Married to the Vampire Prince

Chapter Twenty-Two

Silas

I didn’t know how long healing had taken me. I had drifted in and out of consciousness the entire time. All the while I had imagined Grace leaving me. I kept calling out to her, but she just kept turning around and walking away, over and over again.

Someone was by my side throughout my whole illness. I felt a presence next to me, but I couldn’t recognize who it was.

When I finally snapped awake, coming back to my senses, I found myself in my tent. Grace was lying on the bedroll next to me. I shifted carefully, trying not to wake her up, but she stirred anyway. Her beautiful sky-blue eyes stared at me, cloudy from sleep.

She rose up with a start a moment later. “Silas, you’re awake!”

I gave her a soft smile. “I’m not easy to kill.”

“I know, but…” She trailed off. “You were out of it for three whole days. I’ve never dealt with a vampire being sick. I was worried you would…”

“…Die?” I finished the sentence for her.

Grace blushed and nodded. “I know you’re undead, so it’s not easy to kill you. The stake barely missed your heart though, and it was poisonous, or so the soldiers told me.”

“I see,” I said. “I might have taken on too many enemies at once.”

“You’re awful!” Suddenly tears appeared in Grace’s eyes. “How could you not look out for yourself at all?”

“It’s hard to stay safe when you’re on the battlefield,” I chuckled.

“R-Right,” she mumbled, wiping at the tears. “But what if you really had died?”

“Then you would be a widow?” I ended the sentence with a question, because I wasn’t sure where she was going with her line of thought.

“I would,” she bumped my shoulder gently. “And I would hate it.”

“Would you?” I arched my eyebrows, confused. “I thought you hated me.”

“What?” Her eyes widened. “No-no-no, I don’t hate you!”

“You called me a monster, though.”

Great, Silas – way to start getting back on good terms with your wife. Why are you reminding her about painful things?

Grace looked away then turned back to me with a serious expression. “You’re not a monster. I just… didn’t understand your point of view. You’re a vampire, sure, but that doesn’t make you a monster.”

“Even though I’ve killed so many men?”

“It was all to protect the ones you care for, right?” She asked.

I nodded. “I never kill unless completely necessary.”

“R-Right. A monster wouldn’t care so much about the circumstances of whom he killed and whom he kept alive. And… throughout the weeks I’ve known you, you’ve shown me nothing but warmth and kindness. I can’t believe you’re evil, Silas. You’re just you, influenced in different ways by the different life experiences you’ve had to face.”

She gave me an expectant look.

“That’s… very kind and thoughtful of you,” I said carefully.

“I’m sorry I called you a monster and that I pushed you away,” she said.

I chuckled. “So you’re apologizing to me first?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Yes, I was the one in the wrong. What could you have to be sorry for?”

“A lot of things; the fact that I scared you by showing you my harsher side so suddenly, that I never talked to you about my past actions, that I left you to decide all alone whether or not the rumors about me in vampire society were the truth. A lot of anguish could have been avoided if we had just communicated better,” I said.

She nodded. “That’s true. Communication is key in a relationship.”

“I want our marriage to be a real relationship, not just a… deal, as you called it; a blood transaction.”

Grace smiled. “So do I.”

“That’s why there’s something more I need to tell you,” I continued before I could get cold feet. “In the weeks I’ve known you, I have fallen in love with you, Grace. I love your curiosity, your drive to better yourself. I love how you treat me with care and warmth. I want to be with you forever.”

Grace gasped, putting her hand to her lips.

I rose up on the bed, carefully testing whether my body worked properly. There seemed to be no sign of the wound I’d had in my chest. My body had completely healed.

Grace blushed, and I heard her heart beating quickly. Her blood shimmered in her veins; a lovely sound I had grown to associate with her and her alone.

“I…” She spoke up. “I love you too, Silas. I love how kind you are to me, how much patience you have. I love… being intimate with you, being in your arms. I love it when you bite me, even though I never thought I would,” she chuckled. “With you I feel complete. I thought I would lose you, but I’m glad you’re with me now and safe.”

My eyes widened. “You… love me?” I repeated her words.

“Yes, I do,” she said, a warm smile on her lips.

“Even… despite the fact that I’m… a cold-blooded killer?”

“I love you the way you are,” she confirmed.

I leaned down to her and captured her lips with my mouth. I kissed her gently because she was the most precious person to me in the world. I licked her lower lip, asking for entrance. She opened her mouth, and I put my tongue inside. Our tongues danced with each other. The kiss turned heated.

My hands went to her hair, touching her scalp.

We continued kissing until she was out of breath.

When we broke apart, we gazed into each other’s eyes.

“Sit on top of me?” I asked her.

“You want me to…” She asked, unsure.

“To ride me,” I gave her a wicked smile.

She blushed an even deeper red but nodded.

Grace helped me out of my pants then undressed herself. She looked so pretty with her skin flushed red from embarrassment. I didn’t need long to get hard. When it came to Grace, I was always ready for her.

Grace positioned herself on top of me, and I laid back down. She carefully placed her pussy on my cock and pushed herself down on me until I was halfway inside of her.

“Fuck,” she moaned.

I groaned in response. “You’re so tight.”

“We haven’t been intimate for a while,” she said.

“True,” I chuckled.

I grabbed her hips and, before she noticed what I was about to do, I guided her all the way down until I had stretched and filled her completely.

“Silas,” she moaned my name.

“Yes, call my name.”

I helped her move up and down on me, both of us finding a rhythm. I thrust my hips so I could meet her movements.

“Silas,” she said again. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” I said. “Lean down.”

She did as I asked, leaning down towards me until her neck was near my lips.

I bit her neck, and her delicious blood filled my mouth.

Grace moaned. I felt her come on my cock, and my own orgasm quickly followed.

In the hazy high of our pleasure, I saw a red thread connecting her to me; faint but still present. I experimentally tugged on it, and Grace moaned again. Elated, I realized this was a mating bond.

Sometimes mating was possible between humans and vampires, and it seemed we were one of the rare couples blessed with such a possibility.

I didn’t connect the thread to me yet; I needed to explain the connection to Grace first. Both sides had to want to mate for the bond to snap in.

We both came down from our orgasms. Grace was lying in my arms, breathing heavily. I slid out of her and turned us around, easing myself on top of her. I propped myself up on my arms so my weight wouldn’t crush her.

“Grace,” I called her name.

Her eyes focused on me, but they were cloudy from pleasure. “Yes?”

“There is a possibility that the two of us could become mates.” I felt nervous speaking about the bond. What if she said no?

“What’s ‘mates’?” She gave me a puzzled look.

“Mates are two people whom a red thread of fate connects together. If you mate with me, our lifespans will become equal – you will live for as long as I do. We will feel each other’s emotions through the bond and hear each other’s thoughts. I will always know where you are as well, and you will always know where I am. This ability will make it easier for me to protect you.”

“Wow,” she gave me a look full of wonder. “That’s a lot.”

“I know,” I nodded.

“What’s the catch?”

“The catch?” I looked at her, confused.

“It all sounds so wonderful. There’s a bad side to every good thing, though. What’s the bad side to being mates?”

I thought for a moment. “It’s that mating is forever. You’ll never be able to leave me, no matter how you feel about me.”

She frowned. “Like I’d ever want to leave you or you’d ever let me leave you anyway.”

I chuckled. “True.”

She smiled. “I’ll take it then. I want to be your mate.”

My eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“More than anything else in the world,” she said. “I love you, Silas. I want to be with you forever.”

I leaned down and kissed her again.

When we broke apart, I looked into her eyes and said, “I want to mate with you too. You’re mine, Grace. Always and forever.”

She nodded, and my heart soared.

I kissed her cheeks, her brows, her eyes. I showered her neck in kisses as well, all the way down to her breasts. I took one of her nipples in my mouth and sucked at it. My hand went to her other breast, and I squeezed and played with it.

Grace moaned and writhed underneath me.

When I felt like she’d had enough of the sweet torture, I moved lower and trailed kisses down her stomach all the way to her pussy. I sucked at her folds, wet with come.

I put a finger inside her, then another, stretching her. I pushed in and out while I sucked on her clit.

“Silas,” she called out.

“Yes, I’m with you,” I said.

I continued to finger her until Grace came, screaming my name.

I rose to my knees, positioning myself at her entrance.

“Are you sure this is fine for you too?” she said in a breathless voice.

“Don’t worry about me,” I said. I lowered my voice. “Worry about yourself.”

Her eyes widened. “What-” she started, but her words broke into a moan when I thrust into her, filling her suddenly.

I pulled out then pushed in again, finding a rhythm that was closer to fucking than making love. I wanted to possess her, to make sure she knew she was mine. So I pumped into her hard and fast.

Grace came again, but I kept thrusting through her orgasm, prolonging and heightening it.

“No more,” she begged.

My response was to smile. “You will take all that I give you.”

The thread appeared between our hearts again. I leaned down to Grace’s neck.

“When you see the red thread, pull it towards you,” I instructed her.

She didn’t reply.

“Did you hear me?” I asked her.

“Y-Yes,” she confirmed in a breathless voice.

“Good.”

I didn’t give her any more time to think. I bit her neck; her blood flooded my mouth once more. Grace came again, the folds of her pussy squeezing my cock. My own orgasm shuddered through me. While I was riding the high, I grabbed onto the bond, pulling it towards me.

I felt a responding tug on the other side. With a snap, the mating bond came into existence between us.

I felt a wave of satisfaction from Grace. She was fulfilled and sated. I sent her my own feelings of love and happiness.

“I love you too,” I heard her voice inside my head.

“You’re figuring it out quickly,” I chuckled.

“Oh, you heard that,” she yelped in surprise.

“That’s how the bond works,” I confirmed.

“Wow,” she made a sound of wonder.

I pulled out of her and rolled off to the side.

We laid next to each other, gazing into each other’s eyes deeply.

“I’m glad we gathered the courage to communicate with each other,” she said.

“So am I,” I smiled.

Grace’s eyes drifted close. “I need to sleep,” she stretched. “You’ve tired me out.”

“I’ll be here when you wake up. And then we can continue,” I winked.

Grace sighed contentedly. “I’m human, remember? I get tired.”

“Of course,” I chuckled. “And I’m a vampire with an insatiable appetite.”

“That you are,” she agreed, drifting asleep.

***

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lewis, the King of Athalis, asked me when I finished presenting him with the plan for our final joint attack on Rosworth.

I looked up from the map and gave him a serious look. We were in my command tent in Estone. Lewis was visiting us to discuss combining our forces to march on Rosworth together. Our attempts at coordinated separate attacks on the enemy forces had failed so far. Thus, I was now making my proposal to combine our people into one army so we could make a grand final push against Rosworth.

“It should work,” I said calmly. “We would have a large advantage in numbers. Lukas would cover the middle troop, Thomas the left flank, and you would take the right flank. We wouldn’t have to mix our fighters on the battlefield, but we would have to move as one coordinated army. Can you agree to that strategy?”

Lewis thought for a moment. “It’s not like I have any other choice. Rosworth has been hitting Athalis hard these past few weeks. We’ve lost many good soldiers to the war. It’s time to end the fighting once and for all.”

I nodded. “We’re tired of the war too.”

“Are you sure you want to give command of the middle troops to Lukas Carter? I know you trust him – it’s common knowledge that you two have been best friends since the last Rosworth-Estone war. But wouldn’t it be better if you took the lead instead? You’re an excellent commander,” Lewis gave me a confused look.

“I’ll fight on the battlefield,” I explained. “With my fighting skills, I can add the power of an entire extra highly-trained unit to our forces.”

Lewis continued looking at me with doubt. Suddenly his eyes told me he had come upon some kind of realization. “You have a plan for the battle that involves you fighting directly?”

My lips curved in a vicious smile. “I want to go after Logan Sherman, the leader of Rosworth. Should I defeat him, I think his forces will fall into disarray and surrender.”

“Isn’t he usually commanding from the back of the forces, though?” Lewis’ eyes widened.

“Yes, that’s why I will carve a path through the enemy forces until I get to him.”

My ally laughed out loud. “You’re crazy, aren’t you?”

I continued smiling. “The good kind of crazy; the kind which will bring an end to the war.”

He sobered up. “You’re really serious, aren’t you? You’re not worried someone will stake you?”

“I simply don’t see any other way to end the war quickly,” I said. “And I want to return to my peaceful life with my wife at the palace as soon as possible.”

“Since when does Silas Hoyt like peace?” Lewis didn’t believe me.

“Since I got married,” my smile widened.

“Ah,” Lewis shook his head. “It’s the marriage that made you crazy,” he looked down at the map. After a pause, he looked up again, his gaze serious. “Fine, we will move forward with your plan. Just… don’t die, Hoyt.”

“I won’t,” I smiled, showing my fangs. “I have a wife I have to return to, after all.”

He nodded. I called Luke and Thomas into the tent, and we spent the next few hours discussing the plan. Once all the details were finalized, all that remained was to gather our forces and officially march on Rosworth.

We did so, and a few days later the attack on Rosworth finally commenced. Grace had protested my plan to fight directly alongside our troops, telling me I was being too reckless, especially since I had been staked recently. I just shook my head though, dismissing her request. We had to end the war, once and for all.

All I wanted was a peaceful world for me to live in with my mate. I was confident I would be able to succeed at my plan and win the battle. Grace had cried, afraid for me, but she eventually accepted my decision after seeing how calm and confident I felt about my odds of success.

The moment our forces clashed with Rosworth’s, I threw myself into the battle, carving a bloody path from the front of our army through the waves of enemies. It was far from an easy fight. I was someone enemies recognized, and many of the soldiers threw themselves at me, hoping to kill me and gain glory for Rosworth.

Despite their fierceness and persistence, I killed enemy after enemy relentlessly, advancing closer and closer to the back of the forces. It took me hours to get there while the battle raged on around me, but eventually I reached the back of Rosworth’s army.

I was fighting off more enemy soldiers when I suddenly heard a familiar voice. “Let him pass.”

I glanced over the heads of enemies to see Sherman heading my way. He was armed with a stake, much like me, though I had lost several so far and had no spares anymore. The one I held in my hand was a stake that I had picked up from a fallen enemy soldier. The fingernails of my other hand had extended into claws.

I was ready to fight him.

“You came to see me,” I flashed him a mad, vicious smile.

“Estone’s war hero – how could I pass up the opportunity to fight you?” he replied. His face was grim and serious.

Sherman had come to me to kill me. I could sense the intense calculations behind his movements. He was an enemy to be respected. Yet, so was I.

“Of course,” I gave him a nod, turning serious. “I came here for you, Sherman.”

“So I guessed,” he said coldly. “Let’s see who survives this fight then.”

With no further ado, he threw himself at me, his stake aimed straight at my heart.

I parried his attack and extended my clawed hand at him. He dodged my attack, but his own claws dragged down my side. I jumped away, again putting some distance between us. My effort was in vain though because he immediately closed the distance between us again, aiming the stake at my heart once more.

We continued diving at each other and parrying each other’s attacks, all at vampire speed. To a human eye, the whole exchange would have seemed like a blur of movement.

I wasn’t sure how long the fight lasted. I counted the wounds he inflicted on me as we continued; a scratched side, a battered arm, a bruised knee.

I didn’t spare any effort and made sure to give him just as many injuries in return.

Soon I noticed Sherman beginning to slow down, if only by a quarter of a second. The wounds I had inflicted on him were tiring him out.

Finally, I saw an opening and attacked him with my stake.

Sherman’s eyes widened and he moved to block my assault. He was too slow. The fact that the stake suddenly sunk into his heart surprised us both. I hadn’t been sure of my ability to land a killing blow against such a formidable fighter, and I don’t think he had truly expected to die in this fight.

Sherman’s skin turned gray. He suddenly fell to the ground, limp, dead.

I stopped moving. If I hadn’t been a vampire, I would have long since run out of breath and collapsed. Even with my extra stamina though, I had to focus on not becoming overwhelmed by the tiredness in my limbs.

I tore Sherman’s head clear off his body and raised it high above me for all to see. “I, Silas Hoyt, have killed your King,” I called out in a loud, booming voice. “Surrender now.”

As one, the enemies around me dropped their stakes. I was glad nobody decided to attack me now as some kind of desperate final attempt against me. As tired as I was, if they had all suddenly ganged up on me, I wouldn’t have stood a chance at surviving. Fortunately, vampire honor dictated that if the General died, his forces had to surrender. Thankfully the enemies seemed to respect this old law.

The word that the battle was over was carried throughout the battlefield. Soon all of the fighting stopped.

Eventually Lewis, Luke and Thomas joined me, and together we attended a meeting with Rosworth’s commanders. They were interested in peace, claiming only Sherman’s orders had driven them to go to war against us. I didn’t believe them one bit of course, but they seemed sufficiently scared of provoking us any further and I too longed for nothing else than to return home and put this war behind us.

We signed a peace treaty there and then.

Finally the Rosworth war was over.