Chapter Eight : Romance
(Lena's Prologue)
On a night like this, she could think of little else she wanted but a cup of Papa's cider and a hot bath followed by a good night of sleep. But with the dead vampire, lying, dead from being poisoned by her blood, how could she even think about relaxing! She could barely explain everything to herself, let alone find the words to explain it to Cleo and the guards, once they finally arrived to her chambers. In the mean time, she spend the time she had, waiting for them, while pacing back and forth. She was confined to the small bedroom, and wished to remain there. The smell of death, lurked in and out of the clean, breathable, air she had, which turned her stomach around in circles, every time she opened her mouth wide enough to take in panicked breaths. Would Cleo think she murdered him? Would she convict her and lock her up in the prison? Awaiting trail! She wasn't sure how things would play out, but the fear she felt lurking inside her, had fought its way to the surface now, and was controlling her. Lena barely had any time to react, when the doors suddenly opened, causing her to jump in place, as she suddenly collapsed to her knees. Following forward, till strong arms captured her. The arms held her, pressing her face against the strongly built chest, as with one hand placed behind her head, her eyes dozed from being awake, to the heaviness of sleep, stabbing at her eyelids.
Never since she was eight, had she smelled so much death and blood, her body wasn't used to the smell anymore, all that darkness, all the rotting, her human senses had returned since those years, no longer did she have to pretend to be a blood hound, always alert, awaiting the smell of blood, and the tracking skills, needed to locate a body. She'd given up the skills of a trained hunter, eager and hopeful to start a life with Keith. Although, plans changed. She changed. ''Lena? Hey, can you hear me?'' she was pulled from her sickened state, rather quickly, which caused for surprise, as she was quick, and pushed herself away from the person, with the smooth, soothing voice. She stood herself upright, blinking through soft, breaths, of tired, and rotting scents, as the guards, following the princess's orders, moved along, most inspecting the body.
''Who was he?'' Lena whimpered, letting out a well deserved sigh of pain and terror. Cleo stared at her with confused, and concerned eyes, as the guy on her right, proceeded to answer her, once he noticed Lena's lack of information regarding an identity. ''I'm sensing rotting vampire flesh,'' he began. ''Perhaps he knew he was dying, and seeked out the only mortal he could, which just so happened to be you, Lena.'' he whispered, those cool green eyes, freezing on the sight of Lena herself. Lean nodded in agreement, as her thoughts fought with the truth. The truth was, she'd killed him. Killed him with her blood. The blood inside her, that was supposed to belong to a human. A mortal! But, how could human blood kill a vampire? She hadn't been introduced with any medications, or toxins at the bar, when at the party, nor was she taking anything?
There wasn't anything wrong with her, physically, she hadn't been sick recently, so it wasn't because of a random virus. She'd know if she was ill? So what, had she'd done, and should she tell someone? Cleo lifted her head, copper curls falling across her love sighted eyes, as she made eye contact with the guy, only when his eyes met hers, did she finally introduce him to her. ''Lena,'' she began. ''I'd like you to meet the new captain of the guard. I have high hopes for him!'' she said smiling,. ''Since you must be really freaked out, I've assigned him to your chambers for the night, just try not to scare him away, okay.'' she laughed.
She rose her eyebrows at the handsome stranger, and before she could ask him for his name, Cleo was pulling her away from him. A very frantic expression on her face, telling her, Cleo was exicted to tell her something. The look of her in her nighttime attire, was one she'd never seen on Cleo before. Only ever seeing her in the morning, all dressed up, in the most expensive material dresses, and high valued metal used for the crown she wore, was one Lena could only remember, as her mind took metal pictures, of Cleo's nighttime attire, hoping to never forget this new bit of history. She wore a long fitted nightgown, in the color salmon. The edges covered her sharp hips perfectly, her fair, creamy skin tone, covered by the long sleeves, the color snow white was used for the fabric, creating a sickly touch, for those fortune enough to touch the stuff. Even the way she wore her hair, with those braids she had, wrapping around the top of her head, replacement to the silver crown she always wore. With the long shiny copper curls of her, falling around her shoulders, and down her back. She was still just as beautiful while she was supposed to be asleep.
The Retuz princess, always kept herself presentable, even at the deadest of night.
The air around her, was cold, brisk, as the temperature fell, fit, for snowflakes. She was surprised, there weren't signs for blizzards, as her human skin turned to ice. Still, Lena kept herself alert, and tried to listen to every word Cleo told her. ''Don't you just want to eat him up!'' she said with a tone of excitement, and lust. ''He just started yesterday! Daddy invited him to my party, where we got to talking, and I think he might be falling for me,'' Lena wanted to roll her eyes at the talk of falling in love, as the twisted, shattering, truth behind her romance, resurfaced. Though she was happy for her friend, all she wanted to do, was sleep, and never come out of it. ''His name is Kairin, he's close to our age, isn't that wonderful!'' she asked. ''Yeah, I'm happy for you, truly..but I have to ask, what's going to happen to the body?''
''The what? Oh, right.'' Cleo had been so invested in telling her everything she could about captain Kairin, that she'd completely forgotten about the dead, rotting, vampire corpse, building up a storm of dead flesh, just feet away from where they stood. ''How do you think he died? He's supposed to be immortal, right? How does one kill a vampire? It's just bizarre.'' ''Yeah, your right about that, Cleo.'' Lena whispered, the fear creeping up inside her, that she'd say the wrong thing, causing her mind to become painful, to continue being in, she knew she'd have to try to distract herself, she was never good under pressure. Once Cleo had finished talking her ear off, about how she felt for the captain, she moved across the floor, returning to where she'd once been, crossed her arms, while the urge to cover her nose, from the smell, poked her a few times, though she would try to withstand it. she only became aware, of the fact she had an audience, seconds after returning to her spotlight.
Captain Kairin was staring at her. A compelling look on his face, that she wasn't expecting to be there, was. Those brown eyes could captive anyone, into paying attention to him. Those brown eyes could captive anyone, into paying attention to him. That fluffy, short, black hair, had a shine to it, Lena was sure he kept it styled everyday, from the look of how perfectly shaped It was. It was perfect. He is perfect. She would be lying to herself, if she didn't admit the look of him, had a hold on her interest. A captivating one at that.
I doubt I'll have any trouble falling asleep.