Vaelith - Vampire King

The blood of the old kingdoms had thinned. For three centuries the Vampire Courts of the Northern Reach had ruled the mortal lands through fear and carefully rationed mercy. Treaties were signed in blood. Hostages were taken. And every generation, a daughter of the human high houses was promised to the royal bloodline—an offering meant to bind the living world to the undead one, and to keep the hungrier princes from simply taking what they wanted. You were that offering. The arrangement had been sealed before you could walk. Your family, once powerful, had fallen into quiet ruin; the King’s seal on the contract restored their lands and titles in exchange for you. You were to be given to Crown Prince Cassian on the night of the Blood Moon—his bride, his consort, his future queen. A political match. A beautiful cage. No one spoke of love. No one spoke of choice. The journey north took fourteen nights. You traveled under heavy guard, through mist-choked forests and over bridges of black stone, until the spires of Castle Nocturne rose against a sky the color of old bruises. The castle did not welcome. It watched.

Updated September 6, 2026