Dominic

Chapter 1 - Moving Out

  I am staring at the forest, trying to find a certain black haired head hiding in the middle of the trees. But that's in vain. She is gone.

  Which is not surprising. Katherine got what she wanted - Cahira is back. Why she wanted it, that's something I don't understand. But it is not as if I could kill her because of it. Half of my people are not that loyal to me. Show a weakness of any type would be fatal. Instead I should keep her with me, wait until she gives me a child and then kill her if the child doesn't. The Queen dead in an unfortunate accident. Sad but life goes on.

  And then I'll find a new Queen, someone like Nadine, easy to control. Someone like Kiara. I try to ignore the sensation that spreads through my body as I thought of her name, her image appearing in my mind. Her innocent eyes so full of love and hope, her childish face so beautiful and determined. She was a strange girl, strong and determined, courageous and dumb enough to play a game she couldn't understand.

  I still remember that day when I met her, the way she was ignoring the world, only caring for a certain boy that was outside, playing football. The way her eyes shined when she found him after the math class. I saw it, that love, that purity, through Oliver's eyes that day. It was when I decided how to hurt her even more than her parents' death would hurt. Stole her the other one she loved, her little boyfriend. It was funny and easy to control him, after all he was just a human, weak and stupid. And still that hope, that love continued to live, shine in those eyes of her even after everything. Not for him, but for that friend of her, for her aunt. For me after a while. She kept having faith, having trust, loving and caring. Not even when Danton made her doubt, that love and her trust for me was destroyed. Only myself, my words, made her believe, made that trust die. And even after that, with the anger and desire of revenge burning in her eyes, the faith, the love continued there, just not for me. Only Cahira arrival was able to send it completely away. To make her become cold like stone, like anyone who wants to survive in this world should be.

  A part of me hopes that if Cahira ever comes back, Kiara comes too. Because even if I try to ignore that idea, something about her was special. Something about the way she made me feel loved after so much time living surrounded by hatred attracted me. The way her kisses were able to make me feel things I hadn't since Mother's death enchanted me. And a part of me, the weak part of me, misses it. Misses her. And I hate it. Because it is a weakness and show a weakness to a Hunter is an immediate death sentence, special if that Hunter is the Warrior of Death. Because it is a weakness and a King doesn't have weaknesses.

  A knock at the door brings me back to the present. "Enter," I order.

  The door opens and a guard comes in. I watch through the glass window reflection as he bows before speak, "Lady Katherine is here to see you, Your Majesty."

  Lady Katherine and not Her Majesty. This guard knows better than call her by a Royal title in front of me. She is not the Queen. Not yet. Not until the marriage. Something I want to avoid for as long as I can and Katherine is desperate to concretize.

  "Let her in."

  "Yes, Your Majesty." The guard bows again before getting out.

  Katherine appears seconds later, the door closing behind her, imprisoning me in a room with her. I choose to do not move, continuing to stare at the outside, opting to observe the vampires moving, preparing our departure instead of the green trees that bring me nothing but depressive, unwelcome thoughts.

  "We are almost ready to go, Your Majesty," she says.

  "I know." It's impossible to do not know. Everyone is thinking about it, filling my head with their thoughts. Everyone but Katherine. She learned to shield her thoughts from me, preventing me from hearing them, from knowing her plans.