Rejected By My Mate, Chosen By Fate
Chapter 81

I stand up instantly in fear but my nerves relax when I see that it’s just Anika. The older woman entered the room with a tray of food in her hand and I didn’t even realize when I beamed a smile.

She dropped the tray on a stool in front of me and I thanked her.

“I thought you might be hungry.” She said and I smiled at her. “I am, thank you again.” I replied and opened up the dish and immediately I did, I almost gagged at the sight of the food in front of me. It looked gross and I almost lost my appetite right there and then.

“Gross! What’s this?” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them and my hand instinctively came to my mouth, to stop myself from saying anymore nonsense.

I thought Anika would be angry and scold me because of my not so polite remark but she just chuckled and looked at me kindly.

“There’s really no need to be so dramatic. It’s split pea soup and It actually tastes far better than it looks. Just give it a try and I promise you won’t regret it.” She said but I still hesitated.

I’ve always been one to judge food by how it looks and this soup certainly wasn’t doing it for me. “Alright, here’s the deal, just take a little bite and if you don’t like it, I’ll take it back and bring you something else to eat.” She offered and since I basically had no reason to protest, I sighed and took a small scoop of the soup.

I closed my eyes and brought the spoon to my mouth. I put the food in my mouth and when it finally hit my taste buds, I was left mesmerized. It tasted absolutely awesome.

I m****d, pleased and quickly took another bite. “This tastes awesome.” I said and she smiled at me warmly. “I told you, didn’t I? It tastes so much better than it looks. You know you shouldn’t judge food just by how it looks and in the same fashion, you shouldn’t judge or regard people by their appearance or by their demeanor, it might just be all an act. An act that they put up just to look tough but if you just give it a try, if you’re persistent enough and take out the time to get to know them, you’ll see that they’re actually very sweet on the inside. They just put up that tough and incorrigible surface because of their past experiences, to protect their heart.” She said suddenly, completely catching me off guard.

I immediately knew she was talking about one of the two vampires that I’ve found myself caught in between but I just wanted to be sure who she was specifically referring to.

“Who are you talking about?” I questioned. “Please eat your food quickly and get some rest, there’s no time to waste. I must get back to work soon or else I’ll be punished.” She replied, completely ignoring my question.

I knew better than to drag the matter any further, if she wanted to end it that way then I’m sure she must have her reasons. Besides, I’m more or less like a spy here, if I ask too many questions, she may get suspicious and report me and that won’t be good. I’ve been through way too much to make such a stupid move. She may seem nice to me now but I don’t really know what her intentions are yet. She might just be pretending in order to get me to blindly trust her. I have to keep reminding myself that this is the world of vampires so I can’t afford to blindly trust anyone. One mistake on my part could be the end for me.

I continued eating my soup, relishing the deliciousness of it.

“Eat up quickly and please finish it. You’ll need to eat all of it and very regularly too. I chose to make this particular dish for you for a reason.” She said, catching my curiosity once more.

“May I ask why?” I questioned and she sighed. “This soup is not only delicious, it’s also very nutritious as well. It contains a lot of proteins and fibres. These are the two main nutrients you need if you intend to last long. You’re going to be the Prince’s b***d slave so you need protein in order to stay alive. He’s going to be drinking from you regularly so your b***d needs to be able to clot properly and quickly too or you might bleed out and I’m sure you don’t want that. Protein is also necessary in your diet in order for you to keep in shape, you never know when the Prince might need you for other aspects of his life.” She said and it took all my self restraint to stop myself from gagging.

“As for fibres, it gives you energy and I guarantee you’re going to be needing a lot of that if you want to keep up. So you’ll be eating a lot of this soup. It doesn’t mean this is the only thing you’ll be eating, it’s just going to be served more frequently.” She said and I nodded.

“Thank you.” I said after eating the last spoon of the delicious soup. I felt so full and very content, so much so that I almost forgot where I was.

“Get some rest quickly, I’m pretty sure the prince will call you soon.” Anika said and grabbed the tray of empty dishes and left, not entertaining any more conversation.

I exhaled and lied back in bed. I tried to get some sleep but no matter how tired I was, I couldn’t.

Not knowing what condition Kayden might be in is making me completely restless. I have this gut feeling that he’s alright but I just want to be sure, at least it would put my mind at ease if I could see him at least once.

I got up and walked to the window. It was a beautiful window made of sapphire. There wasn’t much to see outside the castle. The atmosphere was unusually drab. There was less vegetation and more pillars with gargoyle statues around. I guess it’s typical, this is a vampire’s castle after all. Trying to distract myself did not help so I went back to the bed and tried to fall asleep again. I don’t know how it happened but it seemed to work this time around because at some point, I lost consciousness and my grasp of reality.

******

A gentle tap made me shoot up quickly and the sudden motion caused me a painful headache. I held my temple soothingly and looked up to see Anika. She had a bit of a remorseful look on her face but she did not apologize.

“Come with me, Prince Virgil requests your presence.” She said and waited for me to stand up. I took a deep breath and got up from the bed, my head throbbing.

She escorted me out of my room and when we came to the door of Prince Virgil’s room, only then did I realize how tough the situation was. The tiredness instantly eluded me and reality finally dawned that if Prince Virgil had asked for me, then it couldn’t be for anything good.

And I definitely couldn’t even dream of trying to escape, it’ll be the end of me. And the minute I step into that room, I’m just supposed to act like some mindless doll because if I don’t, the prince will read me like an open book.

“Be strong and no matter what you do, don’t resist.” Anika said and opened the door to the room, almost pushing me in. The minute I stepped into the room, Anika closed the door behind me and my heart started to beat erratically again. With the amount of adrenaline I’ve been experiencing lately, it might not be long before I finally have a heart attack.

“Don’t even think about it, I won’t let you die so easily.” Prince Virgil suddenly said, catching my attention. He did it again, he read my mind. Gosh, I should just stop thinking. He chuckled and walked up to me while I kept my gaze on the floor.

He walked around me in a circle, as if inspecting my features, wanting to know if I was good enough for him. I just hope that he changes his mind and tells me to leave.

“Strip.” He said, almost stealing the breath from my lungs. “What?!” I blurted before I could stop myself.

“You should know by now that I don’t like repeating myself. I said strip.” He said, his tone laced with danger and I didn’t even realize when the tears gathered at the edge of my eyes.