Royal shuffle: Vampire's mate

ANDREA

It's been ten years and everyone has fully adjusted to the decision that happened ten years ago. I looked down from my I looked down from my window at the werewolf, vampire and human children playing around and smiled. That fight almost took my life, but it had proved to be worth it in the long run. I guess it's true what they say. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. I watched and laughed as my daughter pushed her Leovanni immediately leading into a wild chase around the palace grounds.

Sometimes, I wonder what happened to William and Esmeralda. I wonder where they were, and what they were doing. I wonder if they regret their actions, and how their father handled his people. I had forgiven them, but unfortunately, their father had died of his battle wounds.

I left my room and took a stroll around the palace. A lot of things had changed over the years. From me being a maid here to being the Queen of two kingdoms, and a mother to two beautiful children. I had also taken down the portraits of the old royal family, and the hallways were littered with the paintings of my biological parents. I like to think to myself that they were watching their grandchildren run and play in these halls.

There was peace. There was stability. There was unity. This was more than all species could ask for. And for the longest, the threat of war wasn't hanging over our heads anymore. There was calm. The palace was filled with activities. It was the turn of the wolves to host this year's peace ball, and so preparations were in place. I smiled at the workers hanging up the decorations and took a deep breath of the cakes I could smell. "Well, well, well..."

I turned around and smiled when I saw Leopold walking towards me with a bouquet of flowers and my daughter, Adela attached to his hip with a teddy bear in one hand and a cookie in the other.

I hugged him, and kissed my daughter on the cheek. "Leopold, when did you get here?"

"About ten minutes ago," he answered.

"I saw you brought goodies for your niece."

He waved me off and smiled. "Oh, there's more. The rest have been sent up to her room. Same with Leovanni. And this is for you...from your husband..."

I smiled and collected the flowers from him, raising the red roses, sunflowers and white lilies to my nose and smelling them.

"Where is he?"

"He'll be here soon. Rounding some things up with our father."

I missed the old man. We didn't get off to a good start but he had been more than a pillar of support over the years, and an excellent grandfather to my babies. I inspected everything, making sure that it was just in place for tonight. I paused when I saw Savannah and waited for her to walk past me with her head lowered. I loved when she did that. Some sadistic part of me was satisfied to keep her here and make her worship me. I had promoted her to the position of housekeeper after the old one retired. It was a pain to see her go, but I wanted her to live her best life. I still had the knife she had given to me the day I slashed William. Now, it holds a fond memory for me.

I sighed, tired and sleepy, retiring to my chambers, and saw a figure seated on my bed.

Leo smiled at me and waved me over to him. "Hello, love,"

I sighed, and ran to him, jumping into his arms and pushing us both down to the bed.

I lay my head on his chest. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too," he replied, kissing me on the lips.

"You look so tired."

He nodded, and lay in the middle of the bed, pulling me with him and adjusting us into a more comfortable position under the blanket. I sighed and threw my leg over his waist, content to just lay there with my head on his chest listening to his heartbeat, and his voice reverberate from his chest.

"I am...it's been a tough few weeks. There's something happening..."

"What is that?" I asked.

"I can't say for certain. But misfortune is on its way. I don't know what it is, and I'm afraid we might be ill-prepared for it."

I raised my head from his chest in alarm. Leo's view over the years had become optimistic, and knowing that, it bothered me that his intuition might be right.

"What do you think we should do?" I asked.

"Nothing. We wait, and we deal with that situation as best as we can," Leo replied and kissed me on the lips. "Let's rest. We need our energy for tonight."

I nodded, and closed my eyes, begging sleep to take me for an hour but my request was denied. I couldn't stop thinking about what Leo said. I wondered what could be happening or about to happen. Paranoia settled in my chest, forcing my heart to constrict. My mind went to my children and I immediately shook my head. I refused to think of anything happening to them. They were too precious to me to even let my mind go in that direction.

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Finally, it was time for the ball. I stood on the raised floor in the ballroom, watching and smiling as my father-in-law walked towards me with Leopold and my husband walking behind him. Their father was still alive and well, so he can't claim the title of king even though he was married to a queen.

I smiled and nodded as they joined me and took their seats. The human dignitaries were next, and then we were set to begin. Just as the palace doors were about to be closed, murmurs rang out from the crowd. I stopped and strained my neck to see what the commotion was about, but the people had crowded the situation and were slowly making way for someone in the middle to come through...and the last person we ever guessed stepped through the crowd and I gasped when William stepped forward and knelt before us, bending his head until it touched the ground. The hall was deathly silent. So silent that if a pin dropped, the whole palace would have heard it. I looked behind him and toward the closed doors and was expecting Esmeralda to step through the doors for some reason.

I looked at Leo, and he looked just as confused as I was. Leopold looked like he was about to commit murder, his fangs were protruding, and his eyes had turned a bloodshot red. I couldn't say that I blame him. We all had good reason to behead the bastard. The vampire king on the other hand, sat unfazed and rubbing his beard. He was probably the most relaxed of everyone in the hall. Our eyes met and he shrugged.

"You were banished. What are you doing here? Who let you through the border?" I asked William.

He raised his head to look at me, and then lowered it back to the ground. "I let myself in," William replied. "How?"

William smiled and looked over at Leo, "There are a quite a few ways to get in unnoticed."

"And what do you want with us? Why are you here?"

"I bring you news."

"About what?"

William looked around the hall at the expectant faces of all the creatures in the crowd. I spotted Savannah in the crowd, she looked just as confused as the rest. Leopold signaled to the guards, and they immediately stepped forward and grabbed William.

"Take him to the cells. Hold him there until after the ceremony," Leopold ordered them.

They nodded, and bundled William out of the ballroom. The atmosphere significantly changed. His presence was on the lips of everyone for the rest of the night. After the run, I and Leo immediately went to the holding cells where William sat with his hands cuffed to the table. The red lines that marked his wrists were all the indication I needed to see that the cuffs were laced with sliver, and probably wolfsbane. He was beginning to break a sweat. The silver must have slipped into his bloodstream.

I and Leo sat on one side of the table, staring at the same man that had almost killed us and our child about a decade ago.

"Why are you here, William?" Leo asked.

"I came to warn you."

"About what?" I asked.

"There are people...a rebellion."

"What people? Led by who?" I asked.

"Witches," William replied.

I sighed and rolled my eyes, "There are no witches left. They were executed during the war by the council led by your father."

"Hmm...yes. However, it would seem that there are still some hiding in some places."

"And you knew this how?" Leo asked him.

William shrugged and smiled. "I was banished if you recall, I've had the opportunity to be around."

"Where is Esmeralda?" I asked.

"I don't know," William replied. "I haven't spoken or seen her in six years."

Leo looked over at me, stood up and took my hand and stood up. I followed suit.

"It would seem that you don't have any useful information to give us."

William laughed at us as we began to leave. "You'll be back. You'll see. The first death would happen soon. Who knows who it might be?"

I looked back at him once, and left the room.