Chapter 11: The Alluring Guest!

The past few weeks were torture for Selena as she found herself under the constant eyes of the King’s concubine. She couldn’t lose her composure for even a second as she found that the concubine was testing her ruthlessly at every chance she got. Selena quickly realized that the concubine would not be an easy opponent as she had suspected her from the very start while no one else had paid any special attention to her and just let her be. Her relation with her birth mother remained just as strained as ever and after just a few weeks in the royal palace, she found herself missing her clan.

Demetri as usual was always by her side and was pushing her wheelchair.
“That woman is dangerous. Can you get me some information on her? Her birthplace, her family…..every single detail you can gather about her.”, Selena asked and Demetri nodded at her.

He too was starting get miffed by the concubine’s surprise tests that she sprang on them when they were the least bit prepared and she always succeeded in catching them unaware and flustered.

“Give me two days and everything Natasha Langdon had done in her lifetime would be before you”
“She suspects my identity and is constantly on the lookout. We can’t let our guard down”, Selena said in a serious tone and Demetri nodded at her.
Like her, he too was surprised and taken aback at having raised suspicion at the very beginning.

Suddenly, loud fanfare and cheers were echoed throughout the royal palace and Selena found herself frowning. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at Demetri, but he looked just as clueless as she was.

A palace maid ran on nimble toes and bowed as she saw the first princess.
“The King of the West has arrived and the King requires your presence in the throne room. Everyone has already gathered for welcoming him, Your Highness”
Selena shot a surprised look at Demetri. Not having set her foot outside the palace for her entire life, she had no idea who he was but judging by the look of awe and respect on Demetri’s face when he heard the name, she was guessing he was quite an important person. So, the fanfare she had heard earlier was the people of Valyria welcoming His Highness.

On their way into the throne room, Selena whispered, “Who is this King in the West?”
Demetri while keeping a keen eye on his surroundings whispered back, “Caro Silva. He is a noble born and a shield”
“A shield?”, Selena asked excitedly as she hadn’t yet come across any vampire with special abilities other than Demetri.
“So, that means even you can’t track him”, Selena double checked with Demetri and he nodded at her.
“How old is he?”
“A few centuries?”, he replied, he himself not quite knowing.

The one thing Demetri knew for sure was that Caro was an ancient vampire.
Selena nodded, awed.
She quickly changed her demeanor as she entered the throne room and bend her head timidly. Every bone in her body was curious to see this KIng in the West but she had to work hard to suppress her natural instincts and avoid eye contact with evryone and bend her head timidly.

Demetri pushed the wheelchair to the very corner end so as not to gather any unwanted attention but one man’s curious eyes were already on her without her knowledge.
The King didn’t even blink to acknowledge her presence. She might as well have been invisible.

Caro Silva was watching everything with a keen eye and he felt miffed that a father would treat his own daughter so indifferently.
“See anyone you like, Your Highness?”, a courtroom official asked him and he let out a sigh.
It was common news that he was looking for his bride. But he didn’t want an attractive woman, he wanted one who could earn both his and his people’s respect. He wanted both a queen and a wife.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Vanessa approaching him for the eleventh time and he let out another frustrated sigh. That woman didn’t seem to be getting the message. What made matters much worse was that even the King seemed to be pushing it forward enthusiastically which put him in a tight spot as he didn’t want to risk offending the King. He had already made up his mind that such a vain and pretentious woman could never be his queen.

His eyes narrowed at the blonde woman who was timidly sitting in the wheelchair in the corner and he shook his head disappointedly. The first princess too was cut off from his list of prospective brides. She was too nervous to look her own father in the eyes, much less rule a country with him.
Just then, she raised her head slightly and sneaked a glance at him, as if not being able to hold her curiosity any longer.

Not bearing to hold on much longer, Selena found herself sneaking a glance at the King in the West. She sucked in a sharp breath as she realized that there was a reason, he was quite the ladies man. He was delicious and absolutely stunning from top to bottom. He had a huge build and wide shoulders. He had a Greek god face with a sharp jawline that could cut through ice. But he had a cold and calculating look in his emerald green eyes as if he was accessing something. As expected of any ancient vampire, he too had a long, wavy hair.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise as their eyes contacted. He had expected the first princess to become flustered and immediately break the eye contact but she held the eye contact confidently and accessed everything about him curiously and Caro found herself staring back at the woman as if in a trance. To his surprise, it was him who broke the eye contact first. He blinked and she had bowed her head again and was fiddling with her fingers nervously. Caro found himself searching for something in that woman.

Though they weren’t acquainted personally, Caro had seen her interviews and she was such a shy person that she didn’t speak much and kept to herself. But the gaze which had spread through his body was anything but timid.

She had just checked him out from top to bottom and Caro found himself being taken aback for the first time in centuries.
An arm slid through his and he immediately broke into his thoughts. He froze as he realized that Vanessa was trying to come on to him again.
“Your Highness, let me show you around the palace”, she said sweetly but he found himself concentrating his attention on the first princess out the corner of his eyes.

It was as if he couldn’t help himself. Every few seconds, his eyes looked at her as if they couldn’t get enough of her and he found himself frowning.
Caro firmly looked at Vanessa and removed his arm and shot her a glare. He had been treating her with politeness because he was afraid of offending the King but this woman didn’t seem to be getting the hint.

Vanessa paled at Caro’s obvious rejection and a maniacal scowl erupted into her otherwise beautiful face.
Vanessa narrowed her eyes at the King of the West and to her disbelief found that the entity who had grabbed his attention was none other than her weakling sister.
She crossed her fingers into a fist, feeling humiliated and stalked off to find her mother, leaving the oblivious Caro to continue staring at the first princess curiously, with a twinkle in his eyes.

Demetri nudged her shoulders slightly and she immediately bent her head, horrified at what she had just done. Not being allowed to step out from her clan had made her into a curious cat who wanted to know everything. She internally cursed as she realized that she still felt his gaze still on her.

Judging by her step sister’s actions, it was quite obvious that she had a thing for him and was doing everything in her power to stay with him but he kept rejecting her coldly.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched a flushed Vanessa rush to her mother’s side and complain something in her ear. Her mother immediately shot a disapproving look at Selena and whispered something into her daughter’s ears.

“They are cooking up something”, Selena muttered in a low voice to her companion, Demetri who nodded at her, having sensed the same danger.
The Queen’s concubine came forward and bowed her head deeply before the King and said, “Your majesty, the first princess seemed to have been tired. After all, the poor lad had gone through life and death a few weeks back, so I beg of you to excuse her and allow her to rest in her room.”
Caro Silva frowned at the king’s concubine. It was obvious to anyone hearing here that she was nitpicking on the first princess on purpose. Did she intend to hinder her from forming contacts with powerful vampires?

Everyone knew that the King’s days were numbered and Caro could clearly see the little faded black marks in his neck. So, did she perhaps want her son to succeed the throne and was hindering the first princess chance to form allies on purpose?

Caro frowned as he realized that though he despised the concubine for her covert actions, he couldn’t fault her for trying to making sure that the first princess succeeds the throne as she was a weakling. She was a rather gentle, timid creature who no doubt wouldn’t fare well if she were to sit in the throne. Caro shook his head vividly, trying to remind himself for what reason he had come here. It would cause a lot of hindrance for a man like him if he were to fall for a frail, timid woman. His people would never accept a weakling either. He shook his head again, trying to clear his vision and thoughts and tried desperately not to look at the first princess when she was fleeing from the throne room under her father’s order.