Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter Twenty-One

Grace

After my talk with Ruth, I thought more about how I had approached my relationship with Silas. I wanted to know more about him, the real him, and to do so I would need to have a real talk with him. I didn’t want to give up on our relationship. I wasn’t someone who would just abandon all hope without trying.

Silas and the army had left for the battlefield that morning. I busied myself with embroidery, waiting patiently for them to return. Usually battles between vampires could last from eight to ten hours before one side decided to fall back. The war had consisted of a bunch of stalemates so far. It was going nowhere, even with Athalis’ help. I didn’t want to give up hope for our victory, though. Under Silas’ command, I believed the war would soon be won.

A few hours passed when suddenly there was a commotion near Silas’ tent. I rose from my seat and approached to see people carrying someone toward the tent. My heart sped up, and I ran over to them.

I gaped when I saw who the people were carrying. Silas. He was all bloody and even paler than usual, dark veins bulging on his skin. There was a stake embedded in his chest.

“Silas,” I called out to him.

He didn’t reply. Instead one of the people turned my way. “Princess, I’m glad you’re here. The Prince has been calling for you. He’s not fully conscious, but he wants you at his side.”

“I’m coming,” I closed the distance between us and grabbed Silas’ hand.

I walked next to him as the men carried my husband inside the tent. They laid him down on the bedroll carefully. One of them removed the stake. Silas groaned, and more blood gushed from the wound. A clean cloth was put against the wound to stop the flow of blood.

“The stake narrowly missed his heart, but vampires are sensitive to oak wood, so his body is still suffering from the poison,” one of the men explained. “That’s why the stakes we use for combat have metal ends which we can hold safely.”

“Someone tried to kill him?” I asked. “Wasn’t he just supposed to command the army, not fight in combat?”

The men looked at each other. “There were more enemies than anticipated, so the General came down to the battlefield to help us fight.”

“He killed forty enemies,” the other one supplied.

I swallowed hard. Of course, it made sense that if Silas had taken on forty men, one had managed to slip through his defenses and injure him.

“Vampires have accelerated healing. Will he be okay?” I couldn’t hide my worry.

“Eventually, yes,” one of the men said. “But he needs time and rest.”

“I will stay with him and take care of the wound,” I decided.

The men nodded. “If you need any further help, call someone.”

“I will,” I said.

The men left. After a few minutes someone came in with fresh cloth and bandages to show me how to properly dress my husband’s wound. From then on, I spent hours sitting next to him, changing his bandages and cleaning him up.

At some point I felt Silas’ start to burn up. He had a fever; his body was trying to fight off the poison.

I changed his clothes and the damp cloth on his temple.

The soldiers brought me food, but I only nibbled on it, not really having an appetite. I was too worried about Silas to care about food.

I fell asleep next to him and later woke up to the sound of him mumbling something under his breath.

“Grace, Grace,” he called for me.

My heart clenched. “I’m here.” I grabbed and squeezed his hand.

“Grace, Grace,” he continued calling.

Silas couldn’t hear me.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I let them flow freely down my cheeks. I laid down next to him and placed a kiss on his temple. I couldn’t deny my feelings anymore.

I cared for my husband, more than I wanted to admit.

No, now wasn’t the time to hold back, not anymore. I had to face the truth. No matter who my husband really was – a kind man or a dangerous killer – it didn’t really matter. He could be both, but I would care for all of him, always.

I loved Silas.

“Please come back to me,” I whispered, sobbing.

“Grace,” he continued calling to me. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize about,” I shook my head. “I was the one who was wrong. I’m sorry that I called you a monster. You’re not a monster. You’re just Silas, my husband. I love you for who you are; a complex, caring person.”

“Grace,” Silas called to me again. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry, Silas. I love you. I really do. Come back to me,” I chanted.

How could I have been so stupid and pushed away this wonderful man? Regardless of his actions in battles past or present, he had been nothing but affectionate towards me. So what if he was much older than I was? So what if we were different species? True, our differences made understanding him difficult for me, but had I even given him a chance to explain himself yet? No, I had not.

Instead, I had pushed him away without considering his feelings.

What if he never recovered from this illness that burned his body? What if he died? I didn’t know if it was possible for a vampire to die from oak wood poisoning. The soldiers had claimed it wasn’t, but what if Silas ended up being the first one in centuries to do so?

No, I had to trust that he would be okay. He wouldn’t leave me behind, right?

I didn’t want to live without him. I loved him too much to imagine a life without him in it; no more of his rare smiles, his looks of lust during our lovemaking, his thoughtful gazes whenever he gave me his full attention while speaking to me.

When we had first met, I had been a nobody. I’d had no one to care for besides my parents. I had drifted through life without really living.

Then Silas had shown me the world of vampires; a difficult but thrilling society to enter. He had assigned tutors to guide me and prepare me for my new circumstances. I had harbored only doubts about my ability to become a proper Princess, but Silas had always trusted in my abilities – far more than I trusted in them myself, in fact.

My husband was a wonderful man; he couldn’t die.

If he lived through this wound, I would prove to him every day how much I loved him. I would never let him go.

Please, please, wake up, Silas.