Page 59 of Eternal Captive

The chaos of dealing with the prince and the would-be assassination attempt almost made me forget how mundane the cycle of my life was.

Board meeting with Father. Decompress at the club. Save face at the gala.

Over and over again for years and years. The only time anything was worth noting at one of these things was a marriage or, if we were lucky—an affair.

But this time was different. Because this time,Iwould be the one providing the entertainment.

People were invited from all over to celebrate the engagement. And to put it frankly, I was the chained animal put on display for all to see.

The family took special care in preparing me for this event.

My hair had taken hours to complete and felt heavy on my head with all the diamonds and rubies they pinned throughout the braids that crisscrossed over my head. Of course, they couldn’t skimp on the tiara.

It was my mother’s from when she got engaged. Apparently, it had been a gift from my father to her, but I had a hard time believing my father would have done anything nice for her.

The gown was brand new. I hadn’t even had time to try it on or pick any of the fabrics that went into making it. Father and the stepbitch did that for me. Both of them carefully crafting it with the knowledge that hundreds of vampires would remember the occasion, andmein it.

It was a deep red with velvet accents all around, and luckily it covered most of my skin. A nice pick, though it was hard to move with the way it constricted my chest and arms. I was dressed up like a pretty little doll, ready to be gawked at, while Prince Icas had on a normal suit.

He gets the easy part, of course.No one really came to see him anyway. Just like when I joined the same type of gala in other families, they were just foaming at the mouth for a chance to see some high-profile royals embarrass themselves.

Holding the gala at our palace was nonnegotiable. We had a room reserved for this—multiple, actually. It was the same setup every single time. A large ballroom, decked out in glittering gold, multiple crystal chandeliers, floor-to-ceiling windows that showed our thousands of bright red roses surrounding the palace, and more blood than any vampire could consume in their entire lifetime in both the pitchers and with humans walking around, offering their wrist to whoever wanted.

I recognized a few of them from the blood tasting we had not long before.

Extravagance was the name of the game. My father didn’t want to justtellpeople that he was a king among vampires—he wanted to show them. He wanted people to leave this place not questioning his wealth or his right to power.

I had blurry memories of when I was a child, when my mother could still quell him. Instead of these lavish balls, we would have small parties in the garden. But only for those we cared for, and most of the party was spent bonding with them, catching up, and just laughing. One of my clearest memories ofthat time was when I caught my mother laughing at something a family member had said. She threw her head back, her laughter echoing across the garden and drawing all attention to her.

She radiated such happiness, even if no one knew what was happening behind closed doors between her and my father.

Thatwas something I could never live up to. After being locked in the gilded cage for so long, I had lost any softness she had instilled in me. All that was left were the sharp, cracked edges my father left after trying to mold me into what he thought was the perfect daughter.

Strengthening relationships looked different after she died.

If she were here, I wouldn’t have to marry the prince. If she were here, the old men scattered among the crowd wouldn’t look at me and lick their lips as if they knew that no matter what my marriage status was, if they offered a big enough sum, I could be theirs too.

With her, I could be free.

Icas squeezed my arm tightly, bringing me back from my melancholy daydream. His grip was hard enough to bruise, but it would disappear in seconds. I almost wished it didn’t. Almost wished he had broken me down like Elora’s husband did to her so that everyone would see what a disgusting prick he was.

I blinked my eyes rapidly, the two withering vampires in front of us both looking at me. I had forgotten their names, but I did remember the distinct black veins that ran across their faces and necks.

Those weren’t left from too many fun nights on magical drugs. Oftentimes, those would fade and wouldn’t harm the vampire. The ones they had running along their faces were deep-set, painful-looking. Intentional.

They pissed off the witches.It wasn’t often that a vampire got away to tell the tale, but if they did, they usually ended up looking something like that.

All I could think was,They deserved it.

“Sorry,” Icas said. His voice for once actually sounded something like an aristocrat’s. “It’s been quite a night for Princess Aurelia.”

They both gave me smiles that caused my skin to crawl.

“Well, yes, not surprising. The royal women of this age aren’t like their mothers. Spoiled. Disinterested. They should be grateful we still let them attend these things.”

The jab was unexpected and enough to cause my insides to broil with fury. It didn’t help that the humiliation and anger from forcing myself to my knees in front of Icas still resided in my body, just waiting for the opportune moment to come out.

“How dare you?—”

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