Vamp Guards ✔️

S I X T Y-N I N E

Amilea's door creaked very quietly when it inched open. The floorboard just inside the room croaked even more when pressure was added onto it.

Amilea took her eyes off filing her nails and darted them towards the mirror in front of her. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at the figure closing her door.

"You have some nerve coming in here, Arlo." She continued to watch him from the mirror as he walked inside, letting his eyes wander around.

"Do I now?"

"How did you even manage to get past the guards?"

"That doesn't matter."

"Hmph." Amilea put down her nail filer and stood up. She continued to stand by her desk, arms behind her back, while Arlo helped himself around. She watched him stop near a dresser that had a small plate filled with necklaces. He picked one up.

"I never understood why, after a few years, you stopped sleeping in our room and instead huddled in this one."

Amilea crossed her arms. "I need my privacy. You say that as if you really cared."

"I did care." Arlo put the necklace down. "I do care."

"You certainly don't act like it."

"You just don't care. And if you don't care, you don't realize how much others around you actually do. You're blind, Lea, so very blind."

"On the contrary." Amilea pushed away from the desk. "I'm not anymore. I can see things clearly now! I know what I want, it's finally vivid to me now."

"And what do you want? Destruction? Power? More authority? You could've gotten all that without having thousands die. Without damaging your Kingdom or hurting your reputation."

Amilea scoffed. "First of all, I want control. And due to the fall of this Kingdom, I'll be able to rebuild it the way I want, while I'm in charge. And my reputation, I'm very aware of it. The maker of affairs, I laugh at the titles they've given me. But everything I've done has been so worth it."

"You've broken everything, Lea. Not only were you uncooperative in the beginning but you teamed with those...those freaks."

"They are not freaks. They are beings who want change, beings who understand that through chaos, you'll achieve what you want. Achieve those changes. We are on mutual terms."

"You've been meeting with them. How long?"

Amilea sighed and cocked her head to the side whole gazing up. "Let me think...I believe it started with the third general I met when we were dealing with the new drafting for our guards. Lovely man."

Arlo just stared at her.

"He promised me power, and I got addicted to gaining it. Every general had their own little secrets, had certain people they were tied to that would help me in the backgrounds. I only met these vampires a few months ago through a general. We met, we discussed life goals, and came to an agreement."

Amilea lifted her hands and played with a ring on her middle finger. "I've learned so much from them. Advancements. You could learn, too."

Arlo's hard and blank stare finally faulted at her encouragement. He narrowed his eyes while furrowing his eyebrows.

"You're betraying your Kingdom, your people, you really want me to do the same?"

"You're not necessarily going against the Kingdom, but those who help protect it. Let's be real, Arlo, vampires are strong, yes, but they don't win every fight. They're beasts, mutts, we need more, those vampires out there are more."