Golden houses flashed by the window, until they eventually disappeared and the darkness of yet another tunnel took over. The past week we've driven through half of the clans and now we were on our way to the next one. Whatever was waiting there, wasn't going to be a surprise. The clans were practically cloned from the royal one. They had the same fancy golden set up, except for the palace of course. The only things that varied were the difference between drinking animal and human blood and the rocky walls of the lairs, in every clan they were painted to represent a different climate.

The people on the other hand, seemed to live the same lives everywhere, or rather, the life that was decided for them. I read about it in the King's journals and apparently it was true. When a vampire was turned or reached adulthood, equal to twenty one years as a human, their jobs and lives were chosen for them based on their bloodline, which again, weren't up to them. Because when they came of age, it was also decided who was allowed to have children and who wasn't. If someone was allowed to have children, the amount and the partner they had to make them with were chosen for them as well. That was only to strengthen the bloodline, so they were free to date other people. Monogamy was rare in this kingdom.

The measures were taken as a means of population control, as they could only have so many lairs before crossing into other territories, but the whole thing seemed kind of cruel. Especially, since vampires who didn't abide by the life that was chosen for them were killed, and so were children who weren't allowed to be born. However, the people abided to it, some out of fear, but most out of habit. Royals didn't have to stick to the rules, which explained why Haimon was alone, although eventually he did have to choose someone who could strengthen his bloodline like his father did before him.

What a happy marriage that was, particularly during dinners.

Yes, I heard that conversation. I could hear everything. In that moment I even pitied him, because even though he was an absolute idiot and I had the urge to kill him most of the time, he was the victim of his upbringing and surroundings, something he didn't have the power to fight back against, so he couldn't really be blamed for not doing it. He constantly reeked of anxiety and I might as well give him two weeks of rest to see if he was actually good for something and had the ability to be less annoying before possibly wiping his kingdom from existence.

Kenzo and Drew were currently training the new clan leaders as some of them had no ruling experience. Zuri and Liam were two of them, who were probably two of the only vampires capable of doing the job, although the training might've been in vain.

The choice was a tricky one. Not to mention that Earth wanted me to make it as well on top of the generals, which caused me to have an aversion against the whole thing. Being told what to do and obeying it wasn't something I did. But in this case I had to make a choice anyway, otherwise the generals or one of their loyal men would simply press a button and randomly wipe one out from some hidden bunker and I wasn't going to let those incompetent fucks decide anything.

Which was why figuring out the investigation was incredibly important. I knew that Mr. Scaevitas didn't have the capacity to figure it out, besides I didn't trust anyone with it but myself. The stakes were at an all-time high and there was no room for mistakes anymore. I had to figure it out, and I had to do it correctly and quickly, which meant opening my father's casefile. For some reason, I couldn't. The only thing I could do was stare at it.

Such a weak little bitch.

I rolled my eyes while thinking about it. What was so difficult about it? I just had to man the fuck up and open it, because time was running out. But trying to open that file was even harder than trying to eat, sleep or shower. It was impossible. 

It frustrated me to the core. I couldn't fail anew. Only two times had I failed in my life, only two time had I truly been weak and the consequences were unimaginable. Never again.

"Iola? You're breaking the car." Haimon noted.

"Right." I mumbled, letting go of the door, seeing I had bended the whole thing.

He eyed me up and down, raising his eyebrows. "What on earth were you thinking about?"

"Life."

"Didn't go how we expected it to, huh?" 

"Nope." I blurted out wide eyed, while staring ahead of me.

A nice silence filled the car and I leaned my head against the window, ignoring Haimon's not so subtle glances from time to time. All I had to do was sit back and wait for his curiosity to get the better of him.

Eventually he turned to me. "Can I ask you something? I've been meaning to for a while."

"Sure. As long as you're not going to propose." I frowned after turning to him.

"Why?" 

I sighed. "Why what?" 

His gaze fell to the floor. "Why did you help me? I'm sure I didn't deserve it, but you did anyway."

"They annoyed me." I shrugged.

Most of this kingdom did.

"That's it?" He tilted his head.

"Yes."

Was I going to tell him I also slightly did it to get him out of that toxic environment to see his true potential? Absolutely not. And was I going to tell him about the fact that might influence the choice of whether or not I would annihilate his entire kingdom to finally put an end to the never ending tension and wars? Hell no.

He shot me a small smile and leaned forward to see if we were close to the next clan already. Luckily for him and me, we were. Not long after the darkness of the tunnel faded away and revealed a new lair, where once again, everything was gold. The stone walls of the lair were painted to mimic dunes and a scorching sun, which was ironic when you thought about it.

"I have to warn you. Jeff came from this clan, they're not going to be happy because of the way you killed him." Haimon spoke up again, while sitting up straight in the car.

Raising an eyebrow, I pondered. "I burned his soul, didn't I?"

"I'm sorry, you did what?!" He looked at me appalled, blinking a couple times.

"What?" I snapped my head to him and shrugged. "It was deserved."

The hate and fear radiated through the air as soon as we drove over the main road. Foxglove was right, I had made enemies and allies by winning the conquest and it didn't surprise me. So far most of the clans were pretty satisfied with me becoming queen, although pretty much all of them were scared out of their minds. The ones left despised me, reasonably so, I had killed some family members and their leaders. It would've been weird if they were completely fine with it.

I let them hate me. Getting hated on or bullied wasn't anything new. I didn't let it get to me then, mostly because of my father, and I didn't fucking care for it anymore now. It didn't even matter if they liked me or not, what mattered was whether or not they followed their kings and they did, for the bigger part at least.

Besides everyone's opinions would constantly change anyway. The crowd that applauded my coronation was the same crowd that was going to applaud my beheading. People liked a show. A long time ago I learned that the only thing measuring my worth based on their opinions would bring me, was misery.

Sensing a particular rage at the back of crowd that had gathered behind the right barriers, it was only a matter of time before the golden dagger enlaced with diamonds would find its way into the car. Altering its course so it wouldn't land in Haimon's head, it landed between us instead.

The car stopped immediately and a young, blond haired woman jumped over the barrier, pushing herself through the line of guards. Haimon was still looking wide eyed at the dagger in the middle seat and I rolled my eyes while pulling it out. 

Haimon stopped me as I moved to get out of the car. "We're outnumbered by thousands here. Don't set them off, they're likely to beat us."

They were likely to beat him.

I glared at him and rolled my eyes. "I'd like to see them try." 

The crowd was cheering on the rebellious woman and started to join in on the fun by fighting the guards. When the car door swung open with force and my leather knee-high boot accompanied by the rest of my armor touched the ground, everyone stopped and silence took over. The other boot soon followed and I appeared from behind the door.

Using the air and controlling the metal the door was made of, I closed it behind me with a subtle motion of my fingers. I did it a little too harshly, because the whole car moved a couple meters to the left. Those tires would have some flat spots now.

The woman revealed another dagger, while I spun the first one between my fingers, flipping it afterwards. She charged at me with a large battle cry, holding the dagger high in front of her. The crowd held their breaths. I admired her guts, but she was fighting a losing battle. 

I stepped aside in a swift but casual manner and yanked the dagger out of her hand. Turning around before she did, I loosely lifted the daggers in front of me, causing them to point to the ground. Her eyes widened as the gold started to drip, and before she could fathom what was going on, two puddles of liquid gold and loose diamonds had formed on the ground.

Enraged, she ran towards me again. I rolled my eyes, grabbed her by the neck, covering it in liquid gold, and yeeted her away, causing her to fall on her back.

Realizing she couldn't beat me, she stomped her hands and feet onto the ground and yelled, ignoring her burned neck. "You killed my brother!"

Everyone snapped their heads to me like they were watching a tennis match, waiting for my response.

"And he killed Sauron." I stated blankly.

"It was just a dog!" She screamed while she got back on her feet again.

Wicked laughter escaped my lips when I took a step forward. "Tell me. What makes you think his life was worth more than a dog's life?"

"I-" Her eyes widened, her body stiffening on the spot.

I stopped next to her ear. "I'll let you in on a little secret. It wasn't. A life is just a life, and being a vampire, human or werewolf doesn't make it more special than the ones of others. And I'm not saying this to hurt you. I know what it's like to have someone you love taken away from you just like that."

"If you didn't say it to hurt me, then why?" She asked, her lips quivering.

"I'm saying it as a reminder. Life is fragile, and going about recklessly, volunteering for stupid shit, living like you're on top of the food chain is something you're going to regret. Because in the end you're not. And by fooling yourself, pretending that you are more than a being on a planet full of beings, you're simply hurting those around you when you get killed because of your own stupidity."

Walking past her to the car, ready to get back in it again, she turned around. "Do you regret killing any of them?"

"Do I regret killing them? No. Do I feel sorry for their families? Yes."

Nobody wanted to lose someone close to them, especially in that kind of way. All those men had family and friends close to them, but they had brought it upon themselves. If I hadn't killed them, one of their kings, probably Valerio, would have done it. They signed up very aware their chances of survival were pretty much equal to zero.

"Aren't you going to apologize for killing them, then?"

"No. They made a choice to volunteer in the conquest, abandoning the people they loved, knowing there was a good chance they were going to die. If anyone should have apologized to their families, it's them." I said before getting back in the car again.

As the car started to drive once more I let out a loud sigh, staring out of the window. The people silently walked off and went back to their homes, while the guards started cleaning everything up peacefully. 

Haimon's amusement rippled past me and I turned to him. "Spit it out."

"That could've gone a lot worse." He smiled. "They might be mad at you, but they're equally as impressed."

"Doubt that." I frowned.

"You stopped a potential riot by simply getting out of the car. And you not killing the woman showed you're not a complete mad queen."

I raised my eyebrows. "That wasn't on purpose."

"That doesn't matter. It showed that your heart is in the right place."

Was my heart in the right place? Honestly, I didn't know anymore and I couldn't linger on it. My crown came with the burden of having to do what needed to be done for the bigger picture.

Looking at him like he was the mad man, I spoke bluntly. "Yeah, I'm not so sure about that."

A genuine smile covered his face. "Well, I refuse to believe otherwise."

That made one of us. Good for you, buddy.

"Why are you so optimistic all of the sudden?" I wondered, shaking my head.

"I'm finally free. And I've got you to thank for that." He laughed.

Well that was something I wasn't used to.

He wasn't off the hook, though. The upcoming weeks would reveal if this was temporary happines or if he was actually going to put his new found freedom to use and define his reign as being different than the others. Only time would tell, and he had little of it.

On our way to the next clan's lair the security seemed to increase more and more the closer we got, which was weird. Less than an hour later we entered it after some heavy fortified silver gates opened. This lair's walls were painted to represent a cold, snowy climate. That's exactly what the inhabitants' demeanors were like too. The atmosphere in here was even grimmer than the previous one. An attack was inevitable and before seeing them I could tell the crowd was armed.

"Prepare to fight." I warned Haimon, before turning to him with a frown. "Or hide."

He nodded, trying to keep his cool, but his feelings told me otherwise. The man was scared as usual. And I wondered what he was making an unnecessary big deal out of this time.

"Which one of the fallen fighters came from this clan?" I asked, while staring out the window.

A particularly large, muscular man was holding a massive sword and he was moving towards the road since there were no barriers or guards here. He wasn't the only buff man, everyone seemed to hit the gym more than usual in this clan.

"None. This clan just doesn't like royalty." He admitted while he sunk further into his seat, trying lower himself below the window.

I raised an eyebrow. "This is the l'Envie de Misère clan?"

He didn't answer, but the look on his face told me enough. This clan had a special note in the archives. Most monarchs refused to visit this one, because they were famous for hurting and  killing royalty. Apparently, after all these years that statement was still accurate. 

They had a solid reason for it in the past, though. Long ago the royals picked this clan to be the perfect experimental one, and experiment on its belonging vampires they did. They did it to try and create better soldiers to increase their chances of winning the next war. But their hunger for power got the better of them and they accidentally went too far. 

It caused them to create a species which could only survive on supernatural blood instead of human or animal blood, in order to have a better chance against the werewolves. What they forgot to take in account however, was that there were no werewolves in the vampire kingdom, which caused the experimental vampires to turn to the next best thing.

Other vampires.

Since the gene was carried on to the next generations, it eventually mutated in such a way that the experimental vampires could only survive on vampire blood and no longer on werewolf blood too. The whole experiment had back fired massively and for some reason the normal vampires weren't able to destroy the other ones, so they decided to isolate the clan all together, which couldn't have helped either. Vampires, mostly guards, started to disappear around the secure borders and adjacent clans to never be seen again.

Now, after Earth knew how long, three people had entered their clan again and those people happened to be two monarchs and a driver, of which two were vampires as well.

"Fantastic." I sighed, while I unbuckled my seat belt. 

We were surrounded by vampires on steroids.

As if on cue, the crowd started to storm towards the car with loud battle cries. An axe flew towards the already busted front window and before anyone could respond I had moved to the front of the car and caught it before it could behead the driver.

"We're never going to make it out of here!" Haimon panicked while desperately holding on to the car.

While I rolled my eyes, the driver floored the pedal to speed to the gates that we could see at the other end of the clan. The chances of the car making it there on its own power however, were pretty slim, so I decided to give it a little boost. It slightly lifted off the ground as I pushed it forward at high speed using air while yeeting vampires in front of the car out of the way. 

"What on earth are you doing?!" Haimon yelled when I climbed on top of the hood of the car.

My hair flew in every direction as I crouched down to look at the confused men. "I'm going to fix something you can't."

With that I stepped on the roof of the car and jumped off it with a high jump when it was about to soar through the gates that had opened just in time. Purple flames erupted from my eyes when I landed on my feet with force and a power surge blasted away from me, knocking the entire clan off their feet, yeeting most of them against the walls.

The whole lair trembled and I sensed that it had effected the others as well, so my hands shot up and I focused, stopping any debris from falling down and repairing the damage that had been done. Meanwhile, the super vamps slowly stood up and tried to shake off the effects of the blast.

"Who's the clan leader around here?" My voice rang through the lair, as my eyes turned back to normal.

The unusual tall and broad man came forward with his sword. A large scar ran from above his left eye, over his nose, to the right side of his chin. His left eye was completely white. He had a short ginger beard, but brown hair and green eyes. He looked like a man in his late twenties, but obviously he was way older.

"Keek wha we hae 'ere fellas! Th' foremaist sole queen o' th' kingdoms." He mocked with his deep, raspy voice and widened arms, before pointing to me with his sword and mockingly taking a bow. "Queen Iola Ashford, such an honour."

Stifled laughter could be heard all around, but I continued unfazed and bored. "And who are you?"

"That doesn't maiter. How come urr ye 'ere?" He wondered while his eyes narrowed and he took a step forward.

"I'm here to make you an offer."