Chapter 22
Rhydian
It didn't take long for us to arrive, we made sure to blend in by hiding our scent and acting like normal citizens, it could be a disaster if they notice we were vampires.
I kept asking for directions till I was directed to the witches queen's palace. Surprisingly, the palace had little to no guards, she must be confident in her strength.
I requested entrance from the guard standing by the palace doors, but he refused and kept asking for my pass. Not wanting to waste anymore time, I knocked him out with one swift move.
"Your majesty, you need to stop, what if this only makes them angrier?" Edmund ask, his tone both judgemental and scolding
"I have a feeling it won't." I brushed off his worry nonchalantly and pushed open the brooding doors of the queens palace.
"To what do I owe a visit from the vampire king?" A feminine voice echoed in the hall as soon as I stepped in, Edmund following cautiously behind me.
"I see, so you knew I was coming?" I asked with a smirk, but my eyes remained unreadable. Without waiting for me to say another word, the queen sent a powerful spell coming my way.
My smirk deepened as I doged it swiftly, Edmund tried stepping in to protect me, but I gestured for him to stay back, it was me she was after, I had to let her know I meant no harm.
Before I could regain my balance, she sent another spell hurtling toward me. I tried to dodge, but my legs wouldn't budge—they were stuck to the floor. Glancing down, I realized her earlier attack had trapped me. So that was her plan all along—make me think I needed to dodge, only to catch me off guard by rooting me in place.
When I looked back up, she had a smug smirk plastered on her face, clearly pleased with herself as her next spell came speeding toward me. Letting out a deep sigh, I raised my hand and swatted it away effortlessly, deflecting it like it was nothing.
Her smirk vanished in an instant, replaced by wide-eyed disbelief. She couldn't fathom how I'd deflected her spell so easily. Panicked, she quickly launched another attack, but this time, I didn't wait. Exhaling slowly, I braced myself—and in one swift motion, I was by her side before she could even react.
Thanks to my speed, the spell that had locked my feet in place was forcibly broken, freeing my legs. She gasped, clearly startled by how quickly I moved. As she prepared to launch another attack, I grabbed her wrist mid-motion. In one swift move, I pinned her against the wall, holding her hands above her head to keep her in place.
She struggled against my grip, her glare searing into me. "Let me go, you bloodsucker!" she hissed, her voice dripping with venom.
My smirk returned—this fiery temper clearly ran in the family.
"Queen Freya," I said, my voice calm but dangerously low, "we need to have a real conversation. So, what's it going to be? Keep wasting your energy attacking me, or calm down so we can talk? Your choice. By now, you should realize you're no match for me." My cold, emotionless gaze bore into hers as I waited for her response.
She sighed and finally stopped struggling. "You can let me go. I won't attack you," she said quietly. My eyes narrowed, growing even colder, and I noticed the way my cold expression made her shoulders tense.
"Don't try anything," I warned, my voice cold and firm. "I don't have much patience."
Reluctantly, I let her go. She huffed in annoyance but didn't retaliate. Instead, she turning around, her movements steady and majestic as she walked toward her throne. With a dramatic toss of her robe, she sat down. Her piercing gaze returned to me, sharp and unyielding.
"Well," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm, "what do you want? You definitely didn't come all the way here just for some petty chat did you?."
My smirk returned as I recalled sera, I couldn't wait to see this stubborn side of her, these two sisters were definitely two peas in a pod.
I exhaled deeply. "I know you sent your sister to kill me," I said calmly.
Her eyes flared with anger. "What did you do to Sera? Don't you dare hurt my sister, I swear—"
"Relax," I interrupted. "She's fine. I said I knew, not that I was angry about it."
Her brows knit in confusion as she tried to make sense of my words.
"Look, I don't blame you witches for hating vampires," I continued, my tone steady. "My father hunted your kind for centuries during his reign. I'll tell you this—I was never in support of that madness."
"Yeah, right," she snapped, glaring at me with pure hatred. "Like I'd ever believe that."
"It's your choice whether to believe me or not," I said evenly. "But hear me out. This feud started 400 years ago, back when my father was king..."
It took some time to explain everything to her, and even then, I didn't expect her to fully grasp it right away. Her hatred was still evident in the way her eyes burned with rage, like embers refusing to die out.
"Do you know how our parents died?" Freya asked suddenly, her grip on her staff tightening as she glared at me, visible tears welling up in her eyes.
"They died protecting us from you damned bloodsuckers!" she snapped, her voice shaking with a mix of anger and pain. "And now you expect me to just understand? To forgive you? Never. I could never forget what your kind did to them." Her grip on her staff tightened even more, her knuckles turning white as her eyes burned with raw hatred.
"Queen Freya," I said quietly, my tone controlled. "I won't pretend to understand or sympathize with your pain, but I do know what it feels like to lose your parents to the enemy. The man you want revenge on is long gone. His blood runs through my veins, but holding onto hatred isn't the solution here." I paused, the weight of my words sinking in. I never thought this day would come—the day when I'd be the one asking for validation.
"Killing you is the best answer, Vampire King. That's the only way our parents can rest in peace," she shot back, standing up abruptly from her throne. I swallowed hard, my eyes narrowing. Now she wasn't just mad —she was furious.