He paid for the clothes and walked out of the store. She followed him and he helped her up the cart and walked to the front, silently.
Was he upset? She thought. She was just kidding. She didn't mean to upset him.
Her mind reeled back to what happened earlier, what did he do to that guard? She pondered. She was curious because,earlier the guard didn't want to let them in, then suddenly out of no where, he told them to open the gates for them.
"Um, what did you do to the guard?" She asked and he seemed distracted. "Mm?"
"I asked, what did you do to the guard? He seemed serious about not letting us in and then suddenly they opened the gates and now we're in."
"Is that what's bothering you?" He asked and she scoffed. Would he just answer the freaking question?
When he noticed that she wasn't smiling and was staring at him intensely, he decided to speak. "Well, I invaded his mind." He said and she arched her brows.
What did he mean by that?
He sensed her confusion and continued. "My demon created a domain inside his head, like an illusion and I threatened him...that's all."
"Wow." She looked amazed. "My demon can't do that."
"It'll be able to soon, you just need some training and practice." He said as he navigated through the busy streets trying as much as possible to avoid other carriages.
She had read about demons having ranks so she automatically assumed he was a couple ranks ahead of her.
After a while, they reached a tavern and Sebastian jumped down from the horse. She threw the bag of clothes at him before carefully stepping down from the cart. "Wait here, I have to go drop the horse." She nodded and crossed her hands behind her.
Seraph stood in front of the tavern, eyes wide with wonder. She had read about places like this in books, but seeing one in real life was something else entirely.
The building was tall and proud, its dark wooden walls polished to a shine that caught the afternoon sun. Golden lanterns framed the entrance, flickering softly even in daylight, and stained-glass windows shimmered like jewels, hinting at warmth and secrets inside. Intricate carvings ran along the doorframe — vines, dragons, and symbols she couldn't name — all of it whispering one thing: wealth. Which made her wonder how rich Sebastian was.
It looked nothing like the loud, grimy taverns she'd imagined. No shouting men or muddy boots here. This place was refined. Elegant. And she was suddenly very aware of how dusty her shoes were.
He returned shortly and grabbed the bag of clothes from her. "Shall we." He said and she nodded, taking his other hand as they walked into the Tavern.
As they entered, the whiff of food hit Seraph's nostrils which made her stomach grumble, Sebastian noticed and turned to her. "You're Hungry?" He asked knowingly. "Yes. I'm madly hungry." She replied and he called a waiteress to them.
The woman flashed him a gummy smile which he reciprocated. "Could you please bring up some elven salad, beef stew and rice with some orange juice to room 12" he ordered and lady shook her head scribbling his order on her notepad.
"Okay sir, anything else?" She asked. "No..." The turned to leave when his voice stopped her. "Please also, can we get some book about human culture or history." She arched her brows but didn't probe further, it wasn't in her job requirement to do so.
"Okay sir, I'll bring them up in some minutes." He flashed her a smile and faced Seraph who just watched the scene silently. "So you know how to shut up?" He teased and she rolled her eyes and ignored him, storming up the stairs.
His chuckled lightly, trailing behind her. "Hey, these are your clothes come carry them." He called after her laying emphasis knowing the "Your"
She ignored his calls till she reached the upper floor, her eyes moved to the wooden board which were nailed above the doors, her eyes searching for room 12 until she saw it. She pushed the door open and threw herself on the king size bed, exhaling lightly.
Finally...Comfort.
Her back ached last night because she slept on a moving cart with a stuffy bag as her pillow but tonight, she was gonna have the a good night's rest.
He entered the room, breathlessly and dropped the bags on the floor then shut the door behind him. "You wouldn't hurt you if you had helped." He nagged and she rolled her eyes.
"Who's the princess?" she asked and he rolled his eyes.
"Me," she answered pointing to her chest, lifting her chin.
"And I'm the bodyguard?"
"Exactly. So you carry the bags, soldier."
"Whatever." He sassed and she picked herself from the bed, facing him. "You can leave now." She said and his brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
"You've dropped the bags so you can go now. Bye." She tried pushing him from the bed but it was as though he was glued to the bed.
He chuckled. "I paid for the room, so I think you should leave." He smirked and her pupils dilated, eyeing him.
"Or..." He inched closer. "We could share the room together." Her breath caught and her heart raced in her chest. Heat spread across her face and look away, flustered. "Excuse me, you don't expect me to share a room with you right?"
"Well, no." He said smugly, pulling away from her as though he didn't know what he did to her. "You can go to another room and pay for it yourself." He added and she scoffed.
She wished she could but she had no money. So she had to share the room with this jerk who made her body do crazy things.
"Fine, as the esteemed lady I am, I get to sleep on the bed." She said, laying back on the bed.
Esteemed his foot. "Why do you get the bed and I get the couch?" He asked.
"Because, I'm a lady as that's how it's done."
He wanted to say something but held himself, arguing with this girl was futile. One, he was tired and didn't have the strength to banter with her and two, he knew she would always get her way and it annoyed him.
"Fine then." He huffed and dragged his tired self to the couch. He shut his eyes and immediately drifted off to sleep.
She glanced at him and saw that he was already asleep.
"So fast?" She whispered when she heard a light knock at the door. It must be the room service. She thought as she stood up from the bed and made her way to the door.
She pulled it open and it was indeed the waitress from earlier. She smiled at her and the lady smiled back. "Please drop the plate here." Seraph pointed to the wooden table in the centre of the room and the lady nodded and did just that. Then turned to Seraph. "Here's the book on human culture..."
Before Seraph could think, the lady walked away and shut the door behind her.
Seraph stared at the food, her stomach rumbled in anticipation. She licked her lips and moved to the bed then picked her spoon and started eating. She feasted on the bowl of rice and beef stew then left the salad for Sebastian since she didn't like the greens.
She gulped down the juice and belched contently before throwing herself on the soft mattress. Her mind racing with different thoughts.
Tomorrow she was gonna meet the prince and probably get married to one of them. But she wasn't ready. This wasn't what she wanted but she had to do it...for them. Her people.
She then wondered how the prince would look like from what she'd heard, the Princes were all attractive but the one most women craved was Xavier, the last prince.
He was the reason the king planned the ball, to find him a wife.
Rumours had it that he was cold and barely spoke. Some said he was a forbidden child while others claimed he was the devil's son but one thing they were sure about was that, he wasn't ordinary.
He was her target. She had to get married to him to find out if the rumours were true. If he really wasn't ordinary. Maybe he could be the one she was looking for—the vampire king. She also couldn't deny that a tiny part of her wished that the rumours weren't true and she could find a man who would love her truly.
She glanced at the couch, her eyeing the sleeping Sebastian. He was so pretty.
His long lashes, brown curly hair which framed his sharp face. Smooth porcelain skin. Chiseled jaw line and well pointed nose. Beautiful physique and much more.
He was everything she had ever Invisioned in a man. He was kind, sweet and did almost everything she asked but her heart couldn't trust him, maybe it was just her being paranoid but she didn't want to trust him. She couldn't trust him. What if she gave him her heart and he leaves her one day?
She knew what her mother had gone through when her father abandoned her, she remembered how heart broken she was and she didn't want to experience that. She just wanted someone who could love her, affectionately.
And she hoped that she would find that special someone.