The Vampire Prince and His Brat | On Hold

| Prologue |

Three words were all it took to turn the quaint little mansion upside-down. The screams could be heard from the village nearby, the residents of which could all be seen walking around like they did every day. None of them bothered to bat an eyelid at the sounds. They were all far too used to such sounds. The only thing they wondered about was what had caused the uproar that particular time around, and the answer to their questions was fairly simple.

"You're getting married."

Kaliana blinked, taking a few seconds to process that information before she started throwing things. "Like hell!" she screamed, clawing at her hair as her father informed her the decision was final. There was no way out. "I'm sixteen! You can't just spring that on me out of nowhere! You can't do this to me! Not after everything..." she yelled, throwing pillow after pillow at the man sitting calmly on the sofa opposite her.

"It's out of my hands, Kal," her father whispered, sighing deeply into his hands as he buried his face in them. "You are the last candidate whose blood is suitable."

"Like I care!"

Her father groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Your fiancé is on his way here right this very moment," he continued, ignoring the creaking of the floor as she stomped around the room like a raging bull. Ignoring his rampaging daughter, he pushed his golden locks back from his forehead, revealing a set of tired grey eyes. He was clocking on in his years, having just celebrated his two-thousandth and first birthday a few days before the announcement had reached his ears – the announcement he was only telling her just then. "He'll be arriving within the next few hours, so do me a favour and pack everything you need."

Kaliana scowled, folding her arms across her chest. Like hell she was just going to do it. "No," she spat, looking determinedly out of the window, her scowl only growing darker as she noticed how tomato-like she looked. Her skin was ridiculously pale – one of the many curses of having been born into one of the old Aristocracy Families belonging to the Vampire Territory – and it brought her no small amount of trouble, whether she went out in the pale sun or whenever she rampaged around the household.

"Kaliana, stop messing around." Her father's scowl matched her own, meeting the furious pair of eyes she'd inherited from him. "You don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your fiancé."

"He's not my fiancé!"

"He is, stubborn child, now go and get ready. You don't have time to run off and hide... why do you think I waited until last minute to come and tell you?" He shook his head, evidently exasperated with her. "Unless you wish to embarrass yourself, then go and get changed... you need to look presentable, if you want to uphold the honour of the Reynard name."

"NO!" Her foot stomped against the ground, teeth bared. She refused. She absolutely refused to get married. She was just supposed to become Lady Reynard. She was just supposed to be an insignificant individual in charge of a small estate and the town nearby. She was just supposed to be able to live out the rest of her life the way she wanted.

"For the love of all that is holy, go and get yourself dressed and presentable. I will not have you disgracing our family name in front of the royal family." He crossed his arms, expression unyielding as he stared her down.

"The... royal family?" Kaliana trailed off, eyes widening as she tried to comprehend all the possible meanings. What did the royal family have to do with her wedding? "What do they have to do with anything?"

She probably should've twigged when he'd said her blood was the last that was suitable. She should've guessed when he'd said the decision was out of his hands. Instead, realisation sunk in when he mentioned the royal family, and Kaliana felt her stomach drop to her toes. Her father had to be kidding. He had to. She refused to believe it.

She might have been called an immature, clueless brat, but it didn't mean she was completely uninformed. Everyone had heard of the attacks on the nobles over the last few months. The only thing she hadn't pieced together until that very moment was that they hadn't just been random attacks. They hadn't been a random string of serial robberies and murders done by some hooligans or dissatisfied commoners. No. They'd been taking out all the possible brides for the First Prince of the Vampiric Lands.

Kaliana knew she'd been last on the list of eligible candidates, and she knew precisely why that was. She was a failure of a noble vampire. She didn't have a coveted Bloodline Affinity. Her running speed matched the average for that of a human, and her singing sounded like a cat screeching. She wasn't royal material in the slightest.

It was no wonder the assassins had forgotten about her.

Her teeth clenched, heart pounding at the thought of leaving the estate. "No!"

"Kaliana... you have been engaged to Crown Prince Leviathan Al Skordia Septimius Tiernan."

And with those words, her world shattered.

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ILLENIS HERE

Hello, and welcome to my latest book :)

The usual rules, like no copying my work and the like apply here too. This is a book I randomly started writing for kicks and giggles. I even gave it one of those cliche kind of names you see. I also tried to add in some humor here and there. Yay me.

After I've finished this book - and make no mistake, I will (because I hate unfinished stories) - I'll be editing it, so feel free to point any errors out, though stuff like that I'll try to correct immediately. EDIT - even though I haven't finished the damned first draft I've gone through and edited some chapters. More will be coming soon.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed.

(Chill, this isn't the end.)

Like two of my other books this will have random updates, and if you aren't OK with swearing then I suggest you run away. Like now.

Don't say I haven't warned you.

Until next time... though I probably won't do A/N for this book at the end of each chapter.

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