12. Fake Princess

Felix let go of her hand as if she had burnt him, he took two steps away from her and opened his mouth to talk but no sound came out. Mauve could not blame him, her thoughts were in shambles at the sight of the vampire, he looked ready to kill.

"Are you deaf?" Damon asked. "You were blowing off your mouth seconds ago? Cat caught your tongue?"

"We don't want any trouble." Counter lady suddenly said. Mauve was surprised she could speak in this situation.

Damon turned to look at her and the counter lady jumped while taking a step back even though Damon was far off. Mauve did not blame her, his gaze was as piercing as a knife to a neck. "Doesn't seem like it."

Damon didn't even look angry, he was deadly calm, his eyes, however, were completely different. Mauve could see a storm brewing. The tension around him didn't help, he took a step forward and Mauve could hear the air crackle.

Mauve immediately snapped out of it, the worst thing that could happen here was a fight. It wouldn't be a fight though, it would be a beating. Vampires already had it bad, she didn't want to be the reason it became worse because Damon was fighting over a fake princess.

She shook her head at the look of disgust the king and Queen would give her if the news reached them. She had promised she wouldn't do anything wrong.

She hugged herself and walked forward. Thankfully, Vae followed behind her. "I am fine." She said when she got close enough and without stopping she headed straight for the door.

"Are you really? You are still the princess of the land and should be treated as such, it doesn't matter if you married a vampire."

Mauve's heart squeezed, he thought she was being treated like this because she married the vampire. A soft chuckle resounded in her chest but it didn't make it to her lips. Mauve was the one who should apologize. If she was really the princess, the vampires wouldn't have to witness such treatment let alone be part of it.

Mauve didn't stop walking and she hoped that Damon would take the hint and follow. She got to the door but he didn't move from the spot he was standing.

"Damon!" She called out. She didn't even know if this would work but what else could she do?

He took his time before walking toward her. He made sure to glare at every single person before he started walking away. Mauve let out the breath she was holding, danger had been averted, and she could rest easy now.

When he was close enough he said, "Human or not, you now belong to the Sire, our Lord. Nobody has the right to touch you, let alone a filthy peasant human."

Mauve felt cold travel down her spine. She couldn't tell if this was a good thing or not but Damon did not wait for a reply from her as he was already walking ahead. She brought her hands to her chest and followed after him.

"What took so long?" Danag scolded.

"Nothing of consequence, commander." He said and walked past Danag.

The vampire looked like he was about to ask questions but decided against it. "Get in Princess, we are already behind schedule."

Mauve did not need to be cajoled to leave, she was already sick of this place. The glares, the attitude, and the feeling that she wasn't wanted. She sighed, nothing has changed.

"Here," Danag said and tossed her a bag when she got in. "It should still be hot. We do not have time to get you well-fed before leaving, you will have to make do with eating in the carriage."

Mauve managed to catch the bag. Maybe, she was hearing things or the harshness she had just received was making her think Danag sounded less brutish with her.

"Thank you," she mumbled and smiled at him. 

Danag glared at her and closed the door, she heard his footsteps as he walked to the front of the carriage.

Even if she was reading too much into his actions, there was no denying that something was different. Normally, the food was left out for her to find. 

She hugged the bag to her chest, it was warm. Vile creatures were treating her better than her kind ever did. It was almost laughable but there was nothing funny about it.

"Princess, are you okay?"

"Call me Mauve." The title did not mean anything, there was no point hanging onto it. She was only a princess for a month, why did she think that was enough to change her life?

"I can't do that," Vae replied.

Mauve shook her head, "You used to call me Mauve."

"That was before I started to serve you."

Mauve sighed, she was exhausted and there was more to come. "You are only doing this under the Queen's command."

"Which is to follow all your commands and treat you as I would her." Vae protested.

"You wouldn't be arguing with the Queen if she asked you to call her by her name."

Vae opened her mouth to say something but immediately closed it. "The Queen would never ask me to call her by her name and even if she did ask me to, I know I wouldn't be able to."

"It's fine. Besides, we need to keep up the show." The last thing she wanted was the vampires to find out she was a fake. She was certain the outcome would not be good.

She tore into the bag and dug into it, making sure to give Vae the order to join her, the maid wouldn't eat otherwise. She wouldn't think about gloomy thoughts just yet, for now, she will concentrate on the journey. She had a bigger problem ahead of her, one that was likely to make the troubles she had faced seem like child's play.

She looked at Vae and smiled. She was grateful for the Queen's act of kindness, she was extremely glad she did not have to go through all this alone. She would have broken down by now.