Celeste's life is far from the enchanting fairy tale one might expect from a princess. Her father, a ruthless and self-absorbed king, leaves a trail of death and destruction in his wake. To seal alliances and maintain his power, he arranges for Cele...
My red pencil grinds between my teeth as my eyes follow the line on the scribbled map. The three lines from my current location to Livas show the options for my next route. With an upcoming shortage of tobacco and my father and brother getting on my nerves after just a week, it's high time to leave again.
'A pencil is for writing, not for eating,' my conceited brother remarks as he walks towards me. Myles, with his perfectly combed blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and flawless white skin, is every woman's dream. He acts as if being the future mayor and Sara's fiancé doesn't faze him. However, anyone who knows him for more than five minutes knows better.
'Shut up, Myles.' Sighing, I push myself up from the damp grass and walk away from the tree I was leaning against. I fold the map and put it along with my pencil back into my pocket.
'I just spoke to father.' The sound of his shoes follows me like a fly buzzing around my head, as I try to get away from Myles as quickly as possible. I automatically quicken my pace, hoping to shake him off.
'Father wants to make you my second right-hand man once I take his place, that's an opportunity you can't miss.' I sigh deeply and roll my eyes toward the dense canopy of black and dark red leaves.
'If you take the position now, we can start the lessons for the takeover; otherwise, it'll be very tight on time.' Abruptly, I halt in the dark green grass, grit my teeth, and turn around swiftly.
His blue eyes look at me amusedly as he folds his arms across his chest.
'You know, Myles, you should worry about how you spend your time instead of mine. I don't need your help, I don't want to be your right-hand man, and I don't give a damn what father has planned for me. Do something that actually matters instead of just feeling useful.' His smug grin fades from his lips as I turn and continue my way through the forest.
'You're throwing your life away,' he shouts after me, but he gets no response.
In search of relaxation and to forget Myles's endless meddling, I take the wooden box from the pocket of my black trousers. I place one of the last remaining flame leaves between my lips and light it with the rifel I once bought from a magician in Livas.
People still give me strange looks when they see the silver thing ignite and extinguish without the need for real fire.
The smoke fills my stained lungs and relaxes my body. It allows me to take in my surroundings in the dark forest.
The massive black trees rise up, casting a threatening shadow over the forest, making it almost as dark as night. The leaves on the branches are deep red and hang like a dense curtain before the morning sun, allowing only a few sparse rays of light to filter through. The Black Forest is as dark as the creatures that roam within it.
The forest has an open clearing where the trees dare not venture. The hidden vampires thought hundreds of years ago that it was a good place to live, and thus the Black Forest Clan was born.
I take a drag from my half-smoked flame leaf and see the tents getting closer.
The hundreds of dark red tents, hidden among the tree canopy, are visible only to a trained eye. Long ago, there were attempts to build houses, but the forest wouldn't allow it. The ground was either too hard or too soft, creatures would destroy the walls at night, or rain would inexplicably fall so hard that the walls would break down. Only the black main building remains, thanks to the help of magicians, as a permanent structure.
How ominous the forest may be, its inhabitants are not. My father, the mayor, rules for the people, as he likes to say. The vampires are cheerful, live in harmony, and trade everything instead of using money. I've always found it somewhat airy-fairy, but it's undeniably cozy. A large campfire, drinks, food, and vampires chatting merrily. These are fond memories I carry from my childhood.
Despite the more than five hundred inhabitants, life here is monotonous. Vampires leave their homes, start breakfast, take their children to school, or go to work.
I always sought more than that. As a child, I had a fascination for travel books and wanted to know everything if someone so much as stepped a meter off the grounds. My father, however, never understood that curiosity.
'It's good here,' he always said.
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