The Vampire Prince and His Brat | On Hold

Chapter Nine | The Brat's Wedding Part II

He could hear her coming.

The sounds of her heels echoed along the corridor, and he almost winced at the idea of subjecting his feet to being stabbed by the contraptions women called high heels. Caleb's footsteps were much lighter in comparison, but then again he had been trained to walk like that since he'd taken his first steps all those years ago in the slums. One needed to be quick, agile, and silent to survive in a place like that. Caleb had survived until his teens – when his father had finally set about improving the living standards of the impoverished parts of their grand capital city, Skordia. Leviathan was glad his father had – otherwise he'd likely have never found his third knight.

Ridian had been raised to be a knight ever since his birth to one of the lesser noble households, as had Albion. Caleb was different... but Leviathan liked different. Having three of the same rigid cardboard cut-out knights would have been awfully boring, and if there was one thing he hated it was boredom. Mind-numbing boredom was his worst nightmare. Which admittedly was probably why he was having so much fun with his precious fiancée. She was rather amusing to rile up. He was going to have so much fun when she finally began her lessons.

Leviathan smiled, but he knew his wicked grin would go unnoticed by his precious wife-to-be – she had to be blindfolded, as ceremony dictated. It would be a white little thing, he knew, to contrast with the black of his own. She would be in whites and silvers, while he would be in his blacks and golds. Contrast, symbolic of the harmony between the golden sun which cast shadows, and the silvery white of the moonlight where both they and their cousins thrived. She was to be the moon to his sun – refined, beautiful, and dignified. He resisted the temptation to laugh at the thought. Kaliana was anything but refined or dignified, though he'd certainly argue she was beautiful in the grand scheme of things. Not only was her appearance aligned with his tastes, but her unpolished mannerisms and the sheer range of emotion she could show on her face... he loved every minute of it, especially when they had some modicum of privacy.

He edged closer to where Caleb had left her – outside the doors they were due to walk through in a matter of minutes. "I would say it's nice to see you, brat... but I really can't," he said, leaning towards her, perfectly aware of what was going on around him. He was the one with the enhanced senses, but his fiancée was unfortunately lacking in that area. "Here... let me give you a hand," he continued, offering out his arm. They were to enter together, so she'd end up clinging to him one way or another, and no matter how much he might enjoy tripping her to make her fall into him, he knew his mother would disapprove somewhat. He was allowed to tease his wife-to-be in private, but there were limits to what he could do in front of others. There was an image he needed to maintain.

He was going to be ascending to the throne in three short years. Hopefully it would be after he had sired an heir to secure his claim – not that there were any other proper candidates who could take the throne from him. Three years was plenty of time to tease both the socks, and hopefully the pants off his soon-to-be-wife.

In a matter of hours, she wouldn't be his fiancée anymore – she'd be his bride, his wife, and with that would come her responsibilities. He had three years to teach her everything she needed to know, whether it be about her future duties as queen, or a much needed lesson in anatomy. Apparently she managed to skip over a lot of content in those sorts of lessons back at her own estate – a fact he would soon have to remedy.

She didn't move to take his arm though Caleb soon intervened, like the helpful ghost-like presence he was. If Leviathan was any less familiar with the man, he would never be able to locate him. Not if he didn't want to be found. Her hands clenched around his arm, proving how weak her grip strength was as she held him as tightly as she could.