🩸 THE VAMPIRE FORBIDDEN BRIDE

Chapter 3

Present day.

Eight years had passed since the night I was brought to the palace.

Eight years of black walls, cold corridors, silent servants, and rules I had learned never to break.

I was no longer the frightened twelve-year-old girl who had cried for her mother at the palace gates.

I had learned how to survive.

Keep your head down.

Do your work.

Speak only when spoken to.

And never wander through the palace after dark.

Unfortunately, that was exactly what I was doing that night.

I hugged the bundle of folded clothes against my chest as I hurried through the west corridor.

The palace was different at night.

During the day, servants filled the halls.

At night, the place seemed to breathe.

Every shadow looked like it was moving.

Every distant sound made me glance over my shoulder.

I shouldn't have been there.

I knew that.

But Madam Elara had sent me to collect a basket of linens from the old servants' room, and I had taken the wrong corridor on my way back.

I stopped at a junction.

Left.

Right.

I frowned.

Neither looked familiar.

"Wonderful," I whispered.

I chose the corridor on the left.

The further I walked, the quieter it became.

Then I noticed something strange.

A door stood slightly open.

Warm light spilled through the narrow opening.

I hesitated.

This part of the palace was forbidden to servants.

I should have turned around.

Instead, I pushed the door open.

It led into a small library.

Books covered almost every wall.

Tall windows looked out over the palace gardens, and a single lamp burned beside a large armchair.

Someone was standing near the window.

I froze.

He turned.

He was a vampire.

I knew that immediately.

But he wasn't dressed like the nobles I had occasionally seen from a distance.

There was no elaborate coat.

No royal insignia.

No crown.

No guards.

He wore a simple black shirt with dark trousers, the sleeves rolled slightly above his wrists.

He looked almost ordinary.

Almost.

His eyes were too dark.

His skin was too pale.

And there was something about the way he stood that made the entire room feel as though it belonged to him.

His gaze moved to the bundle in my arms.

Then back to my face.

"You seem lost."

I swallowed.

"I am."

A faint smile touched his lips.

"At least you're honest."

I glanced toward the door.

"I was looking for the servants' quarters."

"And you ended up here."

"Apparently."

He studied me for a moment.

"You shouldn't be wandering around the palace at this hour."

"I know."

"Then why are you?"

I hesitated.

"My superior sent me for something."

He nodded.

"Of course."

I wasn't sure why, but I found myself relaxing.

He didn't sound angry.

Most vampires spoke to servants as though we were furniture.

This man didn't.

He spoke to me like I was a person.

I looked at the books around the room.

"Is this your library?"

"Sometimes."

I frowned.

"Sometimes?"

He smiled.

"I come here when I don't want to be disturbed."

"Then I suppose I should leave."

I turned toward the door.

"Wait."

I stopped.

He walked toward the table and picked up a book.

"You like reading?"

I looked at the book.

"I can't read very well."

"Why?"

"No one taught me properly."

His expression changed.

Something passed through his eyes.

"That's unfortunate."

I shrugged.

"I'm a servant. Reading isn't part of my duties."

"Neither is wandering into forbidden rooms."

I looked at him.

"Are you going to report me?"

He laughed softly.

It was the first time I'd heard a vampire laugh without cruelty behind it.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I don't think you're dangerous."

I almost smiled.

"You don't know me."

"No," he said quietly.

"I don't."

For a moment, we simply looked at each other.

There was something strange about the silence.

It didn't feel uncomfortable.

It felt familiar.

And that frightened me more than anything.

I looked away first.

"I should go."

"What's your name?"

I hesitated.

"Elena."

He repeated it slowly.

"Elena."

Something in his voice made my heart beat strangely.

"And yours?"

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he smiled.

"Lucien."

"Lucien," I repeated.

He nodded.

I shifted the clothes in my arms.

"Well... thank you for not reporting me."

"You're welcome."

I walked toward the door.

Then his voice stopped me.

"Elena."

I turned.

He was still standing beside the table.

"Yes?"

"Don't come here again."

I frowned.

"Why?"

His expression became unreadable.

"Because this palace isn't as safe as you think."

I stared at him.

"Are you warning me?"

"Perhaps."

I didn't understand him.

But I nodded.

"Good night, Lucien."

His eyes followed me.

"Good night, Elena."

I stepped into the corridor.

The door closed behind me.

I didn't see the way his expression changed once I was gone.

I didn't see him reach for the book he had been holding.

And I certainly didn't know that the servants would have fallen to their knees if they had seen him standing there.

Because the man I had just called Lucien wasn't an ordinary vampire.

He wasn't a noble.

He wasn't a servant.

He wasn't even a palace guard.

He was the one person in the entire kingdom I had been warned never to approach.

The vampire king.

And for the first time in eight years...

I had spoken to him without knowing who he was.