“The court’s business is finished this evening,” announced the Queen, “As we see to family emergencies.”
A resounding door slam could be heard from the front of the house and the Queen pursed her lips at the noise. I ducked my head slightly and smiled as it had been Lydia’s most predictable trait.
Within moments the bodies that mingled began to disperse. A doctor as well as Tommy appeared and I followed the Queen to her sleeping quarters to see to Prussia’s injuries. We had spent longer than I had wanted to in dealing with the politics of things. Her breathing had almost gone and I worried at how much damage had been done. It had been a miracle for her to survive this long. I had to believe she would pull through. I had to believe it would all be worth it in the end.
CHAPTER THIRTY - Victoria
Sebastian followed me toward my private chambers carrying Prussia and I could hear him giving stern orders as we walked.
“Triple the guards on the grounds and perimeter,” said Sebastian, “I want checks every 5 minutes including a sound off of each guard on patrol. Any one checks in late, even a little late, I want someone to give an eyes-on check on their wellbeing and their location.”
“Are we expecting any one?” asked the guard trailing Sebastian.
“No,” said Sebastian, “But they’re not going to RSVP if that’s what you’re asking,”
The guard ran to relay the message to the other guards just as we reached my private chambers. I found Tommy and the doctor at the door, waiting.
“Tommy come in,” I said, holding the door open for him and placing a hand up to the doctor, “Doctor, wait outside a moment. I will summon you in as soon as we are ready for you,”
The doctor dipped his head in respect and continued to wait outside as I followed Tommy in. Sebastian followed right on my heels and set Prussia on the chaise lounge she had been unconscious on just before being kidnapped. I gave a passing thought to getting rid of that piece of furniture in the near future.
“She needs medical attention NOW,” insisted Sebastian, pointing to the door, “Why in the hell do you have the doctor waiting outside and your blood analyst slash gardener taking samples?”
Sebastian pointed to Tommy who had already opened up his bag and had begun to take blood samples. Tommy didn’t look up or slow his work. He continued as Sebastian hovered over him and shouted at me.
“Sit,” I said, trying to remind myself of everything Sebastian had been through, “and I will explain,”
Sebastian sat hard into a stuffed chair nearby, one that I often preferred. I pursed my lips at his rudeness and decided to stand.
“What can you explain besides the fact that you’re letting her bleed and die all over your bedroom when there is a doctor not thirty feet away on the other side of that door?” shouted Sebastian, “Is that your plan? Let her die and then turn her so I have an acceptable bride? And you have a lot of explaining to do on that one.”
I walked swiftly to Sebastian and slapped him with as much force as I could without decapitating him. Blood of my blood or not, I couldn’t let him speak to me this way especially in front of Tommy, human and help in this house. It made me look weak. And Sebastian should have known better.
Sebastian put a hand to his face instinctively following the sting that no doubt set into his cheek and jaw. I took a few steps away from him so that I could compose myself again and looked over Tommy’s work.
“Now that you’ve come to your senses,” I said, waiting for Tommy to complete the few quick blood tests he had been prepared to do upon Prussia’s return, “You should know that Prussia is already a vampire,”
“I figured that much,” said Sebastian, “They drained her practically dry and they were sloppy eaters. There is no way she didn’t become infected,”
Tommy looked up at me then and I nodded for him to tell Sebastian the whole truth as he had told me.
“It looks like she’s sick because she’s been infected,” said Tommy, “She was a vampire before she was taken,”
Sebastian’s face looked confused. I could tell – it’s how he looked most of the time when trying to follow court politics. It’s why he had been such a great champion of my guards. He understood logical things and politics becomes complicated faster than Sebastian could keep up with at times. It’s why I didn’t blame him for Lydia.
“So…” Sebastian shook his head, “She infected Prussia when she attacked her in the park?”
Tommy shook his head to indicate that wasn’t the case either and Sebastian’s face turned from confusion to frustration.
“Prussia’s a vampire on a cellular level,” I said, trying to put it in the simplest terms possible for Sebastian, “She was born a vampire,”
“How is that even possible?” asked Sebastian, “She’s a human. There must be some sort of mistake,”
Tommy pointed to some chicken scratch on a page and some test tubes he had been mixing things in.
“I ran the test again just now,” said Tommy, “There is no mistake. And she’s been healing herself. The blood she’s pushing out right now is infected. It’s the virus that was injected. It’s some how…incompatible and Prussia’s body is rejecting it,”
“When can she see the doctor?” asked Sebastian, concern blanketing his demeanor, “So she can get better,”
“She’s healing herself, somehow,” said Tommy, his face covered in amazement as he looked down at blood soaked Prussia laying on the chaise, “I can run more tests on the blood I’ve drawn but right now, she’s some sort of…a marvel.”
“What do you mean, Tommy?” I asked, curious at the way he looked down at Prussia.
“My Queen,” said Tommy, bowing his head slightly and grasping for the words to explain what he wanted to say, “She doesn’t need blood to live, she eats food. She is weak but heals herself from grave wounds. She’s warm blooded, she’s alive, she’s…a vampire without the thirst or hunger. It’s like she’s-”
“Thank you, Tommy,” I said, cutting him off, “You know not to speak of this to anyone, of course,”
“Yes, my Queen,” said Tommy, gathering his things, “I’ll run more tests and report my findings to you as soon as I have them.”
“Thank you,” I said, “You can let the good doctor know that his services won’t be needed this evening,”
I could tell that Sebastian hadn’t liked that I had decided to send the doctor away.
“You might want to still bandage her wounds,” said Tommy, unsure the comment would be welcome, “she’s healing faster than a human and her blood level is rebounding but her wounds are still healing much slower than vampire would,”
“Very well,” I said, giving the extent of Prussia’s wounds another glance, “You can tell him to come in to see to her wounds after Sebastian has left,”
“Yes, your Majesty,” said Tommy, ducking out of the room and closing the door behind him.
As soon as Tommy left, Sebastian sat near Prussia and held her hand gently.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t warn you about the engagement,” I said, “But Lydia called the entire court together and we didn’t have much time. Ensuring Prussia’s safety amidst the court is paramount. It was the best we could pull together last minute,”
I looked Prussia over more carefully now from where I stood behind where Sebastian sat on the floor. Her injuries were great. There were deep gouges of flesh missing. Whoever had done this had done a great deal of damage. She should have died. If she had been human, she would have.
“Honestly, I’m relieved,” said Sebastian, “It gives me leave to be close to her all the time without much explanation,”
I could see the wound that Lydia had left in him as he sat there, looking to see if Prussia would open her eyes. I knew that look all too well – captivated by someone but terrified to love again. It made me want to lash Lydia for 100 years at the pain she had caused my grandson.
“And what of your feelings on the engagement itself?” I asked, walking arou
nd to sit in my chair, reclaimed from Sebastian’s previous outburst of defiance.
I wanted to believe that Sebastian had spent enough time with Prussia to care, to develop something there, but there would be no telling what could happen over the course of engagement. It made me thankful for the time limits of our laws. Perhaps for once our laws would work in my family’s favor.
“I think it’s a mockery of the court and a low blow just to strike out at Lydia,” said Sebastian, “engaging me to someone you would clearly never approve of. I think everyone will be waiting to see how quickly this engagement falls apart and I’m curious of how quickly that would be too. What are your plans?”
Sebastian looked at me then with a cold look, a look of being used and not appreciating it one bit.
“But I do approve,” I said, completely meaning every word.
“You can’t be serious,” said Sebastian, “The court will never see this as anything more than a joke and will laugh when there is no wedding,”
“So we shall have a wedding,” I said, smiling faintly at him.
“You’re really serious about this,” said Sebastian, standing up with disbelief in his eyes, “Tell me, what makes you choose even a human over Lydia? Is she really so bad?”
“Yes,” I stated dryly, “So bad and so much more,”
I walked over to the small bar and poured myself a drink, one for Sebastian as well though I left it on the bar for him to fetch on his own. He walked the width of the room to claim the drink and took a long look at Prussia before draining the entire glass in one go.
“You really want me to marry a human?” asked Sebastian.
“I’ve already told you,” I said, “She’s a vampire. And from the looks of things –she’s perfect,”
I sloshed my drink around in my glass with an occasional sip as I looked at Prussia lying on the chaise, still covered in blood from head to foot. Prussia wasn’t just a vampire and Tommy had been close to saying it too. I knew exactly what Prussia had turned out to be and it brought me back to over 80,000 years ago – memories I thought had been long forgotten.
How Felicia had found this girl and somehow known had turned into only my second biggest mystery. Whoever had come right into my bedroom to snatch Prussia away and torture her, or even kill her, had become more interesting than anything I had dealt with in years. Once word got out that a human would marry my grandson and ascend the throne – perhaps the truth would come out of the woodwork sooner rather than later.
“Why can’t we just tell everyone?” asked Sebastian, returned to Prussia’s side.
He posed a valid question. My team of legal counsel had suggested the same thing. But my political advisers had weighed in with the right frame of mind. Knowledge, even the smallest kernel, is power in any and every situation.
“As long as we can secure Prussia’s safety and place her in the family without revealing everything, we will do so,” I told Sebastian, reverting to my naturally political tone of voice, “If we were to reveal the truth about Prussia there is no telling how the court and others, especially our enemies, would react,”
“They were just going to eat her,” said Sebastian, moving a piece of blood dried and matted hair away from Prussia’s temple.
It gave me pause that whoever had tried so hard to get to Prussia would simply dispatch her.
“Did they say why?” I asked.
“She said she just wanted a snack,” said Sebastian, looking up at me without a glimmer of real understanding, “but she fought like she had been trained, like she was one of us,”
I nodded my head. I understood enough. Prussia had experienced a run of bad luck and politics. The real enemy lurked out there. Two attacks in one night couldn’t be coincidence. They were orchestrated – and that means someone still out there had been pulling the strings.
“You were right to reinforce security,” I murmured, heading over to the window and looking out on the grounds, “we’re going to need it,”
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE - Prussia
I spent days holed up in Victoria's castle. I wasn't allowed to leave and Sebastian made sure that I didn't. If Sebastian wasn't there to make sure I stayed put he had guards posted outside my door at all times. I had my own gorgeous room but I still felt like a prisoner.
Every day a doctor came to see if I was healing and everyday he said the same thing. I’m healing up as nicely as to be expected considering my injuries. Tommy came every day too. As much as I hated everyone in the castle Tommy actually made me smile. He always brought me a rose which made me feel better. He gave me hope that I could see the beauty in things again. I didn’t see much beauty in the world lately.
Tommy confused me the most out of everybody. Tommy worked for the vampires as though there wasn’t anything wrong with it. It made my skin crawl. And every day he came in and took samples of my blood to check for signs of infection. But I didn't believe him. Who really believes a human that works for vampires? I should have hated him for not offering me a way to escape.
Between the Doctor, Tommy, and Sebastian, I had seen all of them at least once a day. The one person I hadn't seen had been Victoria or rather Queen Victoria now. My anxiety grew every day. I wanted a way out of this place and away from these monsters. No one would explain anything to me. Sure, I knew that I had been attacked, kidnapped, and tortured. But these are things I had already known because I was there. But I didn't know why all these things had happen to me. That's what I wanted to know. That's what I kept asking myself. Why did all of this happen to me? Why me?
I spent the mornings looking out the windows and watching as the guards patrolled outside. I would have 10 minutes at the most if I wanted to escape, if I could find a way. If it took more than 10 minutes I'd be caught. Now I just had to figure out a way to actually escape.
The door opened but I didn't look to see who had opened. There was a very short list of visitors. One of three people stood behind me and I didn't want to see any of them.
“I brought you lunch,” said Sebastian.
“Leave it on the bed,” I said.
“You have to talk to me sometime,” said Sebastian, “We need to talk,”
“Do you suddenly feel like telling me how you walked into my life?” I asked.
I turned around then. I wanted to see his face; I wanted to know what he looked like when he told a lie. From where I stood, it looked like he always lied.
“I don't have all the answers, Prussia,” said Sebastian, “I just need you to trust me. I need you to understand that this is the safest place you could be,”
“Right,” I said, sarcasm thick in my voice, “This is all for my safety. I forgot,”
“I love you,” said Sebastian, his voice quiet with a surreal vulnerability, “I know you don’t believe me but I do. I love you,”
“I hate you,” I whispered back with quivering lips, tears flooding my eyes.
I looked at him, tears cascading one at a time down my face and letting him see all of the hate and pain. I wanted him to know I meant the words I said. I wanted him to realize that I wouldn’t forgive what had come to pass.
“I’ll win your heart back,” said Sebastian, “I’ll prove I’m worthy of yours. I’ll spend eternity proving I’m worthy if you’ll let me. You can hate me for as long as you want. Just let me love you,”
“I’ll always hate you,” I said with clenched teeth, glaring at him.
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