Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Thirty-Six

The crazy old woman's words did the trick.

The King and Queen were out of their seats faster than my brain could register that they'd even moved. Jared looked alarmed, his wide eyes fixated on the vampires as he slowly backed away, heading in the direction of Celia.

I just stayed put, pleased that I hadn't been the one to break the news to everyone. Then again, Gertrude's confirmation solidified the fact that another war may be about the break out, a much more violent one.

''From which direction, Gertrude?'' The Queen asked calmly, although her tense stance contrasted strongly with her tone.

''They're coming from the North!'' Gertrude still sounded panicked, her hair in such a mess that she really did look like a witch.

Her words meant nothing to me since I definitely wasn't good with directions at the best of times. On the other hand, the others seemed to launch into fight mode, the Queen whispering in her husband's ear, her eyes glowing a deadly shade of red.

Aiden had leapt up from his seat, his eyes locked on his parents as he undoubtedly could hear what was being said. That meant that only the humans couldn't hear, a smart move on their part considering the plans the slaves had in place.

I sent a worried glance in Jared's direction, keeping up the pretence that I didn't want the plan to fail, although in some ways my anxiety was well and truly real. I couldn't believe that this is what it had all come to.

''Then we must go and stop them. We can't let this escalate any further!'' The Queen was losing control, that was quite obvious. Her anger was rolling off of her in waves, fangs fully lengthened so that they dug terrifyingly into her bottom lip.

I could feel my breaths come quicker at the sight. The Queen's fury made Aiden's look minuscule in comparison, it was petrifying.

Much to my relief, she disappeared using her vampire speed. I wondered whether she had gone to fight them alone, or whether she was going to play this strategically. From what we had seen of the rebels, the latter would probably be the best idea, although I wasn't going to suggest that to a raging vampire.

Aiden's gaze then turned to me, causing me to completely lose my train of thought.

Not good.

''Don't even think about it, Violet.'' His dark voice captured my attention, my eyes dropping involuntarily to his lips.

''Think about what?'' I asked innocently, noticing that we were alone in the dining room. I didn't know when the others had left, but I didn't really care honestly.

''There's no way I'm letting you out there to find those rebels. We both know you want to stop any of this from happening.'' He spoke, his eyes watching me warily.

Stopping the rebels definitely hadn't been what I was thinking about.

But it should have been.

Scolding myself for being distracted, I focused on the conversation and problem at hand, ''Aiden, my father is the leader, there must be some way I can stop him from attacking. You and me both know that the rebels will fail again, and I won't be able to live with myself without knowing if I can stop all of that death from happening.'' I tried to convey how much I meant those words, no matter what my father had done, I couldn't allow more to die.

As it was, the destruction we had left in our wake after our escape from the camp had haunted me at night. How would I feel if my father died and I didn't do anything to stop it?

I moved to walk past him, out towards the foyer and the front doors where the others must have gone, but he stepped into my path, ''Violet, you won't be able to influence anyone, you'll die.'' His voice was low, void of the anger that had become so familiar when it came to his moods.