The Vampire King’s Captive

BRAN

The silence in the room was deafening.

Bran sat with his men in his courtroom and for all the five minutes they had been in here, no man had opened his mouth to speak.

Of course no one had said anything. They were waiting for him to address them. To kick off the meeting before they would each pipe in with their various suggestions because, even though the activities of the past week threatened to contradict it, he was still their king and they would always wait for his orders before putting anything into motion.

But honestly, he didn’t know how he was going to kick this meeting off. He didn’t know what he was going to tell them.

Sure, he knew what the aim of this meeting was. The people weren’t happy with the attacks and they were starting to become increasingly agressive, banging on the castle’s gates and demanding that he did something about the lives that had been lost and the injured people that were still healing.

He felt guilty as all fucks because everything that was happening to his kingdom was all because of him and all he had to do to put an end to his people’s suffering, was to let Maria go.

The people knew it too. But Bran couldn’t let her go, and that was why the people were not happy with him.

They believed him to be a selfish king, thinking only about himself. And maybe he was.

Maybe he was all the things they called him after all because he couldn’t let her go. He just couldn’t.

Edgar, who was sitting to Bran’s left at the long table, cleared his throat quietly, a subtle nudge at Bran to kick off the meeting.

Without looking at the man, Bran sat up straighter in his big chair and started, “I suppose you all already know why I called for this meeting, and if you don’t-which is highly unlikely-the purpose is to come up with the best approach to this unprecedented war Ariti has waged on us.”

He didn’t have to look at Edgar to know that he lifted a brow at the word ‘unprecedented’.

Okay, Bran might have done something to incur the man’s wrath, but Ariti had literally begged for war between the two realms when he’d decided to kill Bran’s parents. Surely, the sorcerer had not expected him to let that go.

One of the men cleared his throat, preparing to speak. “I… I would suggest giving the sorcerer’s daughter back to him.”

“No,” Bran said without a moment’s hesitation. He’d seen that one coming. “Anything but that.”

It was the first thing anyone would think of. Giving Maria back to Ariti, that was, but they were going to have to come up with something else.© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

There was no way he could give Maria back, but the men didn’t understand that because none of them knew what she was to him. What she meant to him. They probably just thought he was warming his bed with her while simultaneously spitting in Ariti’s face, letting him know that his daughter was Bran’s mistress.

No one knew that she was his mate. Well, no one but Corey, and he planned on letting it stay like that for a while. He didn’t need news of it spreading and people pondering on how an enemy of the realm had ended up being his mate.

Even he still didn’t understand it.

“We could attack,” another man spoke up and Bran turned to him with barely concealed interest. He wanted to know where the man would go with this.

He steepled his fingers on the table. “Attack how?”

Obviously proud that he had Bran’s full attention, the man sat up straighter. “We could journey into their realm and lay low while we figure out where Ariti lives. It wouldn’t take long considering that he’s fairly popular and when we do, we could strike, taking him unawares.”

“That is not a terrible idea at all,” another man piped in, shifting forward to brace his elbows on the table. “Although I would say after entering the realm of Sorceri, we should lay low for a while and during that time, a few of us could find his home, check for a back entrance or other ways to get in, and when we do find one, we would come back to tell the others about it. It would make the operation easier.”

Yet another man supplied, “We could even come up with a distraction. Some of us creating a scene outside and drawing all attention to us while others sneak in and take the princess out of there before they even know what hit them.”

These were all good plans. Real ideas contributed by men that actually wanted to help.

But there was one big problem.

“There is no doubt that such a plan, if it is carefully plotted and executed, would make us end up victorious. However, say for instance, he has evacuated his house and we have no means of knowing where he is.” He gave a meaningful pause. “What would you come up with then?”

An ominous silence hung over the table, a frown settling on the men’s faces as they stared at each other, sharing confused looks. They had probably never thought of that, but Bran had because he had stayed up at night and even in the daytime, thinking of different ways to get his sister back.

Bran would agree that Ariti was a lot of things but he wasn’t a fool and since Bran had gone into his home to take Maria and his sister before, he would be a lot reluctant to keep Iris in his house when he knew that he could appear at any moment and take her back.

He might have taken her to anither location, one unknown to Bran, and would probably hold her there until Bran agreed to his stupid deal.

That was exactly why Bran had not been able to come up with a suitable plan. Well, except get a witch to scry for his location and find out where they were. As things were now, however, that couldn’t happen because the witches still were not working for the vampires.

Really, he wanted to skin the bloody vampire alive-the one who had caused this strain between the realms-but the man was on the run so there was no way Bran could get his hands on him.

“Your Majesty, I know how reluctant you are to do so, but I would suggest letting the sorcerer’s daughter go.” A man on Bran’s left side said, his tone cautious. Hesitant. “Is she really that important to you? She is lovely, yes, but there are other equally beautiful women-some even more so-that would kill to be your mistress.” The man hesitated again. “You could have your pick, Your Majesty. Why not let her go and replace her?”

The mated vampire in Bran wanted to growl that another man dared to look at his mate, but he tamped it down. Best not to draw attention and have the men suspect that she was more than just a woman to him.

He also wanted to bite the man’s head off for so casually saying that Maria could be replaced, but again, he had to keep the feeling tightly under wraps because-again- these men didn’t know what she was to him.

“Letting her go is not an option.” When he saw the way the men stared at him with both confused and surprised looks, no doubt wondering why he was so adamant on not letting her go if she was just a mere woman to him, Bran knew that he had to give them an explanation. “He killed the late King and Queen. That is not something that I can let go. Making his daughter my captive, is payment for all what he has done to me. To this kingdom.”

He had to give them an explanation; he just didn’t have to give them the truth.

Reducing his growing feelings for Maria to nothing but a mere revenge, writing the relationship off to be nothing more than a parasitic one-one in which only Bran benefited-killed him, but he had no other option.

He needed them to understand that he couldn’t let her go.

Edgar had been quiet next to him the entire time, but apparently, he decided that this was the right moment to speak up.

“We understand your need for revenge, Your Majesty. However, if the only reason you have her is because of the notion, I would suggest that you let her go. If not for anything, for the life of the people and to get the Princess back.” Bran’s jaw tightened and it was already on the tip of his tongue to refuse when Edgar put the final nail in the coffin. “The people are terrified and dissapointed. As a King, your people should always come first and if you would have to give up revenge for their safety, then so be it.”

Fuck, Bran didn’t want to do it.

He didn’t want to let Maria go, but the pressure was becoming too much. Even his own men were telling him to let her go and he was still refusing?

He hated to admit it but Edgar was right.

His people should come first. Even before his mate.

“Alright,” Bran nodded, much to his men’s surprise. “I will ask a messenger to get the message across to Ariti as soon as possible.”

With those final words, he rose from the table and stalked out of the courtroom, a single thought, the only thing that kept him sane.

He would let Maria go, but he would get her back. He would go back for her, scour the ends of the earth until he found her. He would do everything within and outside his powers to make sure that he did.

What he wanted more than anything right now was to get to Maria as quickly as he could and forget all his problems, which was why he was quite displeased however, when he heard a disturbance coming from downstairs.

Of course he wanted nothing more than to ignore it, but he knew that it would only come back to him eventually.

With a tired sigh, he traced into his living room and stopped short when he saw the source of the disturbance.

His men were trying to stop a woman from going into the main house.

A very familiar woman.

Elizabeth.