Savor

by Duncan, Megan

  “Ah, but tell me which you prefer. Is either more beautiful to you than the other?”

  I thought it an odd question, but I answered, “Well, no.”

  “So you like them both equally?” Nicolae asked as he approached me raising his eyebrows quizzically.

  “Yes I suppose I do.” Nicolae smiled then and grasped the white rose ripping all the petals off and released them, letting them flutter to the floor.

  “Hey! Why did you do that?” I asked as I crouched to pick up the petals from the floor.

  “You still have the red rose, do you not? Is that not enough for you, or did you truly favor the white rose over the red?”

  I stood and looked at the red rose in my hand and the white petals in the other, still not completely understanding the point he was trying to make. “No I didn’t like the white rose better, but now it’s ruined.”

  “But you still have the red rose Claire,” Nicolae looked down at the rose in my hand and urged me to smell it again, but this time the scent was slightly different. It was familiar and I sniffed deeper to completely fill my nose with the scent. As I looked to Nicolae to ask him what had changed we were interrupted by a servant bringing two small silver goblets identical to the one I had drunk out of earlier with Robin.

  “To family,” Nicolae toasted.

  I joined him, but as I brought the goblet to my lips the scent of the blood surprised me. It was the very same scent I smelled in the red rose. Did Nicolae put blood on the rose? Then for the first time I found myself wondering whose blood I was drinking. If they were supposed to represent the red rose, then who was the white, Dmitry?

  “Now off to bed with you. Big night tomorrow.”

  I looked to him for a moment as hesitation halted my movement, but the expression in his face made it clear that it was an order I could not disobey. The cold emotionless demeanor of a vampire had returned and I was slightly disappointed until I turned the corner.

  Fox inspected me like a hunter would his prey as I walked past him and it made my emotions boil inside me. “Princess,” Fox spoke the word mechanically as he bowed his head at me.

  I walked past him giving as little acknowledgement as I could and let my true feelings fly free from me, secretly hoping that the ribbon of emotion that so delicately caressed Dmitry would slap Fox square on his smug and proper face. A small giggle escaped me at the thought which was immediately followed by Nicolae’s office door being slammed closed behind me.

  I made my way down the hallway amusing myself with a mental picture of Fox being slapped as I finished the blood in my goblet. The last drops of the warm liquid dripped onto my lip and I licked at them greedily.

  As I looked ahead, my eyes locked onto a set of menacing dark pools that looked both enraged and surprised. Luka stood in the center of the hallway, clearly frozen mid-step at the shock of my presence. For a fleeting moment I had thought to say something to him. To plead my case and win his favor, so that I could bring some semblance of peace to the palace but I bit my tongue. Now was not the time for such things, and by the pulsing muscle at his jaw and the way his lip was quivering as he held back a snarl I knew he would not listen.

  Instead I placed the empty goblet at a nearby table and walked straight past him with my head held high. I could feel his eyes slashing at me as I approached, but I dared not look at him. I used every ounce of self-control to look every bit a Princess as I could.

  Luka stood still, like a frozen colossus, only his eyes following my movement past him. It wasn’t until I had made it to the end of the hallway, a good twenty feet away that I heard the sound of him running at full speed in the opposite direction. The tension in the air immediately fizzled away and as I walked back to my room I couldn’t help but be proud of how I handled the situation. No doubt Luka had run back to Ana to tell her of the event, but I truly did not care.

  When I entered my room I quickly shut the door and latched it, not wanting to be disturbed and truly get a full days rest. I figured I would need it with the kind of night I thought I might have ahead of me.

  My hopes for deep uninterrupted sleep were short-lived. I tossed and turned as nightmares haunted my thoughts. Images of a massacre at the coronation ball of blood splattering across the beautiful gowns and tuxedos, vampire attacking vampire and their blood curdling screams echoing on the towering ballroom walls wreaked my mind.

  The room was madness and I trudged through the chaos in search of someone, desperate to find them. I didn’t know who I was looking for until the moment I saw him. Even with the ballroom lit up by thousands of candles he still remained in shadow and though I could not see his face, I knew his gaze was fixed on me. My mystery man.

  I felt the connection extend and wrap around me like a warm embrace as my desire for him grew, pulling me toward him through the mass of warring blood thirsting bodies. I was but an arm’s reach for him when a vampire came hurtling toward me like a football player and rammed me in the gut.

  My body flew backward and I screamed in agony as the link between us broke. I pleaded for him to come for me, but he only held out his hand as the mountainous vampire charged me further and further away. As we barreled through the double doors I bolted awake and fell out of bed with a shriek, sending Louie howling from the bed.

  “Sorry, Louie,” I apologized knowing he was going to be grumpy the rest of the night. I stuck my tongue out at him when I saw him glaring at me from inside his little cat bed. “I didn’t do it on purpose, you little stinker.”

  I looked at the clock and saw that it was seven in the evening. It was going to get dark soon enough and even though I was incredibly tired I decided not to try and go back to sleep. I didn’t want to risk re-entering the nightmare or starting a new and possibly even worse one. I was obviously much more worried about everything than I even admitted to myself and my subconscious wasn’t going to let me hide from it.

  Sleepily, I found my way to the shower and turned it on to as hot as I could stand it and closed the door, hoping that I could turn the marble bathroom in to some sort of sauna and truly relax myself. The mirrors fogged up quickly as I undressed and stepped into the shower.

  The hot water startled me awake as it burned my skin, but it felt good. I closed my eyes and just stood under the torrent as the water fell upon me, hoping it would wash everything away. When I was thoroughly soaked I found myself sinking to the floor of the shower and just sitting there, holding my knees and crying. The emotions came flooding out as a complete surprise but I didn’t hold them back as I normally did. I would normally hold on to the hurt, the fear, and the sorrow until it was bursting at the seams. This was that moment and I let it happen.

  “What am I doing?” I wept to myself as my tears mixed with the water that rained down on me. “Some vampire Princess I am. Crying in the shower like a baby.”

  I untangled my arms from around my legs and looked at my hands. They still looked like my hands. I ran my fingers across my new fangs and was both amazed and horrified by them. The new changes to my body made me feel both powerful and alien to myself at the same time and I wondered if these feelings were normal for a new changeling or was it the fact that I was such a unique transformation that it was more difficult for me.

  As the water slowly grew cooler my internal bottle of depression emptied and I regained my composure. My new life was flying toward me at full speed and I knew the impact of that reality was going to hit me hard. I just hoped that when that time came I would be strong enough as everyone thought I was. I want to be.

  I quickly washed and opened the shower door to a wonderfully steamy bathroom. Wrapping a plush white towel around me, I relished the softness of the fabric and walked to the mirror wiping away the water just enough to reveal my face. Leaning closer I looked into my eyes as deeply as I could, searching for even the smallest speck of who I once was. Although I couldn’t see it, I could feel it deep inside me. The young girl who dreamt of making a difference in the world, getting married and buying a ho
use next door to her best friend. I never would have thought that by having one dream come true it would completely destroy any chance for the other.

  Chapter 11

  “You can do this,” I told myself. I took a long deep breath as I calmed the last of my nerves and focused on the decision I had to make. Nicolae was proud to have chosen me as his heir, as his new vampire Princess.

  It took some searching, but I was able to locate a pair of bra and panties that could be worn with my gown and not leave any panty lines. I definitely didn’t want to be known as the Princess who wore grandma panties to her coronation ball.

  The gown slipped on perfectly and was even more gorgeous than it looked the night before. The beauty of the shimmering emerald colored fabric against my pale skin and dark eyes seemed to perfectly complement each other. I gazed at myself in the mirror, still with my hair wrapped up in a towel and smiled, my new fangs only slightly surprising me. This was the most beautiful I thought I had ever been and I felt my body respond to my emotion as I stood straighter and taller, my chin raising upward no longer in its usually downcast position.

  A rapid knock on the door startled me and I knew by its quick urgency that it had to be a vampire as no human could knock that fast. I sped to the door, while holding up my dress and was able to come to a much more stable stop than I had previously. I grinned at myself as I unlatched the door only to be nearly trampled over by Robin fluttering in wearing her elaborate gown. However, her expression did not reflect what I had expected. Her face was full of an anxious nervousness and a ribbon of unease in her emotion sizzled around her.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as I shut the door behind her and retreated back to my closet to finish getting ready.

  “The palace is becoming quite a mad house,” Robin said frantically in an exhalation of breath as she peeked her head out of a bedroom window and then back in.

  “Too many hot young vampire boys for you to handle?” I teased. I didn’t want any lingering ill feelings from the night before to potentially ruin what could be the greatest night of my life. I needed the old Robin back and by my side.

  “Not quite…” Robin answered, the unfinished sentence lingering in the air as she poked her head out another window.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked again growing more concerned. I tossed the towel that I was attempting to further dry my hair with and headed toward the window that Robin peered from.

  As I drew closer she quickly shut the blinds and looked at me, “The turnout was just more than expected.”

  “Well that’s a good thing. Seriously you were almost starting to freak me out. I need you tonight.” I turned my face and stuck out my lip to look as much like a sad puppy as I could, but Robin just looked at me like I was going crazy. “I’m guessing you’ve never had a dog?”

  “No… was that what that was?”

  “Geez, Robin, and you say I’m bad for not knowing anything about vampires. You were a human not too long ago ya know, that was an easy one.”

  She smiled, waved me off and headed into the bathroom. I could hear her opening the makeup drawer as all the contents rattled from the motion. I sighed inwardly at my fluttery friend and poked my head out the window.

  The sight I saw was much like how I had envisioned. The exterior of the palace was alight as limousines were pulling up one by one toward the palace. I could tell it would be a long process as my eyes followed along the long row of vehicles, each of the occupants taking their time to exit.

  I stuck my head out further and saw that a camera crew was taping the vampires as they exited, obviously broadcasting this monumental event for the entire region to watch. My heart thumped as I thought of my mom watching me walk into the ballroom and be formally announced by Nicolae to be the Vampire Princess and heir over our region.

  Then I thought of Liz and wondered if she would be watching, if she would be upset or happy for me. Would she or my old mom even recognize me now? Tonight I would have to say goodbye to regular Claire forever. After tonight, I would forever be Claire Noire vampire Princess.

  “What the heck are you doing? They will see you?” Robin yanked me inward as she clasped a death grip on my shoulder. As I flew backward a few steps I could feel a fire of rage surprisingly build in me, an anger I had never known, but when I saw Robin’s face I quickly relaxed. A little surprised by my body’s reaction I decided she just caught me off guard and my instincts reacted first.

  “Who will see me?” I said a little annoyed as I headed back to the bathroom with Robin and started to blow dry my wild auburn hair.

  “You didn’t see them?” she asked me as she looked up at me from under a mascara brush.

  “All the vampire dignitaries? I couldn’t really see them unless you mean the endless line of limos and fancy sports cars.”

  “Not them Claire, the protestors. There are dozens of them picketing outside the palace. They are chanting, “The charmed cannot choose” over and over again.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “When the news was announced during that day about tonight’s events, not everyone was happy about it. The high council gave a statement that a human girl was offered the opportunity to join the royal family and that you accepted. It was also announced that your union with our family would create a bond with our peoples both human and vampire. You’ve seen the activists that protest outside the blood banks, saying that humans are nothing but cattle to the royal family’s insatiable appetite.”

  A small growl rumbled through Robin as she clasped the bracelet I had let her borrow around her wrist. I watched her as she steadily balanced the clasp on her wrist, pulling the latch up to lock it. I fixated on the thin pale skin and the small faint veins that lie behind it as I circulated what Robin had said through my mind. “I can’t say that I am surprised, but it feels very different to be on the receiving end of it as opposed to just seeing it on the television.”

  “Sadly, you are going to have to get used to it. Times are a changing, as they say.” She twirled around in her gown and glanced at me as I struggled with my hair. “Let me help you, if you keep tugging it like that you’re liable to end up with one of those old school beehive hairdos.”

  “Thanks,” I said as I released my violent hold on the hair brush I was yanking through the knotted mess of hair on my head and Robin broke out in hysterical laughter when she saw that it was stuck on my hair, wrapped up like a fork in tangled spaghetti. It was good to hear her laugh again. “Don’t worry about those protestors. There will always be someone that won’t be happy, but hopefully tonight when they see me and that I am happy, perhaps I will be able to change a few minds.”

  I looked at her and smiled encouragingly as she smiled and quickly began taming my hair. Before I knew it she had it in an elegant up-do with a few long ringlets falling down my back and around my face. With my jewelry in place and make-up applied I couldn’t help, but let my jaw fall open. I almost looked like one of the vampire Queens of the past I had seen in a tapestry within the palace. I touched my face as I stared at my reflection as if I couldn’t believe it was really me.

  “Wow Claire, you look beautiful. Tonight is going to be amazing and Dmitry is going drool all over his nice tux!” Robin beamed and I could see that her old spark was completely back and it filled me with renewed courage and happiness.

  “Thanks. So, when are we going to get this shindig started?” I asked as we made our way into my sitting room. The curtains had been tied back and the moonlight floated into the room softly, lighting it with its soft white beams. I could feel my body being drawn outward, whether for the goddess of the night or to my mysterious shadow man that I secretly longed for.

  “Shouldn’t be too long now, they will come and get you when its time but I should probably get going. I want to see you as you walk down the stairs. It’s going to be so magical,” Robin smiled and gazed at me for a moment as ribbons of happiness tickled around me.

  A twinge of sadness hit me as I saw
her heading for the door to leave me waiting in my room alone for the biggest night of my life to happen. “Do you really have to go? Can’t you stay and wait with me?” I know I sounded like a sad little puppy, but I knew if I was left alone I would travel into my thoughts where all sorts of crazy imaginings could happen that could potentially make me more nervous and I didn’t want to jinx myself.

  “If you would like for me to stay with you Princess, I will stay,” Robin said with a small curtsey as her face didn’t hide the pride and happiness she felt.

  “You’ve never called me that before. What’s with the formalities?”

  “Well… you are the Princess now, and well I am just honored that you want me here with you,” she said as she attempted to sit down gracefully on the small sofa, her large skirt nearly covering the entirety of it. I couldn’t help but smirk at her as I too attempted to sit smoothly without causing unsightly wrinkles to be creased into the silk fabric of my emerald dress.

  “Are you going to ask Dmitry to dance or are you going to wait and see if he asks you?” Robin asked eagerly.

  “I am a Princess now, so of course I will wait for him to ask me,” I said jokingly in possibly the worst aristocratic impersonation there ever was.

  “Ooh, good move Princess, make him work for it,” she winked at me and we both giggled until we were abruptly halted by the doors of my room opening.

  Mara, Robin’s mom entered grandly with a calm expression. She wore a long red velvet dress and her hair styled in a bun. It was an old yet classic style and I thought to myself that it made her look statuesque. Robin popped up from her seat at the sight of her and flitted over like a humming bird, twirling around in her dress so that Mara could get a good look. “You look lovely, child,” Mara’s face warmed and she kissed Robin on her forehead, but her eyes looked to me, “as do you, Princess. That dress was an excellent choice, you will make quite an impression tonight. Are you ready?”