See You In Hell

The Portrait

Ivanna woke to the soft crackling of the fireplace.

For a few seconds, she didn't remember where she was.

Then she opened her eyes and saw the unfamiliar ceiling above her.

Garcia.

The vampire prince's castle.

She slowly sat up, realizing she had fallen asleep without meaning to. The exhaustion from the wedding and the two-day journey had finally caught up with her.

A gentle knock came from the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and three young women entered.

They wore simple but elegant dresses in the castle colors and immediately bowed.

"Good morning, Your Highness."

Ivanna looked at them curiously.

"Good morning."

The first maid stepped forward.

"My name is Clara. This is Elise, and that is Mara. We have been assigned to attend to you during your stay."

"Assigned to me?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

Ivanna glanced between them.

"You don't have to call me Your Highness."

The three maids exchanged surprised looks.

Clara smiled politely.

"We'll try, Your Highness."

Ivanna sighed softly.

She was beginning to realize that being married to a prince came with a great deal of formality.

"Do I need to get dressed?"

"Only if you wish to," Clara replied. "His Highness instructed us not to disturb you if you wanted to rest."

Ivanna paused.

"He did?"

"Yes."

She looked toward the fireplace.

Even when he wasn't around, Giveon seemed to be quietly making decisions about her comfort.

"I'll rest a little longer."

"Of course."

The maids bowed and left.

Ivanna lay back against the pillows, staring at the ceiling.

She had expected the vampire castle to feel threatening.

Instead, she felt strangely safe.

Perhaps it was because of Giveon.

Or perhaps it was because she was beginning to realize that the man she had married was nothing like the stories she'd heard about him.

She closed her eyes.

She needed to stop thinking.

And for the first time since leaving home, she allowed herself to truly rest.

When she woke again, the afternoon light was shining through the tall windows.

She dressed with the help of her maids and stepped into the sitting room.

Elvis was waiting outside.

"Good afternoon, Your Highness."

"Good afternoon, Elvis."

He smiled.

"I trust you slept well."

"I did."

"Excellent. His Highness will be pleased."

Ivanna raised an eyebrow.

"Does he always ask about everything?"

Elvis's smile widened slightly.

"Only the things he cares about."

Before Ivanna could respond, he gestured down the corridor.

"If you are feeling rested, perhaps I could show you around the castle."

"I'd like that."

They began walking.

The castle seemed even larger during the day.

Ivanna passed long corridors decorated with paintings, silver candleholders, statues, and enormous windows overlooking the grounds.

She noticed servants moving quietly through the halls, each one giving her a respectful bow.

"How many people live here?" she asked.

"Quite a few," Elvis replied.

"And all of them are vampires?"

"Not all."

Ivanna looked at him.

"There are humans who work within the castle as well?"

"Of course. Garcia has never been divided as simply as humans and vampires."

That answer made her smile faintly.

They continued through another corridor before reaching a grand staircase.

As they descended, Ivanna noticed several large portraits hanging along the wall.

She slowed.

She had seen some of them the night before, but she hadn't had the chance to look closely.

"Elvis?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Who are they?"

She pointed toward the portraits.

Elvis followed her gaze.

"The royal family."

Ivanna looked more carefully.

There were several portraits.

Some were older, while others appeared to have been painted more recently.

Then she noticed two men who looked around Giveon's age.

They were strikingly handsome, both dressed in royal clothing.

"Those two," she said. "Who are they?"

Elvis was quiet for a moment.

"They are His Highness's stepbrothers."

"Giveon's?"

"Yes."

Ivanna turned toward him.

"I didn't know he had brothers."

"Most people outside the royal family know very little about them."

She looked back at the portraits.

"What are their names?"

"James and Caleb."

Ivanna repeated the names quietly.

"James and Caleb."

"Yes."

She studied the portraits again.

"Where are they?"

"They have their own wing of the castle."

Ivanna blinked.

"Their own wing?"

Elvis nodded.

"This castle is large enough to accommodate all three princes comfortably."

"Three princes..."

"His Highness Giveon, Prince James, and Prince Caleb."

Ivanna glanced down the enormous corridor.

"How far away is their wing?"

"Quite far."

"Do they live here permanently?"

"They spend most of their time in their respective quarters."

Ivanna looked at him curiously.

"Do they get along?"

Elvis's expression became unreadable.

"They are brothers."

That wasn't an answer.

Ivanna noticed.

She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Elvis continued walking.

"Perhaps you would like to see the gardens next."

She hesitated before following him.

The gardens were beautiful.

Even beneath the soft snow, they looked carefully maintained. Stone paths wound between trimmed hedges and tall trees covered in white. A fountain stood in the center, its surface frozen beneath a thin layer of ice.

Ivanna looked around in wonder.

"I didn't expect this."

"What did you expect?"

She thought about it.

"Something darker."

Elvis chuckled softly.

"Many humans do."

They continued walking.

Ivanna noticed that the castle grounds extended much farther than she'd imagined.

There were several smaller buildings beyond the gardens, along with stables and a training yard.

"Does Giveon use all of this?"

"His Highness has little interest in unnecessary extravagance."

Ivanna smiled.

"Yet he lives in a castle."

"That was inherited."

They eventually returned inside and continued through another hallway.

Ivanna stopped again when she noticed a portrait.

This one was of a woman.

She was beautiful, dressed in an elegant gown, with dark hair and an expression that seemed both gentle and proud.

"Who is she?"

Elvis's steps stopped.

For the first time since their tour began, something changed in his expression.

"His Highness's mother."

Ivanna looked at the portrait again.

"She was beautiful."

"She was."

"Was she a princess?"

Elvis was silent.

"No."

Ivanna looked at him.

"Then who was she?"

Elvis took a slow breath.

"She was once a maid in the palace."

Ivanna's eyes widened.

"A maid?"

"Yes."

She looked back at the portrait.

"How did she become the prince's mother?"

Elvis's gaze remained on the painting.

"She and the late king fell in love."

Ivanna said nothing.

"Their love was forbidden," he continued. "The king was already married to Queen Elisa, the mother of James and Caleb. A human maid becoming involved with the vampire king was considered a scandal that could have shaken the entire kingdom."

Ivanna frowned slightly.

"So what happened?"

"The king attempted to conceal the relationship. He took the woman away from the palace and sent them to another kingdom."

"To hide them?"

"To hide what had happened."

Ivanna slowly understood.

"But she was already pregnant."

Elvis nodded.

"With Giveon."

Ivanna's eyes returned to the portrait.

"So Giveon was born in another kingdom?"

"Yes. But his mother eventually returned to the palace with the child."

"Why?"

"Because she wanted the truth acknowledged."

Elvis's voice became quieter.

"She stood before the king and announced that the child was his son."

Ivanna waited.

"And the king didn't deny it?"

"No."

That surprised her.

"He could have."

"He could have," Elvis agreed. "But he didn't."

"What did he do?"

"He made her his mistress."

Ivanna's expression changed.

"And Giveon?"

"The king acknowledged him as his son and raised him within the palace."

She looked at the young Giveon's portrait further down the corridor.

"So he really was a prince from birth."

"By blood, yes."

Ivanna was quiet.

The stories she had heard about Giveon had always described him as a halfbreed who had somehow found his way into the royal family.

But the truth was different.

He hadn't stolen his place.

He had been born into it.

"What happened to his mother?"

Elvis's expression darkened.

"She died when Giveon was five."

Ivanna's heart sank.

"How?"

"Poison."

The word hung between them.

Ivanna looked at the portrait again.

"Who poisoned her?"

Elvis didn't answer immediately.

"No one knows for certain."

"But there were rumors."

"There were always rumors."

Ivanna waited.

Elvis finally said, "Some believed Queen Elisa ordered it."

Ivanna's eyes widened.

"Because of the king?"

"Because the king appeared to favor his mistress over the queen."

Elvis looked away from the portrait.

"But it was never proven."

Ivanna nodded slowly.

"And Queen Elisa?"

"She remained queen."

Ivanna looked toward the portraits of James and Caleb.

She suddenly understood why Elvis had been so careful when speaking about them.

"And the king?" she asked.

"He lived for many years after that."

"Until he died?"

"Until the war."

Ivanna turned toward him.

"The war?"

"The king was killed during a war between Garcia and other vampire clans."

She was silent.

So much death.

Giveon's mother.

His father.

And now two brothers who lived in the same castle but seemed to remain distant from him.

Ivanna looked at the portrait of the little boy again.

Five years old.

Motherless.

A prince surrounded by a family that may never have truly accepted him.

Suddenly, she understood something about Giveon.

Perhaps his silence wasn't coldness.

Perhaps it was simply something he had learned long ago.

Elvis finally turned away from the portraits.

"Come, Your Highness."

Ivanna followed him.

But she couldn't stop thinking about what he had told her.

The Halfbreed Prince wasn't born from a mistake.

He was born from love.

A forbidden love that had cost his mother her life.

And somehow, despite everything that had happened to him, Giveon had grown into the quiet man she had met at the altar.

For the first time, Ivanna wondered how much pain could exist behind those calm grey eyes.