At the mention of her, Eve had let out a tiny whimper of despair. Eve was just eighteen, and Belle had loved her the moment she was born and had treated her like the precious, delicate flower she was. Though her sister was a bit selfish at times, Belle loved her anyway, as everyone had their flaws.
Belle's heart clenched. "Is she sick?" She reached for her, but her sister only curled in tighter against their parents, her shoulders trembling as she cried into her handkerchief.
Her mother sniffled. "Not sick, but… she hasn't eaten since this morning. She barely had a minute's afternoon nap. Your father received a letter from his cousin, His Majesty, this morning stating that his beautiful daughter, who is obviously Eve everyone talks about, shall be prepared to marry into Nightbrook. She will marry the Mad Vampire of Nightbrook in two weeks from now... The news is destroying her, and your father and I are at a loss as we can't go against His Majesty."
Belle's breath caught. The Mad Vampire. The very same vampire whose name and history had spread across Aragonia when he killed his parents, the rulers of Nightbrook, and was sent to an asylum for it. The gruesome tale was so terrifying that mothers told it to their children to keep them obedient.
It was every girl's nightmare to be married to a creature who lived on blood. Vampires were repulsive and disgusting to humans, who would give anything to end their existence, and her delicate sister would be married into the land as the first human bride to a mad vampire. Eve would never survive it.
Her mother's hand reached across the space between them, clasping hers tightly. "We were so relieved when they asked for Eve instead of you, my love. We were ready to fight it, but what choice do we have?"
Belle's lips parted, but her father spoke before she could.
"We just… don't know how to save her. His Majesty wants her to marry into the vampire land for the sake of our people. They needed an inside eye in the land to study the vampires' weaknesses so we can finally defeat them and rid the world of filth. For years, we have been unable to defeat them in battles and stop them from taking our people as their food source and slaves. We can't live in fear of them forever, so now His Majesty has decided to bind the lands with ours by marrying Eve to them. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. We need someone to study them and report to us..."
For years, no human in their right sense from Aragonia had stepped foot into Nightbrook or been anywhere near the vampires, but many times, families had gone missing, and children had been secretly taken away from their lands and into Nightbrook to breed them into humans who supply them with blood. There had been many attacks by the rogue vampires in the lands close to the borders. The people of Aragonia had had enough of the bloodsuckers and wanted to wipe them all out. This was a great opportunity to do so.
"His Majesty had chosen Eve, but I do not believe she is capable of doing it or marrying him. He is mad..."
Her father's voice was weary, the sound of a man burdened by fate. But the shift in his gaze—brief, calculating—went unnoticed by Belle.
"Why the Mad Vampire, Papa, if they wanted to seal a peace treaty through marriage? What about the princes and princesses of Aragonia and Nightbrook? Wouldn't it have been better if it was between royals?" Belle asked with a confused frown.
Her father looked almost annoyed at the question but then sighed and answered, "His Majesty isn't giving away his only daughter, who has already been promised in marriage. That's why he asked for Eve. And since we are not offering a royal, the vampires won't offer any of their princes either. The only man related to the Nightbrook royal family is the Mad Vampire. A marriage with him would be just as significant as a marriage with their prince. After all, he was once a prince—until he killed his parents."
That part scared Belle more, someone who had killed his parents would surely not hesitate to kill his wife, especially when the woman he was marrying was human.
Her mother squeezed her hand. "If Eve stays here, she'll waste away from fear. You see it, don't you, Belle?"
Belle's throat ached. She did see it. Her sister looked hollowed out, her hands trembling in her lap. She looked paler than normal, and her green eyes could barely stay open as she squeezed out tears.
Her mother inhaled shakily. "And we love you both, we do. But she's—" she paused and smiled softly as she turned to Eve. "She's too beautiful and delicate. She can't marry into Nightbrook."
Belle nodded slowly, as if the words made perfect sense. Of course. Her sister had always been softer, more fragile, more beautiful, and more precious. She wished she could be that to her parents as well. She wished there was something she could do to make them want to protect her the way they were protecting Eve.
Her father sighed again, the weight of the world in his tone. "If only there was another way."
A silence stretched, heavy and expectant.
And then Belle understood. Perhaps this was the moment to make them proud of her, the moment to show them how much they meant to her. She had not thought about her marriage proposal from Jamie and her love for him as she spoke those words. She had not even thought about her own happiness and future.
"I—" She looked at her sister, who wouldn't even meet her eyes. "If I… If I took her place…"
Her mother flinched, as if the idea was too painful to bear. "Oh, no, no, my love. We could never ask that of you."
We could never ask. But they already had, and she could not turn them down.
Belle licked her lips anxiously. "But if I did… she wouldn't have to go. I am more older and more capable of taking care of myself and studying the vampires. I can be of more help to Aragonia."
Her father's fingers tapped against the armrest. One, two, three. Then a slow calculation passed his eyes before his face softened into something almost fatherly. He looked at her with eyes he had never looked at her with, soft and kind, like a father would his child.
"We would never stop you from making your own choices, Isabelle."
Her mother touched her cheek tenderly, a gesture so rare it sent a painful warmth through her chest and brought tears to her eyes. "You are our strong girl. We trust you, my dear. You will not only be saving our family's honor but also protecting many people in Aragonia who would otherwise become prey to those bloodsuckers."
Her father nodded. "We're proud of you."
A lump formed in her throat. The words hit deeper than they should have.
Proud.
When had he ever said that before?
The answer was simple. Never.
And suddenly, she was desperate to keep hearing it. She would do anything for as long as they would be proud and look at her the way they were doing now. This marriage would only be temporary. All she needed to do was study them until she found a weakness to report to her people and then they would come for her and end the bloodsuckers lives. They were monsters after all and all monster belong in hell.
She clenched her fists and smiled determinedly. "Then… I'll do it. I will marry into the land in place of Eve. His Majesty did not pick a name, and no one would know Eve had been picked, not me."
Her mother gasped, covering her mouth. Her father let out a quiet exhale, the tension in his shoulders finally loosening.
Belle mistook it for grief.
But it was relief on their part. And since then, she had not tried to talk herself out of it because she was determined to make her family proud for the first time. Not until the morning of the wedding, when she overheard her sister and her group of friends discussing how naive she was to quickly jump to marry a dreadful creature.
"Belle has always been a fool, you know, and I love her for it. She's my favorite. Imagine if she was beautiful and smart; I would have to share everything with her. Tsk, poor Isabelle doesn't know what she has gotten herself into."
They'd burst into laughter like it was something funny, and Belle had clenched her fingers against her dress. She had not thought she was doing something wrong until that moment. She had wanted to back out, but since the day she'd promised her parents she would marry in place of her sister, they had treated her with so much love that it warmed her.
She wasn't doing this for Eve alone; she was doing it for her parents and people, for her land. She would be the greatest coward if she backed out now after she had gone through the lesson of spying. Her family, who had shown her love these past few days, would hate her more for it. What choice did she have? She had sent a letter to Jamie and broken his heart by telling him she would be marrying into Nightbrook. If she did not go on with this, she would have nothing even if she stayed back.
She would not marry Jamie or anyone and have to live with her family hating her for breaking their trust and being selfish. The only option she had now was to go on with this marriage and have a purpose in life.
Belle told herself those words over and over again as she walked down the stairs into the hall of her marriage ceremony. She could not back out now; she had to go on and give her life to fate. She had to do this for Aragonia, but nothing she said gave her confidence or courage.
Normally, in a marriage hall, there used to be music and laughter and words of compliments as the bride walked down to her groom and in-laws, but at her wedding, there was only a tense, heavy silence with a suffocating atmosphere that made her footsteps sound loud in the quiet hall.
She had her veil concealing her face, but that did not stop her from feeling the hostility in the air. This had nothing to do with her or the fact that she and her family had committed treason by cheating the king with the fake daughter, but the fact that the two kinds had never been in one space before—perhaps they had, but not in one space to celebrate, only to shed blood and kill each other.