Chapter 8

The Prince stepped out of the water and wrapped a towel around his waist. He held out the other towel for Seraphina to step into and draped it around her shoulders. The Prince leaned forward and placed a sweet kiss on Seraphina’s head, he then scooped her up into his arms and proceeded to walk through the gardens towards a large stone staircase at the back. “These are my quarters... and yours if you wish to stay here”. The Prince studied Seraphina’s face trying to understand what she was thinking, he could feel that she was happy though still hesitant about something. The more time he spent with her, the stronger their soul connection was getting. He loved her before she was even born, the feelings he had for her went beyond love. He would do anything and everything in his power to make her happy and to bring her peace. He would give her any riches she wanted, as many children as she wanted, all the lands he possessed, she owned his heart wholly. He prayed to the God’s that she felt love for him too.

As they arrived at his apartments, the Prince gently placed Seraphina down on the bed in a sitting positioned. Seraphina’s eyes widened as she sank into the plush blankets she fell backwards. The Prince helped her sit up and gave her a look of confusion “What is wrong my sweet flower? Is it not to your liking? I can request a different one if you prefer?”. Seraphina chuckled nervously and said in a small voice “Nothing is wrong my Prince, I have just never been on a bed before...” The Prince frowned, “Where did you sleep at the House De Vander?”. Seraphina suddenly felt embarrassed. “Truthfully your Highness, I didn’t sleep much but, when I did, it was on a wooden crate.”

The Princes eyes darkened and a dangerous look crossed over his face, before he could realise how menacing he looked, Seraphina immediately reacted and scrambled to the floor away from him. She looked down and mumbled apologies to him “I’m sorry my Prince, I didn’t mean to offend you, please accept my apologies”. A pained look appeared on the Prince’s face as he realised, Seraphina was afraid of him. He tried to soften his expression as he approached her but, in his mind, he vowed to destroy anyone who had ever caused his sweet flower to feel fear, anyone who had ever raised a hand to her or spoke ill of her. “Seraphina.. You do not need to fear me, I am not offended by you, I am enraged that you have been subjected to such horrors, I would do anything to wash away the harm that was caused to you. I will never hurt you; no one will ever hurt you again” the Prince said softly, he silently sent a prayer to the God’s that he had not tarnished his chances with Seraphina.

He extended a hand to her and helped her up off of the floor, in the scramble, they had both lost their towels and were stood before each other completely naked. The Prince pulled her into an embrace and they lay down together on the bed. They held each other for a while, their naked bodies intertwined however, in this moment there was no lust. It was an innocent moment shared between soulmates. The Prince could feel his chest was wet from Seraphina’s silent sobs, he slowly pulled back so he could look into her mesmerizing eyes. “Seraphina, I cannot erase what was done to you, I cannot wash away the scars of your heart or the pain you must feel, I can only promise that you will never know pain again and I will do all in my power to fill your life with love and try to erase the damage that wretched family caused. You are strong my dragon, it may not feel like it now but, you will overcome this, you will know happiness, on my honour”. Seraphina’s heart warmed hearing this, how could she possibly feel love for a man she had just met, it didn’t make any sense to her.

“What are you thinking about?” the Prince asked seeing the perplexed look on her face. “I am just confused my Prince, confused by my feelings.” The Prince smiled hearing this, “I love you Seraphina” the Prince whispered. “I love you also my Prince, this is why I am confused, I am yet to know you and I love you” Seraphina answered. The Prince smiled at hearing this, “We are fated partners Seraphina.” The way he said her name made her shiver. “I have love since before you were born, our souls were intertwined from your conception, I have never not loved you my sweet flower”. Seraphina blushed at hearing this. “All those years you were gone, my heart ached for you, it pains me to know that you have endured suffering for those 18 years, to think you were but a stone's throw away and that I could have had you here in my arms a long time ago. If only we had attended one of House De Vandor’s banquets sooner, your heart wouldn’t be so hurt.” Seraphina was taken aback, she held the Princes face in her hands and kissed him gently “what I have endured was not your fault, we were fated to reunite this way my Prince.” The Prince was pleasantly surprised at her sudden boldness but, it calmed him to know she didn’t blame him for his absence. “Please Seraphina, call me by my name, call me Achilles...” Seraphina smiled and nodded, it was strange for her to use his name but, he was insistent.

“Achilles...May I ask you a question?” The Prince nodded to Seraphina. “What will happened when I awake my dragon?” The Princes face blanched. She had not awakened her dragon yet? Though, it did make sense, had she shifted, hers and her dragon’s personalities would be intertwined, her dragon would never have allowed her to be treated so horrifically. She definitely showed the strength and resilience of a dragon though, no Dhampir or even Vampire could have endured what she had and continued to allow themselves to live. “I would think” started the Prince “that you would shift almost immediately, your dragon has probably been waiting to be released for a long time, most of us shift as babies and our familiar grows with us, it is hard to know even if your familiar would be fully grown or a baby still...My mother will know more on the matter. Come, let's get dressed and go to see her”.

The Prince stood swiftly and kissed Seraphina on her neck, the same place her had drank from her earlier. The contact sent shivers through Seraphina, she couldn’t wait for him to bite her again. She inwardly chastised herself for thinking such impure thoughts. As though the Prince was thinking the same things, he looked at her and laughed heartily, “Soon my sweet flower, soon”.

The Prince quickly pulled on a pair of trousers and left his top half naked, he left the room only to return moments later with 5 Palace servants all either holding dresses or boxes of some kind. “Which colours do you like?” asked the Prince.

In truth, Seraphina didn’t know, she had only ever known her orange servants dress. She thought for a moment and then blurted out “I like the colours of the sunrise”. The Prince smiled and nodded to the servants, the servants looked between themselves and exchanged dresses back and forth. A short chubby servant stepped forward holding up 3 dresses, “Are any of these to your liking Princess?” Seraphina paused at hearing herself addressed as Princess “Please call me Seraphina..um, they are all beautiful. I am not sure”. “How about this one?” said a young servant girl, she was very pretty with brown hair and eyes and a smattering of freckles across her face. She held up a pale pastel coloured dress that was somewhere between blue and lilac, Seraphina smiled and nodded “yes, I like that one”.

The servants helped her dress and styled her hair whilst the Prince lay on the bed watching admiringly. The dress was made of a soft velvet and lined with white silk, it sat off her shoulders, clearly displaying her dragon and Dhampir markings, and hugged her slim waist then falling loosely around her feet. She ran her hands over the soft fabric, enjoying the way it felt on her skin. “What are your names?” she suddenly asked the servants, she felt incredibly rude that she had not yet asked and blushed with embarrassment. “I am Diana and this is my niece Lucy,” answered the short, cubby servant. She smiled and bowed her head slightly at them.

Lucy them moved Seraphina to a dressing table and began to arrange Seraphina’s curls into a half up half down hair style and pinned it with beautiful purple and blue pins to match her eyes. Seraphina looked down and tried to bring her hair around her shoulder, Lucy stopped her though and smiled sweetly “You are beautiful Princess, your markings are beautiful, you should not hide them." Seraphina blushed at the young servants words but nodded anyway and allowed her to continue. Diana placed a pair of white silk slippers on Seraphina’s dainty feet.

Seraphina’s eyes widened in response “I have never worn shoes before” she whispered. The servants exchanged a sad glance and Diana turned to the Prince “You may have to help her your highness, it will be a struggle for her to walk if she has never worn a shoe before,” she said trying to mask her sadness. The Prince smiled in return “Thank you Diana, I will take any excuse to carry my Princess”. And with that, he walked over and scooped her into his arms, he buried his face in her hair and whispered low enough just for Seraphina to hear “You look exquisite, if we were a lone, I would have ravaged you already”. Seraphina blushed and said in response “Shouldn’t we be getting to Her Highness now?” The Prince nodded and swiftly left the room.