The young woman yawned loudly, stretching her arms above her head. Her dark brown curls fell free down her shoulders, complimenting her equally dark skintone. A smile reached her lips.

The day had come.

The day she would finally attend a political meeting. And perhaps the greatest of meetings to come in a long time. Because Andelia was negotiating with the vampire Coven of the North, and princess Bowen couldn't wait to step into their castle.

To any other human, that would be a nightmare come to life but 18 year old Bowen wasn't so fearful. Because she wasn't an ordinary human, but the princess of Andelia, only daughter of the King and Queen. And nothing could scare her off her first political meeting. Not even a vampire.

It was a risky move. The neighboring country, Gharnadul, and the vampire Coven had been in war for many years and Gharnadul was once and for all asking Andelia to take stand with them. They couldn't refuse. Even if that meant causing the hate of the vampires for them to increase.

Andelia was their safe haven. No demon, no halfling, no vampire stepped foot on it. It was like an unwritten rule. Doing so could cause war. And yet the humans of Andelia and the humans of Gharnadul lived two opposite lives. While the first enjoyed  prosperity, the latter lived in constant fear and threat of the vampires. This had to stop.

And if Andelia needed to step forward for it to happen, then so be it. Were they however ready to accept the consequences of their involvement? That was not certain.

Since the humans of Andelia had learned of the involvement, they had made their displeasure loud and clear. Bowen had woken up countless times to protests underneath her window. The King and Queen had tried to answer the people's concerns as best as possible which had led to those protests to decrease significantly.

Sitting on her bed, Bowen gathered her thoughts. Today she wouldn't speak much. She would be there to listen. Listen and learn.

She had tried to not let the horror stories of the maids get to her. Stories that wanted the vampire King a cruel tyrant that wished to enslave humans and massacre as many as possible. Bowen did not believe someone could be so heartless. Then again, vampire hearts were unlike human ones.

Perhaps the stories were right. If so, Andelia could be in danger.

~<~>~

Late in the evening, when the last rays of sun hid behind the mountains, a final shadow was cast over the vampire castle. Guards and slaves alike stopped their duties to stare at the sky in awe, and fear. Three dragons flew over them, landing with a loud thud in the courtyard.

Bowen tried to hide the smile on her face with a serious expression. She slid off the dragon and gently whispered a few words of praise to him.

A group of guards was awaiting them and Bowen could see the fear in their crimson eyes. They bowed deeply to them, speaking of leading them inside. Bowen took a deep breath. This was it. The moment she had been waiting for a month now and dreaming off for years. She was inside the castle.

They were led to a circular room in the middle of which a large table rest. Guards stood all around and as the doors closed behind them her eyes focused on the two figures standing out. A blonde vampire and one with silver hair stood waiting for them.

"Your Highness, Your Majesty, Princess, it is our honour to welcome you to Charis. We hope your journey here was pleasant," the blonde vampire greeted politely.

Bowen gave him a small smile, shivering as his eyes fell on her. For some reason, this creature made her uneasy. Yet she tried to brush off the feeling and sat down with her family.

From the corner of her eye however something caught her attention. A young woman was chained heavily, sitting on the floor. Her face looked sunken and dark circles covered her pale skin as if she hadn't slept in quite some time. She was dressed in a skimpy outfit and wounds littered her body.

Bowen looked around her, seeing how no one else seemed to pay the woman attention. She was interested in her. Was it her eye catching beauty, her rough exterior or how heavily she was chained that had drew her in? Bowen would say all of those reasons together. But that was no time to admire her. The meeting had begun.

"Gharnadul holds areas that belong to us. For years they refuse to give them up, instead performing massacres on our villages," the blonde vampire said. "Our people fear for their safety daily. You can not be defending murderers."

"It's funny how that's all we heard from Gharndul about your own Coven," Bowen's father replied. "They say you massacre their towns and covet their grounds."

"They are shamelessly lying," the blonde vampire said.

Bowen noticed the chained up woman scowling and rolling her eyes. It seemed as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare to.

"Does the Princess want to say something? She looks troubled."

Bowen's head snapped to the direction of the blonde vampire. He was smiling enigmaticly at her, as if challenging to say what she had been thinking all this time.

Bowen glanced at her parents once before speaking. "I do. I wanted to ask who that is," she said, eyeing the chained up woman who perked up at the mention of herself.

"I'm glad you asked," the blonde vampire smiled. "That is a dangerous criminal we finally managed to apprehend. Under the orders of the King of Gharnadul, she killed many innocent vampires. Now she pays for her crimes."

"Liar!" the woman screamed, seeming to explode. "Everything you said is a lie!"

"Silence!" the blonde vampire raised his voice.

Bowen noticed vampire King Galar looked uneasy.

"I'm going to strangle you, you vile spawn of evil," the woman seethed, getting up,  but before she could take a step she was apprehended by the guards.

"Take her to the dungeons," the vampire King ordered dryly, the guards obeying by dragging the woman away. Bowen frowned. She didn't want to believe someone so beautiful was such a cruel murderer. Then again, appearances were deceiving.

"I apologize for that," the blonde vampire said.

The meeting continued and finally reached its end with no further conclusion. It was difficult for the humans to know who was lying and who was telling the truth. Gharnadul or the vampires?

Each told a different story. Only time could tell. But was there time to waste when the lives of innocents were on the line?

~<~>~

Ren once again hang from the ceiling of the dungeon, waiting for anyone to come.

So now she was a murderer. The audacity of those creatures to lie so shamelessly was impressive. They had twisted the story to their advantage and the humans hadn't realized a thing. And how could they know? Only few knew knew the truth about the massacres.

The door opened to reveal Lord Lysander holding a tray of different items. The sight made Ren shiver in fear. Whips, daggers and various other tools she didn't recognize were amongst them. Perhaps she shouldn't have spoken. But her pride had been hurt.

"You seem to not understand your situation, Ren." Lord Lysander began to pace around her. Suddenly he gripped her chin harshly, leaning close to her face.

"You're a slave now. So learn to act like one. Galar might be lenient with you but I won't show mercy."

Ren gritted her teeth, gathering spit inside her mouth, then spitting right at the vampire's face. His insulted expression caused her to grin but that didn't last long.

"Oh now you've done it," the vampire hissed, wiping his face. He grabbed her throat, yanking her close to him and with a growl he sunk his fangs into her neck.

Ren couldn't help but scream in pain. This hurt much more than Galar's bite, making her thrash against the chains. Yet the Lord's arms came around her in a deathly grasp, keeping her still. Her cries echoed off the walls of the dungeon, making anyone who heard them shudder.

"Let go off me!" Ren screamed, kicking and thrashing against the vampire. An enraged yell left her lips as her foot managed to collide with his abdomen, making him groan.

"You need to be taught obedience, and you'll regret making me be the one to teach you," Lord Lysander said, grinning. "I can see the demon fighting inside you for freedom, but I can also see the human that longs for submission."

"You're absolutely delusional, mad even," Ren seethed, holding back tears.

"You will learn to submit, even if I have to break every bone in your body."

His statement made her shudder. No, she couldn't allow him to do permanent damage. A feeling of desolation overcame her.

Lord Lysander moved behind her, grabbing one of the whips from the tray. "Let's see if pain can break you," he said, before beggining to lash her.

"Goddess help me," Ren whispered between gritted teeth.

Pain flooded her senses and soon Ren could feel hot blood running down her back, her own blood. Lord Lysander was merciless, not giving her a break as his whip collided with her skin.

But Ren didn't beg nor plead, letting the tears run down her face like a river. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of giving in. Her pride, the last thing left in her, didn't allow it.

After a while, black spots began to fill her vision and Ren knew she was close to passing out. Gladly, she accepted the darkness, letting it overtake her completely.

A hard yank on the back of her head however woke her right up.

"You don't get to go to sleep yet," the vampire whispered in her ear. Ren whimpered in reply, finding it suddenly hard to breath.

Each lash of the whip knocked the air out of her lungs, and shapes began to dance in front of her eyes. Curses began leaving her lips, but that only seemed to excite her captor more.

How long had it been? How long could he keep going? Perhaps Ren had overestimated herself, and underestimated the Lord's cruelty. She wanted to scream for him to stop, biting her lip to not let the words leave her mouth.

At this rate, she was going to die. Or at least it felt like that.

"You're surprisingly resilient," Ren felt the Lord's cold breath hit her neck as he spoke. "Looks like you've been trained well, fleshling."

Ren didn't speak. Her voice would shake too much if she tried. Instead she focused on taking deep breaths, her lungs feeling as if they were going to explode.

"I'd hate to damage your beauty, but you leave me no choice."

Ren screamed as she felt the Lord grip her face tightly, a blade suddenly appearing right before her eye.

"No!" she shrieked. "Don't!"

Panic flooded her senses. No, she couldn't let this happen. If she lost an eye she would be crippled for life.

"Please!!" Ren screamed, seeing the blade stop inches before her eye.

"What did you say?" Lord Lysander taunted, still keeping the dagger against her cheek.

"Please don't, I'm begging you!" Ren's voice cracked as she spoke, hating herself for the words she uttered.

"Are you going to be an obedient pet from now on?" The blade began to move away from her face.

Ren gritted her teeth and nodded.

"See, now you're being smarter," Lord Lysander said, grinning viciously. Moving the dagger back to the tray. "Say: I'll be a good pet and obey my Master."

"I'll be a good pet and obey my Master," Ren whimpered.

"Good." Lord Lysander pulled out a key and unlocked the cuffs that kept her hanging from the ceiling. Ren fell to the bloodstained ground, groaning.

The Lord was right about one thing. She had to be smarter. Acting like a fool was only going to get her killed.

Guards entered the room, grabbing her arms and dragging her outside. Ren closed her eyes and let the darkness swallow her.

~<~>~

She awoke back inside her cage. Her whole body ached and felt tight, her heart beating like crazy.

"Ren!"

Vaia sat down by her cage and slid her hand inside, touching Ren's gently.

"Goddess! You look horrible. We heard that my Master was with you."

Ren sighed. "That vampire is ruthless."

"I should have warned you not to challenge him," Vaia said with a concerned expression on her face. "He's the oldest vampire Lord in this castle and the most dangerous. He's killed countless pets, most never lasting over a month with him."

Suddenly Vaia's eyes filled with tears and she covered her face with her hands. "I fear for my life every day with him..."

Ren felt pity for the woman. Her fear was understandable. Lord Lysander was a monster.

"We need to stay strong, Vaia. I promise you one day we'll be free," Ren said, staring into the woman's forest green eyes. However Vaia didn't seem to believe her as she turned away, sobbing softly.

Ren suddenly felt her hate for vampires stronger than ever. She refused to be a slave for the rest of her life. She was going to escape.

However, for some time, she would need to lay low.