The journey was not long and Zuri soon found herself approaching a group of people that stood ahead, all watching her. It was as if they were waiting for her to arrive and Zuri knew that was the case.
She got there eventually and they nodded in her direction as a form of welcome. Zuri nodded back. She was not pleased to see them but had to do what was required of her.
Her throat had tightened and she wouldn't have been able to get a word out even if she had tried.
There had been three of them that had come to receive her. All of them were men and it made Zuri swallow hard, so much so that it made a gulping sound. They all looked like regular people but Zuri knew that there was nothing normal about them.
She observed the people that had come to pick her up from the lake and noticed that their skin was paler than humans. It was as if they did not have enough blood running in their veins.
This was not going to be easy — it was going to take all her strength and courage — Zuri knew that much.
What were they going to do with her? Where were they taking her?
Zuri thought that this was her walk of death but she managed to put one foot in front of the other as she walked further with two of the men beside her and one of them in front. The one in front led the way.
Zuri cleared her throat after some time and asked, "Where are we going?"
She had started to feel impatient as they continued walking in utter silence.
No one replied to her and just then, they got to a place that was on the side of the road. It had a signboard just above the front entrance— FEAST, it read. She could see what was going on inside this 'restaurant' through the glass windows.
There were chairs that were arranged in an odd manner.
Zuri's knees buckled as her gaze landed on the woman that had just fallen off a man's mouth which had been on her neck. No one needed to tell Zuri what he had been doing. The woman lay on the floor of the 'restaurant', lifeless.
Her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a scream that wanted to escape from her lips.
That woman was dead, Zuri knew that much.
The men pulled her upwards by putting their hands under her arms. Zuri whimpered and walked unsteadily until she was able to gather herself a little.
"Where are you taking me?" She cried.
"To the capital. We will soon arrive," one of her escorts replied stoically. "We are handing you over to the Royal Guards."
Zuri was brought over to the royal guards and they took her into a place that had been closed off from the rest of Transmere — the Royal Palace. Zuri could tell just by how it had been decorated. From the main gate, it was already known to be a magnificent structure. Zuri could not get the image of what she had seen on her way to the capital out of her mind. Nevertheless, that did not stand in the way of her noticing how resplendent the castle was.
The royal guard had, in turn, handed her to two palace maids that led her in through the back door.
"You are so pretty," one of the maids said.
Zuri's brows furrowed. She could not understand if the maid was telling her that to make her feel good about being devoured.
She tried to think about her food back at home. Had she ever thought that a meal looked fine? How was it that she was about to be offered to one of the members of the royal family and a maid was telling her that she looked pretty? It was a weird thing to hear from people that wanted to kill her.
"I'm Kathy," she introduced herself. "And this one here is Sandra." She pointed to the other maid that held onto Zuri's right arm.
They giggled and squealed and it confused Zuri. Why were they so happy to see her? Their eyes sparkled and it made Zuri feel like they had seen a lump of sumptuous meat— a delicacy. She squeezed her eyes shut as that thought crossed her mind.
"We need to wash you…" Sandra hesitated before continuing, "You smell of human sweat."
She knew it.
Zuri had guessed that they were the ones that would prepare her before they would serve her to the person, probably a royal that would eventually devour her and drain her body of all her blood. So, it was no surprise that she did not return their enthusiasm. Zuri felt like she could not even muster a smile, much less exchange names and pleasantries.
"Can't she talk?" Kathy leaned forward and asked Sandra, who was on Zuri's other side.
Sandra shrugged. She did not know what was wrong either and hoped that she could talk. Zuri's future role in the palace required someone that could at least do something so simple.
They took her to her assigned chambers and washed her, scrubbing her as if she had been dirty or had not had her bath before coming into Transmere.
"Now, you are ready," Sandra asked as she tucked the bun she had made on Zuri's hair.
Zuri looked in the mirror and wondered why they were cleaning her up for her death. It seemed cruel of them but at the same time, these girls seemed so nice and jovial.
Still, Zuri could not shake off the fact that her blood was the aim and the scene she had seen in that blood restaurant kept flashing through her mind. Blood restaurant, that was what Zuri had decided to call it in her mind and it suited her perfectly.
"Let us go. They are waiting for us," Kathy said. "You will like the royal house. Some of them are nice."
"Exactly. Just some," Sandra said.
They both giggled and walked out of the room that Zuri had dressed in.
They passed several hallways that were dimly lit. There were noises and discussions still going on around the palace.
It was weird to Zuri but it seemed like the part of the palace the maids were leading her towards was for the people that worked for the royals. That was where they had brought Zuri to. She thought about the fact that she was about to be tagged as a royal blood bag and a shiver ran down her spine. Zuri's stomach churned and she mentally urged herself to be still so that she wouldn't embarrass herself in front of the people that they were taking her to.
They entered a place within the palace that had men in black clothes. Their shirts were made of leather and all of them wore the same thing. Zuri's gut feeling told her that they were guards that were servicing the inner palace.
"We will soon be where you are needed. What is your name?" Kathy asked.
"Z-Zuri."
"Oooo. She talks, Sandra. Did you hear that?" Kathy asked as she beamed with a smile that stretched from one ear to the other.
"I did! And what a nice name you have, Zuri."
Zuri nodded and hoped that the girls knew that she was saying thank you for their compliments. It was just that she could not talk much at that moment.
"So… who is this?"
They all turned to the corner where they had heard the voice and the question. The girls bowed down immediately with their heads bowed too.
"My Prince," Kathy and Sandra chorused.
Zuri stood as she gaped at the man that had just stopped them in their tracks. He had someone with him— a young boy who looked like he was just in his early teens. He looked so pale and smallish in the man's arms and his eyes were not visible. They kept rolling to the back and Zuri knew that something odd was going on there.
However, what kept Zuri transfixed was what the man in question was doing to the boy.
The man's mouth was lined with blood.
The girls tugged at Zuri's arms, signaling her to kneel in greeting but Zuri did not understand. She was oblivious to the fact that Sandra and Kathy were trying to send her a message.
"Hmm," the man hummed. He took one last 'drink' from the boy's neck and then in a flash, twisted the boy's neck around, snapping it. The sound of bones breaking and the sound of the boy's body falling limply to the ground filled their ears.
Zuri trembled and her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes widened and they looked like they were about to fall off.
Prince Kane watched the reaction from the pretty girl he was looking at and thought that she must be a stranger for her to be surprised at what she had just seen.
"Did I scare you?" Prince Kane asked, basking in the fear that he caused.
Zuri gaped at him and noticed his features. He was relatively good-looking but had such wicked eyes. He had a scowl that was permanently on his face as if he was constantly up to mischievous and wicked things.
Zuri watched as he crossed the body of the boy he had just drained and walked towards her.
At that moment, the girls stood and Kathy said immediately, "Your Highness, we are to take her to Prince Jaden."
Those words weren't heard by Zuri, however. Frightened, she took some steps backward and her hand grazed a vase that had been standing in the hallway. The vase landed with a loud crash that echoed throughout where they were.
"Oh, are you now?" Prince Kane asked. He smiled a broad smile that revealed his elongated, sharp canines. "Do you know what you are in for, human?"
He had called her 'human' in a tone that made the word seem vile. Zuri could not help but feel offended and her brows furrowed.
"You do not like the way I said that word, I see," Kane remarked. "What are you going to do about it?"