Royal Pain ~ Slave to the High Royals

Chapter Twenty-Six

I was awoken from a restless sleep some time that afternoon. I assumed it must be the afternoon as Rose's bed was empty, meaning she must have been off at dinner. I hoped that she wasn't eating alone, after the few weeks we'd had together she needed some support.

It seemed nowadays I needed constant support too.

The knock sounded again, harder this time. My heart jumped as I thought maybe it would be Aiden; I wouldn't know how to act anymore in his presence, the feelings that had arisen earlier in the day throwing a confusing twist into my perception of him.

Slowly, I rose from bed, careful to keep pressure off of my damaged leg. My throat felt dry, my lips chapped, so I quickly took a sip of water to help which also seemed to calm my nerves.

It seemed that I didn't have reason to worry though, as my father stood on the other side of the door, his eyes clear but filled with concern, ''Violet, it's good to see you're up and moving about. The way Lana described it I thought you might need to be hospitalised!''

He took me into his arms gently, being careful of the clear bruises I knew were developing across my body, ''I'm getting better, dad. Please don't be worried.'' The last thing I wanted was him distracted by me coming back when really he should be focusing on the threat of the vampires.

Little did he know that a part of that threat was nestled in his arms in the form of his loving daughter. That thought made me feel sick to my stomach.

''That's good to hear.'' He walked with me into my room, both of us sitting close on the edge of my bed, ''If you're up for it, I have a few questions that I have been wanting to ask you.''

The abrupt change in his tone and demeanour caught me off guard, it suddenly didn't feel like he was here to care for me at all, but instead to interview me, ''Yeah, what do you want to know?'' I spoke cautiously.

''Well, I'm assuming you were assigned to a Master at the auction?'' He continued before I could give an answer, ''So, how did you escape them?'' He had a certain suspiciousness to his tone.

I immediately linked his question back to my previous performance in the defence and attack class. With how bad I demonstrated myself to be, it was no surprise that he wondered how I had ever escaped my Master. It seemed I was right to think he would be sceptical sooner or later, but I wasn't ready to tell him the truth just yet. It was too frightening with the unpredictable actions of him and the rest of the rebels.

He seemed to notice my hesitation, his eyes narrowing slightly, ''The vampire who bought me at the auction was very weak and low in their rankings,'' I rushed the words out, thinking on my feet, ''She didn't have much knowledge of humans, I don't think, and she underestimated me. I snuck away when she was out feeding.'' For the most part, my story sounded believable. However, I realised my slip up when my father's shoulders tensed.

''Okay, and why was your Master out feeding when she had you on hand?'' He spoke slowly, making me nervous all of a sudden. I hated feeling like this around my father.

I paused to cough, hoping he didn't realise I was delaying to think of a suitable excuse, ''She told me that I was disgusting, and she couldn't stand to taste my blood any longer. So she left.'' I silently hoped that was a satisfying response.

To my utter relief, he nodded his head along with my story. I almost let out a breath of air that I hadn't realised I had been holding, but caught myself just in time.

It was true; I really was a terrible actress.

''Let's not dwell on the past any longer,'' He patted my leg in a fatherly-fashion and a smile broke out across his face. I was glad that the serious atmosphere was starting to lift, ''I'll let you get some more rest, or you could go and join your friends. I saw them at dinner and they should still be serving food.''