Regal Renegades

Chapter 11

Daniel's POV:

The rhythmic clacking of these horses' steps were going to put me to sleep, and this carriage had only been going for thirty minutes.

It made me wonder again why I agreed to deal with this clan.

My head lifted from where it hung back against the sweet to look at where my mother sat across the way, sitting elegantly straight with one knee over the other under her gown.

"Excited yet?" She prodded with a smile that just made my eyes narrow further.

I wasn't a fan of horse-drawn carriage rides. It was far quicker to fly or even run to our destination, but for some reason, that kind of act was seen as 'unclassy'.

Getting taken places by other means was the only right way for royals to travel in the public eye.

"Stoked," I deadpanned, immediately letting my head fall back where it was before.

The more I thought about it, the closer this trip came after hearing about it, the more I came to dread it.

I dreaded what I knew was going to be a show of these vampires' best behaviors, and more than definitely, a long, speech convincing us to let them reside where they are.

There were so few benefits I could see come from letting them hang around. The treaty that would be needed would be excessive and thorough, it would rise tension in our citizens, and perhaps even cause an uproar.

That and so many more thoughts I'd had led me to face this day with no more than a shower before hopping into this carriage.

I didn't even do my hair in the typical fashion I took when presenting to the public.

But whatever... I guess we'll see.

The ride became bumpy midway through, showing that any trail has ended and we were traveling through pure plains and forests.

I just closed my eyes and tried not to think about how badly I wished to just use my wings.

When I become Lord that's going to be one of my first petty changes.

It was another while before my mom spoke again.

"Were close. They know of our arrival, so I'm assuming there will be some sort of crowd when we get there. You know what to expect from those." She explained.

I only nodded my answer, listening in to hear a flurry of hushed voices from afar get subtly louder with each step these horses took.

Close indeed.

I straightened myself and brushed my fingers through my hair to recompose my pincley disposition.

I debated who'd be their main focus. Me or my mother?

She was their Lady, but they were made aware that their fate was in my hands.

Log cabins and cobble paths came into view the closer we got, and even more so after we passed through a wooden gate.

I could already see vampires through the window I was keeping in my periphery, focusing more on reading my mother body language and following her lead as I'd done so many times in the past.

The carriage got slowed to a stop, and my mother was the first to stand when our coachman came to open the door.

We'd been parked perfectly on the cobble path, the vampires here grouped together in lined crowds on either side.

I'll admit, I was surprised by the sheer... volume of vampires before me.

I was expecting maybe a couple dozen, but before me had to be at least a few hundred.