Most of the time fate plays a sick joke on us, I've never beloved those words until that fateful day. Being a headstrong daughter of one of the renowned knights of the Rumokpa kingdom made Lala one curious and headstrong female who takes no shit from anyone. Going into the dark forest one that's forbidden based on the great war between the humans and vampires, she never expects to find an alluring handsome vampire stranger with eyes so green it makes her human melt. Turning him into the council should have been what a sane human girl will do, but Lala being a curious one is far from being sane. Out of the kindness of her heart, she decides to take care of him, Not only because of her curiosity but mainly on how he makes her heart race faster than a gallop down the hill has ever done. She knows it won't be an easy thing keeping him from her family, but that didn't make her extract her kindness, If anything the thrill it gave us enough to spur her on to help a male who might or may not be who he portrays himself as. Is he a male distressed or is there more to the tale?
Chapter 1 Lala
It was a bright cold day and the clocks were ticking 8:30am. Lala tossed and turned on the bed but is feeling weak and unmotivated to get up from bed. It was the day for her to meet an eligible suitor that has come for her hand in marriage. She suddenly felt nauseous and had a mild headache at the thought of it. After a while, someone knocked on her door twice. She coiled into her sheets and pretended to be asleep. She heard someone walk into her room and tapped her. "Good morning Lala, you have to get dressed for the day." A feminine voice said.
Lala turned around to look at the lady and pretended to force her eyes open and responded.
"Good morning Emmaline'' Emmaline is her personal maid who is a little bit older than she is. Since her Dad is a prominent chief in her kingdom, maids and servants are always at her beck and call.
"Lala, you need to get dressed. The young man is waiting" Emmaline says, smiling timidly.
"Alright, I will be out shortly" With the response, Emmaline walked out of her room and shut the door quietly. Lala is left dwelling in her thoughts, her Father has always been intentional about marriage, but she doesn't want to belong to any man and be looked at like a property to be kept. Women in her kingdom don't do anything except getting dressed each day to look good for their husbands, bear children and keep trying to impress their husbands. That's not the kind of life she wants for herself, she has been training to be a warrior since she was a kid and now her father just wants to throw her dreams of being a warrior into the air. In no time, she snapped out of her thoughts and proceeded to get ready to meet the man arranged for her to meet.
Time wasn't on her side anymore and her father hates when she doesn't meet up with time. She had her bath and slid into a Red ball gown, fixed her hair into a nice bun, used some lavender oils on herself to smell nicer.
This was a routine she had to follow.
She hated the fact that she's getting dressed for a man but she has no choice right now. She walked to the mirror and looked through it. She loves the reflection she is seeing and even though she had no make-up on, her gentle face is likened to the face of an angel. Satisfied with her looks, she walked out of her room. She made her way to her Father's chambers, every prominent member of her family and some unknown people, which she assumed to be the young man's people, were already seated in the chambers waiting for her. "Good morning Father" she said sternly and walked straight to where she was supposed to sit. She sat down and kept a straight face, the expression on the faces of the people in the chamber including her father, was a bit confusing. At that point, her father beacons on the attention of everyone, bringing solemnity to the atmosphere.
"Aye as we know, we are at one honor this morning to see our dear Charles Hardwood, second son of King Heather Hardwood of the southern Iceland Kingdom, who comes in absolute modesty to ask for my daughter, Lala, hand in marriage" he says grinning, swirling his glass of scotch then looked at his daughter in a manner that prompts her to say something. She stood up rather slowly, stared at a few faces around the room as though weighing her unsaid words by the faces she had seen, then adjusted her dress and said out loud.
"Good morning everyone" she says as she finally drops a hard gaze at her suitor, ravaging his ego despite the aftermath. "It's nice to meet you Charles but I'm really sorry to cut your expectations short, I cannot marry you. I am not a lady to be kept as a property and locked away forever as a wife. I am truly sorry" she continued, " Do have a lovely day ahead" she says and walks out without looking back, leaving everyone talking in hushed tones. As she walked out of the chambers, heading to her room, she felt someone hold her hand and cause her to stop. Before she could turn to see who it was, she felt a hard hit on her left cheek.
"What have you done?!" Her mother thundered and continued, "Why are you causing me so much pain, Lala?" She says almost tearfully. Lala braced herself and looked at her mum and said "I'm sorry Mother, but I can't be the perfect daughter you want me to be".
"Why, Lala? Why?!"
"Mother, I don't want to be a wife or a fancy princess. I don't want to be locked up in a house or a tower, fending for kids! No Mother, I want to be a woman of my own. I don't have to answer to anyone, can't you understand me?"
"Why don't you like Charles? He is a fine young man, a prince!"
"Exactly the point Mother, I don't want to be a princess" she says rolling her eyes.
"You keep rejecting every man that comes for you Luna. You rather engage with young men in fights, are you not aware that you are a woman?"
"Oh Mother, please!" She says walking away.
"Lala, what about your sisters? They look up to you" her mother says, sobbing and holding her hands.
"Mother, Victoria and Merida can get married if they want to. I'm not stopping anyone but please do not force me against my will. If there is nothing left to say, I will be in my room" she says and walks away to her room. She could hear her Mother's silent sob but she didn't care at this point. She got into her room and shut the door behind her with a loud bang.