edited

|Prince of ArchDale|

After I dropped her off at school, I quickly got in my car and I drove off to the palace to have that meeting.

The smile on my face from Adara getting excited and shoving her hands in her pockets, remain on my face. It falls a bit, but it's there.

I pull up in the huge parking lot for the palace. As I leave the car, the smile instantly falls and business takes over my mind. Everything that I have to do today, gets into my mind and I get into the right attitude.

I push that weird, enigmatic girl named Adara to the back of my head. I can deal with her later.

I walk into the palace, they bow. Same old, same old. They've been doing this for centuries. . .literally. I have no idea how they're able to keep up with this. I like it, however. I walk down the hall and I enter the meeting room.

"Ah, your highness, do you only knock when you need something?" The Queen, Flora, says with her eyes gleaming.

I scoff. "Why would I knock to enter the meeting room? It's expected of everyone for the throne room but only applies to commoners and workers for anywhere else." I answer, showing no emotion.

My hands behind my back and chin up, her face falls a little but she still holds that gleam of fun.

I don't know how she does that. Just be so playful in serious situations. It's either she doesn't care about what's happening or it's her way of processing. There can't possibly be another way.

I won't accept that. It is weird.

I walk to my seat, which is right beside the King's. His is at the head of the table and Queen Flora is at the other head. I sit at his right hand. I take my seat.

"Where is the King?" I ask her, looking around seemingly empty room.

She folds her hands and places them in her lap. "He was here but he left saying he needed to lead the De Clare's inside." She answers.

"Why? Don't they know the outside and insides of this palace by now?" I ask, my eyebrows creased.

She tucks a few strands of hair behind her ear. "It's common courtesy, your highness." She tells me, that playful, fun gleam still being there.

How is being in a meeting to discuss vampire schooling fun? She confuses me.

"Why do you look like that? Do you feel happy about what we're going to discuss?" I decide to air my thoughts and she looks taken aback by what I said.

She answers nonetheless, "No, I'm just happy that you are happy."

I crease my eyebrows once more, "What are you talking about?"

She smiles at me, "You and Adara, I thought it was absolutely marvelous what you said about her in the interview."

Really? That's what she's so happy about?

"I only said that because of the contract. Don't think for a second that's how I truly feel about her." I tell her, my words digging into her like a double edged sword.

Her smile falls and is replaced by a stern expression. "Then how do you truly feel about her, your highness?"

"I dislike her. She is small, annoying, frustrating and it's hard for her to follow instructions. She complains about everything. Not to mention she gets scared of almost everything." I rant about that small, uneducated girl.

The Queen nods along at everything I said, listening keenly. "She's a human, your highness. Of course she's going to feel differently about a lot of things than you do. She is going to be scared of a lot of things, she can't defend herself like how you can." The Queen tells me and I inhale deeply.

I know that she's right, but I didn't tell her to be like that now did I?

I didn't really tell her parents to procreate. That sounds like their fault.

Just as I'm about to respond to Flora, the doors open and the King along with the De Clare's walk in. I decide to put the conversation on hold. Hopefully forever.

The King sits at the head of the table and the De Clare's sit in the middle of us.

"Good day." We all greet one another, then the King commences the meeting.

"Alright, let's get started. First, let's go through the agenda. We are here to informally discuss the opening of vampire schools around the country and possibly the world. We are having this meeting so we can get an informal but professional objective from each person here and especially from our lawyers. We will have the formal meeting in the next three months to really come to a decision." The King sits.

The Queen stands, "We will make our decision today or at least over the course of this week. We will go to Perlsea Kingdom to give our answer and so will the other Kingdoms, we will then vote our answers and see if we will pass the law or not.

Note: If the law is not passed another one must be passed in its place. The law that could be passed in its place would be the law for arranged marriages to come back so Kings, Queens or any other person wouldn't have to go lonely. So we have to make the right decision. It would be the next ten years before we can pass another law. We have to come to the right decision." She sits.

The De Clare's get out their notepads, pencils, pens and glasses out. The King places some brown folders on the table and he slides one of each to each of us. We all flip them open.

"Okay, let us begin. Vampires and humans currently go to school together, however, the rate of humans opting for online is 58% and rising. Also, a yearly survey is taken on mental health and over 63% of those on the survey are vampires.

Now these are the very future of our world. We need to protect and care for them. Should we open a vampire school? Or just continue with how things are going but providing better mental health care?"

The meeting goes on for a few more hours. After a little bit, we decide to take a break. The King and Queen go to the balcony to eat lunch. The De Clare's go to their home to eat lunch. The King said that we'd reconvene in a few hours. Maybe around six o'clock.

That man makes my blood boil. Why so late? By the time the meeting's over Adara will be asleep. It's creepy to sit there and watch a human sleep. Couldn't we have reconvened at four or something? Guaranteed it's 3:42 now but still.

I walk outside by the gardens. Not feeling hungry. By the time I head back anyway, the cooks are going to have blood prepared for me. Bad tasting, bland blood. I have no idea what changed. There was a time when blood tasted so good and vampires went on a killing spree, needing more of it. Humans everywhere ran and hid from us, in fear of us killing them.

Ah, now those were the good days. Now, it's not even fun anymore because the blood tastes awful.

Someone breaks me out of my thoughts with a rough pat on the back. Who the hell—I turn around to see an old aquantaince of mine. A Prince from a neighboring Kingdom.

"Hey." I greet him.

"Hey, man why are you always so formal? Loosen up." He laughs, punching me in the arm. I look at him, straight in the face, my own stoic, lack of expression.

"Why are you here?? I ask him, ignoring his previous request for me to loosen up.

"The family decided to come over. Hope y'all ain't busy." He says, looking around the garden.

"We were in a meeting." I answer.

"Oh, well, it can be put on hold for later." He tells me and honestly I can't say I'm unhappy that they're here. At least I won't be able to go through the second half of that meeting today. If there's anything draining, it's a meeting.

There's just something horrible about sitting down in a dull room talking about something that doens't really interest you.

My advice to those poor depressed vampires? Go on a little killing spree, it'll help. It helped me once.

"Okay." I answer him.

"By the way, I had no idea man. Congratulations." He pats me on the back with a big smile on his face.

I crease my eyebrows. Congratulations? For what?

"For what?" I ask him, nothing but confusion being evident on my face.

"For finding Mrs. Princess." He winks at me.

He knows. He knows about the contract. Of course he does, his family and mine are rather close together. Anything that goes on in either of our Kingdoms the other knows about it.

I actually feel at peace that he knows. Lying to everyone but Adara, her parents and the King and Queen is getting tiring. It'll be nice to vent about that measly, small, frustrating child to someone who isn't already smitten by her.

"You know?" I try to confirm.

"Of course I know about the contract. How is everything going with that? She seems like a nice girl, but—wow— she is small. You're what? 6'3? She's like 5 feet. She's tiny." He laughs and I crack a small smile.

He's right, she is small. Everytime she looks at me it's as if her neck is about to crack and pop off. It's funny.

"Yeah, she is," I laugh a little. "She's rude, frustrating, irritating, uneducated and just the worst." I exhale and he laughs.

"Man, of all the women for you to fake date it just had to be her. I have to say she is pretty cute though." He puts his finger on his chin.

"Hah, I can't lie when I say she isn't physically attractive. Personality? It sucks." I say.

He scoffs, "As if you'd know a good woman if she slapped you in the face. That girl would make the best Queen, not girlfriend—Queen. Good girls like her are hard to find man." He sighs and I look at him as if he was insane.

"You would not be saying that if you saw her everyday." I complain and his eyes twinkle with mischief.

"Really? So, you're telling me that you going off to see her every night isn't of your own free will?" He asks and I tense.

How did he know that?

"How did you know that?" I ask him, feeling defensive.

"The Queen sees you leaving and assumes that you're going to see her. Turns out her assumptions are right. Why do you go see her every night if she's a bother to you?" He asks me and I look away from him.

"Because I made a promise to protect her. Whether she's an ignorant, horrible human or not, I keep my promises." I tell him, putting my hands in my pockets.

"Alright, all I'm saying is that, if I had her," He exhales, looking up into the sky as if he's fantasizing, "I'd love her till I die. She's the perfect woman." He looks back at me and I roll my eyes at him.

Perfect woman? Hah, I could think about trillions of other women who've ever lived in these millenias who are immensely better than her. Adara is a royal pain.

"Please, take her." I joke and he laughs, looking up to the sky once more.

"If I can, I will." He winks at me and I laugh, throwing my head back.

Ezekiel has always been a bit of a ladies' man. He's fascinated in women and he charms them, then they fall for him immediately.

It's what he does. Over at his Kingdom, the women are rabid animals, tearing each other apart. Every month he's head over heels for another woman and when the ex finds out about his current woman, she goes rabid and fights her.

It's insane.

I have no idea how he doesn't have a headache by now. Also, I have no idea how we're even friends. He loves humanity and everything about humans—especially the women. Humanity is nothing but insects beneath my feet. I despise them. Nothing but hatred is in my heart for them.

"So are you guys going to continue that meeting?" He asks me and I look at him scrunching my face.

"No, your mother is here. Her and Queen Flora are practically best friends, they aren't slowing down their conversation anytime soon." I tell him.

"Good, wanna go out for a bite?" He asks, smirking. His entire face contorts to sheer evil and I'm reminded why I tolerate him. He loves draining humans of blood as much as he loves women.

My lips lift up in a wicked smile, "I'm always up for that."

-