Consciousness flickered back like a dying ember, bringing with it the dull throb of a skull hammered by moonlight. Rosemary's emerald eyes cracked open, squinting against the unfamiliar opulence of a silk-draped canopy overhead. Panic clawed at her throat, the echoes of the darkness and the pain in the alcove.
"Don't fret, Lady Rosemary," a soft voice soothed, calming the churning in her stomach. A young woman, barely older than a fledgling, stood by her bedside, her pale blue eyes brimming with sympathy. Her silver hair, braided neatly, and the crisp uniform marked her as one of the Institute's maids.
"What... what happened?" Rosemary croaked, her voice a dry rasp. The memories flooded back, the Alpha Vampire'e eyes, his touches and the pain he gave her
.
The maid's face crumpled, a tear spilling onto her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Lady Rosemary. You fought… valiantly. But Master Vernon chose Lady Violeta. She is the new Omega Server."
Rosemary took a steadying breath, "What is your name?" she asked, seeking solace in the simple question.
"Emily, my Lady," the maid replied, her voice barely a whisper. "Your new maid."
"New maid?" Rosemary echoed, a frown furrowing her brow. "I… wasn't aware I was assigned one."
Emily's shoulders slumped, a flicker of fear quenching the hope in her eyes. "Master Vernon himself ordered it, my Lady. He said... He said you required special care after the ordeal."
Rosemary's brows shot up. Vernon, the Alpha Vampire, ordering a maid specifically for her? It didn't make sense. Yet, a spark of curiosity ignited within the embers of her disappointment.
"Special care?" she repeated, her voice laced with an edge of challenge. "What kind of care would that be, Emily?"
Emily hesitated, her gaze darting towards the door as if seeking an escape. Then, with a determined sigh, she met Rosemary's eyes. "Mastera Vernon said… he said to help you stay in the castle."
"Stay?" Rosemary scoffed. "I am not allowed to leave the castle anymore?"
Emily swallowed, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Master Vernon said you are forbidden to leave the castle, my Lady."
A shiver ran down Rosemary's spine. This time he did not give her a chance to reject his offer to be his mistress. And he even marked her before the Omega Vampire Server was announced. This was not what happened in past life. Everything was going the wrong way and she did not have a glimpse of control of it no matter how hard she tried.
She leaned back against the silk cushions, a mischievous glint entering her emerald eyes.
Emily chewed on her lip, her gaze wavering. Then, with a resolute nod, she stepped closer, leaning in to murmur in Rosemary's ear. "There's a whisper, my Lady," she said, her voice barely a breath, "that the Alpha fought for you. Although the votes favoured Miss Violeta, Master Vernon objected with the Blood Committees. But the rule is the rule. The Rlddle family is too powerful in the Committees. At least you can still serve aside Master Vernon."
"Thank you, Emily. Please leave me alone for a while."
The maid bowed, her expression etched with sadness, and slipped out of the room, leaving Rosemary in the gilded cage of her opulence. Tears finally spilled, tracing hot tracks down her porcelain cheeks.
The gilded cage of her room seemed to shrink around Rosemary, the opulent drapes suffocating her with the weight of betrayal. Emily, the maid with her whispered secrets, had only confirmed Rosemary's worst fear: Vernon, the Alpha Vampire, wasn't offering solace, but a gilded cage. He intended to keep her as his mistress, a secret plaything in the shadows of his power.
Her emerald eyes, usually blazing with defiant spirit, dimmed with a profound disillusionment. The short dream of escaping from this cage, lay shattered, replaced by the bitter reality of becoming another pawn in his elaborate game.
She rose from the silken bed, the luxurious fabric like shackles against her skin. Her bare feet struck the cold marble floor, a defiant act against the gilded prison that housed her. The echo of her steps bounced off the walls, a lonely sound in the opulent silence.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moonlight, filtered through stained glass, painted the Grand Hall in a kaleidoscope of colors. Crystal chandeliers, like frozen waterfalls, glittered, their brilliance dwarfed only by the radiant Violeta, the newly crowned Omega Vampire Server.
Emerald silks clung to her form, accentuating the sculpted lines of her body. Silver moonlight gleamed on her woven hair, spun into intricate braids that shimmered like spiderwebs spun with moonlight.
She stood on a dais bathed in crimson velvet, a lone figure amidst the throngs of vampire. The Alpha Vampire, Vernon, loomed at her side, his obsidian gaze unreadable beneath the flickering shadows.
A chorus of voices, their tones rich and ancient, sang an ode to the new Omega. Violeta closed her eyes, basking in the praise, her amethyst gaze shimmering with a hint of triumph. This was hers, the culmination of decades of ambition, the ultimate prize snatched from the grasp of others.
The ceremony reached its peak with the Offering of Blood. A chalice, brimming with twilight-hued vitae, was presented. And from Violeta's slender wrist, a single drop, pearlescent and potent, fell into the chalice, a symbol of her allegiance, her power.
She took a glimpse at Rosemary.
In a corner of the grand hall, cloaked in the shadows cast by a towering obsidian pillar, Rosemary stood a silent counterpoint to the glittering spectacle unfolding before her. Yet, a different kind of beauty bloomed.
Rosemary, the unexpected, the ostracized, still held her own beauty, a stark contrast to Violeta's practiced perfection. Her emerald eyes, usually blazing with defiance, were veiled with a melancholic fire, reflecting the flickering flames of the countless candles. Her raven hair, unadorned, cascaded down her back, a dark wave against the shimmering sea of silk and jewels.
She watched the ceremony unfold, a silent observer amidst the throngs.
Violeta had expected jealousy and bitterness but what she could sense through Rosemary's eyes was indifference.
Violeta, draped in emerald silks that echoed the mocking whispers around them, finally graced her with her presence.
A slow smile, sharp as a stiletto blade, curved her lips. "Well, Rosemary" she purred, the title dripping with irony, "such a splendid display of… resilience. Almost makes one forget your rather spectacular fall from grace."
Rosemary met her gaze unflinchingly, her voice devoid of rancor, "Congratulations, Violeta. You played the labyrinth well."
"And you seem to be taking your gilded cage rather well, Rosemary," Violeta drawled, her voice the rustle of dry leaves. "Almost enjoying the… company."
Rosemary smirked, a flash of emerald lightning against the darkness. "One learns to adapt, wouldn't you agree? After all, even shadows can find amusement in a gilded cage."
Violeta's smile tightened, a predator baring its fangs. "Amusement you may find, but I warn you, Rosemary, tread carefully here. Vernon might have taken a… fancy to you, but his favor is as fickle as moonlight. One wrong step, one misplaced whisper, and you'll find yourself not a plaything in his chamber, but a discarded toy in the labyrinth's deepest pit."
Violeta turned, melting back into the shadows, leaving Rosemary behind, bathed in the pale moonlight and the gnawing unease of a threat she could not quite grasp.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moonlight, tinged with the faint scent of pine, carved stark lines across the opulent hall. Amidst the celebratory throngs, Liam, the Alpha Werewolf, stood out like a storm cloud – broad-shouldered, fur-trimmed cloak brushing the crimson velvet floor. His amber eyes, usually warm, crackled with barely suppressed anger as he spotted Rosemary, the exiled Omega Vampire, standing alone in a shadow-kissed corner.
He strode towards her, his presence parting the crowd like wind through leaves. "Rosemary," his voice rumbled, a low growl barely contained. "What… what in the moonlight's name is this travesty?"
Rosemary, draped in twilight-hued silk that mirrored the shadows in her heart, offered a wan smile. "Merely another twist in the labyrinth's game, Liam."
His jaw clenched, his gaze flicking towards Violeta, the newly crowned Omega Server, resplendent in emerald silks and the stolen Sunstone. "They keep you here, a plaything at his side?"
"It does not seem like I have a choice. Even my own family was proud that I could stay as a mistress." Rosemary conceded, her voice laced with quiet bitterness.
Liam snorted, the sound a rumble of thunder in the opulent hall. "This cage… this is an insult not only to you, but to the very pact between our kind!"
His anger resonated with Rosemary, a wildfire finding tinder in her own smoldering defiance. "And what would you have me do, Liam?" she challenged, her emerald eyes flashing with a spark of rebellion. "Storm this gilded den and demand my freedom? Do you think Vernon, the Alpha Vampire, would allow that?"