Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Seventeen

''What do we have here?'' A deep voice spoke in a patronising tone as the birds ceased their chirping, warning me of the imminent danger.

I rushed to stand from my previous kneeling position by the river and came face to face with two male vampires. They were dressed in black uniforms that reminded me of the Punishers, causing a feeling of dread to spread through me as I shifted restlessly. Both were intimidating in height along with their sharp, dark features that were staring me down with a hint of humour in their eyes.

They were definitely trouble.

My fire wood forgotten, I stared wide-eyed at them as they silently observed me and fear consumed me. The only sounds to fill the clearing were the soothing bubbling of water from the stream and the gentle rustling of leaves as the wind picked up.

''A runaway?'' I was beginning to notice the differences between the two vampires. The one that spoke had a low, guttural voice and was stockier than his partner, whereas the other seemed less threatening with a lean body and longer hair.

''Is she mute?'' The smaller vampire asked, chuckling at my silence and obvious nervousness.

''Stupid human.'' The brutish vampire appeared beside me, grabbing my arm and squeezing as he glared at me, ''You should know not to be this close to the border.''

The contact shocked me into speaking, ''I'm here with the prince.'' My voice was desperate as I knew my excuses would be useless in helping me, but I thought I would try. Surely it would make them hesitate.

The vampire holding me laughed loudly, the sound startling some birds nearby and causing them to take flight from the trees surrounding us, ''Did you hear that, Max? She's with the prince!'' He raised the pitch of his voice to mock me and I felt tears spring to my eyes.

The other vampire, Max, joined in with his chorus of laughter, ''The prince!? You really think that we'd fall for that one?''

I raised my voice over their laughter as I attempted to sound threatening in an effort to force them to release me, ''If you harm me, Aiden won't hesitate to punish you.''

My words seemed to sober them up slightly, their laughter dying down. But, instead of the fear in their eyes that I had hoped for, there were only pools of red, shining with anger.

''How dare you speak the name of the prince?'' The grip around my arm tightened and I squirmed, struggling to break free. It was no use as the hand around my arm didn't budge, maintaining its vice-like grip. I swung my free arm towards the vampire, only to have it batted out of the way as if I was nothing but a pest.

I doubted even Rose with her knowledge of fighting would be able to stand against two vampires. That made me next to useless.

Max approached us with what looked like rope held in his hands, his eyes still blazing as he retrained me and tied my wrists together. It was no use now; there was no way I could do anything to save myself. The rope caused me to remember Aiden's thoughts about a patrol in somebody else's territory. The guys must see me as some sort of freebie that they could capture and torture at their leisure. I almost gagged as my mind concocted some of the things they could do to me.

Without thinking, I screamed as loudly as I could, wishing for Aiden or Josh to hear me and help. Hadn't Aiden said to scream if I ever needed him? Way back when the bear had attacked me he had come and saved me, my hopes held out a little longer that it may happen again.

However, I knew that I had wondered off quite a way so my hope began to diminish as the thought became more ridiculous that anybody would save me now. It only took a second before a calloused hand was shoved over my mouth, silencing me.