I didn’t immediately go back to my room.
I wandered the halls, still dazed at the ruling. I was hoping that they would choose Sia, not go by my rules. Now I had to spend the next month and a half being courted by Bradley and Emerson. I should just leave before they find out the truth. It wouldn’t be that hard to sneak out. I could live out there with the mortals. It couldn’t be that hard. I didn’t have to live on blood. I nearly ran to my room. By the time I got there, one of the daughters of the council was standing there with her entourage. Sia, the duchess, was there as well. I took a quick breath. I may be one of them, but they were always intimidating.
Sia stepped forward, her eyes vibrant and threatening. I could understand why. I used her during the meeting. I bowed to her. She didn’t say anything at first, just stared at me. “Do you really think that they’ll court you to fall in love?”
Her words were like venom. I should have figured that she would say that. “I understand your negative tone to this…problem, but you should know that I don’t necessarily agree to it.”
I wasn’t about to hide my discomfort on the subject. The other girls snickered. “Bradley won’t be faithful if you choose him,” Sia added.
I rolled my eyes. “That is a factor, but they both have attributes that aren’t to be desired.” I tried to walk past them, but they blocked my way, “Is this a set up Duchess? Are you trying to scare me away from my duty?”
“Choose Bradley, and I will leave you alone. Everyone knows that Emerson will win the competition for King, and because I am royalty, it should be me who becomes Queen.” Sia crossed me, eyeing my dress, “Bradley doesn’t care if you fall in love; all he wants is an innocent woman in his bed.”
“Your attitude is getting on my nerves Duchess,” I countered dourly. “And I will choose who I wish to choose. If Emerson is who I want – which I am unsure of at the time – then I will choose him. If not, then you can have your precious crown. I have no desire to rule anyway. I’d rather be rid of this hellhole.”
Sia was about to talk back to me when a servant came up to him. The servants here were human, all of them, and I felt sorry for them. They had to watch their necks at all times. “Miss Ellie. Sir Emerson wishes a word with you in his study.”
I looked at the girls. They were all whispering to each other. I should have expected this. I looked to the servant and nodded. “I’ll be there, I just need to freshen up a bit.”
I shoved past the group and entered my room. I didn’t know what he could want, but I should have an idea. Maybe Sia was right. They had no intentions of loving me – they just wanted to save the bloodline. If they knew that with me it wouldn’t work, that I was a half-blood, then I would surely be bypassed. They would go straight to Sia, and then she would get what she wanted.
«×»
I took the steps down the winding staircase to Emerson’s study. He spent more time there then in the council chambers with Bradley. As I said before, everyone expected him to be King. And when he did, he will have forgotten about his special library and everything he enjoyed. He would turn into his Father. I knocked on the door. I waited patiently (on the outside) for the prince to call me in.
I should be calling him by his name, now that all this was happening, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I ran a hand through my hair when the door opened. Emerson stood there, shirt halfway unbuttoned, sleeves rolled up, looking less proper than I know him to be. I straightened up, blushing suddenly (yes, with enough blood in our system, Vampires can blush). “Your Highness…?” I breathed.
His jaw straightened. “Forgive me; I was just changing my shirt. I spilled my drink.” I knew what he was drinking from the smell coming from his room. I felt my canines well with thirst. I hated this side of me. I cleared my throat as he stepped aside to let me in. I still didn’t know why he would call me down here.
I looked around his study. Every wall was lined with shelves upon shelves of books. I would kill for a study like this. But because he was a Prince, he got whatever he wanted. I turned to look at him as he buttoned his shirt up. “Would you like something to drink?”
I kept my eyes fastened to the books as I sat down. I didn’t think that I would see when he wasn’t at his best. I would have to expect more of that now. “That all depends on the drink your highness…” I responded. I was vaguely aware of him pouring a drink.
“It’s human. I made sure that it’s fresh,” He held out the glass to me.
I cringed. I don’t think I’ve ever had an actual glass of human blood. It all had something to do with the fact that I was half – I could be drinking a cousin’s blood for all I know. I shook my head. “I don’t drink human…blood. I never had an acquired taste for it.”
He looked down at me as if I had confessed to stealing the crown. “That’s certainly a good excuse.” He set the glass down on his desk, “We do have a choice, unlike the made ones.”
I sighed. If he was anything like the other Born Vampires, then he would start bragging soon. “Why don’t they have a choice?” I asked, going along with where he was going.
He smiled at sat behind his large desk. “We can regenerate our strength and bodies by going to sleep during the day; they have to regenerate by drinking human essence.” He smirked, “I would have assumed that you’ve heard this before?”
I nodded, curtly. “My Father insists that I listen to his rants. I’m one of the fair few pureblood that don’t want to drink human blood.”
He took a drink of his own glass. “I’m the opposite of you, I suppose. I’ve yet to get used to animal blood.”
I sighed, this would be a problem. I would have to write this down into the pros and cons under his name for this competition. If I could call it that. I didn’t think it was anything else after what Sia told me. I allowed myself to sink into the chair. “So, why did you call me in here?”
“I thought we could just talk.” His fingers tapped against the table.
I let a soft giggle rise in my throat. His eyebrow quirked at me. “You think this amusing?”
“I don’t think you’re a small talker. You normally don’t engage in conversation unless it involves some sort of politic.”
He smiled. “You’re very intuitive.”
“It’s a well used attribute, I admit that. So, really, why did you ask me here?” I stood up to move about the room, glancing at the spines of his books. I wasn’t about to flirt. That was his job, as well as Bradley’s. I slipped out a book and began to flip through the pages.
“You’re not like the others,” he confessed. “You refuse to be forced into mine and Bradley’s bed.”
“I don’t think my body should be used without my consent. I have not yet consented, and I will not go through with it until I have.” I set the book down.
He stood and crossed over to the shelf that I was near. He stared at me, his bright blue eyes slowly grazing over my features. He took in a deep breath before stepping past me. “I wouldn’t have been so willing to participate in your game if I didn’t think that I would have an advantage. Bradley may be the promiscuous one, and may have more talent at courting than I do, but I do hold the same values as you. Choose me over him. It’s clear that I’m the better man.”
I smiled wryly and looked his way. “Do you honestly think it’s that easy to get me to choose you? We may share the same values, but that does not mean that I’d automatically want to bear your child. What if you have a horrible temper? What if you snore in your sleep?”
He smirked. “Are you suggesting that you sleep in my bed to find out if I snore?”
I turned away from the book shelf. “So, the studious prince can flirt.”
He leaned closer. “I am also capable of what Bradley is not. I know my responsibilities – Bradley does not. You have heard my views on this game, and you know where I stand.”
I stood there. They weren’t fighting for the same reasons I was fighting to keep my body morally intact. They just wanted to save the covenant. I looked down. “You may know your responsibilities, but what I am asking is not a responsibility. If I end up loving you, I still will not choose you.”
He looked at me as though I drove a wooden stake through his heart. I guess hearing that was not what he intended. I didn’t want a one-sided love. This went for Bradley as well. I wasn’t going to be used. I didn’t like being manhandled. If this was hard for him to hear, then he would have to get used to it.
“Isn’t that what you want? To love the person you choose?”
I took in a breath, and looked up at him with all the honesty in my eyes. “I will only choose you…if you love me back.”
I took the opportunity to leave before he began ranting about it being unfair. I was going to be as truthful as possible. Until the night that I had to tell him about my impurity. It would be difficult to tell them that when it came to that moment. Would they execute me?
Of course, I’d have to wait until I chose between the two of them.
Oh, joy I certainly can’t wait until that happens.
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