Two Years Later...
Bonnie was in a carriage going north with her mother, Queen Pollina. Her father, King Meridian, had remained in the castle to handle the kingdom's affairs while Bonnie and her mother visited her grandparents.
Bonnie had spent much of the last two years learning to control her magic, and now she had even specialized in illusion magic, a specialization no water magician had gone into before, or even known possible. The most they could do was create a rainbow if they really tried.
Due to the lack of resources, it took Bonnie most of those two years to research how to make light bend the way she wanted with tiny water and ice mirrors. It was like weaving in a lot of ways.
She still didn't have any friends her age, so she played with her illusions instead. It was one of the things that drew her to creating illusions in the first place. The one she plays with the most is a bear named Bearbear. A very creative name, indeed. People might judge her, but Bearbear would never do anything like that.
And that is not depressing at all.
Through the window, Bonnie could see a wagon also heading north. Several people were in the wagon, wearing hoods.
The wagon suddenly stopped and the people inside turned to watch their carriage approach. Something about their gazes was uncanny. Red eyes stared out from under hoods, something shiny poked out the top of some of their hoods, and their eyes trained on the carriage were filled with hunger.
In a blur, they began attacking. Bonnie's eyes went wide in fear. It was the first battle she had been in. The sight of blood, the sound of screaming, and the swish of the knight's swords were overwhelming with only wood and glass in between them.
"Everything will be fine. The knights will protect us. Shh, everything is alright." Queen Pollina held Bonnie against her chest to block her view of outside, whispering assurances to her scared daughter.
Bonnie, soothed slightly by her mother's words, covered her ears to the sounds of fighting outside and squeezed her eyes shut. When the muffled noises went away, Bonnie spared a glance outside. The guards had won and started looking through the back of the wagon.
"Your majesty, we found something!"
Queen Pollina left the carriage and Bonnie followed close behind, not wanting to be separated from her mother. Pollina hesitated when Bonnie trailed after her, but eventually continued forward to the covered wagon. Surrounding it were the bodies of the vampires, but no one's gaze was on the ground but Bonnie's.
The knights were crowded around, looking into the wagon, only parting way for the queen. The queen looked disgusted at what she saw inside. Bonnie wasn't sure what was going on.
Bonnie curiously climbed up so she could see what was inside and saw a small boy that looked around her age. He had dark maroon eyes that could be mistaken for brown, and pale limbs that were tied with coarse rope. His hair was short and auburn.
The dark eyes suddenly made contact with Bonnie's.
~~~
Vanessa woke up to the feeling of a cold stone floor under him. The last thing he could remember was a hand covering his mouth and dragging him away from the castle.
His wrists and ankles were tied together. They must have had an enchantment on them, or else he could have broken out of them by now.
His surroundings were dark, but could see a pair of red eyes glowing brightly near the exit, little goat-like iron horns reflecting the light. The guard must have hunted recently. Vanessa's own eyes were gradually dimming from lack of blood. Vanessa could feel his fangs itching from neglect.
Days seemed to pass while Vanessa was confined, and his eyes had lost all light. He could hear murmurs through the walls of his captors talking amongst themselves. By straining his hearing, he learned of their intentions with him, although only vaguely.
"...vampire contract with the Empresses...ransom...meet at the border...leave human territory..."
Vanessa was surprised to learn that he was in human territory. It seemed like these vampires were threatening to throw him to the humans if his mothers didn't pay for his release. Vanessa had never been to the human territories before because of the hostility between races, and he couldn't help but be anxious. Even if he managed to escape, he would have to go through unfamiliar and hostile lands.
After Vanessa had been starving in that cellar for what felt like decades, the leader of kidnappers walked into the cellar with dim glowing eyes. Vanessa knew he was the leader because of the large iron horns coming out of his forehead, as opposed to the other member's small ones.
The leader picked up Vanessa with ease and carried him out to a covered wagon that was being readied for travel. He threw Vanessa in like a sack of potatoes before going to oversee the preparations. The kidnappers were going to meet envoys from the Empresses to negotiate terms of the contract, and Vanessa was going along as the main object of the contract.
Vanessa's brain became foggy as the wagon began to move. The bumpy road shook the wagon and Vanessa was jostled left and right. Time passed as they traveled north towards the border of the Empire.
Before reaching the border, the wagon suddenly stopped. A carriage was approaching from behind, and Vanessa could see the hunger gleam in his fellow vampires' eyes. Although vampires could drink the blood of any animal, each had different tastes and properties. Vanessa had mostly drank cattle blood, as it was the best for growth and very abundant. Human blood was good for health and long life, as it was most similar to what vampires were actually meant to have flowing through their veins.
Sounds of battle echoed outside the wagon, and Vanessa watched as the humans killed the vampires that had captured them. Vampires are generally stronger than humans, but the vampires were outnumbered and sloppy with their attack. They must have relied on stealth and the weakness of humans to get to this point, rather than combat prowess.
Vanessa curled into a ball, hoping the humans wouldn't see him and kill him as well. Surprisingly, when the humans saw him, they didn't attack but instead called for their superior. A sophisticated-looking woman soon appeared at the entrance to the back of the wagon. She had dark brown hair and skin, and a gentle face.
Soon, the face of a girl who looked about two years younger than him popped up as well. He made eye contact with the girl before turning to look at the woman. Vanessa was sure his eyes showed just how scared he was.
"Poor thing," the woman said before turning away to look at a knight. "It looks like those vampires kidnapped a little boy. Release him, Sir William, and fetch him a blanket. He looks like he's shivering."
Vanessa was shivering from fear and hunger rather than cold, but the blanket was appreciated either way. Guessing by how hungry he was, he had probably been starving for a little over three weeks. Another week and his mind would surrender itself to the hunger and force him to attack whatever was nearest to him to survive.
"Hey, little guy, what's your name?" the knight who had given him the blanket, Sir William, asked.
"V-Victor," Vanessa answered. Giving his real name was a bad idea, on the off chance they recognized it. That was unlikely, though. Not many knew the name of the prince of vampires.
"That's a good, strong name, Victor. Do you know where your mom and dad are?"
"I w-was going to meet my mother near Hidelldorf," Victor said, remembering the only human city near the border that he knew of.
This time the woman spoke up. "We are going to Hidelldorf, as well. Do you want to come with us, Victor? It will only take a few more days for us to arrive."
Vanessa ran his tongue along his fangs. If it was just a few more days, he could probably make it. "Yes. Thank you, ma'am."
"Do you have anything you need on the wagon? Best get it now."
Vanessa nodded and scurried towards the wagon. He began sifting through the leader's belongings before finding a paper. It had directions to the negotiation site. If he could get there and meet up with the people his mother sent, he would be able to go home.
"What is that, Victor?" the woman asked.
"A-a letter I wrote for my mother. O-only I'm allowed to read it."
"I see." The woman chuckled, lifting the young vampire into the carriage next to her daughter. "Your mother must be proud to have a kind son like you."
Vanessa only nodded and didn't reply. When the carriage started moving, he wrapped himself in the blanket and pretended to fall asleep. The less time his eyes were open, the less likely they were to notice the red tint, and the less he moved around, the less chance they had to see the two small bumps currently hidden under his hair.
Because of this, he didn't see how the wagon behind the carriage was set aflame.