"A human?" Aleksander asked out loud.
"It looks like so," Elys said.
The royal couple took cautious steps around the half awake man they caught. Elys moved closer, but the vampire king pulled his queen back, and stepped in as he made sure their catch wasn’t going to do anything all of a sudden.
She raised an incredulous brow at his gesture, seemingly offended that he wouldn’t let her get close even if she was the one that stopped him. Elys crossed her arms in irritation, but decided not to make a fuss out of it.
They need to get going, as the fires in the capital center wasn’t going down as fast as it should.
The young king squatted, pulled the man’s head by his hair and took a closer look. His hood fell off, as well as what little mask he had on his face. The man looked nothing like any Western citizen Aleksander has ever saw, but he hasn’t been out much since so he wasn’t the man to say.
"He doesn’t seem like he could talk at the moment," Elys noted, and then added, "perhaps I overdid with my hit. Do you recognize him?" she asked Aleksander.
Her husband shook his head and said, "No, but I bet we could find out who he is."
"He is half unconscious; are you going to try and probe into his head while he isn’t thinking clearly?" she pointed out.
"Well, I could try," Aleksander grinned, "if not then we can always wake him."
Elys shook her head and then said, "Get out of my way, Aleksander. I’ll wake him."
The King stepped aside, releasing his grip on the man’s head. He let the man’s head hit the ground, and a slight groan came out from him, his face flat on the pavement.
Elys rolled the man so he was facing the skies, and she fished out something from her pockets.
Aleksander noted she had what looked like a block of crystal in her hands. She lifted it to his nose, and in about three seconds, the man’s eyes burst open. He frantically waved his hands and legs, but Elys was quick to tackle him and pin him down.
"Wait," he told Elys.
"What is it? Can’t you see I am busy here?" she snapped at him. "Time is of the essence, and the fire is still wildly spreading all around the capital."
"I know," Aleksander said as he tapped Elys’ shoulder, "but trust me. The rest of the vampire knights are doing their part. I can hear their thoughts, and it seemed like the fire is slowly being contained. Not as fast as we want, but they are getting there."
Elys scoffed and added, "Those knights that you said aren’t loyal to us?"
"The knights might not be fully loyal to us, and they might not be as caring to humans as you wanted, but they were loyal to the Western Kingdom. If their home was under threats, the vampires that vowed their service to the kingdom would never hesitate to take action," he said.
"Even Sir Wiriam and the vampire clergy?"
"Even the Farvar’s son, and most definitely the vampire clergy," Aleksander confirmed. "In fact, some of them have rushed in to help. Several priests have come to the capital’s aid – well, it should be obvious. The capital center is near their base."
"Huh," Elys snorted, "that is quite a relief then. Can you also tell if all the humans in the capital center have been evacuated?"
Aleksander frowned, to which Elys knew wasn’t the answer she wanted.
"Tell me about it," she said, barely a whisper.
Her husband looked away, hesitant to give her details. Eventually he let out a deep sigh and said, "There were some who perished in the fire. Trapped and probably neglected by the passing vampires."
Elys bit her lip in anger. She took a look at the man struggling beneath her, her eyes ablaze with hatred for the fire he started. Or at least allegedly started.
"This is all your fault," she hissed at the man.
She raised a fist in the air, and swiftly brought it down. However, her knuckles didn’t reach the man’s face as intended, but instead she had punched the pavement near his head. Pieces of the pavement that cracked upon the force of her punch flew away, nicking the man’s cheeks and wounding him.
He was frantic in response to the violence he was shown, his eyes frenzied. He knew that if the punch had connected to his face, he would have been dead by now. Elys was staring at him with an intent to kill too, and his eyes turn panicked, his screams of fear entirely unintelligible.
It was obvious he was intimidated by Elys’ death stare.
"I don’t feel comfortable with you being so close to this man," Aleksander said with a scowl on his face. "Get up, wife."
Elys raised a brow at him and decided to play coy, "Why? What is it that you don’t like again?"
She knew she was playing at a serious moment, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to poke fun at Aleksander’s obvious jealousy. If he was going to reply as she expected him to, then Elys wouldn’t hesitate to remind him again – he must not fall in love with her.
But then again, if he falls in love with her, wouldn’t Elys have control over him and all his actions? That would be a far too great of an opportunity to pass compared to teasing him once in a while and saying he shouldn’t fall in love with her.
Elys would not only be able to save her people and alleviate their living conditions in this new kingdom they were in, but also command the vampires as she wished. If their plans on getting rid of all their enemies within the kingdom succeeded, then Aleksander’s undisputable devotion to her would be the cherry on top.
A whole new kingdom to command was at her fingertips.
Should she make him fall in love with her?