Cordelia's POV:
I am standing silently in the corner or the large ball room staring blankly out the window at the moonless night sky as yesterday's events float through my mind.
I was walking away from the town clinic after another attempt to take my own life and was admiring the bandages that were wrapped neatly around my arm. I had just brought the hood of my cloak over my head to hide myself better while wondering why the innkeeper didn't just leave me there to die when a sudden commotion in the middle of the square stopped me in my tracks. There on a platform was the innkeeper on his knees begging for his life as one of the king's guards threatened him loudly while the king sat at a distance, cloaked in shadow, watching the events.
"Where is the vampire?!" The guard shouted.
"I-I don't know. Someone from the clinic took her to heal her injuries!" The innkeeper stammers out.
I glance around to see his wife and two young children standing below the platform crying and then glance back towards the king's chair. His face and upper body was in shadow but his eyes were the color of molten silver and shown through the blackness. I felt a strange pulling sensation as my eyes fell upon his but I quickly dismissed it and looked away.
"Lies! We know you were hiding her at your inn! Do you deny it?!" The guard shouts as an idea comes to my mind.
"I wasn't hiding her I swear! I only offered her the room she paid for." The innkeeper says loudly trying to mask the fear in his voice.
I was a vampire and there were only a few ways to kill us, one of which was by beheadment. Most vampires had integrated into human society; some of us, like me, still stuck out because of our appearance and because I was easily noticeable I moved around alot. I hid as much of myself as I could from human eyes because being a vampire only brought me trouble in this world. The few other ways to kill a vampire is the typical wood steak or silver dagger through the heart but the most painful way was by injecting angel's blood infused with holy water directly into the vein, a method I had tried last night only to fail.
I looked back to the innkeepers family as a thought came to my mind. I wanted to end it and leave this place, for only in death would I ever find peace.
"For your crime you will be beheaded." The guard says as he lifts up his sword and a hush falls over the crowd.
It's so quiet now that you can hear the sound of the innkeeper's frightened breath so I clear my throat causing the king's eyes to shift to me as the pulling sensation became stronger. If it's me they are hunting then they can have me. There's no need to make this young family suffer.
"I'll take his place." I say clearly keeping my face turned slightly so that I can't be seen clearly.
"Why would you take his place?!" The guard laughs.
"I tried to kill the vampire but clearly failed so it is no fault of the innkeepers but of mine that she still walks." I replied.
The guard thinks for a moment and then glances at the king who never removes his eyes from me. Why is he staring me down so much, and what is this pulling sensation I feel, I think to myself.
"Fine off you go! You get up here!" The guard shouts before pushing the man off the platform and pointing to me seemingly satisfied with my answer and the exchange of prisoners.
I lower my head and walk to the platform and up the steps. Each step I take makes the pulling sensation grow and I take a deep breath and push it out of my mind. Once I am standing within reach of the guard I get down on my knees.
"Willing to die so readily for a peasant how noble of you!" The guard laughs and I smile slightly.
This is what I've wanted for a long time, I think to myself as my mind drifts back to the past. The past I was always running from. Rape, torture, mental, and physical abuse. My parents had abandoned me because as a member of the royal family it was a disgrace to look the way I did instead of looking like a normal human so I could blend in. When the war started they offered me up to save their own lives and then fled the castle.
I remember the first night the abuse started because I refused to willingly sleep with my new owner who had apparently wanted to bed me for quite some time. He beat me and raped me then allowed his guards to have their way with me whenever they saw fit until I ran away. If I fought back I was beaten more. I suddenly feel the cold metal of the guard's blade as he readies his sword for the swing.
"Any last words?" The guard asks.
"Thank you." I reply as I lift my head exposing my neck as much as possible.
"Eager to die are you! Fine! Let me get a better look at you!" The guard says and then rips the hood of the cloak away from my head.
A gasp ripples through the crowd as I remain still waiting for my final moment. Out of the corner of my eye I see the guard back away before stepping up to the king's platform.
"My lord, what do you wish for me to do with this woman?" The guard asks in a low tone.
"To the dungeon." I hear the king whisper in reply and I look down at my lap with a sigh.
Even death does not wish to have me, I think to myself as I am chained and then taken to the palace dungeon. It was late afternoon when a guard came to visit me and the sudden pulling sensation began to rise again. I didn't look at the guard but instead I remained sitting on the ground with my back towards him. What was the use in looking at the people who would soon begin to abuse me like everyone else had.
"Why do you not fear death?" He had asked me.
His voice was deep and smooth and sounded nice to my ears but I ignored the way it made my skin tingle and my heart skip a beat.
"There are worse things than death." I replied.
I was unsure of what happened after I had answered him. All I knew was that I was soon brought to a room within the castle and stripped down to nothing and bathed by the royal maids. After the bath they rebandaged my arm to hide the dark veins that were still healing from the angel's blood infused with holy water then dressed me and did my hair and makeup before pushing me out the door where I was escorted to a large room filled with people dressed in the finest gowns and suits, things I didn't think I would ever see again. The pulling sensation was constant now and I was beginning to get annoyed with the feeling as I stood in the corner of the large room looking out one of the many windows into the starry night sky.
"Madam, it is time for dinner." A butler says to me pulling me from my thoughts.
I glance quickly around the room to see I am now the only one in it and then glance at the large table across the room to see there is only one seat left available, the seat in the middle directly across from the king.
"I'm sorry but it seems as if there is only one seat left and that seat is not reserved for me. The guards may take me back now." I reply as I lower my head.
"The last seat is for you madam and the king requests your presence at dinner." The butler says and then holds out his arm to lead me to the table.
I clear my throat and allow him to slowly lead me to the large table as I keep my head down and eyes on the floor. The butler pulls out my seat and I gently sit down as he pushes my chair under me. A plate is placed in front of me and the king begins to place food on my plate. I don't dare look up at him or say anything but my senses are on edge for some reason and once he has filled my plate he sits back in his chair.
"Everyone may begin." His voice echoes through the silent hall and I swallow hard with realization at hearing his voice as the tingle from earlier lights up my skin.
It wasn't a guard I was speaking to but the king himself.