Royal Renegade

Chapter 5: Your What?

Prince Leonidas

Axelia shifts her weight from one leg to the next as she stands before me. It amuses me to see her a little vulnerable for once. Underneath her warrior armor is but a young woman after all. 

"Your response to my mother was very dignified," I compliment, hoping in some way to keep her company.

Ever since my father's crime, the other Kingdom's royals are distant from me. I only ever spend time with Koa and Aiko, if she's around. They're the only two I've never received a cold shoulder from since I was a boy. Axelia-- though adamant in her efforts to kill me, is who most of my time has been spent around and yet this moment is the most formal we have been in a decade.

Her thin eyebrows rise with her head as she gazes up at me with her wide brown eyes. A slight tint of pink peeks through the pores of her walnut, brown cheeks and as she nibbles on a corner of her lower lip. She opens her mouth to offer what I assume is a thanks to my compliment, but then swallows back the words and a scowl replaces her look of surprise.

"Your threat to my father wasn't."

I can't resist a small smile. 

Always so combative.

I came here feeling somber about last night but interacting with Axelia like this is enough to revitalize me. I'm grateful for my mother's decision. I don't feel a consuming need to feed even though her fragrant blood dispels all the other scents in the room.

"That's funny to you?" she frowns, crossing her arms over her chest. "Please, do act on your tasteless threat. You'll justify me driving a dagger through your heart."

Her voice is low considering the company we're in, but she has forgotten any of the vampires present could eavesdrop if they want.

"Judging a threat with a threat? How impartial of you."

Her mouth drops open, and I hear her heart accelerate.

"Sarcasm is distasteful."

"As is countering a compliment with insult," I conclude our banter.

Her eyebrows furrow in surrender, the vulnerable expression causing my heart to throb uncomfortably beneath my ribs.

I know my compliments are foreign to her. I've not been given opportunity to offer them since our youth. A youth full of memories that no longer exist in her mind since her father's decision to erase them. To erase me.

"I won't apologize for my threat," I tell her when I notice she is still at a loss for words. "Your father disrespected my mother before the kingship. My response would be no different had anyone else done the same."

She exhales a hard sigh through her nose but doesn't appear to disagree. 

"Thank you, for the compliment," she struggles to murmur as her eyes narrow and glance over at the buffet where everyone else engages in their own conversations.

Her stomach growls loud enough for a human to hear which surprises us both. 

A soft blush returns to her cheeks. 

"Excuse me, Prince," she hesitates a courtesy and heads towards the buffet. Then, pauses and glances at me over her shoulder. A contemplative expression displays across her features as she meets my eyes. "Aren't you going to eat something, too?"

An ache digs in my heart. I can still hear the screams of my victims. It doesn't matter that I was given prisoners for the slaughter. No one should have to die like that.

"No," I nearly whisper. Realizing how low my voice is, I clear my throat and roll back my shoulders. "I'm a vampire, remember?"

She purses her lips and points a finger toward the ceiling mouthing, "Right."