My Vampire King

Ch. 3

The thought hits her suddenly. She almost stops again with the force of it. Where is he taking her? Toralie glances over at the prince, but is face is an unreadable mask. The prince has moved from holding his arm to hers to holding her hand. His hand feels oddly warm, although others have always been so cold to her. Toralie gets caught up in her own thoughts, not really paying attention to her surroundings. Toralie stops short when the prince brings her over to a sleek black limousine. She marvels at it, not used to anything like it.

The prince lets go of her hand and strides over to the car, waiting as the driver opens the door for him.

"Get in."

His voice is gruff and impatient. Toralie complies hastily, surprised at his abrupt change of heart. She slides into the car, thanking the driver with a nod. Her gaze travels over the interior, all midnight velvet and suede. The prince sits across from her and sares out of the window, his gaze pensive. Toralie wants to find out what's happening in his mind, but she settles for the most obvious question.

"Where are we going?"

The prince's eyes slide over to her, but his body doesn't change. He speaks to her out of the side of his mouth, not even looking over at her.

"The palace."

The prince is sitting with his head on his hand, so his words come out muffled. Toralie struggles to hear his mumble, but the words register in her mind a few seconds later. Toralie doesn't let her shock show outwardly, deciding to play along with the prince's game of being an emotionless shell. She simply sits back in her seat and bites her lip, letting that be the only clue to her thoughts. Toralie turns to gaze out the window, ignoring the prince eyes burning a hole into her head. Whenever she looks over at him to see if he's actually staring her, he's looking out the window. Toralie starts to wonder if she's going crazy or not. The prince seems perfectly content with just suffocating her with his silence so she tries to do the same. The scenery changes and Toralie notices they are suddenly in front of the palace gates. Her excitement gets the best of her and she leans forward, wanting to see more of it.

The door of the car opens soon after and Toralie steps out of the car with the help of the driver, and the prince follows. He strides into the palace, not even looking back to see if Toralie is following. Toralie feels a little irked that he just assumes she'll follow him like some lapdog. Toralie scurries along, not wanting to be left out in the cold mist that has settled around the castle. She enters under the large archway, straining her neck to see the very top. She bumps into the prince right in front of the actual doors of the palace.

She gives him a confused look before he pulls her to him, bending to speak in her ear. Toralie stills immediately, startled by his sudden closeness.

"Inside, there are a few noble families waiting with their own daughters who are going to throw themselves at my feet. Some might even attack you for just being by my side. You must be careful and do not interact. They will look for any sign of weakness, any sign that I shouldn't take you as my mate and princess."

The prince's voice is urgent, commanding. Toralie nods slowly to show she understands, bending down to put her heels back on. Her feet groan in protest, but she ignores the pain for now. She stands up and takes in a deep breath, centering herself. She feels the prince do the same next to her before his gentle mask slips back on his face.

They walk into the palace, arm in arm. The prince was right, there are a few families milling about in the great hall. The girls are dressed in expensive dresses of rich velvet, dripping in jewels and gold. Toralie suddenly seems underdressed next to them, but she keeps her chin high and her gaze level. She doesn't let her emotions show outwardly, settling for simply screaming internally. Toralie's ears pick up on the low whispers, the murmurs that seem to surround her. They try to dig into her brain, infiltrate the walls she's put up to keep up her mask.

They almost get to her, she almost stumbles. She feels herself falling on her heels before the prince grips her arms tightly, holding her steady. She lets out a breath and they continue in their unbroken stride. The prince guides her up the stairs, guiding the both of them out of sight. Once the both of them are far enough away, the prince releases her arm and takes a step away from her. The shock of his sudden coldness to her snaps Toralie into focus. She simply trails behind him, following him as he leads her through the palace. Toralie marvels at the architecture.

The high arched ceilings make the rooms seem huge, with crown molding into the shape of banners and tiny cherub babies. Paintings line the halls, depicting past battles or past rulers. The current king and queen sit together, in a portrait of them as a couple. The king's gentle smile mirrors the queens as he stands behind her with a hand on her shoulder. The love shines through their eyes as they stare out of the painting. Toralie sees that the prince gets his fiery orange eyes from his mother. She was well known across the land as a kind and caring mother and queen while also being fiercely loyal and protective of her kingdom. Toralie briefly wondered if she would have to do that as well.

The prince looked back at her staring at the portrait of his parents and cleared his throat. Toralie's head snapped to his and she quickly rushed to catch up with him. The prince finally led her to a room, colored a neutral tan color. It calmed Toralie slightly, her nerves frazzled from the day. The prince simply walked off after waving her into the room, and Toralie took it as a sign that she was no longer needed. His hot and cold attitude was dizzying to her. Her mind replayed over the events of the day before she remembered that she had stuffed her phone into her bra before heading to the banquet hall.

Toralie took it out to find one lone text from her mother.

'My dear Toralie.'

The tone of the message echoed through Toralie's heart, sparking a wave of loneliness and unease to wash over Toralie. She sighed and walked over to her dresser, casting the heels off to the side. She opened the drawers to find casual clothes around her size. The shirts were a bit too tight in the chest but the pants fit perfectly fine. She changed into the new clothing and sat on the large bed, resting her head against the headboard with her phone in her hand. Toralie thought she would be fine, at least until she got her things. That was another thing, returning home as princess at some point in her new life. Toralie felt the weight of everything that has happened weighing on her shoulders.

Toralie was usually a controlled and calm person, but she had her limits. She was very quickly reaching hers and she knew she would break down very soon without a reprieve. She was also thirsty, almost incredibly so. Her thirst hadn't bothered her in light of everything but now her throat was itching, almost burning with bloodthirst. This is not characteristic of Toralie, since she would usually have one or two more days before she absolutely craved blood. She never let herself get to that point, after hearing the stories of how some vampires had gone into an animalistic state when left without blood.

Toralie sighed and threw a hand over her eyes. After a few seconds of silence booming with the sound of her thoughts, Toralie shook her head and placed her phone on the nightstand beside her. She curled up on top of the bed and simply let herself fall asleep, not bothering with the covers. Toralie fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of nothing at all.