Ever since I was little, my grandfather would warn me to stay away from humans, his words and stories etched into my mind of their vile misdeeds to our kind.

We lived our whole lives in fear of them, staying in our secluded area in a castle deep in the woods, far from the prying eyes of the public. For a while it worked, staying hidden in the shadows, a mystery, nay a mere fable to those who walked the streets of the day. 

Those who lived longer than I had seen the rage of humans firsthand, the crackling golden flames etched into their minds, fear taking over their actions.

My father, however, was a different case. He was a foolish man, not worthy of the Vagabond name, his heart ahead of his brain in most aspects., His actions were two-dimensional, not planned in the slightest, running our pristine name into the ground.

"Remember Elisa, your father-" My grandfather spoke up but I promptly cut this sentence short.

"Is a good-for-nothing traitor, I know all too well, grandfather," I muttered., 

My heart used to sink every time I heard such vile words about my father but soon enough I had come to accept them merely as a fact.

Our dwelling was a room adorned in rich red and black hues. The dark-tinted windows shielded us from the sunlight while still granting us a view of the moon's gentle blue glow. Its cold, silvery light bathed the room and the crimson-red curtains in an eerie beauty during these nocturnal hours.

My grandfather paced back and forth in my room, repeating the same lecture over and over. He was tall and lanky, a respectable old man, very high in the vagabond status. 

His piercing silver gaze was a rare thing among us vagabonds, most of us having red eyes. His pale face, and slick back brown hair with hints of gray hidden among the brown all added to his pristine look.

I sat on my bed listening to his lecture, the histories of humans, and the things they had done to us in the past. He told them to me in hopes of scaring me, to make me think humans were no good, but in all truth, they only fascinated me even more because of it.

Such fragile things, with such short lives able to do so much damage if they put their minds to it, their resilience, their destruction, a thirst for blood that outweighed our own, even though they had no use for it.

I long had a fascination for those things, curious as to how they live and go on with their lives.

"It's all so," I muttered lost in thought, "Fascinating."

"What was that?" My grandfather turned to me after hearing my silent interruption.

"Nothing," I muttered, looking down at my feet kicking it lightly in embarrassment. "Do continue."

"Right," My grandfather let out a sigh of disappointment, making his frustrations known to me. " As I was saying, your father should've never married that wretched woman, you want to know why?"

"Because she was human," I answered, my voice dead as though I said this a million times before, which I did.

"That's right, ever since your father broke the heart of your mother, his actual fiance, and ran away with that human woman, it was never the same for us," He continued his rant.

He would flail his hands wildly in the air as if he could out of frustration but it was best to keep his face in front of his granddaughter, the new heir to the throne in like a millennia.

"After their rendezvous together the villagers found our castle, and attacked us forcing us to flee and rebuild centuries of work! I swore to myself that if I ever see the offspring of those two I will rip it to shreds myself!"

"Yes, yes grandfather, you have voiced your frustrations many times before," I sighed, my hands resting lightly on my crimson dress., 

My crimson eyes looked at him intently, my eyebrows furrowing and my frown evident. I was tired of having the same conversation, over and over again. 

"Yes, I have, but today is especially important that you remember." My grandfather informed, his hand in the air, pointing to the sky as he proved his point.

"What could you possibly mean grandfather," I sighed. 

He looked at me, a long pause between the two of us before he finally uttered his next few words, his chapped lips breaking apart to break the silence.

"We've assigned you a spouse."

____________

"Grandfather!" I whined practically tugging at his tuxedo as he forced me through the hall, my crimson dress slowly following me with my reluctant strides. "You know I'm not interested in that stuff, can't we just call it off?"

"No we cannot Elisa, this is tradition," My grandfather spoke up, "To make the Vagabond name stronger we need to join two of our most royal blood in holy matrimony."

I groaned from frustration but my pleas for change fell on pale deaf ears as we went through two huge velvet red doors, with a dark brown wooden frame. 

I was never really interested in relationships. The whole thing seemed rather trivial to me, though the thought of being stuck with a man I didn't love sickened me to my core. 

As we peaked out behind my grandfather, I saw the whole Vagabond family was there, from my aunts to my great, great, great, great cousins and grandmothers. 

I gulped, nervous about the events that were to come. My heart panged in my chest, and my eyes darted around the huge cathedral room.

Cold gazes all set towards me; their expectant expressions of my actions were too much for me to bear.; 

everything was set in a black and gray aesthetic; tar-black chairs aligned up to the stage where I would be standing; a narrow path in the middle of the room for me to walk on and a red carpet that was soft and smooth to the touch, were the only comforting things to greet me on this uncomfortable process. 

My twin brothers, Roan and Rowan stood near my supposed spouse awaiting my arrival, their hair slicked back in such a manner that I could hardly recognize them from their usual rugged appearance. Their skin was as pale as the rest of us but their eyes were silver and red, one had a silver eye on the left and the other on the right.

The man they stood next to wasn't an ugly guy per se, his hair cascaded over his striking green eyes. He had his chiseled jaw and perfect nose that fit just right on his face, and his small lips and skin shy away from pale.

 Any girl my age would gladly marry him—any girl but me that is. 

I hid behind my grandfather, though he moved out of the way, exposing me to the eyes of my relatives. I swallowed hard, my eyes darting around the room looking for a place to hide, but I ultimately just froze there, not knowing what to do.

My brothers sighed, seeing me in such a sorry state and slowly shaking their heads in disapproval. 

"Go on," I heard my grandfather whisper, his voice quiet but still getting his annoyance across. 

With a deep sigh, I walked up to the boy who placed his hands in mine. I couldn't look him in the eye throughout the whole ceremony, not wanting to believe what was happening to be true.

"Miss Elisa Hemadri Vitalis Vagabond, do you take this man, Jovian Sokol, as your spouse and husband for all of eternity?" A voice called out loudly, bringing me back to reality.

I bit my lower lip; everything told me to run, to tell them no, but I couldn't. I was too scared; all their eyes were peering at me and me alone waiting for my decision to be made. 

Finally stared into the eyes of my future husband. My eyes dilated slightly before I shut them tight, trying to accept that this would be my life from now on, but can I really, truly accept that?

"I do."