Vampire King Chapter 55

The Viper Pit
#25 BONUS
The Viper Pit
Lex
I had expected the court of Scarlett Thunder to be an unpleasant place to be trapped in, but I hadn’t counted on boredom. For all the whispers behind my back and the fake smiles, the courtiers do not have the gall to directly harm me. As often as King Peter likes to throw threats in my direction, he has kept his part of the bargain with my brother. I get to skulk through the dark hallways of his castle and hide away in a comfortable suite instead of locked up in the dungeons with the other prisoners.
Opal vacillates between antagonizing me and pretending I don’t exist. Her morning sickness still makes it hard for her to do anything but be miserable in her room. I try to visit her to make sure she’s not dead, but she refuses to let me in. When she does decide to talk to me, it’s only to shout insults in my direction before shutting the door to my face.
King Peter has forbidden me from leaving the castle to take walks on the grounds, citing that he doesn’t want to give me the chance to run back home if the opportunity arises. As I feel cabin fever trying to settle into my bones, I find myself looking out windows and wanting to jump to my freedom several times a day, so maybe he’s right about the escape attempts. The gloominess of Castle Blackmoor makes me feel like the literary wife trapped in the attic due to madness.
When I’m not bored, I’m lonely. It’s hard to be trapped in a place you don’t want to be in without an ally in sight. I can’t even find someone I can converse with without being treated like the unwanted stepchild. Even the castle s**e*ts avoid speaking to me or even making eye contact.
During meal times, which I have to take with the rest of the court in the dining hall, I sit at the other end of the table from where King Peter is. I’m a pariah. If I’m not being mocked, I’m being ignored. Remembering how I had treated others similarly in the past makes shame settle uncomfortably in my belly.
King Peter is in a terrible mood this morning. Everyone stands as he enters the dining hall, almost holding, our breath in anticipation. He stops when he sees me and barks, “Everyone but Lex, get out!”
The courtiers scurry away like panicked mice running from a vicious cat. I stand still, knowing I can’t escape. King Peter looks murderous, and dread creeps up my spine. Whatever has made him angry, I am his chosen target for dealing with it.
When the last of the courtiers leave, the doors to the dining hall are closed by the footmen, leaving me alone with King Peter. He starts pacing like a tiger prowling the perimeters of its cage. If I had been in any other kingdom, with any other monarch, I would have said something witty. I would have tried to make him laugh, but King Peter is a notorious stick in the mud.
He stops and turns back to me, his red eyes gleaming with fury. “Did you know that your brother got that werewolf s**t of his pregnant?”
The question makes me freeze. I truly had no idea that everyone else in the castle knew about Kane and Emory having a child together before King Peter. It was his own am**dor who came back with the
hews after all.
For whatever reason, he is outraged about this at the moment, so I decide to do what I do best and cover
my own a***
“I am shocked to hear that, Your Majesty,” I say. “There had been no announcement when I was in Crimson Peak.”
+25 BONUS
The Viper Pit
King Peter’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Why wouldn’t Kane tell his own brother that he was having a child?”
“I would not dare question my brother’s decisions.”
“Is it because he doesn’t trust you?” He begins circling me like a vulture waiting on its prey to die. “If he can’t trust his own blood, then what use are you to me? If he values you so little, then there’s no use in me keeping you alive.”
I swallow as my heart is beating faster in my chest. I can’t show King Peter any fear. He will smell it on me and see it as a weakness. Perhaps I’ve taken the wrong path by pretending not to know. I try to
backtrack
“I can assure you that my brother may have just been cautious before making a big announcement.” I try to appease him with my most charming smile. “As we’re all aware, pregnancies can be dangerous amongst our kind. I’m sure my brother was only waiting to make sure the pregnancy is viable.”
“Our kind?” King Peter scoffs. “That thing inside of that werewolf **h will only be half-vampire. The other half is a wolf. I never thought I’d see the day when such an atrocity occurs. Ancient bloodlines sullied in such a manner. Your ancestors are rolling in their graves.”
1 bite my tongue to keep myself from saying something foolish. “Knowing him, I can say my brother will love the child regardless of their parentage.”
“He’s been taking great pains to hide the existence of this child. He seems to care for it more than the child my daughter is carrying, a child of pure vampire ancestry.”
My child, the petulant part of me wants to point out, but I ignore it.
“Kane has a fondness for children. That’s why he spared the child who was offered to him and took Emory instead.”
King Peter moves closer to me, menacingly looking down his nose at me. “I grew weary of your brother’s constant disrespect. And are you still clinging to that fabrication of you being the father of Opal’s child?”
“There is no fabrication-”
“Spare me,” he hisses. “You expect me to believe my daughter who I raised to be a queen would sully herself with you, a second son who will never inherit anything?”
It astounds me how he denies the thought that Opal would be anything but pure as the driven snow. I had sex with Opal multiple times with other people. I had heard of her escapades in this very court from her own retelling. And I would bet my left testicle she has been sleeping around again.
“Perhaps she took pity on me?” I tell him, glibly. “Opal welcomed me with open arms and made me like I could be more than just the spare.”
feel
“My daughter would never lower herself to anyone less than what she deserves. She would rather die.” “If you say so, my Lord.” King Peter will not listen. He refuses to see anything beyond his view of reality. He is right in one aspect-that Opal will never settle for less than what she thinks she deserves. She is still dead set on marrying Kane and becoming Queen of Crimson Peak. She may have gotten pregnant on purpose in a bid to ensure the future she wants for herself, I had just been a means to an end.
The Viper Pit
+25 BONUS
“I want your brother to end this farce. He needs to marry my daughter and do right by her,” King Peter demands. “I want that wolf w***e and her offspring gone. He can drown the ***h and her pup for all I care. I will not stand for this.”
Kane will never do it. Not only because he despises Opal but because he loves Emory, and I have seen how quickly she had become his world. I have a feeling not even a true war between our kingdom and Scarlett Thunder can change his mind.
“You must understand, Your Majesty, that my brother will never abandon his child-”
“He won’t have a choice. I can’t see him being able to keep his alliances with the other vampire kingdoms once they hear about this abomination Kane has fathered.”
“There’s no need to act so brashly-”
“I have been more than accommodating, but Kane has forced my hand.
King Peter walks over to the dining table and takes a seat. A se***f the red substance, his pale throat bobbing. My mouth feels dry, but I don’t move.
“If you are lucky, Lex. You may come out of this with your head attached. Your brother just needs to make the right choice.”
He dismisses me after that, and I leave the dining hall quickly. I need to talk to my brother.
Kane
Correspondence with Lex is tense. We know that any letter or call will be monitored for information. We must be careful with our words. Too much is at stake to be reckless.
Lex calls me unexpectedly. He sounds more f**led than I can remember him ever being.
“How is the weather in Scarlett Thunder?” I ask, casually. “Fair weather or cloudier than usual?”
“Cloudy as f**k,” he answers. “I’ve heard weather reports about an unexpected… development. It could birth a real thunderstorm.”
It takes me a moment to figure out what he’s trying to say. This is my confirmation that Lord Alistair has definitely told King Peter about Emory’s pregnancy.
“And what is the consensus toward the stormy weather?”
Terrible,” Lex replies. “The king hates the change. He’s complaining to other people about it.”
I pause before asking, “He’s complaining to his friends?”
“He’s complaining to anyone that will listen.”
My allies will be getting this information soon. I have to get on top of this before King Peter manages to sway them over to his side.
“I should check on the weather reports here. Make sure we can deal with any upcoming storms.
The Viper Pit
“That would be for the best. I can’t see any of this going smoothly.”
“Thank you for informing me. I hope you’re able to handle yourself through the harsh climate.”
“I’m surprisingly adaptable to this environment. I didn’t know I had it in me.”
“I’m not surprised.”
He sounds incredulous as he asks, “You’re not?”
“No. I had hopes you would realize your own resilience without me having to spell it out for you.”
“I might have learned about it sooner if you’d told me.”
“Would you have listened?”
He concedes, “No.” After a pause, he asks, “How is the weather over there right now?”
+25 BONUS
“It’s fine as of right now,” I tell him. That’s true, though it sounds like things are about to get stormy here.
“And how are you liking the new flowers? Are they… permanent?”
I know he’s asking me abot Emory’s pregnancy. “It’s looking like they will be. I’m excited, honestly. They’re beautiful.”
He snorts. “Of course you are. You were born loving flowers.”
“The same way I was born to be a king?”
“Yes,” he says. “I have to live in the shadow of you being the world’s best… gardener.”
That makes me laugh. “You might be a good gardener too, Lex.”
“I doubt it,” he grumbles. “There are only weeds and dandelions to be found over here.”
“You need to stop underestimating yourself.”
“Why would I? When I can be surprised when I actually do well?”
“For the sake of your self-confidence.”
“….” He sighs. “I appreciate the advice, but I have a weather report to look at.”
“What kind of report?”
“The developmental kind. I can’t miss it.”
“Tell me how it goes.”
“I will, and you tell me how it goes for you too.”
will. I promise.”
The call ends, and I place the phone on the receiver. I sit back in my chair. It’s a surreal thought to take in. My brother and I are going to be fathers. I never thought this would happen, especially around the same time.
I had thought for a while that Lex would die alone. The alternative is still complicated. If we were any
The Viper Pit
+25 RONUS
other men in this world, we would both be celebrating without a care. Instead, I have to share news of my unborn child through the guise of talking about gardening.
My life couldn’t be any more absurd. The Viper Pit
Lex
+25 BONUS
I had expected the court of Scarlett Thunder to be an unpleasant place to be trapped in, but I hadn’t counted on boredom. For all the whispers behind my back and the fake smiles, the courtiers do not have the gall to directly harm me. As often as King Peter likes to throw threats in my direction, he has kept his
in part of the bargain with my brother. I get to skulk through the dark hallways of his castle and hide away a comfortable suite instead of locked up in the dungeons with the other prisoners.
Opal vacillates between antagonizing me and pretending I don’t exist. Her morning sickness still makes it hard for her to do anything but be miserable in her room. I try to visit her to make sure she’s not dead, but she refuses to let me in. When she does decide to talk to me, it’s only to shout insults in my direction
face. before shutting the door to my
King Peter has forbidden me from leaving the castle to take walks on the grounds, citing that he doesn’t want to give me the chance to run back home if the opportunity arises. As I feel cabin fever trying to settle into my bones, I find myself looking out windows and wanting to jump to my freedom several times a day, so maybe he’s right about the escape attempts. The gloominess of Castle Blackmoor makes me feel
like the literary wife trapped in the attic due to madness.
When I’m not bored, I’m lonely. It’s hard to be trapped in a place you don’t want to be in without an ally in sight. I can’t even find someone I can converse with without being treated like the unwanted stepchild. Even the castle se**nts avoid speaking to me or even making eye contact.
During meal times, which I have to take with the rest of the court in the dining hall, I sit at the other end of the table from where King Peter is. I’m a pariah. If I’m not being mocked, I’m being ignored. Remembering how I had treated others similarly in the past makes shame settle uncomfortably in my belly.
King Peter is in a terrible mood this morning. Everyone stands as he enters the dining hall, almost holding our breath in anticipation. He stops when he sees me and barks, “Everyone but Lex, get out!”
The courtiers scurry away like panicked mice running from a vicious cat. I stand still, knowing I can’t escape. King Peter looks murderous, and dread creeps up my spine. Whatever has made him angry, I am his chosen target for dealing with it.
When the last of the courtiers leave, the doors to the dining hall are closed by the footmen, leaving me alone with King Peter. He starts pacing like a tiger prowling the perimeters of its cage. If I had been in any other kingdom, with any other monarch, I would have said something witty. I would have tried to make him laugh, but King Peter is a notorious stick in the mud.
He stops and turns back to me, his red eyes gleaming with fury. “Did you know that your brother got that werewolf ** of his pregnant?”
The question makes me freeze. I truly had no idea that everyone else in the castle knew about Kane and Emory having a child together before King Peter. It was his own amb**dor who came back with the hews after all,
For whatever reason, he is outraged about this at the moment, so I decide to do what I do best and cover my own a**
“I am shocked to hear that, Your Majesty,” I say. There had been no announcement when I was in Crimson Peak.”
1/5
+25 BONUS
The Viper Pit
King Peter’s eyes narrow suspiciously. “Why wouldn’t Kane tell his own brother that he was having a child?”
“I would not dare question my brother’s decisions.”
“Is it because he doesn’t trust you?” He begins circling me like a vulture waiting on its prey to die. “If he can’t trust his own blood, then what use are you to me? If he values you so little, then there’s no use in me keeping you alive.”
I swallow as my heart is beating faster in my chest. I can’t show King Peter any fear. He will smell it on me and see it as a weakness. Perhaps I’ve taken the wrong path by pretending not to know. I try to backtrack.
“I can assure you that my brother may have just been cautious before making a big announcement.” I try to appease him with my most charming smile. “As we’re all aware, pregnancies can be dangerous amongst our kind. I’m sure my brother was only waiting to make sure the pregnancy is viable.”
“Our kind?” King Peter scoffs. “That thing inside of that werewolf b**h will only be half-vampire. The other half is a wolf. I never thought I’d see the day when such an atrocity occurs. Ancient bloodlines sullied in such a manner. Your ancestors are rolling in their graves.”
– bite my tongue to keep myself from saying something foolish. “Knowing him, I can say my brother will
love the child regardless of their parentage.”
“He’s been taking great pains to hide the existence of this child. He seems to care for it more than the child my daughter is carrying, a child of pure vampire ancestry.”
My child, the petulant part of me wants to point out, but I ignore it..
“Kane has a fondness for children. That’s why he spared the child who was offered to him and took Emory instead.”
King Peter moves closer to me, menacingly looking down his nose at me. “I grew weary of your brother’s constant disrespect. And are you still clinging to that fabrication of you being the father of Opal’s child?”
“There is no fabrication-”
“Spare me,” he hisses. “You expect me to believe my daughter who I raised to be a queen would sully herself with you, a second son who will never inherit anything?”
It astounds me how he denies the thought that Opal would be anything but pure as the driven snow, I had sex with Opal multiple times with other people. I had heard of her escapades in this very court from her own retelling. And I would bet my left testicle she has been sleeping around again.
Perhaps she took pity on me?” I tell him, glibly. “Opal welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like I could be more than just the spare.”
“My daughter would never lower herself to anyone less than what she deserves. She would rather die.”
“If you say so, my Lord.” King Peter will not listen. He refuses to see anything beyond his view of reality.
He is right in one aspect-that Opal will never settle for less than what she thinks she deserves. She is still dead set on marrying Kane and becoming Queen of Crimson Peak. She may have gotten pregnant on purpose in a bid to ensure the future she wants for herself, I had just been a means to an end.
2/5
+25 BONUS
The Viper Pit
“I want your brother to end this farce. He needs to marry my daughter and do right by her,” King Peter demands. “I want that wolf wh**e and her offspring gone. He can drown the **h and her pup for all I care. I will not stand for this.”
Kane will never do it. Not only because he despises Opal but because he loves Emory, and I have seen how quickly she had become his world. I have a feeling not even a true war between our kingdom and Scarlett Thunder can change his mind.
“You must understand, Your Majesty, that my brother will never abandon his child-”
“He won’t have a choice. I can’t see him being able to keep his alliances with the other vampire kingdoms once they hear about this abomination Kane has fathered.”
“There’s no need to act so brashly-”
“I have been more than accommodating, but Kane has forced my hand.”
King Peter walks over to the dining table and takes a seat. A servant comes over quickly and pours a glass of blood for the king. King Peter swallows a mouthful of the red substance, his pale throat bobbing. My mouth feels dry, but I don’t move.
“If you are lucky, Lex. You may come out of this with your head attached. Your brother just needs to make the right choice.”
my brother.
He dismisses me after that, and I leave the dining hall quickly. I need to talk to my
Kane
Correspondence with Lex is tense. We know that any letter or call will be monitored for information. We must be careful with our words. Too much is at stake to be reckless.
Lex calls me unexpectedly. He sounds more f**ed than I can remember him ever being.
“How is the weather in Scarlett Thunder?” I ask, casually. “Fair weather or cloudier than usual?*
“Cloudy as f**k,” he answers. “I’ve heard weather reports about an unexpected… development. It could birth a real thunderstorm.”
It takes me a moment to figure out what he’s trying to say. This is my confirmation that Lord Alistair has definitely told King Peter about Emory’s pregnancy.
“And what is the consensus toward the stormy weather?”
Terrible,” Lex replies. “The king hates the change. He’s complaining to other people about it.”
I pause before asking, “He’s complaining to his friends?
He’s complaining to anyone that will listen.”
My allies will be getting this information soon. I have to get on top of this before King Peter manages to sway them over to his side.
“I should check on the weather reports here. Make sure we can deal with any upcoming storms.”
+25 BONUS
The Viper Pit
“That would be for the best. I can’t see any of this going smoothly.”
“Thank you for informing me. I hope you’re able to handle yourself through the harsh climate.”
“I’m surprisingly adaptable to this environment. I didn’t know I had it in me.”
“I’m not surprised.”
He sounds incredulous as he asks, “You’re not?”
“No. I had hopes you would realize your own resilience without me having to spell it out for you.”
“I might have learned about it sooner if you’d told me.”
“Would you have listened?”
He concedes, “No.” After a pause, he asks, “How is the weather over there right now?”
“It’s fine as of right now,” I tell him. That’s true, though it sounds like things are about to get stormy here.
“And how are you liking the new flowers? Are they… permanent?”
I know he’s asking me abot Emory’s pregnancy. “It’s looking like they will be. I’m excited, honestly. They’re beautiful.”
He snorts. “Of course you are. You were born loving flowers.
“The same way I was born to be a king?”
“Yes,” he says. “I have to live in the shadow of you being the world’s best… gardener.”
That makes me laugh. “You might be a good gardener too, Lex.”
“I doubt it,” he grumbles. “There are only weeds and dandelions to be found over here.”
“You need to stop underestimating yourself.
“Why would I? When I can be used when I actually do well?”
“For the sake of your self-confidence.”
“…” He sighs. “I appreciate the advice, but I have a weather report to look at.”
“What kind of report?”
“The developmental kind. I can’t miss it.”
“Tell me how it goes.”
“I will, and you tell me how it goes for you too.”
“I will. I promise.”
The call ends, and I place the phone on the receiver. I ** back in my chair. It’s a surreal thought to take in. My brother and I are going to be fathers. I never thought this would happen, especially around the same time.
I had thought for a while that Lex would die alone. The alternative is still complicated. If we were any
+25 BONUS
The Viper Pit
other men in this world, we would both be celebrating without a care. Instead, I have to share news of my unborn child through the guise of talking about gardening.
My life couldn’t be any more absurd.