Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Seven

We had just started to chat amongst ourselves again when a furious looking Cami barged in through the door to the kitchen, ''For some reason, Aiden wants to speak to you.'' The venom in her voice was unsurprising, but her words shocked me. Why would he want to speak to me?

''Erm, okay then.'' I sent a weak smile in Celia's direction as Cami stormed out of the room the way she had come, muttering underneath her breath.

That girl needs to sort out her priorities; she's in a dream world thinking any vampire would be interested in a human.

I left the kitchen and made my way silently through the sitting area towards the stairs, ignoring the looks from the other girls. They had obviously overheard. I hated being the centre of attention around here; it's such a high profile place already. I wonder what it would have been like if I had been chosen by another Master, maybe somebody who wasn't a prince who constantly scares the hell out of me. Maybe it could've been better and I would live like my mum had as a slave; normal and unnoticed.

As I reached the top of the staircase, I could hear voices coming from the direction of the living room and slowly made my way towards the door. It was obvious that the entire High Royal family would be there as I could just make out their voices and laughter echoing around the rooms. It made me wonder why Aiden would insist on seeing me now, when they're all eating and all together. It's like he wants me to be in the spotlight, and I'm not comfortable with that.

I walked through the doorway into the living room to realise that the voices must be coming from the dining room through the adjoining door. I spotted a long dark-wood dining table in the centre of the room and two large windows on the far wall framed by dark blue curtains, the same sort of shade as my dress. The table was surrounded by matching chairs with regal cushions and currently these chairs were filled with all of the members of the High Royals, including Aiden of course.

He looked bored as I observed him through the doorway, making my way towards them all. His eyes were roaming over the food in front of him as he fiddled with his fork and pushed his food around the plate. His dark hair was tousled and made him look unsettled. Like something was bothering him.

''Ah, here she is!'' A voice boomed, it was the King. He sat perched at the head of the table, directly facing me and I cautiously climbed the step into the room. My legs felt wobbly as all eyes trained themselves onto me. My eyes remained focused on Aiden, I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it was a silent plea for help in this situation and answers as to why everybody seemed to have been waiting for me to arrive.

''Don't be shy, let us have a look at you.'' The Queen, whom I'd already seen earlier, was glaring icily down her nose at me. I felt like I was under observation yet again. But this time, it felt like it really mattered.

It felt like the turning point between life and death.

''Aiden, what made you choose her?'' The King's tone sounded disappointed to my ears; as if Aiden hadn't pleased them by bringing me home as his first slave, instead they acted as if he had made the wrong choice. Like he could've done a lot better.

''She was the only one left.'' He stated simply and I felt my heart drop as any hope that I may have meant anything to him diminished into nothing.

He hadn't looked up from his plate to acknowledge my presence. Wasn't he supposed to have requested me to come here? So why was he acting like I was a burden to him?

''I see. That explains it.'' The King stated and started to continue eating. I felt tears sting my eyes as the attention of the conversation shifted from me. The true nature that I had heard about the High Royals was beginning to show through now. I knew where all the stories had come from just from seeing this one small conversation take place.