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Last updated/edited 03/11/2024.
First Person POV: Astrid
I waited for the carnage to begin… but it never happened.
I groaned at the rapidly forming headache and felt wetness trickle onto my lips. I lifted a hand to wipe my face and when I opened my eyes, I saw my fingertips were smeared in blood.
When I finally looked around, my location surprised me. I had appeared in the west wing of the castle near the of the statue of the two beautiful women embracing.
The memory of entering the throne room with the tour group flashed before my eyes. The cloaked individuals in the throne room had removed their hoods and revealed themselves as - what I assumed to be - vampires. Obviously, I had heard the myths; everyone had, but was it possible that the stories were true?
Of course, I had also just appeared on the opposite side of the castle. I sighed in frustration; this could not be happening again. I wanted to dismiss the experience as another vivid dream, but this time I hadn't appeared back in bed, and that really limited the number of plausible explanations. Perhaps this was the confirmation I needed that I really was delusional…
I was brought back to the present by a strong wave of vertigo. The world tilted and spun rapidly making me stumble back. I leaned against the base of the statue and carefully lowered myself until I was sitting on the cold marble floor. If I was going to pass out then I didn't want to be found, so I curled up into a ball to make myself less noticeable. However, if anything I knew about vampires was true, my attempt at hiding was futile. They would smell my blood and come for me. Darkness swallowed my vision and I fell unconscious.
Third Person POV: Aro
It had been an especially monotonous day in court and Aro could hardly wait for the monthly herd of tourists to arrive. He could hear Heidi's "tour" spiel coming to an end outside the throne room doors.
When the doors swung open, the most glorious scent hit him. Although diluted by the other humans, it was the most enticing scent he had ever come across and surprisingly it didn't ignite his thirst. Generally, for a vampire, one's mate would have the most appealing scent, even more so than any human blood. However, he was unsure of how that would translate if a vampire was destined to form a mate bond with a human. Aro had heard of vampires finding their mate in a human before; however, it was such a rarity that he had never had the opportunity to read the mind of any vampire in that situation. Aro dismissed his wandering thoughts as he realized it was time to greet the tour group.
He raised his hands cordially.
"Our honored guests have arrived." He projected through the open space.
Aro removed his hood, and the rest of the court followed his lead. Every guard currently stationed within the castle was present for this week's feeding. A guard's rank could be determined by the monochrome shade of their cloak, the darker the shade, the higher the rank. The elite guards were designated charcoal gray, upper guard was iron gray, and the lower guard was heather gray. Only the royal family wore black cloaks.
As Aro took a deep breath to select his prey from the group, he realized that the alluring aroma was emanating from a young woman at the front of the group. Her scent was a seductive mix of jasmine and vanilla. However, the moment Aro met her gaze, he froze, and his joyous expression dropped into one of shock.
His mate…? After nearly four millennia his mate had been delivered to him. So many years had passed, that he had started to believe that he might never be blessed with a mate. His dead heart swelled with happiness.
He felt his brother and fellow King, Marcus, brush the back of his hand against his own. Marcus had the gift of bond sight which allowed him to view the strength and types of relationships between individuals. And Aro had the gift of tactile telepathy, skin-on-skin contact allowed him to see every thought and memory that an individual had ever had in their life. As Marcus's memories flooded through his mind, and he saw the thick, golden bond that had formed between himself and the young woman. Of course, this was only confirmation of what he already knew to be true.
His mate was petite, standing at about 5'3". She had the most striking eyes, bottomless blue with a ring of gold around the pupil. She had a heart shaped face framed by dark chocolate-colored locks that fell straight to the middle of her back with a slight curl at the end. Her figure was slender with soft feminine curves. Dressed in a white flowing sun dress, Aro couldn't help but compare her beauty to that of an angel.
He stood there, stunned, as she took a small step towards him, maintaining eye contact. She must have been feeling the pull of their bond if she was approaching him in this precarious situation. The tour group that she had arrived with had already begun cowering towards the center of the room, having noticed the blood-red eyes of the individuals surrounding them.
He could see her fighting against their connection and finally she broke eye contact with him, eyes flickering down to the floor. Then she looked back at her tour group and finally at her surroundings. Aro watched her face pale, before she scampered back into the group of humans. On cue, the doors slammed shut.
Their coven selected their prey in order of rank, so he always had the first pick. Aro knew that the guards were waiting for him to start the feeding and were likely growing impatient.
If Aro had been in his right mind, he would have formulated a plan to get his mate out of the throne room without scaring her too badly. Humans were vulnerable, breakable, and she was at great risk from being present during their feeding. But Aro was operating on panic and possessive instincts. He needed to get her out of here, now. He rushed forward, intending to secure her and bring her to a safe location. But, as always, his family and then the guards followed in order of rank to claim their prey.
Aro pushed himself, racing toward her even though he knew that no one would dare take his selection. The guard probably assumed that he had been staring at the girl because she smelled delectable to him. Technically this was true, but it was not for the reasons they would assume.
Aro watched the young woman's eyes widened in panic. As he moved to intercept her, she abruptly disappeared, and his hands grasped at the air. He took a step back and scanned the room. Humans don't just disappear! He took a breath in so that he could track her. He already knew her scent by heart, he had never smelled anything as irresistible in his immortal life. But it was to no avail, the trail ended abruptly where she had stood only a moment ago.
He spun around, gripping his hair in frustration as the rest of the guard finished up their meals. Where had she gone? He had just gotten his mate after waiting over three millennia and he managed to lose her in less than a second.
Marcus and Caius dropped their meals and flashed over to his side.
"Brother…" began Marcus, mirroring his concern.
"Aro, explain yourself. Why are you behaving this way? Was that girl your singer?" Caius began to question him.
Aro was already high strung from losing his mate and gave only a snarl in reply. He didn't care if Caius was in a bad mood today, he was overrun with millennia of pent-up emotion and was itching for a fight.
"That's enough both of you!" Marcus hissed. It looked bad to have these kinds of quarrels in front of the guard. Aro narrowed his eyes in irritation, Marcus, always the peacekeeper.
"She is my mate." Aro informed Caius in a hushed tone and Marcus nodded at Caius in confirmation.
Caius notoriously despised humans so Aro prepared himself for the potential backlash, but he was surprised when Caius just raised his brows in surprise and then gave him a proud clap on the shoulder.
"Congratulations, brother." Caius said. "Hold on… did you not secure your mate?"
"She disappeared just before I was able to reach her." Aro explained.
"Perhaps your mate is gifted." Marcus suggested.
"That may be, but she has vanished and even if I find her, she's likely terrified of me now. If she is truly gifted, then she may have already made it outside of the castle." The only thing worse than being mateless was losing your mate.
"Well, she's only human, how far could she have gotten?" Caius countered.
Aro tried to pull himself together. It was better that the guard didn't see him like this or overhear more sensitive information. He ascended the dais and called the guard to attention.
"Silence! You will search for the human I targeted during feeding. You will retrieve her without harming her. And if I discover that she was harmed in any way, the perpetrator will be dismembered and burned immediately. Am I understood?" He commanded the guard and received only silence in reply.
"Good. Upper guard, search the city. Elite guard, search the castle. And lower guard, take care of this mess." He said gesturing dismissively at the bodies now littering the floor.
The guards that had not been close enough to overhear the kings' conversation seemed confused by the orders but obediently set off to complete their assigned tasks.