Must I Be Your Bride? - Chapter Twenty

I cleaned myself up before we headed to the ballroom with linked hands and big smiles. The sovereign was going to be there and I really didn’t need him behind us. I hoped to never see him again after this.

I was surprised at how many royal families I had to meet. Was there really so many kingdoms? So many young men ready to take the throne from their father, ready to marry before their brother like it was some kind of contest. Because it was. I also re-met many of William’s family members who thought I was immature when they met me. Now, they greeted me with the most hypocritical smiles and complimented on how much I’ve changed. William gave my hand a squeeze that assured me I wasn’t the only one that found them quite irritating.

The two people I was so happy to see were Nancy and George. Once I saw them everything seemed to calm for a moment, and I knew William felt the same. I gave each of them a hug, glad they were familiar, unlike the rest of them.

"Well, you finally did it," George says.

"Not as expected," William says.

"You did good William," Nancy smiled. "You both will be very happy together, vampire or not."

"You’ll have an especially good time at the honeymoon, I presume," George joked.

My mind went blank. I had no idea we were having a honeymoon.

"You ruined the surprise," William says, his arms slowly wrapping around me.

"Oh, my apologies." George and Nancy laughed. Sadly, they let us go on with our greetings and we were forced to part.

William and I were on our way to the dinner table when the sovereign greeted us with a very solemn smile. I felt William tense quickly and made sure to hold him tightly.

"I give my congratulation Prince William, to you and your now beautiful wife," he says with a slight bow.

"Thank you," William replies.

"The wine was especially transported from the finest wines in my castle, so I hope you enjoy. A gift from me to you."

"How kind," I say, trying to hold in the mutters that threatened to escape. He knew. Of course he knew. He needs to see me drink some wine to believe I’m actually a vampire. "I can’t wait to taste it."

He only smiles before presuming to his seat, William and I doing the same.

A cup of wine was served by the three familiar maids and the king stood up to make a toast.

"To William and Serene, and to their new life as a married couple. I wish them the best of luck and trust that they will take…"

"Drink your wine," William whispered to me while the king spoke.

I look at him, but he isn’t looking at me. He’s pretending to listen to his father and smile faintly, because the sovereign was watching.

The king lifts his cup of wine in the air when he’s finished speaking and everyone does the same. I take a sip the same time everyone else does, take the same amount of time to gulp it down, and for some reason the thought of losing my humanity forever kills me, but I hide it with a smile.

After we eat it’s time to dance, and William and I are the first to dance while everyone watched. This scared me, because the future queen shouldn’t make a mistake. Who knew if the village people were looking for that one simple mistake to turn against me?

William held my waist and I slowly put my arms around his neck. At least this would only be a simple dance and my dress wouldn’t get in the way.

When the music started, I knew William and I had this moment to ourselves, and we just spent it looking at each other.

I wanted to ask him about the wine, and why I drank it after agreeing I wouldn’t. But I wouldn’t be able to talk about it with him now, and I wondered how long the party would go on.

When our song ended another immediately started, and everyone started to join in.

And so, the rest of the night everyone danced, many chatted and joked, and took advantage of the never-ending wine. After midnight I thought they would never leave, but finally, at around one, people started to head out, saying their goodbyes to us before they left.

Nancy and George were about the last few people who wished us a goodbye, and finally, after the whole village was gone, and the royal families went to the rooms the king allowed them for the night, we were allowed to go to our rooms.

William and I walked to his room in silence, and I went straight for the bed, getting under the covers and resting on my side. William didn’t take long to sleep in after me, wrapping his arms around me to pull me closer.

"Do you really want to wrinkle that dress?" He whispers in my ear. "The maids will never forgive you."

"I’m way to worn out to care what the maids will think," I mutter. "What about your tux?"

"I own this tux," he smirked. "That dress you’re wearing, it belonged to my mother."

I quickly get to my feet and straighten out the gown; the thought of ruining the queen’s wedding dress dreading me.

"You could have said that," I snap. Then I sighed. "I guess, I have to head back to my room then to change."

"The maids left you a sleeping gown in the bathroom," He chuckled.

I went into the bathroom and closed the door, but before I locked it, I took a look at myself in the mirror. How do the maids do it? They put makeup on you, they do your hair, and the makeup never fades and the hair never messes up. It’s like they have some magical hand that many girls spend their lives looking for.

I reach for my zipper and I manage to pull it down an inch before it gets stuck on me. Right now, when I need the maids, they’re not here.

I start making my way to the bedroom but then I freeze. Tonight is our wedding night, which means…

The thought somehow terrifies me and I find myself trying to pull the zipper down continuously. And after five minutes, I know that this dress wasn’t made for someone to get out of on their own.

It took me forever to reach the doorknob and open the door. I slowly made my way to William’s room, surprised to see him sitting at the edge of the bed fidgeting with his folded sleeves. His coat was off, and so was his tie. The first buttons of his shirt were open which caused me to quickly look away.

"I sort of need help with the dress," I say slowly.

He meets my gaze with comfort and gets to his feet. I hesitantly turn around. When he slowly pulls down the zipper, the noise fills the silence, and somehow makes me catch my breath. When he’s done, I stand there frozen for a moment, wondering if I should just walk away. But instead I look at him, he looks at me, and it takes one step for him to bend down and kiss me.

Chills run through my body when his arms wrap around me and he pull me close to him. Our breathing fills the room and his hands meet mine when I reach for the buttons of his shirt. His lips travel down my neck, and then he stops.

"We’re leaving for our honeymoon early tomorrow morning. You should rest," he says.

When he said that I was surprised on how much disappointment I felt; almost angry. But he was right. Plus, we weren’t at our honeymoon yet, which means, this could wait. Even though I don’t want it too.

I slowly nod before I make myself change. When I wash the makeup off and I slip on my nightgown. I hesitantly walk out to find William sitting at the edge of the bed again, but this time he wore his sleeping wear. We both slipped under the covers silently, but when he wrapped his arms around me and pulled my closer to him, I knew there wouldn’t be any more tension between us.

"I drank human blood," I whisper, resting my head on his chest.

"No you didn’t."

I look at him.

"As long as you kept your promise and stayed away from any extra wine, you only had animal blood." He managed a weak smile.

"How?"

"The maids are fond of you."

For some reason, I laughed. "So I still have a chance to see my family?"

"I promise you will see your family again."

There was a long silence before I asked, "Where are we going for our honeymoon?"

"Goodnight, Serene."

"What…why can’t I know?"

He only smirked. "Because it's a surprise."

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