Chapter 36

Jasmine


I remained sitting on the bed, distantly twirling the pasta on the plate unable to find the appetite to eat anything at all.

The food items on other plates remained untouched too. Surely the attempt of the vampires in order to bring my appetite by placing different types of decorated food in front of me, sadly nothing at all looked appetizing to me.

I hated to see them worried like this, I also hated that I had lied more than umpteenth times in the past few hours whenever they asked me about the reason behind why was I acting all different.....Preferring silence.

What could I even tell them?

That the woman who have raised me from the start had been hiding everything that could solve my life?

Or the fact that hearing the names of those unknown people I supposedly had never met in my entire life had triggered some new flashbacks which indicated some truth I was not ready to accept?

I could say a thousand things but at the same time I could say none, and this time the second option was what I chose.

"You haven't eaten anything since morning. We can't let you spend the day like this, Jasmine." Archer said, grabbing the untouched plate served with pasta and putting it aside.

"I am not hungry," I sighed out but they knew well how to read me and it was in surprise that my answer have not convinced him or his brothers at all.

"Yeah, we all can see that," Archer spoke, his sarcasm could not go overlooked.

"No, I don't have any appetite to eat anything, today," I said.

However, my attempt to sound convincing did work but that arose a question that came from Lucien.

"And what's the reason behind this lack of appetite?" He asked, his one eyebrow lifting as he did so.

"I don't know, maybe there's no reason...." I uttered, lowly.

"We won't force you to tell us what it is, but if you are stressing over what our father said you should completely get that out of your head. Like we said, let destiny decide things for us, not the people around us." Micheal said and walked closer, sitting beside me on the bed.

I did not know what to say it was quite true that I was not exactly worrying about what king Elijah had said but at the same time his words had some contribution in adding to the stress and extreme amount of homelessness that'd embedded into every inch of my body.

"However, he saying that we won't pressurize you does not mean that you are going to get away with avoiding food," Lucien spoke, a small smirk tugged at Micheal's lips and Archer grabbed the bowl of fruit salad scooping a spoonful of it and raising it to my mouth.

"This bowl of salad is the least amount of fruit you can eat and if you decline we have plenty more options that include main dishes," Archer said, his tone growing mischievous, "And I am more than sure that with this sudden lack of appetite of yours, you would not prefer those....right?"

As much as I wanted to decline the offer, I knew what the outcomes would be if I did so.

My eyes momentarily glanced at the other plates that had more food served than a person like me could eat, so I did not dare to decline this humble offer of his cunning vampire who intentionally put me in the middle of a dilemma.

Without raising anything else, I opened my mouth, and smiling Archer feed me the salad.

"Attagirl," He praised as I let him feed me the rest of the salad without any further debate. 



*******


All of us had shifted on maybe a few hours ago, and although sleep hadn't gotten to any of us the discomfort was not there as well.

I tried keeping my thoughts together and forcing myself to sleep but it was far away from me. But Lucien's hand drew small circles on my back whilst I listened to his steady heartbeat and basked into the cozy feeling of his cold skin against mine, and Micheal's hand playing with my hair and occasionally brushing over my cheek or shoulder did help me a lot in keeping myself distracted.

A small sigh slipped past my lips and I tangled my fingers with Archer's, looking at his pale skin with interest as I brushed my thumb over the skin on the back of his fingers.

"You don't seem to have the sleep tonight, do you?" The chuckle came from Archer and a laugh rumbled in Lucien's chest too as it vibrated against me.

I looked at Archer, a frown taking place on my lips not because of his question but because I myself did not have the answer to that.

"That isn't a secret anymore," Michal snickered and moved in inhaling my scent from my hair.

"She is planning on staying awake like a cute little owl," Lucien murmured into my hair.

"At least owl is better than bats," I mentioned.

The surprised laugh tore from Archer's throat and the other two as well, they sure understood here the message behind the bat was directly related to them.

"Touché," Lucien chuckled, and then we fell into silence again just like what had been happening for the past few hours, talking and basking in silence in between.

As the moments passed, my mind once again began drifting into the jumbled mess of thoughts crossing it. The flashbacks and the denial of Martha, her words were echoing in my head but amidst all of it, the name of that one particular kingdom was screaming loud.

Vaidel Dynasty....

I raised myself a bit to look at Lucien, "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"What do you know about Vaidel Dynasty?"

His body froze at my question, the seemingly perpetual worry once again embedded in his eyes.

"Jasmine, You...." he began but I put my finger on his lips silencing his next words.

"It's just my curiosity, I just feel like I should know about it," I said hoping he'd understand, "Please," I glanced at Archer and Micheal sending them the silent request with my eyes.

The stiffness in Lucien's body melted soon after and a sigh of defeat slipping from the parting of his lips told me there was not going to be any reluctance from his side, at least for now.

Archer and Micheal did not have anything to say too.

"Vaidel Dynasty was the most powerful realm of that time, we did not know much about the kingdom neither did we ever got the ca=hence to visit it side we remained busy all the time with the training and stuff. But as much as we heard about, Lord Fredrick was unbeatable, he alone was enough to defeat thousands of well-trained soldiers." As Lucien spoke, the flashbacks residing in me began stirring awake.

I could see the blurred flashback losing its blur and becoming clear, the very familiar garden I had always seen in my dream started getting vivid.

The memories were touching me, even though the touch was very light almost as if they could miss past someone's realization.

"He was not cruel like most of the kings and lords as that time was, he used to care for people and protect their rights whether It was a human or a vampire and this virtue of him made him the greatest vampire of that time but of course, the world often turns against the ones who decide to ignore the path of wrong. He always kept his wife and daughter protected," He said, the movements of fingers drawing circles on my lower back slowing down, "The risks on his daughter was more since everyone thought when she'd grow up she could be a risk for many deceptive vampires and lord of that time, just like her father was for them. He kept her daughter's identity so concealed that nobody even knew her name."

"Who could blame him for taking these extra measures to ensure the safety of his family? He had many enemies and greedy vampires who wanted to take his position and there's a record of him facing multiple attacks from different kingdoms, there was a time when his own alliances were betraying him and it was then he had asked for help from my father to support him with soldiers for a battle since we were the only kingdom who could be compared with Vaidel dynasty when it was a matter of strength and support," He continued.

"This was the time when the relationship between our kingdom and Vaidel Dynasty started growing, Lord Fredrick wouldn't travel a lot that's why it was only once dad and mom had gotten the chance to meet them, but we never got the chance since the circumstances were different," Lucien voice grew serious as he spoke, "But everything came to an abrupt hall when the rouges attacked the kingdom, killing everyone in the darkness of the night and pouncing on the unprepared and oblivious kingdom like hungry animals and taking the lives of thousands in the most gruesome anyone had ever been killed."

"Just like that.....the greatest kingdom of all time was wiped off from the history." He released a low sigh as if the reality itself terrified him.

"T-The bodies of the king and queen?"

"Once the attack was over and those vampires looted everything, they fled away leaving everything as it was. Lord Fredrick's dead body was burned in the fire that those brutes set on the palace and Queen Katherine's body with her daughter's one beside her was later found beside the river by some people who by fortune were not in the kingdom during the attack and performed separately performed their Cremation."

I did not know why the burning ache in my chest was eating me alive. It was this pain I could feel but could not explain, it was the sadness and overwhelming feeling that occurred without any signs.

It seemed hard for me to even breathe but the next question automatically left my mouth, "Why didn't they bury her instead of...." I could not utter the rest of the question.

I just couldn't.

"The royal vampires, if they are murdered or died in a battle or any similar circumstances like that are not buried. It's for the peace of their souls and it's believed that performing the Cremation would allow them to have peace in their afterlife." The answer came from Micheal, his voice was gentle as always.

I could not get myself to speak anymore.

The silence shrouded my existence, the description of the reality had left me shaken to my soul as if it was not only their story, it was something related to me too.

I could see them but at the same time, I couldn't.

Something inside me was telling me that I had known this reality for my entire life, but how could I trust the words of the self that resided in me and the same existence who did not remember her own past?!

I sucked in a breath, harshly shutting everything going inside my head.

I needed some time to get myself pieced back together. I needed it.

I let my head fall back on Lucien's chest, letting the soul-shaking silence engulf me without any protest and I slowly fell into oblivion without another word leaving my mouth.

I did not know if I had any connection with Vaidel Dynasty but...

Whenever I heard the names Fredrick and Katherine, only one word rang in my head and that was— Family.