Chapter 55: Courting the princess of Valyria!

Selena getting the gut feeling that she was being followed by someone when she was walking through the forests nonchalantly where her Falak dragon’s home was started increasing her pace. Finally losing her patience, Selena turned around and shot a furious look at her stalker who turned out to be none other than the infamous Dominic Vanhuesan himself.

“Stop following me, boy!”, she snapped at him, annoyed and he peevishly showed himself from behind the tree from which he had been ogling her. He was merely curious and fascinated by everything she did.

She raised an eyebrow at him cockily and asked incredulously, “What are you up to now? Following me and keep an eye on me to see what your enemy is up to?”
Dominic winked at her charismatically and murmured, “More or less.”

Selena eyed him warily, wondering of a way to get rid of him, assured that a vampire like him following her would never end up in something good.
Beating around the bush when he clearly had his eye on something wasn’t Dominic Vanhuesan’s style so he decided to go with the flow rather than fight it.

“You look beautiful”, he declared out loud, genuinely meaning it as he gazed at her affectionately. Being back in her natural red, curly hair, she shone brighter than the sun and Dominic couldn’t take his eyes off her, no matter how hard he tried.

Selena frowned at him, not expecting a compliment from him and was quite taken aback by it, then dismissed it altogether and stared him down, predicting some foul play or trap from him. Reading her intentions, he frowned at her in return, upset that she thought very little of him and didn’t at all have a very good impression of him.

Seeing that she was still eyeing him keenly, he decided it was better to come off clean and confess his feelings for her rather than being constantly misunderstood by her.
He slumped his shoulders and said as he raised his arms in the air in a mock surrender gesture, “look, I have no weapons in my hand nor am I up to some dirty trick. All I want is to talk to you.”
Selena eyed him warily, then overrun by curiosity nodded at him to join her in her leisure stroll in the forest.

He flashed her a wolfish smile, flattered that at least she had let him walk with her. If it were any other woman, he would have already had her in his bed, but strangely enough Dominic found himself being glad of the littlest thing and patient when it comes to Selena and it surprised him too sometimes.
She kept giving curious glances in his direction while he struggled to make small talk because of his nervousness.

“I apologize for my father’s behavior”, he said sincerely.
Selena cocked an eyebrow at him and murmured, “Are you apologizing for your father’s attempt at murdering me in cold blood or his rude behavior when I showed up unannounced?”
Dominic winced at her attack and murmured apologetically, bowing his head down in shame at his father’s rather reckless and impudent behavior, “Both”
She nodded at him and said, “Please tell him to stop harassing the female attendants or sooner or later, I will cut off his hands”


Dominic cursed internally, knowing full well that he couldn’t justify his father’s appalling actions. Being the son of Count Dracula, he had always held himself in high regard and acted as if the whole world rightfully belonged to him and Dominic and his father never really got along and he was embarrassed of his father’s actions.

“I shall warn him’, he stated stiffly, disapproval of his father flowing in his tone, which Selena noticed too. She eyed him more keenly as she realized that the father and son didn’t quite get along as she had initially thought.

Selena stopped abruptly and turned around and almost crashed into Dominic who had been intently following right behind her steps and asked, “Okay, let’s hear it….What you are really here for?”
“I want to cancel the duel of the kings and my invasion attempt provided you take the throne.”, he stated blankly and Selena scoffed at him, clearly not believing a word he just said.


“And pray, do tell me, why this sudden change of mind?”, Selena asked him mockingly and he replied calmly, “Because you deserve the throne of Valyria. Don’t get me wrong, my initial intention was really to conquer Valyria but it was not because of any of the selfish desires I possessed, it was merely to free the citizens of Valyria who were suffering terribly under the current rule. Though King Andrew is quite an honorable man, he is nothing but a mere puppet in his mother’s and the council’s hands.”

Selena eyed him warily, unsure of whether or not to trust his words. Trusting someone else, especially an enemy could prove very dangerous so she decided that she needed to keep a certain distance from him, at least for a while since she still hasn’t figured out what his deal was.
She nodded meekly at him, acknowledging his words without quite responding to it as she didn’t trust his intentions yet entirely. Selena worried about Demetri’s reaction as the Vanhuesan’s were the ones who destroyed his family and an ugly fight between the two of them was unavoidable if they were to clash and she really hoped that they wouldn’t.

She decided to change the topic into a much safer one and said nonchalantly, “So you are the great Dominic Vanhuesan. I have been hearing stories about you from the minute I stepped out of my foster father’s clan.”
He laughed charmingly and Selena found herself slowly relaxing to his presence.
“Like wise, I feel like I already know everything about you.”

Dominic then hesitated for a second, then bit his lips uncertainly as if trying to make up his mind, whether to go for it or not and asked nervously, “So, I see your in good terms with my grand uncle?”
Selena shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and replied, “Well, we are not exactly on good terms. I am sure you already know about our past, rather brief engagement. But he is a man I greatly admire and cherish as a friend and ally.”

Dominic nodded at her, deciding not to come off too strong by prodding further.
“You are his grand nephew, aren’t you?”, she asked and he nodded at her.
“He had once talked about this woman who had captured his heart, soul and body but I never expected it to be you. And now having seen you face to face, I can fully understand him. Who wouldn’t fall for a woman like you?”
She smiled politely, and not wanting to discuss further about Caro Silva, she avoided his eye contact as she was still a little bit bitter by her mother’s framing. Though she felt guilty that she had doubted Caro and had left Valyria without even giving him a chance to explain, she felt like in this fifty years, they had grown quite far apart that a reconciliation between them as lovers was almost impossible. She had decided to maintain his friendship and allyship with him but that’s it, as going any further than that would make it unnecessarily complicated and she was a woman who hated complications and drama. She already had enough drama in her life to entertain her for another two to three centuries, she didn’t want more.

Selena ear’s pricked up suddenly as she realized that someone else has been following them.