The Vampyre's Princess

|| PART VI ||

The next few hours were dangerous. Willow remained in critical condition. By some miracle, they had found the blood of another Unseelie. Willow had remained in bed for days. Fully recovering from the blood she had lost. Warren had never truly forgiven himself for what he had done. Now more than ever, he feared his marriage was over. Now that she knew the truth. It was the night of the blood moon festival. Willow was sitting in front of the mirror. Staring at her reflection. With a wave of Roux's hand. Two of her girls covered up the mirror. It would be the last time Willow would see her own reflection. Willow sighed and thanked them. She pulled herself to her feet and looked at Roux. She faked a smile. Roux knew how nervous Willow was. Roux led Willow out of the room and toward the ballroom. Willow had sat alone in the corner for most of the night. All who passed her, gave her glares of disgust. Her eyes lit up when Warren entered the room but as soon as his eyes met hers. He quickly left the room. Willow pulled herself to her feet. Willow excused herself from the ballroom. Though she knew no one would miss her presence. Being in a room with a bunch of bloodthirsty vampires made you feel like dinner. She wandered the castle in search of Warren. Willow stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the King walking toward her. She curtsied low as he approached. He bowed, then took her hand and kissed it.

"May I speak with you in private, my dear princess?" The King asked.

How could she say no? She nodded and smiled. The King led her toward one of the tallest towers in the castle. You could see the entire city from up here. The city lit up like stars across the sky. It had been so long since she saw stars in the midnight sky. Willow stepped out onto the balcony and looked up at the full blood-red moon in the sky. It was almost midnight.

"I need to know if you are truly devoted to my son..." The King spoke, breaking the silence.

"I'm nervous your highness..." Willow admitted. "I was eager to dance with Warren this evening but I feel like he's been avoiding me..." she said.

"I'm sure he's still trying to recover from the fact he married one of your kind" The King scoffed.

"What do you have against my people? I can't even say that because there aren't many of us left..." she said. "You started many wars, you've eradicated the fae... Locked every werewolf away in some prison thousands of feet under the ground! What more could you want? You already have the world at your fingertips! What more do you want?!" Willow cried. "My mother died at the hands of some vampiric assassin..." she growled through clenched teeth. "Vampires have taken everything from me... Everything I ever loved..." she uttered.

"Your mother's death was an accident, your father was the intended target..." The King sighed.

"You were trying to kill my father...?" Willow asked.

"Your mother's death worked in our favour... It weakened your father, it was a great distraction and we knew we could...", she slapped the King.

"You're a monster!" Willow cried.

The King grabbed her and pulled her toward him. Driving a dagger into her side.

"No son of mine will marry some Unseelie bastard..." The King whispered to her.

Willow pulled away and stumbled backwards. The dagger was still left in her side. The King grinned only for a shadow to appear behind him and slit his throat with a long dagger. The King's body fell to the floor. Willow couldn't bring herself to scream. It hurt too much. The shadow stepped into the moonlight. It was her father. King Rowan of the Midnight Court. He slowly approached her. A tearful smile as he reached out and took her hand.

"F-Father... Is that you...?" she asked.

"The King is dead... Help, please... The King is dead..." he whispered to her. Blowing fae dust into her face. Before pulling out the dagger and pushing her out the door.