Snippet #2813608

Nikola hadn’t quite realized what he’d said until Kal said it like that, and he couldn’t help but flush at the siren’s words. Neither of them had a profound reason for finding each other, and yet here they were together again. Nikola was just glad that this time he wasn’t on the brink of death and needing to be saved. And he had no witty reply; he wasn’t used to talking to a handsome boy like this.

Him and Sorn were familiar enough to have casual conversations, but everyone else treated him as a fragile prince that couldn’t be normal. His father only saw him as a disappointment. His sisters were too involved in their own arrangements to ever have a proper conversation. And the rest were too aware of his status to ever treat him as equal. In most people’s eyes, he was a superior being just because of his parents, even without seeing his true magical ability. That was why Sorn was his only friend, she made him feel like just another person. He was starting to feel this way with Kal too, even though the two barely knew each other.

And Kal seemed to have the same curiosity as he did, wanting to know if this rivalry their species shared with one another was truly worth it. Nikola could admit that they were probably both outliers, considering Nikola was not what first came to mind when warlocks were mentioned. He was sure anyone would think of his father: a mountain of a man with a terrifying control of the darkness. That was how their family stayed on the throne for years, arranging their sons with powerful women to make them the most powerful creatures to roam the Earth.

Kal was also not the first thing that came to mind, rather, the sirens that stole Nikola from the land painted a better picture of what Nikola had been told of sirens. Dangerously beautiful, and could make anyone their prey with just a pretty look. He knew all too well their power, which was another reason why Kal intrigued him.

The siren in question planted himself in front of Nikola and locked his gaze, leaving Nikola no choice but to look down at him. His eyes widened as Kal called him that name reserved only for royalty. ”How did you…?” Nikola whispers, subconsciously clutching to his arm where his tattoo was safely hidden under the fabric. He wasn’t sure if the two sirens attacked him knew it was a royal mark, but Kal certainly did. ”You must know then that my father would have told me whatever he needed to keep me away from the ocean,” Nikola adds, keeping Kal’s gaze as his always wandering mind started to ramble out of his mouth.

”Warlock children are warned of sirens coming to pull them away into the water if they didn’t listen to their parents. We were always taught that sirens were evil creatures who could only think of bloodlust. The ‘demons of the sea’. I almost believed it when… those two…” Nikola’s mind flashes to that day, the two pairs of eyes pulling him in and the claws that dragged him down.

Only for the sense of dread to be replaced by relief, looking back to the siren in front of him. ”You saving me has made me question everything I know.” Nikola finishes with a soft, hopeful smile. He was going against everything he knew and all the warning signs, but Kal was there to continue pulling him into the unknown, where he could learn what the world was truly like outside of the suffocating warlock castle walls.

It had been some time since Iria actually felt attraction for someone. Being around the prince meant she saw many beautiful women, hoping to be his bride, but she was honestly quite bored of the ‘siren beauty’. The main reason she followed Kal up to land was to see what other kind of beauty was out there. There were plenty of fair ladies around the village they had picked, but the moment she saw the flash of red hair, Sorn Di Genova caught her eye.

Her being with the warlock Kal saved only complicates things, but now that they were away from the two boys, she could admire Sorn more. She definitely seemed more like Kal and less like the warlock Nikola. Though it was obvious she shares the same concern Iria has, only for Nikola, watching the two boys walk off. She didn’t trust either of them, but she could understand that they weren’t that different from each other. ”Kal is really the only friend I have. So please excuse me if I come off overprotective. He’s like a young brother, I love him dearly but he can be, quite frankly, an idiot sometimes,” Iria sighs as she responds to Sorn’s comments about her relationship with Nikola.

It was bad, but she felt better knowing that the two weren’t romantic in any way. This wasn’t an ideal situation for any of them, it would be dangerous if either side found out of the species mingling like this. Still, she was amused by this girl, who identified herself as a vampire. ”Vampire, huh?” Iria murmurs, looking the girl up and down. She wasn’t as knowledgeable about this species, and was curious how a vampire came to befriend a warlock. Though if she remembered properly, warlocks were able to coexist with most other species, just not the sirens.

”Iria. I’m still Kal’s only friend, siren or not.” Iria says with just a hint of a smirk, folding her arms over her chest and examining the vampire in front of her. ”So, Sorn, how does a vampire become friends with a warlock?”