Chapter 2 A boy's treasure

He stood and looked out at the rain-swept plain. He stood inside the large hall with the doors closed and watched the rain from the window. The chariots throttle past the windows, the servants are really busy. The rain beats against the window,so forcefully it seems they might break the panes.

He is really young and it wouldn't be a crime to call him gorgeous, exactly. His hair sat really pretty like a crown, dark and greasy with very obvious red eyes. Thanks to that difference, one will reasonably not call a vampire a human. His eyes shone briefly as a lightning briefly streaked across the sky in the distance.

He moved away from the window and watched the rain that was raving moments ago slowly start to reduce, ending in pitter patter sounds.

"Seems we're in for some good luck tonight, it's dark, let's move", a female voice resounded across the hall. Light footsteps and heels clicked on the cold tiled floor and then end up close to him. His mother, the baroness, Serephine Bloodice.

"Do you mind coming out now? We don't have all night, the sun will come up in 8 hours and this journey will take us about 4 hours, King Grimbald the slow", she said and chuckled.

Chuckling, the handsome hunk of a king apparates beside the front door, "now who's inside, my lady?", retorted Grimbald.

The pale-skinned boy giggled as he and his mother walks towards the king. He took in the view of his mother's black and greasy hair braided and left to swing side to side on her back, "come on, Sebastian".

In front of the chariot, two well dressed chariot riders sit atop separate horses, the family climbs into the black painted chariots and the king closes the door as the chariots start moving into the night, followed by three other chariots.

Four hours of moving leaves the little boy restless, bored and hungry, "mother, I'm starving", he whines, "wait until we get to Farsoul, we'll be there soon I can't afford to apparate at this time, I might end up sucking your father dry", she replied and giggled as she pinched the little boy's cheek softly.

As they reach Farsoul, even though it's in the early hours of the morning, the sun hasn't returned from it's journey to Boneshriek but due to the vampire family's enhanced eyesight, they can clearly see the late-June flowers of summer awaiting sunlight along the forest pathway.

There is something battened down about the woods in this season, like a huge wild animal suppressing a roar or like nature is waiting for a perfect time to present a meal.

As the chariot wounds up the road to Farsoul, the land of mere mortals, humans, blood slaves and pets, the road gradually opens up revealing white sand reminiscent of the ocean that meets the Farsoul shoreline, bringing the taste of salt and cold air right to their sensitive taste and smell buds.

The tall dark roof of the Bloodice summer fortress stood above the otherwise smaller houses the mortals live in and Sebastian could see it as he stuck his head outside the chariot, he felt nostalgic as he gazed at the house in the distance, he came here every summer even though, he never actually came here for summer; vampires can't exist in the sun.

One by one, the part of the fortress hidden by the shaking canopy of leaves, pass in front of his eyes. He turns away from the window and settles back inside the chariot,"you see the fortress from here?",Serephine asked,"yes. We're almost there",he replies with a stoic expression.

The horses canter to a stop in the cobblestoned pathway of the fortress and they file out of the chariot and into the fortress,

"you're welcome,your highness"

"Mmn"

"Your majesty"

Different voices greet as the royal family moves inside.

"Is the ground ready for the sale tomorrow night?", Grimbald asks a tall figure shrouded in black and hooded, "yes, your highness", a gruff voice replies.

Lucius apparated in his room and walked with a gait of a prince to the closet as he opens it slowly and peers at the hammock lying inside, 'I wish I could be in the sun but my kind isn't meant for such luxury,pfft', he muttered under his breath.

He walks off and sits on the bed and looks into the distance before he stares at the surface of the water,the ocean is unrestrained and he wished he could be like the ocean too.

"Your highness, your blood tea is served", a maid says as she drops the glass of blood on the table beside his bed and backs out of the room with her face down, she knew not to look up, especially when she's not being spoken to.

Sebastian stared at her as she walked out and smirked,"mortals."

The dark castle had torches of fire which gave light and a little warmth to the hollow castle, the preparations for the sale was still taking place, Sebastian left his room after drinking his blood tea and stood at the stairs watching the servants run around with chairs, brooms and mops.

He knew what the sale was about, auction of human pets, blood slaves and some vampires even sold their pets which they considered no longer good enough to breeders.

The breeders were vampires and sometimes, very rich humans, they would buy this pet nurse them to health and give them to sex-driven males and at the end, they'll give birth to more blood slaves.

In the dark, a pair of red eyes kept looking at him, it was the sale organizer who replied his father earlier, Sebastian knew he was staring at him and as though to tease him, he walked down the stairs and the man apparated beside him.

"My lord, do you need anything?"

"Yes", Sebastian replied and turned around to face him squarely,"would you mind stop staring at me. I know I'm a lot more good-looking but I'd like not being creeped out", he added and smiled.

The man was left dumbstruck and in his state of shock, Sebastian apparated back on the stairs. "He should close his mouth if not, there's a high tendency for furyflies to make a home in it", Sebastian muttered before returning to his room.

The sale organizer, Carden chuckled as he watched the boy retreat to his room, "he's rather interesting and really narcissistic",he smiled and retreated back to his seat in the dark.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual nightly sale", Carden announced in the hall as applauses rang out in the huge hall. More vampires and even humans were coming in, some vampires had their slaves with them but they were seated at the back. Not chairs. On the floor.

"Tonight is a special one, please rise to your glorious feet as we welcome to almighty King Grimbald Scarstrike Bloodice of the Bloodice Kingdom, the main convener of this year's sale event", every attendee rose to their feet as they clapped.

Grimbald stood up from his bejeweled seat as the guests all bowed slightly,"good evening and welcome to this year's sale event, lovely people. Don't worry, the most perfect items are being arranged to the fangly taste of our guests", he said and flashed his most alluring smile which didn't fail to momentarily daze his female and male admirers ;of course, a king with an heir can also retain admirers from the days of his youth, he was handsome and still remained handsome.

Behind the stage in another room, various artifacts,rather,blood slaves,some were humans or banshees, captured during the various territory usurping or sold by their own people and then they were also former slaves of the night creatures. As time slowly ticked past the slaves climbed the stage, albeit, reluctantly. They could the feel the piercing eyes, fangs brandished in the incandescent lighting the torches gave, a few feet rustled here and there.

"This one", the per master pulled a female human with black hair that almost reached her waist,it was obvious from how she looked that she had been in the pet shop for months if not years because her hair had lost its shine even though it was still beautiful to look at,"she's nineteen",he licked his lips as he added.

"Blood type O+ will suit a noble with high taste",his eyes almost disappeared under his eyelids as he smiled really wide,"$30",he called.

"$50",a voice called from the audience.

"$80", another chimed in.

"She hasn't been touched",the pet master added grinning.

"$120",another vampire budded.

They kept going on and on until most of the slaves were being bought off.

Sebastian went out of the hall and returned to his room,he felt quite out of place even though he itched to make a bid but he would never try that,his father would tie him to a pole and leave him to burn in the sun for tarnishing his royal image. He walked to the closet in his room and removed the folded hammock then taking it down with him through the back door of the castle's kitchen. On his way out, he saw a few guards who quickly bowed realizing it was him and opened the rear gate for him to head out to the seashore. It would be unwise for him to step out into the water,he knew and understood that basic survival tip; no salt water is beneficial to a vampire's skin just in the same vein as silver will never be a vampire's prized possession.

He tied the hammock to the two coconut trees who stood a few feet apart from each other and then climbed into it. He preferred this,the breeze, the noiseless universe where he won't have to listen to other vampires talk and go on and on about blood meals or sex or getting new pets. He thought of what I'd feel like to be able to have unlimited power and also be able to control the minds of others and read them too. He chuckled as he stared at the motif ahead of him;the night sky that lay blank without the usual stars.

He fiddled with his hair as he lay staring at the sky and then his super sharp ears picked up the sound of something grunting maybe hitting the shores as the waves brought it in closer to the shore. He sat up immediately and turned to look at the sand that stretched out ahead of him and just before he could turn away as nothing had happened that seemed out of the ordinary or even the voice that seemed to cease,he saw it. Clearly.

The bag hit the shores again as the waves pushed it in, he walked carefully and he bent over the package that had arrived before dragging it inland.The smell that came from the bag, he couldn't put a finger on it. It smelt like peonies and like fresh blood at the same time. He hurriedly clawed at the bag, he winced in pain as the salt water ate at his skin. He was about to cut the rope that was tied around the bag, Sebastian knew he had to hurry up, he cut the bag open with his nails which had elongated from his right hand. "Sebastian?", a voice called and he could perfectly tell who that was. It was Grimbald,his father.

"What are you doing, Sebastian?",his father questioned him as he stared with a bored expression on his face,"I...I'm just looking for....", Sebastian stuttered,"shells", he grinned and retorted, "shells at this time of the night?. You left the hall", his father said and the stare he gave him felt like it bore into his skull and he subconsciously grimaced.

"Come in", his father said as he jogged to where his father stood. The man placed his arm on his shoulder and steered him towards the path leading back to the house although, Sebastian left the beach side he glanced at where the bag that washed up lay and wondered if he'd at least somehow managed to save whatever was in there before his father apparated with him into the hall.

"Keep an eye on him".

.