Bound By Blood: The Pureblood Prince

Lily | Bonus Chapter

I'd spent my entire life hating men. It was comfortable for me. Easy.

I hated my father. He'd never been around, but the fact that he could leave my mom and me made it easy enough.

So, hating Ulric was a comfortable state for me. Made the whole thing a bit easier. I'd go along with what they wanted, wear the dresses that were picked out for me. Never screamed, never begged, never said a word. It was the way that always kept me alive.

But it was different now. I didn't know how to feel. Maybe it was this strange room, in this strange palace. Maybe it was the white sheets, the sound of the waves rolling outside my window. I sat on my bed, in the silence, all of the lights shut off. I stared down at my hands, palms up. I studied the way the moonlight danced on my skin. I thought of the way Ulric's palms pressed against mine there, when he asked me to dance.

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King De Vincent's assistant, a man named Nicolas, had frequently come to visit Ulric. Nicolas would come with barrels full of aged blood. Ulric would get drunk on it, as Nicolas shared palace intel. Ulric's father, the Duke, spent every waking moment trying to make his son the next king. It was all Ulric ever seemed to think about. So when Nicolas came, with promises to tell him all of the secrets of his rival cousin, Ulric didn't ask any questions. I'd watch him drink and drink, and his eyes would turn dark. He never caught on to what Nicolas was doing to him, but I saw it. He was filling him with a blood spell. I'd seen it at parties. They drive you mad. Ulric would walk around in a daze. He'd break things, and laugh, then forget about it almost immediately. That was Nicolas's trick. Make him reckless. Make him useless.

When Ulric was Ulric, he was just lonely. He never tried to get me to talk, never touched me first. I knew the nights that he wanted someone to lay beside him. It was like that for a while, in the beginning. He had his moments, with his father. But never with me. He was kind to me.

But some nights, he'd come stumbling into the room. I'd see the shadow in his eyes, the stain on his lips, and knew Nicolas had come. He'd grab me by my hair, and sink his teeth into my neck. He'd feed from me until I shoved him away. Wipe the blood from his mouth and drag himself to the bathroom, like an animal. I'd go back to my room and shove the dresser in front of the companion door until morning came. The first time it happened, I cried. Cried for the first time in years. I slowly watched the recognition fade from his eyes. That's how I knew the spell had taken him.

After a while, I got used to it. Found comfort in my hatred for him. I complained to my doctor about the pain one night after a feeding. Told him Ulric was rough with me. He gave me a bottle of "painless potion". Thick, dark liquid. Smelled like death, and tasted worse. But suddenly, I felt like I was lying on a cloud all the time. Nothing mattered anymore. Ulric's anger, his empty eyes, his rough hands. I supposed that was the point. Sometimes, if I had too much of it, my vision would get spotty and I'd lose time. I'd walk around barefoot in my sleeping gown. I'd wander into the kitchen in the middle of the night, my thoughts floating aimlessly. 

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My stomach knotted up when I learned we were visiting De Vincent palace. Our first night there, I was called to be with Ulric in the King's den. Ulric's father was there, with his brother, the King. The King looked so old, and moved with a quickness that seemed unnatural. Something that should terrify me, I thought. They talked about politics, and made crude remarks about Prince Gabriel's new companion. I blinked in and out of consciousness on Ulric's lap.

The Prince came later, with his companion in tow. I had never cared much for the Gabriel. He had the beautiful, virtuous, vampire prince thing down. But I hated his passiveness. He had the power to change things, and yet he went along with everything his father said. Just like Ulric.