Marley and the Tale of Two Souls / Book 0.1 ✔️

The Kingdom of Vampires made him sick. It was filled with bloodsuckers who all seemed to have a staring problem while he kept close to Marley. She was an unmarked female amongst a shit tone of unmarked, unmated vampires and that didn’t sit well. Despite that, they acted like they were better than everyone else. Their facial expressions showed how self-centred and entitled they were as they walked through the streets.

August was kind enough to keep a distance that had been suitable to Sawyer’s liking but also close enough for Marley to feel safe. The village overall despite the people, was pretty nice. Brick homes and shops, children running around playing and their parents trying to get them home for breakfast. The roads were made out of cobblestones and the thick smoke from the torch fires clogged the air but he didn’t mind, it kept them and their scents hidden from any dangers. Something he should have thought about when he dropped Marley off at her home island.

It took twenty minutes before the pathing thinned and lead into a bridge. The stone bridge curved into the mountain and he instinctively looked up to see a four-story castle. The early morning sun just peaking out from one of the wings and glaring straight into his eyes.

“It is beautiful.” Marley gushed beside him, her wide golden-green eyes looking up at the castle with curiosity and wonder. “Are we really going in there?”

“Yes,” August nodded. “The queen has requested that I see you are fit and clean for this meeting. Once we are inside, I will show you to your room and you will get cleaned and changed before I take you to the throne room where you will meet King Marcus and Queen Coraline of Dradevows as well as the two princes, Raphael and Prince Lucas.”

“Wait, doesn’t Dradevows mean Barrows of the Dragons?”

August nodded. “Yes, this island was renamed when the dragons vanished. As a human, I am not surprised that you were not informed about this information.”

Marley kept silent after that, Sawyer wondering how long it would take her to realise August’s words but he didn’t think it would take her until they were standing in front of their bedroom door before the realisation hit her. He didn’t know what he liked more, the fact that the bed was large and would fit both of them or Marley’s red face as she stood at the door with a shocked expression. He didn’t blame her however as the room was nice. Cream-coloured walls and marble flooring, large windows with off-grey curtains. And to top it all off, a bathroom that was separate from the room.

While she stood in her place, frozen, Sawyer decided to look for these clothes August had said they would need to change into and found a dark blue dress in one of the drawers. Its fabric was soft and he knew Marley would look good in it as he held it up against himself and gained her attention. “Do you think they realise that I’m a boy?”

Marley smiled, a small laugh coming out as his ears burned from the sound. Her laugh was just as infectious as her voice. “No! I am pretty sure that is supposed to be mine.”

Sawyer chuckled, handing the dress to her outstretched hands before she went to the bathroom first. Because he had already washed when he woke up, he decided to find his clothes and put them on straight away. He didn’t understand the bother for any of this nor did he understand why their outfits had to match but here he was in what he thinks is a suit with a matching dark blue undershirt. His reflection baffled him as he wasn’t used to seeing his face so light and... happy? He was always one to frown and glare but this reflection was something else and he knew the cause for it.

The door had opened as he was staring at himself, her figure standing behind him in a shy state as he turned and looked her up and down. She was stunning, and Marley was always stunning but that dress brought out a glow in her that made his legs weak and his heart began to jump into his throat.

“Okay, you are scaring me.” She stated with a bite of her plump bottom lip. “Is it bad?”

Sawyer shook his head. “No. You are just too beautiful for words.”

Her eyes widened, her cheeks glowing red again as their bedroom door was knocked on. August waited on the other side as Marley took in a deep breath. “Are you ready?”

“You first.” He responded, waiting for her to walk past him before he followed behind. August nods his head in approval before he leads the way again.

Sawyer stopped paying attention to where they were going as his eyes stayed on her backside, this dress gave away so many curves and hugged her body as if she were born in it. The love, hate relationship he had with this dress stressed him out. But then he came to his senses as they entered the hall, the king and queen were sitting in their thrones while the boys sat further down on their own, only one chair was empty meaning the future king was not in the room as expected.

“Your majesties!” August greeted. “These are the two people who came by boat I informed you about.”

The king nodded. “Thank you, Master Augustus, you may stand by your post until further instruction.

Marley watched the exchange, looking up at Sawyer as if she were trying to figure out if they were doing anything wrong. Her nerves had almost caused him to comment but he held his tongue, the fun will happen when they sleep tonight and fight over who is taking the bed.

“What is your name?”

“Marley LockHeart from The Land of Humans.”

Sawyer raised an eyebrow at how quickly she answered before he spoke. “Sawyer Kolkey from The Cave of Beasts.”

Marley’s eyes widened again, looking up at him as if to say that he never told her his full name and he never did, he liked to keep things a mystery. The king and queen exchanged looks before the king spoke again. “Did I just hear you correctly?”

Sawyer hummed. “Yes, we had to go into hiding to protect ourselves from the witch who is determined to kill us all.”

“But she killed every single one of you!” Prince Raphael stated, his mismatched eyes glaring at Sawyer as if daring him to lie. “This is impossible!”

Sawyer shrugged before he formed a ball of fire from the back of his throat and slowly breathed out the smoke through his nose to prove a point. “Stranger things have happened.”

“And why is this human girl with you?”

“She is my mate.”

The royals fell silent again, Prince Lucas seeming to be more interested now after Sawyer had spoken than when they first came in. “You are looking for the heart and found the location is here?”

His question came out as more of a statement as Sawyer nodded. “Yes.”

“We will not stay long.” Marley chimed in. “We just need the heart.”

The queen chuckled, her dark brown eyes staring into Marley’s soul. “Not until you tell us how you got here first.”