Page 135 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

“I am feeding you,” she says, lancing a piece of a hard-boiled egg with her fork and offering it to me. I take a bite without fuss.

She gives me a shy smile and blushes. I adore the light shade red that colors her cheeks when she does that.

Rhianelle quickly finishes the last few bites of her meal and turns to me for one last hug. She soaks in every bit of warmth I can offer to calm her bond. It takes everything in me to fight the urge to carry her to the bed and make her forget that the world exists.

I want more of this. More of us. Stay with me, Nel,I want to say to her. But the words can’t seem to form in my mouth.

After a while she begin to pull away again. “Svenn…”

I breathe her in for a moment, but I know I have to let go. Rhianelle slips away from me and puts on her High Elf mask of elegance. It kills me whenever I watch her walk gracefully like a wound-up doll, fully knowing that she’s in pain throughout the whole act. Not just physically. Rage spikes up inside of me in mighty waves.

“Don’t forget to practice on your overturn and downstroke,” she says, patting the brush case on the table. The girl is blissfullyunaware of the silent wrath coursing through my blood, that she is seconds away from being stolen to the castle again.

But like her, I masked the madness and keep a calm exterior. “I will.”

It goes against every instinct of mine to let her go. Something behind my ribcage crashes and dies the moment she disappears out of the door. It’s quickly revived when her silver hair suddenly peeks at the threshold once again and I find two violet eyes staring at me.

Rhianelle gives me a rare look of uncertainty, her bottom lip trembling. “Will you be here when I get back?”

She asks this often, even if my answer is always the same.

Yes.

I give her a curt nod.

The simple gesture brings the brightest smile to her face. “I’ll stop by Lord Wesley’s library and get us more books.”

Us.

The word coming from her lips does strange things to my heart. Just like that I feel almost human again.

“I’ll see you soon, Svenn.” Rhianelle does one of her terrible winks, where she blinks both eyes.

I’m so fucked.

A knot of discomfort tightens in my gut at her absence, and I close my eyes. I wait until her light footstep and heartbeat fade into the distance before opening them again. Her delicate, maddening scent of water lilies lingers in the room, messing with my head.

I feel so fucking useless.

Things would be less complicated if Rhianelle’s request would be to simply slay the orc rebels, but the girl is trying to stop a war. My skill set is the opposite of what she needs right now.

But there is something else I can do for her. A heavy breath leaves my chest.

I will have to hunt for that annoying knight.

I dragmy reluctant feet across town in search of Red. Unlike Eyepatch or the Tall One, I will never find him guarding his queen near the council chambers. The circulating whispers around him from the people in court are mostly unpleasant. It is said that he is a lazy Alderalf’s son that became Rhianelle’s knight by reprehensible means.

After fuck knows how long I come across him lurking underneath a tree at the edge of town, the hood of his crimson cloak is up and forward.

“Oh, it’s you.” Red raises his hand in a merry greeting.

He’s too comfortable around me. I’m losing my touch.

As always, the knight reeks of blood. He has killed another one of his targets this morning. I wonder if Eyepatch and the Tall One suspect him of the killings. As much as I hate the bastard, I don’t rat him out.

“You seem happy today,” Red remarks, his face irreverent and cheerful. “Did something good happen between you and Rhianelle?”

I don’t answer his question to preserve my brain cells.