Chapter 30

Chapter 30

When Cassius heard her scream, he hurried to the bathroom, trying to push the door open, but it was locked. He frowned, taking two steps back before banging his legs against the wooden door, and it flung open.

He hurried in to see Anastasia in the bathtub. His eyes widened when he saw that her head was underwater. She wasn't moving! Fear gripped him as he brought her out of the water, taking her in his arms.

Cassius slowly stood up and walked back to the room, placing her on the bed. Her eyes were still closed, and he ran his fingers through his hair, afraid that she was dead. He thought he was too late to save her!

Then her body stirred, and his eyes widened in surprise that she was still alive. He saw her grasp the blanket closer to her chest as she opened her eyes.

He was waiting for her to cough up water from her mouth, but nothing happened.

 "Anastasia?" he called out.

 "I'm fine," she replied. 

"But you were in the tub for more than five minutes," he said. "How did you manage to survive?"

"Stop worrying. I'm fine now," she said. He saw her widen her eyes when she noticed she was lying naked on the bed. She quickly grasped the blanket upward to cover her chest. 

"My clothes!" She exclaimed.

Cassius walked towards the door and brought her clothes for her, then he turned around, making her feel comfortable as she dressed up.

As they walked down the hallway, Anastasia's eyes never left the paintings on the wall.

 "Who is this woman?" She asked, pointing to one of the paintings. He turned around, his eyes moving to the painting she was pointing out. 

"This is a close friend of my mom," Cassius replied.

 "A close friend?" Anastasia asked, raising an eyebrow.

 "Yeah. Why are you asking?" 

"Because I felt this chill when I came across the painting," she said.

When they arrived at the dining room, he sat down beside her as he watched her eating. 

"Do you like it?" He asked. 

She nodded, raising her head. 

"Why are you not eating?" 

"Watching you alone is enough for me," he replied with a faint smile. Just watching her made him satisfied. Although he had drunk some blood early that morning.

After they finished breakfast, they stepped outside the castle to see a crowd of angry protesters standing there, shouting that Anastasia could not be the next Queen. 

"How do you know she's not using her charms on you?" One of the angry men asked. 

"This woman is a witch!" "She deserves to die!" 

"Enough!" Cassius yelled. "She will be your Queen soon, so respect her." 

"This traitor can never be my Queen!"

 "She killed the King, and you dare take her as your wife?"

"This is my order, and if any of you go against me, you will be killed by me," Cassius declared. Anastasia felt a chill at his words. Her cheek was already burning red with embarrassment.

One brave man stepped forward. "Is this who you call Prince? The heir to the Blackwood Kingdom?" "He saved the traitor, and now her charms are working on him. Who knew if he was the one who killed Lucas?"

Murmurs and whispers began amongst the crowd, and everyone turned to each other with a look of disbelief. Anastasia just stood next to him, feeling like a statue. She didn't dare to move an inch.

"Dare to say another word, and I will take it that you disrespect me," Cassius warned.

The man glared at Cassius before he sneered. His eyes bled black, and he spun towards Cassius. Before he could do anything, Cassius seized him by the neck, dragging him towards the air. The man struggled to escape his grasp, but Cassius thrust his hand into his chest and pulled out his heart, throwing the man to the ground. He was dead!

Squeezing the heart and displaying it for the people to see, they gasped. Each one of them turned around and walked away. Once the crowd had disappeared, he threw the heart on the man's body.

He turned around to see Anastasia in shock. Her eyes were widened in disbelief.

"You killed him," she spoke up, her voice trembling.

"He was disrespectful," Cassius snapped, his eyes flashing with anger.

"You could have at least threatened him," Anastasia said, staring at the body with a mixture of horror and disbelief.

"If I hadn't done that, no one would have left here," Cassius explained, his voice cold and detached. "I did that to inflict fear in them. They need to respect me as their King. If there is no respect, then I am useless to them."

"But you could have—" Anastasia began, her words trailing off as Cassius cut her off.

"No more buts, Anastasia," he said firmly, grabbing a handkerchief to wipe the blood from his hands. "This is one of the advantages of being a vampire King. I can kill anyone at any time, and no one would dare say a word to me."

She stared at him, unsure of what to say, her mind reeling from the brutal display of power.

"We need to leave for the tailor's shop to get you measured for your wedding gown," he said abruptly, his tone softening slightly as he offered her his hand to help her into the carriage.

As they stepped inside, Anastasia couldn't help but feel a sense of unease, her heart still racing from the violence she had just witnessed.