Chapter 24

24 Will She Turn?

The servants’ quarter had two separate buildings for men and women. Both the buildings were two-storied. And Tilla’s room was on the ground floor, at the very end of the corridor.

Caspian and Anastasia were led by a maid to Tilla’s room. She knocked and opened the door for the King and Queen to enter.

Anastasia slowly peeked inside the room from the door, fearing that she would see Tilla in a very pitiful state. And the moment she saw that Tilla was sleeping peacefully, she pulled her hand from Caspian’s hold and then rushed inside.

Caspian also followed behind her.

Anastasia sat on Tilla’s bed as softly as she could but Tilla felt the mattress sink in a bit and was instantly awoken.

“Princess... are you okay?” that was the first thing Tilla asked the moment her gaze fell on Anastasia’s tear-filled eyes.

Anastasia gently took Tilla’s palm in her hand and then nodded her head. “I’m okay. I’m okay... What about you?” She glanced at Tilla’s neck and found two puncture wounds that had been stitched up. And she asked, “Does it hurt?”

Tilla wrinkled her nose and pinched her fingers to gesture, “Just a little.” She gave a reassuring smile to Anastasia and said, “Other than that I am fine.”

Caspian went and stood by Anastasia’s side to inspect Tilla. And Tilla abruptly prepared to get up to greet the King.

.....

Caspian waved off his hand and ordered, “No, it’s fine. You don’t have to. I just wanted to see what my wife’s best friend looked like. I wanted to remember your face.”

Tilla didn’t know how to respond to that so she gave an awkward smile to the King and averted her gaze to look at Anastasia. And Anastasia awkwardly pointed her brows at Caspian, then wrinkled her nose and gently shook her head as if to say, ‘Don’t mind him.’

Tilla smiled and nodded because she understood even when no words were spoken.

Caspian furrowed his brows and pouted because he felt as though he was being excluded from the conversation. And he complained like a baby, “Do the two of you have some kind of sign language or something? Wife, why are you having a secret conversation right in front of me? Are you back... front-biting about me?”

Anastasia lightly face-palmed herself and chuckled. She turned to look at Caspian and teasingly replied, “Husband! I am not ‘back-front-biting’ about you.” She then gently pushed him aside and asked, “Will you let me have a private talk with her, please?”

Caspian rolled his eyes and turned to face away from them. But didn’t move an inch further away from where he was standing before. And he smiled to himself because Anastasia had referred to him as ‘husband’ for the very first time.

Tilla was raising her brows and was watching the two of them bantering like new lovers. And she wondered what happened between them overnight.

Tilla then looked at Anastasia and silently moved her lips to ask, “What happened between you two?”

And Anastasia replied in a similar fashion, “Nothing! I’m just being nice to him.”

Caspian was focusing his ears very hard but he could not even hear a little breath. ‘They sure know how to talk stealthily. I’m damn sure that they are talking about me.’ He was itching to complain again but he bit his lower lip and kept quiet.

“So, who is looking after you?” Anastasia wanted to know if someone reliable was there to take care of Tilla’s needs or not.

“The maid who opened the door earlier is taking care of me. She is really nice to me so you don’t have to worry.” Tilla glanced at Caspian and back at Anastasia, and silently said, “She is a human.”

Anastasia smiled and nodded, “I know. And what about the food?”

Tilla tightened her grip on Anastasia’s palm and reassured her, “They are feeding me healthy foods. I will recover in no time. Don’t worry so much.”

Anastasia smiled and gently caressed Tilla’s dark hair. “Is there anything that you need? Or anything that I can help you with? If there is then feel free to tell me.”

“No, there isn’t.” But a frown line appeared on Tilla’s forehead and she asked, “Although there was something that I wanted to ask. That vampire didn’t hurt you after I fainted, did he?”

Anastasia patted Tilla’s palm and replied, “No.” She stole a glance of Caspian and said, “His Majesty came to the rescue just in time. And he has already punished the criminal. You don’t have to fear that vampire anymore.”

Tilla let out a great sigh of relief. She was more than happy to know that she had managed to buy just enough time for Anastasia to escape from that vampire unscathed.

Tilla then opened her mouth to ask something but she decided against it and pressed her lips back together.

However, she asked it anyway after Anastasia pressured her to ask what was in her mind. “Umm...” she toned down her voice a bit and asked, “Will you ask His Majesty if I will turn into a vampire or not? Isn’t the vampire bite supposed to turn humans into vampires?”

Tilla had been consumed by this thought ever since she regained her consciousness. She feared that she was also going to turn into one of the same monsters that terrorized her and Anastasia. And she feared that she would try to harm Anastasia just like that vampire tried to harm them.

But Tilla didn’t have the courage to ask if she would turn into a vampire to anyone else.

Anastasia glanced at Caspian, who was still turning away, expecting him to give an answer to Tilla’s question. She knew that he was hearing the question perfectly well.

But Caspian pretended not to have heard it and kept on glancing out of the window.

So Anastasia finally asked him, “Caspian, is Tilla going to turn into a vampire?”

Caspian smirked because he was now needed by his wife. He turned around to face her and asked as if he didn’t know why they were having that thought, “Why would she turn into a vampire?”

“Sh-She was bitten by one so... Isn’t that how one turns into a vampire?” Anastasia creased her brows seeing the blank look on Caspian’s face.

Caspian gave a light chuckle and gave her a piece of advice, “Anastasia, you shouldn’t believe everything that you hear from rumors. Rumors reach your ears after being modified countless times. So there will be a vast difference between rumors and reality.”

“So, she won’t turn into a vampire?” Anastasia asked again just to reconfirm.

Caspian nodded and further clarified, “Yes, she will not turn. Vampires aren’t turned, they are born just like humans. But the birth rate is very low as compared to the humans.”

“Oh! I didn’t know that. Thank you!” Anastasia gave a smile to Caspian and turned to give one to Tilla as well. And she happily said to her handmaid, “You heard him. You don’t have to fret over it anymore.”

Tilla let out a huge sigh of relief. She had already planned to take her own life than turn into a monster that could potentially kill her best friend.