Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Thirty

I straightened, a smile lighting my face as I spotted him. My hope returned as I was certain he had come to release myself and Rose at least. But, his serious expression planted a seed of doubt, dread eating away at my insides.

''Never did I ever imagine having to lock my daughter behind bars for joining forces with the enemy.'' My heart plummeted at his cruel words; his scowl searing its image into my mind for what I knew would be an age, ''You're a disappointment.'' His words were venomous and I felt tears spring to my eyes.

''I had to, Dad. Please understand! Mum told me to obey my Master no matter what!'' I pled, scraping my hair out of my face so that he would see the sincerity in my eyes.

''Don't use those excuses with me. Your mother would rather see you dead than obeying the prince.'' He spat the words, the tears in my eyes springing free. No matter what he said, I knew my mother would never want me dead.

''But-'' I wanted to beg for his forgiveness, but was interrupted.

''I've heard enough out of you.'' He dismissed me, tearing his eyes away and walking closer to Aiden's cage.

My entire body shook; defeated and empty. Feelings of abandonment swamped me despite the part of me that was certain that my mother would never feel the same way. I curled up into a ball, my feet tucked to my chest as I tried to hold myself together. The time for a break-down couldn't be now; I had to focus on my father and any way for us to escape. Shakily, I lifted my head and caught sight of Rose staring sympathetically back at me.

My father was addressing Aiden now, ''You're pathetic. I bet you never thought that you'd be stuck behind bars, did you? And now look at you.'' He sneered, his face a dreadful illusion that I still couldn't comprehend.

Aiden, on the other hand, wasn't even looking at my father. His posture was still tense, but his focus was elsewhere.

On me.

''I bet you're all wondering how we knew,'' My dad began again, ignoring the fact that Aiden hadn't reacted at all to his words, ''Well, the first sign was seeing you, Violet.'' He turned to address me and my eyes snapped to him, ''I knew that you could have never escaped your Master. Nice try with your little story, by the way. But, you forget that I raised you.''

The rebels around us shifted, making their presence known. I couldn't believe that I'd ever considered them allies.

''Another clue were your fighting skills, vampire. You defeated one of our most well trained soldiers. She's grown up in this community and has been honing her skills for years, how would a human slave ever be able to best her?'' He chuckled, but it held no humour, ''Then, of course, you tried to bite her, didn't you? Couldn't control your most primal urge.'' His voice was full of disgust.

''Shouldn't the potion she injected him with still have him knocked out like the other one?'' One of the rebels indicated towards Josh, I envied how he had been passed out through this entire ordeal.

''That's very true. Give him another dose.'' My father commanded and instinctively I sat bolt upright, eyes full of horror. Rose watched on, mouth pinched.

Without hesitation, the man aimed at Aiden who stared him down like a true vampire would. Then he fired, Aiden cried out moments later and dropped onto his back. I whimpered, knowing there was nothing I could do to stop this torture.

It sickened me that a member of my own family had caused this.

My father watched for a few seconds, his eyes narrowed as Aiden twitched around, ''You would have never thought that the witches would turn against you and find this poison would you?'' His words confirmed it, the rebel army wasn't made entirely out of humans; the witches had also found reason to find ways to stop the vampires.