Chapter 53
Chapter 17:
Trisha’s P.O.V
“Damien wh-?”
The world was engulfed in darkness for a few seconds and then, we were no longer inside the jungle and the ruins of the Avestenin castle. The room Damien had taken me into was dark as well and before my night vision could kick in, I saw tiny flames flicker to life.
Candles. There were hundreds of them all around the room and once all of them were lit up, I found myself in a fairytale. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling and the crystals scattered the light of the candles in all directions making it look like fractured starlight on the walls. There was a huge bed in the middle of the room and the windows were draped with blood red silk curtains. There wasn’t much furniture in the room except for the bed, a large closet and a vanity, but it was spacious and beautiful. Since the curtains were drawn, I couldn’t see outside and also because wherever we were, it was night time; but I heard something unusual coming from outside.
“Where are we?” I asked, turning to face Damien. I knew most of the rooms in the castle and this didn’t fit the design. We weren’t inside the castle but somewhere else entirely, because the sound I could hear? It was of waves crashing onto the shore.
“Well, you did just mention that Royals usually have several castles and hideouts.” Damien tilted his head with a smile. “This is mine. And now, it’s yours too.”
Damien looked behind me and I followed his gaze to find a door at my back, covered with the same silk curtains.
I went to them and pried the curtains apart to find that the doors were actually made of glass and the view beyond was captivating to say the least. Sliding the doors open, I went outside onto the porch and watched the waves break onto the sand and the large moon on the horizon painting the entire world in a silver hue.
“Damien…” I whispered, knowing he would hear me over the roar of the ocean. “This is…magnificent.”
A second later, I felt him behind me before he wrapped his arms around my middle, pulling me back into his firm chest, engulfing me in his warmth as he placed his chin on my shoulder. I took a deep breath to breath in his scent. It was familiar and calming and I never wanted to let go.
“Thank you, Trisha.” He whispered in my ears. “For everything. For believing in me when no one else would; for loving me even when I was being impossibly stubborn and for coming back into my life. I wouldn’t know what to do without you.”
“Hey,” I turned around in his arms and touched his cheeks with my hands. “You don’t need to thank me for anything, Damien. You know I’ll be here for you, forever.”
“Will you do something for me?” He asked suddenly.
“Anything!” I told him without a second thought. I’d die in his place if he asked me to.
Damien didn’t say anything as he looked into my eyes intensely; the moon reflecting in his eyes, making them glow. Then I watched him step back two steps and reach into his pocket and pull out a velvet box; making my heart thrash against my ribcage. And then, right before my eyes, Damien Vandolff, the King of all vampires, knelt down on one knee in front of me and held out the open box, a beautiful gold and diamond ring staring back at me.
“Marry me, Trisha.”
I covered my lips with my hands as tears started to drip down my cheeks. I couldn’t believe that the moment I’d waited for, for over a hundred and seventy two years was finally happening. Damien, my Damien was asking me to marry him! I felt my throat constrict with emotions as I broke down into sobs and Damien quickly got off the floor and took me into his arms.
“Sshhhhh. It’s aright. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He whispered into my ears as I wrapped my arms tightly around him, terrified that if I let go, they’ll take him away from me. If I let go…I won’t see Damien again.
“Yes!” I choked out while clutching at him for dear life. “Yes. Yes. Yes. YES!” I kept on repeating in between sobs.
It took a while for me to finally calm down and once I did, he slipped the ring onto my finger and surprisingly, it fit perfectly. I was so overwhelmed by emotion that I didn’t know what to say. The ring was beautiful. It was a gold band with a huge diamond at the centre and that was surrounded by several smaller diamonds in the shape of a hexagon.
“Trisha?” Damien asked, still holding me in his arms.
“Hmmm?” I murmured, barely being able to make a noise.
“Let’s get married tomorrow.”
I removed my head from the crook of his shoulder to look up at his face in surprise. “Tomorrow?” I asked with wide eyes.
“Yes.” Damien gave me a small smile. “We’ve wasted years skirting around our feelings, denying what had always been right in front of us. I wish I had told you how I felt sooner instead of pushing you away. I wish I had never let you go that night! But since we can’t change the past any longer…I don’t want to waste anymore time of our future. I want you to be mine, forever, and besides…”
“Besides?” I frowned at the sudden change in his tone. It made me
“I don’t know how much time I have left, Trisha.” He told me with a sad smile. “But if I…if we are unable to win at the Elder’s Court. I want to die knowing that you were mine and that I got to call you my wife, my Queen.”
I shook my head at his words, refusing to give up until I was truly defeated. “Don’t give up!” I told him vehemently. “I’m not giving up until the very end. So don’t give up on me!”
“Never.” He smiled. “I can give up on everything in the world, but I could never give up on you. Now…how about that wedding?”
It made my lips tilt upwards at the sides. “Okay. But I need a gorgeous white dress that no one has ever hand I want a lavish wedding.”
“Really?” Damien looked at me in amusement. “And what else do you need?”
“Hmm…” I pretended to think about it for a second, before I looked up into his beautiful eyes. “You.”
Damien burst out laughing; the sound free and wild and the most beautiful sound I had ever heard in the world. And then he captured my lips in his, pulling me flush against his body, and holding onto me as tight as he could.
“I was always yours.”
