Throne of Blood and Moonlight

Chapter 4 Throne of Blood and Moonlight By Ruth Nalio

Devin…

“Where is she?” King Sullivan roared as he stormed through his castle's great hall.

“Patience my love, they will find her.” Queen Lisa tried to soothe her husband’s temper as she held back her own tears.

“She is our daughter! The bloody princess!” He bellowed.

“You think I don’t realize that? You think I don’t wish to go out myself and bring her home? Anger will not help us now, we must have patience.”

King Sullivan closed his eyes as his wife walked to him. She wrapped her arms around him and he held her tight. “You’re right, I just do not see why they have nothing to tell me after three days.”

“Excuse me, Your Majesty, I have found something that may be of interest,” I said as I crossed the hall to the Vampire King as his queen stepped away from him, her face hard and drawn tight. “There is evidence of a small struggle just inside the woods; it appears the cave entrance was also used recently.”

King Sullivan closed his eyes again. “Stella.” He hissed under his breath.

“Yes, I believe she may have been sneaking out of the castle and was taken just inside the woods,” I informed him.

“Can you track them?” King Sullivan demanded.

I sighed. “It appears they have headed in the direction of the Lycans.”

Queen Lisa took in a sharp breath and King Sullivan glanced at her then back to me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, the trail disappears after a few yards; whoever took her must have covered up their tracks,” I told him, knowing he wouldn’t be pleased.

“We will go and get her.” King Sullivan said recklessly.

“Should we not wait for them to send their demands first; I don’t want them to hurt her.” Queen Lisa said in a level voice, always the one to bring our King back to reason.

“You think the longer we wait the better it will be? Who knows what those bloody mongrels have done to her!” King Sullivan yelled.

“Queen Lisa has a point, if we go in, swords drawn, they may kill her on the spot, or worse.” I interrupted the arguing. “It takes a week to get to the Lycan castle from here and will take another good bit of time for them to send word and demands.”

“So, what are you saying we should do? Let my only daughter stay with those mongrels?” King Sullivan demanded.

“I say we wait two weeks before we confront the Lycans. It would give us time to prepare for what comes next.” I informed him, my military mind not fogged by emotion.

“And just what do you think is coming next? A d@mned gift basket!” King Sullivan snapped.

“Sullivan, we will get her back, Stella knows how to take care of herself.” Queen Lisa again tried calming her husband.

“She will get herself killed! She thinks she can take on the world and you know it!” King Sullivan roared, pointing out the biggest flaw the beautiful princess had.

“And the Lycans will find that amusing coming from her,” I reassured them all. “I think it is time we start planning and telling our troops to get ready.”

Weston…

“Settle down lads. You all know why I have been gone for a week.” I said to my men.

“Yes, and you bring back a female in the middle of the day!” One male countered.

“Then Casper tries telling us she’s a Vampire!” Another male added.

“I am a bloody Vampire you pig-headed dogs! You should have more respect for your king, even if you are a bunch of dogs!” Stella yelled at the lot of them.

“Stella, sit down!” I barked the order at her and pointed to her seat. She glared at me and crossed her arms. “Female, do not push me,” I warned her.

“Or what? Your subjects don’t even listen to you, why should I?” She countered with an arched brow.

“D@mn, she has to be a bloody Vampire to talk like that to a Lycan.” Someone said close by.

I rolled my eyes and pushed her down in her chair. “Stay there or I’ll tie you down.” She hissed at me and brushed my hands off before re-crossing her arms. “Now, as I was saying. Stella here is not just a Vampire, she is the king’s daughter, she is half Vampire and half human.”

“Are you sure she is not lying to you about being part Vampire?”

“She has the fangs to prove it.” I looked at Stella who was smiling smugly at me. “Any other questions before we eat?”

“Yes, I have one, who gets fed to the female?”

“I wouldn’t drink Lycan…” I put my hand over Stella’s mouth to stop her.

“She is like me in that. Can we eat now before the food gets cold?” They said their agreement and nodded their heads before digging into their food.

“You try that again and I’ll bite your hand off.” Stella glared at me.

“Female, you should learn your place, and fast,” I told her.

“Stella, would you care to tell me about yourself now?” Casper jumped in before she could spit out her next retort.

She sighed. “Yes.”

“What all can you do, I mean Vampire wise,” Casper asked.

“I have all the abilities and none of the downfalls. The only downside to being half Vampire is that my abilities are not quite as strong as a normal Vampire.”

“What kind of abilities do you have? Anything special that other Vampires do not have?”

“Not really, nothing other than being able to walk in the sunlight.”

“Don’t let her fool you, she can only handle small doses of direct sunlight, but she can stay in the shadows of the woods all day.” I chimed in before taking a bite of my stake.

“And what abilities do you have, I mean you are half Vampire, that has to make up for some of the mutt in you.” She countered.

“He is faster than any of us; I think he gets that from his mother.”

“Thank you, Casper.” I gave him a hard look.

“You’re welcome, I figured since your mouth was full I might as well tell the female a detail for you,” Casper said with a grin.

“Is that all you can do?” Stella asked.

“No, I can also do that neat little hissing thing you are so fond of. It’s a shame you are not like me in that I can be in direct sunlight all day.” I told her pointedly.

“I don't wish to have leathery skin anyway, but you might as well continue spending time in the sun, the mutt in you would cause other skin problems.” She said in the same pointed tone I’d used.

“I do not have leathery skin, I think you heard wrong on that one.” Casper winked at her.

She looked at him for a moment then smiled. “I think you are an exception. I even bet you would have very soft fur. You look very young, like you might have puppy fur.” She said in a sweet tone.

“Why are you not that nice to me?” I demanded.

She shot a glance at me and waved me off. “You kidnapped me, I am angry at you for it.”

Casper began laughing. “The female has a point.”

“Be quiet, pup.” I smiled at Casper who frowned at me.

“You are just jealous I am nice to him and not you.” Stella took a sip of her wine.

“Yes female, it has nothing to do with the fact that I am a King and deserve respect.” I retorted dryly.

“I am a princess and deserve respect as well, and respect is not kidnapping someone,” she snapped.

“It’s the only way I can get your father’s attention without him trying to kill me on sight.” I clarified.

“And you think this is going to make things better? You don’t know my father. He is boiling right now, and he will still be boiling when he finds out you have me. Then he will come here to kill You.”

“He will not get you back until he agrees to peace,” I told her.

“That will not happen, if you had sent a message that you wished to talk he would have met with you and worked something out, but no now, now you are on his death list.” She calmly popped a piece of bloody meat into her mouth.

“You really think he is going to try to kill me when I have you?” I challenged.

“Yes, he will find a way and if he doesn’t I will.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Such a lovely female wouldn't do that, now would you?” Casper smiled at Stella.

“Your cousin has kidnapped me; that gives me the right to retaliate.”

“But to kill him? He has not tried to kill you.” Casper reasoned.

“Yes, but my father would kill him so why delay it?” She countered.

“Bloody hell! I’m sitting right here!” I looked between her and Casper.

“Calm yourself, cousin, I was but talking the female out of murdering you.” Casper placated.

“You do not need to do that, I am perfectly capable of protecting myself from a half-Vampire,” I said without looking at her.

“Especially one as insignificant in size as me, he has naught to fear.” Stella played with her knife as she looked at me. She tilted her head to the side and looked at the knife. She tested it on the tip of her finger, drawing blood. “It’s sharp.” She looked back at me and sucked the blood off her finger.

The smell of her blood had me clenching my jaw. I looked around to see that every Lycan at the table had focused their attention on her. “It’s not smart to cut yourself in the company of Lycans. We can all smell it.”

She smiled at me. “But you are the only one who hungers for it. My half-human makes my blood appetizing to Vampires. I can see it in your eyes.”

“It’s not a good idea to tease me, Stella,” I warned.

“I wonder what your blood smells like, I’ve never smelled Lycan blood before. It must be interesting.” She still held the knife.