Sold: The Vampire's Queen (Edited on Amazon)

False Dreams

I drop down in my office chair and slice open a fresh letter on my desk. More complaints and they're all about the recent events. People are complaining, demanding action, for some sort of solution. Some what compensation, some want to take action themselves, and some are just generally concerned. 'As if I weren't concerned myself,' I note sourly. I have the army scattered all through the city at the moment. The second the rebels take action is the moment I put them down. I will not have them threatening the peace I'm working to build. 'Rosella, for now, thinks this is just another Clan uprising. Sure, they do happen here and there; however, this is starting to escalate and I pray she doesn't notice,' I note internally. I rake my fingers through my inky black hair. The door to my office creak open and she peers in. I drop the let's on the desk. Color sharpens, the shape of her face becomes so clear, too.

"May I come in?" she asks in a small voice. I'm at the door before she realizes it. Her inhumanly slow heart begins to run harder, and her face flushes pink. I can't help wonder what she's thinking when she gets flustered, when she's quiet, when she blushes like this. I open the door without a word. I smile down at her and simply let her into the office and walk back to my desk. 'Shoot, I forgot about the letters,' I realize. I take my seat across from her. Her woodsy brown eyes flicker across my desk at all the papers and letters I should look over. They glance to me, then to the papers, to me and the papers, lingering on them for a few seconds before coming back to me. Maybe if I don't acknowledge the letters before me, she'll ignore them too like it's not a big deal.

"How are things," she inquires.

"Alright of course," I assure her, "I'm just very busy. Enjoying yourself?" I ask her. She shrugs, a blank look on her face. Forget work, just for a few minutes, "What? You are in the presence of only the best man alive," I whisper into her ear. I pull her close, my arms around her. I blink and she's slipped out from my arms and the chair. She smirks at me from my chair. The second I make a move toward her is the second she moves again. She darts across the room. I whirl around after her only to find her out of my reach yet again leaving me blinking at the space where she once was.

"You're such a tease," I complain and she just laughs. I dart across the room after her. She whirls around, ducking under my outstretched arms all the while she's laughing aloud. I lunge across the desk, scattering a letter or two. A pen clatters against the floor behind us. She spins around and tries darts off again, giggling some more, but I have her trapped in the corner of the office now. My palms against the wall beside her, she isn't escaping me now. I gaze down at her.

"You aren't faster than me yet," I remind her. She rolls her eyes. I kiss her forehead and brush her hair back. It's just us in the office. I don't usually have a lot of time for just us. I don't have a lot of time to tell her how beautiful she is, to kiss her, to hold her hands, or to tell her how much I want to- the door suddenly bursts open. Edmund bursts into the room. Rosella turns a shade pink. I sigh and whirl around on him.

"What's with the sudden intrusion into my office Edmund, this better be good," I snap at him, causing him to cringe a bit. Edmund recomposes himself, and brushes off a few chips of splintered wood.

"It's the village," he said in between breathes, "It's on fire," he informs me. I glare at him just for a second. The village is on fire? My shoulders drop. Now this I'll have to see. So, we leave. We ride out. I see the orange light. I can feel the chilling heat radiating from the buildings. I see my village. I see my father's village, his territory that was entrusted to me on fire. It's all burning down right before me. Everything is burning to a crisp, to nothing. Orange wisps of the great flames shoot up from the older side of the village. Someone grabs me from behind. I spin around, fists up, I take a step back. It's a startling sight that sends dark chills down one's back. It's- dear God...