Hell’s Consort

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The Vampire King Apollyon

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Should he be glad that he could still drink from her sleeping wife as a source of nutrition?

Maybe, Apollyon should wait for another year, but he had waited for so long. 

He couldn't take it any longer.

What kind of death should he try first?

Mayhap, he could try to experiment.

Should he finally accept that the Empress was gone now?

The echo of his own words stopped him for several long seconds.

If Apollyon killed himself with his wife and his blood bond still intact, where would Luna end up then?

Will, he let this pathetic love tie him around a leash like how the blood bond did?

Apollyon hoped that Luna would consider the Vampire Realm her home--a place where she could always return and where nostalgia and comfort will always draw her back to him.

There was this unspoken boundary that existed between Apollyon and thd others that most would not want to cross.

Though some might support a beloved's departure, a man might still hear whispers of doubt when his beloved crossed across the borders, leaving him behind and never to be seen again.

Luna must have felt restricted by him.

The Empress might thank him for all the things he had provided and have served her in the past, yet staying with him would never satiate her thirst for adventure and freedom.

Apollyon knew that someday Luna would return and he will wait in surrender.

He had watched the thick pine trees at the far distance lost in his dark thoughts.

The evening twilight shifting from the sunset to night time with its red, orange, yellow, green, blue—

He noticed that the atmosphere's colour was similar to the rainbow, and it was the first time he had seen something like this.

This was the perfect time to get lost in the woods.

There were little fear and a little enchantment in losing one's way and stumbling upon a treasure.

Apollyon had likened the forest to the Empress' lovr where he would spend his time discovering the mystical treasure and diving in too deep, lost into the thick foliage and entangled with vines.

His lips curled with gratitude as he has momentarily forgotten how hopeless he had felt.

Apollyon prayed that the sky was a good omen from the gods and goddesses.

It was too beautiful, and Apollyon wished that he had witnessed them with the Empress.

Apollyon let out a heavy sigh.

There was no greater sorrow than to recall a happy time when miserable.

A little while later, the rainbow's colourful hues had faded, and it morphed into a dark sky full of stars.

What were also equally present were the glimmers of fairy light as if someone had thrown a handful of silver across the edge of the Vampire Realm before embracing the shadows.

He had stared at the moon absently when he felt goosebumps broke over his skin, especially at the back of his neck.

It felt like déjà vu.

He had recalled his wife had done this before, playing with him the moment her spirit returned to her body. 

Bowing his head, Apollyon prayed quietly.

His voice was low, humble and soft.

Apollyon didn't pray to any gods or goddesses because he was powerful in his own right.

He was a god in his own little world.

Magic and alchemy was his obsession.

He had relied on making things happen by himself, but nothing else will do.

It might be uncomfortable, but he tried. 

He rubbed the sensitive skin with his palm as he abruptly turned around, praying that it was Luna whose spirit had returned.

There was a brilliant light shining beside the Empress' bed like a spotlight, and a thick black smoke swirled in the area.

Apollyon's muscles went rigid as he clenched his fists.

He widened his stance, ready to attack.

He was prepared to grapple and subdue the enemy, but instead, it was a little silver-haired girl who materialized in front of him, the fog dispersing from the cold breeze that entered the window.

Mouth falling open in shock, Apollyon stood frozen with his back leaning to the window.

The young girl had worn a white gown with gold laces starting from the bodice down to her expansive skirts.

She wore a white straw bonnet and around the crown were plaid ribbon trimmings with many flowers placed on one side.

The bonnet was just proportional to her tiny face and the large knot under the summit of her crown under her chin made it smaller, unlike the ridiculous black velvet bonnet his wife had worn at the Masquerade Ball. 

'That was years ago.' Apollyon let out another sneer.

  Oh, how time had passed him by, and he still couldn't over his grief. 

The child's appearance had flashed signs of old money and opulence, so Apollyon assumed that this ghost child must be of royalty from another Kingdom.

He made his broad shoulders slouch so that he would appear smaller and harmless and the kid wouldn't run away from him.

Apollyon always comes across as a big, bad vampire in the villagers' eyes whenever he visited towns, villages, provinces and cities during the Royal Entry.

The Royal Entry would start as a procession carrying the King as he entered the territory.

He was greeted and paid appropriate homage by the authorities (marquess, earls, viscounts and barons) and the people beneath them.

Apollyon rarely visited when the Blood Beast possessed him.

Still, he used to pay the 'vampires of royalty who were in charge of a certain dominion' a call in the past before the first ruthless High Priestess decided to fuck his life over, inserting an Archdemon soul in his body as punishment. 

The village mothers would usually cower in his presence, watching him with bulging eyes during the Royal Entry.

The ladies covered themselves with blankets from head-to-toe, afraid that he will take them from the village and bring them to the Castle to become part of the Consortium.

Apollyon narrowed his eyes at this pathetic display during his visits.