Chapter 12: Running into the King of the West!

“Your Highness, are you looking for something?”, Caro Silva’s attendant asked him, flustered at having his Sire roam around the palace, seemingly lost and in a daze.

The truth of the matter was that Caro had sneaked away from the dinner after the dessert had been served since he was overcome with curiosity about the first princess. He wanted to avoid Vanessa’s desperate attempts too. He had made an excuse of being tired and excused himself early, killing two birds with one stone.

He frowned at his attendant disapprovingly and asked in a small voice, “By chance, do you know where the first princess’s chamber is?”

The attendant let out a sigh and nodded. He should have guessed that was where his Sire was headed towards. He too had taken notice of his Sire’s infatuation towards the first princess at the throne room. He had kept staring at the first princess like a lovesick fool.

“Sire, forgive me for my impudence. There is no doubt that the first princess is a breathtaking beauty but our clan would never accept a queen who can’t even stand on her own two legs”, the attendant stated disapprovingly and Caro frowned at him.

He knew that well himself but he just couldn’t control his curiosity towards the first princess. It was like with just that one eye contact they had shared earlier in the throne room, she had had enamored him body and soul.

He smiled as his eyes pinpointed on the first princess sitting on her wheelchair in the forest surrounding the palace grounds and he started making his way towards her, completely ignoring what his attendant had just warned him a few seconds ago.
He frowned as he realized that her eyes were scanning throughout the grounds. He instinctively hid behind a huge willow tree which completely covered both him and his attendant. However, his stubborn eyes were still firmly fixed on the first princess.

Her guard seemed to be on alert too, scanning for the presence of an intruder which made him frown, wondering what the hell they were up to.
The first princess then snapped her fingers, and to his amazement, he saw that the apple tree in front of her bend itself and she plucked a juicy apple from the tree and threw another one to her guard who caught it reflexively.

With a smug smile on her face, she took a bite from her apple and snapped her fingers again. The tree straightened itself to its original position and the princess smiled smugly at her guard as she bit down her apple haughtily. Her guard chuckled and dragged the wheelchair back into her chambers, leaving Caro and his attendant with their mouth wide open.

He blinked rapidly, not quite sure what he had just seen and his attendant followed suit and set out from behind the willow tree.
His attendant’s condition was just the same as his was. Never in these many centuries had he seen a power like hers.
“I didn’t imagine that, did I?”, Caro asked in an awed tone and the attendant shook his head, having seen the exact same miraculous thing.

All the vampires with special abilities never hid their powers and openly showed it to their world to boast but he had never heard about the first princess having any special abilities and judging by the look of surprise on his attendant’s face, nor had he.
He racked his brains and he frowned as he realized never once had he heard that the first princess possessed special abilities, not even in any interview. And there was now way that such a superior vampire would be paralyzed from the waist down. Caro frowned as he realized that he was missing something quite important.

He took a firmer step towards the princess’s chamber and he knocked on her door. His knock had clearly taken them by surprise, since a loud crash and hurried breathing could be heard from inside.
Several seconds passed before the door was pulled open by her guard.

Demetri raised an eyebrow in surprise seeing Caro Silva himself standing before him.
“Forgive me, may I have a word with the princess?”, Caro asked in a formal tone and the guard frowned at him, but nevertheless took a step back to let him in.

Caro found the princess sitting firmly on the wheelchair with a nonchalant attitude but his eyes darted across the room restlessly and zoomed in on the two swords lying in the ground. It was sloppily covered up with a blanket but Caro being an expert weapons master, could easily figure out that it was the outline of swords.

They were training, Caro realized and took in a sharp breath and sure enough one of the princess’s shoes was still lying in the ground nearby and the princess looked out of breath too. Caro’s curious eyes raked over the princess’s face in surprise. There was something about this woman that made him want more….made him want to know everything about her. He flushed in embarrassment as he realized that his first assessment of her had been far away from the truth.

Caro bowed his head at the princess while she shot a glare at him openly, frustrated at having been caught when she had been training. She hastily pulled her feet in, and let her gown flow covering her feet and prayed to God, that Caro didn’t notice anything amiss.

Caro raised an eyebrow in surprise as he saw the princess’s open hostility towards his unwelcome presence and realized that this woman was anything but timid.
“Forgive me, my princess. I just wanted to pay my respects to you since you couldn’t join the dinner because of your ill health.”
She let out a sigh in frustration and shot a pointed look at Demetri that clearly said, ‘get rid of him now’
Caro narrowed her eyes at her. Gone was her timid nature. Even though she was flustered at being caught unawares, she was the least bit rattled and didn’t seem to have even an ounce of interest in him and her stern look at her guard indicated that she might have more control and power than what she was quite letting on.

Selena narrowed her eyes dangerously at the King in the West and through gritted teeth, murmured, “Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. As you can see, Your Highness, I am quite well”
Caro raised an eyebrow taken aback by her voice. He had expected it to be low or quivering but her voice held a lot of power and she had spoken every syllable in a clear voice. With a jolt, he realized that he was being dismissed which further irked his curiosity.

Every female vampire in the Kingdom of Valyria lusted after him and wanted to be his bride but the woman in front of him can’t wait to get rid of him.

Demetri bowed humbly towards the King in the West and showed him the way out and Caro let out a sigh, knowing that he was beat.
To avoid arousing suspicions, Caro asked, “I intend to pay my respects to the Queen too since I didn’t see her at the throne room. Could you be kind enough to point me in her direction?”
“The Queen lives in the north quarters” Demetri said simply and Caro nodded at him as he went out.

His mind was busy reeling with thoughts. The both of them were training and judging by how worn out the guard had looked when he had arrived, the princess was quite skilled in combat. But then why was she pretending to be paralyzed? Why was she pretending to be a timid weakling who wasn’t good at anything?

“She is a tigress hiding her claw and pretending to be a kitten. Keep an eye on her for now”, Caro commanded his attendant who bowed deeply, accepting his order without hesitation.

His attendant then hesitated for a split of a second before mustering up his courage for asking the forbidden question, “Sire, what is your intention with her? Are you merely curious or?”

Caro smiled at his quick-witted attendant. Sure enough, after working for him for centuries, he had seen right through his intentions. Caro had already made up his mind about the first princess on his way back from the princess’s chambers.

“My intention? I intend to make her my Queen”