Page 26 of Married to the Vampire Prince

“I’m sorry, Grace.” Silas gave me a look of apology and squeezed my hand. He let go of me, and I acutely felt the loss of his touch. “We’ll continue our conversation some other time.”

I nodded with a smile. However, considering how little time my husband had found for me so far, I didn’t take his words as a promise.

As Lukas and Silas walked away from me, I wondered – why would my husband act so warm toward me whenever we were together, yet seemingly forget about my existence whenever we were apart?

Maybe he really was busy, and I was just taking his lack of interest in me too personally?

Yet, he still had to rest from time to time, so why didn’t he at least spend his meditation hours in bed with me while I slept? We didn’t even… have to have sex. Even the two of us just stayingclose to each other and chatting for a bit from time to time would have helped me settle into the role of being his wife more easily.

I blushed at the thought of being intimate with Silas again. Sex with him had been mind blowing. I wanted to experience it again. I had never thought of myself as such a wanton woman. Yet, I had also never enjoyed sex with someone else as much as I had with my husband. One time together, and I was already addicted to his touch.

I pushed aside the thought of Silas’ hands running up my legs. In the middle of the ballroom was not the right place to lust after my now-gone-again husband.

I needed some fresh air and to get away from the ballroom before another noble wanted to talk to me about some strange battle from the far past.

I promised myself to look up the Victory at Graypoint, though. I was curious what the battle was and who had won. Besides, I didn’t want Lord William to catch me being ignorant again.

I wandered through the doors and out into the garden, my skirt rustling as I walked.

The elaborate rose gardens, a favorite of the Queen, were painted in moonlight. The stars twinkled in the sky, perfectly visible on this cloudless night. Nobody was around – the guests were either finishing their dessert inside or heading to the dancefloor to dance.

The quiet garden was just the environment I needed right now – a place free from anybody bothering me.

I stepped down the stairs of the terrace. My heels touched the pavement of a path, and I walked away from the music and cheer of the ballroom.

My destination was one of the arbors nearby, the one from which I would have a good view of the pond.

However, I was only halfway through to the arbor when I heard loud footsteps coming towards me. Someone was running my way.

I whipped around to get a look at who was approaching me so urgently. Could a servant be racing to find me with a message requesting my presence in the ballroom? No, I could hear multiple people running, so that possibility didn’t make sense.

Soon three men, their faces hidden by white masks, stopped in front of me. Before I had the chance to scream, one of them moved at vampire speed behind me. The blow to the back of my head came so suddenly.

Darkness enveloped my senses, and I collapsed to the ground. The last thing I felt was one of the vampires catching me before I hit the ground.

I knew I was in danger, but I could do nothing to help myself as I passed out into unconsciousness.

Chapter Ten

Silas

It took Luke an hour to relay to me all the new information about the Rosworth-Athalis war. The Rosworth vampires had moved into the Athalis territory very aggressively, winning battle after battle. The situation didn’t look good for Athalis, making me wonder what we could do to prevent our neighbors from falling.

Should we even be trying to prevent their fall though? If not for the fact that I thought Rosworth’s end-game was to conquer Estone, I wouldn’t usually be inclined to interfere with another nation’s political troubles. I had to take any necessary actions to protect my home though; the home where my now-wife lived. She had to be kept safe, above all else.

I wasn’t ready to tell my father and my people that we’d be going to war yet.

I was still hesitating. Nobody wanted another war, not when the previous one was still so fresh in our minds.

Time passed differently for vampires than for humans. Twenty years was not long to a vampire’s perception of time. That reason was why, after establishing myself as the bloody hero of the previous war, that image had remained vivid in the minds of the vampire nobility through to the present day.

If another war happened, I would have to kill again, and their perception of me as a wretched killer would only strengthen.

So far Grace had only heard of my ruthlessness through secondhand accounts. If another war broke out though, she might see for herself my violent and bloody actions. How wouldshe react? She was so fragile and delicate, young and pure. I didn’t want her to see that cold side of me. I didn’t want her to witness a war.

However, what I wanted and what would have to happen were two different things.

Lukas and I returned to the ballroom an hour after I had left Grace in the middle of the dancefloor alone. I looked there for her first, but nobody had taken my place as her partner. Good – I was the only one who had the right to dance with her. She was my wife.

---