Vampire Queen

Chapter thirteen

Cassius escorted me to my chambers. He didn't move a step away from me for the whole night. I was hung up on him and leaned on him as we walked.

"Your father is worried about you. He thinks I'm going to kill you." Cassius cut through the silence that carried through his private quarters of the palace.

"After all, you plan to do it eventually," I remarked.

"That's up to you, Dragomira," Cassius countered. "I set the conditions."

"It's just a game I can never win," I countered.

"Did you enjoy being at the ball again?" Cassius asked me, changing the subject.

I didn't want to talk about death either.

"It was fun watching your courtiers fear you," I replied with a smile. "They always wanted only to see you, the ladies wanted to be in my place, and now that you have appeared to them they have turned away from you."

"My reputation precedes me," Cassius said with a hint of amusement. "I prefer to be alone. But they also shunned you. What have you done so terrible that they are afraid of you?"

"That will be because you always stood by my side. Otherwise, they just don't like me in general," I said.

"They're also jealous of you becoming queen," Cassius noted.

"You put a target on my back."

"You are a good fighter. You can definitely handle anyone who gets in your way."

"I didn't beat you"

"That's because I'm better." he grinned mischievously. "Why did you refuse a place in the royal guard?" he asked me an unexpected question.

"It's been a long time ago," I said.

"That's not an answer," Cassius demanded an answer.

"I wouldn't be able to follow those rules," I admitted. "And I didn't want any favors from your brother either. I didn't report to the royal guard like my brother."

"I offered you that place in the royal guard." he surprised me again. "Even though you didn't report to the Kingsguard, I thought you'd be useful there."

"The first offer or the second one?" I wondered.

"They were both from me," he admitted. "I was hoping you'd change your mind the second time around."

"If I may ask, if you've been watching me so closely all this time, why didn't you ever invite me to your secret court?" I asked him.

"You were with my brother. You belonged to him."

"I don't belong to anyone. Not even to you now." I objected.

"We have an agreement with Bael. I don't steal his girls and he doesn't go near mine. I couldn't touch you then and he can't touch you now," said Cassius.

"So by getting close to Bael, I damned myself to not even getting close to the crown."

"Did you want to be queen?"

"Used to."

"And now?"

"I don't know what I want," I answered truthfully. "I used to have power and I wasn't happy. I had love and still, I wasn't happy. I don't know what I want anymore."

"Maybe you just didn't have the right power and didn't find the right person to love," Cassius said.

Our eyes met. For a moment, I saw in his eyes the possibility that he could be good. Despite everything that is said about him. Despite everything he did.

Despite all the evil I saw in him.

"Did Bael know that you were the one who offered me a position in the Kingsguard?" I asked him.

"Yes," he replied. "And he was furious. If you would accept, you would be mine."

"You broke your agreement."

"I am the king, dear Dragomira. I take what I want and when I want."

"Actually, that's the reason why he usurped you for himself. He knew I was interested in you and so that way I couldn't have you," he added. "I just tried to take back what he stole from me."