Chapter 78 - The King's Bite

Vladislav woke up as soon as he felt the sun hit his face. His eyes snapped open and he was out of bed in a flash. As he got ready for the day, he decided to let Allegra sleep in. She obviously needed it. Little did she know that today was the day they would leave for their honeymoon. Had she known, she might have cut back on the drinking. Fortunately the journey would be made on a private jet, so he supposed sleeping the entire way there would have to do.

He left their chambers, making as little noise as possible and nodded at the pair of vampires stationed at the door. His first stop was Priscilla’s room. He assumed she was just as dead to the world as his wife was, but he was pleasantly surprised when it only took seconds for her to answer to his knock. A single brow lifted in surprise at the sight of him. He was likely the last person she expected on seeing at all, let alone this early in the morning.

“May I help you, Your Majesty?” Cilla asked mockingly. It was like she could not help herself.

He stopped himself from rolling his eyes at her impudence and carried on. “I need you to pack a bag for the next two weeks. Warm weather appropriate clothing and anything else that might come in handy.”

“Where am I going?” asked the redhead, clearly confused.

“Not for you,” he admonished. “For Allegra. We are leaving for our honeymoon today and she is still passed out from last night. Thank you for that, by the way.”

Cilla ignored his telling her off and clapped excitedly. “It’s about damn time.”

“The bag, Cilla,” Vladislav reminded her gently.

“Oh, of course!” she rushed into her room and was back dressed appropriately in record time. “Let’s do this.”

“You are doing this,” he reminded her. “And try not to make any noise.”

“I'm not a miracle worker,’ warned the redhead. “You get what you get. Wait, did you say you two would be gone for two weeks?”

“Yes,” he drawled, wondering where she was going with this.

“That sucks. Aidon will be gone by then,” Cilla said with a frown.

Vladislav groaned internally, not having thought of that aspect in his otherwise meticulous planning. “Well, I suppose they will just have to say goodbye today, then. Do you happen to still have some of that hangover potion with you?”

Cilla shook her head. “I'm fresh out, but Cedai and Zallius might have some.”

“Check with them after you are done packing,” he ordered. “I still have a few things to take care of.

Cilla gave him a mocking salute before turning to make her way to their shared rooms.

Next, the King headed for the wing his new in-laws were in. He could feel himself forcing his legs to move with every step he took. He found them all seated for breakfast and was a little surprised to see Aidon with them. He gave the boy a subtle wink as everyone else greeted him stiffly.

“To what do we owe the pleasure?” asked King Emir, probably the most jovial he had ever seen the man. Then again, he was known to be a history buff, so seeing the Statue of Nostro may have added to his good cheer.

“Allegra and I will be taking our leave of you this afternoon,” said the King as he declined the offer to join them for breakfast. He had too much to do and only made a habit of eating around people he was genuinely found of. “We will be gone for two weeks.”

The sound of cutlery hitting ceramics brought all their attention to Aidon, who was looking at him like he had betrayed him.

“But that means we won’t be here when you get back!” he complained.

“Aidon,” shushed Queen Solal. “Behave yourself.”

“It is fine, really,” Vladislav said when he waved away her admonishment. “Let us talk, Aidon. I think we both have some things to get off of our chests.”

The boy followed him out of the dining room and they settled in a random parlour, closing the door behind them for some semblance of privacy before sitting down.

“Aidon, I know this is hard to hear,” but your sister and I need this time to be alone. You knew it was coming.”

“I thought it’d be a week or something, not two,” he complained. “Things will go back to how they were when she first got here. She barely uses her phone, so we’ll go back to rarely talking.”

“You and I both know she will make time for you, Aidon,” Vladislav said reassuringly. “And we have already discussed you spending your holidays here. Why would we have bothered to find you a trainer otherwise? This is your home just as much as it is Allegra’s.”

“I guess,” the boy said reluctantly. “I just wish I’d known so that I could at least spend more time with her.”

Vladislav winced at that, knowing the secrecy was his fault. “Maybe you could convince your aunt and uncle to stay a little longer,” he suggested.

Aidon was already shaking his head. “Uncle Emir is the most stubborn man on the planet. He doesn’t listen to anybody,” he said, completely certain.

Vladislav thought back to the last couple of days and his interactions with the two. As stubborn as Emir was, there was one person he seemed to listen to – his wife. He gave the young boy a comforting pat on the shoulder as they got up to re-join the rest of the family.

“It will work itself out in the end,” Vlad said before he took his seat.

“Everything worked out?” Queen Solal asked.

Aidon gave a sad little nod.

“Yes it is. This will be my last time seeing you, as I am aware you have yet another sight to see today, “ said Vladislav, his attention completely on the Queen. “It really is such a shame. Why, we have barely spent any time together at all. Oh, well.”

The Queen twirled her fork around in thought and Vlad had a clear view of the dawning horror on Emir’s face. Before the Rijavian King could say a word, his wife was already speaking.

“We really don’t have to leave as soon as was planned,” she said thoughtfully. “We could extend our visit until a couple of days after you’re back so we can give you two a proper send off.”

“That sounds delightful,” Vlad said. He did not have to fake his smile as he looked at King Emir pressing his lips together in annoyance.

“What time do you guys leave?” Aidon asked, now in a much better mood.

“Our flight is at four, so I think it would be best to leave right after lunch, maybe one at the latest,” Vlad said. “It is a long drive to the airport. I suppose that means Aidon will have to sit out of your trip today so he can say goodbye to his sister.”

“That’s understandable,” Queen Solal said.

“That won’t be a problem,” said Emir. “We were planning on making a day of it, so we’ll be leaving right after breakfast.”

Aidon’s grin grew even bigger as his cousins threw him murderous looks. Vladislav stood.

“I should be going now. There is still some work to be done,” he said as he kissed the back of the Queen’s hand and shook hands with Emir before pointing at Aidon. “I will call for you in the lounge when the time comes.”

“Enjoy your honeymoon,” Queen Solal said with a genuine smile as she returned back to her meal.

Next, he had to talk to his siblings. They were told beforehand, so he knew he would find them in his study. On his way there, he received a text from Cilla letting him know the fae did have more of the hangover potion, but to save time, he would have to go get it himself since she was still packing. She also told him they were observing a few days of silence and not to be ‘freaked out’ by it. It was an unimpressive excuse, but he changed direction anyway. The door opened as soon as he stopped in front of it and he gingerly stepped inside, silently cursing fae magic and how out of ease it sometimes put him.

Cedai and Zallius were both seated at a table on their balcony in silence, seemingly taking in the view. They did not let him talk before Zallius stood up and walked over to him. He pulled out a familiar looking shimmering liquid. It was in a differently shaped vial this time, but he still reached for it hesitantly. He found himself thankful for the warning because the situation was strange to say the least.

“Thank you,” he said gruffly, unsure if he was not supposed to talk to them either. Zallius nodded his head in recognition before returning to his partner while Cedai smiled and waved at him as he left the room.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped outside, glad that he had one less thing to worry about and set off for his study once more. Milena and Niklaus were already seated in two of the armchairs. He was regaling her with tales of his latest night out with the biggest grin on his face. His sister, on the other hand, did not look impressed in the least and was visibly relieved when she saw Vlad walk in.

“Can we finally move this along?” she asked tersely.

“I was just getting to the best part!” Nik complained.

“You slept with her,” Milena said with a sigh. “All your stories end the same.”

“I am leaving for my honeymoon today,” Vladislav said, figuring it was a good way to shut them up.

“What?” exclaimed Niklaus.

“Why am I only now finding out about this?” asked Milena, who looked close to panicking. Wielding control was very important to her.

He shrugged. “I was being spontaneous,” he said light-heartedly. “It is only two weeks.”

“Spontaneous?” spat Milena. “We have not even discussed what to do when you are gone. Who are you going to leave in charge?”

“You act as if Nefolktu would fall apart without me,” Vlad laughed easily. “I am leaving you in charge, Milena. Obviously. You have watched me do this for over one hundred and fifty years. You know everything there is to know about it. Nik, I need you to assist her the same way she does me. That means you have to cut down on the partying for a couple of weeks. Show a united front. That is all. I should probably go let Allegra know now.”

With that, he walked out. The last thing he heard was his sister’s scream. “How does she not know either?”

Vladislav opened his door as quietly as he could. He was grateful he had already packed the night before. Allegra was still asleep and a peep in the closet told him that Cilla was nearly done.

“Give me ten more minutes!” she whisper-yelled at him and the King immediately backed away, pulling the vial from his pocket.

He sat beside his wife and nuzzled her neck until she tried to weakly push him away.

“There better be a good reason for waking me up, Vlad” she said hoarsely.

“Oh, there is,” the King said proudly as he held the vial up to her lips while she obediently drank it all down in relief. “Get up. We are going on a little drive.”