The Vampire Prince and His Slave Princess

Chapter Two

Carly's POV

I didn't see Prince Jax for the rest of the week after our encounter; I wasn't really sure that I wanted to either. I was still confused and not at all certain whether what he had said was true or just a joke to him. I continued with my work as I should and tried not to think too much about it.

At this moment, Princess Jada was practicing her archery in the gardens and I was tasked to fetch her arrows and bring them back to her.

She never missed her target as each arrow skimmed through the air smoothly before making a soft thunk sound once it hit the target. I stood clear of her line of fire until she went to reload and waited until she either nodded her head or screamed at me to hurry up and retrieve them.

We had been out here in the sun for hours and I was covered in sweat, and when I accidentally stepped on one of the arrows and broke it in half, she shrieked at me and then ordered me to stand in front of the target and not move a muscle. That was how I was standing when the subject of my thoughts all this week found me.

The Princess had shot three arrows at me already, barely missing my body as she made her threat known. She was perfectly capable of ending my life right now but was choosing not to. I barely flinched as arrow after arrow flew towards me and hit around me, and I didn't see the Prince until he was right in front of me and in danger of getting hit by one.

I didn't hesitate, "Your Highness!" I gasped out. I grabbed his arms and managed to turn us around to where my back was now facing the Princess, and he was standing in the spot I was just at. I barely even registered the pain as the arrow pierced my shoulder blade and forced me into his arms with its momentum. The wound wasn't fatal, and I was not a particularly squeamish person, but I could feel my consciousness slipping away as I met his concern-filled gaze.

I felt him lift me up in his arms, being careful not to bump the arrow that was still in me before he carried me away from the gardens and the Princess.

"You'll be alright, Carly," he said into my hair as he rushed to where he was taking me. I assumed it was to the human doctor for us slaves, since the vampire doctors couldn't care less about what happened to us. I felt myself slip into unconsciousness in his warm embrace and let myself succumb fully.

The next few moments were a blur of voices, pain, and bright lights. I woke up to the feeling of the arrow sliding through my skin and yelped from the intense pain before a needle was placed into my arm, and I went numb. I could see the Prince standing off to one side with his arms crossed and his mouth set in a thin line, and a female doctor stood over me checking my vitals and cleaning and patching up my shoulder.

Everything was blurry, but I could have sworn I heard them arguing over something as she worked. Their words came through, but my hazy mind made it hard for me to process what they were saying; although I did manage to catch some of their conversation.

"So you're saying that this slave pulled you out of the way and got shot by an arrow?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. My sister was using her for target practice and when I stood in front of her, she managed to push me out of the line of fire and put herself in my place. I wasn't exactly trying to fight with her, I was too confused at what was going on to really do anything."

"Well, she's lucky to be alive right now. The tip of this arrow had nightshade on it."

"What? That's not possible!"

"Apparently it is, Your Highness, and while it's not particularly lethal to humans like it is for vampires, the amount on this arrow would've stopped your heart had you been hit with it. She is extremely lucky to be alive right now. And so are you." I felt her deft fingers begin to examine me for any other injuries on me before she settled on my ribs, "She also has an out of place rib on the same side as her injury."

"She's got more injuries?"

"She's a slave, Your Highness. They're not exactly treated like you or me, they're almost constantly berated and beaten on by their masters. I'll just pop it back into place and wrap it up for some stability so it'll heal properly."

"Alright. Does she have any others?"

I felt the shift as she popped my rib back into place, "I don't believe so. She seems rather healthy other than the injuries she has. Maybe some malnourishment, but otherwise fine."

I heard him sigh before his footsteps approached, "How long do you think it will take her to wake up?"

"She's heavily sedated to fight the poison in her system. It could be in the next few minutes or the next few hours, it's hard to tell." A pause. "All I can tell you now is that the dangerous part is out of the way. She needs time to heal now."

"Alright. Thank you, Alice. I'm going to sit with her until she wakes up if that's okay with you?"

"It is. Stay as long as you like." She left us, closing the door quietly with a soft click on her way out. The Prince sighed again before he came closer and brushed his fingers against my cheek softly. I felt tingles where his skin touched mine before the sound of a chair scraping against the floor was heard and he sat down beside me.

He sat there, watching over me silently, and all I felt was a protective calm from him and it helped me finally slip fully into unconsciousness.

I'm not sure how long I'd been asleep, but when I woke up feeling the burning in my shoulder, I immediately saw Prince Jax sitting off to my right with his green eyes pinned on me. He sat up straighter and leaned forward before a sigh of relief slipped out of his lips, "How do you feel?" He asked gently.

I squinted my eyes at the bright lights as I assessed how my body felt. The only thing I noticed differently was the burning in my shoulder. Everything else was normal, even the pain in my ribs was gone for the moment, overshadowed completely by my shoulder wound.

"My shoulder hurts but that's it," I spoke in a small voice that was husky with sleepiness.

He nodded and, to my surprise, he grabbed my hand gently, "Thank you for taking that arrow for me. You saved my life, but what I want to know is...why did you put yourself in danger for me?"

I looked at him confused for a moment. Did he really not know that as a slave, per the rules, that I had to make sure that the royal family stayed alive in any way possible? That it was my job to put myself between him and danger? "I-I had to, Your Highness. My life is nothing compared to yours. I have to make sure that you always stay safe, and if it means putting my life before yours, then so be it." We were nothing to them but a food source and free labor.

"I don't want you to risk your life for me, Carly," he said gently, "I'm supposed to be protecting you and everyone else under my rule." I swallowed heavily at his words. He was literally the only vampire who thought this way and what he said made me feel somewhat giddy because of the tenderness in his eyes.

"Prince Jax--" I started, but he cut me off.

"Just call me Jax, Carly, when we're alone. I don't need the titles when I'm with you, okay?"

I slowly nodded and softly said, "Okay." Such a weird vampire...but, who was I to judge?

He flashed me a quick smile and nodded back, "The doctor told me that you need to rest for awhile for you to heal properly, so get some sleep and I'll stay and watch over you for awhile." He reached for my hand and took it, his warmth immediately seeped into my skin and made me relax. I smiled back at him, enjoying the tingles that shot up my arm from the contact, and slowly closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me once again.

I woke up a while later to a dark room and a sleeping Prince beside me leaned over in the chair. I didn't realize that I'd slept so long, it was early afternoon when I'd woken up before and now the sun was down and the room was quiet and peaceful. I slowly sat up on the bed so as not to disturb him so I could make my way to the bathroom to relieve myself. I managed to keep the hiss of pain from escaping my lips as I leaned up on my injured shoulder by accident, but the pad of my feet on the floor must've been louder than I thought because next thing I know, Jax is beside me with his arm around my waist and he's looking at me with concern in his eyes.

"Where are you going?" He asked quietly, leaning down to look me in the eye. My breath had caught in my throat when he'd grabbed onto me and it finally released itself when I looked up at him.

"Bathroom," I whispered. He nodded in understanding and began walking me to the door.

"You are on very strong drugs to battle the poison in your system and to keep your pain limited. Please let me know when you need help or you might fall by yourself."

I nodded as I was beginning to feel the effects the longer I stayed on my feet, "I understand."

"Good. Now let me know when you're finished and I will help you get back into bed. I'll be right outside the door, so if you need me just call out."

I nodded again and said a small, "Okay," before closing the door and making my way to the toilet and doing my business.

Once I was finished, I went to the small sink to wash my hands and ended up staring at myself in the mirror curiously. It had been awhile since I had seen my reflection and I was surprised at how I looked now. My dark hair was down to my waist, even in the braid it was still long and slightly curly and my dark blue eyes looked tired and sunken in, making my cheekbones more prominent and sharp looking than they used to be. I had full pink lips and a small nose and even through the hospital gown I was in, I could see that I was very petite and slim in size.

I looked like a dirty child, I thought in disdain. How can he even stand to be around me? I let out a small sigh and pouted at myself in the mirror before turning away to walk out of the room. As soon as I opened the door, I saw him leaning patiently against the wall and he stood up straight once I emerged and walked towards me to help me back to bed.

He was just so warm and strong and handsome compared to me and I found myself getting a little bit depressed at the thought, even though I knew that I had no right to feel any way towards him.

Once I was safely back in bed, he made sure to order me some food and then we kind of just sat there staring at each other in silence. I don't think either of us really knew what to say to each other; I felt awkward and I wasn't sure how to handle him being so attentive and nice to me, compared to how every other vampire acted towards me. I wasn't sure what he was thinking either and him staring at me with those captivating eyes was making me nervous and doing something to my head. I felt dizzy.

It didn't take long before my food arrived. I guess having the Prince here made things go by quicker than normal, and it was set in front of me. The smell of French toast sprinkled with powdered sugar and syrup, eggs, and sausage with fresh assorted fruits wafted up to my nose. I gaped at the plate; this was so much food, it couldn't all be for me. But, oh did it smell so freaking amazing! It was making my mouth water with its aroma. I looked up at him in question only for him to give me a nod, "It's all for you, go ahead and eat as much as you can."

I tilted my head slightly and said, "Thank you," before I began eating as slowly as I could so as not to let him know how insanely hungry I was, since I'd barely eaten anything before being in the hospital. As soon as I took a bite, my inhibitions nearly flew out the window and I almost disregarded the idea of going slowly because of the tightening and the untightening of my stomach as the food settled in it. I think I even let out a moan at how tasty everything was. I forgot I wasn't alone when I heard him chuckling softly and turned to look at him to see a sly grin on his face.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. How incredibly rude of me to be eating and making noises in front of a royal vampire, I grumbled in my head.

He stopped smiling for a second, "You don't need to apologize. It's only appropriate given how good the chef here is. I'm glad you are able to eat though. I was worried, since most people who are poisoned aren't able to keep food down for awhile. I guess it has been a couple days since we got you in here and treated you correctly though, so it must be leaving your system rather quickly."

I didn't really know how to answer that, so I took another bite of my food and chewed silently. We sat in silence once again until the doctor came in; she was another vampire with long blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and a tall slim figure. "Oh good, you're awake and eating," she said briskly, glancing at the Prince before resting her eyes on me once more. " I'm going to check your vitals real quick," she pulled out her stethoscope and a few other things and began her check up. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Prince Jax looking at us intently and knew he was watching the doctor like a hawk to make sure I'd be okay.

"It looks like everything is perfectly normal, but you will still need to rest and heal that shoulder before going back to work," she said with a nod. "I'd like you to continue resting as much as possible here so we can keep an eye on you and make sure the stitches are healing correctly. Let me know if you feel any pain so I can give you some more medication."

"I will. Thank you, Doctor," I said softly, still finding it hard to look her in the eye as I'd never done it to any other vampire before Prince Jax.

She smiled gently, "You are welcome, dear." She turned to Prince Jax, "May I have a word with you, Your Highness?"

He nodded and stood up before looking down at me, "I'll be back, finish eating as much as you can and then get some more rest."

I nodded and grabbed my fork to do as he said while they left. I finished as much as I could before my stomach felt so full I could barely move anymore, leaving half of the plate still there; I felt like I was wasting so much, but I really couldn't fit anymore inside of me. After barely eating anything all my life, my stomach was so small I couldn't finish a whole plate without making myself sick.

I sighed and set the plate on the table beside the bed and laid down under the covers, falling asleep almost instantly with my first full belly ever.