"Husband, why?" Elys asked Aleksander. "I specifically told you that the Farvars are not to be trusted. We already eliminated the Ravinias, the Elnuas have diminished in power. But why Sir Wiriam?"
Aleksander turned from his papers.
His wife was currently perusing records she pulled out from the Royal Archives. She wanted to read more on things that weren’t made known to the general public. Aside from the Royal Archives, they were going to visit the Hallowed Chambers next.
Elys wasn’t looking directly at him, so Aleksander returned to finish the last of his reading before answering her question.
The young king closed the book with one hand, and then walked towards Elys.
Aleksander inched closer, leaning in to peer at his wife’s material from the back. He tilted his head nearer, his breath tickling her exposed nape as he exhaled through his nose.
"Get your annoying nose out of my neck," Elys waved his face away, to which Aleksander only chuckled in amusement. "And I asked you a question, King Aleksander. Doesn’t your Queen deserve an answer?"
"Sir Wiriam and his family is without a doubt," he paused as he tried to find the right word to describe the vampire nobilities, "dangerous. But I had an epiphany after you told me of your plan last night."
"My plan?" Elys turned a bit, but then returned to flip another page of the records in her hands. "Go on, I am listening."
"Yes, your plan, my queen. Were you not the one who said we must keep our enemies closer than our friends?"
This time around, Aleksander caught her full attention. Elys turned to fully face him, closing the book and tucking it under her arm.
Aleksander flashed his set of pearly white teeth, his fangs prominent as he smiled at her.
"I want Sir Wiriam close to me so I could monitor him personally," the young king said.
"But you gave him his own men to command, isn’t that too much power to hand over to your enemy?" Elys asked him.
"It is just a fancy name, my dearest wife. Nothing more than extra words to a unit Sir Wiriam handpicked himself," Aleksander waved a nonchalant hand.
His Queen wasn’t satisfied with the answer. She leaned on the bookshelves behind her, and then raised a brow, prompting Aleksander to elaborate.
"You even let him handpick men who would probably be more loyal to him than you?" Elys squinted her eyes. "Do you have a death wish, Aleksander?"
"Of course, no," her husband replied, face contorted with the absurdity he heard her ask. "On the contrary, the only death wish I want to be granted is that for my enemies!"
"Then why?" Elys poked his chest with the edge of the book she held in her hands.
Aleksander replied in a heartbeat, "I specifically chose Sir Wiriam because as much as he is a threat, I also want to get him to side with us."
"What is your basis on that, husband?"
"You heard the murmurs of the other nobilities," Aleksander said in a hushed tone, "he didn’t join the Order of the Vampire Knights even when he was expected to. There is more to him than what he shows. I want to see if I can get him to join our cause."
"Is he that powerful for you to want him too?" Elys asked.
Aleksander smirked, "Are you jealous, Queen Elysianne?"
"Answer me, you idiot. Stop with your teasing," she smacked him on his shoulder.
The vampire’s eyes suddenly turned a piercing gold color, and Elys held her breath.
"I have always wanted to ask how your eye color change works," she mused under her breath.
"It responds to my feelings," Aleksander replied, a cunning smile creeping on his handsomely chiseled face. "Tell me, Elysianne, what do you think I feel right now?"
She didn’t respond to his question, instead, Elys only stared.
She never noticed it before, but up this close with Aleksander’s face a breath’s distance away from hers, she was deeply mesmerized by what looked like golden dusts swirling in his pupils.
"I would have had your hand cut off with that hit, but you are my wife, and the Queen of my chess board," Aleksander whispered.
"So, you just see me as a piece to play... How wonderful," she clapped her hands in derision.
"Oh, but you aren’t playing alone, Elysianne," Aleksander said, closing the tiny gap between them as his forehead touched her temples. "I am your King, and I will play with you until the very end."
Elys’ brows scrunched together.
"I will treasure you, Queen Elysianne Whitecaster-Ardorlean. You are the most important person to me now, and no vampire can take your place, ever," Aleksander added. "We just need a few more pieces to complete the board."
After that, Aleksander stepped back from Elys.
The king squared his shoulders, his face turning serious in a blink of an eye. The playfulness in his demeanor replaced by something more thought provoking.
Aleksander reached a hand over to Elys’ face. She froze for a second, thinking he might touch her cheek the same way he did several times now.
But the vampire king didn’t touch his wife. Instead, Aleksander only tucked a stray hair behind her ear and adjusted the crown on her head. When he pulled his hand away, he noticed Elys’ expression and smiled.
What was he trying to do to her?
Aleksander was deliberately raising the tension between them with little things!
"Don’t look at me like you want to eat me," Elys scowled.
Aleksander laughed out loud.
"Wife, I already drank blood from you. Technically, I already ate you in a sense," he said, his eyes darting suspiciously to the side and then back to Elys, "If you know what I mean."
Elysianne crossed her arms, "I will slap you with this hardbound book if you don’t answer me seriously, husband."
"Shh," he suddenly put a finger to her lips.
He turned to the side where his eyes looked at a minute ago. Aleksander’s ears twitched, and his expression turned stiff.
Elys’ brows shot up – was someone around?