Chapter 10 Chapter 10
LENORE
“Ooookay,” the doctor drawled as he removed the stethoscope from my neck and returned it to his bag. Then he wrote something in his notepad. “You’re fine, there’s no sign of dangerous injury. Your throat is going to be sore for a few days, so I’m prescribing painkillers and anti-inflammatories. Drink warm fluids and try not to speak too much if it hurts.”
“That’s it?” I asked, adjusting the cowl neck of my sweater to cover the bruises, when he began to pack up his bag. My voice wasn’t as hoarse as it was last night but my neck still hurt the same.
“For now.” He ripped half of the page he’d been writing on and handed it to Diane who was standing next to him. “If you feel worse, don’t hesitate to tell your maid to get me.”
“Okay.,” I muttered and he gave me a nod before Diane escorted him to the door.
“Give me a moment, miss,” Diane said as the doctor left. “I need to send someone to get your medicine. Would you like me to take you to the hall for breakfast when I’m back?”
“Uh, no.” The last thing I wanted to do was run into that madman so he could have the chance to finish me off.
“...The first prince isn’t staying in the main palace. You won’t be seeing him here or on the grounds.”
My shoulders relaxed at the statement and I was grateful she told me because if she hadn’t, anxiety would have eaten me alive. “I’m not really hungry right now,” I told her. With how sore my throat was, eating would just make me even more miserable.
Diane pressed her lips together before nodding. “I’ll be right back.”
She headed out and after the door shut, I lay back on the bed, heaving a sigh.
Diane had been the one to get the doctor when she came to tell me breakfast was being served in the hall and saw the bruises on my neck. I’d been reluctant to tell her what had happened at first. I had felt I’d get in trouble if me saying he attacked me was perceived as disrespectful, but she had actually been sympathetic.
My phone began to buzz in my hand and I lifted it to see it was a call from Cameron.
It had been over twelve hours since I left the pack now and I felt bad for ignoring them, so I answered it. Besides, if I didn’t speak to them soon, they’d think I was dead.
“Jesus, fuck, Lenore!” he burst out immediately.
“Hi Cameron.”
“Hi Cameron? Seriously?” He didn’t even sound annoyed, just incredibly stressed.
I fiddled with the hem of my shirt. “I’m sorry,” I replied and for several moments, he just breathed into the receiver. “I didn’t mean to make you guys worry. I just… really wasn’t up to talking yesterday.”
“...Hell. Are you okay?”
“Well,” I sighed while moving my other hand to my neck. “I’m alive, so I’ll say yeah.”
“I’m sorry, Lenore. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” The fact that they’d all reached out to me, but the piece of shit who kept me in this situation hadn’t really pissed me off more than anything else right now.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You sound a bit odd,” he replied, still sounding worried, and I pressed my lips together before sitting up on the bed. I didn’t think telling him the first prince attacked me was a good idea
“Yeah, I’m just tired.”
“You didn’t sleep last night?”
“No.” I had only slept for about two hours sometime before dawn. He let out a harsh breath, and I added, “I’m fine, Cameron. I just need to get some rest.”
“Okay, okay,” he muttered, sounding like he was trying to convince himself.
“I’ll call you later.”
“Promise?”
The corner of my mouth turned up. Talking to him made me feel better. “I promise.”
“This call is recorded, so…” he trailed off while I snorted. The action irritated my throat.
“Will you let everyone know I’m okay?” By everyone, I meant Aimee, Virginia, Wayne, and William, and Cameron knew this. I’d call them sometime later in the day.
“I will.”
“Bye, Cameron.”
“Talk to you soon, Lenore.” With that, the call ended and as I pulled the phone away from my ear, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” I called out.
I expected it to be Diane, but the door opened to reveal Cate instead. I paused.
“Hi, Lenore.”
“Uh, hi?” I hadn’t been expecting her to come over, so I was a bit confused.
“Are you busy?”
“No? Why?”
Her face lit with a smile. “I just want to explore the palace grounds, but I kinda don’t want to go alone, so I’m here to see if you want to come with me.”
“Oh.”
My first instinct was to say no, but I remembered Diane said I won’t be running into the first prince in the main palace or on the grounds. And I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit interested in looking around for a while. I’d spent almost an hour on the balcony after dawn, taking in the beauty of the part of the palace I could see, and I kind of wanted to see more.
Besides, the sun was shining brightly so vampires were staying indoors—I had only seen the maids moving around when I was on the balcony.
“Give me a moment.”
I should have just stayed in my room.
We’d only been outside the palace for less than ten minutes when we came across a vampire. And it wasn’t just any vampire either.
“That’s the second prince,” Cate whispered just as the man’s ocean blue eyes locked on us, and I stiffened before he began to head toward us.
Just my fucking luck.
We curtsied just before he got to us, and I remained in that position when I felt his eyes on me. Better to do that than to make eye contact and have him strangle me over some perceived slight. For a moment, I wondered if his brother had told him what he’d done to me.
“You’re new here.” The question was directed at me, and I was a bit confused by what he meant.
Weren’t all of the pack representatives here new? …Was he confused because I was human?
“I’m one of the pack representatives, Your Highness.”
“Oh, you’re the one they’ve been talking about. I was expecting your brother.”
“He’s away at university, Your Highness.”
Well, he was at the pack now, but I didn’t think the prince needed to know that.
“How’s that more important than this?” he muttered to himself. “...How are you human though?”
I pursed my lips before replying. “My mother’s not a werewolf, Your Highness.”
“But… Oh, you’re a bastard!” he said, and the urge to walk away came over me. “So that’s why your father sent you.”
I took a deep breath, gritting my teeth.
“...Have I offended you?”
I frowned, still keeping my gaze fixed on the ground. “No, Your Highness.”
“You don’t have to add ‘Your Highness’ to the end of every sentence.” There was a hint of humor in his statement.
“I’m aware, Your Highness.” Please just leave me alone.
He hmmed and my shoulders tensed when his feet moved closer to me. “Is it customary in Moon Valley to speak to one’s feet?”
“...I’m sorry?”
“You don’t have to hold your head in that position,” he said, referring to me still curtsying.
“I’m comfortable this way, Your Highness.”
“Is that so?” The next moment, his finger was under my chin, and before I could react, he lifted my head so that I stared at his face.
The sudden movement annoyed my throat, but the moment our gazes clashed, a stinging shock raced through me, from head to toes, leaving fear in its wake. My breath seized.
The prince tipped his head to the side, his eyes twinkling with barely contained mirth. “Hi… Do me the courtesy of lifting your head when speaking so I may recognize you by your face instead of the top of your head.”
I swallowed and looked away, but then he pinched my chin, drawing my attention back to him. “A–As you wish, Your Highness.”
He raised a brow. All of a sudden, the side of his face which the sun was shining on began to sizzle, and his expression shifted in an instant. Then in a blur of movement, he was gone.
I let myself breathe properly again and though he wasn’t here anymore, the fear still stayed.
I was confused. He hadn’t even done anything to me.
He had a friendly face, a friendly voice, a friendly demeanor. And yet, for some reason I couldn’t comprehend, he scared me more than the first prince did.