Chapter Ten: Selina Vs. the King

An audible gasp echoed through the hallway, and Selina’s jaw dropped in shock. She had flashbacks of yellow eyes from the Lupine Pass.

“Werewolf!” somebody cried out from the group and everyone scrambled to get away from her and huddled together.

“Oh, please.” Jade rolled her eyes in annoyance. “I’m a Lycan. There’s a difference. Look it up.”

If Jade was an Occult, Selina thought in panic, her siblings were too! Henry was friends with literal monsters! And Jasper had the gall to ask her out!

“What Jade is trying to say is… thanks to science and technology, coexisting is no longer a dream,” Henry explained. “We’re literally living it for ten years already.”

“I heard their limiters are quite effective,” a girl with glasses piped up. Selina recognized her as one of the illegitimate children of Eduard Tolland, the Czar of Moncroft. “Besides, if it wasn’t, we would have heard of it by now.”

“Seriously, human blood is overrated,” a girl with pasty dark skin added flatly. “Synthetic plasma tastes better and provides more benefits than regular blood.”

Another gasp. This girl has just revealed herself to be a vampire. The freshmen gathered beside her scurried to get away from her, and the vampire only rolled her clear, white eyes.

“You are all insane if you think we’ll just stand idly while monsters run amok here,” the prince of Quernstone said. “My mother will hear about this!”

“Or you can drop out,” Jade suggested, her arms crossed over her chest. “There’s always that option.”

“I deserve to be here, not the likes of you.”

“No,” Henry said. The hallway fell silent. “If you can’t abide by my rules, you do not deserve to be here. Please get out.”

“This school’s core values were ‘to give people the right to think and express themselves freely’…”

“This school does not tolerate discrimination, too. So, if any of you disagree with my decision, please leave; I will not change my mind.”

Henry grabbed Selina’s hand and walked away from the group, but not before they heard the prince of Quernstone’s last words:

“A ruler who does not learn from the past is doomed to fail. When the inevitable happens, do not expect Quernstone to assist you. I will turn my back on you just as you do on your fellow humans.”

“Are you okay?” Selina inquired of the king. Henry had not stopped walking until they arrived at the university’s stadium, where he sat down on one of the metal benches. He propped his elbows on his knees while his hands supported his head. She could tell the confrontation in the residence hall bothered him. To soothe him down, the princess tenderly stroked his soft hair.

“No,” the monarch said, motioning with his hands. “Every year, exactly the same thing happens. Why are people so eager to cast doubt on my authority? Is it because I’m just a kid? I made certain that every decision I made was sound and appropriate. I… I just want to be a good king, you know?”

“Henry...” Selina sat down beside him and took his hands. “I know you mean well, but you can’t really blame them… Our ancestors overthrew the Occults for a reason. They are—”

“Not you too.” Henry stood up and backed away from his girlfriend, disappointment etched on his face. “And I thought you got my back.”

“I do, always. But those things… can’t you see? People are scared—”

“Why are you so afraid of them?”

“Why aren’t you? They’re monsters!”

“Selina, they are people too! They are humans just like you, and they’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Is that why you force your Empire to go on lockdowns every month?” the princess asked. “If they’re so safe, why do you need limiters? Henry, wake up. No matter how hard you try, they aren’t what you thought they were. Humans do not eat each other. We do not consume blood—”

The young king looked at her sadly, bit his lip, and then turned away. Selina followed him.

“—humans resolve conflicts and disagreements via reason and lawful conduct, rather than by hexes and curses—”

Henry let out a mirthless laugh. “Yeah, right. Because wars and racism do not exist.”

“—during a full moon, humans do not transform and hunt and maul people to death and eat them!”

Henry looked as if she slapped him across the face with that last sentence. He closed his eyes tight for a few seconds before looking at Selina again.

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Henry told her. “However, the Occults ARE human. It’s just that the cards they were dealing with differed from yours. And werewolves do not know what they’re doing when they shift. They have no choice. They are sick. No one can stop me from helping sick people. Not even you.”

“No.” The Rose Princess grabbed her boyfriend’s arm to stop him from leaving. “What you are doing is giving them the opportunity to get back in power. It is our birthright to dominate and to rule the world, Henry! You are a king! You should look after your own people and not some filthy sub-human—monsters!”

Henry looked at her in a way she had never seen before. It was a mixture of pity, hatred and something she cannot name.

“It is precisely because I am a king that I am responsible for my subjects, whether they are werewolves, vampires, witches, or humans.” The monarch pried his arm off of Selina’s grip. “As long as they are a citizen of my kingdom, I will rule them and I will protect them as their king.”

“You are making a big mistake, Henry.”

“You are either with me or against me, Selina,” the monarch said with finality. “You are free to do as you wish.”

“That’s not fair!” the Rose princess cried out to his retreating form. “Henry!”

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