Sue
I blinked once then twice, trying to figure out if he was being serious or trying to mess with me. The expression on his face was the same: serious and blank.
When I attempted to speak, all that came out was a splutter as a feeling of appalment consumed every inch of me.
"Drink my blood?" I finally screeched out and Damon's expression still remained the same, but his eyes were watching me closely.
"I dont… I don't understand what you mean. Are you being serious, or…" I trailed off, waiting for Damon to respond.
He finally let out an exasperated sigh as he spoke. "It was just a simple question, are you down or not?" He demanded and I felt myself start to get angry.
First, he shuts me down by making me feel incompetent and irrelevant by claiming he wasn't curious about anything about me, and then next he was asking me an extremely weird question.
"I was confused because you were being weird!" I pointed out. "Why would you even ask me that question? As a joke or what? And why would you even think about that?" I trailed off for a moment.
"That's weird, isn't it? Only monsters drink blood, no?" I continued and this time, something crossed his eyes right before he held a hand up to me.
"Alright, that's enough."
I pursed my lips as silence began to stretch out between us, feeling extremely awkward and also miffed. I didn't know what to say right now and so I remained silent, my lips in a thin line.
I was still feeling a weird ache in my chest whenever I remembered how he had said he wasn't curious about me. That took me back to the past whereby people didn't ever bother to get to know me because they're never curious enough to do that.
Did Damon really not find me even a little bit intriguing?
That was supposed to have been a good thing, but instead, it made me feel extremely weird.
The rest of the dinner was quiet. Neither of us was saying anything or trying to break the silence. Neither of us were still pretending to be eating as well.
After enduring the draining silence for a few more minutes, I got up and cleared my throat.
"Uh, I'm retiring to my bedroom. Good night." I breathed out, refusing to look in his direction in order not to see his facial expression. He didn't respond and I scoffed underneath my breath as I walked out of the dining room without looking back.
As I retired to my bedroom, I told myself that I'd never have a meal with him again because he was the worse company to ever exist.
I didn't bother trying to escape tonight because on the way to my bedroom, a few guards were stationed here and there and from the way they were subtly watching me, I could tell that they were asked to keep an eye on me by Damon. Which was why I chose to just go straight to sleep tonight. I was tired anyway, especially after the traumatizing experience I had today.
If Damon really hadn't shown up, I'd have undoubtedly gotten killed.
~~~
That night, I dreamt about Chris. I dreamt about us walking down the aisle, and I woke up feeling sad and also pained.
Sad that he really tricked me this whole time, and also pained that he never loved me for a second like I had believed.
After that, I forced myself to stop thinking about him. I spent half an hour meditating and the remaining half, I used in taking a shower and getting dressed in one of the thousands of clothes spilling out of my new closet.
I was combing my hair when a knock echoed at my door. For a moment, I thought it was Adele and anger gripped me hard. After what she did to me yesterday, there was no gurantee that I'd be able to stand in her presence and not literally murder her.
On swinging the door open, I was greeted with the cold stare of none other than Damon's. His gaze swept over my full body for a moment and I remained unmoving, like his gaze didn't affect me in the slightest, which was a lie.
A shiver rolled down my spine as his intense gaze looked me over.
"I'm here to pick you up. I'll introduce you to my army like I promised."
I resisted the urge to squeal and I briefly closed the door in his face to change into tight leather pants and top before opening the door again and stepping out this time. Damon's gaze lingered on me for a moment before he wordlessly turned around and began to led the way.
I was irritated by his attitude, but I also refuse to let that kill my spirit. I was excited right now, I loved fighting, it brought me immense joy and made me feel less inferior. I wasn't the best fighter out there but I could sometimes hold my own in a fair fight just fine.
As soon as we stepped out of the palace, I let out a sigh, feeling a warm feeling engulfs me as sunlight shined down on my skin.
I was still tailing Damon when he suddenly stopped and I noticed that two men were suddenly standing before him, and they had matching uniforms on.
"These are your guards from now on, Sue. They'd have to be with you at all times whenever you wish to leave this palace." He began to speak and my eyes widened in shock.
"I can leave this palace?" I asked and he hummed.
"Of course. You're not a prisoner here. You can't just leave without your guards, for your own safety," he explained and rolled my eyes and quietly scoffed.
"Good to know." I mumbled and with a wave of his hand, he dismissed the two guards. As i watched them leave, my eyes followed them.
"I've never had to be tailed by a guard before though. Are you sure–" I was still speaking when he cut me off.
"Aren't you a princess? Last I remember, princesses grew up being guarded by guards." He spoke and I stared down at my fingers, suddenly feeling weird. I didn't grow up like a normal princess like my sister, only my younger sister got guarded and she still have a personal guard till today.
"When are you introducing me to your army?" I asked, changing the subject and my voice sounded harder than I intended, making me wince.
"In a bit, so relax, you'll hate it almost as soon as you get there anyway. My army isnt like your father's. Girls probably loved it because it was child's play." He drawled and I felt myself bristling again.
"Enough waffling. How about I show you what I can do?" I snipped back and to my bewilderment, he actually chuckled. It was small and brief, but I heard it just fine.
He wordlessly resumed walking and I fell into steps behind him, and he didn't stop till he was standing before some sort of barrack. The door got pulled open by someone and as soon as we stepped in, I felt engulfed with awe so intense, it flowed through me.
Groups of people were in different spots sparing together and as soon as they noticed Damon's presence, they all dropped what they were doing to bow at him respectfully.
"Good morning. Your highness!" They all echoed in sync and Damon nodded and waved them off and then he turned around to arch a brow at me.
"So…" he drawled and I pursed my lips, refusing to say something. This was way larger than the fighting area back at home, and the men here all looked more buff.
"Where do you want me to display my skills to you? I'd like to prove your claims wrong firstly." I questioned and he hummed for a moment before turning and motioning for a few people out of the bunch who all had the same outfit on while regarding me curiously and weirdly.
In no time, an archery ground was set and a bow got handed to me.
"You can shoot arrows, right?" Damon drawled almost condescendingly as he handed said bow to me and I wrenched it from his grip with an eyeroll, ignoring the way the feeling of our fingers brushing made my breath stumble in my chest a little.
"I'll show you." I tell him before walking off to pick up a bunch of bows, and then I walked back to stand opposite the target which was a large wood.
"Don't shoot your leg by mistake though!" One of the men in the bunch called out and rest instantly bursted into laughter.
"Or hurt your dainty fingers!" Another one snickered and they all guffawed with laughter.
It was beyond insulting. The fact that they had already concluded that I'd fail without even watching me try all because of my gender.
Well today, I'm going to show them, including their leader, Damon.
I'd be showing all of them today.