Bound to the Shadow Prince

Chapter 12 - Dark Kingdom

I relented. I wanted to know. In a way, I felt like it was my responsibility to know.

I could tell Erevus knew it too. He knew he had my attention.

“Come.” He went into the forest. I quickly followed. “How do you like the dress?”

Glancing down, I said, “It’s all different than what I am used to.”

“It will be. But, you will find it will be easier to move in it. And your boots will protect your feet a lot further than your castle slippers could.”

“Why would I need to?”

His eyes gleamed as a corner of his lips lifted into a smirk. “Follow me.”

He quickened his pace into a jog. I followed. After seeing if I could keep up, he quickened his pace some more. I followed.

“Try to beat me.”

Again, he picked up his pace. I accepted his challenge and was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn’t feel out of breath. I pushed myself harder, swinging around trees and leaping over fallen branches and streams. The wind rushed over my face and zig zagged across my skin. It weaved through my hair and clothes. Never before had I felt this type of exhilaration. I went faster and faster, feeling like I could race any horse and outrun any wolf. My chest constricted at the joy I was feeling at the freedom I was suddenly granted. Exhilaration pounded through me. I wanted to throw my arms out and yell in happiness.

A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. Erevus wrapped me up into him as he slowed his momentum, and came to a stop. He set me on the ground. I smiled up into his face, my chest heaving in controlled breaths.

“That was magnificent.”

“How are the new clothes feeling now?”

I tried to hide my smile. They were freeing. I felt like my body was so powerful and there were no limitations. I could do anything.

I realized I was still pressed up against Erevus. His hand roamed up my back, causing sensations to burst through me. His other hand went the length of my braid, letting it thump back against my chest. He tucked small stray hairs behind my ear, letting his fingers glide down my neck.

I felt as if he was creating stars inside of me that had started moving into place to design a galaxy of him. I stepped away, letting the stars dim back into oblivion. We were from rival kingdoms. Even if I had changed the alignment of my stars, that didn’t mean they aligned with his.

He took a step back, taking a deep fortifying breath. I knew I would be blushing if I still could blush. His attention unnerved me.

Erevus tilted his head. “Come on.”

I started to see little lights in the distance. As we approached, I realized we were approaching a village. Nervously, I glanced at Erevus.

“Are you sure we should enter? Won’t they be hostile to us?”

Erevus said, “If they are, I am in trouble.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m their king.”

I reeled back. “You mean, the Dark Kingdom has villages?”

“Why wouldn’t we? Vampires have lives just like the rest of the world. What did you think we did?”

I thought about what I was told regarding the Dark Kingdom. “I was told you are rats, demons, a plague.” I dared a look at him, but his face was stone. There was no expression or emotion.

Large towers stood tall at the corners of the village with the progress of a stone wall being built around the perimeter. The whole place was alive with activity. It was an unusual sight. Back home, the moment dusk hit, everyone was inside their houses.

There were little fires throughout, but despite it being night outside, everyone went along as if it was daylight. There was a market square with families shopping for fabric, food, and materials. Houses of every kind and size were lined up with roads in between. Horses with riders, wagons, and I even heard cattle and sheep in the distance.

I spun around taking in the sight with amazement. This was a thriving village. Children ran across the market square kicking a ball. Their pale skins and shining eyes glinted in the firelight. My heart swelled at what I was witnessing.

Erevus stopped to help a mother put supplies into her wagon. Four little children ran around it screaming and hollering. The frazzled mother holding an infant was trying to keep everyone together. I approached them. Erevus took the infant and handed the child to me. I had never held a baby before and I awkwardly brought it close to my body. I wasn’t sure how old the infant was, but it looked up at me with pale blue eyes and curly brown hair. The child’s soft skin sparkled. I was mesmerized by the baby that innocently trusted me. It showed off a large toothless grin, only swelling my heart further.

The mother came to me.

“Thank you.” Her accent was thick and a bit slurred. “Thank you.” She breathed in relief. From my arms, she retrieved the child.

All four of her kids were in the wagon with their supplies and Erevus was helping her up into the wagon. I watched as the three boys and one girl bounced away down the road.

I turned to Erevus. “Why wasn’t I ever told about this?”

He said, “Would you have believed we were rats or demons if you had known?”

No. I wouldn’t have. What I knew about the Dark Kingdom was completely wrong, so completely and utterly wrong. But the mass population believed these people were monsters, demons to take the lives of those with blood. I was always given the image that they roamed the night in a stupor waiting for fresh blood to cross their paths. I suddenly had so many questions.

I scrutinized the food stands along the market.

“I thought vampires could only have blood.”

Erevus looked at the stands I was scrutinizing. “Well, there are different types of vampires. There are purebreds like you and me who can only have blood. But over the centuries, vampires mingled with the living. There was at one point peace. Now, there are different mixtures. If you have any degree of a vampire heritage, you will have pale skin, increased strength, night vision, and won’t be able to handle the sun and have a prolonged, but regular life cycle. Those are the basic rules, so to speak. But they can eat food, they don’t need blood to survive just to supplement, though if they get sick or grow weak, blood definitely will cure them. Some crave it or need it more than others.”

“So, how do the people who need it more, get it?”

“The cattle, sheep, goats. When they get slaughtered, their blood is drained. The blood will get sold to those who need it more and the meat gets sold to everyone else.”

“And purebreds?”

He rubbed his neck. “Well, it can supplement, but purebreds need something more sustaining, usually either a living or a wild animal.”

People kept bustling about, those that recognized Erevus would pause to give him a bow and he would return it with a nod before they continued on.

I rubbed my neck, shivering. I would never feed off another human. “Was the man that… that attacked me a purebred?”

Erevus clenched his hand and locked his jaw. “No. He broke the law, and he was dealt with.”

“It’s against the law for a vampire to attack a…”

“We call those with a full source of blood the living.”

“To attack the living?” I used to be living, now that was different.

“Yes. Only exception is if you are a purebred. There are only five still in existence, well…” he looked at me. “Six.”

“What… what are the laws for a purebred?”

“There’s only one rule.”

“Which is?”

He shook his head. “That’s not for you to worry about.”

“Why not? Shouldn’t I know now that I am…”

“Not right now. I wouldn’t worry, because you won’t do it.”

I opened my mouth to refute him when a father and a son crossed my path carrying buckets full of rocks as they made their way to the stone wall. I noticed the stone wall had little rooms built into it.

“What are they doing? Why the wall? You look…” my eyes grew wide. “You look like you are preparing for war.” My heart hammered faster. Fear engulfed me.

“We are.”

My breath picked up pace and I spun around looking at the men, women, and children. They reminded me of those same types of people living in my kingdom of Fildira.

“What? Why?”

“There is one last thing I want to show you before I take you back.”

He walked out of the front gate nodding to those around him as he left. I glanced at the wall and noticed it wasn’t just a wall, but tunnels as well.

I followed Erevus out. He turned right, following a path through the woods. The deeper we went, the more solemn and angry he became. I could feel the waves of fury emanating from him. I began to grow nervous and weary of where he was taking me. We emerged through the trees and what I saw took all breath away.

It was the remnants of a village completely destroyed. Houses that used to make the town were reduced to different levels of rock and rubble. Wagons, stands, horses, cattle, laid in varying states of ruin and broken pieces. I covered my mouth as the stench of the place consumed me.

I could feel a dark feeling that clawed at my insides, it was so consuming. It made it hard to take a breath.

“What…” I turned to face Erevus, but all the words stuck to my throat at his expression of agony and rage.

He walked forward into the village's destitution. He spoke softly, respectfully, even though I could see the fire of hatred in his eyes. “It was morning. There was no warning, no time to prepare or evacuate when Torrin’s army came upon them while they slept, slaughtering every man, woman, and child deemed as a vampire. As you discovered, there was no escape for my people from the sun. Torrin had trees cut down during their attack. In my people’s wounds, the sun finished off any survivors.”

My eyes widened as I looked across the devastation. I couldn’t help the red tear that escaped my eye, leaving a blood trail down my face.

I knew King Torrin was ruthless and merciless, but I didn’t know that was who he was. He had told me it was his mission to relieve the land of the vampire plague.

I put my hand to my throat. I was now a vampire. King Torrin was going to kill me, then what would happen to Miralia, to my Kingdom? He said he could conquer it in three days. Was this what my kingdom was going to be like within three days?

I shook my head as I stumbled backwards, fear engulfing me.

Erevus kept talking. “You want to know why we are destroying Fildira’s mines?”

He bent and picked up a silver dagger on the ground. I could hear a sizzling sound as he gripped it. Erevus threw the dagger hard at a tree where it embedded into the tree so far that sap began to ooze from the spot.

Erevus showed me his palm where a burned mark laid in the exact spot and shape of the dagger.

“Silver is the most lethal element for vampires. We can’t bleed out, we can survive if any of our organs get damaged, but a vampire will never survive silver in their bodies.”

“That was King Torrin. My father hasn’t given an executive order for his army to move. He doesn’t even know where the Dark Kingdom has any of their assets. Those mines are Fildira’s biggest natural resource to sell and profit from. Families rely on those mines.”

Anger crossed his features. With each sentence his voice rose higher and higher. “Who do you think Fildira sells to? Who do you think is your biggest buyer? Why do you think King Torrin wanted to marry you?”