Werewolves bites are extremely fatial to vampires. Their bites contain venom that shoots up to the vampire's mind and heart, making them hallucinate, causing their heart's rhythm to slow down.
A vampire's strength increases as he or she gets older, and the first generation of vampires each have abilities, that has been passed down to their generations, and Blackwell family happens to be one of them. Each of the Blackwell members have powers of their own, and the King's happens to be able to be hallucikinesis—the power to create hallucinations in another's mind.
King Marcus was drenched in sweat. His brows tightly clenched, as he mumbled words. Having a sharp sense of earing, both the queen and crown prince were able to hear the words clearly.
"Haelia.....c-come back to me,"he breathed with great difficulty, as his mind was filled with the images of a beautiful woman's smile and laughter.
Something in both people's eyes changed. One pair of eyes burned with annoyance; the other softened—just a flicker, a fleeting glimpse of a woman in his memory glinting behind his eyes.
Haelia was Leonard's birth mother, who passed away twelve years after she birthed him. She was a dark-skinned woman, with brownish-red hair, and ocean blue eyes. Her voice was soft and always filled with tenderness. She was the light in both men's world, and after her death, every hint of light in that was in them crumbled into unfixable pieces. Leonard who was a bright child with the brightness smile, became hostile. His sparkling eyes became hallow. He became grumpy, and slowly cruelty became his best friend.
The court soon had his father remarry, and Maye became his stepmother, but no matter what she does, she knew she couldn't replace the space in their hearts, left by the first queen. Leonard never made an attempt to become close to her and neither did she.
Not more than three weeks after their wedding, Maye took in, and after nine months, she birthed her son, Henry. Five years after, she took in again and had Lannae.
Maye has tried everything in her power for Henry to be the King's favourite son, urging him to send Leonard to war—with the thought to getting rid of him, making her son next in line to the throne. Leonard was aware of this, but it didn't bother him, as he trained and trained till he was the bests swordsman in the entire kingdom, tightening his relationship with his father. Henry has always seen him as a competition, and they were not on good terms. He seemed to have been brainwashed by the queen, to see Leonard as the enemy. The crown prince never cared one bit, and has always conquered him effortlessly.
Lannae on the other hand, seemed to have taken kindness from their father. She never treated him badly and had always respected him. He returned it wholeheartedly, and over the years, they've become really close.
After all the years King Marcus and Queen Maye has been together, she has concluded that the spaced his first wife filled in his heart, has now been replace by her. Hearing him mumble her name, even in his sick bed, pained her greatly. Just why? Why can't he forget about that wench?
Leonard didn't wait any longer in the King's room, as he already got his answers, without a word he left his father's side. Pushing the door open, he excited the room, leaving the queen and king alone. He was on a quest to find whoever's trying to kill the king.
Not too far from the royal castle, five maids stepped out of a carriage into the busy market of Thrustborn. Men and women come and go, with chatters here and there. Customers bargaining, newspaper boys crying on top of their lungs and the vibrate scents of fried snacks filled the air. Having been there a couple of times, the maids split themselves into two. Dydra, Oryen, and one other maid, who seemed to be age mate with Dydra, were one group. They were in charge of vegetables and fruits. While the others, where in charge of the animal-based food and spices.
Megan, the other maid, stuck close to Dydra and she introduced. "Hello, I'm Megan. What's your name?"
Dydra was taken aback by this, the reason to be that no one every took the initiative to introduce themself to her. All the maids, back at the Thelmond mansion, treated her like she was a walking disease. Always pointing and whispering around her. Even in the market, whenever she was on an errand, no one spoke to her. They always wondered why a girl would have such uncommon features.
A small smile formed on her lips and she responded. "I'm Dydra, nice to meet you."
A frown settled on Megan's face as she has never heard the name, Dydra, before.
"D-didre?" Megan's cheeks turned pink in embarrassment. Why can't she pronounce her name? That was so rude! She scolded herself inwardly, as her fingers scratched the back of her neck shyly.
Dydra wasn't offended by it, as many people struggled with pronouncing her name.
"It's D, with a Y, and another D, then RA," she calmly explained, but she was greeted with a loud gasp from the girl.
"You can read?!" She exclaimed, with a hint of jealousy dancing in her brown eyes. It was only then the red-haired girl realized that majority of maids cannot read, as they were from a poor background.
Dydra was taught to read, by her late grandmother. It has never crossed her mind that others can't, until she started running errands. Shop owners always gave reactions similar to Megan's. One even warned her to never let the elites know she could read, as it would be at a disadvantage to her.
Oryen, who was a step ahead of them heard this and quickly shot Dydra a look—lie. Dydra received the message clearly and blabbered.
"I was only taught to spell my name....by an elite girl when I was younger. My mom worked under the family."
The jealousy in Megan's eyes disappeared and she gave a bright smile.
"Oh. So, Dydra. Huh, I got it!" She exclaimed as she finally got the pronunciation right. Dydra returned the smile and breathed a sigh of relief.
(Author's note: are any eyekons in the building?! Lemme hear your thoughts in the comment section ^_^)