Leon was surprised by how strong the prince was. He already knew from experience that vampires could toss people around as easily as if they were pillows. Somehow, he still hadn't been expecting the vice-like grip on him from the willowy frame of the prince. He was slender and shorter than Leon himself and there was a hollowness to his cheeks as if food was scarce. By all rights, this man dragging him away to feed on him shouldn't have had the strength that he did. It seemed even the frailest of vampires were quite strong and capable, though.
Leon didn't think it was wise to struggle with the twenty or so other vampires in the great hall watching them depart, and so he remained docile as the prince dragged him away and even when he asked a skittish servant girl where he could rest for the day. Other than the servant girl, they were alone in the hall, though, and Leon felt a small spark of hope. The vampire prince was strong, but judging from his injuries, he wasn't invincible. And they were now alone.
There are windows all around here. If I could get away, just get out one of the windows... The sun will be up and if I booked it out of here while it's sunny, I should be too far for them when night hits to bother going after, right?
He hadn't seen a better opening since he was caught months ago. He was betting that the prince wasn't expecting him to struggle at this point, too.
Leon suddenly rooted his feet to the ground and leaned back to put all his weight into refusing to move forward anymore.
"Come -"
As the prince started to turn to him and before he could say any more than that, Leon threw everything he had into swinging his fist straight at the prince's head. The prince let him go, and then his fist whooshed through thin air. Leon stumbled forward with the motion of it. He didn't even get the chance to balance himself before he hit the ground with a grunt and someone's knee and hand were on his back, pinning him to the floor.
"Get the fuck off me," Leon growled, his heart thundering in his ears.
"Be quiet," the prince hissed in his ear. "They can still hear us."
Leon paused at that. They?
"I'm not going to feed on you," the prince went on to say softly in his ear. Even as close as the prince was, he was speaking so softly that Leon could barely hear what he was saying. He realized he should have realized it immediately, but it hit him that the prince didn't want the other vampires in the great hall to hear any of this. "So calm down and come with me."
It was hard to believe, but Leon couldn't think of any solid reason for the prince to lie about this. The thought crossed his mind that it could just be a ploy to get him to not struggle the rest of the way, but with how easily he'd just pinned him to the floor, Leon didn't think the prince needed him to behave to get him where he wanted him.
"Can you do that," the prince asked, still in that almost impossible-to-hear tone.
Leon hesitated a moment, still trying to think of some way this was a trick or how this could otherwise go badly for him. After a few long seconds, he nodded, though, mostly on the realization that it was in his best interest at this point.
The prince got off of him and Leon started to get up. He was on all fours when he saw the hand extended silently towards him, however, and he looked up in surprise at the vampire prince offering him a hand up off the ground where he'd pinned him there just a few seconds before. He raised a brow, looking up past the hand and at the prince's face.
The prince responded with a silent bend to his fingers like a 'give me' motion. Bewildered as he was, Leon took his hand and let the prince help him to his feet. Once he was up, the prince let go of his hand immediately and Leon scowled as the prince wiped his hand on his coat and scratched at the palm.
Did my fucking peasant germs get on you? Soooooo sorry, Your Highness, Leon thought, rolling his eyes. If it was such an offense to him for them to touch, why had he offered the help?
The rest of their walk through the halls was silent and remained that way until they stepped into the bedroom allotted for the prince. It was exactly the sort of finery Leon would expect from a guest room in a minor lord's house. The bed was a large four-poster with heavy curtains in a deep green-blue color. The wood of the furniture all appeared to be hand-carved with bountiful fruit gardens. The ornate dresser across from the bed, the chest at the foot of the bed, the plush rug, the heaviness of all the fabrics that eluded to their high quality: it was all better quality than anything Leon was certain his family had ever owned. There was something achingly cold about the space, though; it was the kind of cold and empty expected from guest quarters. Not for the first time, Leon felt a pang of longing for the warm love that clung to the very walls of his family home.
There were more important things to worry about than the unfeeling coldness of this room, however. Leon turned quickly to look at the vampire he was now alone with. He still wasn't sure if being alone with one vampire was better than sitting with a group of twenty them, but somehow it *felt* more dangerous despite the prince's words out in the hall.
"What the fuck you planning on doing to me if you're not gonna bite me," Leon asked, feeling his heart starting to pound already.
The prince glanced at the door and reached out to turn the knob, seemingly testing the lock. The door didn't budge, and he seemed to be satisfied by that because he turned to face Leon, weariness in his face.
"Nothing," the prince answered. He turned and walked straight over to the bed where he flopped backwards onto it with a soft grunt and tension in his face that Leon could only assume meant the flop had aggravated his injuries.
Leon was more concerned with the short answer he'd been given than the prince's hurt, though.
"What do you mean, nothing," Leon asked, a little flabbergasted.
The prince turned just his head to look quizzically at Leon. "Did you want me to bite you," he asked.
"Well... No," Leon faltered at the question. He rubbed at the back of his neck, fighting the shiver that wanted to go down his spine when his fingers brushed over the puncture scars there. He already knew what it was like to have one of these fuckers pull his head aside and see the flash of their long fangs coming for him. Mahvash hadn't exactly been keeping him untouched despite presenting him as a gift to this prince. "But that's what you leeches do!"
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
The prince grimaced slightly at the word 'leech' and sighed heavily before turning his face to look at the ceiling. "Not me. It's like I told you on the road, I don't intend to bite you."
Leon raised a brow. "So what makes me so special, then? Huh? Everyone else acted like fae blood's vampire catnip. And you are a vampire, so I know you do drink blood. So what're you planning with mine?"
"I don't understand why you're so upset that I'm not going to bite you," the prince said, his brow furrowing hard as he continued to stare up at the ceiling.
"I'm not fucking mad about that!" Leon shouted. "I just don't like not knowing what the fuck is happening! Or not knowing when you're gonna fucking bite me because I know it's coming at some point!"
The prince turned his head to look at him again and Leon was off-put by how uncomfortable he looked. How was he uncomfortable here? "I... I don't like feeding on people," he admitted slowly, shame in his voice. He sat up slowly, another wince of pain tensing his face. He turned to look squarely at Leon, though. "So just... please stop shouting?"
"You... don't like feeding on... people," Leon asked, trying to wrap his mind around that. It was enough of a surprise that he did lower his voice, though. He could see no reason the prince would lie about that unless he was playing a fucked up mind game. Somehow, Leon felt the prince was being genuine, though. It made him snort at the absurdity. "A vampire prince who doesn't like drinking blood? What the fuck?"
The prince winced again, but this time it seemed to be at Leon's words and not at aggravating his injuries again. "It's not blood itself," the prince said, a little defensively. He paused, though, and furrowed his brow as he looked thoughtfully away. "Or maybe it is... blood's not my favorite thing to eat," he murmured. When he continued it was at a normal volume again, however. "I just... It's that..." He sighed heavily in frustration. "Just believe me. I don't want to feed on you."
Leon stared back at the prince for a solid moment, still looking for any deception in the vampire's face. His long ears were a little droopy, though, and he heard only defeat and a little shame in his tone. It was dark enough in the room that he found himself dissecting the vampire's tone rather than the face he could barely see. "... Okay," he finally said. "I believe you." There was still a trace of doubt in his mind, but if the prince was toying with him, Leon couldn't see how the vampire felt he benefited from it.
With that, the prince nodded at him and slowly sank back down onto the bed.
Leon remained where he was still standing somewhat near the door, studying the prince lying across the guest bed. Riccardo, he knew his name was. Although, he wasn't sure he should try addressing him by his first name. Even if he wasn't a vampire, Leon didn't think addressing a prince by their first name was something permitted of someone like him. Empress Mahvash hadn't been as helpful in preparing him for this as he suddenly wished. If this prince didn't intend to bite him, he felt like he should try to keep it that way. Not pissing the prince off by doing or saying the wrong things was high on the list of how to keep fangs out of his neck.
"Uh... What do you want me to do in here, then," Leon finally asked, glancing around the room again and realizing there was just the one bed that he could see. He doubted he'd be staying in here while the prince slept, but he felt a pang of jealousy at how comfortable the prince looked. There was a couch he spotted near a tall, brass mirror, though, and he wondered if he could help himself to it.
"Nothing," the prince answered, unhelpfully.
Leon raised a brow at him, but he wasn't looking at him, and so the look was wasted. "I can't just stand here forever," he hinted.
"Oh." The prince looked at him, blinking in realization. "I'm sorry. I... Well, it doesn't..." He furrowed his brow. "Everyone likely expects that I'll keep you close to feed on to regain my strength. You'll rest here during the day. They won't think much of it. Rest where you want. There are likely spare pillows and blankets in the chest at the foot of the bed. I don't mind what you do so long as you just let me sleep."
Leon nodded slowly at that. Again, this wasn't what he was expecting either from a vampire or a prince. And considering the intimidating figure the king - this prince's father - cut, well the apple did seem to fall far from the tree in this case. Prince Riccardo was soft in comparison. He couldn't see the vampire king out there telling him to help himself to pillows and blankets.
I really do need to try not to piss this guy off, he thought.
"Thanks," he said to the prince and stepped over to open the chest at the end of the bed. It was full to the brim with pillows and blankets, he was glad to see.
"Would you hand me some of those as well," the prince asked.
Leon glanced up to see he'd sat up again, looking expectantly for the asked-for pillows and blankets. He had such an innocently patient look about him, eyes finally soft without the strain of the carriage ride or the stress of sitting with his father or trying to understand why Leon was confused by the lack of biting. Without any tension pulling at his features, Leon noticed the youth in the prince's features, the roundness of boyhood still clinging to him. He looked like he'd barely reached the age of adulthood if he was there at all. It was said that vampires didn't age, but he did recall Mahvash calling him 'young prince' out on the road. But what did a vampire consider to be young, anyway?
"Yeah... Here," Leon said as he pondered the very little he actually knew about vampires and tried to piece it together into what he knew about the prince. He handed off some pillows and blankets to the prince who took them graciously.
"Thank you," the prince said, and Leon watched him scoot himself towards the head of the bed and proceed to start making himself comfortable, starting with arranging the pillows. Leon didn't pay the small action much mind as he reached back into the chest for a pillow and blanket to take for himself over to the couch.
At least he's got good manners, Leon thought of the 'thank you' given by the prince. He wouldn't have expected a prince to thank him for anything, especially something so small as handing over some blankets. Vampire prince, he reminded himself as he took his bedding over to the couch. He set his pillow down. I'm in a room with a fucking vampire prince. No matter how kind the prince had been so far, he wasn't sure he'd be able to sleep here. While he had gaps in his knowledge about vampires, a universally known truth was that an injured and hungry vampire was a very dangerous creature.
As he lay down on the couch, he faced out into the room. He could still hear the prince fussing with his blankets and pillows, but his eyes remained fixed on the wall across from him. This whole situation was a little surreal. Ever since he'd been snatched off the street to stay with Mahvash, he'd felt like he was living in some surreal nightmare. Prince Riccardo's lack of monstrous tendencies didn't help as much with the nightmare part as he felt like it should but only added more to the surreal part.
He wasn't sure that this situation would ever sink in. Like most nights, he hoped that he would wake up to discover this was all a bad, bad dream. But as he lay there listening to the sounds of the vampire in the room still fussing over his blankets and pillows, he felt even more sure that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep here. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise and he pulled at his blanket to wrap around his neck and tuck his chin into. His rapidly beating heart and the tension in his muscles were not part of some nightmare: this was reality no matter how surreal it was.