CAPTIVE by the Prince

Chapter Eleven

It was nearing dawn when Lady Isobel bade her goodbye and said she would be returning to Sanggre and would return later this evening to continue the lessons.

"But the sun is almost up!" Ana had pointed out. "The sun will kill you in your travel. Why can't you stay here?"

"Oh, do not fret Your Highness. I will be teleporting back to Sanggre," Lady Isobel explained. "Vampires have the ability to teleport to avoid the sun. But we don't often use it since doing so diminishes our strength." And right before her eyes, Lady Isobel vanished.

When Lady Isobel left, Ana stood and faced Lucya. "Will you be staying here with me?"

Lucya gave her a small smile. "I will, Princess Ana. I do however worry about where I will stay when the sun rises."

Oh, right. What would Ana do now? She couldn't let her vampire kin burn to ashes. She turned and faced Erien who was sitting on a chair, her head resting on the wall, dozing. "Erien," Ana said, waking up the elf.

"Oh! I must have fallen asleep," Erien said as she stood up. "My apologies, Princess Anastasia. Is there anything you need?"

"I have a favor to ask, and I would be totally happy if you could help me with this one," Ana started. "You see, Lucya will be staying here with me, and you know how it is with vampires and our fear of the sun. Is there any way you could possibly help us?"

Erien threw a glance over Lucya. It was apparent on Erien's face that she did not have any problem with Lucya getting roasted when the sun rises. But the elf finally nodded and said, "I think I can manage that, Your Highness. Just give me a few minutes." Then she left the room.

Ana was left with Lucya who had somehow thrown her stiff stance out the window and was looking more relaxed now that Lady Isobel had left. She gave Ana a bright smile. "Oh, thank you so much, Princess Anastasia! I was really worried about it when Lady Isobel said I needed to stay behind."

Ana returned the smile and sat on her bed. "Please, call me Ana. I was just wondering about teleporting. So, you could go anywhere you want by teleporting?"

Lucya shook her head. "Oh no, Princess Ana. That is not how it works. We can only teleport to places we have previously been to. And we cannot teleport to all places. Some places have a magical barrier that repels those who try to teleport into it. This castle for instance. The elves had lifted their magical barrier and allowed Lady Isobel and me to teleport here. Then they cloaked us with this elven rune so we could freely teleport if needed even if the barrier is working. It was actually a risk for them, but then they figured we only teleport if we are in dire situations. Like avoiding the sun for instance." She then showed Ana a tattoo of swirling vines and glyphs at the back of her hand.

"So, you mean my parents and brother have one like that? They were here a few nights ago."

"The king probably has one. I do believe that the queen and prince do not need any of these runes. They came directly from a very strong line of Valentin—that is, from your grandfather King Dimitri. Such a kind king, I heard my mama once said. Tragic that he fell into his demise only a year after the betrothal. One might not help but think that someone must have been in disagreement with His Majesty and plotted for the king to die. But they said he was getting old and weary of life and decided to give his life to the Otherworld. He was, after all, five thousand years old! The oldest vampire that ever lived, since you know all those battles and constant killings different factions do and its effect on our population, no other vampire had lived that long. Most especially since that last few years ever since the Empress of Ekantria died, encantos have been waging war! Absolutely horrible and—"

"Wait! Hold on a sec, Lucya," Ana finally said, cutting Lucya's very long story.

"Oh! My apologies, Princess Ana. I usually get carried away when I start talking. My mama always says I could put someone into an eternal sleep and die with boredom with my constant chatter. My mama is always right you know. One time I—"