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Dedicated to all my wonderful readers. Thanks for all your love and support. Hopefully this month, I'll be able to update more. Happy new month by the way.💜
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Clarissa was shocked for a second, she thought she was the one he was talking to until she realized he couldn't see her as she was hidden away from them.
" I was thirsty. " Scarlett answered feeling nervous.
This was her only chance to have a night with the king. Couldn't the butler just turn a blind eye this once?
" You are familiar with the palace and you very well know the way to the kitchen," he said in a clipped tone.
" I got lost because of the darkness," she argued, hoping he would believe her.
Dimitri's cold eyes burned into hers. " There are torches everywhere to light up the hallways and with the way you are dressed, I'm quite sure your thirst is not for water but something else entirely. "
She gulped, scared that she had been caught so easily. She knew quite well that in the palace there was no allowance for mistakes such as this.
" His majesty need not know about the mistake you have made tonight. But if you would like to keep your job and perhaps your life, I suggest that while you stay in the palace, you obey the laid down rules. Am I understood? " he asked, looking her in the eyes with a threatening gaze.
She nodded nervously, understanding the threat quite clear. Henceforth she would make sure not to dare go to the king's room without his permission.
" Now come. I'll escort you to your room, that way you won't miss your way a second time. " Dimitri said sarcastically.
" Thank you. " Scarlett replied and climbed down the stairs to follow him, glad that she would not have to suffer any punishments.
Clarissa let out a sigh of relief, happy that they were leaving but Dimitri's vampire hearing picked up the sound.
What was that? He asked himself.
" Wait here. " Dimitri said to Scarlett who was confused as to what was going on.
Clarissa heard him climb up the stairs and held her breath hoping he wouldn't hear her heartbeat.
Dimitri walked in her direction and came to a stop directly where she was hidden with his side facing her.
Her eyes were widened but she dared not to make a sound afraid that any second now she would be caught. She stayed still.
The corner she stood in was well shrouded in darkness and it covered her perfectly but she wondered if that would be enough to hide her from the butler.
Dimitri turned to face her and in doing so almost caused her to let out the breath she was holding in. But he turned away at the last minute and walked back to Scarlett who was still waiting for him.
He was unable to see her in the darkness because his eyes were not as good as that of the purebloods.
The sound of their footsteps moving away had Clarissa relaxing and breathing perfectly fine. It was a good thing that holding her breath for situations such as this - well more dangerous ones of course - was one of the many lessons given to her by Leonard and Logan.
When she was quite sure it would be safe to leave from there, she came out and continued on her journey.
Standing in front of the East wing, Clarissa felt a thrill rush through her body.
She would not be ignored anymore.
She stepped into the East wing which was still shrouded in darkness at night. The other parts of the castle had torches positioned to give light but she thought that perhaps it was because the king was a vampire and not human-like her. Unlike she expected, there were no guards positioned to guard the king at night.
It seemed he was quite confident in his ability to protect himself. A little mistake that seemed to be working in her favour.
The floors made no sounds and she did her best to be quiet. It seemed all was working out fine for her.
She studied the East wing closely as she searched for the king's room. The east wing had many rooms and was even larger than the West wing. The decor was even more spectacular than that of the different parts of the palace she had seen so far.
The designs were nothing like she had ever seen before. They looked like beautiful ancient markings on the walls. She traced her hands on the wall following the markings that almost seemed alive within her arms. She felt a pull to them she couldn't explain and for a moment she almost forgot the reason why she came here.
Then she saw huge doors that were shut close. Next to them were another set of doors almost as huge as it.
She wondered which belonged to the king.
To Clarissa, it did not seem possible that the king's pride would let him sleep in a room smaller than the other rooms in the East wing. So she chose to check the room with the largest door.
Even as she moved to push the door open she wondered why there was no guard in sight.
Pride in one's ability was one thing but this seemed to be more of carelessness than anything else.
When the doors were fully opened she stepped into one of the most beautiful and well-decorated rooms she had ever seen in her entire life. There was a darkness about the decoration that made her wonder what type of man the king was. Those markings were more prominent here and they seemed familiar to her. It was almost like a hidden memory in her.
But that couldn't be. She had never seen anything like it.
Everything about this room pulled her in a way she couldn't even begin to phantom.
It was utterly breathtaking.
For a second a splitting headache came but then it was gone in a few minutes.
She wondered if she imagined it.
She pushed that out of her mind and focused on the reason she came here.
When she turned to face the bed, she was surprised to find it made up but empty.
Where was the king?
Author's note
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