CAPTIVE by the Prince

Chapter Eighteen

The wedding took place as planned. Ana was amazed to find everything was arranged so well, considering the limited time allotted to plan a grand, royal wedding. Everything was so well organized it would put a professional event organizer back home to shame. Yesterday, the entire castle folk were extremely busy preparing for the wedding.

Last night, she was escorted to a different room, one that was large enough to house three chambers. There was a bedroom, a bathroom and a receiving area where she had entertained her mother and Queen Elora, Ivan’s mother. The elf queen still lamented the loss of her other son, Prince Adamar. But she said “the wedding must push through.” She had also mentioned that she bore no ill will towards her family for Adamar was hot tempered and made a mistake by rushing towards Sanggre with his plan to assassinate the vampire king. Queen Elora further explained that what Adamar did could’ve sparked another war between the two races, and was grateful that Queen Talya convinced King Viktor not to retaliate by declaring war due to Adamar’s careless action.

Ana was worried that Adamar was killed by her vampire kin, or worse he was slain by Kristoff or her father. But Kristoff assured her that when Adamar escaped, he suddenly jumped off a cliff. Her brother also said that the day night before Adamar fled the castle, Kristoff already made arrangements with King Lianthor’s men to deliver the elf prince back to Elfiro. Ana was able to let out a sigh of relief that at least her family was not the cause of death of Ivan’s younger brother.

She now sat behind the table that was atop a dais reserved for the newly wed. The entire great hall, which now served as the reception area for the festivity, was lavishly decorated befitting a royalty wedding celebration. She eyed the hall with great interest. Dignitaries from different races were present. Even some lords and ladies from the noble houses also attended the celebration even though the invitations were only sent yesterday. The mystical barrier was temporarily lifted to allow the vampires to teleport inside the castle. So as an added precaution, warrior elves guarded the palace and villages to prevent any troubles from the vampires’ possible cravings for blood. The chief wizened wizard even brought with him several knights from Encantadia to secure peace throughout the eve of the festivity.

She sat between Ivan on her right and her family on her left. Her mother was elated, her father was in a sour mood while Kristoff was eyeing every young and beautiful female in the great hall with keen interest.

She wore a red off-shoulder wedding gown that was quite unnecessarily low on the neckline and extremely tight on the bodice. Her veil was made of flimsy lacy black cloth that was held in place atop her head with a jeweled comb.

“Are you sure red is okay for a wedding gown? I was thinking more of something along white in color,” she had asked her mother last night.

“My dear, white is favored by the mage community. But we are vampires! And vampires adore the color that represents life.” By life her mother meant blood.

She felt Ivan stood from his chair and extended a hand towards her. She glanced at his palms and moved her gaze towards his face.

“Shall we dance, wife?” he asked.

Wife. She was still not used to him referring her as wife. She gave a small nod and placed her hand on his palm. They made their way towards the center of the hall and Ivan gave the cue to change the music to something suitable for a dance. She followed his lead and they both glided gracefully. It was a good thing Lady Isobel made her learn how to dance. All eyes were directed at them and afterwards, others followed. And soon most of the guest began dancing.  

She told Ivan that she wanted to take a minute to rest her sore foot due to her uncomfortable shoes her mother insisted for her to use. Ivan consented and was about to lead her back to the dais when a tall, handsome man interceded their path. He had dark hair that touched his shoulders. He was as tall as Ivan, although he was nowhere big in size as the elf. He had a short horizontal scar on his right cheek, which only added to his advantage, giving him just the right appeal. His dark blue eyes gleamed with admiration and… desire? Were her pheromones in full mode again? That was impossible for she could already control those.