Ice in Warm Blood

“ANASTASIA VERA ELLIS.” Queen Apollonia Ellis’s voice echoed in the entire Villa.

I sighed and sat upright on the couch of the game room where I was lounging with the twins.

“What did you do now, baby sis?” Aaron, one of the twins, and my older brother asked. Exactly my question. What had I done this time?

The twins, Aaron and Aiden, were playing video games and were trying to outrun each other. If anyone wanted to know how to spend their weekends in a practical way, then they should ask the twins.

Well, I am not any better.

I shrugged lazily. “Don’t know.”

Getting up from the comfortable and cozy couch was the hardest thing one could do. I dragged my feet to my dad’s office and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” a loud, authoritative voice was heard from across the door.

King Diego Ellis was sitting on his chair with Queen Apollonia on his lap. I sat in front of them, looking at their faces and trying to decipher their emotions.

“Hey dad, hey mom. What have I done this time?” I asked with a wide, lazy grin on my face.

My father cringed, rubbing his temples while my mother glared at me.

“You are a princess and the future queen of vampires, Anastasia. A queen should have elegance and grace in her every action. While look at you… When will you learn to behave like a princess?” Ironically, Queen Apollonia was beginning to lose her air of elegance as she snapped at me.

“Um… soon?” I tried to say confidently, but it came out more of a question rather than a statement.

If we were some cartoon characters, then I am sure smoke would have been coming out of her ears.

King Diego sighed and shook his head. “Darling, you will become the queen soon. You need to understand your responsibilities. I heard you are not attending your training nowadays and even bribed the new doctor to give you a fake certificate stating that you are ill because of the extreme stress and shouldn’t go to such trainings for some days.”

I smiled nervously and looked here and there, not meeting their eyes. “I just needed some rest from the training. It’s boring and I don’t even like that teacher that much. He is always like, princess do this, princess don’t do that and blah… blah… blah…”

I knew it was wrong for a princess to talk like that about someone, but I didn’t care. That teacher was annoying as hell.

“He is teaching you how to become a perfect princess and a perfect queen. The training being boring doesn’t give you the right to neglect your responsibilities,” my mother said.

Ugh… responsibilities. I just hated this word with passion.

“Seeking perfection in a human affair is a perfect way to destroy them,” I said, looking at them.

“Unfortunately for you, you are a vampire and not a human, sweetie,” my mother replied with a tight grin. No one could win in any argument with this woman.

“Princess Anastasia Vera Ellis, I have summoned you here for a reason today,” my father said, finally done with my nonsense.

I nodded my head. “I am listening, father.”

“Your mother and I have decided to send you to the WolVamp High School with the twins-”

I shot up from the chair before he could utter another word.

“Father, no! You know werewolves also go to that school.”

“So? It’s not as if we are in the era where vampires and werewolves hated each other. We are allies now, and as the future queen, it’s your responsibility to make sure that nothing comes in between the alliance.”

I looked out of the window and ran my fingers through my long white hair with streaks of red.

It’s weird how in my previous lives, werewolves and vampires were birth enemies, but now, they were on the best of terms. Living several lives in different worlds, I often forget the new rules of this world.

Currently, I was in my sixth life.

My appearance, my status, my personality and my identity changed in every life. Everything about me changed.

Every time I re-born, I remembered every single memory of my past lives, no matter whether or not I wanted to.

In my every life, many drastic changes came into this world. Supernatural creatures still existed, but the relationships among them changed continuously.

Someone cleared their throat, breaking me out of my thoughts. I guess I zoned out for a bit longer.

“But, I don’t want to go there,” I said.

“It’s not a matter for discussion, Anastasia. It will help you learn new things about the outside world and train you to become a capable queen in a more realistic way,” my father said.

If only they knew how tired I was of learning new things about the outside world.

“You also don’t want me to go away from here, away from you and mom,” I mumbled, trying to convince them by being emotional. But I knew if my parents decided something, then they would never change that decision.

King Diego’s eyes softened, and he sighed. “It doesn’t matter what I or you want, Anastasia. Whatever I am doing is necessary for you.”

I huffed and went outside the room in a foul mood. Before the door could be closed completely, I heard my mother say, “Tell the twins about the decision as well and pack your bags. You all are leaving tomorrow morning itself.”

I rolled my eyes, and the door was shut with a slam. Going inside the game room, I saw my annoying brothers still playing video games, occasionally pushing each other.

I jumped on the couch, laying on it and smothering my face with the pillow. My brothers paused their games and kneeled beside me.

“What happened, baby sis? Why are you so annoyed?” Aaron asked, massaging my scalp.

“We are getting shipped to WolVamp High School tomorrow morning itself,” I mumbled.

Their eyes widened and both shouted with, “What?”

Exactly my question. What the hell was happening? WolVamp High School was world’s best high school on the territory of the world’s largest and most powerful wolf pack in the world. But that was the last place I would ever want to visit in my entire life.

“Yup, our good old home schooling days are over. They want me to gain experience from the ‘outside world and become a capable queen in future’. Ugh… Why does a princess need to study?” I whined, hitting the pillows in frustration.

“We will have to leave our game room here?” Aiden asked, shocked. Such an enormous problem. Note the sarcasm.

The door opened with a bang, and a blonde girl strode towards me. She jumped and laid on me. “Hey, I heard we all are going to WolVamp School.” Eliana practically squealed in my ears.

Eliana was a witch princess. She was a powerful witch but, like me, she was also not that serious about becoming a queen in the future. I guess that’s why we were best friends.

“Are you sure they are not in a relationship?” I heard Aaron whisper to Aiden.

“Can-Can’t Br-Breathe.” I was panting because of the heavy weight on me.

“Oh! Sorry. I was just really overexcited.” She said with a sheepish smile, lifting up from me.

I sat upright and flicked her forehead. Then, hit the twins on the back of their head. “No, we are not in a relationship.”

They pouted and rubbed the back of their head. Childish people.

Aaron and Aiden were quite popular among ladies and were free fish in the market.

Aaron believed he had a soulmate somewhere in this world waiting for him, and he didn’t want to cheat on her by being in relationships. His beliefs. What could one say in that?

On the other hand, Aiden was a shy type and didn’t know how to differentiate between a girlfriend and a friend. He treated his girlfriends like friends and hence, it never worked out. Shyness was quite absurd for royalties, but that’s how it was.

Our parents even asked them many times if they preferred another team, but they both said they were waiting for the right one.

“So, I was saying we are going to the WolVamp High School. Isn’t it interesting? We could meet our Werewolf mates and you could even find a king for yourself. Werewolves are so delicious looking species. I want to meet my mate as soon as possible.” Eliana had visible little hearts in her eyes.

Witches and vampires didn’t have mates. But a werewolf could have a witch or a vampire as their mate. It’s rare, but it still happened.

For some weird reason, Eliana was obsessed with werewolves and said that if she would want something from the deepest part of heart, then she would get it.

I was quite sure that’s not how it worked, at least not for me.

Aaron and Aiden grimaced, hearing Eliana. I knew what they were thinking. What was worst? Me having a werewolf mate or me finding a king for myself?

The twins were quite overprotective of me, glaring at every male who even glanced at me. That’s the reason I was single my whole life. Not that I was ever interested in relationships or anything.

They say that any boy can never be good for me and hence, I should be in a relationship with a girl.

Weird people.

But, MY weird brothers.