Destined Queen

The past     “My love, what are we to do? Another letter, the same as the last.” Sinclair lifted his head from his work, looking at his lovely wife Meridian with a sigh. He was tired, not just because dawn would come soon and he was feeling the familiar feeling of the sun rising within the next few hours, but because he’d been king for almost four hundred years now. Every four hundred years, the line was passed down to the eldest child. There were still fifty years left, but for a vampire, fifty years was nothing. Sinclair was ready to pass his throne to his oldest daughter, Lizabeth.      However, Sinclair’s younger twin brother was not happy with this. “I don’t know what else to tell him. This is how the kingdom has run since the beginning of time. He is not the next in line, and unless all of us suddenly die, he never will be. I will not be the weak ruler to change the rules for his benefit.” He said, grabbing the paper and crumpling it, before throwing it into the fireplace. “Come, I’m exhausted. The girls are all in bed anyway, it’s time for sleep.” He said. Sinclair wrapped his arms around his wife, kissing the top of her head with a sigh. “Well, all of the girls except for Thais, of course.” He said with a chuckle, shaking his head with a soft smile on his face.      Meridian nodded, a tight smile on her lips as she followed behind him. “Of course, she’s awake and gone. The sun will be rising soon,” She muttered, trying to hide her disgust with her husband’s affair child. Not only was Thais proof that her husband had cheated on her ten years ago, but she wasn’t even fully a vampire. Those born from a vampire and a human, were a rare commodity. It was rare, merely because humans were food. To love one, to have a child with one, it was a disgrace. Of course, Thais was of royal blood, she was never ridiculed, and no one would dare to say anything to the King over his choice of a sleeping partner. However, that didn’t mean that others accepted her. A Dhampir would never be accepted.      Meridian and Sinclair made their rounds, telling their staff goodnight as they walked into each room, taking time to run their fingers through four of their five children’s hair and kiss them goodnight. They were good parents, kind, loving, and good rulers as well. Sinclair stopped in front of Thais’s room, took a moment to look in the door to see if she was there, before walking away to their room. Meridian sighed in relief quietly, happy she’d get away with not having to pretend to love the child she’d never fully care for. Once in their room they quickly slipped into their beds, sighing in relief as they allowed the exhaustion of the day to seep in and lull them into a restful sleep. However, they didn’t know that when they closed their eyes…it would be the last time they’d ever wake again.      Young Thais sighed, her eyes closed as she lay on the hill, soaking in the sunlight. She was only ten, but she knew she was different. In a kingdom filled with Vampires, she was one of the very few that could be out in the sun. She knew what she was, a Dhampir. The rare others tried to fit in, hoping the vampires wouldn’t notice them, but Thais was a royal, her story was told over and over again throughout the kingdom, and all knew of her. She used to sleep during the day and wake at night, walk the streets with the others, join in the festivities, but not anymore. Thais was tired of trying to please those who gritted their teeth and smiled because they had to be kind to the youngest royal daughter. Being the youngest of five, Thais knew she wasn’t important. Even if she was a full vampire, she’d still be nothing in comparison to her older sister. Lizabeth was beautiful, kind, and fair, and when the time came she’d make the perfect queen. Thais had no ill feelings for her sister, any of her sisters really, but even still she stayed away from them. Thais liked to keep to herself, hiding in the shadows to avoid the whispers and the annoyed sighs. She didn’t want to force people to be kind to her. It was better to just avoid them all together. Hence why she started to go out during the day, and avoid them all once the sun set. Of course, she honored her duties, showing up for festivities and doing what the royals were expected to do, but as soon as she could Thais broke away. She was only ten, after all, and being a Dhampir, no one really looked too carefully for her. Often, Thais was forgotten. Her father Sinclair was the only one who really searched for Thais, really cared for her, but of course, it wasn’t that long ago that he had fallen in love with her mother, who Thais was told looked just like her. With her tanned skin and pure white hair, Thais stood out as she was told her mother did as well. Thais wasn’t pale like the other vampires, she had a healthy pink glow to her skin, making her better at blending in with the humans than she did with the vampires. Her eyes didn’t help her blend in either, to be honest. A light blue shade, with gold around the pupils, blending beautifully together. The only thing about her that looked like her father was the proof of her royal blood, the tattoos. The tattoos proved she was birthed of royal blood. Newborns of royal blood were born with the tattoos, and as they grew the tattoos grew with them. All of the tattoos started small, little swirls on their shoulders, but as they grew the tattoos brushed down their arms, curling and twining into an intricate design, before finally meeting to the ends of their fingertips.      The tattoo was how Thais was found, after all. The mother knew she was in the wrong for sleeping with the king and tried to flee. However, when she found herself to be pregnant she came back to the kingdom begging for mercy. She knew she wouldn’t survive the birth. The Queen refused to believe it but the King, he loved her. He agreed to keep her, to raise the baby as his own, if only the baby bore the royal tattoo. Of course, when Thais was born the mother took her last breath holding her child close to her with a smile, brushing her finger over Thais’s tattoo, happy to know she’d be safe. However…how safe was she, really? When she was raised in a kingdom, by parents that were just destined to die?      Thais jerked up with wide eyes, confused. She heard nothing, but all the same, she knew something was wrong. Thais was confused, standing up and stretching. She could see the castle she lived in from this hill, the streets leading to it, the houses all around it. There was so much to the Vampire Kingdom, but this part of it was easy to see from this hill. She could see the streets were empty, only one Dhampir running around absently, looking around like they were afraid they’d get caught and found to be a Dhampir. Thais learned early that the other Dhampir who lived in the kingdom pretended they were vampires. It was stupid, mostly because Dhampir’s skin was closer hue to a human’s than a vampire’s, but they still tried their best anyway to fit in. There was nothing to alert Thais, no sounds, even still she felt like something was wrong. Thais sighed, wondering if it was nothing, but all the same, she felt an immense wrongness in her chest. Thais walked to the Kingdom, opening the door with her key, otherwise, the walls were fairly impenetrable. The Vampires were smart and strong, knowing they were weaker during the day, they built an impenetrable fortress to protect them from enemies that could come during the day to attack them. Of course, Thais had a key to get in and out, and she locked the gate behind her carefully as she was told to do, before walking silently down the streets. She was on high alert, despite the silence, she felt the feeling of something very wrong in the air. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up, her body poised into a fighting pose, ready to defend if something were to attack. She might be only ten years old, however, she was well trained, as all the royals were.      Thais came to the castle, her hand on the doorknob, but before she could open it, she was pulled away. A hand like steel pressed against her face and lifted her into the air, her eyes wide in a silent shock as the captor carried her across the road to the closest house and pulled Thais behind a bus. “Please, Princess, I mean you no harm. You must not scream, it’s not safe.” The man spoke quietly. Thais knew he was a Dhampir or a human, the only reason he was out in the daylight. She nodded and he released her, and as she turned to look at him she gasped in horror at the sight. He was a human, one of the servants who lived in the castle, took care of the royal family, and was occasionally drunk from when they were hungry. This one, his name was Marcus, and he was occasionally kind to Thais growing up. Thais felt her eyes well up as she studied him, taking in the fact that he was dying. Large scratches from a vampire were cut through his arm and chest, and the cloth he pressed against it was doing nothing to stanch the wound. “There’s not much time, Princess. You must leave. Take this,” He said, handing me a backpack filled with supplies. “Take this and leave. I filled it with clothes, many of the Queen’s necklaces, enough to purchase a horse, tent, sleeping bag, whatever you need. Enough to start over somewhere else, far away. Please, Princess, go far away.” He rasped.      Thais pressed her hand to the man’s face, her body shaking in fear as tears fell down her cheeks. “Why? What happened?” She asked, confused.      He pursed his lips, staring up at the castle, before turning back to her. “It’s true they won’t come for you now, but I’d rather you hurry. You have the advantage of the daytime, princess, to get away. There’s no time for words, for much explanation. Just know, last night as you lay in that field waiting for the sun to rise, your entire family was murdered as they lay in an exhausted sleep.” He muttered. Thais gasped, her lips quivering as she imagined her older sisters giggles, the smiles on their faces. She let out a soft sob as she remembered the feel of her dear father’s hug, the jolly smile on his face, and even the quiet forced smile of her stepmother as she patted her back quietly. “There’s not much time, princess. Please, take this, and go.” He whispered. “They forgot about you. They forgot there were five princesses but I fear they’ll remember eventually and come for you.” He gasped, falling to his knees.      She was level with him now as she hugged his face to her chest, crying over the loss of this kind man that had been close to a friend to her growing up. “Come with me, please,” She whispered, understanding his words to be true. She knew he wouldn’t lie to her. The humans might be treated awful mostly, but not by her family. Her father was kind, and the humans had helped raise the strange Dhampir outcast that the royal family didn’t really know what to do with. A strange half-vampire that barely drank blood and mostly ate food like a human.      He shook his head no, sighing. “I’m already dead, little one. Think not a moment more for me, and save yourself.” He looked at her, his eyes wide, already starting to glass over from the pain. “It was my honor to raise you, Thais. Sometimes, I forgot that you weren’t my own daughter. I’m so proud of you, and I know you’ll continue to grow into the woman you’re meant to be.” He whispered.      She choked out a sob, held him close to her once more, wishing she was a true vampire so she could turn him. Suddenly a loud boom echoed through the castle and she shuddered, and Marcus pushed her away from him. “Go, please, go. Go before it gets too late. Vampires, they forget that for us every day means something. Hopefully, they won’t remember you, until it’s too late.” He whispered.      Thais took a deep breath, reaching down and grabbing the heavy backpack, pulling it onto her shoulders, and wiped her eyes. He was on his hands and knees now, taking deep shuddered breaths as his blood poured to the ground underneath him. She knew there was nothing else to say, however, she turned around to stare at him once more, her eyes narrowed in fury as she took a deep breath. “Who was it?” She whispered, the anger rolling off of her.      Despite her quiet voice, he heard her, and he sighed, using the last of his strength to look up at her, shuddering as her gorgeous eyes stared fiercely back at him. “Your Uncle, Thais. Your uncle killed your family.” He whispered.      With that, he fell to the ground and did not move again. Thais let out a strangled sob, clutching at her throat in despair, her eyes looking up at the castle once more, before turning her back on it, on the only home she’s ever had, and raced out of the kingdom.