Page 57 of Married to the Vampire Prince

“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 proposalto 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.”

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