The Vampire King's Possession
Chapter 344. A Small Village

Chapter 344: 344. A Small Village

344

Mauve braced herself as the carriage slowed down in front of the village’s entrance. From the size of the gate, Mauve could see it was a small village.

Also, it wasn’t really a gate, more like a barricade but it was obstructing the path, unless they rammed into it and broke the barricade there was no other way to get into the village.

The carriage came to a full stop but Danag did not attempt to move. Mauve could only sit staring as she wondered what was happening.

She poked her head out of the window but could only see the side of the carriage and some part of the gate.

After about two minutes, she heard the horses neigh and jumped a little when Erick appeared by the window.

"What’s wrong?" Danag was quick to ask.

"No one is coming to open the gates or whatever that is. I could try to force it open but I don’t want to ruin the perfect workmanship," he said with a snicker.

"Maybe they didn’t hear you."

"I am sure they did, the horses are louder than hell."

"It’s late. They are most likely asleep," Mauve chirped in.

"Asleep or not I don’t really care. If someone isn’t here to open the gates soon, I’ll open it for them."

"What Erick is trying to say is. We are pressed for time and can’t wait around waiting. If we want to make any headway, it would be best to leave now."

"You’re going back tonight?" Mauve asked with surprise on her face.

"What did you think?" Erick asked condescendingly.

"Yes, Mauve. As soon as we are sure you’re in safe hands, we will be on our way."

"We could leave her here. After all, we already brought her this far."

"Erick!"

"Fine, fine. I will try to see if there is some way I can open this without breaking anything."

"Do you need my help?"

"That’s not funny. It’s not even an actual gate. I’ll be fine."

Before Danag could respond Erick was already walking away from the carriage and out of Mauve’s view.

Mauve bit the inside of her cheeks, the moment of truth. Did her father really prepare any means for her to go to his castle or was she about to find out she made the worst decision ever?

"Are you alright?" Danag asked with a soft frown as if noting her discomfort.

She shook her head slightly and forced out what hoped was a smile and not an expression of horror just like she felt.

"You don’t have to worry. We won’t leave you in the middle of the streets."

She nodded her head, "I would appreciate that."

It was still very late even though they were out of Palers reach, there were still wild animals around.

"Pay no mind to Erick’s words. Irrespective of how he sounds, he would definitely perform his duty. You don’t have to worry about that."

"I am not worried. I don’t intend to see Erick in a better light just as I don’t expect him to treat me any differently than he already had."

Danag blinked, "Is that so?"

Mauve nodded and looked away. She didn’t care for Erick and she wasn’t thrilled that she had to put up with his behavior.

Besides, she had other things to worry about, the last thing she was concerned about was if Erick liked her or not. At least he showed his dislike which made it easy to deal with.

She swallowed and her chest felt a little too tight. No matter what happened, the vampires were going to leave her here. Irrespective of whether her father made provision for her or not.

She wouldn’t even be able to return with them, that is how terrible her predicament was. She would be stuck here.

So, forgive her if she wasn’t concerned that Erick had a snobbish attitude. It was nothing new. It would be more concerning if he was nice to her. Then she would be sure something was wrong.

She heard a loud snap and an even louder cuss. Danag sighed and put his hand on his face. "I told him to let me help."

"I have good news and bad news," he said as he appeared at the window again.

"What is the good news?" Danag asked without looking up, his palm still across his forehead.

"Oh, well..." Erick started. "Usually you would want to hear the bad news first but the good news is, the gate is open," Erick announced triumphantly.

"And the bad news?" Danag asked, finally raising his head.

"Well," he paused and looked away. "They might need a new gate."

Danag groaned, "I told you let me help you."

"It wasn’t much of a gate anyway, they would have needed a new one eventually."

Mauve snickered, the whole situation was becoming a little too ridiculous for her to remain impassive.

Mauve felt it before she saw it. The glare that Erick sent her way was enough to take out a grown man.

"That’s enough," Danag called out, drawing back Erick’s attention. "Since the gate is open, drive us into the village."

He scoffed, "I suppose I can do that but we leave immediately after."

Danag didn’t say anything and watched Erick walk away. A loud command followed and the horses began to move, dragging the carriage with them.

The village was dark but by the lights that were slowly coming on in different houses, Mauve could see they were waking up. Mauve couldn’t blame them, she was sure they had made quite the commotion.

The gate was quite a distance from the main residence and as Erick approached the gathering of houses, Mauve felt the knot in her stomach grow tighter.

The path led right through the houses. They were about the same amount on each side. Mauve winced as she stared out, wondering how much longer it would take for anyone to step out.

Were the residents scared or was their visit so unexpected they didn’t know what to do? If her father made any plans surely they must have been aware.

But the letter was sent in such a short time, there was probably not enough time to prepare or he still hasn’t received the letter.

Mauve could feel the start of a headache at her excessive thinking but what else could she do the longer this situation dragged out, the worse she felt and the more certain she was that she was on her own.

Suddenly, the horses stopped just as they passed the first set of houses. Mauve sat upright, bracing herself for whatever was to come.

Erick threw the door open. "We have already gotten her this far, I vote we should leave."

"Erick, we are basically done. Any moment from now we would be on our way. What’s another couple of minutes?"

"A couple of minutes is a long time. We need to get back as soon as we can."

"Yes, you are right but we can’t just leave her without confirming."

"We have got her here, there is no need for you to do any extra. Besides, they are probably not coming out because they are scared of us. If we leave her, they would probably be more enthusiastic about coming out."

Danag touched his chin, "You are right about that but let’s exhaust all the options before we consider that."

"What other options are there?" Erick asked, his tone didn’t hide his irritation.

"We haven’t tried knocking," Danag said as he got out of the carriage.

"Knocking? Are you kidding? We don’t have to go that far."

"Well, at this point we have to and if that doesn’t work, we can leave."

"What the... Whatever but this is on you."

Danag stretched his hand and reached out to Mauve, "Let me help you out."

She nodded and accepted his hand. As Mauve took it, she wondered if she should tell them to go. Wouldn’t it be better to be disgraced alone than with an audience?

"Thank you."

"Have you been here before?" Danag asked as she landed on the ground.

Mauve slowly shook her head, when she left they had mostly stayed in caves and tents. They had avoided villages as the reception wasn’t always good.

"As expected, it would have been convenient if you had any idea about where we are."

"I am so sorry, I can’t be of much help even though we have arrived in Greenham kingdom."

"You don’t have to apologize, I guess we just have to pray someone answers the door." He grinned at her and closed the carriage door.

"I hope they do."

"You would lead the way," he added. "I have a feeling we would have a higher chance of response if you knocked instead."

She nodded, she could do that much. If they didn’t get any response she would ask them to leave but she was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.

Mauve swallowed and took a step forward, she wasn’t sure what house she should knock on she would just let her instincts decide.

"Princess," a loud voice called. It echoed into the night and for a second everything went silent.