From the moment my father had decided to marry me off to the king of Velmont, I knew my life would become a nightmare.
That night, I quietly stood before the silver mirror in my dressing room, staring at my reflection in both pain and disbelief. The room was filled with bright candles, yet they did not chase the heavy darkness weighing on my heart.
I was about to get married.
But unlike normal weddings that happened on a bright, sunny morning, I was getting married in the middle of the night.
I had been forced into this white wedding dress with silver glitter, it was beautiful, but suffocating. Pearls were decked around my neck and wrists, and my face had been powdered with too many colours to make me look as pretty as a perfect bride. But all I felt like was a sacrifice rather than a bride.
My hands were tightly clasped on my lap, trembling in unease, when a knock on the door startled me.
The door creaked open, and a maid hurried in. Her face was pale with terror as she stuttered, "T-they are here, milady. The men of Velmont...they have arrived at the c-castle."
V-Velmont?
I felt my body stiffen at her utterance. The blood in my veins seemed to have frozen for a moment from dread.
"They a…are h-here?" I questioned with a trembling voice, as if I was unsure of what I heard, but the maid nodded in confirmation. A harsh confirmation.
Everyone knew who the men from Velmont were. Inhumanly tall, muscular creatures. They had red eyes and sharp canines, which they used to pierce into people's flesh to drink their blood.
Humans called them vampires…..and they had to take me.
I knew this moment would inevitably come. I had been preparing myself emotionally and mentally for weeks after my father had declared my sudden marriage. But the reality that these inhuman men were within the grounds of this castle horrified me more than ever.
Cold sweats began forming all over my palms and face. Tears brimmed heavily in my eyes, threatening to spill, but I didn't let them. Father had warned me not to try to sabotage my wedding tonight in any way, so I couldn't risk crying, even though I wanted to cry out my heart.
"You need to come with me, milady. Your presence has been demanded to begin the wedding." The maid peered at me nervously, the visible fear never leaving her face.
I knew I could not avoid my fate, no matter how bleak it was.
And despite how scared I was, I nodded obediently. "Yes, I will."
She helped me fix the veil to entirely cover my face, which felt even more suffocating. Then she took my hand, guiding me out of the room.
The hallway was vast and filled with candles that guided our way. Guards had been stationed at every corner of the hallways, more than usual, probably in case I tried to escape.
Cold air swept through my skin, and I shivered, not knowing if it was truly because of the cold or the terror within me.
I looked at the sky, which had darkened, and the moon, which used to bring me peace every night when I stared at it, felt like it was mourning me sorrowfully.
From the corridor window, my eyes glanced at the castle grounds. Several men in black cloaks sat on black horses, dangerously waiting. Their weapons glinted in the darkness in a way that made my breath hitch. All I needed were vows and oaths, and I would immediately be mercilessly given to them.
We passed the royal hall, where the royal weddings usually took place and I sighed hopelessly, knowing mine wasn't happening there.
We finally arrived at a secluded part of the castle. The door was dusty and oak, with strange markings carved on it. I had barely been to this part of the castle.
"You may go in, milady," the maid said, bowing at me before hurrying away from there.
My eyes were glued apprehensively to the rotting door. It was a moment of hesitation before I mustered all the courage in me, pushing the door open and stepping in.
Inside, I was greeted with the smell of old books and rusting metal, like a place that had been abandoned for decades.
My breath hitched again.
The room was dim, far darker than the candlelit halls I had just left behind. Only a few tall black candelabras stood at the corners, with the candles on them burning low and unsteady.
No persons were sitting in the pews. None of my family members were present, not even my father, the king of Alexandria who had solely orchestrated this marriage, and worst of all, the man whom I was to marry…..was absent.
He hadn't attended his own wedding.
I had always expected it. People said he was a monster, and monsters didn't like to appear in front of others.
"Come forward, Princess Jasmine," a priest, the only other person in the room, called from the altar. His voice sounded like he didn't want to be here and was instead forced. My slippers echoed softly against the stone floor as I stepped further into the room.
I finally arrived at the altar when my gaze turned to the side. A huge, strange silver sword lay on the table beside me. The blade was carved like a crescent, in a sharp and daunting manner.
I realized what it was. It was a wedding relic. It had been sent to replace the absence of the groom.
I was about to wed a sword.
It was customary in Alexandria that if a royal couldn't attend their own wedding, they could send a relic in their stead. But such had never happened before, every bride or groom always attended their special day…....except mine.
Somewhere, I didn't know if I should feel scared or relieved that he wasn't here. But either way, I could never escape him.
The priest cleared his throat. He didn't look at me, his eyes were warily fixed on the silver crescent blade as if it would strike him down.
"We are gathered," he began in a thin and wavering voice, talking to no one but me, "to bind the princess of Alexandria to the king of Velmont."
He reached for a small golden bowl and a ceremonial needle. This was the part of the Velmont ritual the stories always whispered about.
Unlike normal weddings, they didn't want rings and vows, they wanted a bond that couldn't be physically broken. They had already told my father they would do the wedding the vampire way and not the human way, and he conformed.
"Your hand, Princess," he murmured.
I extended my right hand, my fingers were shaking so violently that the lace of my sleeve fluttered. The priest took my hand in his cold grip. With a swift movement, he pricked the tip of my finger. I winced, watching a single, dark bead of blood seep from my pale skin.
"With this drop, the marriage is sealed," the priest declared. He tilted my hand, letting the blood fall, not into the bowl, but directly onto the cold steel of the wedding sword.
Nothing could have prepared me, because the moment the red liquid touched the silver, the candles that were burning low in the room suddenly flared up violently, into a violet light. A low growl, resonated from the blade as if it were alive.
I gasped in disbelief, pulling my hand back watching as the blood on the metal didn't run down the sword. Rather, it was mysteriously absorbed, vanishing into the steel without a trace.
"It is finished," the priest whispered, his face turning deeper. "You are now wedded to the king of Velmont."
He didn't offer a blessing, nor did he offer a smile. He simply walked away from the altar, disappearing into the shadows, leaving me alone with the sword
The heavy oak door behind me groaned open. Two men in their black cloaks instantly appeared.
One of them stepped forward, he was too silent to be a human. The air around him turned frigid.
"It's time to go, Princess," his cold, inhuman voice uttered, taking me to the black horses waiting to take me to their kingdom.