CHAPTER 3
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MARIAH
It happened so quickly, sir john didn't even see it coming. Just as his grimy hands traced my lips, just as he pushed his thumb into my mouth, the king let out a vicious growl standing to his feet. It was so low. So scary even I froze, too scared to even breathe. Sir John's eyes went wide. He looked up at the king in fear as he let me go, but he remained frozen in his seat.
"Sir John. You have been an ally of the crown all your life, your family has been allies of the crown since the beginning of the Rossetti lineage. You ancestors served and aided my ancestors before the Rossetti's came to rule the kingdom of Italia." The king said, his face dark as he sat back down."So tell me sir John. How much for your slave? What would you like? I'm willingly to give you whatever you ask for" the king said. Sir John looked shocked as his jaw fell open.
"Y- your majesty? What is the meaning of this?" Sir John stuttered, too in shock to believe what he was hearing, even I, myself, struggled to fathom why the king would make such an offer. I looked up at him, his eyes meeting mine, and in that second I felt the breathe knock out of me. His eye were a deep blue, dark with intense power and knowledge. His hair was combed back, in slick dark locks. And his face as if sculpted by the heavens was sharp and defined... I found myself unable to look away. The way he stared at me, his pupils diluted and hisses irises darkened, holding my stare and keeping me from looking away. Until he did and looked at John.
"I'm trying to make this a peaceful trade, John of the family of Wellington. You and I both know that if truly desired it, I could just take this slave of yours and make her my own. But to honour your ancestors and what they have done for my family, I offer you money? Jewels? Power? Which ever you choose." The king said with a smile, standing up and walking around the chair."Think about it, John. I'll gift you whatever you desire in exchange for a mere slave, a whore. " the king said as he leaned of the back of the sofa, his face besides sir John. Sir John nodded his head with a smile."
Your majesty. This deal is honestly a blessing, of course I will accept your offer. " Sir John beamed turning to face the king. The king smiled widely showing off his dangerously long teeth.Why are they so long?"Very well, John. You have no idea how thrilled I am to hear that. So what is it that you desire?" The joint asked making his way back to his seat.
John now sat up and did something both brave and stupid. He looked the king in the eye, his face suddenly serious. "I won't ask for much, your majesty. I have enough money for at least 3 generations and I am not a man who is greedy for power... I am happy with the title hold. All I will ask for, your majesty, is immunity." Sir John said bowing his head.The kings eyebrows rose in what seemed to be pleasant surprise.
" And what exactly does that entail?" The king asked watching Sir John with interest." My son, your highness. He is a foolish boy. He doesn't think before he acts. My wife has spoilt him to believe he is untouchable. I fear one day he may offend his majesty gravelly, to the point of possible execution. And that is why I ask for immunity for my family, so that if one day he does offend you, your highness may be so gracious as to grand my family mercy. "
I was shocked, to say the least that sir John of all people would ask for something so simple and it seemed that the king was to. I expected the king to decline his offer and say it was too much for an insignificant girl such as myself. But to my utter shock the king smiled and nodded his head." Granted". The king then looked to one of the maids in the corner. “Tell the butler to draw up a contract" . The maid nodded and scurried out of the room to find the butler while we sat in silence.
The king sat down as well, he and John continuing the conversation about supplying the poorer communities, but I could barely focus as I felt another wave of dizziness. The kings sharp gave suddenly fell to me, his lips pressing together in a grim line. He looked at the maid who had just returned. " Fetch me porridge from the kitchen. I can practically hear the girls heart beat stopping" The king said sarcastically. But just as he spoke and sent the maid out, my body fell forward and I slumped to the floor".
No one got up and rushed to my aid, no one called for help as I felt My vision blur, no one cared that I felt so starved that actual bile rose up my throat and spilled on to the pristine carpeted floors of the kings tea room.The king just looked at me . And in my fading consciousness I heard him asking sir John "Do you know when was the last time she are anything?" but I didn't hear his response. All I could think about was the past few days of giving my brothers and sister my share of food. And I don't regret it.
I woke my a little later with a drip in my arm. I winced from the pain of having the needle in my arm.I'm still dizzy as I sit up but i immediately notice the extremely large, warm and comfortable bed I'm on. This bed is not meant for me. I'm groggy as I pull the cover off and look around the room I'm in. It's all so large, fancy and not suited for me. I start to feel nervous as I stand up and pull the needle out of my arm, I whimper in pain as the long needle leaves my arm.I really, really hate needles.
As I stand up, my knees buckle and I fall to the ground again, groaning as I clutch my stomach. The door bursts open and the king himself walks in with 3 maids following behind. His eyes harden as he looks down at my frail form on the floor. My heart rate spikes with fear as I out my head down in the dark carpeted surface. "Y-your majesty " I stutter keeping my head down in a bow, but deep down I know that I couldn't get up even if I tried.
"Arise, Mariah" he ordered and I struggled as I got to my knees, but no further.He raised his eyebrow as if expecting me to go further, but I couldn't. He seemed to get the message as he raised his hand, signalling for two of the maids to come to help me up.They lifted me by my arms and sat me in the bed when the third one came in and set a bowl if porridge down in front of me. I sat staring at my hands, knowing it wasn't my place to assume the food was for me. My stomach rumbled loudly, making my cheeks heat in embarrassment as I clutched the material of my white dress.
I could feel the heated glare of the king as he took a seat on the chair a little further away."What are you waiting for ? Eat" he commanded his voice wrought with irritation. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. It didn't feel right, as if it would be a sin to even think about touching the warm bowl of porridge.The king growled in irritation standing up and storming towards me. A lone tear slipped down my cheeks as thoughts of death crossed my mind.This was it, he was going to kill me.
But to my surprise and much more to the maids, he grabbed the bowl of porridge and sat down beside me, stirring the porridge with the spoon. He took a small portion onto the spoon and blew on it before putting it to my mouth.I heard the maids gasp in shock, just as my eyes went wide. What was he doing? "Eat the porridge little one" he cooed before forcing the spoon into my mouth " for you wouldn't survive a day here without it".
My body hummed with approval just as the warm porridge touched my tongue, making me eager for more. The delicious taste of the silky substance was unlike anything I had eaten before. It was soft and nurturing, reminding me of a mother tender embrace as it seemed to heal me. My eyes closed with pleasure and my mind moaned from excitement if the new found delicacy.
That was...until my eyes met that of the kings.
CHAPTER 4_______MARIAHI blush and look down, so embarrassed that he heard that. He growls again, but it isn’t a threatening one. No, this one sounds almost teasing... playful even. I look up to see him already staring with a soft look in his eyes."Are you enjoying that?" He questions as I take in spoonful after spoonful without complaint. I lick my lips and nod my head, not as scared of him as when I first saw him in his tea room."Good, little one. I want you to eat all of it for me. Okay?" He said before handing me the bowl and what is left of its contents. I took it with a sulky face not really feeling like eating anymore. I would never admit, but I enjoyed the feeling I got when he fed me.He stood staring and waiting for a 2 from me. I looked up at him, still unsure but agreed nonetheless "Okay, your majesty" I said but as soon as I glanced at the porridge I didn't feel hungry a
CHAPTER 5__________MARIAHI looked up into the eyes of my father as he came walking in through the front door, his face gleaming with excitement.I squealed with excitement as I stumbled down the short passage and into his arms, he caught me with his ease....he always did."Hello Papa" I said in my baby voice, I was only 5 years old at the time. still the only child and the apple of my fathers eye."Hello baby. Where your mama?" He asked placing me on his hip as he walked further into our small house and to the main room."Hey, hunny" my father greeted, his face still young with age as he smiled widely. I always loved his smile, because it showed how happy he was."Hello, I'm glad your back" my mother said walking to my father and giving him and bug hug and a kiss making me squeal in disgust.My mother looked
CHAPTER 6______MARIAHThe king gave me 3 days to recover before I was being moved to a lower floor and I was given a maid uniform. I didn’t understand why. He treated me so nicely that first day, he gave Sir John’s entire family immunity from death to get me, yet now that he has me, I am a maid. It just doesn’t make sense.For the last 2 days I have been waking up every morning and cleaning the same rooms on the same floor, continuously, just waiting to catch a glimpse of his highness.But today was a new day, and I was sick of waiting around for someone to tell me what was happening. I walked down the steps to the first floor and looked for anyone that could help me, but strangely there was no one around. I walked around, going up to the third floor where I heard the sound of giggling coming from one of the room doors.Happy to have found another living thing I did
Chapter 7_______MariahI took a deep breathe as the butler knocked on the large double oak doors. I held the cloth to my neck as the door opened and a maid stood to the side, her head bowed in respect with the King sitting by his desk, reading through some documents.“Forgive me, your highness. She wouldn’t take no for an answer” Butler Aldridge said fearfully as the King continued to write notes on his parchment. The butler was visibly shaking as his grip on my arm tightened painfully. Fear began to bubble in my stomach as I suddenly forgot what exactly I wanted from him, all the anger I felt dissolved into a pit of nothingness when it came to face his aura. The king looked up, unimpressed as his eyes fell onto me and then the butler and then to the red-stained cloth in my hand.“Leave us” he said to the maid and the butler, and they
Chapter 8_____ElijahI stormed out of the castle my control slipping as I rushed for the forest. I let out a growl, half me and half the beast within me. Fucking Mariah. She was messing with my mind, I had never felt such a need for another person as I have felt for her. It was supernatural. The feelings I had for her were unnatural. Her scent lingered around me and drove me mad as I tried to escape it. It was the smell of her innocence, a smell the seemed to multiply the second I touched her.The wetness that pooled between her legs told me how ready she was. The way she whimpered and moaned told me how badly she wanted me, she wanted us. The way she said our name made us mad with lust. The beast tried to take over, or at least he tried to take control of my conscious, but he had only ever gotten that right once.Anger began to bubble in
Chapter 9_______MariahThe king let out a low laugh as he looked toward the books I had spent most of my time reading, before he looked at me. The way his eyes burned into me, it made me want to sink into the chair completely. "And what am I exactly, Mariah?" He asked sarcastically, trying to fool me into believing that I was acting crazy, but I wouldn't fall.I stood up from my chair and took big, confident steps toward him, until we were toe to toe. "You are not human. You are a vampire, I know you are and I believe that most noblemen are after what I have seen these last few days..." I paused and looked up at him, "But you, my king" I said as I circled around him, "you're stronger than the rest, you're special, even... And I know why. It's because you aren't just a vampire. You are the first born son of your father and you are a Rossetti
Chapter 10________MariahI woke up on the cell floor with blankets draped around me as I saw the butler sitting in the corner of the room with his arms crossed over his chest. "Listen Mariah, because I know you're awake" he said as I turned around to face him. I wasn't feeling so good as I held my arms tightly to my chest and curled into a ball, even with all these thick blankets it was still cold. "I have not told the King of what had happened, because if you were any other ordinary maid, I wouldn't have to. I handled your situation alone". He said his voice cold with distaste as he spoke to me.There was a silence between us before I spoke "Do you hate me?" I asked him sadly, looking down at the floor, wanting to know the answer. He looked at me and sighed. “I do not hate you child, it is that I do not trust you.” He said while staring at the wall behind m
Chapter 11_______THIRD PERSONIt was late in the night when Mariah felt someone touching her face. She moved slightly causing them to stop for second before they continued to stroke her hair. She heard the person sigh before standing up, not before leaving a soft kiss in her forehead.Just by the feeling the kiss gave her alone she knew it was the King. She slowly fell back asleep but she was suddenly haunted by the memory of the dungeon and the dead bodies they carried out of the cells everyday. She jumped up in fear and looked around her room, but only found darkness in his place. She suddenly felt so alone as she glanced around her room again. No family, no friends, no one. The only person she even sort of had was the King and he had left her in that dungeon.She was filled with the need to get up and see the King. Even after he had hurt her, she still needed him, just to be near