Chapter 2: Rumors of Court

Asmodyus’ P.O.V

The crystal lights of the chandeliers were both beautiful and nauseating. I guess that was the consequence of spending most of the night over the dim light of a candle.

A hum of gossip swept through the palace, like the buzz of a fly that refused to leave you. Besides that, the castle was at one of its busiest points in the year. For a moment, I couldn’t even recognize it as the same castle.

Things were always being done within the inner walls and circles of court. These things ranged from actual productive means to the gossip being passed around like secrets, to even the affairs happening behind closed doors.

I watched from one of the many open windows as carriages came and went from the courtyard. I turned from the blinding sun, making my way down the hall as the sound of my footsteps echoed against the marble tile. To anyone looking through rose tinted glasses, living in the Avarian castle was like a dream come true.

To any more logical, more sensible person, it was like surviving in a den of wolves. Or, perhaps it was a den of vampires, if one must be so specific. I was naturally not such an individual.

The jeweled up gothic suits and the dresses laced up just so that the women of court were no better off than walking corpses. It was quite sickening to the eye if you were of the human race. Being one of the only notable dragon-borne within the inner walls of the castle, such a sight did not sway me.

Many of the Vampires within the court circles challenged my legitimacy to the throne since the day I was born. The doctors claimed that I still had the royal vampiric blood coursing through me and it overruled my dragon blood; my mother convinced me of the opposite.

Regardless of what the vampires of this gilded cage believed; dragon blood always had a stronger tie to the land; even after the great War. However, given the scale and numbers the vamps held, there was no way to fight them without serious repercussions.

“Did you hear of the new lords and ladies coming to tonight’s banquet?”

“Oh yes! It’s quite exciting to think about having new people to play with~”

“Watch your tongue, girls! You know King Sias has already arranged for Prince Malik to pick a partner tonight.”

“And what of-!”

I couldn’t stand the sound of those gossiping harpies.

“Ladies,” I cleared my throat as we passed. The three of them stopped and bowed, “Your highness.”

It took almost every inch of my patience to not rid of them. “If you three choose to gossip in such a public hall, mind that you do it so that all within the palace can hear,” I warned them with a sharp growl. The three of them nodded, bowing a second time, and then scurried off.

I rubbed my head and made my way towards my quarters, needing to relax before I attacked anyone. My temper was renowned in the kingdom and the last thing I needed was to get into a useless argument. I would blame it on my own thin patience, but I also knew that the more I was without my destined other, the more restless I seemed to become.

***

Like most of the dinners that my father put work into, it was filled with mindless gossip and chatter that didn’t concern me. As well as diplomatic pacts made under the oath of the wine bottle. I looked around the table and saw most of the usual diplomats that joined in on these dinners, and then there were a few fresh faces of noble lad or woman.

Most noble children are brought to these events at the behest of their fathers and mothers wishing to make suitable spouses out of them; regardless if the poor children had mates waiting for them. That seemed to be another difference between the Dragon-borne and the Vampires. While the Dragon-borne cared about the sacredness of mates, a majority of the vampires threw that away for the sake of building power.

I watched from my more secluded seat next to my mother as Sias whispered into Malik’s ear, insisting that my half-brother find a partner. Unlike most of our neighboring kingdoms, it did not matter if mates were the same or opposite sex. Once mates found one another, anything that may have been seen as a hindrance or a problem didn’t matter anymore. It was universally accepted that mates were made for each other by the higher powers.

This much was shown through the numerous amount of same-sex human couples around the cities and within the castle. Now, this never stopped the more immoral to sin against their lovers through infidelity but that is neither here-nor-there.

“You seem to be more tense than normal, son.”

I looked to my left as my mother addressed me. I relaxed my shoulders a bit as I took a sip of my wine.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Something’s clearly on your mind,” she remarked, taking a bite of the fish on her plate. “Are you jealous of your brother?”

“Not in the slightest,” I mumbled out a reply as I picked at my own food, “Simply thinking that his highness shouldn’t be wasting his time like this. There are other methods in finding a partner.”

My mother was a direct descendant of those who fought in the War of Blood Hollows. It was her lineage that made her so sought after by my father. Sias would have made her queen, however that notion was stopped by the previous King Akron, who declared on his deathbed that my father would marry princess Simona and keep Vampire blood in the royal line.

That didn’t stop Sias from making my mother his favorite among the court. As a result, while I was still seen as a b*st*rd in the eyes of the court, I had privileges that Malik only dreamed of.

“Do you know of a better idea than this banquet?” my mother asked, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“A ball,” I answered, taking a bite of my own food. I glanced at my mother and watched as the gears turned in her head. After some time of thinking, she smiled. Her hand gripped mine and squeezed down slightly. That alone convinced me, whatever she was thinking, her mind had been made up.