Lucius watched from above as Valentina and Derrick trained together in their gym. He had bad news but at the moment he just wanted to delay it. After Rog left and the crowd dispersed, Valentina begged him to not involve himself in her fight.
“Lucius please don’t do this”, she pled. “I can kill him and his army all by myself”.
Lucius smiled at her bravery but was still adamant to provide her with his army and assistance. “No Valentina. As your fiancé, I will not let you fight alone. Are you scared that I might kill more soldiers than you, my love?” He smirked when she gasped and playfully whacked his arm. “I am not…we both know that I am the better swordsperson and hunter”, she proclaimed.
After giving her a long kiss, he excused himself from her side, explaining that he needed to make preparations, and returned back to the castle with Dante. Together they rode to the south on motorbikes. After parking their motorbikes in the woods, Lucius knocked down two of Rog’s men on guard and stole their uniform.
Unfortunately, only one of the soldiers’ uniform was adequate for both their size, so Lucius commanded Dante to mind the guards while Lucius played soldier. Dressed in the uniform with untidied hair and muddied face, Lucius followed a group of soldiers making rounds on the camp. Finally it was supper and Lucius lined up like the others. Once he obtained he share, he sat with a group of vampires too weak to have real ranks but quite talkative.
“Apparently, I heard from Jon that Princess Valentina was a real sight”, said a soldier in front of him. Lucius smiled at this and added in a commoner’s tone, “Yeah, she’s hot as”. The other soldiers nodded and agreed rowdily. “I would love to feel her right up”. He wasn’t even lying there.
“Do you think she will be smart enough to defeat us?” questioned a thin vampire with scared eyes. “I’ve heard that she’s an assassin. Apparently, Rog have sent some of his best men to assassinate the princess…none have returned”. Lucius gripped his fork tightly at this news. Why didn’t she ask him for help earlier? Needing to return to his love, Lucius asked casually, “Nah, Rog has his alliances…they will help right?”
“The southern lords might. It depends on how they feel about going against King Lucius Vladonov”, said a vampire next to him thoughtfully. “Do you remember what he did to those rogues who tried to overtake Dragomir’s land? Those bodies along his borders weren’t taken down until the crow abandoned them”. The vampire shivered to Lucius’ humour. “If I was Rog, I wouldn’t offend Dragomir for fear of Vladonov”.
“But why is he …all of a sudden?” Lucius asked, sounding curious.
“He apparently has a new sponsor…which reminds me, I need help. The sponsor gave him weapons”. Lucius finished his supper quickly and volunteered. He walked to the back of the camp with 5 of the vampires from the dinner table to a large barn. Inside were 4 skinny vampires who stood guard and upon their approach, one of them shouted, “About time, we have 200 crates needing to be opened and moved to the storage”.
As Lucius slowly approached the wooden crates, he saw a blue emblem stamped on the lid. The emblem had a lion wearing a crown; Romanov. “Romanov is helping us in the war?” he asked calmly, though his anger was just at the surface. “But he is allied with the Dragomirs”.
“Yeah, but not with the Vladonovs”, laughed one of the guards. Then the men crowded together to exchange the gossip. “Apparently, Romanov was not happy that Valentina broke up with him for Lucius. He has made a deal with Rog that he will provide his men and weapons as long as Rog kill off Lucius and his kin. They will halve the lands but Valentina will be spared. I think Rog and Romanov will fight after the war for the princess”.
YOU ARE READING
The Dragomir Heir (Watty Award)
RomanceThe Dragomir Kingdom has been without a vampire ruler for 17 years and King Lucius Vladonov of the neighboring vampire kingdom grows restless for the return of the heir and his betrothed. Once married, together Lucius and his bride will be indestru...