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Her father, usually a stern and serious man, was now not a king, but merely a concerned father. “Lilith,” he spoke softly, his tone laden with unwavering paternal instinct, “protection is not a matter of fear. The world around us a treacherous place, filled with beings who would do anything to exploit our vulnerabilities and seek to harm us.”
I raised an eyebrow, thinking that he would scold her for sneaking out in the middle of the night, but he didn’t mention that. Both I and the king watched as Lilith crossed her hands in a mixture of frustration and determination. “Why do only I have a bodyguard and not Cassandra?”
“Adrian is here to protect you both,” the king clarified. “Although, because of your wedding, it is necessary to keep a closer eye on you. Fortunately for me, you and your sister spend almost every waking moment together.”
Lilith scoffed again. She didn’t like this one bit. She sent me a glaring look, then her eyes locked again with her father’s. I had to admit that this was slightly amusing. I’ve never had a job where someone didn’t want my protection. The scenario here was that protection was obviously a necessity, but spoiled princesses liked to have things their way.
The king walked over to Lilith, cupping her chin. “You and your sister are my greatest treasures. This is not a question of me not trusting you or Cassandra. It’s quite the opposite. I have seen the darkness that lurks in the hearts of our kind, and also…” Here he paused, sending a troubled look my way. I returned it, knowing exactly what he meant. “The other kind. I cannot bear the thought of you or your sister falling victim to someone’s evil machinations. Please believe me that I am merely trying to safeguard your future.”
I watched Lilith, to see whether her father’s tenderhearted speech would change her mind. For a moment, her defiance wavered, a flicker of vulnerability creeping into her eyes. She resembled the sort of child who always yearned for their parents’ approval. However, there comes a time in every child’s life to desire independence. Perhaps that time had come for her as well?
I glanced over at the king. He had a wise strategy. He knew that arguing with his daughter, trying to convince her of something would not work. So, he went about it differently. He played the emotions card, where all he was trying to do was protect her and keep her safe, knowing full well that she wouldn’t have an argument against this.
I watched as her nostrils flared up, trying to come up with something, but of course, there was nothing left for her but to agree.
“I understand your intentions, Father,” she finally relented. “I have to say that I don’t like it. I don’t think I need a bodyguard. And now at the cemetery, we would have been able to escape the vampires easily.”
Easily? I almost laughed loudly. I found them trembling like two mice, hiding away from those two halfwits. Truth be told, those vampires were so starved for blood that they were barely keeping themselves on their feet. Lilith might be right. Now that I thought of it, I should have kept them squirming a little while longer, just to see whether she would have really been able to handle herself in that situation. She was the ringleader, of course. Her sister was only along for the ride. That much was obvious to everyone, to their father especially.
At that moment, the king glanced over in my direction. “That isn’t what I was told.”
Her nostrils flared up at me. Her cheeks blushed a deep red. Her eyes were staring me down with the words how dare you tell him the truth?
Her stare was so annoying that I almost chuckled out loud, something I rarely do, especially when on the clock. I swallowed this desire to do so, and merely nodded. There was nothing else left to add.
“Please do not argue with me on this one, child,” her father told her, and in that word child, he showed her exactly where she stood.
“Fine,” she managed to squeeze through clenched teeth, then grabbed her sister by the hand and together, they stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind them.
The king sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his fingers. I could see the exasperation in his entire body.It was true. The king was growing old. After all, that was why he was marrying off Lilith to one of his closest friends’ son. I couldn’t figure out why Lilith and not Cassandra, the older one, but I knew better than to ask something that was none of my business.
“Having girls is a curse, you know,” he told me, once he managed to regain some semblance of composure.
“I wouldn’t know,” I replied with a dismissive shrug.
My opinion had always been pretty straightforward, especially when it came to children. I never had any great desire for my own. But even if I did, I would take that job very seriously, because when you have kids, you make sure they grow up into good people, not spoiled pieces of shit. Again, I wisely held that back.
He looked at me as if he was trying to figure out whether I was telling the truth or not. I held his stare easily. He wasn’t the first employer who tried to shake me into some sort of revelation on my part. That of course, wouldn’t happen. I’ve learned to keep my own life to myself, by separating business and pleasure. This was business, and I planned on keeping it that way, especially with the money the king was paying. And if I get to kill a few feral vampires, even better.
“Why don’t you go and rest?” the king suggested with a wave of his hand. “The girls had quite a night. I doubt they’ll give you much trouble for the next ten hours or so.”
“If it’s alright with you, Your Highness, I would like to keep guard in front of her bedroom all the same,” I clarified. “After all, you don’t pay me to sleep.”
He smiled at this. “I knew you were the right man for the job.”
Man.
This was where a part of me wanted to correct him, but the king didn’t need any correction. He knew exactly what I was. Iwas like those two creatures in the cemetery. The only difference between us was that I managed to get quite a decent supply of the new and improved liquid meat our doctors had come up with. By mixing cattle blood, which is the closest to human blood, with shellfish which are high in nutrients, a vampire mixture was created, that allowed for this hunger to remain dormant for as long as an entire month.
Of course, one could always get tempted even while under the influence of this mixture, which was usually ingested in the upgraded pill form. Before, it was a shot, but that was difficult to transport. So, as always, it is a question of controlling one’s urges, something I had become very adept at, and it had only proven to be more beneficial for my reputation as a bodyguard.
As for the sun’s rays, it was just a matter of adjustment. Those vampires who grew up in the mountains, sleeping during the day and hunting during the night remained affected by it. The rest of us, who had grown up away from other members of their species, with human parents who had taken them in and took care of them, little by little, adjusted themselves and their skin to the effect of the sun.
I could still remember the burns on my back when I spent a little too much time in the sun, and my mother wasn’t there to bring me back in. That smell of burnt skin. That noise of crackling which is only audible to vampires. Then, my mother’s tender arms realizing what was happening. Then, the fish smell of the ointment she would rub on me.
Memories were something I tended to push aside from my mind. I didn’t need that distraction, but sometimes, they managed to worm their way back inside.
“If you don’t need me for anything else, Your Highness, I shall take my leave,” I told him respectfully, not because his human royal title meant anything to me, but simply because hewas my employer for the time being, and that in itself demanded respect.
