The Vampire's Luna

Chapter 209: How Are You?

"Why do you always keep me in the dark about things?"

Luciver took a slow step forward.

"You would think when things happen in your life, your father should be the first person you would run to."

"I’m sorry." Damien’s voice cracked slightly. There were so many things wrapped in those two words. He was sorry for acting alone. For dragging Luna into the storm. For not trusting the man who had trained him to rule.

Luciver turned toward Luna then, and the sharpness in his features melted just enough to reveal the affection he had learned to carry for her. She was the mother of the heir, the queen of Blood City, and someone who had quietly earned his respect.

"How are you?"

Luna gave a tired but composed smile.

"I’m fine, considering everything going on the past days."

Luciver nodded solemnly. Then, after a moment of silence that crackled with unspoken history, he turned to Damien and said:

"You know this is your uncle’s work, right?"

Luna’s spine straightened subtly.

"Yes...but he is still going to lose." Damien stepped in, his voice hardening. "Luna is the queen. Yes, she may be questioned and given community service or something, but that’s all he can achieve. Is his plan to make the people question her capability as queen? Besides, I am going to take her place for the summons. She has nothing to do with this."

"That’s because Luna is not the one he is attacking, Damien. It’s the unborn child that is under attack."

In that moment, the room seemed to shrink, as if the walls themselves leaned in to hear the consequences of what had just been said.

Luna’s hands flew instinctively to her belly, cradling it protectively as though she could shield the child from the world with her touch alone. Her breath caught, and her lips parted, but no words came at first—only the raw, instinctual terror of a mother.

Damien turned to her, the color draining from his face, his lips parted as though to speak, but no words came either. His gaze dropped to her stomach, as if seeing it for the first time as a looming battlefield.

"What are you saying?" Damien asked.

Luciver didn’t answer directly. Instead, he said, "What do we do to bloodthirsty vampires?"

The question was a knife. Its edge sharpened by centuries of law and bloodshed. Every vampire knew the answer, but it was never something to be said lightly—especially not now. Damien’s face drained of what little color remained.

"No..." he whispered, the denial not yet formed into words.

"What?" Luna demanded, her voice climbing into desperation. "Someone say something!"

"The vampire is killed." Luciver answered, flatly.

Luna’s world tilted, her heart plummeting. "But... it’s... it’s just a child. Not even born yet." Her hand stayed on her belly, as though if she kept touching her child, she could remind everyone in the room that it was still hers, still innocent, still sacred.

"The law stays the same. Whether young or old." Luciver’s eyes were sad now. "And I fear all of this is merely a smokescreen. The baby is Gabriel’s true target."

Luna swayed. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, louder than any courtroom gavel, louder than any roar of war. Her body began to tremble. "Damien..." It was more plea than name, more cry than word.

"If there is no heir, your ascension to the throne will be annulled and Gabriel gets the throne."

Luciver’s words struck with the finality of a death sentence. The temperature in the room plummeted. Luna’s heart stuttered and then took off in a frantic gallop, her hand instantly clamping tighter around the round swell of her belly.

Luna gasped, breath catching painfully in her throat, and her whole body tensed as her breathing turned erratic. The world around her blurred at the edges. She clutched her stomach. Her child. Their child. The heir to Blood City.

The thought of Gabriel winning, of him sitting on the throne, made nausea rise to her throat.

"Moonlight!" Damien was by her side in a flash. His endearment came out in a panic-laced rasp. His hands trembled as they cupped her face, then moved protectively to her arms and belly. She was pale, and trembling.

"Maelis!" he roared, the sound shaking the very windows.

Maelis was in the room in a moment.

"Your Majesty!" he cried, rushing to her side.

"Get Doctor Thessally now!!!" Damien shouted, not even sparing him a glance. His whole world was in his arms, and she was unraveling. He could hear her heartbeat fluttering wildly, and every instinct in him screamed to make it stop—whatever was hurting her, whatever was making her afraid.

Luciver moved closer.

"There is nothing to be afraid of, Luna. Calm yourself."

"My baby. My...my child."

Luciver bent to her eye level. He took her chin in two fingers and tilted her face up, forcing her to meet his eyes. noveldrama

"Do you know why I never objected to your union with Damien?...I mean, a werewolf princess and a vampire prince... I knew it was going to divide the city." He let out a small, bitter breath of truth. "I knew the courts would rebel. That the lords would whisper and the elders would scoff. That even the stars would not shine easy on your reign. But I also knew something else."

His hand gently settled over hers.

"I knew you are strong enough, stubborn enough, willful enough to navigate all storms...You had my respect long before you shut Gabriel down in a roomful of vampire lords." A ghost of a smile passed across Luciver’s face at the memory. She had stood then, radiant in her rebellion. That moment had turned the tides in more ways than one.

"Now is not the time to crumble." He leaned closer. "Now is the time to fight."

The words hit home. Luna’s breathing began to slow.

The child growing inside her was a miracle. She would not let Gabriel steal her legacy.

Luciver’s words seemed to calm her. She was a damned werewolf princess, queen of Blood city. She would be damned if anyone laid a finger on her baby.