Vamp Guards ✔️

T W E N T Y-N I N E

The atmosphere was thick-daunting, almost. Every pair of eyes in the room had something to stare at intensely. Eventually, Iris and the girl in front of him became the main focus.

With every fiber of his existence, the King did not think his son would greet the princess with something other than an unsatisfied frown. But he came through and surprised everyone when he introduced himself first.

Kai parted his lips slightly, a little shocked than most, as Iris began holding his hand out for the girl.

She took it with a kind, toothy smile; she was beautiful. She had long black hair that flowed past her waist, and the two braids that started from the front of her locks were tucked behind her ears, keeping the rest tamed and out of her face. She had a curvy body in which her plain white dress sculpted, and her skin was slightly pale.

Iris found himself lingering his gaze on her eyes, which also smiled at him with their light blue color.

"It's so good to finally meet you, Iris-or shall I call you something else?"

Iris gave her a small smile, "Iris is just fine."

The princess let out a relieved sigh and stood up straight. She had the aura of a royal, as all gave away some sort of sign-whether that be the way they stand, act, or talk. And yet Kai narrowed his eyes, suspicious of her already.

"Well, since we are off on a good start, Iris meet Don, Zoe's guardian."

Iris looked at the man his dad directed his attention to. He looked like he was in his early thirties and had no resemblance to Zoe-his hair was a dirty blond and he had brown eyes. He was going to mention this but his dad continued.

"He's not the King of their kingdom. They couldn't make it. Instead this is a very close friend they entrusted with her safety."

The man smiled and shook Iris's hand. "Pleasure."

The prince of Vridora nodded and glanced at the other male lingering behind them, who his dad was going to introduce next.

"And this is just her own body guard..uh-"

"Hyde," Zoe answered with a smile. "This is Hyde."

Arlo nodded and Iris studied him. He was a vampire no doubt, he gave off that same overconfidence without showing a single emotion. He had a build like Kai, almost exact, but it was questionable because the clothes he wore were a little thicker than their own.

"I think you two should get familiar with each other while us adults talk, yeah?" Arlo nugged Iris towards the door with Zoe and her guard following behind. He didn't give them the option to decline since they were already out of the dinning room and into the hall.

Iris cleared his throat and gestured down the hall. "I guess I can show you our gardens, if you'd like?"

Zoe smiled at him. "I would like that, however I cannot stay outside for so long-I know that sounds suspicious, I get that a lot, but ever since I was a little girl I've been..timid with nature. I'm a little bit of a book worm so I enjoy staying indoors."

"Oh."

"B-but I would like to visit your gardens."

Iris nodded, not paying too much attention to her short story, and started guiding them to the nearest back door.

While they did, Kai and Zoe's guard glanced at each other at the same time. Kai wasn't intimated by Hyde at all, despite his iris color being a peculiar dark red, he was utterly cynical about both of their guests.

When they made it outside, Iris took them to the garden with the weeping willow trees. They didn't visit the pond, but toured around the public areas.