A man stepped inside the chamber to see the Crowned Prince was cleaning his sword aside.
His back was facing the General who made his entry inside the personal chamber of the Prince, only finding calmness and absolute silence.
No one could predict that the chaos was already knocking on his door.
"Prince Cyrus, King has demanded your presence in the court..." General Ryan spoke with respect.
He was the most trusted person of The King and in command of the army.
Cyrus, who was cleaning the sword with his hands, stopped in the middle. His deep brown eyes narrowed slightly after the words entered his ears.
"My presence? What a special occasion that the King wished to see my face?" Sarcasticness was very clear to know.
He was displeased to learn that someone, especially his father, wished to see him at this time.
General Ryan nodded his head in return. Not only Cyrus, but Ryan was also quite surprised to learn about this meeting between the King and the Crowned Prince.
They both are not on good terms and this isn't any secret in the Kingdom.
Yet, like the royals, they have to face each other from time to time to plan out the wellbeing of their empire and to do their respective jobs.
Cyrus was wearing his regular armor. The lamps were lit everywhere in the chamber already which was giving him sufficient light to look at the sword. "Alright. I will be there... I hope this won't be bad as always."
A sly smirk passed through Cyrus's face which he hid before General Ryan could witness.
He pulled his sword back in his scabbard with care and tugged it near his waist.
With no exchange of words anymore, Cyrus and Ryan made their way inside the King's court where he was summoned.
There was no prior knowledge related to his sudden appearance, all he did was to maintain the calm composure and let Ryan lead the way.
In the next five minutes, they arrived in King Almen's court, where Cyrus's father, Emperor of Gazelle, was sitting on his throne.
It was almost midnight, not new for vampires to do their official work at night. Still, the King needed rest.
He never called the court at night and today itself, the entire court was empty with only the presence of Cyrus, and general Ryan.
"My lord."
"Father, you called me."
Both of them bowed in front of the lord when they finally arrived at the end of the stair, just below the throne.
King Almen, dismissed his advisor the moment they both arrived and looked at Cyrus with a hard gaze. "General Ryan, please give us some privacy to have some talks."
"As per your wish, my lord." General Ryan took two steps behind and once again bowed before finally taking the leave and the doors of the court closed behind him.
Cyrus looked above his shoulders to see Ryan leaving and the soldiers closing the door so that no talks of the palace could be circulated. It sends a clear indication that the King has something urgent, as well as important to have a conversation.
"What happened? Calling me in court, this late?"
King Almen descended the throne and walked down the stairs. He came and stood face to face with Cyrus, with displeasure written all over his face. "You have been crowned prince for a while now and you will take care of this Kingdom in the future. Still, I haven't heard about you dirtying your hands in works"
It made no sense to him. But deep down, he knew that King Almen was trying to convey a special message, "I believe King Almen is interested to know about my personal life."
"Your personal life won't be yours only. This kingdom is yours, so your choices will always matter here." This was also correct. But the hidden deep meaning of his father's words was already understood by him.
A smirk lingered on his face, which was no less mocking, "Like yours? Your life is also not personal anymore. Seems like King Almen is forgetting that there are always differences between us. Whether related to war strategies or personal matters."
"Cyrus! I'm talking about something important at this point. Do not divert and change the entire conversation. We are here to discuss you, not about my life." King Almen's voice echoed throughout the court.
Moreover, at late-night, no one can come and hear their talks. But Cyrus can hear the sound of birds chirping from outside of the court due to his extensive hearing ability. The chirping of the bird was common yet it was easily guessed that those weren't simple birds either.
"Father, I would like you to come straight at this point. Neither do you, nor I have the entire night to have the conversation related to my personal life." Cyrus put his hand behind and lifted his chin to hear.
King Almen walked near the large open place. The whole Kingdom can be seen from the court and a flashing moon in the large night sky.
"Your life matters to us. The girl you will choose as your bride will be the most important matter because the crowned queen can never be a mere girl." King Almen turned around and stared into Cyrus's eyes which were a mixture of brown and black. "The lady should be someone special, someone royal and who can match our standards. I hope that you will be aware of the situation and all."
"I'm quite aware of the current situation. Our enemies are working on planning to attack our kingdom soon. At this time we should try to strengthen our kingdom, train our soldiers so that they can live in uncertain circumstances when the time's come. But it seems your mind is interested to hitch me together with some random royal, am I right my Dear King Almen?"
Cyrus didn't show respect to his father via his words. He never looked to be straightforward in his speech. This was no less because Cyrus kept on hitting the main point.
King Almen clapped his hands and the door behind opened when two servants entered and bowed in front of them. "Yes My Lord?"
"Serve us some drinks." King Almen ordered and it was executed immediately. Two drinks were brought in their presence when both the king and Prince took their respective glasses in their hand.
When the servant left once again and they were alone in this empty court, did King Almen come on the prime most important point?
"You remember the Suzania Kingdom?" King Almen asked in a low tone to which Prince Cyrus answered, "The Human Kingdom with whom we don't have any trade?"
"Absolutely. Humans are way too weak when it comes to vampires and we are no less. We don't have much trade with them because of the enmity between the two Kingdoms for ages." Cyrus heard the same way back since he took the command.
In his childhood, he was taught too many things along with swordsmanship. His teacher told him about the strategies, and the enmity between the two kingdoms because of the change in the human and vampire status.
"I do hear that." Cyrus nodded his head when King Almen took another sip from his glass and told the entire truth. "A few days back we had some talks at the council where the human lord also appeared."
A hint passed through Cyrus's eyes when he alighted those words. No, he never got information related to the meeting between the two big lords. How did it eventually happen?
Cyrus nodded his head when King Almen continued, "The civil court asked us to make peace with each other. It will encourage the Kingdom to remove the enmity and… I agreed to it."
Cyrus was in total shock. How can his father agree to the peace treaty between the two kingdoms? Especially when they are Humans! Moreover, his father never gives in to such things so easily. For him, enmity is taken more seriously than friendship.
The shock and surprise written all over his face were noted by King Almen. "Surprised?"
"Shocked. Humans will never make a peace treaty so easily with us, the vampire kingdom nor will you… as a Vampire Lord." It was honestly true.
Suspicion was raised in Cyrus's heart because it was evident that no one would be giving in.. without anything at stake.
King Cyrus was still calm despite the decisions he made and a fine smile appeared on his face, "Well, nothing comes free. In the end, we decided.. to have some relationships. Why not have some personal and family relationships which will make things easier."
Cyrus's eyes narrowed more and more with the patient second. The aura dropped immensely within the court with the temperature reaching its peak in negative.
"King Almen, what have you done now to make us more vulnerable to the current situation?" Cyrus wasn't convinced. Knowing his father too well, he is aware that his mind functions more efficiently than any of the others.
King Cyrus kept on noticing the change in Cyrus's eyes yet he failed to see it. He stayed expressionless throughout the word exchange now.
"We decided that one of our members will marry one of their members, the royals will come together through marriage. So… in the end, I have decided that you are getting married to the lord's niece in the next few weeks."
Hearing this, Cyrus's hand stopped in the middle air when he lifted his eyes to stare at his father with unimaginable eyes. No, this was more than the simple shock.
"You want me to marry the niece of our enemies? You want her to be the Queen of your Kingdom!?!" Cyrus raised his voice, only to receive a subtle look from King Almen. He wasn't pleased and this wasn't any hidden fact.
Cyrus's dislike towards the human was similar to the rest of the commoners residing in their Kingdom.
Moreover, marrying a mere human was the spot to his ego, as his eyes were wide as saucers when the displeasure traced his eyebrows. "I will not marry any human!!!"
"You have no choice left, Cyrus. It is already fixed." Came the reply of King Almen who took another sip of his wine without tearing his eyes from Cyrus even for a minor second.
There was a serious calmness floating on his face, which was totally in contrast with Cyrus's shocked expression.
"They are weak! King Almen has no right to take the decision on my be-" he swallowed his word when his eye met with his father, ready to send the chills down his spine.
There is no denying that King Almen will not accept a negative response from his side. Yet what came as another unbelievable word which King Almen spoke.
"If you still wish to be Crowned prince, then you will follow what I have arranged for you." King Almen's words made Cyrus's fingers already form into a fist.
His other hands' fingers tightened their firmness around the glass when the nerves of his hand started to pop out. "You are threatening...."
Hearing this, King Almen smiled. His smile reached his ears, to say, "What if I am?"
There was no reply from Cyprus for the next few seconds. He stayed absolutely quiet, being in the deepest conflict in his mind. Marrying a human? Hah, the ones they have hated throughout their lives.
But knowing what was at the stake, his heart took a thirty-degree turn to decide against his hatred.
"Alright. I will marry the person you have arranged for."
....
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