Savor (16 page)

“The queen and I want to thank you all for joining us tonight on this most joyous occasion. It is both with honor and great excitement that I include all of you in the celebration of our newest family member. We have chosen a daughter among our people. Her display of exceptional strength, wisdom and purity have rendered her the perfect heir. It is true that just days ago, she was a human,” he said as a wave of murmuring erupted from the crowd. Nicolae continued with no notice, “but this did not hinder her from recognizing her sense of duty to her people and her king and queen. She accepted our proposal with great respect and confidence. We have no doubt that she can triumph over any adversity and manage all of the responsibilities we have bestowed upon her.”

Applause vibrated through the crowd then, like waves crashing on a shore, I could feel my lips widening into a smile as a single tear trickled down my cheek. The love and pride in Nicolae’s voice as he referred to me while addressing the vampire dignitaries was overwhelming. I was glad to make him happy, and it gave me a sense of purpose that I never knew before. As the clapping died down, I heard Nicolae continue, his tone now more enthusiastic and animated, clearly pleased by the crowd’s reception.

“With great pride, may I now formally present to you, my daughter, Claire Noire, Vampire Princess.”

The vampires exploded into applause and cheers. A small twinge of nervousness whispered to me, but I ignored it. I took a deep breath and opened the door. The sight of the ballroom was breathtaking, and I had to force my eyes away lest they distract me as I made my way toward the staircase.

The crowd hushed while I walked to the stairs. I paused to survey the magnitude of the crowd as well as the significance of the evening. There were hundreds of vampires packed into the enormous ballroom, all of their dark eyes watching me expectantly. I returned their gazes, doing my best to exude unwavering confidence. I took another deep breath and lifted my dress in one hand as I began to descend the staircase. My eyes traveled over the crowd, scanning their faces as I made my slow entrance.

Halfway down, the king and queen stood waiting for me on a small landing. Their faces were filled with unmasked pride as their dark eyes praised me. I gave a small smile, not revealing my fangs, and courteously bowed reverently to them.  As I did so, the crowd followed suit. In unison, they all copied my bow and showed their respect to the king and queen. When Nicolae raised his hand, we all lifted our heads and rose.

The queen then moved to my side while the king remained in his place on the other side and we turned to face the crowd openly. As we moved, I noticed camera crews at the edges of the room, their bright flashes spotlighting us. I stood up even straighter and tried to offer a small smile, thinking at that very moment, my human mom or Liz might be watching. I hoped so.

As we made our way down the last few stairs, the crowd parted to give us ample space to glide into the center of the room. A band started playing as the singer intoned a chorus of a deep, soulful tune that thrummed methodically inside my ears.

We came to a stop in the middle of the room and one-by-one the vampires took turns approaching us. Each one bowed before us, then expressed their excitement, while commenting on my poise or beauty. Not knowing what else to say, I simply thanked them or smiled in appreciation.

I was happy to see the crowd finally dissipate as vampires began dancing or broke off into smaller groups, which seemed deep in discussion. I watched as an abnormally plump vampire carried on a rather animated conversation with Nicolae and kept pointing toward the door. “What are they talking about?” I asked Evilyn when I noticed she was watching them like a hawk.

“He is complaining about the protestors outside. Nothing for you to worry about. Do not let it ruin your night,” she smiled down at me and made her way over to them. I was left alone to greet the few remaining vampires, who still wanted to welcome me to the family.

As the last vampire bowed, a wrinkly old man, he made me wonder if he hated spending eternity at such an advanced age. Robin suddenly popped up next to me out of thin air. “You were gorgeous, Princess. Did you see the look on Dmitry’s face?”

“Robin, you don’t have to call me that; and no, I didn’t see him at all.  Where is he?”

“Well… for tonight I have to. I think he is directing the camera crews out of the palace and then I am sure he will come searching for you.”

“They aren’t going to tape the entire ball?” I was a little saddened by this news. I was hoping that my human mom and Liz would at least, in some way, get to celebrate the entire event with me. I wanted them to watch me as I danced and greeted all the vampire dignitaries.

“No, they are only permitted to record the announcement. Afterwards, they must leave because the rest of the ball cannot be viewed by humans. It is commanded by vampire tradition.”

“That’s a little disappointing,” I sighed. I decided to search the seemingly endless crowd of faces for a specific one. Dmitry.

Dark eyes were riveted on me from hundreds of faces as I walked through the crowd with Robin at my side. Many nodded their heads as I passed, and several younger male vampires smiled at me like I was a prized ham. They flashed their fangs at me as if it were either some way to attract me or to portray their bravado and superiority. I couldn’t help but compare them to peacocks spreading their feathers to impress a peahen. Sadly for them, I wasn’t the least bit interested. Their expressions made Robin squeal with delight, but it only made me feel uncomfortable. There was only one vampire that I wanted to have lusting after me like that and he was nowhere to be found.

A younger vampire approached us, looking anxiously nervous as he adjusted the thick tie at his neckline. I could hear him gulp loudly as he stood before me and bowed low. Without even thinking, I instinctively stiffened and raised my head, as if I disapproved of him. His eyes flashed with uncertainty, and despite my body’s protests, I smiled at him, this time revealing my fangs slightly.

“Good evening, Princess,” he almost whispered.

“Good evening,” I replied as I eyed the enormous smile on Robin’s face and realized who this vampire was. 

“I… I was hoping I might request a dance with Your Highness,” he said as he bowed his head.

“Thank you for the offer…” I couldn’t remember his name, “but I am already weary from the excitement of the night. However it would please me to see you dance with Robin. She is an excellent dancer.”

Without looking the slightest bit disappointed, he offered his hand to Robin and she took it eagerly as he led her toward the dance floor. She turned back to me with pure excitement showing on her face and mouthed the words “Thank you” before disappearing into the crowd of dancing bodies and sparkling fabrics.

I felt an urge building within me as I watched the crowd writhe and twirl, their pale faces unnaturally full of delighted expressions. A whirlwind of blissful emotions emitted from them and tugged at my heartstrings as my desire to join them grew.

My new body and consciousness came with a heightened sense of awareness, but I quickly discovered that my newfound awareness had needs that demanded stimulation, and right now, that stimulation was dancing.

“You should learn to mask your desires as the future princess,” Dmitry whispered slyly in my ear. His breath crept across my skin like a warm embrace. I attempted to hide my smile as my heart began to pound in my chest.

Dmitry wrapped himself around me like a snake. He lovingly tortured me, allowing his emotions to surround me. I could feel his excitement for the evening, his delight in teasing me and his strong desire to dance with me. There was a hint of something more, but just as my senses started to grasp and understand it, he pulled away.

“I hide them perfectly well. You just know me too well,” I raised my nose at him while maintaining a smile and tried to give my best impersonation of a dissatisfied princess.

“Oh dear, Claire,” Dmitry said as his face drew into a more solemn expression. It began losing all the happiness he so willingly showed. “I feel like I could know you a hundred years, and you would never cease to surprise me.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I didn’t want to sound so disappointed, but my emotions were taking over.

Dmitry raised his hand and hesitated for only an instant before placing it on my cheek. “It is not a bad thing.” He looked searchingly into my eyes, without blinking and I felt completely exposed and open. “Dance with me?”

I took his hand as he led me into the middle of the dance floor. The wave of emotions was even stronger there and I fed off it as if it were blood. Our bodies hummed with the beat of the music and passion of the dance. With every turn and spin, I merged deeper into my animal within and yielded to the vampire I was becoming.

Dmitry smiled brilliantly as he twirled me in his arms. A ribbon of great desire rippled from him, yet he remained a perfect gentleman, unlike many of the vampire men who danced around us. His chivalry made my yearning for him grow. 

As a slower song began to play, Dmitry drew me away from the dance floor and onto a small chair. The look of concern on his face brought me quickly back to reality and out of the trance I had fallen into. “What’s the matter?”

“When was the last time you fed?”

I tried to think and my mind was still clouded from the tremendous emotions of so many vampires. “I can sense your hunger, Claire. Stay here and I will get you something.” He squeezed my hand for a moment and flashed through the crowd as if it were an empty room.

I relaxed back into the chair, unconcerned about posture and watched the vampires around the room. Nearly half were dancing, but there were many couples seated around the room. Others were gathered into smaller groups and spoke with typical expressionless faces. I realized then why vampires didn’t express their feelings through their faces as humans did. They did it through their feelings, emitting them outwardly like invisible tentacles for any nearby vampire to sense.

I spotted Robin across the room, sitting with the young vampire whom she danced with. I didn’t need to sense her feelings as she still showed them in her facial expressions. I supposed it was the fact that she hadn’t been a vampire for very long and got to live as a human, or perhaps it was just a characteristic of her personality that never went away when she was turned.  She was an animated person that didn’t hide anything about herself and I loved that about her.

I sat up and scanned the crowd for Dmitry’s face and didn’t see him anywhere. As fast as he was, I was starting to wonder what was taking him so long. I decided I would go find something to eat myself when a familiar sensation wrapped around my arm and around my fingers. I could sense a ribbon of emotion holding my hand. Every emotion was different, but they were also connected to their owner. I instantly knew without a doubt who was on the other end of this ribbon, my mystery man.

I scanned the crowd again in an almost frantic state as I searched for him. I tried to send out my own ribbon of emotion to flush him out, but it seemed impossible since he was someone I had never met. I took two steps into the throng of vampires and the ribbon yanked at my hand, pulling me back.

“Stay,” it whispered sternly to me in its deep soothing voice.

“Why?” I asked, feeling silly to be talking to an invisible sensation on my hand.

“Not safe.”

In that instant, the ballroom doors burst open and a mob of angry protesters flooded into the room. They didn’t look the least bit afraid to be breaking into a private party full of ancient vampires. They shouted profanities and shook their signs at us.

I pulled away from the invisible hold on me as I marched toward the crowd. I saw Fox shouting at the protestors, ordering them to leave. I knew things needed to be handled gently. I couldn’t let a human or vampire get injured this night, or I would never be able to achieve the goals that Nicolae had set for me. A sense of duty filled me and I wanted to be the one to sway this mob of protestors to either leave or change their attitudes.

“Butchers!” A woman with wild, frizzy hair shouted as she spat on Fox. I walked past him and felt the heat radiating from him. It was hard to believe he wasn’t set ablaze by its intensity.

The mob of people stopped yelling and pointed as I approached them. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Nicolae’s voice boomed throughout the room. My ears detected the rattling of picture frames and crystals on the chandeliers from its force. 

“Silence!” The crowd remained silent for a moment longer before they started shouting again, yelling their hateful words. “You will depart from these premises now or you will be removed! You have been warned, humans!”

“You can’t do anything to us!” a man shouted.

“Yeah, or you will be breaking your treaty!” shouted another.

“There is no such treaty with trespassers,” Fox interjected. “The king,
your
king can eliminate any threat in any way he sees fit.”

I thought Fox’s words were a little dramatic, but they got the point across and the mob started to shrink back. If he had one thing going for him, Fox was intimidating and right now it was working in our favor.

“There she is!” The wild-haired woman pointed at me frantically. “Look what they did to her!”

I looked at Nicolae, confused about what I should do. When he said nothing, I knew he wanted to see me handle the situation. To step up as the princess and leader I said I would be.

I took a steady stride toward the woman and allowed a ribbon of determination and strength to wrap around me. My body stiffened and straightened as I stared down at her. I could sense that she thought she was rescuing me by coming here, but as she realized I was now a vampire, a wave of disgust became visible.

“They did not do anything to me that I did not welcome with open arms,” I said proudly, trying not to smile too widely lest seeing my fangs frighten her more. Any violent reaction could cause the entire room of upset vampires to come crashing down on her as well as her small mob of protestors.

“But… but… You were a human girl,” her eyes darted around the room as more vampires gathered closer to see the cause for the disturbance in their celebration. “Why would you choose to be turned into one of
them
?” she practically spat the last word at me.

I took another step closer to her, not to threaten her, but I wanted her to believe the sincerity in my words. “Everyone is free to choose the life they want for themselves. As you are free to express the hatred you have for my family and the ones I love. I am free to live as I wish, loving
them
,” I waved my hand to include the entirety of the vampire crowd. “Those whom you so openly hate from a distance, have experienced deeds of the past that you have neither suffered nor seen.” 

I could see that my logic was breaking into her ignorance, but as the realization came into her eyes, it was quickly replaced with fear and anger.  “You’re just trying to use those vampire tricks on me!”

The restraint on my temper was waning as the crowd again broke into a rhythmic chant of vampire hate. “The soulless shall not reign!” 

I could feel the combined heat of the angry vampires expanding into an inferno of rage. I was familiar with protestors spouting their hateful prejudices, but having it directed at me was a kind of discrimination I could have never comprehended before. The word “soulless” struck a particularly sensitive nerve that seemed to have an effect on every other vampire as well.

If I couldn’t get this situation under control soon, there wouldn’t be anything to prevent a massacre of epic proportions from occurring on the night of my coronation.

Ana and her parents flashed to my side, their fangs bared, and devilish smiles plastered on their faces. “Nicolae,” Ana’s dad, Samael spoke, “we cannot allow them to poison this evening. Such disrespect cannot go unpunished, nor can it be handled by a child.” He looked at me then with revenge aflame in his eyes.

I yanked the hem of my gown into a tight fist and took two incredibly quick steps toward the group of ignorant humans. I couldn’t let Ana and her dad steal away my chance at proving myself. Nor could I allow any human or vampire to doubt my worthiness. It was obvious that kindness wasn’t going to sway them, so perhaps giving them a reason to fear vampires was what they so obviously required.

This thought process was so alien to my nature, but the animal within me was emerging and being fueled by the mutual outpouring of vampiric emotions in the room. I relished the sense of power.

As I stopped only inches from the woman, I looked down at her with a firm scowl on my face. No doubt my brow was wrinkled into a furrow and a growl arose from the center of my being. For a fleeting moment, I thought I had even grown taller, until I realized the woman was cowering at my feet, along with many others.

I could only imagine that in that instant, I looked more like a vampire than the human they thought I was. My body vibrated from the rage of hundreds of vampires as the ribbons wrapped around me in their unyielding, fiery embrace. Doubt rippled through my thoughts for a brief second and I wondered if I was acting of my own accord or were these ancient vampires directing me, trying to influence me.

I couldn’t let this doubt build into fear and I wouldn’t. “Leave!” I growled at the protestors, my voice taking on the amplified quality that Nicolae had embodied. It was deep and raspy, and sounded nothing like my former self. If I hadn’t known better, I would have compared it to a lion’s voice, if it could talk.

The humans paused only for a second before throwing their signs onto the floor and exiting the ballroom. They were walking backward as if they were too afraid to take their eyes off us. The angry woman and one man were the last to leave and she stared at me intently. I could tell she was searching for something in my expression or my eyes that was not there. She was looking for my soul.

“Let’s go,” the chubby man said as he pulled at her shoulder.

The woman shook her head, breaking our eye contact and threw her sign at my feet. I instinctively stepped back, allowing the sign to skid across the marble floor behind me.

I took a deep breath as the ballroom was finally free of humans and turned to face the crowd of angry vampires. I was surprised to find that they had already lost interest and were moving back to the stairway where Nicolae was commanding their attention. I scanned the swarm of vampires for a familiar face and quickly found a set of eyes that were not interested in Nicolae, but were intently locked on me with wild amusement.

The instant I exhaled my irritation, Ana bolted toward me with incredible speed, her lengthy, golden blonde hair flowing behind her like a cape. “That was rather fun, wasn’t it?” she asked as she slithered around me.

“What do you want, Ana?” I said defiantly, trying my best not to care.  I really didn’t want her to cause another scene. Although I didn’t want to admit it, the sight of her made my stomach churn.

“Oh, I already got what I wanted,” Ana said with a cackle as she left me in a whirl of air and flitted away through the crowd.

“What was that all about?” Robin surprised me as she popped up at my side.  Her expression was full of concern, but when I saw the smeared lipstick on her lips I couldn’t help but grin.

“I have a feeling she was gloating. Boy, am I glad to see you. Did you see all that?” I asked as I pointed my thumb toward the ballroom doors, where just moments before, a dozen protesting humans stood whose scent still slightly tainted the air.