Claimed by the vampire prince

Chapter 490: Chapter 490

"I am not justifying it," she said. "I am telling you the truth. Azul tormented me. He blackmailed me. He threatened to destroy my reputation. Tonight he tried to take my body by force. I reached my limit. I chose to fight back."

Jayran laughed and it was a harsh, ugly sound. "So you decided to kill him instead?"

He clearly didn’t believe her and even if he did, he was too angry to see reason.

"I decided to stop him from hurt me and others," she corrected, her tone sharp for the first time. "Something no one else have done before now."

For a moment, the only sound in the room was Jayran’s heavy breathing. His hands were still clenched, knuckles white. The image of Azul impaled kept flashing in his mind. It made him want to wrap his hands around Elka’s throat.

He turned away from her abruptly, pacing a few steps before wheeling back. freēwēbnovel.com

"You have no idea what you’ve done," he said, voice low and venomous. "He is my brother. My twin. And you... you..."

He couldn’t finish the sentence. The fear and panic once again took over.

Elka watched him carefully, like he might unexpectedly burst into flames. She knew she was walking a very thin line.

"I know what I’ve done," she said after a beat, softer now. "And I know the risk I’m taking by speaking to you like this. I have faith that you will at least consider my reasons for doing what I did and listen to what I have to say before you toss me to the wolves. Because you are not your brother, your highness. You are not the kind of man who enjoys breaking women for sport. If you were, you would have already called the guards."

Jayran stopped pacing and stared at her.

Finally, Jayran dragged a hand down his face, his shoulders stiff with tension.

"I should hand you over right now," he muttered. "I should let my mother deal with you."

"But you haven’t," Elka replied calmly.

He shot her a dangerous look. "Don’t push me."

Elka nodded once, acknowledging the warning. She wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, composing herself again.

When they finally saved Azul, she wondered what story Jayran would tell others? That a princess tried to murder a prince in cold blood? Or something else entirely.

Jayran’s scowl remained in place.

"Both of you will stay in this room until I decide what to do with you. If Azul dies tonight, I cannot promise you will see morning. But if he lives, we will talk again."

It was more than she could ask for.

"As you wish." Elka said.

Jayran gave her one last cold look, then turned and left the room, locking the door behind him once more.

As the sound of his footsteps faded, Elka finally let out a shaky breath. She closed her eyes for a moment, heart still pounding.

Olena whispered from the corner, voice trembling, "Your Highness, what are we going to do?"

Elka opened her eyes, staring at the locked door. "We wait."

The next morning the door opened without warning.

Elka and Olena were both on their feet before Jayran had fully stepped inside. They were both exhausted since neither of them had gotten any sleep last night. They had heard nothing from him since he’d locked the door. Just the long, slow drag of hours with nothing but their thoughts to keep them company.

Jayran looked like he hadn’t slept either. His clothes were the same ones from the night before, wrinkled and stained at the cuff. There was something hollowed out in his face, the fury from last night had worn down a fraction. He closed the door behind him and folded his arms across his chest, planting himself in front of it.

Olena pressed close to the wall again. Her eyes moved between Jayran and Elka with the look of someone bracing for the worst.

Elka stepped forward.

She had spent the entire night thinking of a solution to her predicament. She had turned the situation over and over until she found a useful angle she could exploit, and now she moved toward Jayran with the documents she found clutched in one hand.

He watched her with a flat, unreadable expression.

"Azul is alive," he said. "The physicians don’t know yet how much damage was done internally. He hasn’t regained consciousness. But he made it through the night."

She had wanted him dead and yet he was still alive.

Disappointment speared through Elka but she didn’t allow it to show on her face.

"I haven’t spoken to my mother. Or anyone else." He said.

But that could change— was the part he left unsaid.

She understood what he wasn’t saying. That decision was still in his hands.

He might have been furious at her for harming Azul but he was still the most reasonable and levelheaded of his brothers. He wasn’t the type to simply act brashly without properly evaluating the situation first.

Elka had no allies inside these walls. She had no leverage over the queen. She had no way to force Jayran’s silence. But she had something else and she had thought very carefully about whether to use it.

"I know you’re deciding what to do with me," she said. "I’m not going to beg you. That’s not why I’m speaking to you. I want to make you an offer."

Jayran’s expression didn’t change, but he didn’t interrupt her either. frёewebnoѵēl.com

"I know where your loyalties are," she said. "Not with your mother. Not with Hairan but with Ragnar."

Something imperceptible shifted behind his eyes.

"I spent years moving through high society before my marriage," Elka continued. "I was careful about who I aligned myself with and why. There are nobles who owe me favors — real ones that could be valuable in a time of need. Men and women with influence." She kept her voice even, deliberate. "They would support for Ragnar too if I appealed to them."

"You’re telling me you have amassed a number of powerful allies."

"Allies who trust me. And who haven’t pledged their support to Hairan yet, which is more important. I am not asking for your protection out of desperation. I am telling you that I can be useful to you. To Ragnar. And that what happened on that balcony last night does not need to leave this room."

"In exchange for what?" he asked.

"In exchange for walking out of here with Olena unharmed and for you to keep our involvement in Azul’s accident from reaching the queen." She paused. "That’s all I’m asking."

Then she held out the documents to him.

His eyes dropped to the papers, then back up to her face.

"What is that?"

"I found them here yesterday." She kept her arm extended. "Proof that your brother is involved in the rebellion. Him and Yannick Tavish. There are records here and I’m sure you will be able to find even more evidence if you search the rest of the house."

Jayran unfolded his arms slowly. He took the documents from her hand and looked down at the first page.

He turned to the second page. Then the third.

After a while, Jayran looked up from the documents.

"If this is real," he said slowly, "then my brother was working against the crown."

"Yes."

"I want the names of your so-called allies." He said. "I want to know exactly who you’re offering before I agree to anything."

"I’ll give them to you," Elka said. "Every name."

"I need to verify these." He gestured to the stack of evidence in his hand.

"I expected that."

He looked at her sharply, as if searching her face for any falsehoods. He didn’t seem to find it.

"You’ll leave here quietly," Jayran said at last, his voice low and final. "No one hears a word about last night. Not from you, not from her." He glanced at Olena. "As far as anyone is concerned, you two were never here. If my mother asks what happened to Azul, I will say that he leaned too far on the balcony rail while he was drunk and he lost his balance and fell."

"Thank you. I’m grateful." The tension that was trapped inside her eased, replaced by overwhelming relief

"I am not doing this for your sake." He sneered at the look of relief on her face. "Just make sure that your allies are as reliable as you said they are."

"I understand,"

He finally stepped aside from the door.

"Grab everything that belongs to you. Leave not even a strand of hair behind," he said. "I will talk you two back to the palace."

Olena’s voice was barely above a whisper as she and Elka followed Jayran out of the house through a deserted entrance different from the one they used yesterday. "Do you think he’ll keep his word?" She asked.

Elka answered just as quietly, "I think he wants Ragnar on the throne badly enough that he might."