Page 48 of Married to the Vampire Prince

Ruth gave me a long look. Silence continued between us. I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt.

Finally she spoke. “Have you considered that your husband may be both – an affectionate man towards those he cares about as well as a dangerous vampire towards his enemies?”

“I… Is it possible for one man to be so complex?” I asked, but the question felt silly to me.

“Of course,” Ruth said. “You have to consider the fact that the Prince has many more years of life experience than you do. He has been faced with many difficult choices and, whether he wanted them to or not, they have shaped him.”

I lowered my head. “I’m awfully judgmental, aren’t I?” Shame washed over me.

“I wouldn’t say that. You’re just young, so you have a different perception of the world; a simpler one. In a way, you’vebeen sheltered from the many evils of the world of vampires. You have lived most of your life unaware of the complicated way the society of vampires operates.”

I raised my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

“Vampires live up to a thousand years. Once they pass a hundred years, insanity encroaches on their minds; if they don’t drink ruby blood they begin seeing and hearing things that don’t exist. Shadows, we call them. So vampires secure a source of ruby blood by marrying a human who has that special quality. That reason is why your husband had to look for someone to marry – and he ended up with you.”

I sighed. “I still don’t understand why he chose me.”

“He must have felt drawn to you. His reasons are his own, we can only speculate. No matter what prompted him to make the choice in the first place though, you accepted his offer and now the two of you are married. Thus you have become part of the vampire society, even though you never had exposure to it in your life until now.”

“It was overwhelming, and it still is,” I admitted.

“It will be for a long time. That’s why you have your tutors to support you as well as your husband. Now, back to the topic of vampire society. Imagine living for a hundred years or more, taking part in one or more wars. War is inevitable in the vampire world. Be it out of boredom or greed, many try to take what is not rightfully theirs – often the territories and resources of other countries.”

I nodded. Her explanation made sense.

She continued. “So, twenty years ago, the Estone-Rosworth war happened. Before that event, your husband was very different from how he is now. He was much more cheerful, and he didn’t have to manage any rumors about his nature spreading through society behind his back. He was a vampire, so of course it was common knowledge that he was capable ofkilling another just like any of us, but he had no proven record of taking anybody’s life.”

My eyes widened. I listened to Ruth’s words intently.

“In a way, you could say that until the Estone-Rosworth war happened, the Prince was sheltered as much as yourself. After all, a long time had passed since any other war had happened in Estone, so the Prince had never had to experience battle before. So when Rosworth attacked and your husband got saddled with commanding Estone’s forces, he had to face the horrors of war for the first time. One such horror was having to personally engage in combat – something that normally wouldn’t be expected from a General.”

“Why did he go onto the battlefield then?” I asked.

“He was well-trained and always considered powerful, even though he had never taken a life before the war. He and Lukas Carter thought that the Princes’ personal involvement in battle might tip the scales of war in Estone’s favor. They were right – when Silas came to the battlefield, he turned into an unstoppable war machine and turned the tide of the conflict. He had to kill back then so we could win and he could survive, no matter how harshly doing so affected him. From the sidelines, though, it seemed like he had turned off all emotions, that he was unaffected by taking so many lives with such violence. But I’ve always suspected that assumption was not the case.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why do you think he’s not a monster?”

Ruth scrunched up her nose. “Is everyone who fights in a war a monster? Or just those who have a high death count? Or maybe only those who are particularly efficient at killing? Either way, any vampire in the Prince’s place would have been called a ruthless killer. Silas didn’t ask for the war, he only ended it in the only way he knew how.”

I nodded. Her thinking made sense.

Ruth continued. “After that battle, your husband withdrew into himself. He became detached from society and started avoiding others. More battles like that one followed as the war lingered, and so his death count increased. People started to fear him and whisper that he was dangerous. Everything he did was to protect the country and the people, yet all the media did was demonize him. I think it was ungrateful. As I told you once before, to me Silas is a war hero. He should be praised for what he’s done, not ostracized.”

I bit my lip. “I might have made a terrible mistake. I just… didn’t think one man could be both warm and cold, but now that you’ve explained things to me it all makes sense. Maybe the war broke Silas, in a sense?”

“It definitely did,” she confirmed my suspicions. “I’ve seen how he acts around you, though. Your presence is healing to him. Or it was, before you had your falling out.”

I hid my face in my hands. “Oh lord, what have I done?” It finally dawned on me just how much I must have hurt Silas. I had been so judgmental of him without trying to understand him.

“You’re young,” Ruth said. “You’re bound to make mistakes.”

I shook my head. “My age doesn’t excuse my behavior. I hurt Silas.”

Ruth nodded. “From the look on his face, you did, unfortunately.”

“How can I fix this?” Panic rose in my heart. “What if he doesn’t want to speak to me anymore? What if I’ve destroyed our relationship forever?”

“I wouldn’t assume so much,” Ruth said. “Talk to him. See what he thinks.”

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