The Prince's Songbird Slave ✔️

A Comrade

                  

Thoughts around time of publishing - Functioning on four hours of sleep is not a long term solution.

AN – I thought I should quickly explain. The best comparison is if you think of each kingdom as an equivalent to a state in America. Each kingdom is ruled by a Royal family. Nates family is quite small, as both of his parents were only children, so he doesn't have many relatives, but some family have about 15 cousins of widely varying ages. Which of course can be problematic as there is only one king and queen for each kingdom. Vampires are always the ruling family, and occasions of non-vampire royals are very rare.

There are about 50 kingdoms, and the Gaithering is held right in the middle of the country. Nate's family are quite central, so it didn't take long to get there, but the kingdom that Freya and Abby are from is beside the sea, so they had nearly a day's flight before they made it to Nate's. The kingdoms make up an Empire, and there are other Empires out across the sea with which they often arrange marriages with, but they don't leave their kingdom till after their own Gaithering ceremony.

The Gaithering occurs every two years, and you are first required to go between the ages 16 and 17 (as it is considered an adult community) when they start to prepare for their own ceremonies, which happen around 18 to 19 years old.

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I was drowning happily in covers and sinking in pillows, a contented dream running lazily through my head when I smelt a subtle scent.

In that half dreaming state I felt myself stirring, yawning, and taking a deep breath in.

The smell was stronger now, and there was something about it that seemed... seductive? Was it perfume? I jumped out of bed like I'd just been tasered and looked around in alarm.

I was in an unfamiliar, lavishly furnished room with a large wardrobe, large thick rug, large bed... well, large everything.

Much to my relief the red headed owner of the perfume was nowhere to be seen, but Evelyn was standing beside my bed holding a small yet incriminating bottle.

I sank back down onto the bed.

"What the hell Evelyn?" I asked her. "That scared the life out of me, I'd though-" I changed the topic quickly. "How did you even manage to get that?" For some reason Brands face seemed to flash uneasily through my mind.

She looked at me, then up to the right before looking back to the bottle and shrugged.

"Oh, it was left behind in the car," I said, relived, and looked around for a clock. "What time is it?"

Evelyn was already on the move. She headed over to the wardrobe, grabbed some clothes from it, and threw them to me.

"Seriously - that late? Breakfast must nearly be over then" I checked my watch as I threw the clothes on quickly and stuffing my feet into a pair of trainers.

She nodded, and with remarkable speed I ran out of the house we'd been allocated and towards the dining hall.

The best thing about the Gaitering had to be the food – breakfast consisted of a huge breakfast bar that served everything you could think of. There was quasons, pain au chocolat, racks of cereal, trays of fruits from round the world, barista's to make drinks, chefs to cook bacon, sausages, eggs, hash browns, omelettes, pancakes, waffles...

The food at home was good, but the food here was perfection.

I grabbed a tray and piled it high, starting with a cooked breakfast, followed by several pastries, and a few bowls of fruit. Whilst it was true that I ate like a pig, I was also taking some back for Evelyn to have, as the food the servants and slaves got wasn't nearly as good.