Deep Truths...

Chapter 20

And do you know what I see? Well, I'm not sure exactly since I was struggling to breathe and I think I may have been hallucinating, but I saw Noah and Alex look at each other and then Noah's fangs come out and he bite's the man's neck, and then rips through his vein entirely. Now, I don't particularly like horror, and this was utterly disgusting. He ripped the man's throat to shreds. But I can't say I felt sorry for him. He almost killed me for God's sake!!!

And then the man's remains are gone and Noah is peering down at me, his fangs now extracted. He bends down and holds his hand out to me. I blink and then refocus my vision. After a few moments I take his still outstretched hand and sit up, but then groan and lie back down. My neck is killing me. And I feel like killing something. Or someone. Then Noah calls out to someone and the next minute, Saffron is kneeling next to me and attending to my neck. She gets a wipe and cleans the blood off. Then she gets some spray thing and sprays it on my neck. I shriek from the pain. It hurts so much. And then she finally puts a bandage to where the knife thing was held. I still don't know what that was called. My head feels faint, so after a few moments, I close my eyes. 

                                       *********************************************

I wake up in a small bed, and take in my surroundings. There are two chairs in the corner, beside the door, which is painted purple. The walls are painted in a deep shade of plum and is peeling slightly. There are two light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Also, there is one large cupboard and a desk next to it. They are all wooden. Then I look to the side of me and see a glass of water, waiting to be drunk from patiently. I sit up and groan. That was some weird shit that happened yesterday(?) or today(?) Oh God. What day is it? Where am I? I start to panic when the door opens and Saffron walks in. She sees me awake and then takes one chair from beside the door, places it next to the bed, and sits down regally. She is still wearing the same clothes. Hmmm. 

"How are you feeling Alice?" She asks.

"I feel a bit drowsy, and tired, " I answer truthfully. "What happened?" 

She sighs. " You had just come out of the carriage and then a vampire came and attacked you with a small blade. (So that's what it was). He got you on the floor and then he was going to slice your neck open, when Prince Noah let his vampire out and killed him to save you. He gave you his hand to get up, and you tried to but you were too weak. He called me to come and attend you because I do have a degree in first aid, and then you passed out. We took you to one of the council's house and brought you here. You were still unconscious so we left you. It has only been a couple of hours. Noah and Alex went to feed and then I came to check on you. It is 10:00 right now;you are scheduled back to the palace in 2 hours. Prince Noah wanted to go back to the palace straight away, but the king and queen insisted that you finish the tour because vampires heal fast and you are half vampire so... Noah and Alex have just gotten back, and they want to know if you want to finish the tour," She says.

I may be tired, but I need to be brave, and if these are going to be the people I rule over, then I need to show them strength and confidence.I smile at Saffron. 

"You saved me, thank you so much, I couldn't have asked for a better friend. About the tour, I say we finish it now, as long as Noah does all the talking." I reply.

She smiles back. " You are going to be a great queen one day," She states. " Now, let's get going. 

We walk down the stairs and when I see Noah, I run to him. He wraps his arms around me and hugs me back. He kisses the top of my head. 

"I was so worried," He says."I thought-"

"I'm alright now," I interrupt him, not wanting to know his thoughts right now. " Let's finish this tour," He hugs me again. 

And then after lots more hugs and reassurances, we are heading to the council to sign the document. It ends up being inside this tall building with magnificent windows and lights around the outside. The actual building is made of white marble. It looks quite pretty.I find out that we are actually going to be broadcasting our speech, and then giving the coins to each council member, who will make sure 10 coins is given to each villager in due course. Altogether, there are 4 ladies and 3 men on the council. Woo, go women! 

One by one, each come up and greet us politely and congratulate us. Then we are sat down in front of a paper which reads about our tour, the money given, our love for each other, and our wedding date. At that, Noah and I look at each other.

" Must we sign this Adele?" Noah asks one council member. 

"Yes your highness, the public must know," She replies honestly. 

We look at each other again. "We need two minutes, please," Noah says to them all. 

They obey and walk out. 

"What shall we write? We don't have a specific date yet!" I worry.

"Well, let's think logically. My parents said some time in December. Christmas. That's on the 25th of December. My birthday is on the 30th. So... I think we should write the 24th of December, on Christmas eve. What do you think?"

"I think it's perfect." 

And 10 minutes later, that is the date we have put down, and we have both signed it. One other council member, Olly, took it away to put in records or something. Now we are standing in front of a camera, and Noah is about to say a speech to the citizens of all seven villages of Estonia. 

"And three, two, one, you're live your highness!" The camera director shouts.

"Citizens of Estonia, my fiancee Princess Alice and I are here today to give you our thanks and gratitude for being very welcoming and respectful to us and our entourage during our official wedding tour. Yes, it had to be postponed a few times, but we are now on the verge of completing it and I say on behalf of both of us that we thank you for being wonderful hosts to us. We are your future monarchs and we want to be able to build a strong and healthy relationship with each and every one of you. You are our people and we respect you to the highest degree. But we will not accept violence and crimes against us. Today, Princess Alice was attacked and nearly killed because of a vampire losing control of his bloodlust. Do we not provide you with enough blood? Are we starving you? Are you not able to follow our rules and laws? If this happens again, there will be consequences, but for now, we thank you all and we would like to give each one of you 10 coins each for your great hospitality. Alice and I are deeply in love with each other, and that is why we will be wed on Christmas eve, on the night of a special day for us all. And we hope that one day, we can work together to make Estonia a bigger, developed and more beautiful city. Thank you."

And then the camera rolls off of us and we are led away to the main doors by Adele. She curtsies."We thank you greatly for being so generous with us all, and once again we apologize for the incident earlier." 

Noah nods. " We understand, but please control the people better. This cannot happen again." She nods this time and then leaves. Noah turns to me. 

"You did great!!!!!!!!" I hug him.

He chuckles into my hair. " Thank you my love, but I couldn't have done it if you weren't there standing next to me."

I smile into his chest. "I think it's time to go home now, what do you think?"

He smiles and looks at me. " I completely agree."