The Vampire's Bride

Chapter 10

Iris struggled to keep up with Jason's long strides. The prince moved frantically, a panicked expression on his face.

They found Akaylaa waiting outside the throne room, her dark eyes anxious. The princess took Iris' arm as Jason stormed into the room, slamming the doors open and then shut behind him.

"What's happening?" Iris asked.

"A servant found a severed head and several jars of blood in my mother's chambers. She's on trial right now... but the way things are going..." Akaylaa trailed off. Iris watched and felt a pain in her chest as tears leaked from the princess's eyes.

"Surely the king will pardon the offenses, I mean, she's his wife," she tried to reassure. Akaylaa only shook her head in response.

"Rumors are deadly to royals, Iris. My father will have to execute her on some false public cause, while only the castle will know the truth," the princess explained. "That will keep suspicion from falling to us and leading to our own executions."

Iris looked to the floor quietly, clenching her hands into fists. It wasn't right. She had just been in the queen's quarters that day with the woman, and despite the threats she had made, she had still appeared a loving mother. An execution would be wrong.

"I'm sorry," Iris whispered.

"Don't worry yourself about it. It isn't your fault," Akaylaa told her. "Why don't you go get some dinner and sleep? This isn't your problem and you have no need to wait."

"Akaylaa," she murmured.

"Go. We can talk in the morning."

Iris felt a tightness in her chest as she turned away. Guilt leeched over her, strangling her in it's suffocating grasp. Her boots echoed as she walked down the hall. This wasn't right. Something was... off. How could they just find a severed head?

"This is how things work in a kingdom, Iris," Adelaide told her. "You'll face this when you become queen, as well."

"If this is how things work, I'm not sure I want to be queen," Iris snapped at the ghost. Her mother's eyes glinted with brief malice before she calmed once again.

"Jason has already told you that he loves you, hasn't he? You're well on your way to being queen, whether you want it or not," her mother chided. Iris huffed and sat in a window, staring firmly at the almost-set sun. "It's a big responsibility, but it can be handled of you have the right power."

"What would you know about that?" She asked. "All these rumors say you were Xavier's lover, and that you came to this court to wed king Scott, but you were never royal."

Adelaide pressed her lips together and looked to the side. Iris stared at her, growing suspicious with each passing, tense, second.

"We'll talk another time," her mother told her, before vanishing.

"Wait!" Iris called out to empty air.

Curiosity burned at her now. She wanted answers to Adelaide's past, more than just rumors and stories, but where could she get them? Servants would have only heard gossip.

Prehaps she could write a letter to Alex and ask him to come to court.

The only other option that Iris had was Xavier.

The silver eyed girl watched a butterfly float past the window before taking off in a swift pace down the hall.

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Jason watched futility as his father rose to give his decree on the trial of his mother. Argument after argument had passed between them over the last few minutes, and now it was clear that he could either banish the woman, or have her executed.