Chapter Text
For once it was fun, for once I didn’t need to worry about anything at all, just the sound of music as I danced around with the mask on and the spell that made us unrecognizable for the night. I wasn’t the crown princess of the Zeshu but a random fae more, having fun with her friends and the rest of creatures at the masquerade ball, the one that was only celebrated only when a new regent was crowned. I think this one is for the new siren Queen, Chalyse I think was her name? From what I’ve seen of her I bet she’s going to be a great queen, I just hope she calms down with that obsession she has about vampires. I haven’t seen one of those for almost three hundred years, better for me of course considering that we’re at war with them, can’t even remember why but I won’t disappoint my family by stopping it. I take a step back, leaving my friends dancing on their own as I go to take something to drink so I can relax for a second. The Moon’s full, shining like I’ve never seen it which makes me smile even more, this night couldn’t get any more perfect even if it tried. Once I’m beside the food and drink table, with a glass already in my hand and looking at what kind of appetizer to take when a random stranger walks right behind me, reaching out to grab what seems to be one small flower with what I thought might be a pearl on top of it and then offering it to me. I smile and nod, eating it straight from his hand because of course I won’t say no tonight. What I didn’t expect was the explosions of flavours that end up in my mouth once I’ve eaten the flower, the pearl giving it a small citrus flavor at the end. I nod, taking another one for me and offering one to him, he takes it, just as I did with him, from my hand. We don’t talk, just enjoy each other’s company as we share some drinks, looking at the people dancing to the beat of the music, the violinists making it known they were there. Once he speaks I feel like my whole body answers to him, screams to follow his voice anywhere he takes me. So it’s not a surprise that shortly after he asks I’m following him towards a more secluded place, where he doesn't take his mask but the music lets us hear each other better, now nothing but a vague distant sound. Like he was reading my mind he offered me his hand and we started dancing a second later, to the distant sound of the piano that began to play. Everything felt like a lucid dream, too perfect to exist. The Moon gifting us that glow so we could see each other’s silhouette and nothing else, the stars glowing like diamonds as we danced, one hand linked with each other, his other hand at my waist and my other hand at his shoulder, close to his neck. In one swift motion, he turns me around, my back ending up pressed against his chest as we keep on dancing. I don’t think anything weird at first, not until I feel his head move down as his lips caress my ear while he whispers.
‘’How are you expecting to end this night, love?’’ I bite my tongue because I’m trying not to laugh as I take a deep breath. How? I haven’t decided yet. I’m a princess, after all. Once that has to be pure and nice and always perfect. Except for tonight. What would a random, normal fae do in this situation? Turn around and kiss the -what I hoped is a- handsome stranger? Or just bolt and run as far away from him as she could? I don’t have time to think of an answer to that because I suddenly feel a bite. Right on my neck. My eyes open wide as I turn around to push him away and cover the small wound on my neck.
‘’How dare you?! You didn’t even ask for permission!’’ He looks at me and smirks, taking some steps towards me while I move back until my back presses against a wall. The last time I saw a vampire he killed my father so I suddenly feel very very frightened while he corners me with one arm above my head and the other going back to my waist.
‘’I was hungry. What other excuse do I need, love?’’ My mind goes a thousand miles a minute as I try to think of an excuse that would make him walk away or at least give me enough space to think straight. What I don’t expect are the next few words that come out of my mouth.
‘’Oh so you just stole food from a fae! You know what that means? That means you’re supposed to serve me! The ones who take food from a fae without permission must give in to each and every single single request to the fae until it deems settled!’’ The vampire moves back, just slightly and looks at me like I’m crazy and for a second I hear my best friend’s voice in my mind, saying exactly that. He blinks once, twice. The third time it comes with a laugh, making his whole head move back as he looks at the Moon and then breathes in, looking at me again with a fire I’ve never seen anywhere else.
‘’Then aren’t you supposed to serve me, since my bite just supposedly turned you into my thrall?’’ I swallow hard and shake my head, because I think he’s not right? Not really, but because I need to stick to my stupid ass decision before this turns into something else or worse, he discovers who I am and chooses it’s better to kill me now instead of making fun of me. He rolls his eyes and moves his head back down towards my neck, clearly ready to ignore whatever I was saying and biting back so he could satiate his hunger. I don’t let him, of course, so I just push him away and point at him with one finger, moving non-stop while he follows my movement. I bet if someone looked right now it might seem like we’re still dancing by the way we’re moving around each other.
‘’Uh-uh. You must serve me, stranger. Bow down and accept your new position. If you do as I say, I’ll let you go easy enough. After all, you didn’t take much, right?’’ He shakes his head and laughs once again, like it’s his signature move and then opens his hands and bows down a little, mockingly. Teasing me with that smirk of his and those chocolate eyes.
‘’Like you just said, I barely had a drop. So my word stays there, you are the one who must serve me. Now come here and let me drink, I’m starving.’’ I can’t help the way my body reacts to his command, like it really wants to give in and obey but I force myself to take a step back and tilt my head, smirking at him like he’s just doing to me right now.
‘’Should we settle this the old way, then?’’ He stops for a second, surprised. But he’s thinking about it, I see it in his eyes. So it’s not a surprise for me when he nods and moves his hands, like showing me the way to go. I bow down to him, as a polite way to end this dance of ours and then walk to the dance once again, with him following close.
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It takes us longer than it should to find a human lawyer at this time but there’s always one ready if you look for it well enough. Creatures from all around have been solving their issues like this for centuries, finding a neutral human lawyer and asking him. So as we sit at his office and explain our case he looks at us, silent. This one in particular seems like a very educated human, judging by all the degrees on his walls so I trust he’ll do the right thing and give me the reason so we can go back to our usual lives once I’ve asked the stupid vampire to bring me the first thing that comes to mind. What I didn’t expect is for him to take an old book, open it practically in the middle and point something at us, like it’s the most common thing in the world -not at all, judging by the amount of dust that came out of the book-. ‘’Congratulations!’’ He says, quite happy as he turns the book around so we can take a better look at it. We both move to take a better look as we ask at the same time.
‘’What do you mean?’’ ‘’Congrats on what, exactly?’’ I think I’m the first one to read what he’s pointing at us because I fall back to my seat, my hands on my hair as I try to re-gain my breath and the mask from the masquerade finally falls off my face. The vampire reacting pretty close as to how I reacted looks at me and his face goes even whiter if it can.
‘’You’re married now! Enjoy the married live!’’ With that, the human lawyer gets up and opens the door for us, like he was asking us to leave in a very obvious way. I take my mask from the floor, say my goodbyes and walk out of the room, the vampire -once again, it seems he’s getting a habit- following close.
Once outside I shake my body a little, begging my wings to come out so I can fly away from this place before the vampire can do anything about it. To go back to my kingdom and act like nothing ever happened. Hope that thanks to the spell and the masks neither of us can ever recognize the other one and keep living my life as it was. But he grabs my hand, forcing me down and turning so I’m looking at him. And I understand why his face ended up whiter. Because first of all, there’s no more denying, we are married and second of all we both know who the other one is. Sebastian Sallow. The heir of the vampire kingdom. And I just married him, somehow, for a stupid decision I took because I was too scared to do anything about it.