The Cursed Vampire's Bride

Fright And Curiosity

Hello! Again?.....how are you enjoying the story so far?

If you think it's nice click on the like button and if you love it but have questions, I'll meet you in the comment section. I'm all yours so just ask and like away ?.

And don't forget to vote!!!

#TheCursedVampire'sBride#

............................

The Duke didn't so much as give a glance at his son who had now stopped eating but still didn't dare to look up "but father the ball is five days away and he can come with too" she said as she held her brother's hand protectively. Adrian was a timid boy who couldn't speak up to anyone out of fear of rebuking by his father. He was once a cheerful chil until he was three years and his father made him stand in the cold for a whole day. Duke Winsdor had always believed that Adrian was the cause of his wife's death and decided he doesn't deserve to be happy.

Since then he had always been obedient but always made sure to stick to his sister who always managed to make him smile freely for a while before going back to his daily dedications. At six he could drag a log on his own and at eight he was capable of cutting trees down. His hands had blisters and be always looked worn out, he was so mature for his age that he had learnt not to expect anything.

Duke Winsdor drank from his goblet. "He's no longer a child, he has responsibilities to fulfil as my heir since he is alive and well" There was always an underlying meaning whenever he speaks of Adrian "And one of those responsibilities is to protect all the females of this household..... right papa?" She probed further. Duke Winsdor glanced at his daughter then at his timid son with a blank expression "So far he has a very poor job in that aspect .......don't question me Leora dear and mind the way you address me, one would think you have no proper training as a lady" he said his piece and stood up abruptly marking the end of breakfast.

Ayira and her brother also stood up as a sign of respect and bowed as he left the dining hall, she sat back down and held her brother's hand. "Hello dear .......Don't let him get to you okay ? We protect each other remember?" He nodded slowly but sadly at Ayira's words. "I will be fine, so try to stay strong..... and I'll be back before you know it" she touched his hair lovingly and tickled his palm. This made Adrian smiled, revealing his beautiful dimples....he nodded this time with brighter eyes and Ayira's peony petals lips were wide open in a smile, her dimples were beautiful just like her brother's and her honey brown eyes showed relief.

It was hard but she knew she had no choice, normally she always made sure he smiled everyday after a long day but now that she was going to be away for days she worried of how he would hold up. But she tried to cheer him up much and even made her father compromise with her, she'd have the whole day with Adrian and then get ready for her journey wholeheartedly following every of his instructions afterwards.

As she held hands with the quiet Adrian taking him to his room, she suddenly noticed how much he had grown. She was of a average height at eighteen years of age and now Adrian was already up to her shoulder at eight years, Ayira could only imagine how tall he'd be by the time he became an adult. "Sister, can I have a raspberry juice today?" He asked in whispers. Ayira smiled and nodded "just go ahead and set yourself up I'll bring it over to your room okay?"...."Okay sister" he answered happily and ran to his room, he loved raspberry drinks but was never allowed to have one only if his sister sneaked it to him.

She changed direction and headed towards the kitchen, as she got to the entrance, she heard the maids discussing "Why do they still do it then?,everyone knows how bloodthirsty he is. He takes any young woman he desires,married or not and have his way with her forcefully before her husband eyes and then kill her right after too" another maid chipped in, Ayira was so frightened that she hiccuped and this brought the maids attention to her. Their eyes went wide as they hurriedly stopped to bow "we......we didn't know you were there milady......is there something you need?".

The maid nearest to her asked carefully while searching for sign in her eyes to know if she heard the conversation they were having, Ayira composed herself pretty fast. Not letting go of any sign that she heard them talk "I would like to have two cups of raspberry juice" she requested politely "alright milady, it will be brought to the tea room immediately"

Ayira shook her head "no...... Adrian's room" she said and turned to leave, all they were saying about the emperor wasn't new to her. She heard those things and even things that were worse, but she wasn't going to dwell on it.

.....................

"I can't wait to be done with all these" Ayira muttered as she got down from the carriage in front of the palace gate in the evening time, her dress was a beautiful purple lace with gold sleeves and band. The gold designs were intricate, it was patterned from the beneath her bossom all the way in a straight line and was like that all over the dress it also was in the pattern of a flower on her chest. This was one of the compromise she made, she had to wear whatever gown she was give because she normally only loved wearing simple styles and toned down color but the dress brought lots of attention to her.

Her most striking feature was her hair, it cascaded down with some parts pinned high up in a stunning display of frost-white, like a blizzard captured in motion, each strand shimmered with a hint of iridescence, on her neck was a gold necklace inlaid with a red ruby and she was wearing a red heels to pair with. She couldn't stop thinking whether her father was really trying to get her to be chosen by the king with the way he dolled her up, she shuddered at the thought and moved forward while holding Edna for support so as not to lost balance beneath the layers of laces. Her invitation was checked by the bulky red eyes guards before they were let in.

From there were delegated carriage ride provide by the emperor for every participant, she was allowed to take her hand maiden along up till they entered the palace and then all the handmaidens had to be escorted to a waiting area while the ladies were all escorted inside. "remember Milady, grace and poise......" Ayira completed the sentence with her "Always" and they both laughed. " "I'll be waiting for you Milady" Edna said looking worried, Ayira assured her and told her to go ahead.

The group of ladies she met and walked in with were busy chatting happily "It is rumored that the right hand of the king is just as handsome, so if I don't get to be chosen by the king I'll go for his right hand man" one of the maiden who was wearing a beautiful green dress said with determination. Another lady in red dress scoffed "I can see how small of a confidence you have lady Vivian..........why bother hope for the King when all you think you'll get is his right-hand man? For me it's either the emperor or no one at all" she concluded with her head raised extra high than the others.

Her gold laid hand fan moved at the perfect speed for her grandiose behavior. Lady Vivian looked offended but it seems she couldn't speak up to the other lady, perhaps because of the hierarchy of nobility, Ayira thought. But what she was really curious about was the fact that the ladies don't seem to be bothered about the rumors of the king's behavior, why would anyone want to be with him so desperately? She questioned herself as she continues to listen to their conversation. "Lady Jasmine It's actually not bad to think the way lady Vivian did.....only one person is destined to be his queen the rest of us can either be his concubines or another man's wife, so why not choose the next better option after the king" Another lady spoke up addressing the proud lady whose name Ayira got to know was Jasmine.

"By the way do any of you know the young lady coming behind us, she certainly doesn't seem to be from the capital......she looks like an overdressed commoner" Vivian snickered while the other girl giggled while gesturing to Ayira who simply looked ahead pretending she didn't know they were talking about her. The other two ladies looked back to access her and Jasmine scoffed but before she could reply, the guard announced that they have gotten to the hall, by now the day had gotten a lot darker. The door was wide open for them and Ayira couldn't help taking in a deep breath as she took in the sight.