ADRIANNA
PROLOGUE
.
When Liena was finally able to close the boot, she noticed Adrianna was nowhere to be seen.
"Andrei! The Princess is gone!" Liena shrieked in panic. Her eyes squinted as it flittered through the darkness. Frantically searching for Adrianna's shadow.
Andrei who was busy checking on the car engine, raised his head and glanced at Liena in horror.
"Wasn't the Princess with Madam?!" He bellowed in alarm.
Looking around, he finally noticed they were the only ones in the courtyard. And the courtyard is eerily quiet as a grave.
"NO!!!" Andrei quickly threw the gadget he has been holding and swiftly slammed the bonnet shut.
When he was about to look for the Princess, he saw three guards heading towards his direction. They came from the outer wall. And one of them is their Captain.
The guards have series of cuts and wounds on their faces and neck. There is also blood and holes on their shirts.
All three were gripping their long swords so tight. As if their very lives depended on it. The sword is thin but its sharp edges were gleaming with a menacing light. With blood dripping at the sharp end point, the sword's sharpness is a glaring certainty of its commission in wielding violence.
And it just had its taste of blood.
War is inevitably coming.
"Has it started already?" Andrei asked with a tremble in his voice.
Most of the guards were vampires with only a few carefully selected ones which were not. And Andrei is among the chosen few.
"Da. The first wave came. They sneaked in at the postern gate and made a direct attack on the keep." A guard answered. "We went to investigate outside for any rebels that might have slipped free from our detection."
"There is either a renegade amongst us or the one leading the insurgent forces have foreknowledge." Another guard muttered discontentedly.
The Captain of the guards frowned when he did not see Adrianna.
"Where is the Princess?" He asked. His voice uptight and edgy. Expressing his anxiety.
"I was about to look for the Princess and the Lady." Andrei replied. His voice is also highly strung with tension.
"You sit in the car and prepare to drive at anytime. Ask soția ta Liena to sit at the back and wait for the Princess." The Captain ordered.
The three of them hurriedly flashed away after the orders were given out.
-----------------------------------------
LOWER BAILEY, WORKSHOP
The crazy man is looking at the young girl with a hungry wide eyed gaze. His tongue licking his lips in anticipation.
Seeing the man staring at her with those crazy eyes and a creepy smile, Adrianna's legs were shaking so badly that she stumbled and fell heavily on the ground. Her teeth were chattering, knocking together with intense fright. Her eyes wide with terror.
Someone...! Adrianna closed her eyes and called out in terror.
Seeing the young girl frightened out of her wits, the crazy man gave her an evil knowing smile. A smile that says he understands the little girl is terror stricken and is trembling. And he derives great satisfaction in the knowledge.
"Tut-tut." The man playfully laughed in a deeply malicious, threatening way that is meant to bully and taunt the frightened child. The crazy man wants to push the girl to an even more higher degree of fear.
As the man laughed maniacally, he languidly walked step by step closer to Adrianna in a slow pace designed to poke the child's mental limits.
What the crazy man did not know, the more he teased Adrianna with his mental plays of torture, the more his crazy scheme backfired on him.
Adrianna has never been humiliated and bullied before! His powerful daddy will never, ever allow her to be hurt!
His strong tata said she needs to be strong! And she, Adrianna Stan, is neither timid nor a wimp!
The more Adrianna thought of her daddy, the more calm and secure she felt. And her intense emotion began to flip in reverse. Her extreme fear earlier, gave rise to a deep resentment and anger towards the man.
Something in her snapped!
The more angry Adrianna gets, the more her blood is approaching the boiling point. Her temperature is rising, her muscles beginning to tense. Then a great torrent of power washed over her. Filling her. And a euphoric feeling of adrenaline rush swamped her senses.
Then her eye's sclera turned from white to red making her vision a blurry curtain of blood.
Now her mind is shrouded by blood lust as her heart is pounding more harder than usual and beating more faster than what's normal.
The crazy man is stunned into place.
The young girls momentum changed into one of irrefutable power and dominance!
His blood ran cold! He can't even move nor speak!
His eyes widen in sudden panic and horror.
In a split second, his once bloody eyes turned back to white. His once crazy, hazy mind became lucid and clear.
Isn't this.....ancient....
When the young girl released an aura belonging to one of the ancient bloodlines, he is horrified!
His body felt a sudden unspeakable weight, a terrible and overbearing compulsion, is forcing him down to his knees. His whole being instinctively has this utmost urge to pay homage and respect to the child!
His body is chilled right down to his bones. He looked at the young girl as if he is seeing a monster! A terrible monster!
He can feel his sweat dripping on his back, his insides quivering and trembling. Now he is the one afraid!
Fuck.....! He should have played truant at the keep!
Who is this young child?!! The man is going out of his mind in deep fear.
When Adrianna sensed the miniscule movement from the crazy man, she started to growl and display her slowly elongating canines as an automatic response.
Her natural impulse is to restrain. To subdue.
The man's body swayed back. A primal gesture of self protection. He is withdrawing himself away from a strong predator.
Yes, the child is now the predator. And he, the terrified prey.
With heavy aggression and blood lust, Adrianna's mind is in the verge of going out of control. All she could think of is blood. Anger. Resentment. Disgust.
When she is about to pounce on the crazy man, she heard a sudden clear voice in her head.
"No! I will grow up as strong and powerful as my daddy!"
"Aye aye. This father believes our Princess Adrianna will not only be as strong and powerful as this King. She will even surpass this King's achievements and attain considerable feats that this King failed to accomplish."
"But this feat requires great courage, skill and strength."
Hearing the imposingly deep and full voice of her tata, the fog in Adrianna's mind slowly cleared up. The red in her eyes slowly receding.
She felt anchored by her father. Her strong powerful tata.
Then she felt a sudden weakness all over her body. She can barely move. Her eyes getting heavy and impossible to keep open.
When darkness was about to claim her, she felt a sudden relief hearing a familiar voice at her back.
"Princess?" The Captain asked in a loud high pitched voice. His tone one of distress and anxiety.
He saw the insurgent in front of the Princess. And with the Princess slumped miserably on the ground, he felt an indescribable pain in his chest.
How scared their gentle and innocent Princess must be!
The Captain threw the rebel vampire a look of fury and disdain.
Good thing this rebel vampire is dumb! If not...
The Captain inconspicuously inclined his head towards the still frozen rebel vampire and carried the small Princess in his arms.
Princess?!!! The crazy man is mentally screaming his mind off as he stared in terrified disbelief at the young child.
The captain carried the princess away from the workshop. But Adrianna can still hear the sounds and it's implication.
SWOOSH!
The crazy man's head was cleanly sliced off. And his last thought was one of a certain realization and incredible discovery.
It was of a slumbering Ancient King having a beautiful young child as his mate.
SPLASH!
A spray of blood showered everywhere.
TUMBLE!
TUMBLE!
The crazy man's head rolled like a ball with it's eyes still wide open with great disbelief.
THUD!
The dead body fell heavily onto the ground.
When Adrianna opened her eyes again, her eyes is now one of aloof indifference.
A set of eyes clearly not belonging to a child.