Arian carried her into his palace slowly as he felt eyes watching every step that he took. His people watched from the shadows but dared not question their King. He looked down at the girl in his arms and bit his lip to prevent himself from smiling.

Drunk her is cute... he thought to himself.

Sober her? Ugh I despise her sober self!

Alaska looked up at the king with wide, curious eyes. She smiled at him cheekily and pinched his cheeks when he glanced at her. He rolled his eyes and pushed open the door to his room. He dumped her on the bed and handed a shirt of his to her. She looked at it cluelessly. "Put this on." He said every word slowly and gently, as if he wasn't sure whether she could comprehend.

She picked it up and skipped to the washroom. After changing, she came out while pulling the shirt down with her fingers. Even in her drunken state, she held on to her modesty. Arian's eyes never left hers. Not once did he glance down at her chest or her exposed legs. She stood in front of him and pouted in confusion. What was she supposed to do next?

"Sleep," he pointed towards his bed.

He had brought her to his room because no one would dare to enter his room. She was like a human blood bag that he had to protect. He decided to sleep into another room because if sober Alaska was so snappy, he didn't want to know what hungover her would do it him. She obediently walked to the bed and got it, pulling the quilt up to her chest. She snuggled and smiled at him.

Arian nodded and left.

Twenty minutes later, he heard soft whimpers from his room. He huffed and got out of bed. Generally, Vampires didn't sleep but Arian took great pleasure in sleeping. He dragged his feet to his room and pushed the door open. He rolled his eyes when he saw his cousin standing in the shadow with red eyes, eyeing the girl. Alaska had seen him and got scared. She then hid under the covers.

"Adrian, get out," Arian snapped.

Adrian Lancaster, the vampire king of the Calyptican Empire, grinned happily. "I was just messing around with the mortal," he chuckled. Hearing Arian, the frightened girl ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. Adrian looked at his cousin in amusement but Arian, who didn't find anything amusing, had only his middle finger to offer. Adrian winked and left the room.

He pulled her back gently and made her lay back in bed. She refused to let go of his hand. "Please don't leave me," she whispered. He looked at her helplessly and sighed. Arian knew that his infamous cousin was waiting outside his room to tease him. He had no option but to stay.

He looked into her eyes.

I have to do this...

"I brought you to the castle and was nothing but rude to you. Nothing happened between us. When you wake up in the morning, you will go back to hating me," he murmured.

He'd compelled her.

He erased any hope of them ever being friends.

Or more.

She fell asleep within seconds of being compelled. He cursed when he realised that she had caught his little finger in a death grip. If he slept on the couch, she'd wake up. He sighed.

That night, the king slept on the cold marble floor, her hand still wrapped around his finger.

***

Her eyes fluttered open as she looked around in confusion and fear. High walls trapped her in the cold, white and black themed bedroom. The black bedpost was lined with strings of gold encircling diamonds. She looked in front of her and in bold cursive writing, a single word was painted on a canvass. King, it read.

The walls were all black, except for the one against the bed. The floor and the ceiling too were deep black. Rich white curtains shielded her from the strong rays of the sun. A victorian chandelier hung in the middle of the room, the diamonds hanging like sparkly raindrops that held candles.

Dramatically, Arian strutted into the room, only a towel to protect Alaska from the monster hidden behind it. "D-Did we...," she trailed off. Her eyes begged him to deny any facts of them having had sexual intercourse the previous night. Arian smirked. Since he had to sleep on the floor, he'd toy a little with the girl.

"Yes, we did," he shrugged and walked towards his walk in closet but left the door open- an invitation which he knew wouldn't be accepted. Her eyes widened. She controlled her tears.

Take deep breaths... she told herself.

He heard sniffing.

"Damn it," he grumbled.

She was still sitting at the edge of his bed and running her hands through her wild hair. "I'm kidding," he said with an eye roll. She got up angrily to punch him and he backed away a little until he reached the couch. "I'm going to kill you!" She growled.

She looks like a little kitten... he thought to himself.

Before she could reach him he climbed over the couch, away from her reach, and smirked triumphantly. She glared at him and jumped onto the sofa as well. "You can't catch me, kitten," he taunted her as he jumped down and ran towards the bed and climbed up.

She jumped down and climbed up the bed. No one knew when the towel slipped off from his waist. The last moment, she slipped and dragged him down with her. Both of them fell onto the kings sized bed, a very naked Arian on top of Alaska. "You want to try and kill me, kitten?" He purred.

She could feel her heart thumping in her chest. Her body was on fire. She felt herself getting aroused by the man she called a monster. "You did beg me to kiss you, though," he whispered. Her checks flushed red with embarrassment.

What was I thinking!

He must think that I'm a cheap whore!

To save her from her misery, the door burst open. Noah stormed in and looked at the two of them. Alaska wore a shirt that barely covered her creamy legs. Arian was naked. He slept with her! Noah thought to himself. He felt his heart rate increase as anger surged throughout his body.

"You bastard!"

He punched the king.

Arian stood still, watching the crazed boy like a hawk watching its prey. There was not a scratch on his skin which was exactly what angered Noah even more. "You don't deserve my Alaska! You are a heartless asshole that deserves to rot in hell! No wonder your own mother killed herself! If I h-

He fell to the ground.

Alaska gasped when Arian punched her best friend. He pulled Alaska to him in order to aggravate the boy further and buried his face in her hair, inhaling it's fruity fragrance. It calmed his vampire self but fuelled his manhood. She gulped when she felt him press himself against her. If she had to pull away it would infuriate him further and then he'd be unstoppable.

Noah doesn't stand a chance against this man!

He pushed her away and hissed. "Get out."

Without thinking twice, the two of them dashed out of his room and were escorted out by a maid who even gave Alaska something more appropriate to wear. They both stopped to catch their breaths. They looked at the water below the bridge on which they were standing, both said nothing. Noah's mind was on the girl next to him.

How could she!

Have I lost her?

Does she love him?

Alaska, on the other hand, couldn't get Arian out of her head. To be more specific, she couldn't get his lower half out of her head. She'd seen the sausage-like male part a few times when she walked in on Naomi watching porn but she had never seen something so...

"Huge," she mumbled. Noah's head snapped towards her own. She dodged his question by narrating the entire incident to him. Boy, was he relieved to know that she was still his. But Arian was a threat to him. Which girl wouldn't fall for his devilish charms?

"I woke up in the forest feeling sick. I met a guard on patrol who told me that he had last seen you with the king. It didn't take a genius to figure that you were with him," he said. He spoke with so much of distaste. Deep down he knew what it was- Jealousy.

"Did his mother commit suicide?"

Noah looked at his friend and sighed. Being a nerd, had some perks. He was almost like a smaller version of Wikipedia. Unfortunately, he didn't have any parents to be proud of him or appreciate him. He led her to the town library and they both sat at the last table, away from everyone else.

He put on his nerdy glasses.

"So book number one- The Royals of the Deltorian Empire," Noah started. Ally looked at the royal blue covered book and gulped. It was almost 700 pages just on the royal family. What a waste of pages! Who would even read them? That's right, Noah. He smiled at her horrified expression. "Books are a beauty that not many can understand," he tsked.

"Whatever," she mumbled.

"So basically King Arian's father, Vaughn Ice, and his mother, Juliette, met and fell in love instantly . The book says that they had a fairytale romance that I don't want to indulge in right away. They had Arian. The entire kingdom was very happy and rejoiced at the birth of their prince. Things were good for a while until Queen Juliette got pregnant again. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy who was deeply loved by the king."

How can he be so interested in history!

She yawned.

Noah glared at her and continued.

"Then one day the Queen went out with her new born son, Nicholas, and a five year old King Arian. She ordered the guards not to follow her. Long story short, she was attacked and her son was taken away from her. A few years later, she killed herself," he mumbled. He looked sad too. Like he was living each and every moment of the story he had just narrated to his best friend.

Arian shouldn't blame himself for losing his brother and mother...

"It isn't Arian's fault," Alaska said boldly, challenging her friend to defy her. She hated the king but her hatred for him would never cloud her judgment. Noah nodded. "It isn't. I said all of that in a fit of jealousy." Ally laughed and shook her head.

"Why would you be jealous?" She laughed.

"Because I'm in love with you," he shrugged.

The two of them stopped breathing. Noah's eyes widened and he mentally smacked himself. What was he even thinking! She could never love a geek like himself. Could she? He wasn't rich, good looking, famous or charming. He wasn't Arian. She could never be Noah's.

She only saw him as a friend. Someone whom she could talk to about anything. Someone that would be by her side as she got married. Not as the man that she would marry. She cared for him so much, but what hurt him was the fact that all that care had its limits. He'd always be her best friend. Just her best friend.

"Noah, I don't know what to say," she whispered softly. She blamed herself. It was her fault for giving him mixed signals even if it was done unknowingly. She didn't love him the way he loved her. She would ruin their friendship if she rejected him instantly. She breathed out loudly.

"I need to leave."

She was out of the library in seconds.

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

: Adrian Lancaster also appears in my other book, Milan: Queen of the Wolves

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

Castles and palaces differ in the materials that they were built from, their design, their purpose and their history. In general, castles are built for defensive purposes, while palaces are built to showcase wealth.

What's your favourite Ed Sheeran song?

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