Chapter 14: Trouble with the King

Eve awoke with a start as harsh knocks reverberated through her room. With a groan, she threw off the sheets and reluctantly stood up, her curiosity piqued. As she opened the door, she was met by two maids, one with her fist raised, ready to pound again. They were vampires, evident by their red eyes, although the shade was lighter than Sebastian's nearly black irises.

"Good morning, milady," they greeted in unison, offering a curt bow.

"We're your personal maids, and his Highness has instructed us to get you ready quickly," one of them said, a hint of irritation in her voice as she eyed Eve. The two girls were of the same height, one with long black hair, and the other with her blonde hair cut short.

Eve frowned, feeling a surge of unease. She had Ezra already; she didn't want these maids who looked at her with thinly veiled hunger.

"Where is Ezra?" she demanded, her voice taking on an authoritative tone. She may be human, but she was above these vampires, and she wouldn't tolerate their brashness.

"We don't know who Ezra is, milady," the girl with short blonde hair replied, her expression carefully neutral.

Just as Eve was about to speak, the first girl interjected, "We're here to tend to you, not answer your questions."

The second maid's eyes widened at her companion's disrespect. Clearly aware of Eve's status as both a lady in the castle and the bride of the King, she quickly stomped on the other girl's foot, urging her to be more respectful.

Eve bristled at the audacity of the maid. She might not be able to stand up to Sebastian or his brother, but she could certainly confront this insolent servant. "How bold," she scoffed. "Go tell his Highness that I'm not getting ready and won't be coming to meet him." She slammed the door in the girl's face, cutting off any response.

The maids' muffled voices drifted through the door, followed by more urgent knocking. "Milady?" "Milady?" "His Highness will be outraged!" they pleaded. Eve knew they were the ones who would suffer the consequences of her defiance, but she couldn't bring herself to care. The pounding continued, making her wonder if Sebastian was absent from his room or simply ignoring the disturbance.

"Why did you speak to the Lady like that, Maria? Now you've put us in danger," Eve heard one of them hiss.

"We won't be punished – she will be. To think that she would act so proud in our kingdom," Maria scoffed before walking away. Eve listened to their retreating footsteps, pondering what stories they might concoct for Sebastian. Why did vampires despise humans so much when they needed them to survive?

Resigned to her fate, Eve returned to her bed and settled in for a long wait. She was grateful to her family for teaching her how to endure hunger, as she knew she'd be able to last the day without food. Water, however, would be more of a challenge – the jug by her bed was empty, and she'd have to wait for Ezra to come looking for her.

To pass the time, she picked up a book from her drawer, thankful that she knew how to read. As the hours ticked by, she slowly drifted to sleep and woke up few hours before the sun would set. Getting up from the bed, Eve took out a sleeveless night dress from her closet before stepping into the bathroom for a bath. She stepped back into her room, her hair was still dripping wet from the hot bath. She heard a soft knock on her door.

"Ezra?" She muttered, finally she was here, she was more comfortable around the human maid. She went to open the door with a bright smile which was quick to fall from her lips as she saw Sebastian standing before her door. He had on dark green furry coat over his white shirt and black trousers. His hair was combed smoothly to the back with few strands falling on his forehead, he looked like a gentleman but Eve knew he was far from it.

A stick played in his mouth with his lips that was tugged at the sides, as his red eyes moved from her face and trailed down her bare shoulder and thin dress she wore, his eyes darkened and he snapped them back to stare at her brown ones that was glaring at him. He stepped into the room without waiting for an invite and with a swift motion of his head, a maid pushed in a trolley of covered dishes to the center of the room. She served the dinner on the table before bowing and walking out of the room.

Hearing the door shut close made Eve self conscious of her outfit and the man in her room, she quickly made her to the closet and picked a coat which she wore over her night dress.

"It would be nice if you could respect a lady's privacy," Eve said curtly as she returned to his front with her body well covered with the coat.

"Hmm.. privacy? What's that?" Sebastian asked lazily, not in the slightest mood curious about the word.

"What do you want?" Eve asked instead, not bothering to reply his question. He was shameless, of course, respecting privacy won't be in his dictionary.

"I was told my beloved bride didn't want to see me and didn't come out to eat, so I brought her food." He said with a charming smile, making him look like he actually cared. He pulled out the stuck from his mouth.

"If you didn't eat now, then you won't till tomorrow morning." He added breaking the little effect his smile was about to have on the girl.

Eve slightly glared at him and his eyes narrowed, "You have to learn how to respect your King, Evelyn. I'm being thoughtful by not punishing you for your earlier disrespect."

"I did nothing wrong, your Highness," Eve bowed, not wanting to tick off his patience. God knows what the maid had told him. She heard him walk closer and when his shoes appeared in front of her, she looked up to meet his fiery eyes.

"You staying away from me only brings us closer at the end of the day. You seem to have forgotten that, Evelyn," his words were slow and spoken in a low tone. His hands raised to her neck to move the wet hair that stuck to her skin.

Feeling his finger graze her skin, Eve shivered and breathed through her lips. She tried to step away from him, but Sebastian pulled her closer by the waist. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she felt his bare chest against her body. She looked small as he looked down at her.

His free hand went to hold her chin and he tipped it upwards, making her stare at him as he drank her appearance. Her eyelashes were long that fluttered as she blinked, her cheeks and nose were bright red and her pink lips were parted to breathe in air.

"Your High-" Eve made to call but his thumb grazed her lips making her eyes widen as the word got lost in her throat. Her lips were soft to touch just as they looked and he wondered it would be to bite on them.

Hard as he tried, he couldn't push the girl from his thoughts. She had clouded his senses, and he knew he was already smitten with the girl in his arms who stared back at him. Her eyes held a serious gaze as she pushed him away, or at least tried to, as he didn't even budge from her soft hands that pushed him.

"Is it too hard for you to figure out, Eve? You only end up in my arms when you try," his velvet voice whispered in her ear as he grazed the sides of her lips before releasing her from his hold.

Eve was quick to move farther away from him, her cheeks burning from his touch and words. She glared at him but he stared back at her with a nondescript expression. He walked away from her and walked to the table.

"Come join me at the table," his voice was charming which only made Eve feel uneasy, his touch and the way he talked about holding her forever kept ringing in her head. It had no more meaning to it, does it?