MATED TO THE VAMPIRE KING SON Chapter 53

DAMIEN'S POV

"Clean out Steve's room, gather all his things, and send them to the warehouse, and y-" My sentence was cut short by the knock on the large mahogany door that has probably seen more centuries than I have.

"What is it?" I barked loudly at the person behind the door. This was no time for interruptions. I needed my brother's room cleared out immediately.

"Y-your Highness, your uncle wishes to have a word." I sighed signaling the other servants in the room to have the door opened.

"What is it, uncle?" I said without a flicker of interest in what he had to say; I wasn't in the mood for a conversation.

"Sorry to disturb you at this time but I need to see my brother," he said standing tall in front of me. If we weren't naturally pale I would have questioned why his skin color appeared so faint. My uncle was a tall man, all skinny but despite that one could not dare to miss the deathly aura around him. It made me glad that I had someone like him on my side.

"Whatever for?" I asked, now interested in the reason for his visit.

"Nothing serious; if you like, you can take a walk with me. I only wish to see him with my own eyes as to behold what has become of him," he said, and I sighed. It wasn't a bad request, and it was one I could simply grant.

"Hmm. Seeing him will bring a rise to my rusty mood," I said because it was the truth, the glint of defeat in his eyes was nostalgic. Doing a little stretch I turned to face the servant so I could continue with the order I was giving and followed my uncle down to the dungeon.

"Lock up everything emptied out of Steve's room and bring the keys to me. Tend to my horses as they have been left unattended for too long. I shall be down in the dungeons if anyone seeks my presence." I turned to walk out when I paused.

"Important people", I reminded and walked out of the room with my uncle silently following behind me.

"Is it not better to trash out all of Steve's things rather than hoard them"

"Sure it is wise to trash it out but why do that so soon, he might have kept something that would be of value to me. Besides he was close to my father, perhaps my father had given him something of value, who knows" The walk to the dungeon was along the way to my chambers and my mind slowly drifted to Freda. 

I wondered how she was fairing having to be alone with Elara. I knew how much of a scare she could be talkless of my sweet mate, who knew nothing about her at all. I hoped they got along; who am I kidding? They could never get along; I only hoped Elara was patient with her.

"What could be of value amongst Steve's things. His properties are solely like him, trash, and you should get rid of them, " Uncle said. He had a valid point but my reasons for keeping Steve's things were mine alone. Not like I knew why. Maybe I should instruct the servants to take them out into the field later and burn them, but I was not going to let my uncle know that I had changed my mind.

"I will do with his things as I see fit"

"Whatever you say, my king" 

It was the first time since he had been in my castle he'd called me his king and a great sense of pride filled me, someday my Freda was going to experience the wonderful feeling of being worshiped,  and I planned to make her see the benefits of ruling beside me,. She needed to know what it felt like to be in control. I could tell she had not lived a great life being born as a hybrid and was always under someone else's control. It was time for her to feel the power of being in control and I was sure she would love it.

The gate of the dungeon opened, and the metallic sound of iron scraping across the floor irritated my ears, so I blocked the noise until the gates were fully open.

"Your Highness," the guards said upon seeing me, a quick bow to my uncle as well before grabbing a torch and leading the way;  I didn't have to say where I was going or whom I wanted to see as it was only my father that was confined in the dungeon.

"This is rather a dungeon too pleasant for my brother to be kept in," Uncle Keiran said and I shrugged my shoulders, If I didn't know how much my Uncle didn't feel much for my father I would have said he had a reason for always trying to bring any talk about my father to ruin.

"Leave," I said to the guards upon getting to Father.  He looked thinner than life, and his injuries from the duel seemed to be healing with difficulty. I stared at his disheveled state and not once did I feel any ounce of pity for him.

"Hello brother, not exactly how I was expecting our next visit to be. Looks like you have made yourself pretty comfortable here," Uncle Keiran said and my father finally raised his head to look at us, the menace in his stare brought a smirk to my face. How the mighty had fallen. I said to myself as I moved back a bit to leave room for my brothers to talk, not so far that I couldn't hear what they were talking about but far enough that I didn't have to perceive the foul smell of blood and urine surrounding the cage my father was in.

"Don't be surprised, I heard of the news the moment I got here, how your son challenged you to a duel for the throne and he succeeded, is it not? I wonder what the werewolves are saying about you, pretty sure they are drinking and laughing while mocking you"

Uncle Keiran said and my father snickered; he was in the least interested in my uncle's visit. Rather, he was in mine as his eyes sought mine.

"I heard Andros is dead," he said, glaring at me, and I chuckled.

"Who would have thought news got to the dungeon?  I killed him, and if you are wondering, I appointed a new right-hand man," I said, still not leaving the spot I was.

"Hmm let me guess, someone from the were kingdom because I wouldn't put it past you to do something like that," my father said and out of the corner of my eye I saw the interest in Uncle Keiran's face and I had to put a stop to the conversation before my father reveals the main reason for his imprisonment.

"We should leave," I said, and my Uncle nodded

"Be careful now, Keiran, this one has learned the habit of killing his family members; you should be awake even in your sleep and be watchful," I chuckled at the words of my father.

"Not everybody will try to challenge me, Father," I said, and he tugged on his chains, trying to launch himself at me, but he couldn't reach me.

"Steve didn't challenge you and yet you cut off his head like he was an animal meant for slaughter" 

In one instant, I was close to him, holding him by the neck as I pulled him up to the ground.

"You are the reason he's dead, you! If you hadn't pushed him to be something you wanted, Steve would probably, maybe.. right now, I am not so sure, but he could have been alive; you're the one going around murdering family members!" I said before throwing him on the ground where he pulled his body to himself as he coughed for what felt like minutes.

"Till I have the strength to do away with you, enjoy your stay here," I said and walked out with Keiran walking loudly behind me. I shouldn't have lost my temper there, but my father had a knack for pissing me off.

"Damien you're bleeding" 

I looked at my hand to see a little blood coming out from my wrist; my father must have scratched me while I was choking him.

"I will take care of it and it is no longer Damien to you but Your Highness," I said correcting him as we made our way out of the dungeon and towards the main castle where my chamber was, I wanted to see Freda, only her could put my foul mood in order. I thought. I was close to my chambers when I saw Elara walking out angrily from my chambers. What could have happened?

"Your Highness," she said, getting to me, and I excused myself from my Uncle as I pulled her to speak to her alone.

"What is it?" I asked, and she frowned.

"Your queen I-"

"She's going to be your queen as well, Elara," I said, frowning.

"She's going to be difficult to work with, she's filled with fire and temper that I cannot teach out of her, and I-"

"You don't have a choice anymore, Elara; remember the reason you are doing this; this negotiation was never free, Elara, so do your part like I intend to do mine!" I said; she could tell I was pissed and remained silent; with a quick nod, she excused herself.