Ties That Bind Us

Nil5

Ramona dropped the flower she had been sniffing when a servant came to reveal to her that her father demanded her presence immediately. She first felt alarmed by how urgent the call had sounded but she shrugged the worry off.

She walked gracefully to the throne room where her father, the vampire king was patiently waiting for her arrival.

"Good day father, the urgency of your call scared me a little, I hope all is well?" She bowed slightly and asked.

"Have no fear,all is well my dear princess, I only called you because I have good news to share." He said and gestured to her to take a seat next to him.

"What news could that be father?" She questioned, all smiles. She hoped that her father would reveal that they had been able to destroy a pack and kill a lot of those filthy dogs.

"A marriage is going to happen very soon." King Darius said, maintaining the ambiguity, he knew his daughter was not going to take the news lightly but there was absolutely nothing she would be able to do about it so he decided to drop it lightly.

"Who's marriage? Could it be Delia's?" Ramona asked delighted, fully aware that her older cousin had taken a mate so all that would be left to discuss was the marriage.

"I'm afraid not Ramona dear,you're the one who is going to be getting married in two weeks." Darius revealed.

"What? Me? How can I get married now? I haven't even taken a mate and even if I have,I can't get married in two weeks, it's too soon for all that wedding preparation. I'm a princess so I deserve a big wedding right?" Ramona questioned, confused.

"You will have a grand wedding but aren't you curious to know who your groom will be?" Darius questioned.

"No,I'm fine with anyone father chooses for me. I know you love me and you'll only do what's best for me and our kingdom." Ramona opined,completely oblivious of the big shock she was about to get.

"You're a sensible daughter so I'll stop beating about the bush now. You're going to get married to Prince Cornelius, the son of the Alpha of the Blue Moon pack." The vampire king deadpanned.

"What?!" Ramona screamed, unable to control her shock. "Please keep your voice down dear daughter, I may be your father but don't forget I'm still the Vampire king and I command respect." King Darius warned lowly.

"How could you say something like that,father if this is some kind of joke please stop it now because it's not funny." She said, tears beginning to gather at the edge of her eyes.

"You should know me all too well by now Ramona, I don't have a sense of humor and I meant what I said, you're getting married to Prince Cornelius in two weeks and that's final." Darius said with a note of finality and Ramona broke down in tears.

"I never knew my own father could hate me so much. You could have just told me directly that you don't want me anymore and I would have left quietly. It would have been better than you lying to me about getting married to the enemy when I know it could never happen, you're probably handing me over to the enemy as a slave but for what price? What are you selling me over to them for? Gold? Women? Slaves? Power? For f**k's sake,these are things you already have so why?" She yelled, unable to control her emotions.

"Ramona!" The king yelled and slapped her hard across the face,the force making her fall to the ground and she just sobbed silently on the floor,not wiling to get up.

King Darius saw how pitiful she looked and his heart went out to his daughter. He hated having to behave this way with her but he knew that he couldn't give her a choice in this, she had to marry Prince Cornelius whether she wanted to or not.

He decided that at least offering some kind of explanation would pacify her a bit so he bent down and picked her up.

"Ramona dear,you know how precious you are to me. I would never do anything that would cause you harm. You're no stranger to what's been going on. We have been at war with the werewolves for a hundred years and I'm honestly fed up with it. Nothing has been gained from this ceaseless fight, only pain,loss and bloodshed from both sides so I've met up with the Alpha King,he's the supreme leader of the twelve packs.

We've secretly been friends for a long time but the war made us enemies and we've been seeking ways to end this rivalry between vampires and werewolves. We've met up and decided to end the war so we signed a peace treaty but the beta of the pack and other high ranking members wanted an assurance that the vampires wouldn't go back on their word and attack them when they least expected it so the Alpha suggested marriage between you and his son and I agreed,it's all we need to create a bond with them and finally seal the end of this war." King Darius explained.

"And you didn't see the need to ask me what I want? You just decided to get me married to our mortal enemy because I mean absolutely nothing to you. I'm just the sacrificial lamb you can give away at anytime." Ramona said and sniffed, wanting nothing more than to lament over her dismal fate.

"Ramona it's for the sake of peace,and I didn't think you would have any problem with it. You just said you were willing to get married to the man I choose." He said, managing to use her own words against her.

"Father that was different,I said that before I knew that you had such despicable intentions towards me. I can't get married to Cornelius no matter what, I hate him father, I hate him with everything in me. He's just a filthy dog,just like the rest of them!" She yelled rebelliously and got another tight slap on her left cheek and both of her cheeks stung with pain but it could never measure up to the pain she felt in her heart.

"Don't talk such nonsense of your future In-laws." King Darius scolded, aggressively.

"They'll never be my In-laws cause I'll never agree to this marriage. This marriage can never even work,everyone knows he's gay so it can never work. Why do you wish to make my life miserable forever?" She questioned, more tears flowing down her cheeks.

"If it's about being gay,he'll change. He'll just have to,his father will have to make him. You're just going to have to make your marriage to him work because I'll never let you come back. I'm doing this for the good of our kingdom because I'm a king first before I'm your father." King Darius tried to coax.

Ramona decided she had had enough, since her tears hadn't moved her father,rebellion just had to.

"I don't care if you're the king or not,this is about my life so only I can decide. I'm not marrying that gay dog and that's final! I'll have nothing to do with him and I'd rather die than let you force me into marrying an enemy." Ramona dared, standing up to her feet.

"You do know how much I love a challenge dear daughter, so challenge accepted. Just watch and wait,I'll get you married to Prince Cornelius, dead or alive. So keep that in mind." He said to her sharply and Ramona shivered slightly, she knew her father hated being challenged and when he was,he went all out to prove his sovereignty.

"Guards! Take her and put her under house arrest until the wedding. She is not to leave her room and only members of the royal family can see her." King Darius ordered and two strong guards seized her and took her away.

"Father, no! You can't do this to me! Father! Father......." She screamed as she was taken away from her father's presence, to be placed under house arrest.