The Vampyr Queen

Chapter 10

Blade with the slightest hint of a smirk gracing his lips, "As always, thou hast proven thyself to be a determined learner."

They had just now completed the one-on-one combat lesson for the day and the queen was making some progress.

Eve was on the ground with her hands on her knees, the snow a soft cushion under her gave her the perfect relief for the arduous training she had gone through. Thinking deeply, Eve tried to uncover the reason why Blade always seemed to predict her moves. Contrary to what he had said, Evangelina did not prove anything. The lesson had been going on for the past week, and all her strong bodyguard wanted her to do was knock him down to the ground. At first, Eve had taught that the task was rather simple, but how wrong she was, Blade seemed to have been built with pure iron. His handsome self whose beauty was so unearthly gave the impression of being delicate, was anything but. The poor queen had spent the last five hours trying to accomplish the impossible. Hours later, covered in dirt and dead leaves, she could not complete the task.

"Why is it that you always know what my next attack would be?" Inquired a pouty queen, at this point, she wondered if she should even continue training for the unattainable.

"Thou musn't be discouraged. ' Tis only a skill acquired through constant practice." responded Blade.

"And you expected me to drop you to the ground?"

Eve was now annoyed. How did he think it possible for her to get through to him when he had gotten years and years of training. Crossing her arms and arching her brow, she challenged him to give her a reasonable answer for the futile mission in the first place.

"No, but I wanted to witness ye attempt to," an amused Blade joined the queen on the ground, with the faintest smile on his lips.

Rolling her eyes and uncrossing her arms, she tried to divert her attention elsewhere. She looked at the sun that had not set for the past week. Sighing deeply and closing her eyes to think, she had forgotten that Blade was next to her as her thoughts wandered places. The chilly winter wind blew softly, causing her blond hair to get into her dirt-covert face. Unbeknownst to her, Blade silvery gaze was upon her, staring at her, appreciating the beauty that she was.

This past week had been very hectic. Although the vampyrs could still step out and go on with their day, this luxury would not last long. As contradictory as it sounded to the myths about vampires, vampyrs could resist the sunlight, but only in small dosage. And those were only the high ranked ones. Besides them, the halflings or hybrid vampyrs could also fare somewhat well in the sun. Newly turned like the queen, with their human attributes, will be able to process the sun for a long while until they fully shift to being a vampyr.

Everyone else was doomed.

That is why, by the Royal Decree, all citizens of Etheria were advised to stay indoors until a cure was found, or the issue solved. Fortunately, because the Kingdom was so diverse and was not home to vampyrs solely, non-vampyrs could still run errands for the former, but their service came at high costs.

"Will the sun ever set in my lifetime?" thought Eve out loud unconsciously, not expecting a response.

"Only The Fates have the answer, Your Majesty." Getting up from his previous position and dusting himself to rid his clothes of some invisible dust, he continued, "I believe that we have a visit to prepare for.

That was true. In the midst of all that was taking place as of late, the queen had forgotten to prepare for important visitors that would be coming to the castle today.

Apparently, they were so well known in the vampyr society, that the castle urged her to welcome them wholeheartedly, for they were said to be "sensitive" beings. Those sensitive vampyrs, per the council, had access to the most powerful witches and warlocks that could help Etheria in counteracting this ongoing crisis. If the queen offended them, all chances of solving this issue would be lost. Rumor had it that they were even stronger than Sruairas, and she was very strong. Evangelina only hoped that she did not end up embarrassing herself in front of those vampyrs and destroy what her former husband had built.