Princess Jessica stood watching the guard, expecting to hear why he had stopped her from following Jaden and Stephan.
She worried for her brother just like she had always done. Stephan was the closest to her especially because of how he was. He had always been sickly and that made her feel sorry for him. However, the guard had said that it was important and he had a worrisome look on his face.
"There has been an attack inside the town, Princess," he said.
"And so? There is always an attack… this is a vampire city," Jessica muttered sarcastically. 'What was he trying to get to here?' she wondered.
"Yes, My Princess, but this time around, we are talking about feral vampires… and they…" the guard trailed off in hesitation to what he was about to divulge to the princess. He knew what this meant.
They were under threat.
"Yes?" Jessica asked impatiently. Her brows creased as her brain began to piece together what the guard was insinuating. In her mind, she thought about just two words— feral vampires.
"They attack vampires too."
Jessica glared at the guard and raked her fingers through her full chestnut hair that she had let cascade down her back. She paced a short distance in front of the guard.
"Wait for my call. We will go there together. I have to see to something first," Jessica said and walked away from the guard.
She needed to be where Stephan was, knowing that Jaden was alone with him at the moment.
***
"You can lay down now," Jaden murmured softly to Stephan and helped him to lie back on his bed.
Zuri had helped to prop and arrange some pillows for Stephan to be comfortable and she stepped back when Prince Jaden laid his brother back on the bed. This had been a terrible experience and Zuri wondered the kind of pain that Stephan was enduring.
Once Prince Stephan had come out of the attack, he had been cheerful as if nothing had happened to him. Intermittently, he would writhe in pain or moan because of fatigue and it just made Zuri wonder what exactly was wrong with him.
She wanted to walk closer to Prince Jaden when Prince Stephan grabbed her hand. She stopped instantly and Zuri's gaze flew to the sickly prince. His face was deadly pale and his eyes were rimmed with red while they held tears but he wasn't crying.
Prince Stephan wore a smile and croaked these words, "Thank you for helping me."
Zuri glared. She was uncomfortable and tried to pull her hand away from the prince's gentle but firm grip. She succeeded and rubbed the hand that had been in Prince Stephan's hand.
"Th-Thank -- I didn't -- You are welcome, My Prince," Zuri finally muttered and walked to stand behind her boss, Prince Jaden.
"Are you taking your medicines properly?" Jaden asked. "You know you have to. Don't joke with them, Stephan."
"Hush, Little Brother! Don't go sounding like Mother," Prince Stephan chided.
Jaden stared at him without a response to what Stephan had just said. Stephan was not worried about his sickness like they were. Especially Jessica. Sometimes, she cried about what Stephan was going through.
"Think about the devil and she shall appear," Jaden muttered as he heard her voice. Their sister was coming to Stephan's chambers.
"Open the door!" Jessica shouted to the guards that stood outside Stephan's door. She really didn't have to because they would have opened it for her anyway by the time she got to the door. She was just anxious and her nerves were getting the best of her.
"Slow down, Jessica," Jaden warned her with a smirk on his face. "You look like you are going for a fight."
"There is a fight that is about to blow up," Jessica replied. "How is he now?" she asked as she looked at Stephan and walked to place her hand on his forehead.
"I think he can speak for himself," Jaden muttered.
"Yes, I can, actually," Stephan said as he opened his eyes. He had been pretending that he was asleep and had closed his eyes when he heard her shout to the guards outside his room.
Jessica smiled. "You gave me a fright there…"
"You always say that."
"Jaden…" Jessica trailed off, turning her attention to the prince that was standing. "There is something going on in town." The worry on her face now was evident as she looked Jaden directly in his face.
"What is going on?"
"Feral vampires," Jessica said in a low tone.
Zuri's interest was piqued and she completely focused on the discussion between Prince Jaden and his sister, Princess Jessica.
"I saw one in the palace. It had attacked…" Jaden looked back at Zuri and back to Jessica. "It had attacked Zuri," he finally said.
"What? They had found their way into the palace? That is bad, Jaden. This is bad news. I learned that even normal vampires are not safe from this menace and there was an attack in town just now."
"How many were injured?"
Jessica winced. "Too many."
Jaden stood up immediately and started to walk away from where Jessica was and Zuri followed closely.
"I am coming with you," Jessica called. "I will see you later, Stephan," she said as she bent down and placed a kiss on her brother's forehead. "Get some sleep and rest."
"It might be too dangerous for you, Jessica," Jaden said to her as he watched her walking towards him.
"When has that stopped me from anything?" Jessica asked and rolled her eyes at Jaden.
Stephan watched as Zuri walked out of the room.
He would have liked her to stay back and keep him company. She was different from the other humans that he had met. He didn't feel a strong bloodlust towards her but rather, Stephan discovered that he just wanted her around and that triggered his curiosity toward her.
However, he had not been able to suggest that and had just watched her go after Jaden.
It was also not in his place. She was his brother's assistant.
***
Meanwhile, in the human kingdom, a secret meeting was going on as time went by and the next selection was being talked about. Even though it had been a few months since the last selection was made and the mayor's daughter left, they had organized a meeting to begin plans on how to stop the next selection process from happening.
They could not live with the fact that they had to offer one of them every five years any longer. The humans felt like their debt had been paid and there would be no attacks by the children of the moon anymore either.
Little did they know what was coming for them in just a matter of time.
"Is everyone present here?" Khalan asked in a firm but hushed tone. He was among the Mayor's cabinet and was a man that thought he was meant to be a leader— to be a revolutionary.
Khalan could not sit down and watch the vampires pick them out one by one as if they were foods that were being stored for them. He felt that enough was enough and that feeling gave birth to what was happening at that moment.
A discussion for a change in tides.