Her Forbidden Alphas

3. Meeting The Dark Prince

Ivy's POV.

I stood beside my father as we saw the royal carriage approach our Keep. My mother stood to his left and I stood on his right. My mother is currently mad at me for making a big fuss about getting dressed this evening. I wore the first dress that I was fitted into yesterday.

It was a red dress with a gold vine that was embodied onto the top part of the dress, it had long sleeves and was made of silk. I wore my hair in a bun that was tied back just above my neck. I had a piece of my hair hanging down my right side which annoyed my eyesight. My mother insisted that I wear my hair like this, which is where I began to argue with my mother.

The carriage came to a complete stop as we stood at the entrance of the Keep and watched the figures get out. We saw three figures get out, two males and one woman. I assumed the woman to be the queen as she was fairly beautiful and stood out in the gold dress she wore. Also, the crown upon her head had given away who she was.

A few seconds later, they were in front of us and I saw the King, whom I recognized at once. He looked like he hadn’t aged a day, but then again, it was part of being a vampire. The other male must be the prince since he had similar features to the King. Also, because I haven't met him before and have only heard of him, well, stories about him.

My mother and father bowed to them to show their respect and I too copied their kind gesture. I was feeling a bit nervous when I raised back up to look at the prince. I noticed he was doing the same, no doubt taking in my beauty as every other male had done in the past. I must say he does not at all look like how I had pictured him from all the stories that were told about him.

He didn't look cruel or cold like how they described him. He looked innocent and kind and his features looked quite handsome. His gorgeous features have got to be the only thing they got right in the stories. I couldn't help but notice that he looked like he was undressing me with his eyes. It only made me even more nervous, but I didn’t show it.

"Your majesty, May I introduce my wife, Eleanor Darthe and my daughter, Ivy Darthe." My father's voice took me out of my staring trance.

"Of course," King Adonis said.

"Your majesty, it's always a pleasure to have you in our presence." My mother said as she bowed again, so I just followed her lead.

"This is my wife, whom you already know, Queen of darkness, Ava Manson." The King said as the queen stepped forward and greeted my parents and me. "And my son, Prince Blake Manson, Prince of darkness," he said, and the prince did the same only when he took my hands he did not once take his eyes off of me. He then placed a kiss on my hand and I don’t know if I should be uncomfortable with his actions, but it made me feel uneasy.

"Lady Ivy, it’s a pleasure to meet you," he said in such a gentle manner.

"Likewise, Prince Blake," I said, also matching his manner.

"Just Blake will do, since we are to be wed," he said while giving me a very huge smile.

Oh my! I knew it. Of course, he would accept me. My beauty must be so blinding to him, since he couldn’t stop looking at me. Although I wasn’t expecting him to accept me so quickly, I thought we would have dinner and get to know each other first. Then maybe the king would announce his approval. It all felt like it was all moving too fast. But I couldn’t turn down the future king. I would bring dishonour to my family.

"Please come into our home. I have arranged your rooms for your stay. If you want to freshen up from your long journey before dinner, it will be ready in another two hours," My father said as we all followed him back into the Keep.

Once we got into the Keep, my father introduced Sir Marcus and Charlotte to the Royals.

"Perhaps the prince would like to accompany Lady Ivy. You know, so they could get to know each other more before dinner." The King suggested, which my parents agreed to.

I honestly felt scared of being left alone with him, but I too agreed to get to know him, since we are practically engaged. As my parents walked away to the dining room, no doubt making sure that everything was perfect. I saw Sir Marcus lead the King and Queen to the rooms they would stay in for the next two nights.

"Shall we?" The prince said as he held his arm out for me to take. As we turned around and headed towards the Keeps garden, I caught Charlotte staring. She was giving me the thumbs up with a huge smile on her face. Before she ran off to god knows where she mouthed 'get em girl'. I couldn't help but let a little chuckle escape me as I shook my head at her.

"So, what has caused you to let out a chuckle back there?" Prince Blake asked as we entered the garden.

"Oh, nothing that I should have even laughed at in the first place," I answered.

I didn’t want to tell him about Charlotte's funny behaviour. He might think that we were making fun of him and the last thing I want to do is disrespect him in any way. My father would be furious if I had shamed him in such a way that could end this marriage.

"Well, laughing at nothing sure suits your beauty." He said as he stared deep into my eyes. It caused me to smile but also reminded me that I am only wanted because of my beauty.

"You know, my parents told me that this marriage was because your father is the most feared yet respected Lord of vampires. They said it would be good since I'm the future King and would need a respectable queen." He said all too honestly. "At first I fought them about it but eventually gave in. Now that I see what my father meant by your beauty, it would captivate me and I won’t lie, but it has. I also think that giving in was worth it," he added.

"Well, I guess that makes both of us," I said. I did find him attractive, but something in the pit of my stomach felt off. Or maybe it was just the lunch I had earlier.

But if he was going, to be honest, then I guess I would too. I mean being his future queen means that I would have to be his equal, right? I mean my father treats my mother as his equal and I would assume to be treated the same as my husband, no matter who he may be. In this case, it’s the prince of darkness and he seems like the kind of gentleman to treat his women with respect.

"So you fought your parents for this arranged marriage too?" He asked with amusement clear in his eyes.

"Well, mostly my mother, my father's decision was final and I didn’t want to have to make him order me," I said honestly, causing him to laugh. I don’t know what I said to make him laugh, but I'm sure I didn’t say anything funny. He must have seen my confused face as she spoke quickly.

"The way you just scrunched your face looked funny and a bit cute. But mostly so funny that I couldn't help but laugh." He explained and I nodded my head.

I don’t blame him for laughing about that. My parents also laughed every time I scrunched my face and so did Charlotte. It was my frustrated face and I couldn’t help it. I was, however, intrigued that he found it cute, it sort of gave me butterflies hearing him say it. I also felt a slight feeling of hope for us, that we would pull this off.

We spoke for a while, just telling each other our likes and dislikes. He even told me a few funny stories about him and his best friend, Noah. I too told him stories of me and Charlotte. I couldn’t help but think that maybe Charlotte would like Prince Blake's friend, Noah, as they seemed similar in ways. I would have to ask if I could take her with me whenever the King gives the OK for me to be moved to Dread castle. We both got carried away as the maid that had collected me and Charlotte from the river came up to us.

"Prince Blake, Lady Ivy," she said as she bowed to both of us. "his Majesty, King Adonis and Lord Aiden request you to now join us for dinner." She said as we both walked to the dining hall arm in arm.

The prince and I must have looked like a happy couple as we walked. I noticed the smile on my parent's and the prince's parents' faces when entering the dining hall.

Maybe this marriage isn't going to be as bad as I had feared. Maybe he would make me happy and we both would fall in love. For the first time in days, I didn’t feel like I was married because of my beauty. I felt like he could make me happy.