Royal Blood

by Kolina Topel

  “Yeah, let’s go.”

  I squeezed his hand and took the first step forward.

  Yet again, the church seemed empty. I led him to the hall where my father’s picture hung, though when we reached the hall, the picture wasn’t there. Well, it was….but it wasn’t my father any longer. This man had dark hair, black almost, that matched his black sinister eyes. It didn’t match the pale and perfect smooth texture of his skin. This other man was beautiful though.

  “Is this it?” he asked.

  I moved closer to the picture. “No.”

  “Well, um, where is it?”

  “No, this is the hallway, but this isn’t my father. The picture is…different.”

  “So what now, Chris? There is no one here. Let’s just go home.”

  “It’s through there,” I pointed to the picture.

  “Through the wall?” Okay. It sounded stupid.

  I reached forward and Alex grabbed my other hand and pulled me back.

  “Alex, trust me.”

  I reached my hand to the picture. I moved my hands over the wall. I didn’t know what I was searching for, but I knew it was there.

  On the rear of the frame, my fingers caught on a notch that seemed out of place. I looked closer. It was a button, not a notch. I pushed it and stepped back. The whole wall shifted to the right and a darkened hallway beckoned us. A musty smell whooshed past us. I looked at Alex.

  “I have to go.”

  “I know,” he said. He stepped in front of me into the unknown. It wasn’t what I expected to see. Where the dream had shown me a forest, this was a damp and dark tunnel. Only a faint glimmer of light signaled us up ahead. Alex looked back at me and then walked toward the light. On the other side, the forest of my dream broke through. It was different though now, daytime, and I wasn’t so afraid.

  Just like the dream, I could see, hear, and smell everything. I could hear a thrumming of beats far off and could hear and smell a small stream of water trickling somewhere close by. I sensed all of the animals around us as we walked.

  “Are you afraid?” he asked.

  “No,” I smiled.

  He nodded and continued walking. We walked for what felt like miles and finally saw a clearing up ahead.

  “Race ya,” he teased.

  I pursed my lips, pretending to think about it. “Go!” I yelled and took off.

  “Cheater,” he whispered in my ear and darted in front of me.

  I pushed my legs harder and caught up to him easily. I had never run so fast before. As I reached the opening, I skidded to a stop, Alex a few feet back. He walked to my side and took my hand. I met his eyes and then looked back to the city.

  “Sangre Real,” I stated.

  “Royal Blood,” Alex said.

  “Have you ever had one of those moments when you were absolutely terrified and completely comfortable at the same time?” I asked him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Okay, well maybe not terrified,” I sighed. “Confused, I guess. Unknowing. I know I have never been here before, aside from my dreams, of course, but I can’t help but feel a small sense of déjà vu. You have to admit, I should be scared out of my mind. This is freaking weird. But, as weird as it might sound, I feel….safe. Calm. Like I really am home.” I looked at Alex again. “Is that weird?”

  “Well I wouldn’t say it’s the weirdest thing you have ever said,” he laughed.

  “Well,” I said, “the last time anyone called this place home, I was having nightmares and a little girl was bleeding from her eyes.”

  “Yeah, you might be creepy,” he teased.

  I laughed out loud.

  “And you might be an impossible ass,” I joked, as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

  “How do we get down?” I pondered.

  The city was a few stories down from the cliff we stood on.

  “We could jump,” he smiled.

  “Uh huh, you go right ahead. I think I’ll go around.”

  I retreated back into the woods in an attempt to find a way around the cliff to the city. After a few minutes, something startled me. Before I heard it, I knew, well not really knew but sensed, I guess, that people were coming. I stopped where I was and crouched to the ground. I could hear the heartbeats and footsteps of two bodies approaching.

  “You can hear them?” he asked, a perplexed look on his face.

  “Sshhh….”

  A voice called out, “Who is there? Come out now,” the voice demanded.

  Alex jumped up and pulled me up with him.

  “Oh, Princess Christina!” the men exclaimed and fell to the ground. “Forgive us. We did not know it was you.”

  They called me Princess again. Who are these people?

  “Um, it’s okay. I think you have the wrong person though. Please get up.”

  The two men looked at each other, confused. As they stood, Alex pulled me halfway behind him. The men studied Alex’s face for a moment.

  “I’m looking for information about my father,” I stated.

  “Say no more. Please, follow us.” And without another word, the men turned and led the way toward the city.

  Six

  Alex never let go of my hand. He shielded me halfway behind his body the whole time we walked. Ahead, I was beginning to make out a small cave that seemed carved into the mountain. As it came into full view, Alex stopped mid-stride and turned to me.

  “Christina, I want you to know that no matter what happens here, no matter what you find out, I have always and will always love and be faithful to only you. No matter the cost. Please, right now, promise me you will never forget that.” His eyes looked tormented. Even more than that though, it looked and felt like he was saying goodbye. The two men had stopped up ahead, but did not turn toward us.

  “Of course, Alex, but everything is going to—” and his lips were on mine. His arms grabbed me up off of my feet as his fingers intertwined in my hair, and he held me there. When he sat me back down, the two men started walking again.

  “Okay my love, here we go,” he stated and took my hand again.

  The inside of the cave wasn’t as dark as it had appeared outside. It was a short walk to a massive door almost as wide as the cave itself, which led to a second door a few yards further. When the door was opened, we were signaled to walk through.

  “Princess Christina,” one of the men said, and all four bodies jumped up and bowed their heads.

  The inside of the room was very large, yet the only thing in it was an enormous round table. There were four people sitting around it.

  The first person on the left was a man with dark eyes and long, dark hair pulled back at his neck.

  To his right was a smaller female with blue eyes and lighter brown hair that was obviously wavy and tied back in a low bun.

  Sitting between her and the man who spoke was a tiny little girl who looked like she couldn’t have been more than my age, maybe even younger. She had long, light blonde hair that was pinned up at the sides and bright green eyes. The man who spoke had short, light brown hair and green eyes. There was something about him that looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “Sir,” one of the men behind us said, “we found them walking in the forest, up by the cliff.”

  “Very good. Thank you, Marius. You and Alumit may go now.” They bowed and left the room.

  The one who spoke to me held out his hand and began walking in my direction. I backed into the wall and he stopped and laughed.

  “Princess, it is quite all right. You are safe here, I assure you. We are friends. I am Demitri,” again he bowed his head, “and these are Duncan, Nebula, and Calpurnia.” They all bowed their heads the same.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “We are the Sangreal Guard, Princess—protectors of this city and sworn protectors of the royal bloodline.”

  I shook my head, not understanding.

  “And for some reason you think that includes me?”

 
Demitri laughed again.

  “Of course, Princess. Please my dear, come, sit, and we will explain everything,” he gestured toward the table.

  He wasn’t exactly intimidating, but I looked at Alex for confirmation.

  “This is what you want, right?”

  I nodded my head and walked to the table. I took my seat, and then everyone else did. All of their eyes studied my face, and again I began to feel intimidated.

  “I’m sure you have a few questions,” Demitri smiled.

  Did I ever! I decided to start with an easy one.

  “Who am I?”

  “You are Christina Marie Delano by birth, born to Lynn Marie Mason and our late King Azariah Delano.”

  I pondered that for a moment.

  “The money?”

  “Yes, he ordered that all of his assets be placed in your name if he should ever die.”

  Next to me, Alex’s lips pressed into a hard line.

  If he should die? Was there another option?

  “Why now? Why have I never been told any of this until now?”

  “Your mother bid it that way immediately upon your birth. She wanted you to live a normal life on the outside world and never be exposed to this life. But, she did leave you a message and asked me to give it to you if you should ever find your way home. If you’d like?”

  “Yeah, yeah of course.”

  “Okay. Please do not be disturbed by what you are about to see.”

  Before I could ask what he meant, I was looking at her face, at my mother’s face, and I gasped. She was breathtakingly beautiful. She had the same long hair as I did, though a darker, walnut brown eyes, and a sparkling white smile. She wore a small white robe over her petite body.

  It was like a whole separate picture in my mind. I could still see everything around me and feel Alex’s hand in mine though. It was strange. She spoke in a beautiful voice.

  “My dearest Christina, I don’t know if this message will ever reach you, but if it does, I pray that it finds you in good health. I know you have many questions, and I’m so very sorry I cannot be there to answer them myself, but you are safe there with the Sangreal Guard. They will answer your questions as well as I could have.

  “But, there are a few things I want to tell you myself first. I have loved you from the moment I carried you in my womb and have thought about you every moment since you have been gone. I have been blessed enough to see through others’ eyes the woman you have become, and I am very proud of you.

  “I should have known that someone with Delano blood would have never been able to stay away from this world. But that was my only fear, and the only reason I let you go. I know you are upset with your mother and you feel lied to, but please understand that she was simply abiding by my wishes.

  “I also want you to know that I love your father very much. He is the most amazing man I have ever known and he loves you just as I do.

  “You are about to be faced with some difficult decisions, but I have no doubt that you will make the right choices for your family. You are much more powerful and stronger than you know. Demitri and the others will help you with this.

  “My daughter, it is my hope that someday you will forgive me for trying to force a life upon you that you obviously weren’t meant to lead. I just wanted you to have the choice, as you still do. But no matter your decision, I love you more than my own life, and I am proud of you.” She put her hands up as if to touch my face and I reached out for her as well. “Goodbye, my love.” And she was gone.

  Alex grabbed my arms and held me close as the tears flowed from my eyes. After a few minutes, I stopped crying and Alex held my face in his hands.

  “Are you okay?” he asked seriously.

  I looked at the others and stated, “Yes, it’s just… it’s just a lot to take in. There are just so many things I don’t understand.”

  “That is why we are here, Princess,” Demitri said, a look of understanding and sympathy in his eyes.

  “You say my father was the king, and that I am a princess.” I looked at Demitri and he nodded. “So if he was a king, what exactly did he rule?”

  “Good question, and also the hardest, Princess. I need you to understand now that everything that you think you know about the world is not always so. You have to keep an open mind about what I am about to tell you. Some people would call us The Cold Ones, some immortals, some blood drinkers. There are many names for our kind. Others would simply call us—”

  “Vampires?” I laughed. “You’re kidding, right? You expect me to believe that?”

  “Do you have the headaches?”

  “What? How do you know about those?”

  “When a vampire doesn’t feed, it produces the headaches. It would kill a full-blood eventually, starve him to death. We can only assume that it’s bearable for you because you have human blood in your veins at all times. That’s also why the thirst is bearable and why you can survive on human food.”

  “This is crazy,” I said as I rose from my seat.

  “Haven’t you ever noticed the way you never seem to get cold, the way you hear and see and smell things you know you shouldn’t be able to? The fact that you never seem to get tired from physical activity like most humans? You never fit into the human world because you were born to live in ours and to rule our people. Please, Princess, just hear us out. We have many things to tell you, and once we are finished, if it is still your desire to leave, we won’t stop you.”

  I closed my eyes. How could he know these things? There had to be another explanation. Vampires didn’t exist.

  “But they do, Princess,” Calpurnia interrupted. “We do, the same as you.”

  “How did you—”

  “The members of the Guard, as well as all of our protectors, have powers, or gifts as we call them. Calpurnia is a mind reader.”

  “Protectors?” I asked.

  “Yes, all vampires that are born with a gift are bred from birth to be a protector. We,” he waved his hand to those sitting at the table, “the Guard, are the personal protectors of the royal family, or the royal blood—”

  “Sangre Real,” I gasped.

  He nodded. “The other protectors exist to keep our secret from the outside world and to keep the peace in the human and vampire worlds.”

  “But, I haven’t been burned alive from the sun….”

  They all laughed now, even Alex.

  “Most of these stories are false. Garlic, crosses, holy water, coffins—all myth. It makes vampires more interesting to the humans I suppose,” he smiled.

  “And sunlight?”

  “Well, full bloods cannot live in it. It will not kill us, but it is painful. With the exception of the day walker like my son, Alexander,” he pointed to Alex.

  I jumped up from my seat and dropped his hands. I backed away from him.

  “Chris, wait—”

  “You knew?” I whispered. “And you’re one of them? A sadistic, blood thirsty freak!” I yelled at him. He walked toward me with his hands up. “Don’t! Stay away from me.”

  “Princess,” Demitri said, “Alex was assigned as your protector of the human world, as he is a day walker. Your father wanted you to be protected just in case anyone ever… found you. We could only watch you from a distance.”

  “Enough,” I said. I looked back into Alex’s eyes. They were filled with sadness and humility. “I trusted you,” I was crying now. “I loved you.” He winced, “And you were the biggest liar of all!” I yelled.

  “I’m sorry, Princess—”

  “No! You don’t get to be sorry. This is all crazy. You are all crazy!”

  I leapt out of my seat and ran for the door.

  “Alexander, don’t. Let her go,” I heard Demitri say.

  I ran through the cave and out and pushed my legs as fast as they would go. It was dark outside now. I left the same way we came in, up the hill and back to the path.

  As much as I didn’t want to, I had to think about everything they had said.
Maybe some of the things he said were true, but not all of them. I am not a monster. This place was impossible. It couldn’t exist. The only place I felt I ever fit in couldn’t be more wrong. It didn’t make any sense.

  My mother though, she was beautiful. It scared me to think of my other mother as a stranger; an adopted mom, a hired mom, and I wished I never knew.