Frivolous but lifeless, that's how I would describe it. From the lovely king sized bed with dark silks draped over it, to the thick velvety curtains that hung in-front of iron bars. The cold stone floor hidden beneath a few hastily placed carpets, the intricately woven fabric unable to bring some warmth into this place.

It didn't matter how we decorated it here, it would always remain a dark and chilly cell. Should it matter? It was fancier than what we offered the other prisoners here, but it was still no place for a king.

Despite this, there he sat, silent on top of those luxuriously dark sheets of the bed, one with the scenery. Though my breath escaped from my lips in soft white clouds, nothing was colder here than those ice gray eyes rimmed with black kohl.

"Is this your way of mocking me?"

There was an edge to his voice, one that hinted at a seething rage hiding beneath that alabaster skin. I didn't blame him, if the roles were reversed I'd have trashed this place by now. I understood his anger, however I couldn't get over that of my own. Let's be honest, what I had done was spiteful, childish even. My tutors used to scold me on my behaviour back in the day and as a teenager I had merely waved away their complaints.

Currently, as an adult… well let’s say I’m starting to improve…

sort of.

Obviously not.

That’s just how I was and has always been: impulsive and vengeful. I always needed to have the last laugh and if I had the chance to taunt those I looked down upon just for fun, the temptation was too strong to resist.

The man scoffed, long raven black hair dancing against his shoulders as he shook his head and averted his gaze, the gentle sound of chains clinking against each other accompanying his movements.

"So that's what you're going to do huh? You catch me off guard during a hunting trip, you shamelessly in-prison me and my entourage before locking me up here like a fucking bird you can gawk at" he hissed, a slender hand coming up to yank at the chain that attached to a collar around his neck.

A small blue stone in the middle of the band gleamed in the scarce candlelight that illuminated the room and for a second it pulsed. "I knew you paladins weren't as holy as you claimed to be but my oh my this- this was beyond my wildest expectations. How do you sleep at night, Arrin ?"

"Don't pretend you wouldn't have done the same"

I replied, the words leaving my mouth before I had the time to register them. Trying my best to sound confident, lightly tightening the grip of my gloved hand around the hilt of my sword. I watched those gray eyes slide down, landing on the weapon before giving me a sneer, the action rippling through the man's immaculate features. For a second I got a glimpse of his teeth, straight and white if it weren't for four sharp canines that caught the light.

"Done the same? Of course I wouldn't have done the same!" The raven haired man spat, earning himself another pulse from the stone.

I frowned, shaking my head before quickly dodging a book that nearly hit my face, slamming against the stone wall beside me before plummeting to the ground like a wounded dove. If it weren't for that collar I was sure that the book would've done serious damage to the stones.

"It is peace time, Arrin! There is a truce that's keeping our people alive!! The blood war ended Less than a decade ago and you're already trying to start a new one?!"

"You were on my land unannounced and I've heard rumours of how well Sareth is flourishing. Your kingdom is becoming stronger again Ophyr-" I intervened, stumbling over my words in a half assed attempt to justify my arguably stupid deeds. Immediately I raised a hand when I saw him reach for another book, shooting the other king a warning glance before continuing.

"Far beyond what I'm comfortable with-"

"It's not your fucking kingdom to control-" Ophyr interrupted.

"-you claim to be a different ruler from your mother but I'm not one to take stupid risks-"

ironic- what is this entire spiel, huh?

"You never even met her!"

Anger flared up, my previous concerns melted away.

"No, but my father did! And look where he is now!"

I could see Ophyr recoil, lips forming a thin line as he fell silent. I rarely lost my temper, but every time I thought about my late father's demise- it was like every restraint just broke. As the tension in the room winded down I noticed empathy reflected in Ophyr’s face. Guilt was unforgiving visitor I’d become accustomed to…

——- A few hours earlier ——

A scout warned me about four vampires on horseback wandering through the outskirts of my kingdom and I decided to go and check, wondering what in Phoebus' name they were doing on Appollonian territory.

I took a few soldiers with me just in case the situation became hostile. At the time I only knew that the group consisted of some nobles, so you can imagine my shock when we arrived at the scene and saw a long raven haired figure accompanied by three others.

Ophyr of Sareth, king of the vampires.

This wasn’t my first time meeting him. We’d made acquaintance long ago as children, during formal banquets and balls where the Sareth ambassadors and Appollonian Advisors would sit together and try to conclude some kind of trading deal. They hoped that this would add more weight to the feeble truce they had formed to end the war. These attempts however seemed fruitless. It only took a few more months and several failed meetings before all diplomatic contact between Sareth and Appollis completely stopped. Obviously, that meant that Ophyr and I hadn’t seen or communicated with eachother in years.

And now here he was, looking as regal as a diamond, perched high upon a slender horse who's coat matched his royal garbs. He’d always been handsome, elegant like a swan, but over the years he’d truly become a sight to behold. Somewhere in the back of my mind a memory of a skinny and shy teenager with big doe eyes lit up. The image of Opyr awkwardly standing in a corner of the ballroom dressed in outdated formal wear was almost an insult to the alluring yet dangerous looking king he had become.

He was the same age as me, twenty-two, with an air that read solemn and composed. Beyond his years you could say. As if he individually reconsidered every word before uttering a sentence, perhaps concerned about the impact of a faulty comma.

The four appeared lost, that was the second thing I noticed. At the front of the group was a tall bulky man, seated upon a dark brown horse, dressed in red and sporting an elegantly groomed moustache. It seemed like he was responsible for figuring out where they were going and he had obviously failed terribly.

The two other vampires were a woman and a man, both of them had the same green eyes, button nose and blonde hair, I figured they were siblings.

"Lord Reginald, Not to insult your pathfinding talents… I must remark that I am not familiar with these woods- these trees aren't native to Sareth" the woman politely said, earning herself a hum from her brother who agreed. Lord Reginald grunted and commanded his horse to stop for a minute, glancing around the area before giving a deep sigh.

"Though my pride is bruised- you're right Lady Talyn, I must regret to inform you all that I believe we’re lost"

Lady Talyn gave a concerned frown, glancing around the area herself as the gears in her head turned. This wasn't looking good, well- for them that was. They truly were lost, huh? So lost that they didn't even know that they were in Appollonian woods and that the enemy was just a few feet away, hidden behind trees and shrubbery. I raised a brow at Commander Rayne beside me, gaze flitting back to the vampires before they locked with hers again. Commander Rayne gave a short nod before tapping the tip of her sword against her left pauldron and leading myself and the nine other soldiers along.

In less than a few seconds we had them surrounded, swords pulled, ready to strike if Rayne even gave the slightest nod. The four vampires seemed taken aback, but the king seemed the most shocked, Especially when his gaze fell upon me.

"Arrin"

His voice was like honey, his tone sharp as steel.

I offered him a short informal bow, a wolffish grin tugging at my lips. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, seated upon my steed before the four. If we fought, I would definitely lose soldiers, vampires were strong creatures and though they no longer were immortal, they still were dangerous. But I had the high ground here, they were on my territory and it would be four against ten.

Four nobles against ten highly trained and armed paladins? Unfair was an understatement.

"Good afternoon king Ophyr, I see you've gotten a bit lost?" I chuckled, a hint of malice slipping into my voice. I saw Lady Talyn tense, Reginald pursed his lips and Talyn's brother seemed to avert his gaze. "Yes, we have" Ophyr replied, tone unreadable. "It was not our intention to stumble upon Appollonian territory, I apologise for the discomfort and possible concern we caused- but I can assure you that we mean no harm" the vampire king added diplomatically.

What an elegant answer, so very Ophyr. As a teenager his wordy replies weren’t as eloquent as they were now, but that ambassadorial edge had always been there and clearly improved.

He seemed so calm, as if everything was under control and fuck I hated that, especially since I knew that he knew the risks of getting caught by paladins on human land. I knew I couldn't kill him. First of all- I didn’t want to… second of all that would just instantly unchain a new war and we were not prepared for that yet, but I still wanted to get back at him. Show him that I didn't play any games when it came to vampires crossing over into Appollis. I wanted to show that bloodsucker that I was no king to mess with.

yet-

Maybe I was overreacting…

A small voice in the back of my head reasoned that I was just projecting my hatred for his mother and his entire kind upon him. The blood war had left scars, more than just physical ones and I knew that he too had suffered at the hands of it.

But it didn't matter to me. Not now.

I ignored the voice.

"We'll leave immediately if you could just point us in the right direction-"

"Arrest them"

Ophyr's eyes widened and a sick triumph welled up in my chest.

"Arrin, please, the truce-" he warned

"Won't be broken, my dear king... I won't kill you or anyone in your entourage if... you four decide to come along peacefully. You wouldn't want to force us to defend our land with violence now, wouldn't you Ophyr?"

His eyes narrowed, I could see his grip around his reigns tighten before his gaze slid over to the other nobles. Conflicted, but he knew his duty was to protect his people. Determination lit behind those eyes and a sigh slipped out from between his lips.

He lost, I won.

"We'll come along peacefully, no violence shall be necessary"

For now.

—- back to the present ——

"I am not my mother, Arrin" I softly brought out, my anger from before having somewhat died down after Arrin's outburst. God this was ridiculous, it truly was but what could I do? I had always known the other as an impulsive spitemachine.

Arrin hated vampires, ever since my mother murdered his father during the blood war, he had been wishing death upon every Serethian to walk this earth. I understood his pain, I understood how it felt to lose those close to you due to that hellish war. My mother didn't die, but she went mad, no one knew what caused it but it got so bad that we had to lock her up. I hadn't spoken to her in years. Despite that, I was hurt by the fact that Arrin labelled me a villain. I had been nothing but courteous and polite to him. Of course, being nice to a bigot wouldn’t just magically change their mind, but deep down a meek part of me wished it did.

"No- no you're not your mother" Arrin brought out, clearly reluctant to agree with me. For a second he averted his gaze before looking back at me, golden irises meeting my own gray ones. He seemed contemplative, as if he was having some type of inner conflict before shaking his head and giving a scoff.

"But any child beared by a monster like her can't be trusted."

I cringed at that, biting my tongue before I yelled an insult back about his father. I still had enough self control to look past Arrin's rude words, but I didn't feel like testing the King's patience like that. Especially when I was chained and near powerless at his mercy. Someone had to be an adult in this situation, right?

"I don't know when you'll drop this pathetic act, but I'll have you know that it's much more honourable to do so sooner than later. I know you're just as malicious as she is, Ophyr, I'm sure of that"

And with that he turned around, slipping out of the cell before the door closed behind him with a heavy clang.

I deeply sighed, leaning back at resting my head against the soft pillow before closing my eyes.

"What absolute bullshit"