The Vampire Prince and His Slave Princess

Carly's POV I wiped the sweat off my face with the back of my hand to try to keep the soap from washing dishes out of my eyes. The kitchen was blistering hot this time of year, and for some unknown reason that was beyond me, the air conditioning was not working for us, and it left all the workers soaked in sweat. The day had already been pretty long for me, and it was barely even one o'clock in the afternoon. I was brutally awoken by my mistress, the Princess, with a kick to my ribs that I'm pretty sure left one of them broken or bruised because I'd accidentally slept past my normal wake up time at five-thirty. I had immediately jumped up, despite the sharp pain in my abdomen, and got to work getting her ready for the day, then cleaning up her room, and making my way around the halls tidying up the place until lunchtime and then helping cook lunch and serve it. I had just finished bringing all of the dishes from serving lunch to the Royal family that I worked from in the kitchen and started in on them. Not only was the kitchen over a hundred degrees in here, but it was also very crowded, as all the slaves and servants were working hard to make sure everything was clean and in their proper places before we had to start all over with dinner when the time came. Once the kitchen was tidied up, everyone would go their separate ways around the castle to perform the rest of the tasks that were given to them every day. I quickly washed the dishes as another servant dried them and lined them up neatly for another one to put away; we didn't talk, we never really did because, after many years of having to work together to do the same things every day, we were used to doing things a certain way now. Besides, if we did speak while we worked, we would have to have hushed conversations to not disrupt our master in any way. Our masters were a royal family, but not just any royals; they were vampires, too. The King and Queen had three children; the oldest was Jax, with short, dark, curly hair and deep green eyes. He was incredibly handsome and the quietest out of the siblings. He was rarely ever around because he had been the Commander-in-Chief of their army since before I was born. The second born was Jared, with shoulder-length black hair and equally black eyes. He was also handsome but ruthless whenever any of us stepped out of turn and he had no qualms about using the whip for punishment. I'd even heard rumors of the terrible things he's done to his personal slaves before. He terrified me to no end. The youngest was Jada, the only female with long, dark, curly hair and amber eyes. She was the epitome of the word gorgeous on the outside, but on the inside, she was snobby, entitled, and just as ruthless as Jared. She also happened to be my mistress, and she hated us slaves and servants with a passion and never let us forget what our place was. I have lived here my entire life, which happened to be twenty-six years, and I still can't believe I have managed to live this long. My mother and father had been brought here years ago, when the vampires took the world as their own and enslaved all humans, but they were no longer around; they had been punished ruthlessly for trying to escape when I was born and eventually succumbed to their wounds. I was pushed onto a friend of theirs, Kathleen. She used to be the seamstress for everyone's wardrobes, and she saved my life and raised me as her own. She had been sold to one of the nobles that had attended one of the grand parties the family had thrown and I haven't seen her since. As far as I know, she's still alive, but I can never be certain as neither one of us has been able to write to or see each other. I miss her every day just as much as I miss my parents, even though I barely knew them. It was hard to make friends here when we were punished for breathing half the time, so I tried to keep to myself for the most part, and so did everyone else. I let out a soft sigh as I finished rinsing off the last plate and handing it to the slave beside me so she could dry it and put it away. I dried my hands on my tattered dress and started off on my next task, which was to change all the lenis in each of the family's rooms. My hands were weighed down by the sheets and pillowcases as I made my way to the rooms with my eyes lowered so as not to make any of the vampire guards that lined the hallways angry. We were never to make eye contact with a vampire; it was seen as disrespectful because we humans were lesser beings to them, and they could decide whether or not we lived or died at the drop of a hat. It was one of many, many rules they had in place for us to follow. I turned a corner and collided with a hard chest, making me lose my balance and tumble to the floor, dropping the linnens on my way down. I didn't dare look up as I gathered everything back in my arms and stood up slowly, trying to ignore the sharp pain in my ribs from this morning as I did. "Are you alright?" A deep voice asked gently, making me start to panic as I recognized it to be the First Prince Jax that I had barreled into. I slowly nodded while keeping my head down, and my eyes lowered as I waited for the punishment to come from my being clumsy. I could feel my heart threatening to burst out of my chest, and I had no doubt that he was able to hear my pounding heart and feel my fear. "What's your name?" He asked softly, the words making me shift uncomfortably as I was not expecting them at all. Instead, I was expecting a slew of curse words or to be backhanded into the wall of something for my insubordination. My voice finally found itself, "C-Carly, Your Highness," I said quietly, almost in a terrified whisper, which I know he heard regardless, because of his keen hearing. I was confused that he was being so calm right now and I wasn't sure what to expect from his silence. There usually was anger and cursing whenever one of us did something the vampires didn't like, and yet, he hadn't made a single menacing move towards me. "Carly..." He practically purred, sending a cold shiver down my spine and a slight blush to my normally pale complexion. "That's a beautiful name." He stepped closer and I had to force myself not to flinch back as he tipped my chin up towards him, he was a good foot taller than I am and I felt myself slightly lean away from him as he got even closer to me. I kept my eyes lowered, too afraid to meet his gaze even as his touch was surprisingly gentle and warm. "You don't have to be afraid of me; I would never hurt you, and especially not because of something so small as to accidentally run into me. I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often with all of these ridiculous rules you're under." He brought his other hand up and placed it on my cheek, "Will you look me in the eyes? I'd like to see your face properly." He didn't order me to look at him, but it was a request from the Prince, so I was not about to disobey him, regardless of him being abnormally nice to me and the fear I had of doing something I wasn't supposed to do in the first place was still in me. I slowly looked up from his broad chest, to his chin, and finally to those startling green eyes. I forced myself to swallow the fear that had my throat closing and met his eyes unflinchingly. I saw the smile hidden in the forest-colored depths that threatened to make my knees go weak. God, he was so gorgeous! I don't know what is wrong with me! What am I doing? "I like the color of your eyes," he said gently, his thumb rubbing against my cheek lightly, "they're so startlingly blue, like sapphires. I don't want you to be afraid to look me in the eye whenever we see each other. I've never been a big fan of the way you all have been treated, but I do want to get to know you better." I was so confused. What was this beautiful vampire Prince thinking? Why on earth would he want to get to know me? I probably looked like a dirty rat compared to him; he had on a perfectly tailored army uniform that was black with a dark purple lining inside the collar of his sleeves and his medals shining in the dim light of the hallway. He looked absolutely breathtaking. Scratch that: I know I look like a dirty rat compared to him. "W-Why do you want t-to know me?" I stuttered out, still completely dumbfounded at his words and forgetting momentarily that I was supposed to be terrified and silent right now with him. He shot me a sweet smile and leaned closer to my face, "Because I do. I've been on the battlefield for so long that I've forgotten what true beauty looks like. When I saw you, it was like a breath of fresh air." My breath caught in my throat. This can't be real; it just can't be! I'm nothing but a filthy human slave that was beneath him and his family and all the rest of the vampires. I wasn't beautiful at all; my long dark hair was pulled up into a thick braid to keep it out of my eyes and I can guarantee that my face had dirt and most likely some dried blood on it. I was in a tattered dress that was barely hanging on by literal threads for dear life, and I was barefoot and smelled disgusting. He must be playing a joke on me because he couldn't possibly be serious right now. "I-Your Highness, I really should be getting back to work," I stumbled away from his grasp and lowered my eyes to the floor respectfully, "I'm terribly sorry for running into you, please forgive me?" He let out a sigh that sounded sad before he spoke, "Of course, I don't want you to get into trouble on my behalf, and there's nothing to forgive. Mistakes happen, and I know you didn't run into me on purpose. I hope to see you again soon, Carly." I nodded slightly and gave him a bow before scurrying off to finish my task. That was so weird...I can't believe that just happened to me. I must be dreaming!