11: Birthright

"Phoenix?" I heard gently to my left. "Phoenix, are you awake?"
I mumbled in response and slowly began to open my eyes. The blurry image of Sebastian appeared before me, eventually becoming clearer and clearer until I could see the blue of his pupils as he stared down at me.
I looked up at him confused and then around me at the strange room I was in. It was smaller than the one I lived in and the walls were made of wood panels, just as the floor was. On the floor, underneath a glass coffee table which had a neat stack of various novels, was a single silk Persian rug which sort of glimmered under the light of the reddish looking lamps which stood at the four corners of the room. In the far corner of the room, opposite the door was a bookshelf, filled to the brim with its fair share of novels as well, and next to it, a wardrobe.
"Where am I?" I asked, confused.
"My bedroom. It was the safest place to keep you. A weak hybrid is particularly vulnerable at the hands of these greedy vampires." Sebastian said as he helped me to sit up. I nodded in response, slowly remembering the events leading up to my fainting spell, and then blushed red.
"Sebastian! I'm so sorry-"
"You have nothing to apologise for. You keep on apologising for the wrong reasons, Phoenix. It is perfectly natural for vampires to be led by their sexual desires. So, what I saw today was an indication that you are slowly embracing that side of yourself. I am, however, upset with your choice of sexual partner. Liam is to be avoided at all costs. Not only can he not keep it in his pants, but he is your rival. There is no doubt he has some serious ulterior motives behind his intimacy. In fact-" he paused and stared into the distance, slowly coming to the realisation of something, "-I am almost certain he has been trying to consume your mind, make you lust over him, and weaken you to weaken your standing here. Yes! That's probably it. You must, at all costs, not entertain him when he tries to seduce you. Especially considering the fact that he is drinking from you as well. Is that clear, Phoenix?"
I gazed up at him and nodded. I did not particularly like Liam, and I was certain he didn't like me either, so it was only natural for me to assume the same things Sebastian was assuming: Liam Howard was a devilish seducer who was trying to steal my crown by driving me mad with lust. And if Sebastian said he needed to be avoided, then I would avoid him at all costs.
"Good, now, while you were sleeping- you were out for a few days- the palace has been occupied by five more noble families. In addition to this, the Vampire Council has announced that this week Saturday they will be having a meeting here, in the Great Hall to discuss how we will determine the succession of the throne. So, Saturday will be an extremely important day for us. The Council does not know of your existence yet, so we will use it as an opportunity to formally announce you as Athena's daughter."
He then began pacing up and down with his finger under his chin. "Hmmm... there will be so much to do this week then..." He then turned to me, icy eyes consuming my very being.
"Firstly, we will need to get you to start drinking blood. We will then need to get your table manners in check. We also need to have your attitude straightened out, your appearance fixed and polished... God, it will definitely be a long week for you and I."
I shivered at all of these expectations. At this point, I had no clue if I wanted to take over the throne. There were clearly so many expectations of me, and I was not even the Queen yet.
"...Phoenix? Were you listening to what I was saying?" Sebastian sighed out.
I shook my head no, and again, he said, "Speak up, girl. You keep on shaking your head or nodding. That is the first sign of a lack of self-confidence. You need to use your tongue. It is a vampire's greatest tool. You need to have everyone hanging from every word that leaves your tongue. You need to command a room, voice your concerns, be defiant. That's the kind of Queen we need. Someone not afraid to speak up. Your father has taught you to obey, hide and make yourself seem weak, your whole life. Now, I am going to teach you how to defy, how to be bold and how to be strong. You have no idea how much of power a being such as yourself has, and you haven't even scratched the surface."
I understood what he was saying, but still, I didn't seem convinced. Yes, Sebastian was quite good at talking a big game, but in essence, I'd known nothing but shyness and a lack of self-confidence my whole life. This was all new to me. I was no different than a newborn baby at this point, and already, so much was expected from me.
"Sebastian... I don't think I actually can do this. You all are expecting so much... I'm just simply Phoenix Ackerman, a freak of nature."
And that's when his blue eyes bore into mine, holding me in some kind of spell.
"That's exactly why I am expecting so much of you. I see it in your eyes Phoenix. You have the potential to fight and win. All you need is a good reason." He then paused, bit his lip, and then began to walk towards the bed where he bent down and reached for something underneath. When he came back up, towering over me, I realised it was the bag with my mother's necklace, crown and letter. He dumped the items on the bed.
"The royal crown, the royal necklace... and finally a letter from Athena herself. You have not one reason, but three now. I hope it's enough to get you to snap out of this silly little mind-set of yours."
I stared at the items, now littered all over Sebastian's pale orange sheets and gripped at the letter between my fingers. Perhaps it was time to open the damn thing. To rip off the band aid, as the saying went. Maybe, just maybe then this would all seem just a little less out of my head than it all seemed.
"I'm going to let you stay here for the night. By morning I expect you out of my room before 7 a.m. You need to get dressed and ready for breakfast. Perhaps tomorrow, after you've met the nobles, you will know exactly how serious this situation is."
"But Sebastian? Where will you sleep?"
"Don't you worry. I will be fine."
He then began to make his way to the door, before pausing, turning towards me and saying, "Remember, you stay away from Liam Howard. He might be a playful young man, but there are often more to his games than he lets on."
And then he exited, leaving me in this room which smelled of him. Was it strange that, although Sebastian yelled at me more often than not, and was probably centuries older than me, that I was actually beginning to take a certain liking to him? Perhaps it was the fact that he was there when I needed him the most, or the fact that for a man well in his centuries, he still as though he were barely out of his twenties. Or perhaps, it was the fact that out of everyone here, Sebastian seemed to be the only person who truly believed in me.
But I brushed away at these thoughts as soon as they came. Thinking of Sebastian as anything other than my mentor would no doubt spell trouble. Besides, I already had two men in my life who made more than sure to complicate it: Demetri, the mate I could never have but still yearned for, and Liam, the vampire who had a certain way with my body.
I looked down at the letter still clutched in my hand, waiting a few moments before I began dragging my nail across the edges of the envelope, and the remove the square-folded piece of paper. My heart thudded hard in my chest as I began unfolding it, and even more so as I began to read:
**Dear Phoenix,
If you are reading this letter, it means you have survived to your eighteenth birthday. Congratulations! It is a good sign that you are a survivor my child. It also means that, unfortunately I have passed on without you as a result of, what I can no doubtedly assume, foul play from those who wish to keep your father and I apart. If this is the case, then I am truly sorry that I was unable to watch you grow.
Your father and I lived most of our lives as good friends, and we truly did love each other. When his mate died, we were both quite devastated, and, although the thought might seem a little bit selfish, her death gave rise to your birth.
I hope your father hasn’t been too hard on you, it’s tough living without a mother, I should know. But I am sure that, knowing him, he has raised a fine, good, strong young woman, because that is what you need to be, especially considering your bloodline. You are the ultimate weapon against the Vampire Kingdom, to tear away at it’s cruel and exclusive rule, and when the time is right, you will be called fourth by my brother to take the throne as your own. When that day comes, I need you to remember something: the nobles have been running the vampire society for centuries on the simple fact that they are purebloods. They have looked down on werewolves, non-noble vampires and even humans, and they will look down on you. Do not, under any circumstances feel intimidated. You belong on that throne, it is in your blood. I also need you to remember that no one in that palace, except for my brother, and my advisor Sebastian Dragović may be trusted. The nobles like to play dirty, and my death is proof of it.
I won’t lie to you, my dear, and tell you that this will all be easy, because it won’t. You will face many, many obstacles and you will need to fight harder than you have ever fought before. You will need to be brave, strong, clever and cunning. The throne is your birthright, it belongs to you, don’t let those buffoons take what is yours. As a vampire, you are expected to take what you want, so want that throne more than anything else.
I love you dearly, my child, and I hope that one day we will be able to finally meet again.
Queen Athena Clara Lorenzo**
By the time I had finished reading the blotchy piece of paper, my face was dowsed in warmish tears and I began muffling my wails by burying my face in Sebastian’s pillow. I had no idea why the woman who had given birth to me, but never even met before, had made me cry so much. Her words were like shards of glass, piercing at my heart, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces.
A birthright. That was what I was fighting for. It was the last thing my mother had left me, and it was the last thing my father had instructed me to snatch. So perhaps, just perhaps I’d give it a try. For their sake.