Chapter 31: Entering the Kingdom of the West!

Selena took in the sight looming in front of her with an open, awestruck mouth. The beautiful, gigantic waterfalls, the lush green paddy fields. Having been confined into the General’s clan since birth, she had never been to other clans, much less, other kingdoms and she found herself becoming fascinated by her future fiancé’s kingdom even though her heart still wasn’t set on the marriage decreed by the King. Caro being a bastard, had only got a small kingdom as opposed to his brothers but he had very well maintained the prosperity of his little kingdom that it was nicknamed as the Heavenly Kingdom. The people in there were peace loving and courteous and Selena found herself completely taken in by just watching the scenic beauties of his kingdom.

They had long back, left behind their carriages and was now walking towards their destination, having already come a long way.
Selena found herself thinking unconsciously that if she were to indeed get married to Caro, this would be her new home. She flushed at the very thought of it and shook her head swiftly. She had just got rid of her shackles and she didn’t want to be tied up again in a marriage. All these years, she had been deprived of freedom. If she were to marry Caro, her responsibilities would grow significantly and she was still wet behind the ears. She would not only have to take of Valyrian matters but also act as a Queen in the Kingdom of the West.

As they crossed the borders, she saw the guards at the entrance.
The guard seeing their king, immediately rushed forward and bowed their head deeply. Caro acknowledged their bow politely, then walked past him, with Selena and Demetri right at his heels.
Selena was blown away by how Caro treated his subordinates with so much respect and courteousness. It was clear from their look of awe and respect when he walked past them that he wasn’t a king that they feared, rather he was a king they adored and respected from the bottom of their hearts sincerely.
Selena frowned as she compared that with her own kingdom. If she ever were to ascend the throne of Valyria, she decided that she had rather be a Queen that her people loved rather than be feared and well respected as her mother wanted her to be.

They attracted quite a few curious glances along the way from the citizens of the so called Heavenly kingdom.
A female approached them and bowed deeply before her king and hanging on to her chest was a wee toddler. Selena eyed the toddler closely and judging by his pale complexion, she was confident that the toddler was a vampire too and he closely resembled the woman who was carrying him, who turned out to be a human.

She could smell her clearly and she knew for a fact that she hadn’t made a mistake. The woman was definitely a human. But what was a human doing in a vampire’s clan? And why were all the vampires here so used to this human that they weren’t even trying to control their urges.

Selena having been trained since birth to control upon her urges, had just to take a second to regain her composure but judging by the barely tolerant expression on his face, Demetri was having a hard time controlling his natural instincts and urges to bite the woman. Vampires had peace with the humans for centuries and they kept on feeding form either willing humans or from animals.
But for the life of her, Selena couldn’t figure how the human was walking so confidently in a clan filled with vampires.

Seeing Selena’s surprised reaction, Caro let out a sigh, dreading the moment that was to come. He had wanted to avoid it before their wedding but consciousness eventually ran him over and he didn’t want to keep anything of this accord a secret so that later, Selena won’t feel tricked or deceived when she actually enters the kingdom.

“Meet my son”, he pointed to the toddler and Selena’s eyebrows vanished into her forehead in surprise. She was both socked and dumfounded by his sudden declaration and judging by Demetri’s look of disbelief, she wasn’t the only one feeling wrong footed.

Caro winced at her reaction, knowing full well that he was already on thin ice with her. He prayed to god that his honesty and upfront behavior would bring him positive points rather than negative ones.
Selena’s eyes immediately snapped to the woman holding the baby and she let out an indignant sigh, feeling cheated and insulted all of a sudden. The woman shot a panicked look between her lover and the female vampire who was currently glaring down at her, and she shriveled under her intense glare and took several steps back, frightened.

Selena felt miffed all of a sudden as she realized that she was scaring a fragile woman, then concentrated her attention back to Caro Silva, her so called fiancé.
“You already have a wife and you dare to take in a royal princess as your second wife?”, she snapped at him furiously, a rage slowly building inside her.
She wasn’t offended because she saw him as her man, she was offended that he had belittled her even though she was of royal origin. How could he be that atrocious and thick skinned enough to take in a princess as his second wife and not the main wife?

Caro winced at her tone and said softly, “I didn’t take her as my wife. That position is yours and no one else’s.”

Selena’s eyes narrowed dangerously at him as she got his inference. He took in her as a concubine and not a wife.
Selena shook her disappointedly at him. Growing up, Selena had always hated when the men of her clan took in other woman as concubines. It put their wife in edge and the women were forced to live their life while sharing their lover with each other. She had felt disgusted by the practice and she had vowed to herself that she would never be a part of that.

Making up her mind, Selena bowed her head at Caro and he found himself frowning at her.
“Your Highness, I simply refuse to share my man with anyone else and frankly I don’t think we would make a good match. I refuse to get involved with other’s family matters and you already have a child so that makes me the outsider even if I would be the main wife. So, with all due respect, Your Highness, let’s call of this engagement since even our basic ideologies are different.”