Chapter 102: Out for Blood
"Merry meet, my fellow men and women of the great vampire kingdom," the presider spoke. "It is with a heavy heart that we laid to rest our beloved King and Queen tonight. Their deaths are a great loss to the vampire kingdom, just as the Crown Prince Dominick had been killed in his righteous battle for our people several weeks before this tragedy happened."
Murmurs began to rise in the palace halls. Each family who was convinced their tiny drip of blood relation to the dead monarchs could levy their way to the top were giddy. Only a select few were silent, observing the whole fiasco as it went.
"The King Raxus and Queen Zephyrine Ardorlean has now officially joined the Netherworld along their beloved son. This then brings us all here to convene who the next rightful heir to the throne is," the presider added.
The bastard prince scoffed silently at the obvious disregard to his existence. He still held the princess’ hand in his, and Elys felt how his grip tightened as they listened further to the nobilities discussing the rite of succession.
’They didn’t even mention Aleksander’s name nor spoke whether he was an option to succeed the throne,’ Elysianne thought at the back of her mind. ’It goes to say that he truly needs to establish his power over the rest of the nobilities to be able to get to the crown.’
Elys squared her shoulders and listened in on the gossip around them. The two of them had joined a handful of the spectators in what looked like a court room. The noble families were seated nearer the podium where the presider was.
After the murmurs had hushed down to a tolerable volume, the presider waved for someone to take his place in the pulpit. A woman with an otherworldly feature walked to the front. She held her head high, her hair of blonde locks trailing behind her like a cape.
"The High Priestess Naya will now read to us the laws that govern the throne’s succession before we begin put forward our candidates," the presider said as he exited to the side.
The woman batted her long lashes, and then spoke to the crowd in a clear voice, "Merry meet, vampires of the West Kingdom. It is written in our book of laws that when a monarch dies or vacates the throne willingly, the first-born son sharing his blood shall inherit the crown. But now that the Crown Prince Dominick dying in the hands of the enemy, while Prince Aleksander is assumed lost during the failed invasion, we find ourselves lacking a rightful heir."