In short, political dinners are extremely boring. Typically, I can avoid these tedious dinners, but tonight my father insisted on it. Tonight’s gathering is to show me off to all available suitors in Sheol, how medieval. My father is aware that I have no intention of ever marrying, but much to my dismay, I’m the only heir. So, I must fulfill my duty as future queen. At least my father waited till I turned twenty this year, to avoid being a child bride. Which is common among Pure Bloods.

In the Gathering Hall, you can immediately observe that the aristocrats have no shame. Some of the families even brought their too-young sons, all dressed up and obviously confused. Clearly, these families think that their 10-year-old sons have a chance of making them Royals. The entire time, I floated from family to family with my father being introduced to ungodly number of prepubescent men. Along with their snotty parents.

Customarily, this would be the Queen’s job to weed through the suitors while introducing me to each of them. But my mother, Queen Aeshma, died giving birth to me. My father was inconsolable at the time, reckless almost, she was the love of his life. And over the years he had many opportunities, but never remarried, hence me being the only heir.

For what seemed an eternity, my father and I made our way through the crowd. The entire time, hundreds of beady man eyes followed me, making my skin crawl. It became almost embarrassing, I couldn’t believe my father, who was able to marry for love, is putting me through something like this!

“Ravenna, meet Lord Sev and his son Abner”

Looking at who my father just introduced me to, I was appalled. Both sweaty and plump, eyes looking me up and down, devouring every inch metaphorically. My father noticed too but tried to remain polite.

“It’s nice to see you again Lord Sev”

The Lord took my hand and kissed it, making me want to smack him. But I had to play nice. The son took my hand next and did the same, except he was trembling. Poor boy couldn’t have been more than fifteen. Again, questioning my father’s logic.

By the end of the shit show, it seemed my father was not satisfied with any of the suitors, sending them all home without reward. With everyone finally gone I could hear myself think. And I think I need a drink.

………………………………………………………………………………

“Stella, you should’ve seen their faces! Sniveling wimps, no wonder my father sent the whole lot home.”

Shrugging she said, “They don’t call his Majesty ‘The Archfiend’ for nothing. Sit still so I can wipe your makeup off.”

Not that I needed her to, she always has insisted on undoing her creations. But tonight, I wish she’d hurry up so I can leave. While she continued to work, I checked the news on the TV. Its odd that I even bother to check it, but recently there has been a lot of stories popping up about genetically modified servants being bred in Zion. The northern territory is famously known for their beauty and honesty, but they do seem to have a lot of secrets. On top of that, Sheol and Zion have been at each other’s throats recently, tensions just have kept rising.

One of their biggest secrets is the Royal family there. No one has ever publicly seen them, including us. Only a select few of their aristocrats have been trusted with that knowledge. Our territory is aware of who is ruling. Whether they fear us or not, we protect them, personally. The Seraph family sends their aristocrats to carry out anything outside of the castle. Sheol might be generalized for our brutality and intimidating demeanor, though it seems as though the North might have more sinister things going on behind their castle walls.

“Okay!”, chirped Stella,” All done, need anything else?”

Seeing my bare face in the mirror, I finally feel like me again. Not the heir to the Devil’s thrown.

“Thanks Stella, you can go now.”

“Sure, I’ll see you tomorrow to get you ready for that Zion meeting, okay? And maybe talk to Damon tonight, last I saw he was sulking in the kitchen.”

Slowly I nodded, “Yea, yea I’ll handle that tonight.”

With that, she left. Now that my duties as princess are over, its time for a drink.

…………………………………………………………….

Sneaking through the castle at night is normally quite easy, since my father likes to keep everything dimly lit. One time he told me he has it like that because it makes him seem more intimidating as he marches about the castle. And genuinely, I wasn’t sure if he was joking or not. Without the dim hallways, everyone around my father already radiate fear, though in reality he isn’t that scary. Unless you cross him that is, then game over. But he really is a fair person and tries to do what is best for everyone, including the hard decisions.

The trickiest part about leaving the castle unannounced used to be getting past the front gate. But after a little work, and bribery, the night shift guards let me pass without a word. By no means are our guards underpaid, but everyone could use something extra to surprise their families, so I never feel too bad about it.

Though if I wanted, I could easily get though them by threatening or intimidation. When I start to smoke, and my skin turns red it’s a sure way to get anyone to fear me. But full discloser, it can be hard to have everyone, and anyone scared of you.

The entire Pure Blood line has had a history of their offspring having certain ‘gifts’, mine just happened to be just like my father’s, being able to manipulate and create flame. Its public knowledge that the Hellion Family has these gifts, but no one has witnessed our family use them.

Like always I wave to the guards at the gate and head to the tavern down a wooded path. Walking alone in Sheol at night can be an unsavory experience for some. With the plethora of monsters and beings lurking in the shadows, it could terrify anyone. Luckily for me I’m this land’s most favorable person, even being someone from the castle, I’ve spent much of my time with the people on the outside and I’ve earned their trust. Not that I’m worried for my safety alone, no one would dare to hurt a Pure Blood anyways.