Mated To A Vampire-Hunter Princess

Chapter 8

"I'm fine, Ruby, really." I tried to convince my lady-in-waiting that I was alright for the umpteenth time today. After breakfast when I had been sweating like a pig and suffering terrible stomach pain, she had never left my side unless she was leaving for medicine. 

Little does she know that nothing could help me. I had suffered through it all night, and I accepted that I'd suffer even more until I reject Drew. 

If I ever thought that the thought of marrying Nathan brought me pain, I wasn't feeling anything in comparison to the pain I felt when I thought about rejecting my mate. 

I keep telling myself that it will be better once I do it, but I feel like I'm fooling myself. 

Why was the 'mate bond' doing this to me? I didn’t ask for a mate. I'm human! How is a vampire thing affecting me? 

I couldn’t take it. I needed to go investigate and learn how to break this bond, but Ruby wont leave my side and she was making it difficult. I even tried to order her to leave, but she pulled the big guns. She left and got permission from my parents to dismiss my order to be left alone because I'm 'ill'. If they even knew. 

I knew she was a  caring person, but she needed to know that leaving me alone would make my ‘recovery’ come faster. 

"You know I cannot leave you until you are well, Princess Amber. The king and queen's orders." 

I groaned inwardly as I plopped down on my bed. I felt like a damn cat going into heat. My skin was covered in a layer of sweat, and even after five showers it only got worse. 

Ruby placed another cold rag to my forehead and I wanted to bark at her and tell her I didn’t have a fever, but I knew it would do no good. 

Maybe they'll start thinking that I'm delusional. 

It made me wonder if Drew was feeling the same thing I was. Did he remember what happened last night? I sure hoped not. 

I didn’t need this rejection to be harder than it should. The very thought of rejection caused another surge of pain to break through my stomach, and my body stiffened as I waited for it to pass over. 

"You poor thing," Ruby mumbled after seeing the discomfort on my face, as she brought the cold orange juice to my lips. I turned my head away. 

"I don’t want orange juice," I said in a low voice, feeling as if I'd cry any minute. I've known Drew for less than a week, and he has almost made me cry two times already. 

I hate that vampire. 

"What do you want then?" Ruby asked with a look that said she'd do anything to make me feel better. 

This sparked an idea in my head that I’m pretty sure could buy me enough time to get what I needed. 

I thought of something that might not be in the palace. Then it hit me. 

I batted my eyelashes innocently at her before launching my plan. "Do you think you could get me some whiskey?" 

I knew my mother wouldn’t have whiskey in the castle. She only went for expensive, fancy liquor that nobody ever drank. Ruby's eyebrows shot up in shock, but before she could reply, I spoke again. 

"Please? It will surely help my sore throat." I lied smoothly, knowing damn well I had no sore throat. "No one has to know. It's just between you and me. And maybe it will put me to  bed." 

I saw that I was breaking through her, so I sealed the deal by throwing in a pout. I rejoiced inwardly when I saw her sigh in defeat. 

"Okay. But this stays between me and you," she whispered. I don’t know why she whispered, but I didn’t question it. Instead, I playfully pulled an imaginary zipper across my lips as I smiled at her. 

I gave her the address of a bar I knew that was farthest away from the castle, telling her that they had a 'special ingredient' that I liked in their whiskey. She gave me a look as if wondering how I knew this, but deep down Ruby knew I wasn’t the most pitch perfect princess so she let it be.

The minute I saw her car rolling away, I jumped from my bed, immediately regretting it when my feet gave away, but I recovered quickly and sneaked through my bedroom door. Even though it was morning, I was on bed arrest, so I still used my sneaking techniques as I made for the old library. 

The internet was useless. I spent all night trying to find something sensible, but everything talked about stupid vampire shows that had nothing to do with real life. So, my next best shot was finding something in the library. 

It was huge and consisted of thousands of books of all kinds. And since vampires have been around a while, there was a high chance a book about them existed somewhere. 

Somewhere.

I took a deep breath when I stepped through. Unlike all the other times I visited this place and went straight for the hidden door, I was actually going to search for something. 

Well, it's either now or never. 

*** 

An hour and a half later, I still hadn’t found anything. I have searched practically every shelf there was, and still I found nothing. 

I was beginning to lose hope, and I knew Ruby was back and searching the whole place for me. 

It was only a matter of time before she found me. 

The pain had not been making it easy either. The fact that I was looking for a book to learn how to reject my mate wasn’t granting me the best experience. I didn’t want to give up, but at this point, the book I'm searching for seemed as if it was non-existent. 

What other option do I have? It's either I reject Drew or...There was no or. This bond cant stand between us while we live separate lives. I cannot live like this. 

For the third time since this week, I slumped against a shelf as my eyes burnt. I knew I wasn’t about to cry like a freaking baby, but I sure felt like it. 

It's all Drew's fault. If he had only stuck to his original plan and stayed away from me. If he hadn’t been at that ball, then I wouldn’t have met him and this wouldn’t be happening. If I can't reject him, then what will I do? I definitely won't accept him, but I can't live like this either. 

Maybe killing him would kill the bond too, but we all know how that went. 

Sighing, I decided to check one last shelf before I left, even though I knew it would be for nothing. 

"There you are." 

I yelped in shock as I whipped around at the sound of a male's voice. I threw my hand over my heart as I recovered from the scare. I wasn’t expecting anyone to come here. 

"Dad," I mumbled, both in greeting and assurance to myself that I was safe. "What are you doing here?" 

He walked further into the room, stumbling a bit as he leaned against a table. "I should ask you the same thing. Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?" 

Guilt rose in me as I thought about how worried Ruby might be. "I was bored and I wanted a book," I lied, though I knew my dad was the only person who I couldn’t lie to. Even in his state, he could read me like a book. 

He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me as he watched me in scrutiny. "Is that so? Even with the devices you have at your disposal?" 

"I felt like reading," I blurted out, still feeding him my lie even though he obviously wasn’t buying it. 

"Hhmm. Well..." he trailed as he walked over to a shelf. "I guess I could help. You know? Since you've been down here a while." He taunted as he eyed the spine of each book. 

I watched him with sweaty hands and a pounding heart. I had no clue what he was up to. He wasn’t the one for scolding. He was a man of reason. But the last thing I thought I'd hear was 'oh let me help then'. 

"Dad, that's fine. I didn’t find anything anyways so I'll just go back to bed." I tried to dig myself out of the hole I fell in, especially since he was inching closely towards the back of the library where my secret door sat. He must've known it was there all these years. It's his castle, after all. But what a surprise it would be when he sees that it's not dusty like everything else in the huge library. 

"Here it is." He beamed proudly as he brought forth a book. 

It looked like a pretty boring book. Nothing like what a young woman who was on bed arrest would want to read. I watched with a frown as he came closer, quickly catching him by the arm when he stumbled a bit. 

"What's this?" I asked more to myself as I took it. 

i aletheia.

What? 

What kind of title is that? 

I raised my eyes from the book to peer at my dad. He seemed as if he was out of it, as if he was about to start blabbing things that didn’t make sense again. I sighed. This was something we'd get used to. Sometimes, he would be himself, while other times he seemed like a completely different person. 

"Thank you dad," I said even though I had no idea why he would think I'd want to read this. I kissed his cheek nonetheless and led him from the library, deeming my plan a failure. 

I brought him to his room and set him in bed before placing another kiss on his forehead. He gave me a huge grin as his grip on my hand tightened. 

"You'll love that book Amber. Get well soon, my dear." That was the last sensible thing he said before he started mumbling about bringing the monkeys to town. With another sigh, I closed the door behind me and ventured back to my own room. 

Ruby met me in the hallway with a flustered look on her face as she rushed towards me. 

"Where have you been? Oh princess, you almost gave me a heart attack." I was caught a bit off guard when she pulled me in a hug. I blinked a few times before patting her back awkwardly. I couldn’t blame her for being worried. Imagine how she felt when she returned and couldn’t find me? 

"I'm fine Ruby. I just wanted a book," I mumbled a little disappointed as I pulled away. She eyed the book for a while in confusion. 

"Seems like a pretty boring book," she stated, and I couldn’t help but agree. 

"I know. I just want to lay down." I avoided the pain that sat in my stomach as I laid in my bed. Maybe I could get used to it. Maybe after a while it will get better? 

Who am I kidding? 

There was no way this would get better, and I knew it. I had no other choice. I had to either muster the courage to kill that mate of mine, or live in misery forever. 

For some reason, deep down I felt like both options were the same. I was yet again at a dead end. 

With a loud, frustrated groan, I wiggled and writhed in my bed, very much aware that Ruby was watching me, maybe considering that I was losing my mind like my dad. Maybe I am. That will probably be better than this torture anyway. 

My hand hit against the book he gave me and I glared at it in contempt for no apparent reason, but I was simply annoyed at everything and with everyone. 

I eyed the title for a while as I glared at it. i aletheia.

I couldn’t even pronounce it! It seemed like some other language. 

Out of mere curiosity, I grabbed my phone and typed the word in google, waiting patiently as it went through its search process. 

The Truth.

It literally means 'The Truth' when translated from what I've just learnt is Greek. My attention peaked as I opened the book. 

What I saw sent me in a state of shock. 

They say don’t judge a book by its cover and after this, I never will ever again.