A Vampire's Pride

A New Home

Viola's POV

                I awaken to a red cardinal chirping somewhere in the distance, a song of glee and new beginnings. I'm tucked in like a child, wrapped in silken baby blue sheets; surprisingly warm and comforting. I sigh in content, stretching my limbs in a catlike way and savoring the smells of walnuts roasting on a fire.

            I feel safe, even though I know nothing of which inn they brought me to— or even if I'm still in the underworld.
    Maybe he'd brought me back to Atticus's realm, Holdrex, or maybe this was earth— like some kind of medieval festival cabin taking place on earth.

         My eyes take in the room before me— warm wooden walls of a cabin, a fireplace fully stocked with a new pile of freshly chopped firewood to the side, walnut colored wood flooring, and a dresser to the right of the king sized bed.
    It was simple, rustic, and oddly charming.

I make a move to sit up and hear a rustle next to my arm, a crinkling of paper.
Biting my lip, I peak at the wax paper— a bouquet of a type of blue flower, so fragrant that the smell wafts up my nose without me having to bring it close and inhale it.

"They're frost thistles, from his royal pain in the ass himself." Waren leans on the doorframe, and for added effect, she knocks on the already opened door.
"Can I come in?"

I give a small, groggy smile as I pat the bed next to me.

"Come on over."

She grins widely and closes the cedar wood door, nearly skipping in glee over to the spot that I patted. Her blue cloak is over her head, covering the horns that adorn her head; but she looks the same as before. Crystals line her throat and ears in lavish jewelry, and her gown is the most beautiful color of ivory. It almost looks as if she's in wedding attire, but nonetheless— stunning. To my admiring glance, she flashes her fangs in giddiness.

"Yes, my lady— I've already been told that I look like I'm attending a wedding today." She says with childlike happiness— an almost unseen side of her from the couple times that I've seen her.

"Well— are you?" My eyes slightly widen as I stare at her, still taking in the smell from the flowers and hanging onto the words she'd spoken before coming into the room.
I've never gotten a bouquet of flowers before. My heart stutters, almost in a frost being thawed way, but I brush it off. It does that to every kind gesture I stumble on— they were so sparse these days, after all.

"No— I'm in training to be a guardian." She says with hope in her eyes.
"The right hand to the next queen." She grins at me slyly as my eyebrows raise slightly.
"The color ivory signifies the purity in guardians." She finishes as I nod in understanding.

"Guardians—is that a thing in Holdrex?" I question as her expression falters a bit.

"Well, no. Frost thistles aren't from Holdrex either, my lady." She says cautiously, almost as if she's treading on dangerous waters. I continue to stare at her, waiting for her to finish as she sighs at me.

"He's going to kill me for breaking the news to you but—" she's interrupted as a deep voice rings out before she's able to.

"You're not in Holdrex, sweetheart." Callence says from the doorway.
"You're in Cyron."

He's holding onto the top of the doorway again, just like he was back at the inn. His muscles go taut, pressing on the material of his button down white shirt that's rolled up to his elbows. The black is still fading from his veins— from his skin and hair, but his eyes look the same as they always do; smoldering and mischievous.