Prince Darrius

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After being blind-folded for the 3rd time that Darrius had taken me back with him, I am again inside the palace. Trapped, captured, with no escape. However, in some weird way... I was almost... almost glad that I was back here. I think I had made a friend in Claudia. Darrius on the other hand I wasn't too sure about. I wouldn't exactly refer to him as my friend. He was still my captor.

And to be honest, staying at home wouldn't be very pleasant anymore. My parents weren't home, my mum was god knows where and my dad was maybe or maybe not alive. And not to mention I was nearly murdered by my uncle just under an hour ago. This palace was beginning to seem safer than any other location I could think of right at this moment.

Darrius walks me to my guest room, only two doors down from his own room. However before my hand reaches the door knob, the door swings open and I stare up at a very tall, ugly looking vampire. He had a twisted nose, thin lips and a massive forehead and a receding hair line. He must have been turned when he was at least in his late 40's. The vampire eyes me and then Darrius.

"Hello, nephew," he says to Darrius in a croaky voice, "What have we here? A tasty morsel?" He reached out to grab me but Darrius jerks me back and snarls at his apparent uncle. I couldn't really see how they could be related though, this guy was so ugly compared to Darrius's masculine beauty.

"Don't touch her, Thomas, when did you move in here?" Darrius asks, annoyed.

"Just now, why are you so unwelcoming? You should be nicer than that to me boy. Or I'll have to have a word to your father about your manners," Thomas leers at me again and Darrius curses under his breath. He grabs my hand and takes me with him down the hall.

He takes me down to his bedroom, opens the door and lets me in first. He follows and I look around into his room for the second time. Yesterday he had shown me the location and given me a glimpse, but I had been too annoyed to look at it closely. Now I could.

"Holy crap," I say, "Why is your room so much bigger and better than the others?" I walk around in awe at the massive room, the high ceilings, a chandelier, a fire place, a sitting area, a four poster bed, a wardrobe. The walls had intricate detailing in the cornices and the walls had patterns of gold and cream. The furniture was all wooden and old-world looking.

"This hallway is full of the biggest rooms," he says, "For the royal family and such..." he watches me with his arms crossed over his chest as I trail my fingers over the top of the fireplace.

"This is beautiful," I say.

"I'm glad you've calmed down now," he says, "I'm sorry about your room, you'll have to stay with me. I won't let you stay anywhere else." I take my fingers off the fireplace and turn to look at Darrius wearily.

"You want me to stay in here?" I ask, "But there is only one bed," I point out. He smirks and shakes his head.

"Don't worry darling, I have an adjoining room built onto this. Follow me," he walks to the end of the room to an archway. I follow into a much smaller room with a smaller bed. It was still very nice but it was an odd arrangement. No door? A bedroom leading to a bedroom?

"What is the point of this?" I ask, walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"It's a room for the willing slaves I was talking to you about the other day. They can stay here if I choose or they choose." I stand up and eye the room with speculation.

"Why do you have all this? And you don't expect me to act as a willing slave? For one, I wouldn't be willing, obviously," I narrow my eyes at his bemused look.

"No, sweetheart, it's just a room for you to sleep in since everything is full up again. Family must be visiting. I need to keep you close, you'll be safe here." I watch as he walks to me slowly and cups my cheek in his palm, "But if you ever change your mind, you can always become my willing slave. Id teach you everything you need to know." He leans down and his nose brushes mine, his eyes look deep into mine and I stare back. Having him this close was nice, refreshing and warm. I blink and some sense comes back into me when his gaze almost turns hopeful, like I'll say yes.