16. Final Carriage Ride

"Erick," Danag called. "Raise the carriage."

The third vampire immediately let go of the bleeding vampire. He staggered a little but quickly recovered. Erick however, was already beside the carriage not caring if the vampire had been able to stand by himself.

"How do you feel Damon?"  Danag asked.

Damon scoffed, his staggering had completely stopped. He was bent forward and a hand was placed across his stomach. "I will be fine, I guess I underestimated the Paler." Damon's eyes glinted as he looked in the direction where the Paler laid awkwardly on the ground. It was unmoving and they could all tell it would remain that way for a while.

"That's going to leave a nasty scar, you know," Danag muttered.

Damon looked down at his stomach. "It would serve as a reminder to not underestimate my opponent."

"Good! You got lucky this time. If the princess had been alone there would have been no question about what had to be done. The only thing you would have focused on is trying your best to survive until we got to the castle."

"I know and for that I am grateful." He locked eyes with Vae who blushed like a teenage girl.

A loud grunt was followed by creaking as the carriage left the ground. It landed with a slight bang as the wheels hit the ground, it bounced a little before stabilizing.

Erick opened the door and checked inside the carriage. He pulled his head out and closed the door. He left the carriage side and headed for the horses. Climbing onto the driver's seat, he gave the signal and the horses started moving again, the carriage obeying.

Erick stopped the horses and came down. Danag then walked forward with Vae still in his outstretched hands. "The carriage is still in good shape. We should be able to get it to the castle without incident. However, if there are objections our only option would be to lose the items in the second carriage and drive the princess home in that "

And Vae, Mauve mentally added. She did not care for the items in the second carriage except for a few things and if it was up to her she would ask that the whole lot be discarded. Well, it was up to her but she doubted they had the time for her to search for the things that were important to her.

Mauve felt gazes and realized they were waiting for a response from her. "The carriage is fine but I would have to ask that you drive carefully for Vae's sake."

"I am afraid that is a promise I cannot make, if we are to reach the castle by mid-day, our only hope is to drive as fast as we possibly can. Hopefully, the horses can take it…" Danag paused, shaking his head. "No, they would have to. So, bear with us princess and I hope Vae can too. It would be just for a couple of hours."

"I am sure I can hold out." Vae's weak voice broke the silence that Mauve was not aware of as Danag paused for her response.

"Vae," Mauve cried, rushing towards her. "Don't speak."

"Princess, I have to ask you to get into the carriage," Danag ordered.

Mauve did not hesitate to get into the carriage and when she was comfortably seated, Danag placed Vae into the space. Mauve supported Danag and both of them tried to get Vae comfortable. 

The instant that was done, Erick picked up the broken coach door and turned it sideways; he used it to block the door space. Mauve eyed the mechanism oddly, she did not trust it but at least this way they won't fly out of the coach.

Mauve braced herself and her hold on Vae tightened as she wondered how she would support herself and the poor girl who could barely keep her head up, Mauve knew Vae was fighting the urge to sleep.

She wrapped one hand around Vae and the other gripped the side of the carriage seat tightly. It was definitely going to be a bumpy ride but she would try her best to make it less bumpy. She heard the whistle and was immediately pulled forward, she prayed the rest of the journey was without any more dangers.

It was past dawn, the danger of a Paler attack was so far gone that if not for Vae it would have been easy to forget they had been attacked but now Mauve was worried about something else and that is if the carriage riders would be able to make it to the vampire kingdom before they gave out. The worst part was the sun was especially hot, even through the carriage, she could feel the burn. 

The night ride had been horrific, she and Vae had bumped heads more times than she could count. The journey was less bumpy now but the carriage was still moving just as fast. Mauve could barely wait for them to arrive.

Her arms were killing her, aside from that she was also sleepy as hell, the troubles she had gone through because of the ride were exhausting her faster than she wanted. She had had to stay up all night, not just for her sake but for Vae's too. 

She had tried to hold on to both Vae and the carriage for most of the night but she had merely lasted three hours, compared to their journey of over twelve hours, it did not put a dent in the time.

It had been a hassle, trying to prevent Vae from landing head first on the floor of the coach or against the walls of the coach. Vae had gotten stronger throughout the night and even now as Mauve stared at her, her maid did not look like she was about to kiss this life goodbye. 

There was color back on her face and she was stronger, easily supporting herself whenever the carriage swayed. Mauve did not know how relieved she was that Vae was not getting worse until the knot in her chest untied at the sight of Vae getting better.

She could not survive all alone in a strange land, the last thing she wanted to happen was for her to lose her only ally. Even though their relationship was a forced one, she was willing to take it.

The carriage came to an abrupt stop. The force of it tossed her forward but it was not enough to fling her and Vae off their seats, only their heads tumbled forward. Mauve was surprised at the unexpected stop, it seemed a little early for them to have arrived but since she was not directly underneath the sun, she could not tell what time it was.

It did not help that looking out of the window was a hassle so she had avoided it. Suddenly, the door flew open and Mauve yelped as she came face to face with the Vampire King.