Chapter 30

Jasmine


Three annoyed vampires stood beside me, Lucien on my right and Micheal and Archer on my left side. The look of dissatisfaction remained evident on each of their faces and the laugh I had been trying to control for the past five minutes tore through my throat.

"You find it funny, huh?" Archer asked raising one of his eyebrows, he clearly did not look pleased.

"It's actually funny, you all are acting like horny little teenagers," I drowned in laughter, just the expression they had on alone was enough to make me laugh to the point my stomach hurt.

"You seem to enjoy our suffering a little too much, don't you?" Michael asked, the frown remaining on his beautiful face.

"No, Your Majesty," I smiled tracing a finger over his sharp jaw and he instantly drew in a sharp breath, "I think your impatience is cute."

"If everything goes well, the rest of the night is going to be a very long night for you," The low whisper of Lucien sounded in my ear and my body froze instantly.

Upon noticing my reaction the smirk tugged at Micheal's lips and he grabbed my hand raising it to his lips before kissing the back of it, "Well, I can't wait for it."

The heat covered my face and the indescribable anticipation arose causing my stomach to take different turns. I did not know why the thought of what they said coming true excited me this much.

I slowly withdrew my hand involuntarily chewing on my bottom lip as I averted my gaze away from them and focused it on the doorway.

They seemed to notice my flustered state and apparently, their amusement grew more at this.

Before the situation get more intense for me than it already was, I saw a maid approaching us. 

"Your Majesty, sorry for the interruption but the king and queen of Devuniake, and their companions have arrived. Your presence is needed for greeting them."

"Mom has come too." A smile tugged at Michael's lips and the visible happiness shined in all of their eyes.

They looked truly delighted by the news, unlike the time when they had learned that their father was going to visit them, this time their reaction was completely contrary to it.

I got no time to register anything, but their visible excitement made them act faster than I had thought.

"Mom's going to be so happy to see you," Archer grinned and placed a quick kiss on my lips leaving me stunned for a second due to his sudden movement but then again I did not get any time to react because the moment with a smile  Lucien slid his arm around my waist and began leading the way.

"Let's go." He said and walked to the entrance of the palace.

As the gate was opened, I saw the royals getting out of the elegant cars that were lined up.

From the first car, got out an unfamiliar yet familiar face—The king of Devuniake, Elijah Blackwood.

How did I know his name? I did not know at all but I just knew and somehow I remembered their face of his which was much younger at the time being the flashback decided to sweep back into my remembrances.

One second I was drowning in the messy haze of the memories that I still couldn't see through and the next moment everything went blank, falling into the same darkness as if nothing ever existed.

Everything around me became so hazy that I barely realized the beautiful woman with the king who stood in front of us, behind them were a small of people who could be more than ten or fifteen in number.

Lucien, Micheal, and Archer stepped forward almost instantly, looking extremely happy to see her.

"Y'all have grown up so much..." The tears could be seen in her eyes, and she moved to caress Lucien and Micheal's cheeks.

It did not take me much to understand that she was their mother.

The way the grown-up vampires have turned into small puppies in behavior just by the sight of her, anybody could tell seeing their mother after years had made all their emotions attack at once.

"And you, you couldn't even make coffee on your own and always needed me for even the little things. Still, you all forgot your mom so easily?" A small sniffle broke through.

"We did not forget you, mom," Archer sighed and hugged her, "How could you even think we'd forgotten you?"

"Then why didn't you all try to contact me once in all these years? I had tried calling you so many times, tried every way to contact you but you all never responded." Came her quiet complaint, the tears still sliding down her cheeks.

"You know the reason," Lucien spoke, gently.

"So, you all decided to punish me for someone else's mistake. I am your mother, you could have at least talked to me, listened to me but you all had acted even more instant than your father." She snapped.

King Elijah looked at the scene with an emotional facade, there seemed to be something going on behind his dark eyes of his but he did not let it show on his face. All the emotions went hidden underneath the plain sheet of blank he put.

"Can we talk about this later, mom?" Micheal asked ever so softly, flashing her an apologetic smile, "The guests are waiting."

She seemed to understand it and nodded wiping away her tears.

Archer did not let go of her, he kept her close with a hand around her shoulder comforting their weeping mother.

I felt bad for her, in the problems between the father and sons she seemed to be the one who got burdened with the distance for no reason.

Lucien cleared his throat and finally, they looked at their father, the look as though they were seeing a stranger who they did not accept as their father anymore.

"King Elijah," Lucien spoke," I and my brothers, the kings of the Black vale dynasty Welcome you to the kingdom of Hillwood. Thank you for giving us the pleasure of having your presence in our kingdom."

"Thank you for the honor." King Elijah smiled but that was not a proper smile.

The conversation between the father and son got more and more awkward as both of their stares went cold and a small conversation occurred that seemed nothing personal other than the superiors of two kingdoms having a conversation with each other.

Momentarily my mind got distracted when I saw Micheal silently exchanging messages with her mom through his eyes.

Their mom's gaze set on me, a smile curved on her lips as well as the happiness shined in her eyes. She gently gestured to me to get closer.

I slowly moved toward her and Micheal made me stand beside him whilst his mom's hand raised to caress my cheek.

"She's so beautiful," She grinned ear to ear looking at me adoringly.

"She is," Archer smiled looking at me and the blush crept up on my cheeks.

"What's your name?" She asked, the smile never fading from her face.

"Jasmine," I replied.

"Such a pretty name," She said, "I hope my idiot sons have not troubled you a lot. They could be a handful to handle."

The laugh threatened to tear from my mouth at the way Archer's eyes moved to stare at his mom in disbelief but she continued unaffected by her son's reaction.

"Just tell me if they annoy you, and I'll teach them a lesson."

I nodded still holding my laugh, but my expression could not hide my struggle anymore. It was evident that I was having a hard time trying not to laugh.

The conversation between Lucien and their father had made it easy for me to escape everyone's gaze, thankfully none's attention had drawn upon me.

"Why haven't you all marked her yet?" The sudden question from her caused my entire body to freeze, my breathing stopped for a second, and the unexplainable distress sprouted.

Micheal slipped his hand around my waist, silently comforting me and Archer decided to speak.

"Mom, Jasmine is not a....." Before Archer could finish, a sentence from King Elijah diverted all our attention at once to a completely different route.

"Well, we have someone special with us whom you all should meet."

Lucien and Micheal both their eyebrows rose ever so slightly in surprise that showed mixed with less visible confusion.

"Princess, Fiona..." Soon as the name fell off his lips, the prior surprise I had seen on their features got fully overshadowed by the chaos.

A blonde lady walked passing the crowd and respectfully the rest of the royals made way for her to walk and stand beside the king, her cat-like eyes stared at each of the vampires in such a way that I couldn't decipher.

Something about her gaze was odd...I just did not like the way she looked at them, the lust and greed that was peeking through her long lashes. A smirk tugged her lips as she took her time looking at each of the vampires I loved from the bottom of my heart.

She was looking at them as if they were her belongings....

But they are not hers!

The half-slit red dress and the long heels she had worn made her look elegant but behind that elegance, the lack of dignity was not hidden in any way.

"This is Fiona, the princess of Arendelle," Their father introduced Fiona to them and still they looked utterly confused, maybe because they couldn't understand the reason behind her arrival?

"Welcome to the Black vale dynasty, Princess. Thanks for owing us the pleasure of having you here." Lucien flashed her a small smile and offered his hand.

A very strange gleam shined in her eyes and she shook his hand, her fingers brushing on his skin in a manner that was not appropriate in any way.

Clearing his throat, Lucien withdrew his hand maintaining the smile to erase the awkwardness.

The turmoil rising within me calmed only the tiniest bit but everything else remained unsettled and cluttered in the wave of unrest.

I did not like the way that woman's gaze was fixated on.....my mates.

"You really don't need to thank me for something I did for myself, after all, it's going to be my home...soon." The words left her mouth without any hesitation and she had the audacity to flash them a seductive smile.

Call me jealous but I loathed her voice and her shameless way of speaking from my core.

"Pardon?" Micheal spoke, bewildered.

She did not respond instead she glanced at their father and King Elijah finally took the cue to speak.

"Why don't to continue this conversation in private? There are a lot of things I need you all to know."

The knowing smirk took over Fiona's lips and the expression on the vampire's mother's face laced with dismay.

Micheal and Lucien glanced at me and probably noticing my worry Archer comfortably squeezed my hand as if to tell me that there was nothing I should worry about but little did he know, I could already see the signs of the calm before the storm?

"Sure," Lucien spoke looking back at his father.

But I already was fully aware that.....this upcoming conversation was not going to bring any fortune for us.