7 Begging

Romance was the image on the cover of the erotic novels hidden under her bed, but could never read.

"Don't tell my father this, or my mother, but I've got books hidden under my bed." Marci whispered.

Lea gasped, hands curling at her sides "Milady, reading is forbidden!" She hissed. The handmaid looked around, searching for someone who could have eavesdropped. Although it was just the two of them in the corridor, her tension didn't ease.

Marci scowled at her, eyes scanning the hallways, "Shut up or I'm never telling you anything again." 

Lea closed her mouth and pinched her lips together. 

"My lady, it is a serious crime." Lea continued, but when Marci glared at her, she pressed her lips together.

"Good." Marci smiled. "I can't read them, obviously. But I think I'm going to try teaching myself." She murmured. She had already tried once or twice, but it was a lot harder than it looked. Some of the letters looked the same and it was hard to tell them apart.

Lea pursed her lips as they climbed up the stairs, "This is a very dangerous game you play, Lady Marciella. I am nothing but your handmaid and am ill fit to advise you. But please my lady, be careful." 

Marci stopped at the top, "Maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all." She murmured. She opened the door to her bedroom and immediately walked to her window. 

Marci pulled back her curtains and peered down below. She saw her father conversing with the Lord.

He flailed his arms as he talked and Lord Reign stepped forward, getting into his face. Just as fast as he started, he stopped whatever he was saying and his arms fell to his sides. Whatever the vampire was telling him, was successful with instilling fear. She could see the way her fathers hands curled into fists, yet he was perfectly still. 

"Maybe he's trying to stop it," She whispered. "Father must know I can't marry a vampire."

The entire idea was beyond ridiculous. No one had even heard of a vampire taking a human as a wife. And for good reason too, humans were food for them, not companionable mates. Just how long would a vampire last before ripping into her throat and draining her dry? Not very long, Marci thought.

"He is nothing more or less a Duke. A human one, milady." Lea said softly as she stood by the door. She couldn't see what Marci saw, and she was glad for that. 

Her fathers servants shouldn't see him as weak. But then, she also guessed it was too late from the event in the dining hall earlier that morning. The entire cooking staff was witness to her father falling as a prey in front of a predator.

"It's best if you face it head on." Lea continued The pity was evident in her tone, and it only annoyed Marci further.

Ignoring her handmaiden, Marci kept her eyes glued down below.

She frowned when Lord Reign stepped away. He got into his carriage, his companion climbing into the coach. 

He was finally leaving.

"I don't want to marry him." She whispered, "Surely I can talk them out of this." She frowned.

Lea's face hardened behind her.

"I've only just turned eighteen two months ago, father had so much time to find me a suitor, why start now?" She continued.

Leas mouth opened, her words close to slipping past her tongue but nothing came out. She closed her mouth, lips pressing into a firm line.

Marci was oblivious to this as she looked out the window. She watched her father follow Sir Nolan into the house. 

No longer wanting to sit like a waiting duck, Marci turned around and ran out of the room.

"My Lady! Where are you going?" Lea shouted after her.

Marci ignored her, trying her best not to stumble around the skirts of her dress. She turned down the hall, knowing exactly where to go to reach her father.

She had to get him to understand where she came from. He cannot sell her to the mad vampire lord, it wasn't what she wanted.

It would be the death of her, surely he could see that?

She came to a jolting halt when she saw Duke Marcus climbing the stairs to reach the next floor. Sir Nolan was nowhere to be seen.

"Father!" She exclaimed, stopping at the bottom step. She clutched the railing in her hands as she gasped for air. 

"Did you run to find me?" He asked with furrowed brows. He turned to look over his shoulder at her, a frown etched onto his ageing face. 

"Yes, it is urgent." Marci pressed.

"If this is about Lord Reign-" He sighed out, but was immediately cut off.

"You can not marry me to him!" Marci exclaimed, "Please! He is a vampire, I am human. It will never work. He will kill me." 

"There's nothing I can do to stop it. You don't think I've tried, silly girl?" He climbed back down until he was in front of her. 

Looking into his eyes, dread and unease settled into the pit of her stomach. As her belly ached, her hands clenched the railing like it was her lifeline.

"But-"

"But nothing. I've done everything I can to keep him away. He is a vampire, I could only do so much." He sighed. 

"He will kill me," She repeated, hoping that one sentence was enough to get through to him. Her vision blurred as she blinked back unwanted tears. 

He frowned at her, eyes not meeting her own as he stared at something behind her, "I'm sorry Marci. He will be back by nightfall. He'll be staying a while to begin courting you."

The air was sucked from her lungs.

"No!" She shouted. This was really happening to her. She was really going to become a Vampire Lord's wife. "Why must he come back? Why must I be sold like a slave?!" 

Her head whipped to the side as a loud crack echoed in the stairwell. 

Her cheek stung, blood swelled under the skin. Her hands curled into the skirts of her dress and the tears in her eyes finally spilled over. Her face throbbed.

"From now on, you will get the idea of being his wife as a happy image. There is nothing left for you to do." He said firmly. 

Marci, with her head still turned, can hear her father climb up the rest of the stairs. Her head hung as her cheek pulsed.

This was really going to happen, whether she liked it or not.