**3rd Person POV**
She had woken up hours later in a soft bed and a cool room. She stood up on the bed in alarm, expecting to see rows of other beds with other werewolves but there was no one in the room but herself. She was not certain if this was good or bad for her. What had the stupid vampire not allowed her to die? What was his deal? She would have tried to do it again but she realised painfully that she was handcuffed to the bed.
It was not long before the vampire walked into the room.
“Why?” was all she asked. She was a mere werewolf to him and meant nothing to him. She had no value to anyone. She was doing nobody any favours by continuing to live. Even her twin brother whom she had shared a womb with had wanted her executed and not exiled. She had deserved the hatred she had received so she was not complaining.
But this vampire wants something from her and she needs to know the reason.
“I told you. I have business with you,” there was no friendliness in his tone. Major Drieden was not a man who liked to be questioned or answer to any man.
At the time, his standing in his kingdom had fallen as his king was angry that he had not brought home victory. His king had been so angry that he had sent him to Dome and forced him to live there ever since. In a way, he was on a political exile.
King Nerod, the vampire king of Dome, did not know this. He did not know that Drieden had lost the favour of his king and people. So when his daughter was getting married, he invited Major Drieden as a special guest.
“Then I shall put on something else; I do not want to appear intimidating today. Today is about the princess and not me,” said Major Drieden as he began to undress himself.
Nydia shrugged. She had known that his outfit was ridiculously superfluous but if she told him that directly, he would not listen to her. Whenever she wanted him to listen to her, she had to find ways to tactfully make her wishes come true.
It had turned out that many years back, Major Drieden had wanted a mistress. At the very least that was what he had kept her for. She still wanted to leave this place but she did not know how. It was harder to do so now that the werewolves were in town. She knew that if one of the twins laid eyes on her they would tear her body into pieces.
“I bought some clothes for you to try on. You should start getting dressed,” Major Drieden turned to face her when he said this. She froze on the spot. What was she going to possibly do there? She could not go to the wedding and she had to make that infinitely clear to him.
“I cannot attend the wedding,” she said in a firm tone. If she was seen, she would be killed. There was no way to escape it. It did not matter if she stuck to Drieden’s side through the entire affair, the werewolves would find a way to separate her from him and then end her life. Had Drieden kept her alive all these years just so he could deliver her into their hand?
“Why not?” he asked as though he did not already know the answer.
“The werewolves, they will kill me. You cannot make me go there,” she returned, trying to plead with whatever sympathy the man might have but it was useless because he had none. She knew at this point that there was no point asking.
She stood up grudgingly from the bed and walked into the next room where she saw the clothes Drieden had selected for her. She chose one to wear and returned to the room.
“The lemon would be a lot better,” commented Drieden when he saw her choice of dress. Nydia resented the man for trying to control every single aspect of her life. The man had never allowed her to choose even the clothes she wore to sleep. She tried not to allow it to bother her today. After all, she had bigger fish to fry.
When she was done dressing up, she eyed herself in the full-length mirror. She had grown significantly thin over the last few years. Perhaps there was hope for her. It was possible the twins would not recognise her at all.
“This is going to be such fun,” Major Drieden drooled. Nydia had no words for the man. If ending her life was fun for him then she had nothing to say to him. It hurt that her life truly was worth nothing to anyone anymore, even the man who had saved her from death.
****
It was during the reception they noticed her.
Nydia.
Charlotte's face turned white like sheets momentarily as she looked at Nydia. The woman was standing all by herself in a corner and eating some berries. Nydia looked too calm for someone on exile. She did not appear to have any worries.
“Hey, are you okay?” asked Reginald who had noticed the colour drain from his twin's face. He received no response but he was able to follow her eyes; they landed on Nydia.
“Ignore her,” Reginald whispered into his sister's ears. He knew that Charlotte had begun concocting some plan to take the woman down.
“Ignore her? Do I have to remind you what she put us through? The bitch! It was not enough to kidnap us, she made sure to torture us. She derived pleasure from seeing us in pain,” Charlotte's eyes had turned red. Reginald knew that look; Charlotte was not going to allow Nydia to go scot-free. She had been looking for a way to punish the woman with her bare hands and the time had finally come.