Conquering His Cold Heart

23 Sunlight

“You look... breathtaking.”

Anastasia blushed a little after hearing that sincere praise from her husband. “I’m flattered,” she whispered with a gentle nod.

Caspian would have loved to keep on gazing at his beautiful wife. But he couldn’t keep her from meeting the one person he knew that she deeply cared about. He walked to Anastasia’s side and held out his hand in a gentlemanly manner. “Come. Let’s go and visit your handmaid.”

“Yes, please.” Anastasia lightly placed her hand over his palm and got up on her feet. After she straightened the pleats of her gown, Caspian lend his arm for her to hold.

Anastasia tucked her palm on his forearm as lightly as she could. She was barely touching the creases of his coat.

But Caspian firmly pressed her palm down on his forearm and pulled her close. He looked down at the Queen whose height barely came up to his shoulder and smirked. “You don’t need to be so careful when touching your own husband, Anna.”

Anastasia looked up to steal a glance of Caspian and instantly looked away.

Caspian gave a soft chuckle and led her out of her room.

Anastasia’s room was on the first floor of the building. On that floor, there were rooms on one side of the corridor while the other side had walls with small windows. But the windows were always covered with thin curtains even during the day. So the light was a little scarce in the corridor.

.....

In the fantasy books that Anastasia had read and the folk tales that she had heard from Tilla, vampires were often portrayed as night creatures who were vulnerable to the sun and holy objects.

And looking at the corridor right now, she couldn’t help but wonder if that was true. ‘I wonder if the sun hurts him.’

Caspian slowly led Anastasia down the stairs. The corridor alongside the central courtyard of the castle had huge columns and an open view on the sides facing the courtyard.

The bright sunlight harshly fell on Anastasia’s face and shoulders. She turned to look at Caspian but he was calmly walking in the shadow that was just enough for him. ‘Is he deliberately avoiding the sun? Does the sunlight kill him?’ Anastasia felt very uncomfortable because her curiosity was killing her.

“What is it, Anna? You want to ask me something?” Caspian could tell that Anastasia was fretting about something as she was constantly looking at his hands and his feet.

Anastasia nodded her head and spoke in a soft voice, “Not to be rude, but I wanted to know if the sun is harmful to you. I had heard that the sun ki- umm... it...” she went quiet as she couldn’t bring herself to say the word.

Caspian’s lips curled up in amusement when he got to know that she was worried about him being in the sunlight.

They were already near the back exit of the central wing of the Kilerth Castle. Both of them got out of the building and went out in the bright sun.

Anastasia was holding her breath and her eyes were glued to Caspian’s face that was being hit by the direct sunlight. She was worried that something bad would happen to him because of her demand to see Tilla.

He gently patted her palm and teasingly reassured her, “The mere sunlight won’t kill your mighty husband, Anna. Nor does it kill any other vampires.”

Anastasia let out the breath that she was holding in and whispered, “The folk tales are a little misleading then. That’s good to hear.”

“Is my wife worried about me?” Caspian asked with a whimsical grin on his face as he began leading Anastasia along the narrow path of the backyard that had huge Wentworth elms trees on either side.

Anastasia tightened her grip on his coat’s sleeve and agreed without missing a beat, “Of course I am. I had heard that vampires would burn to their death in the sunlight. And I haven’t seen a single vampire along our walk. So isn’t it a given that I would be worried?”

Caspian felt a tingle in his heart upon hearing that reply. He couldn’t help but lovingly gaze at that intriguing woman of his.

Every vampire in the land knew how invincible Caspian was and nobody ever showed their concern for his safety. And for him to have someone worry about his safety felt nice for a change.

They took a right turn to head towards the servant quarter that was located at the east side of the castle compound.

Caspian held out his free palm to feel the sunlight that fell on him every now and then through the gaps of the trees. And he shared, “The sunlight causes us a little discomfort. Our normal body temperature is quite lower and the sudden warmth from the sun stings a little.”

“That is one of the reasons why you won’t see many vampires roaming around in the daylight. And the other reason is that we don’t walk.” Caspian was making sure that he wasn’t walking too fast for Anastasia.

Anastasia suddenly remembered him flying on the first night that she met him. So she asked to quench her curiosity, “Can all of the vampires fly as you do?”

Caspian puffed his chest a little and praised himself, “No, your husband is the special one.”

Anastasia blinked twice because she was pretty sure that all of them could fly. “Then how did we not see that culprit approaching us? All Tilla and I felt was a breeze.” Anastasia clutched the side of her gown with her free hand.

Caspian couldn’t blame his human wife who had never seen a vampire before in her life for not knowing anything about his kind.

So he briefed some things for her, “Just like humans, we vampires also have several bloodlines. And our abilities differ depending on our bloodline. The flight and telekinesis power of mine are unique to my nobility. Apart from me, my aunt Edith and her son also have those abilities.”

“And as for the other vampires, they all can run at a great speed, almost undetectable by human eyes. So, all you feel as they pass by will be a gust of wind. I can also run like that, obviously.” Caspian gave a boastful grin again.

Anastasia was listening very attentively to what he was saying. She had to know about the vampires if she was to survive in the castle full of them.

‘Telekinesis? So he was the one who had pulled me that day?’ Anastasia remembered the time she was pulled towards Caspian by some unseen force. ‘Lady Edith has a son. And vampires can run like wind...’ she repeated the gist of what Caspian told him in her mind.

She wanted to ask other things as well but they were already in front of the servant quarter.

The maids and servants were bowing their heads to the King and Queen who had graced them with their visit in their quarter.

So Anastasia thought of asking further questions later on. Now that she was in the servant quarter, she was eager to see Tilla with her own eyes.