It had been a week since the Northern princess and bastard prince took the vampire throne forcibly. On the surface, things looked like they were slowly falling into place, but underneath it all was something that was built on unstable grounds.
Elys and Aleksander were taking their time to study and plan out their next moves. They could not afford to make mistakes knowing one wrong move could deem fatal to their reign.
Numerous attempts to get them assassinated was not to be surprised about. The royal couple had already accepted that fact since the night they decided to take the throne for themselves.
"Henry, how is the potion going?" Aleksander asked his attendant as soon as Marquis Lanz went out his office.
"It has been taken care of as you instructed your majesty," the old man said. Henry took out his pocket watch and noted the time, "Good lord, your general audience should begin in ten minutes King Aleksander!"
The young king groaned, "For fucks’ sake, I knew being a good king was going to be hard."
"You could try to be a tyrant like your father," Elys said as she peered from the book she was reading, "but I don’t think that would be that great considering the balance between those that support us through fear and those that don’t out of spite is quite unfavorable."
"I know, my queen," Aleksander grumbled as he signed one last paper. He turned towards the mountain of papers stacked beside his table and asked, "Though I just wish I can have my secretary do all of these tedious paper works instead!"
Elys snorted at Aleksander complaining about the papers.
"My king, you must do all of those yourself or else leave such a great power to be taken advantage of," she said as she closed her book, "we wouldn’t want important documents to be falsified, yes?"
Aleksander smiled at his wife, "Of course, my queen. I know that, but I just wanted to complain that is all."
"Complain and do it anyway," she teased him, "That is the only way for you to prove to your staff that you aren’t just here for show. Aside from power, you must show them hard work and great wisdom."
A knock on the door came about, and everyone turned their heads. Marquis Lanz popped his head in and then followed his entire lanky body.
Elys watched as the young vampire blushed with every glance that he took of her. She smiled at him, donning the benevolent and kind queen that she wanted him to think she was.
"My King, the High Vampire Court and the rest of those that visited the palace for an audience are ready," Marquis Lanz announced.
Aleksander grunted and stood up. The wooden legs of his office chair scraped the pristine floors, and the young king winced at the awful sound.
"Make sure to get rid of this chair, Henry. Bring another that wouldn’t make unnecessary noises like it did now," he whispered at his attendant.
"Understood, your majesty," Henry bowed down.
"Shall we?" Marquis Lanz opened the doors for them.
"Let’s go," Aleksander said.
He stepped down from his elevated office desk and walked over to where Elys had previously lounged. She left the book she was reading on a tiny table, and then stood straight as Aleksander approached her.
The young king reached above her head and Elys asked curiously, "What are you doing, my king?"
She felt him fix her crown, adjusting it so that it was at the very middle of her head. His eyes swept down to gaze at her, and then suddenly his hand shot towards her ear. He tucked a stray hair behind her, and then smiled.
"We are most probably just about to face an ugly audience," he joked, "It is best that you enter the throne room as perfectly as you are."
Elys smirked and retorted, "No matter how I look, I am already perfect, dear husband."
Aleksander blinked several times, and then burst out laughing at her remark.
"Ah, yes, I was mistaken with how I phrased my sentence," he said as he offered Elys his arm, "My beautiful queen, even with blood splattered all over your face and dress, you will always be perfect to me."
"Like I said before," Elys rolled her eyes, an amused look on her face as she took Aleksander’s arm, "I don’t need your incessant flattery, King Aleksander. I already know."
"Aherm!"
The royal couple turned their heads towards the sound of Henry’s throat clearing.
"The vampire people are waiting for their King and Queen," the old man said, his tone serious but his face conveying something else entirely.
It was as if he was scolding them to get a room and spare them the embarrassment.
Aleksander chuckled and said, "Right away, Henry."
The vampire king and human queen walked the gloomy corridors that led to the palace throne room. They had taken a separate path than those of the palace visitors, but they could hear the murmurs and whispers of the people from the walls.
"Is it true that the new king and queen are far better than King Raxus?" an old woman’s frail voice asked.
"No, which cave do you live in, Martha? The current king is the bastard son prophesied by Queen Zephyrine to be cursed!" another woman replied, probably a friend.
"He will bring us doom, but who are we to challenge his reign when we are nothing but commoners begging for the scraps of the capital?" a man’s voice said.
"I heard that the human queen is compassionate to those in need," another spoke. "She will help us."
Elys’ mouth set in a hard line.
Their efforts to sweep that prophesy Queen Zephyrine spread about Aleksander proved to be quite a challenge.
They could not get much information about High Priestess Naya except that she came from the Elnuas. After joining the clergy, all documents pertaining to her involvement to the family was erased from existence, making her a brand-new person that represented the vampire’s religious sect.
As they finally emerged from the hidden passages and entered the throne room, the High Vampire Court bowed their respect, and someone’s voice echoed to announce their arrival.
"The King Aleksander and Queen Elysianne have arrived!"