1 Burn the witch

It was one in the morning, yet the citizens of Whitevamp, which was a small vampire kingdom located on a pacific island, humans, and vampires together stood in one accord and continually chants with their placards in hand.

"The princess must die!"

"Burn the witch alive!"

"Evil must be wiped out!"

''Death to the bastard!''

They left the comfort of their beds and chose to stand in front of the statehouse, where the cabinet members were currently deliberating whether to let Marigold, the crown princess's illegitimate daughter live or die.

Marigold who had no clue of what her offense was stood scared inside the state house's holding cell. It's been ten hours after her arrest. Ten hours of not seeing her mother and grandfather. Ten hours of pacing, crying, begging, and banging on the iron door till her hands were raw and red. If it was possible, the concrete floor would have been worn thin with her constant pacing.

Now she was just tired, thirsty, and hungry. Save for the two forkfuls of salad she took from her lunch tray before they came to get her at school, she had not had anything else to eat. The food they brought for her was not fit for even animal consumption. She didn't touch it, especially when it seemed to her like she might get poison by it.

She wanted to close her eyes so bad and take a nap at least, but sleep strangely eludes her eyes that now felt grainy. She looked around the windowless tiny room where she was being held. It was a small concrete space with a concrete slab that's not even wide enough for her to lie comfortably on. On the floor beside the slab was a thin mattress and lice-ridden, dirty blanket for beds.

Despite her tiredness, she abandoned the filthy beddings and chose to stand or paced around instead. She could hear voices of the citizens' chants coming from the street. Voices of those she had grown up to know as her people chanting songs and calling for her head on a platter...

'Burn the witch alive!?' Marigold thought to herself, appalled by the words they were chanting out. 'Whoever or whatever suddenly gave them the idea that she was a witch!? 'Is it possible for her to be a witch and not know about it?' She wondered with deep fear in her heart as she resumed pacing.

She knew what the sentence was if she was found guilty of being a witch. She would be burn alive on the stake! Even though her generation has not witnessed any witch being burnt on the stake, they learned about the great purge in history class. Marigold's heart instantly sank as if to the bottom of her stomach when she thought of the possibility of being burny alive in the presence of her mother the crown princess and grandfather the king.

"How much longer mom?" She whispered through parched lips to the empty room as her tears flowed freely.

Thinking back...

It all still felt like a dream... The day started like all other days as usual in Whitevamp, bright and beautiful. But it quickly moved from bright to gloomy. A nightmare of a day that saw her from grace down to grass, turning her whole life upside down when four burly uniformed men from The Whitevamp Military Police Force stormed into the school cafeteria and stopped at the table where she and her boyfriend were having their lunch.

"Princess Marigold?..." One of them asked in a voice as cold as steel. Marigold who was already scared stiff could only nod back in response, wondering what they wanted with her.

Then the man asked her to stand up, roughly turned her around, before handcuffing her from behind.

Her boyfriend, a human who was the son of the United States Ambassador to Nigeria protested and tried to stand up for her. He demanded the reason for her arrest to no avail. The only answer he got from them was...

"Step aside sir! This is a lawful arrest. Do not interfere!"

"A lawful arrest!? There must have been a mistake somewhere!... You must have gotten me mixed up with somebody else!... I didn't do anything!... I am the crown princess's daughter!... Is this even legal!?... I'm not even eighteen yet for goodness sake!.." Gold continually protested but they ignored all her protest. The men were stone-faced all through and all her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Except for Daniel her boyfriend, nobody came to her aid. Not her friends! Not her teachers! Not even the principal who was always coming around to pay her grandfather a visit at the palace. They all stood far away with a strange look on their faces. Her best friend and the rest of the girl's that always follow her around were even smirking as if they were happy about her downfall

Her vampire hearing picked up their whispers as she was being led away. Their hate-filled words filtered into her ears and it was surprising.

"What could she have done? Military police doesn't just arrest civilians, especially a princess right? Did she commit some kind of crime that we're not aware of?"

"I guess. What do you expect from a bastard?"

"Well, I don't care! Whatever crime she might have committed, it's good riddance to bad rubbish. She's a bastard who has no business being the princess of our kingdom anyway."

This was a kingdom she was born and brought up in! These were her friends for crying out loud! They felt this way about her and she never knew!

'They were happy she was arrested because they didn't want to risk a bastard being their future crown princess? Is that why this was planned? Why she was being set up for whatever crime they were arresting her for? She asked herself. Many more questions that begged for urgent answers swirled around in her already dazed mind

Left alone with the MPs inside their van. The look they had on their faces got her so scared. It seemed as if they couldn't wait to kill her right inside the van. The cold hand of fear gripped her heart so tight she found breathing difficult, till she started to hyperventilate. But they just glared at her with their cold eyes. She could die for all they care and they wouldn't even bat an eyelid.

When she was finally able to calm down, she wondered if her grandfather and mother were aware of what was happening to her, of how she was being treated. Even though the route they were driving on was still a familiar one, she summoned the courage to ask...

"Where are you taking me? I want to see my mom and grandpa please!" She didn't know what was going on, didn't know if her mom and grandpa were okay because she can't imagine them consenting to her being treated this way.

"I want to see my mom please!" She shouted this time since they just glared at her and didn't answer her question the first time.

"Listen monster..." The one that seemed to be their leader said coldly to her. He stood from where he was sitting and shoved his face so close to hers that their mouth was almost touching each other. His fierce vivid crimson eyes bored into her golden orbs

"I'd suggest for you to shut your trap right now! Nobody said we must deliver you alive. I could kill you right now and tell the cabinet members you attacked us, how about that?... So unless you don't wish to see your mother for the last time then let me hear another word from your filthy mouth." He coldly spat out and went back to scowling at her from his seat

Gold didn't need to hear any more from the MP before she had an idea of the situation she was in...

One; A man bigger than three of her put together called her a monster and she just wondered why? Why would he want to lie that she attack them? As small as she was, where would she get the power from?

Two: If the cabinet members are involve then she's in very big problem. Problem so big even her grandfather and mother won't be able to intervene because in Whitevamp, kings only reserve the right to choose their successor. The real power lies with the prime minister and the cabinet members.

And three; He mentioned her mom. Does it mean that her mom was aware of what was happening to her right now? Why didn't she come to pick her from school instead of allowing them to embarrass her this way? Or has something happened to her mother?

As soon as they arrived at the huge gate of the statehouse, Marigold started craning her neck to see if her mom and grandfather were waiting around somewhere, She kept looking around as she was helped down from the van, hoping to see if she would see them, but they were nowhere around.

One of the MPs already had her school bag with him. They matched her hurriedly to the wing where the police department was located and handed her over to some police that was already waiting for her. Who then took her inside where she was thoroughly searched by a policewoman.

Her shoes were taken off, every item that she had on her was taken. Her hairpins were removed, making her wheat-colored hair fall over her shoulders and face in a cascade of wild curls, then she was led down a long corridor where they locked her inside what looked to be a holding cell.

Thirst, hunger, and hours of pacing, crying, and banging on the door were taking their toll on her body. She was beginning to get dizzy. The voices from outside that she was hearing clearly before was now very faint. She felt herself sliding down the wall she was leaning on and strained her hearing for the last time, picking up the prime minister's voice.

The last thing she heard the prime minister say made her fall weakly in a faint