18 18. Recounting the Journey

"Vae," slowly left her lips but she did not run to Vae instead she looked forward and let him lead her up the stairs.

There was nothing she could really do for Vae and rushing to Vae would mean that she did not think the vampire king's guards could take care of Vae and she doubted he would be pleased about that. 

He led up the stairs and didn't stop walking until he got to a door. At this point the main doors had closed again so Vae could not see a thing and even when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, it did not make much difference. 

The only reason she knew it was a door was that he immediately let go of her palm to push it open. The first thing she noticed at the open doors was that unlike the huge ballroom this room was bright, followed by an inner scream as she immediately realized she was in his room.

He walked in and without looking back, he said, "Come in."

Vae nodded, realizing that she had been rooted to the spot, unable to move as she stared into the room. There was nothing special about the room except of course the huge space. The trip from the door to the bed was bigger than the room she had gotten for the month she had played princess.

The bed was also pretty impressive, at least five people could sleep comfortably on it. Mauve blushed profusely as she laid eyes on it. The thought that she would share the same bed with him crossed her mind. She did not hate it but she did not like it either.

Mauve raised her head to see the vampire king looking at her and she blushed even more as she realized she was still standing outside the door. She rushed in, bowing her head a little. 

She stopped walking, suddenly stopping in the middle of the room. However, it was because she did not know exactly where she was supposed to stay, so she just stood awkwardly in the middle of the room.

He did not say anything, rather he pushed the doors closed. The huge room suddenly felt small and hot. Mauve clasped her hands together as she twisted her fingers. Not wanting to stare, she kept her head down.

He started towards her and stopped about three feet away. Mauve could feel his gaze burning a hole through her but try as she might she could not bring herself to look him in the eye, she wondered if it was because she was alone in the room with him. 

Flashes of the kiss crossed her mind and she reddened, the silence suddenly became unbearable. It did not help that he was not saying anything. She twisted her hand again, she wanted to flee.

"W-what would you like to know about the incident?" She forced the words out, still refusing to look up. She was actually more curious as to why she was the one giving the details instead of Damon who had a firsthand experience or better still Danag.

He sighed and said, "Have a seat. I will try to make this as quick as possible."

Mauve looked glad for the opportunity to look elsewhere, not that it made her situation any better as the nearest thing to sit on was the bed. There was a huge couch in the bedroom but it was too far off and she would look ridiculous rushing to it.

"The bed is fine," he said as if sensing her hesitancy.

Her first thought was to protest but immediately decided against it. She could only imagine what he thought of her, she didn't think it was good. He seemed like a nice vampire but considering they have been terrorized by them for years, Mauve knew better than to think the term 'nice vampire' was a good thing.

"Tell me what happened, leave nothing out." He said when she was comfortably seated. By comfortably, Mauve literally sat at the very edge.

She frowned at his words, unsure where to start, she didn't want to give unnecessary details even though he just told her to leave nothing out.

"Where would you like me to start? The castle?" She asked, she did not want to have to mention the ordeal they went through she would rather forget it.

"Not necessary, I am sure you encountered no difficulties. After you left your father's kingdom, will do just fine."

Mauve froze at his words, still keeping her head down. If they had not been attacked by a paler she would have said the journey through the Nolands was more favorable than traveling out of her father's kingdom. 

She couldn't lift her head, she knew her expression would betray her and he looked like the kind to pester once he caught the scent of something. "We arrived in the Nolands on the ninth morning, four hours before dawn. The full blaze of the sun had just started. There, we rested until evening…" 

Mauve tried not to speak in a rush as she recounted the incident, all the while feeling his gaze on her neck as he stood watching. Mauve wished he would take a seat, his position made her uncomfortable. She summarized the beginning as nothing of importance happened until they were hit by the paler. 

She tried to raise her head at some point in her monologue but decided against it. There was no way she would be able to keep up with her train of thought if she was staring him in the eye.

"Erick lifted the carriage and thankfully, it was still in shape to travel. Danag carried Vae into the carriage and we made the journey here, traveling throughout the night and most of the morning."

She slowly raised her head, now that she was done with the story it was easy to try to look at his face.

"It is past mid-day," he corrected. "It's after noon, a full hour at that."

Mauve frowned, the information did not mean much to her but from the way he said it, she wondered if it was something to do with Danag, Damon, and Erick.

Though she was surprised it was that late into the day, she had thought it was still morning. "I see but I still don't why you want my side of the story. Danag would have done a better job or better still, Damon."

"As I said, they are in no shape to answer my questions."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

He sighed, ran his hand through his chair, and as if talking to a child he slowly said, "They are suffering from severe sunburns. It would take a while for them to recover. I would rather not put them through more trouble when I can easily get the answers from you."

Mauve averted her eyes, there was no way she would have known this. She was worried but seeing how fast Damon had healed after drinking Vae's blood she did not think there was any need for her to be. However, the fact that they had pushed themselves just so she and Vae could get here in one piece, spoke to her. 

"I see," she muttered darkly, unable to help the sadness that crept into her voice. "Would that be all?" Mauve did not even realize she was glaring at him.