The whiplash across my back felt like fire. I shake each time it hits me, and I could feel slick blood forming under my clothes.
Then a familiar cry echoes beside me, and I notice the boy, Kaden, is enduring the same.
He cried pitifully, burying his head under his hands, and his body trembled from the pain.
The chains were blocking his head, but his clothes on his back were wide open, and blood soaked his clothes.
I crawled over to him as my breath gasped from the pain. I wrap my arms around his tiny body, and more pain explodes behind my back.
"What do you think you're doing?"
A low, menacing voice exploded across the air like thunder, and it wasn't filled with anger or rage. It was the calm before the storm.
I didn't feel the whip lashing across my back anymore.
I carefully opened my eyes from behind my hands, and I saw the masked man appearing from nowhere, and his mask glowed under the sun.
It shined with intricate designs, and his silver hair cascaded down his shoulders, and on the side of his head were woven braids reaching his shoulders.
His long white robe flowed in the wind, and his beauty took my breath away, but it didn't burn the hate in my chest, burning like poison.
I kept my arms around the boy under my body, and I continued watching the masked man watching the vampires, who bowed their heads before him, their bodies tensed with raw fear radiating from them.
The one with the black hair said in a low voice, "My prince, this lowly slave was walking real slow, and he was slowing us down. I was only teaching him a lesson."
The masked prince tilted his head, and a sneer could be heard: "And you think it's wise to whip them?"
The vampire stuttered, "My prince—"
When I heard the word—prince. I was stunned. I looked at him with shock in my gaze; this masked man was a prince. A royalty one.
According to my best friend, he must be from the Heinz family. A powerful one who ruled the land.
The prince said in a low, deadly voice, "You're only making them slow us down if you whip them to death. And I don't like my things injured unless I ordered it."
The vampire clenched his hands with forced rage, and he said with his head bowed. "Forgive me, my prince. It won't happen again."
The masked prince waved his hand lazily, and he said, looking straight at me, his eyes cold like ice. "Bring the feral one to me. I want him in my carriage along with the child."
I clenched my hands on the ground, and my chest pounded with dread. What is this prince planning?
I heard the child beneath me whimper.
I looked down and whispered, forgetting that vampires had good hearing. "Don't worry. You'll be safe."
It was a useless promise to make. One I'm fully aware I can't keep. I couldn't help myself or the crying child.
But the fear will keep the boy alive.
I glanced at the masked prince from my eyes, but he'd already turned away, his back facing toward me.
His back was as straight as a ramrod, and his long white robe swayed away like wind.
Before I could notice any further with my gaze, the vampires walked to me with a scoff on their faces.
They grabbed me by the arms, forcing me away from the child, and the child panicked, reaching to grab me with his hands.
I shake my head at the boy with calm eyes, and the boy slumps to the ground like a beaten dog.
Then they dragged me away before they dragged the boy right behind me. I could hear the people snickering around me, "Why do you think the tyrant is interested in him?"
Another one said in a low voice. "Haven't you heard? He cut off the prince's finger. He's probably going to suffer under his hands."
They only chuckle, and he was pulled away until I was pushed forward. My back flared from the pain, and I almost fell again.
They didn't let me fall, and I lifted my head; a large, white, gorgeous carriage appeared.
Before I could gaze at the beauty any further, the vampires knocked on the door, and the prince's low, menacing voice said, "Let him in."
The voice only made me burn with fury, and I didn't admire the carriage anymore. Anything that belongs to Prince turned ugly in my sight.
They pushed me in the carriage, and I fell on the hard floor, and the boy grunted next to me, and his tiny body trembled.
The vampires behind them closed the door.
I lifted my head, and the prince sat in his comfy chair, his menacing aura lessened just a bit.
He was drinking from the expensive-looking cup, and there was another cup on the table.
The prince didn't look at me, but his low voice was directed at me. "Your name."
I didn't answer; I didn't want to respond to the man who killed my only friend.
I kept my lips shut, then the prince turned to me, his eyes turned hard and expressionless.
He said in a low voice, "I don't like being ignored."
Yet, I said nothing. He seemed calmer when I didn't say anything; he continued drinking from the cup.
Each movement looked elegant and highly skilled, not someone from a lower class.
He raised his hand toward the boy next to me, who started floating in the air.
Kaden cried out in surprise, and my heart pounded like a hummingbird.
I knew this time I couldn't avoid angering the prince, and I answered as calmly as I could, "My name is Blake. My prince, please let him go."
I would beg if that's needed. I can't let this innocent child be caught in the crossfire because of me.
Or be the result of his death.
Then the boy fell to the ground with another pained grunt.