ripped off his arm. I didn’t care if my fighting was messy anymore.

The only thing that mattered was protecting Grace at all costs.

More vampires attacked, and Luke and I continued our brutal fighting.

I ripped out someone’s heart, then I sent someone’s arm or leg flying. There was blood everywhere.

When the massacre was finally over, I turned around to see if Grace was alright.

She still stood where I had told her to stand, between me and Luke. Her pants were splashed in blood, but there was no ripped material or open wounds, so I could tell she hadn’t been wounded. Yet I felt little relief as I was struck by the utterly terrified look on her face. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she was breathing heavily and shaking.

“Grace,” I said softly, extending my hand to cup her cheek.

I stopped midway through, realizing my hand was completely soaked with blood.

Grace noticed too and gave my hand a scared look. She wrapped her arms around her midriff.

Quietly she said, “Don’t touch me.”

My eyes widened. Was I hearing her right? Just a few days ago she had longed for my touch, enjoying every second my hands roamed over her body. I had showered her with kisses and fucked her until she couldn’t take it anymore.

Where was the Grace I had held in my arms back then?

My wife took a step back, shying away from my touch. “Don’t-“ She said in a broken voice.

“Grace, what’s wrong?” I asked her.

“You… You’re what’s wrong,” she said.

My heart sank.

“You’re just like everyone said you were. A brutal killer,” she threw the harsh words of accusation right at me.

I didn’t know what I could say in response. She was right. I was a cold-blooded murderer who slaughtered people in a brutal fashion. She had just witnessed the way I fought firsthand. There had been no beauty or mercy in the combat we had just concluded. There was nothing clean to the way I had killed all these vampires.

The fact that they had been our enemies didn’t matter; not to the terrified Grace.

What mattered was that I had just proved my awful reputation to her by murdering people in a disgusting way right in front of her.

How could I ever have expected Grace to accept the harsh reality of my violent potential? How could I have ever held hope that she would take me as I was?

Accepting the truth hurt more than I had ever imagined it would.

“Hey,” Luke said. “Grace, Silas was just protecting us. He…”

“No,” she shook her head. “No, don’t say anything more. Just… finish what you have to do, and let’s go back to safety.”

“But-” Luke protested.

“Let’s do as she says,” I interrupted him. I took the stake in my hands again and pushed it into the heart of the nearest enemy.

I continued to do so until Luke and I were sure every enemy was completely dead.

When I stepped close to Grace and extended my arms to her, she hesitated before letting me pick her up. It hurt me to see how unsure she was around me now.

The trust between us was broken.

I was the one who had destroyed what we’d had, and I’d done so by being myself. The fact that my wife couldn’t accept me was all my fault.