Page 14 of Married to the Vampire Prince

“You’re right,” I said. “I have made my choice. The only way is forward.”

“That’s the spirit,” Luke chuckled.

I sobered up. “Enough about my wife. Do you have any news on the movements of our enemies? You came here to give me a report, not to chit-chat about my newlywed life, right?”

Luke’s smile dropped. “A little bit of both, but I do have a report for you. There’s been military movements in the Kingdom of Rosworth, but I’m unsure of what’s going on.”

I frowned. Rosworth was the kingdom against which we’d had our great war twenty years ago. Vampires against vampires – many brutal battles and underhanded assassinations had occurred. I had been a general in that war, leading armies and fighting in battles myself. Even though now we were at peace, the relationship between Rosworth and Estone was still strained.

I considered them our enemies, though I had no proof that they were the ones that had been sending assassins after my father and my mother and even myself. These suspicions were why I had ordered Luke and his spies to keep tabs on the neighboring kingdom.

“Continue keeping a close watch on what’s going on there,” I commanded.

“As always,” Luke nodded.

“How’s the situation in Athalis?” I mentioned our other neighbor.

Athalis had recently had a civil war. They were a society structured differently than ours with many castes of vampires. The lower castes had risen up against the higher ones. The oldrulers had won against the usurpers, but the country had been weakened by all the infighting.

“They’re settling back into peace, but it’s going slowly. The leaders of the uprising were executed, and officially the civil war is over, but it’s not like the people who were upset with the old rule have suddenly changed into loving subjects,” Luke explained.

I nodded. “Keep an eye on what’s going on in that country too.”

The more information we had, the easier it would be to protect Estone should another war break out. Right now there were no signs of our country heading into another war, but I was so used to fighting that I couldn’t help always considering the eventuality.

My father needed my help the most here at this desk, managing bureaucratic matters for him. Here, signing and denying papers, I was most useful to him. He didn’t have to do this part of ruling, which meant he could focus on other matters.

However, I missed being out in the field like Luke. I was very much a soldier, a fighter. I liked combat and strategizing. The past ten years I had spent at this desk had made me feel like I was suffocating sometimes.

Still, what I wanted in life the most was to lessen my father’s burden of ruling Estone. So I did my work diligently – every day except today, that was. Today I just couldn’t focus. As time went on though and I got used to having a wife, I would fall back into my dutiful routine again.

Or so I hoped.

Chapter Five

Grace

In the evening, after my wedding ceremony, I sat in the living room of my apartment, opposite my parents. A white porcelain tea set, hand painted with red roses, sat on the coffee table between us. The light beige couch was so soft to the touch that I felt like I was sitting on a cloud.

We all wore comfortable but undoubtedly expensive clothes. I had on a white blouse with embroidery on the neckline and straight, smart gray pants. My mom wore an elegant but simple bottle green dress, and my dad had on a white shirt and black pants.

Mom sipped her tea. Dad tapped his hand against his knee. Neither of them said anything.

My thoughts went back to the moment when I had first walked into my wardrobe earlier today. The clothes I had brought with me from home were nowhere to be found. Everything available for me to choose from was new and opulent, like something a model would wear on a runway… or a vampire noble to a ball.

I didn’t feel comfortable moving around in a ball gown or an elegant suit, so I opted for the most casual clothes I could find. My parents seemed to have done the same, as I had no doubt they too had been provided with the ‘best selection’ of clothes. They were the parents of a princess now, after all.

We all had to play our new roles, and to do so we had to look the part… right?

Even with the relatively simple designs of our current clothes, the materials weren’t anything like I was used to frommy days of living as an ordinary human. The cloth felt exquisite and soft to the touch. Even though the cut was more fashionable than what I was used to, the outfit was comfortable to wear at least.

I was a princess now, but I didn’t want to lose sight of the real me. Grace. Just Grace. That was all I had ever wanted to be.

A pipe dream now perhaps.

Dad cleared his throat. “My daughter… are you alright?”

His cheeks were painted red. When I realized what he meant by the question, it took all of my self-control not to show them the true extent of the emotions Silas had stirred within me last night.

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