Lazarus

14

"I've made a decision," he proclaimed, I felt my heart sink while my palms turned clammy.

"And what did you decide?" I tried to calm my racing heart.

"I think we should get married" he was deadly calm, it was like the calm before the storm.

"Why?" I have no clue why I fucking asked, I clearly wanted to die I guess.

"I'm not sure, I think it is the right thing to do."

"Is that all?" I was a little hurt. I wanted a big surprise like 'oh um I love you, and I want you to be my wife because you are beautiful, and all this other bullshit men say when they are in love.'

"Well, do you want to die?" he asked.

"Kinda to be honest" I mumbled.

"Liar" Stella laughed.

"Oh shh" I laughed at her.

"It isn't like it going to be a real marriage anyway, I just need my maid to stay alive" he walked into the room and flopped on the bed beside Stella, and I.

"When will the wedding be?" Stella asked.

"October" Lazarus grumbled, he closed his eyes and tried to relax.

"October!" I shouted, his eyes popped open and glared at me.

"Yeah?" he raised his eyebrow.

"That is two months away!" I practically yelled.

"It is literally signing a piece of paper, then changing you into a vampire" he grumbled. "It'll give you time to process the whole situation" he closed his eyes again. "It is time for sleeping" he grumbled. Stella gave me a sympathetic look before getting up and leaving.

"I'll see you tomorrow" she smiled, I waved to her as she closed the door. I blindly slipped out of bed and changed into a pair of pj's and hoped that Lazarus didn't see me. I lit the fireplace before I shuffled back into bed. It took me a while before I finally fell asleep, but before I drifted into sleep I felt a chilly muscular arm slipped around my waist and a quick peck was given on my cheek. I wanted to smile, but I slipped into sleeps deep embrace.

The next morning I woke up on my own, Lazarus was just getting up by the time I left the room with my uniform to take a shower. Nobody was up, but the candles were lit which meant they either never got blown out or someone had gotten up and lit them. I ignored it and entered the bathroom. I flipped on the only switch in the house which lit the bathroom with a warm light. I quickly removed my clothes before jumping into the shower to wash. I scrubbed my scalp with the same pine-scented shampoo that Lazarus always managed to have. Once I rinsed my hair I coated it with the matching conditioner and let it sit while I washed my body, and shaved my legs. At one point I thought I heard the door open, but I ignored it thinking it was just the castle settling. I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair before I turned the water off. I pulled back the shower curtain to reveal Darius, he was seated on the seat of the toilet with a smirk.

"Hello darling" he crossed his legs. I tried to cover myself with the curtain again, but he grabbed it and ripped it off the bar. "Don't be shy" he laughed. I crouched down and attempted to cover myself. He grabbed my hair and pulled my head back so I was forced to look at him. "What did I say?" he growled.

"Leave me alone" I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes.

"I told you that you would be mine one day" he spoke through gritted teeth.

"I will never be yours" I grit out.

"We will see about that," he let go of my hair and without another word, he left the bathroom to leave me to sob. I don't know how long I was in there for, but at some point, I remember Lazarus wrapping me in a towel and taking me back to the room as I continued to sob. He didn't do anything he just held me and let me sob into his chest. I don't remember ever calming down, I just remember waking up in the dark by myself. Instead of a damp towel, I was wearing a pair of pjs.

"What happened earlier?" Lazarus's voice broke me out of my deep thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I tried to brush it off.

"Don't pull that shit" I flinched at his tone. "What happened" he growled.

"I don't know" I lied.

"I'll get Stella in here if you don't tell me what the fuck happened" he snapped.

"Don't," I saw him come out from the corner of his room, he was wearing his regular apparel.

"Then tell me what happened" he stalked towards me. I shuffled back until I hit the headboard.

"Darius."

"What about him," he grabbed my leg, and pulled me forward, he crawled over me so my face was inches from his.

"He came into the bathroom when I was showering" I felt the sob start to bubble up. "He ripped the shower curtain off and tried to make me expose myself" I took a deep breath in. I could see Lazarus's eyes slowly start to turn black, this time I knew it wasn't from hunger. "He pulled my hair and told me that I would be his one day" the sob finally escaped my lips.

"That bastard" he hissed, he pulled himself off me before he left the room. He all but slammed the door behind him. I felt the heat rise up my neck as I heard the commotion outside the room. It seemed like a long time before he came back, Darius and the two other men were trailing behind him.

"Darius has something important to tell you," the man with the beautiful ebony skin told me. "Go on" he urged.

"Give me a second to respond, Azar" he snapped.

"Darius" Azar glared at him.

"I'm sorry" Darius growled out in my direction.

"More sincere please" Lazarus snapped.

"Why do you care about a filthy human so much? She is only a slave, a blood slave in fact. The lowest of the low" Darius gritted out.

"Casper, control your dog" Lazarus growled out to the leader.

"Now, now Lazarus. We must not speak to our guests this way" Azar spoke.

"I don't care, he assaulted my future wife" Lazarus practically roared.

"Well, she is just a slave. There aren't any rules against it" Casper shrugged.

"Change of plans" I turned to Lazarus. "I want the wedding to be tomorrow," he demanded.

"Isn't that too early?" Azar questioned.

"No. All the royals are here. I'm sure a few musicians can be called in to play at the ceremony" Lazarus fumed.

"I'll call around" Stella peeked through the doorway.

"What about the traditional red dress, the roses, everything?!" Casper continued.

"They are all going to be sold in town" Lazarus shrugged.

"I'll get those too, I'm friends with some of the townspeople" Stella smiled.

"Then it is settled, Ellie and I will be married by tomorrow night," Lazarus smirked at Darius. "Then she won't be a slave, she will be a Queen."