Snow White Queen [NaNoWriMo 2018]

Chapter Thirteen

You had one job.

Well, technically, she'd had multiple jobs on this trip, but one of the most important ones was keeping the fact that she was a vampire a secret. And she was doing a fantastic job of that at that moment.

Well, now you gotta clean up the mess.

Shouldn't be too hard. Hey, so, I'm a vampire, but don't worry, I'm not dangerous, even though you just saw me kill a bunch of people with my bare hands- er, teeth. Yeah, that'll go over perfectly.

With much apprehension, Neva turned towards the crowd, trying to wipe the blood from her mouth.

I mean, you should at least say something.

"Yeah... I know how this looks."

The villagers all seemed too stunned to do anything. If she was ever going to say anything, it had better be now, before they turned into a vicious rage mob.

She took a deep breath. "Before you start asking, yes, I'm a vampire. Look, I know vampires aren't exactly well received, and you're probably kind of freaked out right now - or, more than freaked out."

Maybe I'm succeeding?

"You probably have no reason to believe me when I say this, but hear me out. Trust me when I say that I don't hurt people often. This was an exception, and it was more in self-defense.

"I like to think that I've been given a gift. At first, yeah, it does seem like a curse, and it definitely feels like that sometimes. But, I also have a certain set of skills that I never would have gotten otherwise, and I intend to learn to use those skills and put them to use defending my people - defending you."

The crowd seemed to be calming down.

"I know vampires aren't exactly trusted around here, but, if I may ask of you, trust me. Trust me to defend you, and trust that I'll always keep your best interests in mind."

The crowd was silent for a moment. Then, one person started clapping, then more joined in, until they were full on cheering for her. Neva couldn't hide the smile.

Thank the gods that worked.

~~~

She finished her business quickly and set off. Originally, she was going to go to another province and repeat this process there, but in light of recent events, Lilia had asked that Neva be returned to the castle as soon as possible.

It was a long ride back with few interruptions, which gave Neva a lot of time to think. Normally, this would be something she'd appreciate, but right now she couldn't stop thinking about the people she'd killed.

Had she done the right thing?

Sure, she'd been attacked, but did that give her the right to kill them like she had? She'd just... ended them. Without a second thought.

They had probably had friends. And family. Mothers or wives who could be watching the window for a child or spouse that will never return. They'd been taken from all that. Because of Neva.

The only comfort she had was that at least she had killed them quickly. At least she hadn't caused them pain.

~~~

She was back at the castle, finally, and was looking for something to distract her from what had happened at the end of her journey.

That distraction came in the form of Dorian, who was very happy to see her back.

"So, how was the trip?"

"It was great, actually. I never get out of this stuffy castle, and it was a lot of fun to be able to do something that wasn't regulated by protocol."

"Next time you do something like this, you should bring me."

"Maybe I will."

They walked for a while, talking about everything.

At this point she couldn't deny it - she was starting to have feelings for him. And she couldn't help but wonder if he was starting to feel the same.

She knew that her parents had intended for Dorian to be her suitor - she had recently found out that this meant that they had wanted her to marry him. Both her parents were dead, but maybe they'd allow her to continue with this.

"So, um, listen," she started. "You know our parents wanted us to- wanted us to get married, right?"

He nodded, seemingly unsure of where she was going.

She cleared her throat; suddenly, she was very nervous about what she was going to say. "You're one of my closest friends - probably my closest - and I can't imagine my life without you." Just get to the point before you lose him. "I don't know - I think I've started to feel like... I don't know- like I like you as... more than a friend."

Why do you have to be so cringy.

A weird look crossed Dorian's face. "I- I was going to say the same thing to you."

A mixture of relief and even more nerves shot through Neva. "Considering we were probably going to end up married anyway, maybe that's a good thing." I don't know how these things are supposed to go, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you're supposed to say.

Dorian nodded. "Yeah... I still want to do it right, though."

"Right?"

"Court you. Propose properly. Everything everyone else does."

Neva nodded and smiled. "That would be nice."

Dorian turned to face Neva and held out his hand. "Neva Erythrodis - will you be my girlfriend?"

Neva took his hand. "I'd love to."

"I'm going to catch up over Thanksgiving break" I said. I'm sorry. I'm so far behind it's not even funny. But anyway.
I'm just going to say now that for whatever reason I really hate writing romance. I love it in general, and I really want to write it, but I really hate writing it. We'll see how this goes.
Hope you're enjoying this so far. Leave a vote if you did, and a comment with your thoughts. I'll see you next time.
~Patchesmimi

Day eighteen
Words written: 599
Total: 16797

Day twenty
Words written: 349
Total: 17146

Day twenty-one
Words written: 563
Total: 17709