The Queen and her Wolf

Chapter Four

Sleep hadn't come to me after I'd pledged myself to the Queen. Desirae had shown me to my room afterward and left me standing there like a zombie. I'd felt numb except for the cold shivers that elicited goosebumps all over my exposed skin.

Sitting cross-legged on the window seat of my room, with no idea how long I'd been there, I vaguely recollected dragging the top blanket from my enormous four-poster, and wrapping myself in it's navy softness. The wolf within me seemed to calm inside my makeshift cocoon, and as if I could escape, I'd thrown the midnight coloured curtains aside and allowed daylight to flood my room. I suppose it was also some kind of protective measure from any vampire that might have been tempted to sneak into my room. Really though, all I wanted was to see the sun. This might be my last chance if I was going to be living with vampires.

Absently I noted how beautiful the view was from my chambers. The palace grounds were peppered with lush gardens, each one of them more vibrant than the next. Stone buildings covered in vines rose to surround these floral sanctuaries, and like tombstones in an overgrown cemetery, not a soul moved between them. At any other time I probably could have appreciated the fine architecture and landscaping, but right now I felt like the only visitor in a world long ago forgotten.

My eyes inevitably sought the lands beyond the palace walls and traced row upon row of farming fields. Their colours of red, gold, and green all eventually gave way to the plains; Nomads Land. It was as expansive as it was barren, but from my height in the palace I could just make out the sea of greenery I sought. It lay to the West and I allowed myself a lingering look.

My forest.

My home.

I leaned my head against the glass, ignoring the chill it sent down my spine. My whole body ached with tension that I couldn't let go off. What had I done?

You did what you had to do, I told myself.

I'm not sure I believed that though. I know that my father wouldn't. He would say that I took the cowards way out. He would say that I was weak. Would he be right? Had I been too afraid of facing death that I would rather live in servitude to a vampire? What would the rest of the pack think?

I wasn't sure if I could even face them again, but I had no choice. Like Desirae had said, once all the necessary arrangements had been made, my old pack would move into the palace. They would serve and protect the vampires, just like me, but only I would be bonded to one of them. If my father didn't want me in the pack before, he certainly wouldn't approve of my unfolding situation now.

My thoughts turned to the vampire Queen as the sky inevitably darkened outside my window and I tightened the blanket around my shoulders. I'd always thought of vampires as blood thirsty monsters that hid in the shadows inflicting violence and chaos, but Desirae made me wonder. Was I wrong? Granted that when our paths had first crossed in the throne room she had done a monstrous thing to Eric, but she had done it to protect me. Eric had been the true monster. A shiver rolled through me as I remembered the sadistic gleam in his red eyes.

Almost without thinking, Eric's monstrous gaze seemed to morph into the ruby coloured eyes of the Queen. The way the light played within their rich depths, making them seem alive with her very soul, was undeniably beautiful to me. I recalled how they'd watched me, how they'd observed me. What was strange though was that I hadn't felt wary of her gaze. Oddly enough it just made me more curious about the vampire. What was she thinking about? Why did she look at me like I was some mystery that needed solving?