Published by Evernight Publishing at Smashwords
http://www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2012 Isabella Olivia Ellis
ISBN: 978-1-77130-010-0
Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs
Editor: JC Chute
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
For my sister Laura, and our Now & Later moments. Thank you for everything.
THE VAMPIRE’S BRIDE
Chosen, 1
Isabella Olivia Ellis
Copyright © 2012
The Prophecy
The Crown Prince Vaughan shall marry a noble girl
From the land of Scollfyld, born in this year,
Once the girl reaches 21.
The virgin bride shall be chosen by the eldest Oracle that year.
The Chosen shall stand by the Prince’s side, as he unites countries and rules an empire.
If this does not come to pass, the blood of innocents will drench the Earth, and the clan of Scarclyf shall reign.
Chapter One
Caroline raced down the hall as fast as she could go. Her long hair flew behind her, hitting her back with each step. She thought she could feel the guards coming. If she could close her eyes, she could envision them on the backs of her lids. She could imagine the weapons they’d be carrying: probably spears and swords, and maybe even a mace. She could almost feel the heavy, spiked ball swinging into her skull. Worse still, the evil Other could be just behind her, waiting to sink his fangs into her flesh. As Caroline ran, another biting thought stayed with her. Where was Sophie? What were they doing to her sister?
Gasping, Caroline Haley bolted upright in bed. She placed one hand over her heart, chest heaving with effort as though she had truly been running for her life. Trembling with fright, she took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Emily, her handmaiden, came rushing into the room from the adjacent chamber.
“My lady, I heard you scream. Are you all right?” Emily’s thin, pale face was drawn with worry. “Was it another dream?”
“Yes,” said Caroline, “the same one as last time. It was terrible.”
Emily gave her a sympathetic smile and patted her hand, which lay trembling on the duvet, before stepping over to pull the drapes open. As the sunlight began to shine in, Emily said,
“Odd. I think your sister had a nightmare, as well. I heard her walking the halls earlier this morn.”
“Sophie, having a bad dream?” Caroline began to kick the covers down so she could get out of bed. “She is never disturbed while sleeping.”
Emily shrugged. “But these are not exactly normal times, milady, as you well know. I am nearly finished preparing your trunk for this afternoon. Will your light green gown be suitable for the Choosing, or would you prefer the pink?”
Caroline shook her head. “I don’t even know, Emily. I can barely think. I need some fresh air. Would you please pack both, and I can decide when we arrive?”
“Yes, certainly, Miss.” Emily nodded. I’ll get your morning toilette ready.”
As Caroline splashed warm water on her face, she thought about how right Emily was about the times being different. Today was the day every Scollfyldian girl of age, born of noble blood, had been waiting for. Waiting not with anticipation or excitement, but rather with both curiosity and dread. This day was so important that King Victor had expressly forbidden any girl born in 1761 to marry before the Choosing. This, of course, disturbed the natural order of things, as younger sisters then had to wait for their older sisters to be married off. And young men across the country went without a bride for a time. All of this was despite the fact that only ten girls from the best families in the land would be standing for the Choosing. Though, since the drawing of the names had only happened last week, Caroline supposed it made sense. She still couldn’t grasp the fact that her name had been drawn. The Fates had a definite hand in her life.
After drying her face, she allowed Emily to help her into a morning dress of plain, white cotton. Then, she headed down the grand stairs of her home, trying to avoid running into her parents or any servants. Caroline grabbed her cloak off the hook beside the door and pulled it over her shoulders to shelter herself from the chilly morning air. She stepped quickly out the door and into the yard. Once she turned the corner past the stables and knew she could no longer be seen from the front of the manor house, she took off running. It felt so nice to let her hair fly behind her and lift up her long skirts to free her legs. Through the meadow beyond her home she ran, flying through the knee-high weeds and flowers. Giggling, she slowed as she reached where the meadow met the forest’s edge. He was there waiting for her already, and he smiled wide when he saw her. Caroline’s heart pounded from the combination of her run and seeing her secret lover.
“Lady Caroline, what ever would your father say if he saw you running? Aren’t ladies supposed to be docile and quiet?” Luke Stone called to her, raising his arms into a laughing shrug. He looked so handsome and strong, standing in the speckled sunlight beneath the canopy of leaves. The light shone off his dark blonde hair, and it complemented his skin, tanned from hunting and other manly pursuits. She sped up again, and ran straight into his arms with such force that it nearly knocked the two of them to the ground. He wrapped his arms around her small waist and lifted her up to his face. His sky blue eyes smiled into hers, and he pressed his mouth against her lips hungrily.
Softly, he set her back on the ground, and Caroline ran her hands up his neck and into his wavy hair. Gripping it, she pulled him harder into her and he slowly guided them first to their knees, and then to the ground. Caroline felt her head sink into a soft pile of leaves and didn’t care that her hair would be mussed. She just wanted the feel of Luke’s lips on hers, and she would do anything to have more time with him.
“Mmm,” she moaned into his mouth, “I have missed you so.”
Luke rolled his body on top of hers without breaking their lip lock, and brushed his hands deep into the tresses of her hair.
“I have missed you as well, my lady. I loathe when my duties tear me away from you.”
She felt his body stiffening, and knew he must be thinking the same thing: that tonight’s events could possibly pull them apart permanently. Shaking her head, she decided to focus on the moment. As they continued to kiss, she lazily traced her hands down his back, and then up under his white linen shirt. Caroline loved the feel of his warm flesh on her, and she gently ran her nails across him until she felt gooseflesh rise. Luke released a low groan and began kissing his way down her face and to her neck. Softly, he licked the skin of her collarbone, and planted a trail of tiny kisses to her chest. His lips moved over the soft, swelling skin where her breasts met her bodice. With one finger, he gently tugged the fabric down.
“Lord Stone, whatever are you doing?” Caroline whispered coquettishly. Luke grinned and let his hand travel down into her dress and under her thin chemise to find the small, hard nipple of her right breast. He squeezed, and Caroline sighed with pleasure. She brought her hand to the side of his face and traced her fingers down along his mouth. He sucked one of her fingers in, and swirled his tongue around it in time to the pressure of his fingers on her breast.
“Oh god.” Caroline moaned as he released her finger and ducked his h
ead back toward her body. Roughly, he pulled the fabric of her dress down, nearly ripping it at the seams, to expose both of her breasts. He swirled his tongue from one erect nipple to the other, lavishing each with attention.
“Raise your skirts.” He commanded her, his mouth against her breast.
Caroline knew Luke respected her enough to not take things farther than they should go, and she happily complied. He twisted his hand through the layered fabric of her gowns until he found where she wanted him most: her wet, waiting hole. Caroline let her head roll back as his fingers slipped and slid along her moist folds, occasionally dipping just the tip of a finger into her. They had done this dance many times before, and the wanting never lessened. It never got easier to stop before they went too far, though they always somehow managed to. To not stop would be spitting in the face of Fate itself.
While he stroked her, Caroline let her mind wander into daydreams, wondering if they could go farther. She imagined undoing Luke’s trousers and letting them fall. Imagined seeing the muscles of his bare thighs, and running her tongue from his stomach to his manhood. She would suck him into her mouth, as she had done many times before, but instead of taking his salty cum into her throat, Caroline would guide him down to her dripping cunny. She would spread her legs wide, so wide, and watch as he lined himself up to her hole. Then, he would lower his hard naked body onto hers. And he would thrust, filling her up, taking her virginity, and stroking her pussy from the inside with his hard cock until she screamed for mercy.
The combination of her own naughty thoughts and Luke’s insistent rubbing brought Caroline to orgasm, and she had to bite her lip to avoid crying out and attracting attention. Burrowing her head into his neck as her breathing calmed, she whispered, “Now it’s your turn, Lord Stone.”
Luke lay back in the grass, undid his pants, and pulled them down past his knees. His manhood jutted upward, even thicker than Caroline remembered. Kneeling like a supplicant, she leaned over and took him as far as she could into her mouth. Sighing with pleasure, Luke slid one hand into the thickness of her hair and began guiding the speed of her head. Caroline felt his tensing and knew their previous tumble must have brought him to the edge. Focusing on bringing him to orgasm, she put one loose fist around his shaft and moved it in time with her mouth.
As his whole lower body clenched, Luke cried out, “Caroline!” and then she felt his cum shoot from his cock and down her throat. With a satisfied smile, she swallowed and lay down in the crook of his arm. On the soft grass with Luke, Caroline was able to forget for a moment that in just a few hours, she would be on her way to the Scollfyld Palace for the Choosing.
Chapter Two
Sloane Vaughan glanced out the carriage window, being careful to keep his face obscured by the curtain. As they passed through the village on the way to the palace Scollfyld, he could see eager and curious faces straining to get a glimpse of him. These were the lower villagers, those who would not have been invited to the Choosing. Anyone who had would already be at the castle awaiting his arrival. He watched as the carriage rolled by slowly, imagining what they were whispering behind their hands. Most, if not all, of the villagers would have never seen a vampire. Because of this, they would blindly believe whatever they heard about them. Sloane’s favorite rumor was that that Others couldn’t walk in the daylight. He snorted to himself, thinking on the fact that long walks in the afternoon were among his favorite activities. Bored and tired from the half a day’s journey, he wished his nerves would allow for him to sleep. Beside him, Wilhelmina the Oracle was snoring softly. She, apparently, had no trouble drifting off. Sloane shook his head in disbelief when he realized that he was supposed to trust this strange little bag of bones with his future. He sighed. Reaching across the carriage with his foot, he tapped the boot of his father, Edmund. Startled from his own thoughts, he looked up at Sloane.
“Yes, Son?” he asked.
“I don’t understand why it has to be done this way.”
Sighing, Edmund shook his head. “Sloane, we have known this since you were four years old. This is the prophecy. This is the path Fate chose for you. Don’t you wish to lead your country and rule a united empire?”
Not particularly, thought Sloane. But no one had ever asked what he truly wanted, and after twenty-five years of living under this looming prophecy, he wasn’t even sure himself.
“All right, Father. So, tell me again, how did they choose which girls to offer?”
This topic was something Edmund was much more interested in talking about, and he sat up with great enthusiasm.
“The names of every girl of age from every noble family in the country were pooled together. Then, ten names were drawn, as the Fates would will it so. The King’s own daughter, Princess Eleanor, is among them. Her beauty apparently rivals that of any other girl in the land.”
At that, Sloane rolled his eyes. As if being beautiful was the only requirement of marriage. Great beauties, especially in the world of Others where no one aged past thirty, weren’t hard to come by. And some women seemed to think they could go through life with only the knowledge of how to bat their eyelashes at the right time, or the correct pitch of a tinkling laugh. Sloane wanted someone he wouldn’t tire of in only a few years. After all, his lifespan was hundreds of years. Why spend it with someone who had no spirit or character? He wanted, or rather needed, to be happy.
The procession of carriages from Bernehart passed onto the castle grounds of the royal family of Scollfyld, and Sloane prepared himself for the event that was to come. The Choosing was twenty-one years in the making, and he was about to find out what bride the Fates had in store for him.
Chapter Three
Caroline, dressed in the light green gown after all, hugged Sophie tightly. She didn’t even loosen when her sister tried to pull away. It was as though clinging to Sophie would prevent Caroline from having to fulfill her duty as her father’s daughter. Today was one day when Caroline found herself wishing she hadn’t been born the daughter of a duke –– if she were a peasant girl, perhaps the daughter of a shepherd, she wouldn’t be in this uncertain situation. Instead, she would be tending sheep and lazily wandering the meadow in her free time.
“Please don’t leave me,” she whispered, as she finally let her arms fall free. Sophie looked at her, and her solemn face was full of sympathy. Caroline stared at her twin, which was like looking in a mirror––except for the eyes. Sophie had light blue eyes, whereas her own were bright green. But the slight figure, pale skin, and wavy chestnut hair were her exact copy. Over the years, their mother had felt she was doing them a service by telling the twins that they weren’t stunning beauties. Especially compared to her own good looks. To Elise, her daughters had no chance of securing a husband based on appearance alone, so she worked hard to ensure they were schooled in every ladylike practice possible. Caroline had to concede that her mother may be correct about their looks, but she also knew that she and Sophie were attractive in their own way. There was something about their faces that gave them character, and they were always among the most popular at balls.
“Tell Luke,” she began, her voice breaking. “Please, tell Luke, that no matter what happens, he means so much to me.”
Sophie nodded fiercely, wrapping her arms around herself.
Emily appeared in the doorway of Caroline’s chambers. “Miss, it’s time.”
Caroline kissed her sister’s cheek and followed Emily, leaving Sophie to join the audience on her own.
The great hall was filled to capacity, and the air was stale and warm. Caroline was so nervous that she missed a step and nearly tripped on her way up to the stage. A man waved her into place, and she ended up standing between Princess Eleanor and Lady Anne von Heilsburg. Both girls were her childhood playmates, and she felt conspicuous and odd as she stood with them. Eleanor flashed her a small, quick smile. It was just a slight upturn of her lips, but Caroline found some comfort in knowing that the other girls must feel strangely about this process a
s well. Once all ten girls were lined up, the Prince, King, and Oracle made their appearance. Caroline saw ladies in the crowd fanning themselves as the handsome men took the stage. The Prince was clean shaven and dark-featured. His short hair was as black as the rumors said it was, seemingly absorbing all light in the room. His eyes appeared black as well, though Caroline felt it couldn’t be true. He was taller than any other man present, at least a few inches over 6 feet. King Edmund was very similar in coloring, and even though he was well over one hundred years old, he looked only about a decade older than his son. Of course, Caroline told herself, that was the Others’ way of life. They aged until about thirty years of age, and then remained frozen in time. The two men stood at the far end of the stage, away from the girls. The wizened Oracle needed assistance getting up the steps, and her back was so hunched that she looked like she was bending over.
“Everyone, silence,” King Victor announced. “It is time for the Choosing.”
As he retreated to the edge of the stage, he nodded at the two other royal men. As he did, Prince Sloane smiled politely at him and that’s when Caroline saw them. The teeth. In a mouth of sparkling and otherwise normal white teeth, were two long, vicious looking fangs. Fangs that would sink into the soft flesh of one of the girls present that very night. Feeling faint, she faltered a little and bumped into Eleanor. The Princess quickly reached an arm out to steady her. The two girls glanced about to see if anyone had noticed, but all eyes appeared to be on the Oracle, who was now waving a strange necklace over a goblet and chanting in a strange tongue.
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