The Bride He Hates-Chapter 44: Surprise For Both

The formal ball went on into the early morning, but as night progressed, small groups were formed in the chambers surrounding the main ballroom. Azrael and Lyanna were expected to move between groups to ensure everyone felt welcomed.

They both went to a quieter chamber, where a handful of vampires sat in a circle.

"Your Majesties." A female vampire with dark hair and kind eyes said warmly. "Please, join us. We’re sharing turning stories; a Blood Moon tradition."

Azrael hesitated, then made Lyanna sit on the chair.

"Isabella, it’s been decades since I’ve participated in this tradition."

"Then you’re overdue." Isabella smiled and turned to the group. "I was telling them about my turning during the Black Plague. I was one of the few in my village who was immune to the disease. I watched my entire family die and buried half the town, but never fell ill myself.

My maker found me in a mass grave, burying bodies. He was fascinated by my immunity and curious about what made me different. He offered me immortality, and I accepted because everyone I’d ever loved was dead, and I had nothing left to lose."

Another vampire, Trevor, shared next.

"I was turned during the Crusades, it was a battlefield turning, like His Majesty. My maker walked through the carnage after the battle looking for survivors worth saving. He said I’d fought bravely and the warriors who faced death with courage deserved to transcend it." He looked at Azrael with understanding.

"There’s a brotherhood among soldiers that transcends death, isn’t it, Your Majesty? The bond formed by surviving horror together. My maker and I fought side by side for two centuries before he was killed. I still miss him."

The stories continued. Some had chosen it willingly, others had been forced or manipulated. Some remembered their turnings with gratitude, while others with lingering trauma. Then Isabella turned to Lyanna with curiosity.

"Queen Lyanna, would you share your transformation from human princess to vampire queen?"

Lyanna felt every eye in the room on her. Even Azrael was watching her.

"It wasn’t because of my choice." She began. "I was forced into it by circumstances, by politics, by survival instinct. I didn’t want this transformation. I didn’t want to become a vampire queen, didn’t want to leave my old life behind."

She saw several vampires nodding in agreement.

"Like you’ve all described about your early days as vampires, I was also confused and angry. I didn’t understand the new rules I was living under or the version of myself I was supposed to become. I fought against it, resisted, and tried to hold onto who I was before."

She glanced at Azrael and saw him listening to her with the same complicated expression he wore when he was surprised.

"But also like you... I’m adapting. I’m finding strength I didn’t know I had and discovering abilities I would have never developed in my old life. I’m becoming something new, maybe something between a human and a vampire."

The room fell silent. Then Isabella smiled.

"You’re more vampire than human in spirit, Your Majesty. You have our resilience, our ability to survive and adapt to impossible circumstances. That’s the biggest compliment I can give you as a vampire."

Several other vampires murmured in agreement. Azrael had been silent throughout the whole conversation. He didn’t talk about his own turning despite everyone knowing how much his story was similar to Trevor’s.

As dawn approached, the gathering slowly wound down. Vampires dispersed to their guest chambers or departed if they lived close enough to reach home before daylight. Azrael and Lyanna returned to their chambers exhausted.

Lyanna felt drained from hours of social interaction, while Azrael had enough after maintaining perfect control throughout the gathering.

Clara helped Lyanna out of her gown as Azrael disappeared into their chambers study with a stack of papers. Lyanna climbed into bed, her body was aching and her mind was spinning with everything that had happened. So much had changed in such a short time.

She tried to sleep but couldn’t. She was still thinking about Richard’s question about desire or fear, and her own inability to answer it properly.

Then, an hour later, she heard a sound from the study. It was something between a gasp and a cry. Lyanna got up, put on a robe, and walked towards the study door. She opened it slowly.

Azrael was asleep at his desk, slumped over papers scattered around him. He had been working and had just passed out from exhaustion, even vampires needed sleep. He was clearly dreaming, his body was tensed, and his face was in distress.

He muttered something in a language Lyanna didn’t understand. His hands were clenched into fists, and his breathing was fast.

Sylvia was right about the nightmares.

Lyanna walked towards him, wondering if waking a vampire from a nightmare was really dangerous as Sylvia had mentioned but she couldn’t just watch him suffer. She reached out slowly and touched his shoulder gently.

"Azrael."

He woke up instantly, giving her no time to react. One moment he was asleep, and the next his hand was on her neck, and his eyes were wild.

Then recognition filled his eyes, followed by horror. He released her immediately, sitting back as if she had burned him.

"I could have killed you." His voice was shaking, and he sounded disturbed. "Why would you touch me while I’m sleeping? What were you thinking?"

Lyanna rubbed her neck, his grip was tight enough to leave marks.

"You were having a nightmare. I thought... I don’t know what I thought. That maybe you needed..."

She stopped, unable to finish.

Needed what? Help? Comfort?

His expression changed quickly; anger at himself, fear of what he had done, and confusion over why she had risked herself.

"Needed what? Comfort? Saving? I’m four hundred years old, Lyanna. I don’t need saving from nightmares."

But his hand was trembling slightly as he ran it through his hair. He was still shaken, still caught between the nightmare and reality.

"What were you dreaming about?" Lyanna asked.

"Nothing that concerns you." He replied.

He then looked at her looking concerned despite the fact that he could have killed her just moments ago. He sighed.

"You should go back to bed. I’m fine. This happens often. I’m used to it."