AZURUS
Azurus is a peace treaty between werewolves from Livzia and vampires from Alman to unite and form one single land for both sides to live in harmony and peace. The land would be called Azurus. Now merging two lands is a long process, so to make sure the treaty stays no matter how long it takes to create Azurus, a proposition of a union by marriage is put forward. The rulers of both lands would be united by marriage of their childern. The proposition after some great thinking and debating gets accepted.
For the union the youngest Vampire Prince Agathon Aurelia of Alman and the Werewolf Alpha's eldest daughter Princess Clarissa Dominik of Lizvia are chosen.
____
Her long black hair fell just below her waist as she looked up at the clouds covering the sky. Her charcoal dark eyes moved down to her hand as she sighed leaning her back against the black car. The beige dress hugging her silhouette just above knees contrasted perfectly with her wheat colored skin.
"Why you're sighing on such a happy occasion?" She heard the voice of her father from behind.
She rolled her eyes and said, "What happy occasion?"
"You get to meet your future husband." He said as she turned to see him standing on the opposite side of the car which was parked in front of the big mansion.
She gritted her teeth and said, "I get to meet a filthy vampire whose throat I'm not allowed to rip with my teeth." The dark color of her eyes started to fade in a neon yellow as veins started to pop out on her forehead.
"Clarissa."Her father said with a warning in his tone. She closed her eyes and calmed herself down. "This won't do." He said walking up to her. "We're going there in peace, I need you to cooperate."
She opened her eyes and said, "I thought you loved me."
"I do love you." Her father replied. "But this is for an ultimate good."
"Ultimate good? You don't care about how I feel, do you?" She said as tears welled up in her eyes. "I can't marry that man." Her voice started to break as she clenched her hands. "And you know why?"
Her father sighed as he reached out and held her hands.
"You can't hold it against him. He didn't do it for his own satisfaction, he had to do it. It's what wars demand. The step you'll be taking would put those wars to end."
"I don't care." She said, pulling her hands away from him. "I'm not going."
She turned away and had taken steps away from her father.
"You're going to be Alpha!" He yelled and she stopped in her tracks. "There's not a single pack out there who has faith in you and that attitude shows why?"
She turned her head with anger busting in her eyes, she said, "I can lead my people without a disgusting blood sucker by my side." She gritted her teeth.
"You can't lead them if they don't have faith in you. You have to make this sacrifice, not for yourself, for your people. So they can see the lengths you're willing to go to for them."
"You want them to pity me? They can just look at me and say 'poor girl was married off to a demon for us'? "
"That's how you think this is!" His voice growled through the air. "Clarissa, they need to see you're capable. That you're worthy, that you can make decisions as hard as this for them. That you're willing to put them before you!"
"I've done enough! I've fought in war! I've protected so many of our territories, so many of our people. How much more they want from me!" She yelled as the tears in her eyes had dried up, the only thing seen in them were burning flames of anger.
He scoffed, "People never stop demanding, Clarissa. Never. They expect everything from the ones who are there to lead them. If you want to become the next Alpha, you should put the emotions for yourself aside. The only pain or only happiness you should feel is for those people who are looking up to you." He stepped forward and held her by her shoulders. "You are worthy of taking the title of Alpha and I know you will lead our people to their best but if the people don't trust you, they won't follow you. I know this is hard but Clarissa, I need you in that castle. I need you to gain their trust and I need you to provide us with the needed information."
Clarissa sighed as she nodded. She knew the reason she was to marry in that household was to gain their secrets so they could take over them easily. But the thought of even staying with that man in the same room made her body shiver in anger. She was scared that she would do something out of her anger but there was no one else who could go along with the plan.
She closed her eyes and nodded her head. Pushing her father's hands aside she entered the car.
_
Arriving at the Aurelia castle, Clarissa found herself mesmerised by its beauty. The structure seemed out of the world with off-white walls and multiple towers surrounding it. The whole building extended to acres and acres with it's symmetrical structure, the Aurelia castle was considered to be a maze as you could easily get lost without a proper guide. It was designed that way to throw off any intruders, with various similar looking stairways and hallways even a few rooms were replicated to every little detail.
Clarissa and her father Sandro were received by the lady of the castle herself, Guilia Aurelia, the head of Aurelia family and mother of the six most magnificent vampires. She was dressed formally in a wide vertically striped palazzo with alternating black stripes of wide length and a plain black blouse tucked in the palazzo. Her eyes were bright red, indicating her status as a royal vampire.
She smiled widely when she greeted Sandro and then turned to Clarissa. She held her hands softly. The warmth from her hands somewhat reminded Clarissa of her own mother.
"I know this is hard for you but I want you to give my son a chance. Agathon is not a bad person."
Clarissa only smiled and nodded politely. She could've gone mad and made a scene like she made with her father earlier but there was a reputation to uphold and however she had reacted among her own people, she certainly couldn't act like that in front of outsiders.
Accompanied with her servants, Guilia welcomed them inside the castle. As much as the castle was beautiful from outside, it was even more splendid from the inside. The whole place seemed like an art exhibition, art pieces from medieval times all the way to contemporary art. Everything was placed in the boundaries of that castle. Not just art, there was a 60 feet wide wall only dedicated to small pieces of poetry framed in glass pieces. They seemed to be preserved pages from various journals with names of known poets throughout history. Clarissa admired their dedication but things such as art or literature never really attracted her so it was not something interesting to her.
The Aurelia weren't the only ones who had a love for art and literature. The vampires overall were considered to take more interest in art and literature since the brightest and well known names in history did come from Vampires. They considered it a legacy handed over to them by their ancestors and they wanted to keep it going.
"Agathon is out on business right now but he will be back soon." Guilia said as she led them towards the dining hall. "He is really looking forward to meeting you, Clarissa."
Clarissa smiled softly and said, "I am looking forward to meeting him too."
The servants opened the doors for them and revealed the vast dining hall. Three tall, handsome looking men and two beautiful women were already in the room. Their eyes immediately darted towards Clarissa.
Clarissa knew all five of them. She had seen those faces in war cutting off her people in half brutally murdering the people she had called allies and even friends. The thing she felt for them was the same they felt for her. They weren't the only ones who had killed people in war, Clarissa was a soldier too and they had seen her killing their people too. Clarissa had also come closer to killing two of the Aurelia siblings, Cyra and Aeneas at one point too when Agathon had come for their rescue leaving Clarissa barely hanging onto her life.
Clarissa was fierce and intelligent, Aurelia siblings weren't really in the favour of welcoming her in the family. The only reason they agreed to it was because she was to be placed with Agathon and they knew he was the only one who could handle her.
"Sandro and Clarissa, I want you to meet my children, the magnificent soldiers of Alman." She said and then softly mumbled, "Although the one you're here to see is not here yet."
She walked towards them and one by one introduced them.
"Theon, my eldest." Guilia said gesturing towards the well built man with dirty blonde hair and sharp facial features.
"Cyra. My second eldest." The silver haired girl stood with glares daggering towards Clarissa.
"Aeneas and Flavius." The twin dark haired men, their physique was the same as Theon but their facial features were softer than his.
"Aine." The younger daughter and the most beloved one in the family. She seemed slender even weak to one's eyes but Clarissa had seen her in war and she knew there was nothing weak about her.
"And you already know Sandro Dominik and his daughter Clarissa Dominik, one of the three fiercest warriors from Livzia."
Theon. Cyra. Aeneas. Flavius. Aine. The five Aurelia and none of them were a match against Clarissa individually and even united. She knew the dominance she held in the room and although however the siblings reacted to her they did fear her.
The sense of being superior to them was overshadowed when she felt the familiar presence in the room as her whole body flooded with anger.
"Agathon Aurelia, one of the magnificent soldiers of Alman." He announced by the door as everyone turned their attention to look at him. His white suit was splattered with blood as a few strands of his dark hair drenched in dried blood. His red eyes beamed as they fell on Clarissa, he smiled coyly at her and then looked at his mother.
Cleaning the specs of dried blood from his well sculptured face he said,
"Sorry, mother, I'm late."