Royal Pain (Rewritten)

Chapter 7

 Lacey kept her distance after Deva's little stunt. She thought it was sabotage but Deva only saw it as harmless fun. Darius knew it was her doing. Deva was used to the isolation. It didn't bother her that none of the girls spoke to her.

The next few days Deva busied herself by going to the library or stopping by the kitchen to pay a visit to the chef. His name was Antonio, and he was an Italian born and raised man. Deva loved visiting him because he always told her stories of his childhood. His thick accent and sweet adoring voice reminded her of her own father.

She tried her hardest not to think of her family. She promised herself she wouldn't cry over it because she was going to find a way to see them, somehow. She refused to be held captive in a vampire world without saying goodbye to her family. She was determined to get back. Antonio was an amenity that kept her at ease. He taught her how to cook and gave her tips on how to survive in the castle. He was slowly becoming her father figure.

Deva stayed away from all the larger rooms that she knew the other girls would be in. The three princes were busy making relationships with the other girls so she rarely saw them. She prayed they had forgotten about her. It had been two days since she had actually spoken to one of them. She ignored the whispers the girls would make about their dates.

Her days were spent either in the hands of a book in the library or the kitchen. She was sure she had read everything she could about vampire history that the library had. When she grew tired of reading she would go to the gym. None of the other girls used it. She would listen to the IPod Darius gave her and just jog till her legs ached. Then if that didn't distract her enough she would move to the punching bag sometimes picturing one of the brother's faces on it.

Every evening the girls were called on to join the brothers for dinner and every evening Deva would find an excuse to leave the table. The brothers would protest, but what could they really do; tie her to the chair. They had plenty of company to keep them entertained.

Deva would occasionally hang out with Julia but all she could think about was finding a way to escape. Julia was hesitant with actually going through with anything. Either she had grown accustom to living with the princes in the castle or she was afraid of the repercussions of getting caught.

"Julia we can't stay here." Deva tried pleading her reasoning.

"We'll take two steps out that door before getting caught. They have guards everywhere."

Deva knew that. "We'll steal a car. Darius said no one would dare stop a royal's car."

Julia shook her head in fright. "How far would we get? Deva, they keep telling us we're in a different world. Where would we go?"

"That's what they say. Do you really believe them? How could we be in a different world or dimension? It's not possible. They just said that to scare us."

"How could vampires be real?"

That shut Deva up. All she wanted was to go home. Julia scooted closer and grabbed Deva's hands.

"Just look at the bright side."

"What bright side?" Deva shouted in irritation.

"They haven't tried to kill us or drink our blood or-"

"This isn't right Julia. None of this is okay."

Vampires shouldn't exist.

"But there's nothing we can really do about it." Julia was the voice of reason. "They chose us. They want one of us to be their queen. We just have to ride it out."

Deva hated to surrender especially without a fight.

"Julia I don't think we are looking at the same picture. They are looking for a human to rule a vampire kingdom. VAMPIRE." She exaggerated the last word. "This isn't going to end well. What do you think will happen to us if we don't get chosen or if we do? What happens if you become queen?"