Chapter 6: Chapter 6

A human slave placed Esme’s delicate dressing gown and cinched her waist with the sash. She flipped her wavy, voluminous black hair out of her collar and elegantly took a seat at the stool in front of her vanity that her human slave girl pulled out with perfect timing.

A male human hurried into the room, his head bowed. He lowered his head further as he got close to Esme and held out a thin stack of letters. With a roll of her eyes, Esme took the letters, scratching at the back of her slave’s hand with her nails and drawing blood as she did so. “More idiots thinking they are worthy of me, I assume.”

She grabbed the bleeding hand of her slave and brought it to her mouth, licking and sucking at the wound as she scanned the names on the envelopes. She tossed them aside, one by one, until one of the names gave her pause. She stopped drinking for a moment, licking her lips, and murmured, “well that is interesting.”

*

“A-MA-LE-AH!” the Lord Beaco’s voice bellowed.

The called-for Amaleah pulled her head out from between her lover’s thighs and pushed her fiery red bangs away from her face, mouth glistening. Her father threw open the door to her bedroom, startling her lover into snapping her legs shut. Amaleah lazily turned her head to her father without even wiping her mouth. She smiled and spoke with false sweetness, “yes, Father?”

Face red with anger and embarrassment, he pointed a shaking finger at Amaleah, “you have finally received a halfway decent marriage offer. Clean yourself up and stop embarrassing yourself.”

Amaleah snorted and rolled her eyes, turning back to her lover. She sensually parted her lover’s knees, causing her father to leave the room in a huff, slamming the door behind him.

*

The Lady Victoria stared down at the letter in her hands, her mind and heart tumultuous. A marriage offer for her daughter, from a man with a prestigious, if complicated, background. She never thought she’d see the day.

For a long time she was rooted to the armchair in her office, weighing the pros and cons. Finally, she stood.

She opened the door into a brightly lit room. On the floor in the center of the room was a young-looking vampire, with dark skin and tight brown curls. She was surrounded by toys. An overturned dollhouse, scattered dolls that were destroyed and ugly, and building blocks, many of which had chips in their paint and bite marks in them. All ignored as she laid on the floor, doodling directly on the wood with a piece of chalk, a decapitated teddy bear tucked under her arm.

Her mother, Lady Victoria, crouched down in front of her, “Vivaria...?”

Vivaria ignored her mother, her feet kicking back and forth in the air.

Lady Victoria cleared her throat and tried again, “Vivaria... how would you like to be a princess?”

The chalk in Vivaria’s hand stopped.