Chapter 11: Theon

I know very well that Solaris Mont appears to have no connections to the world around her. Like she bears no emotional attachment to anyone. Not her family. Not the people around her. Not even me. I don't care for the first two, but I do about myself.

It is strange, isn't it? I put a lot of effort into my appearance today and I know she noticed it because I caught her staring at my outfit and hair many times but there had not been a single change in her reactions towards me. No spike of arousal, or interest.

And the only time it changed was when I tasted her blood or fed her, of course. Knowing all of this is good, keeping her interested in conversations is hard and I quite enjoy racking my brain as I try to come up with ways to gain her attention but I also realized something else.

The only way she is still in her Academy is because of someone powerful pulling the strings to keep her that way and the only person high enough to do that is a Royal. I remembered his scent on her as I changed her clothes into more comfortable ones, and realized that the marks on her arms held his scent as well. The other bruises weren't his deed but my focus wasn't on them.

Whoever he is, is adamant in keeping her by her side, and the fact she refuses to say anything about it heightens my curiosity. Is it because he is blackmailing her? Does she believe she owes him something? Is she in trouble?

Of course, there was the possibility that he and her were genuinely friends and he wished to be with her because he cared but that didn't make things any better. I didn't like how my stomach turned at the sight of her around him. Did she smile with him? Did she enjoy being around him?

I try to make up an image of how he could be in my head but it never materializes. I can't guess the sort of vampire he is and it drives me insane. Is he aware that people are hurting her in school? What else does he know about her?

It makes me feel sick. Nauseous. The feeling isn't pleasant, of course, but it is so easy to forget all of that around her. She is remarkable and I can't help how easily I am awed at her existence. At how she breathes, how she walks. Everything is beguiling. Even her act of committing chaos has me feeling proud. I wish to know why she did it because I feel it will give me an insight about her, but unsurprisingly, I wasn't given an answer.

I have no idea if she was lying, considering how she's so adept at being calm continuously but I doubt she is. Solaris Mont doesn't care about me. I am more or less a change that she is trying to adapt to because I feed her and I pleasure her, nothing else.

It is absurd. I hold power that a mortal like her can't comprehend and yet, I am still very willing to have her like me even if it is just a little. Complete madness.

"Lord Vasilakis." King Fyodor Kazimir is all smiles when he sees me. I have a trained smile on my face as I walk into his throne room. The grandeur of the throne room enveloped all who entered. Enormous double doors, adorned with intricate carvings, swung open to reveal a space filled with echoes of power and history. A crimson carpet stretched from the entrance to a raised dais at the far end, where an imposing throne of red and silver awaited.

Torches flickered along the towering walls, casting a warm glow on tapestries depicting the kingdom's heraldry. High, vaulted ceilings echoed every footfall, and the air carried a faint scent of polished wood and aged tapestry.

The throne itself, a symbol of authority, stood beneath an elaborate canopy. The ruler's seat, carved with scenes of valor and conquest, commanded attention and of course it did, human skulls decorated every curve on it and as grotesque as it is, it doesn't surprise me.

It is the Kazimir way to show off their kills. Every new king adds a new head of a human that was perceived to be valuable during their reign as a sign of… Conquest? I do not know. Their ways of thoughts are amateurish at best but they are easy to command and the Ancients value that.

"Your highness," I bow in respect though I feel none. He's at my side as I raise my head. Fyodor is a bearded man that dresses in nothing but fur coats and pants. As all vampires are, he is strikingly beautiful but even I cannot find myself being attracted in the slightest. I have values, you see?

"We've surpassed all of that." He says. His voice is gruff, his manner disgraceful. I'm never so judgy of his lifestyle but I am in quite a foul mood with any one that bears his lineage. "You are the reason we have all of this, no? All Kazimirs are indebted to you, Lord Vasilakis."

His scent is potent, just as it always is but it is not like the one I found on her. Knowing that she holds no involvement with this slimy thing, my smile finally seems genuine."Please, call me Theon."

Many years ago, reproduction through vampires were feats that our kind never cared for. What was the point of having children that might never truly care for you when you can sire someone that would forever be indebted to you for as long as they lived? But the Kazimirs wished to keep the Royal line in their name and tasked me with the job of finding a way out of it.

Of course, this meant they owed me tremendously and I had never thought I would require their power, until now.

"You never come here, unless something is wrong." He says this as we begin to walk through his halls. He waves his hand towards the Knights and they all vanish as we go further. "I hope they are not displeased?"

"You of all people know I do not associate with them. If anything, we are on far friendlier terms than I am with them." Which is not entirely false. Fyodor believes that he can get me to stay on his side if the Ancients ever decide to wipe away their ancestral line because I avoid them like plagues and I enjoy giving him the false imagery. Playing with people and watching things unfold always excited me. "So no, I do not come for them."

I can hear him let out a sigh of relief at my words though he tenses up immediately, perhaps even more than before. I, Theon Vasilakis, never willingly brought myself to another Vampire's presence unless one, I had made a deal with them or two and the most common one, I was killing them. Not that I ever enjoyed it. I liked my space and privacy when I could get it but there have been numerous times they have tried to get their hands on my years of research.

I had to improvise, of course, and make the best of the situation by turning them into protests.

"I come for your son." I can't recall his name for the life of me and I do not care for it. "Is he here? In the Castle? I would like to speak to him."

"Chlothar? Ah, the lad, he…" He seems uneasy and my irritation is back at that moment. "Well, he ventured out of here years ago. Claimed he wished to learn the human ways so he could rule over them better. I have not set my eyes on him in a century."

Immediately, the urge to rip off his head grows in me. I put my hands immediately behind my back because of how fast my claws are going out as I say as calmly as I can, "Do you not keep tabs on him?"

Fyodor laughs there. "Why shall I? We Kazimirs are powerful creatures. He does not need my help and I hope he learns that these humans… There are livestock, no? Food. He holds too much faith in them. Perhaps after one of them tries to kill him, he will learn that no vampire and human shall ever see eye to eye."

Briefly, I let his last statement ring in my head. Vampires do not see humans as anything they should care for and why should we? Besides, I was one of the people that stayed detrimental to their subservience though I never killed anyone but I did… Other things. I wonder if Miss Mont will hate me if she ever finds out what I have done.

And I answer the question the second it comes to my head. She wouldn't. She doesn't care. About her kind or about anyone. Even herself. So that's settled. Plus, we're working out quite well even though we do not see eye to eye and that is enough for me.

"I see," I don't like that this… Chlothar is nowhere to be found. It is upsetting because he can be anywhere else and I don't like it. My feelings of discomfort even worsens now as I realize that I left her alone. It was possible that he would notice her not in school and come to her house. Did her parents know of him though? Did they ever fear her?

There are so many questions and yet I know I shouldn't expect anything from her. The only way I shall ever feel truly satisfied is by keeping her next to me, which is dangerous, of course, because of the eyes on me but I'm too involved now to let her go. I should fear how attached I'm becoming, how delirious I turn when her name appears in my head but I quite enjoy it at the same time.

That little fox has burrowed itself into me and I don't plan on letting it go. Not now. Not ever.