Aleksander had always known the slave didn’t have intentions of opening up to him – which he didn’t give a damn in the first place.
The prince admitted she was headstrong and brave for a human – a woman at that! But he didn’t think past that nor the possibility she had more than just stubbornness in her blood.
"I am not repeating myself," Aleksander crossed his arms. "Answer me and do not stray from the question."
The princess responded, "You don’t need to -"
But even before she could add anything to her sentence, Aleksander suddenly leaned forward and slammed the wall behind her and said, "Don’t even think about it."
Elys slapped his hand away instantly. She rubbed her neck, exasperated by his aggression and then glared at him. Aleksander swore her eyes were literally on fire with the intensity of her hatred.
"My secrets are none of your business," she spat, "why do you even care? You never did."
"I care now because you just showed you could recognize magic!" the prince exclaimed. "Who are you? Magic is practically impossible for humans, what more for one to spot magic from afar."
The princess stared at him coldly. "And what if I do recognize magic? Why are you so upset about me keeping such fact away from you?"
Aleksander punched the wall. The bang was unexpectedly loud that the knight that flanked them outside almost jumped off of his horse’s saddle.
"Goddammit! Don’t answer me with another question," Aleksander insisted.
Elys assessed his anger and then responded, "Okay."
If he didn’t want a question as her answer, then she will just resort to one-word answers. That should infuriate him more, but why does he always have to blow up when things don’t go his way?
Aleksander took a deep breath, meditated for a bit, and then said, "Fine."
The princess blinked rapidly.
Why was it too easy for comfort? She knew the bastard prince wasn’t the type to retreat from their arguments first – especially when he was losing his side.
Prince Aleksander returned to his seat. He didn’t speak for the remainder of the evening that they traveled in ungodly speed just to reach an inn before they were too late.
"Is that it?" Elys couldn’t help but to ask.
The prince didn’t pay her heed. She tried to get an answer from him but her attempts proved to be futile. At times he would merely acknowledge by looking at her or grunting.
She suddenly had a hunch that Aleksander was doing it on purpose to just be petty. He saw that she was bothered by his silence, to which he masterfully executed to the very end, even as he hated to shut up and not lash out.
Elys came to a point she regretted how she responded to the prince. She couldn’t tell what he was plotting in his sinister head more when he didn’t open his mouth.
’Is he going to be like this until we reach the Eastern Kingdom?’ she silently complained. ’This isn’t normal at all!’
The ride felt never-ending, and the silent treatment bugged Elys to no end. She had fallen asleep twice before she felt the carriage stopped and Cordelia knocked as she called out to them.
"Your highnesses, I think you would want to see this," she said, her tone a bit downcast. "We will need your approval if you choose to stay in this town for the night."
Elys opened the carriage window closer to her. The moment she lain her eyes on the situation, she couldn’t help but clutch her chest in pain.
"Dear god," she gasped in horror.
"It looks like no god has been here to me," she heard Teo comment.
The town was in shambles.
Many buildings were boarded up, glasses broken from the window. If it weren’t for underweight women with the babies strapped to their back and children that looked severely malnourished, the place almost looked like a ghost town.
As Elys observed, it became apparent to her that the adult men weren’t around. The male population consisted only of little boys that ran away when they saw the carriage accompanied by several knights.
In her curiosity, Elys stepped out of the carriage and called a lone child that stood still. He was obviously a bit older than those that ran ahead.
Elys approached him and asked softly, "Where are the men? What happened to this town?"
At first, she didn’t think the child would even respond to her. She feared he might run away just like the others. But to the princess’ surprise, he bravely took a step forward to tilt his head as if to ask her to repeat her question.
"Where are the men? You can tell big sister what happened to this town," she coaxed the boy.
The little child’s face was almost blank. He took a long time to process the question, and then finally answered, "The men had gone off to a mission in the nearby forest."
"And what of the town? What happened to your home, little one?" Elys asked.
This time around, the child frowned, but his eyes were blank as if all his happiness was drained, "The vampires attacked our home and destroyed a lot of things."
"I am so sorry," Elys apologized, even though it wasn’t her fault.
She let go of the child and when he ran up ahead to catch up with his other friends. It was then that the princess remembered – the Black Bandits!
Teo and the rest of the knights had taken the liberty to unmask most of those that lain dead on the ground. They saw that the people that attacked them were all men of different ages – mostly adults, a few older ones, and several young teenage boys.
Elys did her best to bring her anger down as the knights snickered at the dead bodies.
No matter her role now as a ’princess’ and wife to a vampire prince, Elysianne was and will always side with the humans.
She bowed her head in remembrance to those who died in their fight against oppression, and lifted a prayer for their soul’s peace.
The princess won’t let their sacrifice be in vain.