There were five of them. Lucius took a seat which made them six. Sitting at the head of the table was a man holding a wine glass, who must be the king given his position in the table. But he wasn't the king Lanver expected. He expected to see someone older, their father perhaps, but the king was a young man. Someone who looked just his age or probably a little older.
On the right side of the king was the ill-mannered princess, on his left was Lucius. There were two other men and a lady who looked the youngest among them.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Lanver," the King said in a deep voice.
He didn't know how to address him or if he should greet him back for the sake of courtesy, but at the end he just voiced out his thoughts.
"I couldn't say the same."
Emery hissed. "Why are you so rude? Even if you were raised as a human, right now you are in our territory. Have respect for the King."
The King tapped Emery's hand. "It's alright. He is not accustomed to our rules."
"But Your Majesty, a man should always be respectful to others even without rules, right?" the younger girl said.
Lanver cleared his throat. Was he that rude? He was just being honest! But this kid was making him feel like he was so harsh for saying what he meant.
"Of course, Eloise," the King replied sweetly. "But Lanver was brought here without his permission, so it's just normal for him to be a little annoyed."
"I understand." The girl looked at Lanver and smiled politely. "Hi, I'm Eloise."
Thinking that the girl was still a vampire even though she looked so young and innocent, Lanver couldn't bring himself to smile back. But then were his parents from this world and had lived with them? Maybe vampires were just portrayed in the human world as monsters when the truth was they were not?
"She's our youngest," the King said. "Have a seat and let me properly introduce myself to you."
Lanver sighed and took a seat without sitting beside any of them. They were still vampires, after all. Who knew one of them would suddenly grab his neck if he stayed too close? Necessary precautions were advisable at times like this.
"I am Amadeus Von Rellis, ruler of the Kingdom of Azlea. They are all my siblings. Lucius, Emery, Dimitri, Weston, and Eloise."
Lanver already knew they were all blood-related the second he went in. It was obvious in their identical amber eyes so he wasn't surprised they were actually siblings.
"I was already told everything but I still don't want to do this. I want to leave your world," Lanver said seriously.
"I understand. I also don't want to force anyone into anything but I apologize. We are talking about lives here, Lanver. Not just hundreds but thousands. You are a soldier in your country. You fought for your people's lives. I'm sure you know how it feels to lose a life. We don't want that to happen to our people. We need to rebuild the barrier before a war breaks out. I hope you would see the weight of what's at stake on this. Our people need your help. We need your help."
"But you are asking for help on the wrong person. I may have great accomplishments as a human but I have nothing to offer in this world. I am not capable of doing what you want me to do."
"How can you say that when you haven't even tried?" Emery spoke so cold Lanver felt how the temperature of the room dropped.
"Are you really a fighter in your world? Because I don't see a fighter in you. All I can see is a coward," she added briskly.
Lanver glared at her, gritting his teeth.
"How can I fight for a world I don't even know? How can I fight for your people when anytime now my country might need me? You don't seem to see my point here, princess." He smirked at her out of irritation.
"How can you say that after knowing everything? Your father tried his best to protect this kingdom. You were born here. You belong in this world and yet you're saying that?"
"No, I don't belong here—"
"It's such a shame that a great person like Lord Vincentius had a son like you—"
"Enough," Amadeus spoke that made both of them shut.
Amadeus sighed. He knew convincing Lanver wasn't easy. He didn't want to force him but this was an urgent matter. He can't just idle knowing that a big war was coming. It was either force him or leave everything to fate.
And he knew the latter wasn't a sane king would do.
A king should value his people more than anything. More than his pride. More than his principles.
"My apologies, but I've made a decision, Lanver. You will stay for the meantime. Do what we asked you for and we will set you free. You can also ask anything from us after that. You can have everything you want."
"That's bullshit. I don't want anything from you. I want my life back."
"You have your life. We just want to ask a bit of your time. If you're worried that you might leave your life back there unattended, then you have nothing to worry. Once everything is done here, we will send you back to the exact time you were brought here. You will lose nothing."
"Is that possible?"
"There are certain rules for that but I can make it possible. It won't be hard since you won't take long here."
"What if I fail? Will you still let me leave?"
"Yes. I am a man of my word so rest assured you will be sent back to your world," Amadeus promised.
Lanver looked at the amber eyes expecting a positive answer from him. They all looked hopeful. Even Emery who was glaring at him had a similar glint in her eyes. The ill-tempered princess wasn't a heartless monster after all, he thought.
"Please help us save our people, Lanver," Eloise said in a little voice.
Lanver closed his eyes for a moment. Hearing Eloise pleaded reminded him again of that little girl in his dreams. How she begged him for help. Yet in his dreams he could do nothing. He only watched how she cried as if the world had crushed her soul.
He opened his eyes and upon seeing their expectant brilliant orbs, he realized that the girl in his dreams had the same amber eyes.