The Vampyre's Princess

|| PART IV ||

She found herself wandering through the winding hallways of the castle. She soon found herself lost. She heard voices from down the hall. Cautiously she approached the door. She peered through the crack in the door to see Warren sitting quietly and Vance yelled at him. Roux took Vance's arm and pulled him away from his brother.

"What did you mean you didn't feed on her when you exchanged your vows?!" Vance shouted. "Your vows mean nothing unless there is to be a blood sacrifice!" Vance voiced.

"Oh Vance, you're making it sound like we're cultists..." Roux tried to shoosh him. "Give Warren some time..." she said.

"She will never be accepted unless she becomes one of us, you know that!" Vance told him.

"That's enough..." Roux voiced. She took her husband's hand and led him aside. "Don't be so hard on him..." she whispered to him.

"This my only chance at happiness and I'm afraid I'm going to ruin it..." Warren sighed.

"Can you at least learn to tolerate her?" Vance asked.

"Tolerate her...?" Warren asked. "I don't want to tolerate her, I want for us to love each other, I want us to...", "You must feed on her..." Vance reminded him once again.

"And frighten off the only chance I have to be happy... Absolutely not! I will wait as long as I can..." Warren promised. "I don't want to frighten her, she's scared enough as it is and I feel like it would just make things worse..." he sighed.

"Vance, be quiet and leave your brother to deal with his own marriage..." Roux said. "Warren, do what you must and don't let anyone rush the love you have for her..." she said. She walked over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Have you read her profile, Roux? She was a loser afraid to get her hands dirty... Her own court banished her because she wasn't...", "She managed to fight off over a dozen guards and left some wounded..." Warren pointed out. "I only want what is best for you, dear brother..." Vance sighed. "She's trouble..." he said.

"I thought Roux was trouble too" Warren chuckled and pulled himself to his feet.

Roux laughed and playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"Is she settling in alright?" Warren asked.

"Oh, Warren darling, she is fine, my girls are taking good care of her... She's probably fast asleep..." she told him.

"As long as she is safe..." he said. He excused himself and walked toward the door.

Willow quickly rushed down the hall and hid around the corner. She watched Warren close the door behind him. He let out an exhausted sigh. He picked up his feet and began wandering down the halls. Willow had followed him but kept her distance. He had led her to the gardens. Beds of flowers as far as the eye could see. She watched as he made his way down the stone steps. He walked up to a collection of black rose bushes. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a pair of scissors. He trimmed off any dead petals or leaves. He snipped away, making his way down the bushes only to accidentally snip off a black rose. He sighed as he watched it fall to the grass. Willow picked up the black rose and smelled the petals. Warren had accidentally snipped off another rose when he saw Willow. She leaned down and picked up the second rose. She slipped them into his front pocket and smiled at him.

"You seem nervous..." she said.

"M-Me n-nervous... N-No...", he snipped off another rose. "Dammit..." he sighed.

Willow leaned down and picked up the rose. She winced when she pricked her finger on a thorn. Blood dripped down her finger and onto the grass. Warren quickly covered his mouth and turned away. Willow stuck her finger in her mouth to stop the bleeding. She looked up to see Warren shaking.