Veil of Blood and Silver

Welcome to book 11 in the Lykos series! We're finally entering the third generation. I cannot believe it! This is Vampire-Lycan hybrid Crown Prince AJ's story! I do hope you enjoy it, and please remember to comment on each chapter if you're reading, because this helps me to keep the books free to read until completed! Harlow I hum while fixing my long silver hair. I’ve often wondered how I got this hair color. I’ve never seen another person with this color. Sure, there are blonde-haired people and even some with shocking white hair, but silver is all mine, it would seem. I braid my hair down my back because I don’t want it to fall into my eyes. That has happened more than once. It’s a hazard with me since Claudette cut my hair – feathered the front, as she called it. I like it, but when it falls into my eyes, the feral prince pushes his hand through the bars of his cell and pushes it out of my eyes. Not that I mind when he touches me, but his long claws accidentally cut a little off that first time. He retreated because he felt he’d done something wrong, and it took me over an hour to get him to understand that it was okay. The Vampire Queen told me never to get too close to the prince’s cage because anyone who did so previously ended up injured or dead. That did not appeal to me at all. But the prince needed someone to help him. When the Queen asked me to be the one to take Prince AJ the blood he needed three times a week, I was nervous. I didn’t think I could say no. I was new here. I had no memory of where I came from or how I got here. My earliest memory is of seven months ago when I woke up in a strange place, wearing nothing but a white dress. Claudette found me wandering aimlessly near her house. I didn’t know how I ended up there, never mind in Vampire Country. But Claudette took me inside, cleaned me up, and fed me. She asked me questions that I couldn’t answer. I didn’t know my name, but Harlow popped into my head, and Claudette said that was possibly my name, so that’s what she called me. I was afraid when Claudette brought me to Harrington Castle a week after she found me. She worked there and wanted to get me a job alongside her. She said I needed to work to keep my mind occupied. I agreed, even though I didn’t know if I could do what she was asking of me. I stood before the King and Queen of Vampires as Claudette lied and said I was her granddaughter. The King saw right through the lie and demanded the truth. I don’t know how she did it, but she lied again and said I was the daughter of her human friend, who had died, so she took me in. I didn’t understand why she would say such a thing. I may not have remembered who I was, but being in the presence of Vampires and hybrids didn’t scare me, which served to tell me this was the world I came from. I was scanned by the King and finally permitted to stay, but there would be rules. I could not bring humans onto Vampire territory. That only told me he knew I wasn’t human. But if I’m not human, what am I? Or did the King believe I was human, and he made an exception for me? Whatever it was, I agreed to the no-human rule. I didn’t know anything about myself, so I wasn’t sure if I even knew any humans. The King said I had to swear an oath not to speak of happenings inside the castle to anyone outside of it. Again, no problem there. I didn’t know anyone other than Claudette and her friend Jack. Jack is nice, he’s good to me. There’s nothing other than friendship between him and Claudette, though I had asked if he was her husband. She laughed and told me that they had been best friends since they were children, and he would keep the secret of how Claudette found me. I was informed about the feral prince, as everyone knows about him. Claudette had already told me but warned me not to mention him in front of the King and Queen, so I didn’t. I waited for them to bring it up. They had me sign a contract that would prohibit me from speaking to those outside the castle about such matters. No problem there; no one even tries to talk to me. I was put to work in the kitchen with Claudette, but I had no idea how to cook. Claudette, because she is head of household staff, put me on cleaning duty instead. I couldn’t mess that up, it’s not like it’s hard. I did well and kept myself to myself, even if one or two looked down their noses at me. Not to mention, some of the Lords and Ladies who frequent the castle treat me like dirt on their shoes. I don’t let it get to me, and I’m polite, even if I do want to tell them where to go. I know my place, and it’s beneath those people. I had only been here for a couple of weeks before the Queen called for me. I was so scared she was unhappy with my work and she would kick me out that I almost threw up! Claudette told me not to worry and that everything would be okay. My heart banged loudly as the Queen explained what she needed from me. She didn’t lie to me. Queen Esme told me how every person who had been tasked with feeding her eldest son had either died or been injured and scared away. She couldn’t promise the same wouldn’t happen to me, though she instructed me on what not to do. I agreed to the task because I saw how desperate the Queen was. Not one member of her family could get close enough to give the prince what he needed, and the Queen was afraid he would starve to death. Being feral meant the prince would only ingest blood and not eat food as he previously could. Claudette had already informed me that the King had never allowed feral Vampires to live because there was no way to bring them back to the person they once were. However, the Queen refused to allow the death of her son, even though he had killed many through his feral rampage. The prince even broke out of his cell twice and killed dozens more. The people called for his execution, but that never happened. I asked Claudette what could have happened to cause such a change in the once much-loved prince. She told me how Prince AJ had believed his second cousin, Haven, would one day be his mate. Prince AJ had gone away for a while to complete his training to become King and didn’t return until he was twenty. He came home hoping to be with his mate. Only, she wasn’t his mate. It turned out that the prince’s younger brother had claimed her. It turned out that Haven was actually Prince Elijah’s mate, and no one, to this day, understands how everyone got things so wrong. The hurt and what Prince AJ felt was betrayal turned him feral, and he has been that way ever since. I was reluctant to agree with what the Queen wanted; of course I was. But when I looked at the portrait of Prince AJ hanging proudly on the King’s office wall, I saw something special in those blue eyes. I couldn’t imagine the loneliness the prince was going through. So, I agreed. I won’t lie; the first time I went into that basement prison, I was terrified of what I would see. My stomach trembled as I walked into the room. It was nothing like I imagined. The place looked like a royal chamber with a massive cage in one corner instead of a bed. It was also warm and clean. But I didn’t take the time to look around because my eyes were drawn to the man staring at me from the corner of his cage. His hair was shaggy and greasy like it hadn’t been washed in years, probably because it hadn’t. His trousers were nothing but rags, he was shirtless, his eyes were glowing red, his teeth were sharp like razors, and his fingers were claws. I knew who I was looking at, even if he looked nothing like the portrait. He hissed, causing me to startle a little. As he dropped his head and looked at me through hooded eyes, I wondered if I would make it out of that room alive. I couldn’t stand there wondering because I had a job to do. So, I began to hum as I slowly moved closer, remembering what the Queen had told me. But I didn’t have any other way of handing the bowl of blood to the prince. I had been told to just drop the bags of blood by the cage and leave. But I would not feed the prince that way; he deserved more, which is why I would empty them into a bowl. I continued to hum without taking my eyes off him as I placed the bowl on the ground and slid it inside the cage. I quickly moved back and began to sing softly while the prince drank greedily. Once he was done, he sat on the ground and smirked at me. However, it wasn’t menacing, and it seemed he was thanking me somehow. I smiled and left. I wasn’t afraid to go down there after that. In fact, each time I visited the prince, he would sit quietly listening to me sing or talk to him about anything that came to mind. He first cupped my cheek a few weeks after my first visit. I don’t know why it didn’t scare me, but deep down, I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Prince AJ may have been what some called a monster, but to me, he became my friend. The Queen was confused about how I could get through to her son when no one else could. If anyone came into that room aside from me, the prince would lose control, hissing and yanking on the bars, wanting to get out and kill everyone he came into contact with. It would take me little effort to calm him, but only when the other person or persons had left. I don’t know if the prince can be saved, but I won’t stop until I find a way to help him. No matter what it takes. I sigh because what the hell can I do to help the prince? Forget singing to calm him or making sure he’s fed. Anyone could have done that if they had put their minds to it. I have no powers like everyone else in the castle. I don’t think I’m human. The Vampire King said that he could sense something in me, but he didn’t know what. So, maybe whatever I am is dormant within me. I don’t know what to believe. All I know is that I’m living with Vampires with no way to protect myself should they choose to attack me. So, again, how could I help the prince? I’ve been to the library within the castle, secretly, of course. There I found a book on ferals. I thought I might find something that could help, not that I believed the Royal Family hadn’t done all the research possible. But new eyes might catch something they didn’t. Of course, all I found was everything I had already been told, meaning nothing that could help. I felt defeated, but I didn’t let it get to me much. I carried on visiting the prince while learning about the boy he once was from Claudette. She has been working for the Royal Family for almost a hundred years! I was shocked, but I shouldn’t have been. Claudette had already told me she was one hundred and forty-one years old. I wish I knew how old I was. If I do have paranormal blood, I could be anything from seventeen to a thousand years old! I’m definitely not a child, so I’m assuming I could be anything from seventeen years of age. I began sitting in the comfortable chair in the prince’s prison chamber and talking to him about what I had learned about his family. I would even tell him about what I’d been doing during our time apart. Sometimes, his eyes flickered with what I assumed was recognition, and I would smile. There were times when he would come closer to the bars and reach his hand out to me. Over the weeks, it would become easier for me to touch his hand or allow him to cup my cheek. I would smile while looking into his red eyes – until the Queen caught me. I had no idea she’d been watching me, but hearing her gasp startled me and set the prince off into a maddening rage. I was forced out of the room, and the Queen demanded to know how I was able to get her son to respond to me the way he was. I didn’t have a definitive answer because I didn’t know. All I did was sing and talk to him as though we were friends. The noise coming from the prince’s room was deafening. The hissing, banging, and screeching were terrifying. I begged the Queen to allow me to calm her son. She agreed, and as I entered the room, I sang. The prince calmed down quickly, and I realized he was lonely. He responded to me because I was the only one showing him kindness, the only one who was not afraid of him. He held his hand out to me, and I allowed him to cup my cheek. He was always so careful not to cut me with his long claws, which proved to me that he was not completely gone. Once he had fallen asleep and I could leave the room, the King called me into his office. There, he and the Queen interrogated me. I was nervous because the King accused me of lying about who I was. He said that I was using powers on his son that I had concealed. It wasn’t true, and I encouraged the King to use his powers to read my mind. When he found nothing and no lies, the King said I must have a gift. Thankfully, he allowed me to continue working with his son. But I will admit that it hasn’t been easy. The people in this place make my life a misery. The constant jabs can really drive a girl mad! I don’t have time to think about it; I have chores to do before I visit my prince.