Brigitte Lebelle's Story

When Sabine’s arm moved to wound around her waist, his hand curled at the base of her spine, Sapphire found herself looking up into his eyes, seemingly falling under a subtle spell he appeared to be weaving. She just felt… safe. Being in this firm embrace felt right. It seemed his embrace had been what she’d been waiting for all of her life and she gave in to that feeling, enjoying the rightness of it. Like she was supposed to be here, like he was her home away from home. She felt comfortable. It was so odd, considering she barely knew him, but for some reason, in this moment, she trusted him more than anyone. Trusted him to protect her and take care of her; trusted him not to hurt her.

Odd, considering he already had, but thoughts like that were discarded as her body seemed to melt into his, as though the two of them became one, and her body had been shaped to fit his perfectly. The way he’d tensed when she’d kissed his neck deliberately still lingered. The memory of it was heady. The fact that she could affect him that way was enough to let her know that he did indeed want her too, and he’d obviously loosened up around her, considering he had told her he did not like to be touched only two weeks previously, and now he seemed happy to put his hands on her… liked to be touched by her in turn as well. Just like his possessive look when she had danced with that other guy had jolted something inside of her, his nearness and embrace did too.

The heat and desire seemed constant and she felt fairly certain it would not be sated until he gave in. She desperately needed him to give in. Now that she’d felt his proximity… felt his embrace… she couldn’t imagine letting go again. She needed it. God knew why, but she did. Then he finally spoke and once more, as the husky purr washed over her, Sapphire had to bite down on her lower lip, looking up at him with both desire and wonder. She took a deep breath, trying not to be too taken by the mere sound of his voice this way. Why was he being so difficult? Never had she had to fight to get laid this way. Guys usually came running when she called, but no. Sabine simply had to be challenging when she wanted him more than she’d ever wanted any other man.

“I thought a gentleman was supposed to be nice. Or… in the very least… considerate,” she countered playfully to his words, having regained her equilibrium surprisingly quickly as she leaned her face in to nuzzle the tip of her nose gently against the lobe of his ear. “But no,” she then continued more quietly near his ear, “I happen to be rather fond of this version of you.” When she straightened to look into his eyes once more, she added, “although in all honesty, you are being terribly difficult,” with a teasing smirk on her lips, her drunken eyes flicked over his face. His lips. Why wouldn’t he just fucking kiss her? Did she seriously have to do everything herself? Psh. Men.

Soon, however, Sabine’s hand was playing with a strand of her hair, and once more a shot of electricity shot through her, although this one was different. It wasn’t going to her groin. No… this one shit straight into her heart and she found herself taken aback by him. Her heart sped up just a little as she stared at him observing her hair. Such a simple act, really, yet something about the process was utterly captivating. It took him but moments before he was tucking the strand of golden hair back behind her ear and her eyes widened just a fraction. So gentle yet so powerful. She’d seen him tossing around a group of fit men, yet he was so utterly gentle with her, his obvious strength only evident in the firmness of his embrace.

His hand brushed through her soft locks and she tilted her head to the side a little, watching him so deliberately placing his hands on the small of her back to join the first him. It seemed he was all she could pay attention to right now. He was all she had an interest in. She blinked a couple of times when his eyes suddenly found hers once more, and the jolt of it caused a soft gasp to escape her as she sucked in a breath of air. So intense… his eyes. Even though there was an amused edge to them, they drew her in like nothing else possibly could.

When he then spoke, however, a frustrated sigh escaped her and she narrowed her eyes at him impatiently. “Oh no. No. You don’t get to do this to me.” She stood up on her toes as to level the two more, although it really didn’t do much, so she just ended up looking rather silly, not that she noticed that much herself. Her hands twisted in his hair as she looked up at him, a drunken, decisive fire in her eyes, clearly mixing with desire and impatience. She was horny and he needed to stop playing around!

“You want me too or you wouldn’t be here, so stop pretending to merely be playing along.” She stated, her tone not taking no for an answer. “So,” she then continued, “either you pick up your game, or I’m sure I could find several other willing men in here.” He’d challenged her, but this way he could tease her all night and she’d never get fucking laid! No proper sex for two years could make a body rather wanton, and he clearly had a lot of damned self control. Ugh, she hated men with self control. They were so difficult to manipulate with sex. Tsk tsk. Sabine wasn’t going to give in until he felt like it, no matter how much she teased him.

Although… apparently her kisses did have some effect. If this didn’t work, she had plenty of other cards up her sleeve. No matter how it seemed, she wasn’t giving up. She wanted him, damn it, and her sex-deprived body was going to have him.

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When Simone replied, Alexander’s initial reaction was to chuckle, relieved to see these little flashes of the human woman he’d brought home with him two weeks ago. “It’d be a start,” he responded playfully to her question of whether he wanted her to kiss his shoes in thanks, an amused glint in his eyes. Of course he didn’t expect her to do it – after all, she didn’t seem to have much regard for his position, no matter how many times it had been demonstrated. Especially not considering her sarcastic tone of voice. She was much too proud a little creature, wasn’t she? Rather interesting, it was.

Ah, and she’d rolled her eyes at him. He wasn’t particularly fond of people doing that, but then… people had never done that around him. Well, okay, so Alanya had done it a few times, but that was different, since she was his daughter, and it had been during her more… rebellious phase. Fortunately she’d gotten over that many centuries ago. Honestly it had been quite a bother, both to him and everyone else, because she’d frankly started exploring how far her looks and a few well-placed words and touches could get her. The answer had been served after a little while; very far. A beautiful woman could easily find herself in a very powerful position if she knew how to work it. Alanya had both the talents and the looks, so although she was not queen yet, she was regarded as one.

Alexander himself had conflicted feelings about that. On one hand, he was proud of her prowess, but on the other hand, he didn’t particularly like the way men looked at her. Perhaps that was the base of his dislike when it came to Alanya’s involvement with Daniel Bowman. As much as he tried to convince himself that he’d gotten used to it, a father never really did let go, did he? Regardless, he didn’t react to Simone rolling her eyes at him. He’d merely chosen to ignore it because frankly she didn’t know better. True, he could educate her, and he could most likely turn her into the same meek kind of lamb as the other cattle in his household, but there was something different about her. Perhaps the taste of her blood made him more inclined to enjoy being around her. It definitely had to be the blood. It set her apart.

He’d looked into her grey eyes for no more than a few seconds when she suddenly hunched forward, a pained expression crossing her pretty features. He stared at her, panicking quietly. “Simone?” He urged, worry shining through clearly in his voice. What did one do in a situation such as this? He was about to call out to the guards when her stance changed and she leaned into him, the look of pain dissipating. She was okay, right? This meant she was okay? She couldn’t not be okay. He was going to kill Sarai if Simone fell ill. That servant girl had done a piss-poor job of taking care of the redhead as it was.

When she gripped him tightly then, her arms wrapping around him, Alexander breathed a small sigh of relieve. The tense state of her muscles was no more, and she now seemed to fall into him, holding onto him as though he was her salvation. Odd situation really. She was holding onto him while his teeth were not in her neck. She hadn’t done that before yet it felt… well, he couldn’t quite decipher what he felt about it, and he certainly did not even want to consider that shot of panic he’d just experienced. Never would he even give it a second thought. He really didn’t like the direction that would take him.

His free arm came to wrap around her too as he drew her closer. Her hands sliding up his back, pressing her body closer to his even more, made Alexander look down at her fully, a mane of red meeting his gaze as he held onto her firmly. Was there a reason she was doing this? What was her game this time? His mind doubted her every move, racing away as he attempted to analyze her reasons for this. She seemed to hold onto him for dear life, and although Alexander didn’t want to fully recognize it, he didn’t want to let go of her again. For some reason unknown to him, having her in his arms was just… the way it should be. It felt like he was in the right place, and that more than anything worried him.

It worried him more than this inexplicable urge to tip up her chin and take her lips. Why did he want her this way? It had to be the blood. Yes, the blood must call to him in more than one way. That was the only real explanation. He couldn’t possibly want a human this way for any other reason. Even the ones he took to bed, only joined him there because he wanted to taste their blood on the high of an orgasm. There was nothing better. That was all it was. Nothing more. One hand danced up the middle of her back then, stopping only between her shoulder blades when he heard the door open without a single knock.

Alexander stiffened, immediately irritated. He didn’t have to look to know who it was either. Funny how she thought she could suddenly take liberties wasn’t it? Even Brigitte, who had been his personal servant for almost two millennia, did not dare take liberties. Perhaps this little thing needed to be put in her place. He could feel Simone shifting in his arms, and he ground his teeth, closing his eyes briefly to instill patience in himself. Alexander did not tolerate anything less than the utmost level of respect and Sarai seemed unable to deliver. That disappointed him greatly. One did not just barge in on a private audience. One did not just barge in on the king, period.

When the thing spoke to him, he reluctantly let go of Simone, looking down at her flushed face before glancing at Sarai, his eyes flashing with censure. The king clearly wasn’t happy with her. “Very well,” he told her then finally, his voice patient and calm, but clearly with an undertone that told him he was less than pleased with the way she had just… waltzed in like she owned the place. Then he bent down to place a soft, lingering kiss on Simone cheek as he murmured, “This will only take a little while, then I will take you to the kitchen.” He grabbed Sarai, his firm grip around her wrist a little too tight to be anywhere near polite.

Alexander forcefully dragged the servant out the door, slinging her in front of him once they were outside and he let go out her to rapidly close the door. Only then did his eyes flash with real anger, burning into her. “You will never again simply walk in when I am with Simone,” he ordered, his voice hard but controlled. “Do you understand?” He did not have to utter a threat. She should know very well that failure to obey was met with execution… unless your name happened to be Alanya or Nebellia. Or Simone… apparently. But that didn’t count. She was human… and she was new. She didn’t know better. He watched her quietly for a little while, before continuing, “Now, what do you want?”

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"Um... Don't look behind you!" He had barely murmured a smooth greeting when the frantic cry greeted him as he put his phone to his ear, sounding nervous with a hint of disbelief. Well, this was certainly unexpected, wasn't it? He had not thought she would fall this easily into the trap he had set up a few weeks ago. Then again, this was a quirk he had noted before. Sydney was not as much of a complex woman as she liked to pride herself for being. Certainly, her intelligence was enough for him to tread carefully, which made her an interesting playmate in turn. But he had started suspecting her weakness to social situations given the blank way in which she had regarded him during their first meeting. And this reaction was merely the confirmation he had been awaiting. It didn't take much effort to guess what she would do next and in seconds, the phone call ended.

He couldn't help but chuckle at her behavior and turned his head slightly as he picked up movement several feet from himself. He turned just in time to catch the hem of her dress, her retreating figure trying desperately to put as much distance between them as possible. Honestly, if she wasn't confronting him in her quiet, analytical manner, she was always trying to run from him. Unfortunately for her, no one yet had been able to outrun him--not those that he had set his mind on catching.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and easily weaved through the crowd after her. He needn't endeavor to speed up his pace overly--she wasn't going to escape his grasp that easily. He didn't call out for her, keeping a calmly amused smile on his face as he progressed through the gallery. Didn't she know better than to try tempting a predator? Ha. That got another laugh to escape his lips. Of course she didn't--she had absolutely no idea who she was dealing with. Or what, as others would undoubtedly debate.

There weren't many people around the closer they got to the coat room, given that the reception had literally just begun not an hour or so ago. With casualness, he reached out to catch her arm just moments before she was able to grab her coat. He enjoyed giving the illusion of freedom before snatching up his prey, somehow made it made the reactions more entertaining to witness. He was careful with the amount of firmness he put into his grip, not wanting to overly exert his strength. Sometimes it was easy to forget how frail human beings were.

"Ah, leaving so soon?" He said, pitching his voice in the exact tone he knew would grate on her nerves. Sydney had made it plain she did not much care for the arrogance or playfulness he usually exuded. "I am almost hurt. You were the one that called me, after all." He said with a growing smirk as he looked down at her. Her face was tinted with red, cheeks flushed and eyebrows furrowed. So embarrassed. She was making this almost too easy for him. Perhaps at a much earlier time in his life, he would've felt a modicum of guilt for mocking her so. As it stood, he viewed this as a delicious amount of fun and an excellent way to keep himself preoccupied for the evening.

"No need to be so nervous, Sydney--it's not as if we're complete strangers." He decided to let go of her arm, trusting her enough not to try running away the instant she got her chance. If she did try, he could just catch her again. It wouldn't be hard. "Though while we are conversing, perhaps now would be a marvelous time to compliment you on your performance. You play quite well." On occasion, Garreth would actually mix the truth in with his games. It was not that he was perpetually lying, per se, but it always did good never to reveal all the cards at once. For one as sensitive as himself and as aware to the senses, the compliment was not said in any light-hearted manner. He genuinely smiled at her as he said it, watching her closely to see any shift in her composure.

"Though I am curious," He began slowly, raising his eyebrows as he did so. "Why the frantic call? I wasn't aware I was that off-putting." He feigned offense but the devious smile on his face told otherwise. He was sure she was aware of his rising advantage in this situation, else she would not be blushing so profusely. It was a nice change from the stony facade she liked to put up around him. For now, he kept his taunts at a minimum--there would be time enough for games.

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It had been a very difficult two weeks. Whereupon difficult was replaced by absolutely torturous and perhaps add in a scattering of a few more words. Boring was a good one, and long, yes, it had been far too long since she had been able to have any fun. Nebellia had anticipated the cool anger from the King when she had left his presence somewhat abruptly some weeks previously but sometimes even she made the slightest of errors. As opposed to the week she had been anticipating, he had upped her punishment to two and it was finally as all of this had come to a close that she was able to feel free at last. Lexi-Pop always knew how to dish out the punishments and she had made no effort in hiding her poutiness whenever they crossed path. She had puffed up her cheeks, crossed her arms, and tilted her chin up but, of course, this had only made him smirk at her. It was a rather futile thing to try and get her things back before he saw fit to return them to her.

Absolutely horrid.

But at long last, her sweet, adorable dissecting materials were back in their proper shelves and her many assorted materials and ingredients were in their bottles. All was as it should be. Except for one grating detail that was now staring her in the face. Quite literally. When Nebellia had gotten her samples back, the first thing she had done was check to see if she could somehow salvage anything from them. But obviously, without her care, they had spoiled and now here she was with rotting humans. She was undisturbed by the decapitated head that was blankly regarding her from the center of the lab table (she had been a little too excited to get her saw back...). Hmm. This wouldn't do, not in the slightest! She doubted Lexi-Pop would let her out, he waaaas just a tad touchy at the moment. And distracted by something--she was going to get to the bottom of that sooner or later. Though she had a faint idea, but assumptions were never a good factor when there was science to be conducted.

With a frown, she abruptly pushed her heel into the table and kicked it over, causing a few chemicals to spill over and the head to roll on the floor. Some spatters of blood hit the bottom ruffles of her dress, one of many she adopted when she was in the middle of her work. She took her goggles off and slid them down to her neck with a deep sigh. This was immensely saddening. She was officially out of fresh samples and this was not a revelation she enjoyed coming to in the slightest. It was a depressing turn of events when she had no new playthings. Without a second glance and not even bothering to take off her gloves, she pushed open her door and let herself out of the lab.

She gave Brigitte a short stare as she waltzed out, the servant girl looking back at her with the same monotone expression as usual. Glad to see some things wouldn't be changing anytime soon in this milliennia. With a shrug and a quick flash of a grin, she walked leisurely down the halls. Her gold eyes only skimmed over her surroundings with vague interest, her mind more preoccupied with what she would be procuring soon enough! The kitchens seemed like the logical place to start, there was always some sort of supply hanging about. Heck, she'd evne do without the bodies if she could just get some blood to dabble with for the night! Her finges were antsy to begin her experiments again--it had been far too long. With a lopsided smile unfurling on her face, the woman continued along her way to the kitchens, already humming to herself in anticipation of what she would be getting.

Sarai nodded uncomfortably when Alexander ordered her to bring the ruined closed to the royal advisor. The prospect of encountering Nebellia was almost more intimidating than dealing with the King. The more she spoke, the more the meek servant realized this was only the second time he had ever directly spoken to her one on one. This coincidental assignment of caring for his human was exactly that. Many of the other staff felt that she lacked the experience and understanding to do it. Her previous tending to humans had been to prepare them to die, never to keep them alive. As she spoke she wondered why the king himself was holding out on this one. The girl was tortured and feisty. Nothing about the redhead was simple. Sarai had never met a more demanding human in her position at the court and only one thing explained it: she was of Earth, not Cruorem Orbis. It would be a pleasure to introduce her to her place, though it appeared she was learning.

As she proceeded to try and explain herself, to justify the realities of the human’s condition with her efforts, Sarai watched the king closely for any response. His discontent seemed to grow, his eyes darkening, his lips unmoving, his stature all the more imposing. It reminded her of her initial job at the court, shortly after she had been turned. Unlike many in the court, she had not been born a vampire. Her entire life she had been lowly, though favored by one man who worked as a coordinator of the kings schedule. That had been her saving grace and her inception into the monarchy’s court. Initially she had to tend and bath any humans kept on the primary grounds for staff consumption. One hundred years into service she had graduated to preparing humans for bedding, almost all of which died. She was a midwife for a short time, which proved the most challenging. Then, after two centuries of hard word, she had graduated to working as an assistant to one of the kings secretaries, her very own maker, but the man had turned out to be cruel, violent and to a degree sadistic. Sarai didn’t deny that her anticipation of the king striking her stemmed from her experiences under Corvin. Luckily for Sarai the man had died in some accident relatively recently. She had never been privy to the details. She had never wanted to know. It was a blessing to not be beaten by her superior anymore for the most menial of mistakes.

“Since you have found yourself unable to handle one measly, human woman, I will take care of it. She is near-ill and she is weak. I tasked you with the duty to look after her and make sure she stayed healthy,” he replied. Sarai swallowed, biting her tongue ot prevent herself from blaming the girl for her own condition. Could that not be the case? It clearly was. No matter what she did she couldn’t force her to sleep or keep food down. She had done all she could. The girl was far more civil now wasn’t sure? And obedient? Was that not at least somewhat better? Instead of rebutting the king, she nodded. “I feel fairly certain you have not properly obeyed my orders, Sarai,” Alexander added. That comment made her tense. It stung to be told that she had not done as instructed. Did effort not count for anything? She couldn’t refute his stance however so she bowed her head to him, shamed. Won’t the laundress be happy to have won her bet that I would be dead by the end of today.

“However, I am in a generous mood, so I will let you live – I will give you one more chance on the condition that you do not disappoint me once more,” Alexander suddenly concluded. Sarai looked up at him rapidly then, gaping and with wide eyes for a split second before composing herself. She sighed, relieved, but still remaining in a shrunken defensive posture in front of him.

“As for Simone, I do not wish her dead. My plans do not involve her sharing my bed,” he commented. “Yes your majesty,” the servant replied lowly. “Apologies for my inappropriate questions.” Sarai watched as he sluffed off the incident. When the king turned to the door his demeanor changed. Sarai held it open for him, watching as he strode across the room with purpose and toward the bathroom where the water was running. Simone was out of sight, but that didn’t seem to matter. He lightened, it seemed, at the very prospect of seeing the girl. That fact was startling but she knew that it was essential to keep such thoughts to herself.

Letting go of the door the servant collected the bag of stained and bloodied clothing, leaving the vicinity for the mansion’s basement where the royal advisor had been roomed. As she approached she saw Brigette, the king’s personal servant, standing alone. As she approached, Sarai bowed her head. While they were both servants, Brigette was the superior. In fact she was to most of them because of her proximity to the king at all times. Sarai had never truly talked to the fellow vampire.

“Is Nebellia within her quarters?” Sarai asked gently, her voice low and lacking the sharpness she felt comfortable using towards Simone. She was the mousy servant they all knew her to be when she was away from the human, mostly because she knew her place was much lower on the food chain than most everyone else and tenuous at best given her lack of formal ties or history with the monarchy. “The King requested that I bring her these samples, but to insist that she speak with him first before doing anything with them,” she added, unsure of what the girl would say or do. The lack of musing sing song comments from beyond the door – or any noise of any kind really – was telling however. Nebellia was likely absent.

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The cold water was like salvation, tempering her peaking body temperature while startling her awake. Simone breathed heavily, feeling the nausea return with her anxiety. In her chest her heart beat so fast and so hard that it hurt. The sound of it consumed her attention. Sitting down on the edge of the bathtub she tried to breath slowly to calm herself down. Slowly it proved more comforting to let her knees bend and to slide to sit on the floor. Pressing her cheek into the outside of the porcelain tub was refreshing. Holding the icy and wet cloth to the back of her neck helped as well. Zoning out entirely, she felt herself rapidly dozing, her eyes fluttering as sleep overtook her. As quickly as she was asleep she was awake. A knock on the bathroom door proved startling and Simone inhaled sharply, sitting upright only to smack her head into the vanity beside her. Wincing, she withheld her need to curse and moved to stand.

“Simone,” Alexander inquired. “The kitchen is waiting.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she felt the moment of peace slip away. Shakily she shut the water off. Throwing the wet cloth into a laundry basket she moved slowly to open the door. For as much as she anticipated Alexander behind it, he still surprised her. Moreover seeing him was exciting to her and she smiled lowly for a moment before wrapping her arms around her chest and averting her gaze to the floor.

Following him back into her bedroom, Simone paused at her nightstand to sip from a glass of water. Tilting her head back she sighed. The silence between them was interrupted by a sharp growl from her stomach, she straightened immediately, blushing and biting the inside of her cheek before glancing over at him, sure to find him amused. The exhaustion she felt still made her want to just climb into bed, to beckon him to join her. She didn’t know why but Simone felt that if she laid there with him holding her, she just might sleep soundly. It seemed unthinkable. He was the reason she felt this way, that her body was suffering chronic blood loss and the fear and the insomnia. Everything was his doing. Yet her physical response to him now was changing. If he wasn’t in the room she was afraid. When he was it was…different. And so inappropriate. The war continued.

Swallowing, she moved silently to follow him to the door. Keeping her arms wrapped around her chest and her head low she walked with him. Simone had stopped trying to memorize the hallways. She walked slightly behind him, her gaze directed towards his sculpted back. Her eyes danced over his defined shoulders and for a moment she caught herself nearly drooling. That was quickly corrected when suddenly they crossed the main lobby. The door to the house was visible then, the grand windows covered by curtains and obscuring the outside. Simone stopped walking. A window overlooking the mansion’s portico, however, was uncovered. The redhead found herself standing in a patch of fading sunlight. It was almost evening again. But the light, she craved it. The sun felt warm on her hands for a split second and she smiled while it remained on her. When it faded she exhaled lowly, turning back to look at him and to skip the few steps she needed to to catch up to him. Of course, the heels of her boots didn’t want to coordinate with her and she tripped in her rush, her knees buckling. Simone reached out to grip him, her hands gripping his closest arm tightly. Still she landed on her knees at his feet, staring at his shoes, her hands gripping his arms. More a moment she was stunned and only slowly did she move to look up at him, her expression surprised. “Apparently even fate wants me at your feet,” she commented sarcastically.

Alexander didn’t bother even answering Sarai when she apologized. The words were redundant since he had already spared her, and either way they would never help any. Alexander heard so many apologies every day he’d become more or less immune to them; they mattered for naught. They were rarely genuine; people spoke them too much without sincerity to them, simply because they thought them to be helpful to get themselves out of a scrap. Alexander himself was not one for apologies. He did not speak them if he did not mean every single word, and even them, to be honest, the words rarely ever left him. Perhaps because he rarely regretted his actions. There was no point in fretting over mistakes made in the past. Besides, everything usually ended up working out either way.

As such, the king ignored the servant’s presence as he made it into Simone’s bedroom and on to the bathroom door. When she did not reply, he sighed. He did hear the water shut off on the other side, and some scurrying about, but she did not speak. If she did not emerge soon, he would go in regardless, permitted or not. It was, after all, still his house, and he could technically do as he pleased. He didn’t even know why he wasn’t simply doing that; taking what he wanted and not caring more about it. Curious little human she was.

Finally the door opened and she slowly made her way outside the bathroom. His lips quirked ever so slightly into a ghost of a smile. She was so pale… so fragile. And to think Sarai thought he would bed her in this state. The mere thought was repelling. He would snap her like a twig in no time. Besides, she simply wasn’t at her best when it came to appearances either, even if he did quite like that dress on her. Even her hair lacked its usual glow. Well, hopefully some “real food” would do her good. If it didn’t, Alexander had no clue how to make her better.

Her eyes, however, had this little… spark in them when she briefly looked at him before averting her gaze like all the other submissive servants and slaves. Not sure what to say really, Alexander chose to stay quiet as he began walking, but he paused when he heard her stopping to drink. He glanced back at her, noting the sigh. Was he that terrible to be around? Hah, no, of course not. He wasn’t a terrible person until he wanted to be. His thought trail stopped immediately when he heard her stomach growling, narrowing his eyes slightly. If he hadn’t already told the servant he would spare her, now would have been the perfect time to punish her for the malnourishment of his most favoured human.

He didn’t like the sound. It meant she needed food and reminded him once more – as if he needed more reminders – of the fact that she was starving under his roof. He should have put someone else in charge of her care. Brigitte would’ve forced the food down the human’s throat if that was what it took to obey her orders, she would have sought alternative solutions when she discovered that Simone would not sleep properly and that she could not keep the food down. Alexander was not above using magic to solve his problems, but he figured the least Sarai could have done was request medication. Sleeping teas, herbs to calm her stomach… whatever worked. After all, they had developed quite a few things such as these to keep their humans alive and well.

Then again, he had a feeling he should be blaming himself. That could wait, however, because right now blaming the servant worked so much better and it kept his head clear in spite of the way he seemed to worry about this frail being constantly. He still said nothing though. She did not believe that her wellbeing mattered to him, and words would not convince her. Actions would. Not that he cared what she thought of him. Of course not. Not one bit. Why should he? He was the king… he didn’t care. Nope. She was simply a lowly earth human and she didn’t matter one lick except for her blood. Precisely… nothing but food, she was. And he never cared about his food, so of course this… worry he was experiencing had to be no more than a side effect from her abnormally delicious blood.

The second Simone put down the glass, Alexander resumed his walking, deciding that instant that he was not stopping for her again. Why had he even done it in the first place? Stupid human didn’t know to follow him of course. She was used to all this odd “equality” where people walked side by side and waited for each other in spite of rank. He needed to impress upon her the importance of their hierarchy. It was the foundation on which their entire society rested and this consideration to her wants and needs was far below him.

As they walked, the eyes scouring his back weren’t lost on him, despite the fact that he did not once turn to look at her. Instead a smirk formed on his lips. Funny how this usually happened. No matter the cruelty he would display towards humans in the beginning, they could never deny their attraction towards him, only this time the attraction wasn’t entirely one sided. He wasn’t blind after all; he had taken note of the urge to kiss her previously. He just didn’t want to contemplate it too much at current. There would be time for that later.

When they reached the main entrance Simone stopped. Alexander glanced backwards briefly, noticing the way she seemed entranced by the sunlight, before shaking his head. He turned around and kept moving, knowing that she would follow once she realized he had not waited for her. He had never understood the allure sunlight had. Then again, he’d been born a vampire so he had only been able to endure it with age. To him sunlight was nothing but a weakness; a disadvantage during war times. His kingdom was vulnerable during these lightened hours, and both Lykae and Demon-folk damn well knew it. Demons drew power from the sun, just like the Lykae drew from the full moon, and Vampires did from great amounts of blood.

Sure, older vampires could withstand exposure to the sun for several hours without feeling it, but many of the “sheep” in his army, were too young. As such, the sun to him had always been a reviled adversary. His ears perked for a moment as he picked up on Simone trying to catch up with him. He slowed down his walk only slightly, but before she reached him fully, she tripped over her own feet. Alexander turned around just as she tumbled to her knees before him. Of course he could have caught her, but what was the fun in that? He smiled wryly as he looked down at her. His eyes strayed briefly to her hands still gripping his arm before landing on her face once more, the amusement in his eyes saying all that he didn’t.

She was looking down at his shoes, stunned by her fall apparently. Humans really did have such a short response time and more often than not they took forever making decisions or getting over a simple fall. It wasn’t like she’d fallen flat on her face, so he didn’t see what the surprise was about. She was a human; she had to be used to stumbling around. When she spoke though, finally looking up at him, Alexander chuckled, the sound deep and husky, but filled with genuine amusement. Oh, he was enjoying this quite a bit. She looked good that way. He eyes had a fire in them right now, yet she was in a submissive position; it was a lovely mixture, really.

“I cannot blame her. It is a good look for you,” he teased, raising an eyebrow as reached down to tip up her chin just a little further. He smirked, the curving of his lips displaying faint notions of predatory amusement, yet the charming exterior gave it that special allure so many women found themselves drawn to. “I rather like you this way,” he noted, his tone deep and intense, the playfulness almost entirely gone as his green eyes became just a little darker, “perhaps you should make a habit of it.” Okay, so he liked his women submissive. This one had a heat in her cheeks and her eyes in this position. Perhaps from embarrassment – he wasn’t sure – but that did not matter, because his main concern was the fact that it stirred something carnal in him.

She looked absolutely… well, to use a human expression… hot. He couldn’t remember ever having a woman look this sexy to him… this alluring. He couldn’t though. She would die, and he wouldn’t have that. He kept watching her for a little while, eyes intensely focused on every minute detail. The way her chest rose and fell with her every breath, the way her hands shivered just a little… even that special way her eyes glinted in this light. Then, however, he managed to shake himself out of it, and he reached out, wrapping an arm around her as he moved her forcefully into a standing position.

As he did, he spoke off-handedly, his tone suddenly back to normal, “No matter, though. You need food.” Then he easily guided her into the kitchen, his arm still firmly around her; couldn’t have her falling again after all. He had been much too tempted to forget about her nourishment for a while back there, but fortunately his infamous control had come to him. The room they entered was grand and modern – it was the only place they had recently had redone and only because it was a room used rather often. It most likely held all she’d need, although he honestly didn’t know; he had no clue how to cook and he didn’t have an interest in learning either. Why should he?

He let go of her then, looking down at her to take note of every expression – every reaction and that was exactly when another scent intruded on his senses; Nebellia's. Well... he supposed this meeting was inevitable, wasn't it? It would happen sooner or later, so perhaps now was not too bad a time for it. At least he was there to make sure his adviser didn't step out of bounds, although he figured it would be at least a little while til she did so again. After all, her "toys" had only just been returned to her after last time.

Brigitte Lebelle

Brigitte now had Nebellia's door memorized. Each curve and slant of the wood grains, the dull shine of the door handle, the dark stains near the bottom, all of it completely memorized. That was how long she'd been staring at it. Though accustomed to His Highness punishing her for mistakes in a multitude of ways she did have to say that this way was maybe the most gratifying and worst of them all. The week she once spent in the dungeon didn't compare to what she could only describe as utter boredom. It was a startling sensation at first for her then it passed and now she could only continue tracing the door grains with her eyes. Two weeks now it was, and the silent vampire had come to regard the door as a mentor of sorts. It did not speak, it did not move, it did its job and did it to its maximum capability. This door was far superior a servant than Brigitte could hope to be and so as the hours had passed she'd begun to imagine herself as the door, hoping to push away the annoying feeling of her boredom. So in tune was she with this door that upon its opening and releasing of Nebellia she had only swayed her body along with it, opening and closing.

Now her orders had been to make sure Nebellia stayed in her room for the two weeks she was grounded. On the occasion Nebellia would have to leave her room to retrieve something in which case Brigitte was to follow her and make sure she returned promptly. These were the few and fleeting moments in which Brigitte was not a door. Now, with Nebellia leaving in such a fashion Brigitte could only assume the grounding was over. Though she should report at once to His Highness her mentality was still so akin to the door that it was hard for her to move her body in a non-door like fashion. Thus it was in the midst of a deep mental struggle that Sarai caught her.

“Is Nebellia within her quarters?” The mouse of a servant asked. Brigitte slowly moved her eyes up to the face where the words emitted from and blinked. She really should move. An inch at the least. Her finger twitched. There, she thought to herself. People twitch. Doors don't. Another finger twitched, and then she was able to fully turn and face Sarai. Back to her normal state of mind she was better able to focus on what the other servant was saying. “The King requested that I bring her these samples, but to insist that she speak with him first before doing anything with them.” Brigitte glanced down the clothes Sarai held and briefly considered what should be done with them. No one actually ever entered the lab. One always knocked on the door (sometimes for quite a spell of time) and waited for Nebellia to come out. This was a bit of a pickle. The bloodied clothes were seemingly important and without Nebellia there to open the door...Brigitte wracked her mind to see if she Nebellia had mentioned where she was going but she did not recall a single vocal interaction between the two. There was only one option it seemed.

Brigitte grabbed the girl by the shoulder and took a deep breath in. She easily latched onto Nebellia's scent and began heading in that direction, dragging Sarai with her. Though she would have preferred to just take the clothes herself it was not her job. So she would bring her to Nebellia and then head off to His Highness. This would not only make sure that Nebellia was officially un-grounded but it would also make certain that Sarai's order was carried out efficiently. Although Brigitte always put her own orders first, there was nothing that bothered her like knowing that the other servants weren't carrying out their duties as optimally as they could. It was her belief that if His Highness told you to do something, you did it to your very best. He would not assign people tasks they could not handle...Brigitte paused in her pursuit and looked back at Sarai. This servant girl, though easily forgettable due to her nature, had been handed the task of caring for the human named Simone who His Highness had brought back. Brigitte's eyes narrowed slightly and a sour taste began to fill her mouth. Perhaps this girl was out delivering these clothes because she had not done her original task correctly. The very thought alone made Brigitte dig her nails into Sarai's shoulder and she began dragging her along again, this time her steps more brisk.

Her nose was telling her that Nebellia had gone to the kitchen. She took Sarai and practically shoved her towards the doors, ready to get on with her own personal business. As her hand left the servant girls shoulder she froze. Ah, His Highness was here...wait...with the human? Brigitte tilted her head to the side, rather perplexed at the situation. His Highness was in the Kitchen, a place he never went, with a human and...Nebellia. The situation really almost caused her to frown, though her lips chose to purse slightly instead. Under these circumstances she decided it would be best if she waited outside for him to conduct whatever business he had in there...though...Brigitte shot a "Go on" glare at Sarai. She was still rather disgusted due to the fact the the girl could very well have not done her job right but Brigitte would make sure she would do good on this one.

The very fact that he was amused irritated her. Simone was not the clumsy type, but having been as sick as she had been that morning and now as hungry as she was, walking in heeled boots was no small feat. As she looked up at him, she felt the humiliation rapidly turn into frustration – with him, with this ridiculous outfit and moreover with the entire situation.

“I cannot blame her. It is a good look for you,” he teased. Simone huffed, clenching her teeth together as he raised an eyebrow and moved his hand to tip her chin with his index finger. It was an odd gesture he continued to do. No matter his response or fixating presence, Alexander always had to force Simone to look up at him directly. She swallowed as he smirked. Her hands dropped to her sides clenched in fists, ready to push herself up off the floor.

“I rather like you this way,” he noted. The groveling tone of his voice made her stop. Simone gasped involuntarily, the husky quality of his voice catching her off guard. It was a dark and suggestive comment to her that was both exhilarating and discomforting. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. “Perhaps you should make a habit of it,” he added. "Never," she muttered in reply. Simone felt her breath quicken and she shivered, like a chill ripped through her or some invisible figure had drawn a finger up the length of her spine. The redhead narrowed her eyes as him, clenching her teeth to prevent herself from sassing him, from giving into this game of toying and persuasion that he seemed to now be playing again. But she couldn’t deny something deep in the bit of her was there, that was dying of happiness because of this expression of desire on his part, to have him standing over her and ordering her to do something. Few people ever tried to force her to do something and those who did often failed to stop her from doing what she wanted. Except for him.

Simone stared at him and for a moment silence lingered. She was locked into the draw of his eyes, the tension building. Where he touched her was heated again. The feverish feeling returned and her thighs twitched with anticipation. The longer he stared at her, the longer he kept the a physical connection to her, the more the feeling seemed to grow. Her head was swimming in something like endorphins but it was different. It was hazy. The discomfort with him, with what he had done to her, the visions of the horrific feedings, the injuries, it all disappeared. Suddenly it was just so easy to give into the sensual ecstatic feelings he drew out of her simply by being present and keeping one finger drawn under her chin. He was like a drug and the more she had of him, the less she could resist, the less she could think rationally about the evil he was.

Simone blinked twice as Alexander shifted. The moment ended and she gasped when he wrapped an arm around her side and effortlessly pulled her to stand. He pulled her into his hip, forcing her to feet to coordinate themselves. Simone tensed, looking away from him and at a curious staff member walking by with a basket of linens.

“No matter, though. You need food,” Alexander concluded and suddenly they were moving and Simone’s heels skidded across the floor as he took a faster pace than she was prepared for. She whimpered lowly, the sound more of frustration with herself than him. It was a discontented guttural noise as she tried to coordinate herself with his step and keep track of where they were going. The halls seemed to blend into one another until they turned the corner into a large industrially equipped kitchen. As he let go of her Simone stumbled, only preventing another fall by gripping the counter tightly. Her lips parted in surprise as she took in the full scale of the cooking space in front of her, with nothing but top of the line appliances. The only disconcerting thing was the sheer amount of stainless steel and white tile, making it feel more like a doctor’s office if you didn’t account for the stove and refrigerator in the corner.

She had no idea where to start. The redhead stepped forward, opening the closest cupboard to her only to find it empty. Pursing her lips she moved to pull open a drawer, finding it filled with pots and pans of various sizes. Wouldn’t it be nice to wallop him over the head with one of these? she thought to herself as she picked a heavy weight cast iron skillet out of the mix and set it on the stove. It was right about then that another vampire entered the room. Simone stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the woman with tight lips and tense shoulders. She appeared…strange, her purple hair cut to a short pixie cut, her outfit appearing to be more of a costume period dress than anything current. The woman hummed as well, noise that broke the silence of the kitchen.

Before Simone could even react to that Sarai was suddenly shoved into the room through a side entrance, another vampire girl with pale blue hair pushing her with one hand dug into the servant’s shoulder. Sarai hissed when she was finally forced towards Nebellia, wincing at Brigette’s infliction and startled to see the king and girl she had been so happy to be temporarily free of back in the same room. Sarai looked at Simone directly, her eyes not pleading but gauging what was to come. Simone stepped back towards Alexander, her hand reaching to grip the handle of her skillet tightly, defensively, as if the thing could vanquish the creatures in the room. All at once Simone felt threatened and the sound of her heart in her ears only made it worse.

Sarai stepped towards Nebellia awkwardly, her head low again and avoiding eye contact. "Miss Nebellia, the king instructed me to bring these samples to you but to inform you to speak with him first before doing anything," she explained simply, her voice low but not so quiet as to be non-existent. It certainly lacked the sharp authoritative quality she used when addressing Simone directly. It spoke volumes. Sarai knew her place in the room and she was the lowest and youngest. Her mistakes with the human made her feel even more insignificant than the girl herself. She simply wanted to do her job and leave.

---

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His jaw tightened ever so slightly, eyes narrowing just a portion of an inch. Though he maintained his cool composure, with every word this woman spoke, she only managed to infuriate him further. Though she seemed to be ill at ease the more she continued on with her statements, the human still continued to spew nonsense at him. Each sentence she constructed compounded on to the assessment that she was a woman who was clearly blinded by her own ridiculous ideals--even more laughably absurd was the fact that she believed she could speak to him on such terms. Her amount of misplaced confidence was grating on his nerves--or perhaps that was the wrong word for it. It wasn't confidence at all. She was putting on airs again, putting up a defense to ensure that she would be able to keep a suitable distance between them.

In some ways, they were so alike it was almost... nauseating.

She re-adjusted herself, gathering her coat and bag more tightly. She was making all the motions of someone aiming to leave and her words of dismissal acted as a verification for this guess. He relinquished his grip and dropped his hand, sliding it into his jacket so that she would not see his mildly clenched fist. Contrary to what she might believe, he was not amused--not in the slightest. But he had enough experience to keep his temper in check. She was not worth the effort or strain it would take to discipline her. For once, his game was veering off slightly from the course he had intended--but that was alright. Unexpected situations arose at the precise moment they were unneeded. And there were other methods at his disposal.

He chose to ignore most of her comments, idle arguments didn't suit him at all. If she wished to compare him to menial, lesser males, then so be it. But he would not succumb to the image she had already put in place. Instead, he offered her a very distant smile as he took a step back from her. He was not going to press her, not now, not in this mood. He looked away from her as he spoke, shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"If you are quite done, Miss Parker," He began slowly, looking beyond the entrance towards where he had parked his car initially. "I assume you wish to continue to propagate a business mentality and, in turn, act as if the pressing matters on your mind can indeed be solved by leaving at this very instant." He slid his eyes back to hers firmly, a frown touching upon his lips vaguely.

"However, finding your sister won't be as easy as consulting a bunch of paperwork." In truth, he did not even remotely care about the missing sister. But there were perhaps things at Sydney's own disposal that could be of use to him. "You mention openness but is that a mentality you follow yourself? Things aren't all so commonplace as you believe them to be--and not everything is as you see it." He did not bother elaborating--humans were, by nature, creatures that couldn't accept a world beyond their own. Let alone worlds.

He gestured towards the entrance, still giving her an empty smile devoid of any laughter. "I imagine you were observant enough the last time to remember what my car looked like. Regardless of what you may think of me, Miss Parker, I would suggest you put that aside for now. I'm sure you've been frustrated in your pursuits for the past few weeks." And likewise, so have I. He didn't voice the last bit of his sentence--there was no reason for her to know his backing for this bit of assistance. He kept his expression the same as he regarded her, giving her time to process his offer. He did, however, shift just slightly--he wouldn't be waiting for her all night after all.

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A vampire, a king, and a servant girl walk into a bar...

And then a human enters the picture and screws up the entire joke.

Nebellia had been humming her melodic tunes to herself, the notes hitching and seemingly in a random jumble as she had moved through the hallways. She had personally not been to the kitchens in a long time (part of the reason that the area was so immaculate and clean). As she drew the corner and entered the room, though, her eyes were met with a most curious sight indeed. She first took notice of Lexi-Pop who, as always, filled the room with his natural aura of dominance. Next to him, however, was the thing that caught her eye the most vividly.

A human girl had her hand hovering near the handle of one of the skillets she had recently set down. Her skin was abnormally pale, a vivid contrast to the cascading locks of red hair that ran down her back. Nebellia gazed at her, wrinkling her nose as a wide smile began to touch upon her lips, widening in eager anticipation. So this was the scent--ahh~ She could smell it so c-l-e-a-r-l-y~ It matched up so well with what had lingered on her Kingy-Bear a few years ago. Intriguing, intriguing! She licked her lips as she bit her bottom one, barely able to keep in the excitement that was bubbling up. She had been waiting for this encounter and ahhh, she was growing so heady with thoughts of all the beautiful things that she could...~

Her golden eyes widened, staring intrusively at the wisp of a human girl. She had not ceased her humming throughout the entire encounter and had reached a sort of crescendo, almost as if leading into the ending measures of her own private composition. Behind her, she heard a few scuffles and her eyes were drawn away from the odd pair. The figures of Bree-Bear and... hmmm, she had never given this one a nickname, had she? She was going to have to think of one right now, this instant. (All the while, her trills of hums continued and filled the awkward silence of the kitchen)

The lower servant girl gave a hiss, barely audible, as she was pushed away by Brigitte towards Nebellia. The girl kept her head lowered respectfully, though the scientist noticed the sweeping gaze to check the occupants of the room. The bag was offered out towards her nervously, a mouse of a voice running under her own. "Miss Nebellia, the king instructed me to bring these samples to you but to inform you to speak with him first before doing anything," As soon as the object was presented to her, Nebellia reached the very last measures of her odd piece and finished on a rather dramatic "dun DUN...... dun DUN DUN.", followed by some borderline out-of-place girlish giggles.

She took the outstretched item with ease, pulling out a bloodied shirt and burying her face into the fabric as she breathed in the scent. Yes, exactly the same--exactly the same as her. Her eyes lit up directly on the human as this thought passed through her head with disturbing speed. She re-focused her attentions back on Lexi-Pop, peering at him from over the bag that she held fondly to her body. She dropped the shirt back inside of it as she did so, albeit casually.

"This is a rather unexpected pleasantry." She said, laughing again in a bubbly fashion as if they were all old friends and meeting up like this had been a fortunate circumstance. Well, it was for her, and she did ever so enjoy happy accidents. "A rather odd way to have one of our make-up interactions, Your Majesty." She said, giving a twirl as she curtsied. She noticed that the human had moved behind Lexi-Pop, oh poo, it wasn't as if she was going to bi--did that human have a skillet in her little hands?

Nebellia blinked a few times and, quick as a flash, she reached over and grabbed the skillet. But not with her hands, no, that would've been a bit too easy. She opted for snatching it out of the shaky hands of the human with her teeth, grinning at her with the object still in her mouth. She leaned over, placing the object upside down on top of the servant girl's head (that she still hadn't named yet! Ahhh, so elusive~), mimicking a hat faintly. She cleared her throat loudly, as if all of that could've been resolved without the need for her to go so far. But a quick wink to Lexi-Pop informed him that she was merely playing around.

A rule of thumb that had been established with the scientist--if she played, that meant she wasn't going to harm anyone. At least not at the current moment.

"Well! Now that the scary skillet has been taken care of~ Dearest Lexi-Pop," She purred, batting her eyelashes. "How did you know I was looking for samples? Such a thoughtful present you've given me. Was there anything you wanted me to do with it?" She asked casually, raising the bag once more in front of her and burying her face partially into it so that her nose and mouth were hidden. The punishment was definitely worth it now that this kind of reward was being presented to her~

Alexander did his best to ignore the odd pinch in his stomach when Simone stumbled again, and instead managed to simply look at her, raising an eyebrow. This really was starting to become a problem, wasn’t it? The king crossed muscular arms over his chest to keep his hands away from her; she was supposed to cook. He couldn’t go around distracting her… or himself. He really, really needed not to distract himself. Funny how his bloodlust was so under control with her, yet most everything else was not. He wasn’t quite sure which was worse, but he was pretty sure the slaves were rather grateful their king would not be eating and killing one of them on a daily basis.

So he chose to focus on her face and the reactions the kitchen elicited. Ah, he couldn’t quite discern whether she was surprised or impressed. Perhaps a mixture of both. Green eyes danced over the redhead human, focused on her in that certain way he’d found himself often falling into around this human. Why on earth was she so captivating? Was it the hair? He’d always had a thing for true redheads. Not gingers, but redheads. Are, but they were such rarities, and Simone apparently set herself apart even more. Everything she was, everything she made him think of and do… were abnormal. So out of the ordinary that he felt certain she was not fully human.

As she started searching the kitchen for… whatever she needed, Alexander let himself focus instead of the scent of his odd little adviser. She was close – her humming, a very distinguishable sound, was starting to get a little too loud for his liking. She had her own way of doing pretty much everything, which made her more than easy to recognize, but he really did dislike her humming. It wasn’t beautiful or melodic. It was jumbled and chaotic, everything Alexander attempted to rid himself of. As his eyes slid over Simone, watching her looking at a skillet with a rather… funny look, he smiled wryly. “Don’t get any ideas,” he told her playfully, inclining his head towards the cooking device.

Aaand… there she was. Alexander didn’t show her the courtesy of turning around. Instead, his eyes remained on Simone. She was not here for him. He could tell that much from the lack of the scent of that bag Sarai was supposed to hand her. However, as he felt her gaze, he sighed and turned to raise an eyebrow at her. Her eyes had turned to Simone, still why humming that destructive tune. Oh he knew that smile… and he knew that look. “Nebellia,” he warned subtly. Simone was not a human she was allowed to play with. Perhaps he should’ve talked to his curious adviser while he’d had her on house arrest, but it had simply been too satisfying to see her pout and sulk.

Oh, Alexander cared plenty for his dear Nebby, but their relationship was a complicated one not easily discerned and interpreted. Perhaps because they were complicated people, who, in spite of how things may look, understood each other surprisingly well. Right now, however, that incessant humming was getting on his nerves. He could practically feel Simone tensing a little behind him. Of course he couldn’t blame him. Even his guards feared Nebellia. She just had… a certain something. Perhaps the air of insanity was what made people so unsure, but regardless she was oftentimes a lot more intentional in her endeavors than people gave her credit for. Hell, sometimes it even took Alexander a little while to figure it out.

He would’ve said something then, except he knew Sarai and Brigitte would be joining them in a second and… yep, there they were. Great. Now all they needed was Bowman and Alanya and it would be a most joyous gathering. He noticed Simone moving towards him, clenching the skillet in her hand, but more so than see it, Alexander smelled her fear. And for some reason, he didn’t like it… which was weird, because fear, just like sexual climax, had a tendency to make blood sweeter. As if wishing to reassure her that she was safe, Alexander snaked an arm around her waist, gently drawing her closer to his side.

But he sighed, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose the second Sarai spoke. Oh, but at least Nebellia stopped the awful humming. Small favors, small favors indeed. As Nebbs examined the contents of the bag given to her, Alexander’s once more hard, cold gaze fell on the small, lowly servant. “Sarai, you may follow Brigitte’s example.” He said coolly, dismissing her. Then his eyes easily moved to Brigitte, his tone of voice changing to a much softer one. “Sweetheart, I believe Sarai could use some educating. Make sure she gets it; I’m afraid she has not been all I had hoped for.” He told her casually. Sarai had fine control of her blood lust, and Alexander appreciated that, so he did want her to keep serving Simone. But at the same time, she needed to be put in her proper place, and Brigitte would do that just fine.

Ah, Nebellia seemed rather pleased with the leftover samples she’d quickly determined them to be. But of course he’d known she’d be. He couldn’t help a wry smile as his adviser spoke, twirling happily as she gracefully moved into a curtsy. “This is not us making up, Nebby,” he told her casually, the use of her nickname telling her that he was no longer angry with her. She was always Nebellia when he was angry or irritated with her, Nebby when he thought her to be cute or when he simply felt in a good mood. Nebbs was rarely used to address her when it came to Alexander. He preferred Nebby. It had a better ring to it, perhaps. “You’ve been given these because I need you to have them.” He told her this pointedly, but of course that would not prevent her from thinking of it as a present, because… well, such were the ways of his dear adviser.

Another sigh escaped him the second he was Nebellia notice the skillet in Simone’s hand. Oh, lovely. As much as he didn’t know exactly what she would do, he knew she’d do something and that someone wouldn’t like it. Both his eyebrows shot up when he witnessed her grabbing it with her teeth only to place it atop Sarai’s head. Then he chuckled. If nothing else, Nebby certainly did have the ability to amuse him. She cleared her throat theatrically and he smiled wryly as she winked at him. Oh yes, she was playing around. Good. That meant Simone was safe a little while yet until he could speak with his adviser. Which would be soon. Perhaps he should leave Brigitte and Sarai here with Simone. Sarai could learn. Yes. She should learn.

When his adviser spoke again, he cast her another dry smile and motioned for her to follow him as he glanced at the servants. “You two stay here. Make sure Simone has everything she needs to cook herself a proper meal. You have your orders.” Of course by that he was referring to Sarai learning from Brigitte. Hopefully they’d put that together. If they didn’t, he needed new servants.

As he made it outside the kitchen, he stopped in the main hall, waiting for his adviser before he looked at her and spoke. “I want you to replicate her blood, if possible. Humans do not live forever, and her blood is… almost magical. I can’t have it disappear once she dies of old age… or self inflicted damages.” He paused briefly before looking at her in a more concentrated manner. “Ah, and Simone herself ; the human… she’s off limits. You are not to touch her, nor to be responsible for any kind of harm done to her.”

Simone didn’t know where to look. The purple haired woman stared at her and the redhead watched the woman take her in head to toe. The look in her eyes was unsettling, and all too alike the lions at the zoo when they were hungry. “Nebellia,” Alexander said lowly, his voice rebuking and warning the woman of something she shouldn't do. Simone looked from the king to the purple haired woman, unsure of the word. He said it like one would say a name but it sounded so foreign and strange. Unnatural. Simone shifted, feeling her kidnapper wrap a hand around her waist protectively. His touch lacked the heat from earlier. Instead his hand sat cold on her hip, holding her in a place she didn’t want to be. The appearance of others reminded her that she was not alone in this house, that more than just Alexander and Sarai were complicit in keeping her there. The danger she felt from all of them, from what they were, it made her feel like she had been thrown into a cave with five starving lions that she couldn’t tame.

Sarai stumbled with her words, suddenly another person entirely as she was shoved forward and forced to present a bag filled with something to the woman. Simone watched her, astounded by the sheer difference in the servant’s demeanor. She appeared small and her voice was completely devoid of the sharp authority she had come to know in the past 14 days. The other vampire behind her with the pale blue hair looked nonplussed with the entire situation. “Sarai, you may follow Brigitte’s example,” Alexander ordered. Simone didn’t like his tone, nor the fact that he was ordered her servant to be so like this other behind her, the one who had forced her into the kitchen so brutally. “Sweetheart, I believe Sarai could use some educating. Make sure she gets it; I’m afraid she has not been all I had hoped for,” Alexander added, directing his words to the blue haired girl. Simone shifted beside him, discontent with his rebuking. Sarai had held her hair the past few mornings, wiped her mouth when she’d finished hurling her anxious guts into the bathroom toilet. She had done all she could short of doping her up, offered teas and made her sit and eat or read or something. She had certainly tried. Simone didn’t like that she was suddenly to blame for something. Even though she had hated every minute of the girl following her, watching her every move, she felt like she owed her something. She certainly had been good to her, and Simone knew she had not made the girl’s life easy. No. Alexander was to blame for her state. Even then her stomach was rolling, the anxiety rising as her heart fluttered. Simone felt her hands grow sweaty and she wanted out of this tense room.

It was only when the purple haired woman pulled out the black fabric of her shirt that Simone realized her personal clothes were being handed over. She gasped as the woman brought the black cotton to her face, burying her nose in it happily. Simone tensed when the woman’s gaze flitted back over to her, lit up like a Christmas tree.

"This is a rather unexpected pleasantry,” she laughed. Simone’s upper lip twitched with the sound, her hand tightening defensively on the handle of the skillet. "A rather odd way to have one of our make-up interactions, Your Majesty," she added, spinning on her heel to sudden curtsy low to Alexander. “This is not us making up, Nebby,” he replied lowly. Ah, so Nebellia was her name. “You’ve been given these because I need you to have them,” he explained. Simone looked at the bag of clothes angrily, her eyes narrowing. Her fear was blistering, but something else was there again. Anger. He was giving away the only tangible remnants that she had of her freedom to some psychotic bitch who wouldn’t stop laughing, who seemed all too amused with this sitation, who stared at her like she was something to own. Simone wanted to hurt him then. She wanted him to know that she felt like he had taken something from her, something so valuable. Her freedom. Her sanity. This state she had been in, this complacency, the teasing, the desire, he was making her feel it all. It needed to stop. He was a disease that couldn’t be given into. She wanted out.

Unknowingly she had begun to swing the skillet slightly. Nebellia shifted then and Simone gasped, watching the woman suddenly crouch down, her head twisting as her jaw extended with fangs in sight. Her teeth clamped down on the metal of the pan and ripped it from her hands like a dog, standing with it in her mouth beaming. Simone stared at her aghast, her free hand lingering in the air in a fist for a second as Nebellia stepped back and turned to Sarai, dropping the skillet on the girl’s head. Simone glared at the woman, intermittently watching Sarai close her eyes and exhale deeply, humiliation flooding her face as she stood stock still so as not to disturb the thing on her head. Alexander chuckled lowly and Simone shifted, her left elbow jutting sharply into his side. She didn’t know he felt anything, and she doubted her did, but it was her way of telling him to shut the fuck up. The entire display was worse than playground bullying.

"Well! Now that the scary skillet has been taken care of~ Dearest Lexi-Pop," Nebellia purred, "How did you know I was looking for samples? Such a thoughtful present you've given me. Was there anything you wanted me to do with it?"

“You two stay here. Make sure Simone has everything she needs to cook herself a proper meal. You have your orders,” Alexander replied, moving to release Simone. She watched him by looking over her shoulder, her hands gripping the counter though her anger had given her the energy to stand on her own. The king exited through a set of doors, motioning for Nebellia to follow. All at once the room fell silent and Simone turned to look at Sarai and the other. Sarai shifted her shoulders and tilted her head, taking the skillet into her hands before walking over next to her.

“What is it you intended to make?” she asked lowly. Simone watched Sarai glance back at the blue haired girl while she spoke. “I’m sorry to have caused you trouble,” Simone whispered lowly, stepping away from the shorter blond servant to open another set of cupboards. She was confronted with sack upon sack of steel cut oats, a select few bottles of spices set into the corner. Opening another set had her exposed to several tubs of vitamins and enhancers. This was clearly a kitchen meant for feeding the simplest of meals to mass amounts of people. “What is it you intended to make?” Sarai asked again, moving suddenly to touch Simone’s hand as she tried to open another set of cupboard doors.

Simone tore her hand away from the servant, watching Sarai’s eyes grow defiant. “What is it you want to cook Simone?” she demanded a third time colloquially, her eyebrow raising and her chin lowering as if to say this was the last time she would be asking. The redhead glared back. “Some chicken or something I don’t know,” she answered grudgingly. “You’ll keep your fucking hands out of it though. You cook shit for food.”

“Excuse me?” Sarai rebutted, as if offended. “Yes, you do. It tastes like cardboard every single time,” Simone elaborated, walking past the blond to the large double door fridge. “Don’t!” Sarai warned. It was too late, however. There was a reason Nebellia had been heading to the kitchens. As she opened the fridge Simone was confronted with blood. Not in bags as she would have expected, but vials and test tubes of it, and other substances in racks. All of them were labeled, all of them collected it appeared within the past week. Sarai slammed the doors shut and forced her away. “What the hell do you do here?” Simone sputtered. Sarai shook her head, sighing as she almost always did. Her lack of answer did her no good. Simone could feel her blood boiling, her horror and fear fueling her growing hatred for all that they were, for what they were doing, for the humans who walked around and gave themselves over so willingly. She didn’t know what she was doing then as she reached for the butcher’s block closest to the fridge and withdrew the knife with the biggest handle.



Sarai growled at the girl, watching her eyes lock in on the set of knives. She snatched up a cleaver without even hesitating. Sarai moved quickly, grabbing the human's wrist tightly and squeezing her fingers, forcing her to let it go. She shoved her into the counter, forcing Simone's back to Sarai's chest in an instant so that the servant could reach her ear. "We are vampires Simone. Clean blood is essential. Your food is kept in a separate fridge. Now cooperate and don't be stupid, these halls are crawling with guards who would leap at the chance to bleed you dry if your blood was exposed by something like this knife."

Slamming the cleaver into the cupboard to prove a point, Sarai stepped away and rolled her shoulders, moving stiffly to open a smaller bar sized fridge underneath one of the cupboards, exposing a wide array of vegetables and meats not kept elsewhere. Yanking out a package of boneless skinless chicken breast, the servant tossed it at the human girl who remained stunned. Simone fumbled with the meat, scanning the label before looking back at the cleaver dug into the counter top to the hilt of its handle.

"Cook woman. I'm sure if the king knows of your threats to stab yourself with that knife you won't be here again," Sarai mentioned coldly. Stupid child. Though she had to admit, the fight in the girl's eyes was something she hadn't seen since the first day, not to this degree, not in this feisty way. The blond looked back at Brigitte, unsure of what the girl would say about the display, about her tactics, about everything.

---

---

Ohh, this one had a lot of energy, didn't she~? Nebellia didn't even bat an eyelash at the girl who was glaring at her so firmly. How utterly adorable! Why couldn't she find playmates like this again? Ah yes, that was right, she wasn't like Danny-Pants, who literally walked around with his tail on the front end rather than the back and wagged it for all the girls to see. Sure, the method was effective to a degree but it was rather crude and she was a scientist~ Lexi-Pop's approaches were much more forwards but seductive in turn, and she honestly just couldn't see the appeal of... slowly reeling in the catch. Once it was gotten, however... Yes, a nice, long drawn-out playing session was much fun indeed.

She drew her mind away from her experiments, eyes following after Lexi-Pop as he ordered the two servants to stay. She smiled overly widely at the trio standing in the kitchen before sauntering after the king. He led them out to the main hall, a fair distance from the kitchen and away from any potential eavesdroppers. Not that many would want to get in close proximity with Nebellia anyway--everyone remembered the incident just several months ago when one of the guards had stumbled a bit too close to her lab. The fumbling idjit had tried to enter and set off one of her many traps. He had been lucky only his eyes had been gouged out~

She chortled at the memory, staring up at Lexi-Pop with her wide eyes happily. Mmm~ He could deny the present all he liked but things like this happened far too often after they had spats. She'd always get something nice from him one way or another afterwards. His gaze was firm, however, as if to tell her playtime was over for the moment. She released a sigh, closing her eyes briefly. As always, the shift was very apparent--her eyes lost their obsessive glean, mouth relaxing into a more neutral position. Her internalized changes of mental stability confounded most but Alexander was experienced enough not to even bat an eyelash when it happened.

“I want you to replicate her blood, if possible. Humans do not live forever, and her blood is… almost magical. I can’t have it disappear once she dies of old age… or self inflicted damages.” There was a pause as his eyes narrowed, regarded her more carefully. Nebellia dropped the bag from in front of her, holding it loosely in her hand as she stared back.

“Ah, and Simone herself ; the human… she’s off limits. You are not to touch her, nor to be responsible for any kind of harm done to her." The scientist let the briefest of frowns flit across her face as she nodded her head in consent to his wishes.

"The replication process should be simple enough--her blood compound shouldn't be that difficult to break down. As for this... magical quality you speak of..." She trailed off, reaching into one of the pockets on her dress and pulling out a thin needle along with a mini vial. She had always made it a point to carry odd assortments of things for those "what if" scenarios. She held the objects out gently towards him, gesturing towards his fingers. "I'll need a comparison to see if you are the only one that experiences this phenomenon. Certainly there have been satisfying humans but as for those with blood that seems magical... Hmm, it will make the experiment interesting."

"As for the human... very well, you have my word that she will be safe--at least as far as I am concerned." She handed him the needle and vial, letting her touch linger only long enough to tell him she was only doing this for him. To deny her the chance to toy with such a specimen, she'd only relent because he asked. She dropped her hand to her side, glancing back at the kitchen doors before settling her gaze on Alexander again. She gave him a quick curtsy but the frown had once again returned to her lips.

"The girl is malnourished and her body does not look like it is functioning at its healthy capacity." She was a bit wary to suggest it as mere mentioning would imply that Alexander was not knowledgeable. But it wouldn't do to have the human in that state--the blood on the shirt was old, she could smell it. At least a week or two. That was all well and good, but she would need more blood, more samples. And samples taken from a girl that was in that kind of sickly state would not provide optimal results.

Her tone was careful and politely pitched. "I can give my observation papers to Brigitte or.. the other girl, whoever you feel more comfortable to take care of your human. The servants were not tutored to take care of humans effectively and while I may experiment, keeping my subjects alive is also essential for my work. It may aid in the human receiving better care than she has." She bowed her head respectfully towards Alexander when she finished but still maintained eye contact. Her lips pursed slightly, she was his adviser after all--if things were awry, it was her job to fix them.

---

---

Normally, a smirk would've touched on to his face when Sydney relented, processing his offer and (after seemingly battling it mentally), conceded to it with a sigh. Normally. But his anger did not go away as easily as all that, so he only stared at her coldly as she spoke. Her eyes flitted to the ground, voice coming out small as she uttered two words of the utmost humility, given the situation. She thanked him, softly nodding. He let her walk ahead of him a bit as she followed the direction of his gesture, heading out of the entrance. He should cool down, why was he still so discontent with her? She had done as he had suggested, she had fallen into place as he had known she would. But her words were still grating on him in the back of his mind. Garreth wasn't sure precisely why but there was something unsettling about what she had accused him of.

She was just a trivial, human woman--she was ignorant to the ways of the world and none too bright, despite what she might think. So why was this bothering him? He had been called many other things in his life, some names much more horrifying than what she had shot out and, in those cases, had been absolutely true. Her insults were menial, as was her place in the workings of things. He shouldn't let it get to him like this; anger only brought him closer to another part of himself that he would not succumb to. Not here, not now. He was beyond blind rage--he had proven that many many years ago.

With a deep sigh of irritation, he unlocked the car, the two of them sliding into the front seats. He had guessed she would take the front one as she had--she was at least smart enough to put aside her petty ideals for the sake of her sibling. Another trait they had in common. His hand tightened on the steering wheel at this thought, sharply pushing the keys into the slot and turning them so that the car would start.

“Where are we going?” Her question was plain but quiet. Perhaps she could tell he was annoyed but he was quite certain she had no idea as to what extent he was. If she did, she would've probably fled from the car screaming. It wasn't his getting angry that she would be frightened of, it would be what he would do... what he would turn into.

He shrugged off the uncomfortable image and stepped down on the gas pedal, pulling out of his parking slot. "The club." He answered curtly. He could almost feel her questioning look on him and he regarded her out of the corner of his vision, eyes flashing with a bit of silver. "I'm sure by now you're smart enough to process that the scene we were privy to couldn't have possibly been without witnesses--yet none of the hu... people claimed to have remembered anything." He adjusted himself quickly, careful not to let that particular word slip out. He carried on without paying it much attention, brushing it off as he would most insignificant things.

"We won't be trying to see if anyone remembers that night--but perhaps that owner friend of yours will remember some... unique regulars. That may give us a clue as to what transpired." He explained coolly, keeping his eyes on the road now. While he was certain the parasites would've gotten rid of all evience of their carnage or kidnappings, he was also sure they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to enthrall humans upon every visit. That would rouse too much suspicion. Odds were someone in there would remember one of the parasites--they tended to stand out, especially in dark settings like clubs.

He fell silent as he became absorbed in his thoughts, not speaking again until they reached the front of the club. The sign still had yet to be fixed, he observed briefly. He stepped out of the car, waiting on her before entering the building. Unlike the other night, there was no disgusting scent ot fill his nostrils, only the usual scents that humans carried with them.

"After you," He said, directing Sydney towards the back to where the owner was. As a rule, he didn't like crowded places like this. So the sooner they were able to leave, the better.

Brigitte Lebelle

Brigitte stood with her back pressed firmly against the counter, arms folded over her chest. Her nerves burned slightly and her throat was tight. This was the reaction she always had whenever His Highness addressed her. A slight chill slithered down her spine, though it was impossible to notice due to how well she kept herself composed. When His Highness spoke to her, that was one thing; but when he told her to do something...Brigitte often wondered if this was perhaps the emotion so commonly referred to as ecstasy. When being told what to do, and then accomplishing that order optimally-- now those were the rushes that could cause her to break her otherwise door-like self. Though the latest rush that had run through her after His Highness' newest order was still fading away, Brigitte knew it was important she begin her new task immediately. Sarai and herself were to remain in the kitchen with Simone and aide her in cooking a proper meal.

Although it was such a seemingly simple order the fact that she had no clue as to what constituted as a "proper meal" for a human was throwing a slight curve-ball at her. In the middle of her mulling over this the human woman had opened the fridge that held the mansions most easily accessible blood. And now...there was a clever in the wall. Although Brigitte did not believe that the attitude Sarai was showing was needed in the slightest she figured it would be best to just quell the two down and get everything done. Rolling up the sleeves of her white shirt she moved over towards the two and easily pulled the cleaver out of the cupboard then held it under a sink faucet, running hot water over it to disinfect whatever was on the cupboard doors.

"Cooking?" Brigitte inquired towards Simone, the cleaver now rinsed. This woman wanted to make something with that meat...and this clever seemed to be necessary. "Direct." She lay the clever down by Simone then grabbed an apron from one of the various kitchen draws. The servant couldn't cook but she'd be damned if she didn't know where everything was in this mansion. Making a tight knot around the back of her waist she gave Sarai a chill glare. "Listen. Follow. Done." The mousy servant did not need to be making things worse with her snapping. If her cooking skills were as bad as the woman had said then she was not going to be making any decisions. Although she was still at a loss to what was proper food for a human, if a human was telling one not to cook it then one had better stop.

Brigitte rolled her shoulders back then leaned forward across the counter to Simone. "Cooking. Now." Her words, though noticeably sharp, were as usual said in such a gentle voice that it just about stripped away any feeling of command from it. Thankfully, her face had such a look to it that one could not help but realize how serious she was. It was interesting really, just how many contradictions this ghost of a vampire was full of. Her gaze flickered between the human and the other servant then she pulled herself back into her normal posture and gripped the counter edge slightly. It was time they made this food.

The cleaver only graced her fingertips for a split second before Sarai pulled it from her hands. Simone gasped, watching the cleaver fly through the air before it tore through the counter. Sarai shoved the blade into the stainless steel without so much as a flinch, burying the blade up to its handle in a show of power and authority.

"We are vampires Simone. Clean blood is essential. Your food is kept in a separate fridge. Now cooperate and don't be stupid, these halls are crawling with guards who would leap at the chance to bleed you dry if your blood was exposed by something like this knife,” the servant snarled at her. Simone stepped back into the counter, swallowing the growing knots in her stomach. Her fingers twitched and she flinched as Sarai moved to a small bar friend hidden under the island in the middle of the kitchen and chucked a package of chicken at her. She struggled to catch it. Simone was half tempted to let it slam into her chest and then fall onto the floor but she was never one to not defend herself. She ran her thumb over the packages label. None of it seemed real. Looking back at the knife buried into the counter top proved it to her. What struck her hair was the date on the meat. It had been bought after she had been brought here. It was from a grocery store she had been to half a dozen times in the last month. It had been put together and packed by a human of this world.

"Cook woman. I'm sure if the king knows of your threats to stab yourself with that knife you won't be here again," Sarai prodded her. Simone jumped back and nearly dropped the chicken on the floor. Her thought process was interrupted entirely. Simone didn’t know where to look. The redhead’s eyes darted to the doorway Alexander had left through. An awkward silence fell between them. Simone looked back at her servant. Sarai stared at her defiantly, gesturing her hand to the kitchen that surrounded them. The shuffling of the blue haired girl had Simone uncertain of what was to come. She watched the other vampire sign and remove the knife where Sarai had stabbed it, emotionlessly running it under hot water before turning to her. Simone looked the girl up and done, from her flawless pale skin to her strange braided hair. Sarai looked down at the floor, stepping away, shrinking back like she had been stripped of her job. It was odd to her. This new girl, had Alexander called her something? She was so different. Sarai was passionate and fiery, as irrational at times as a human. But this one, she was still as a board when she stopped moving. She seemed like another type of creature entirely and yet she and Sarai were both the same. But maybe they weren’t? Sometime seemed strange.

"Cooking?" the girl asked, holding the knife at her strangely. Simone held her breath until Brigitte set it down on the counter. “Direct,” the girl added, moving to open a drawer and done a frilly 1950s style apron. Setting the chicken down on the counter, Simone moved to wash her hands again. The warm water felt nice. With her back turned to them both she took the time to look out the window in front of her. It was so dark that she couldn’t see anything. She couldn’t hear the crickets the way she could from her apartment or at the zoo. Instead she felt like she was staring out at a brick wall. And she very well could have been but she couldn’t tell. Finishing, Simone moved to the same drawer she had seen the blue haired girl open. She found a tea towel in it to wipe her hands dry.

"Listen. Follow. Done," the girl said suddenly. Simone jumped at the authority and snap of her words before realizing they were directed towards Sarai whose shoulders were rapidly engulfing her neck. Simone looked at the girl, so unsure of the dynamic between them. It made so little sense why she changed so much when she spoke to her. It was clear that she saw a hierarchy existing in this setting, no different than Alexander. It was grinding and biting to deal with.

"Cooking. Now," the girl commanded. Simone swallowed and sighed, hesitantly stepping past Sarai to re-open the bar fridge. She was confronted with both a lot and a little. There were no condiments, sauces or spices which explained the overall lack of flavor in her food. There was, however, a pile of vegetables. Simone pulled out two red peppers and an onion. There was also garlic, which surprised her and appeared to debunk one of her questions about them. Then there was the blood in the main fridge. Where on earth did that come from? How many people…?

Silently, she set everything on the counter first before looking at what she had. It was a bit like an iron chef competition only she wasn’t very good at improvising. Simone loved food, but her recipe book was her best friend. For once she was craving her cramped kitchen. It was the only aspect of her apartment that was well furnished and put together.

Simone bit down on her lower lip before swallowing and looking at Sarai. “Can you get things for me? This isn’t enough,” she asked lowly. The blond looked at the things before her, seeming to assess whether Simone was trying to get rid of her. Turning to the blue haired girl she passed over the vegetables she had picked. “Wash?” she asked lowly, her voice sweet but visibly intimidated.

“What do you need?” Sarai asked.
“Can I write things down?” Simone replied.

Again Sarai shifted, thinking, before she moved through the kitchen to open another small drawer, pulling out a pen and notepad. Setting them in front of Simone hesitantly, she withdrew.

“What else is there?” Sarai asked suddenly. Simone leaned into the counter on her elbows, beginning to list out the essentials that were absent. “What do you mean?” she asked, only flitting her eyes up at her momentarily before she continued on with her elegant cursive. “Earth has a lot of human food that we don’t,” Sarai whispered lowly. She was hesitant, her voice fading entirely by the end of it. Simone’s lips parted to speak but she didn’t know what to say. That sentence said so much. In fact it was more than anything Sarai had said to her so far.

She didn’t know what to say. But she did know something. She wanted Alexander there.

---

---

He remained silent as Sydney continued her line of questioning, her expression portraying skepticism and doubt as the bartender answered her inquiries. He crossed his arms faintly as the conversation strayed to mention of two years ago but did not see a need to interfere. They had called something of a silent, temporary truce and he was certain she would not take kindly to him taking control of the situation. As the bartender began to describe an encounter the "Simone" sister had a time back, he froze delicately as he listened to the description. It matched closely with... a bit too closely to... no, there was no denying it. He went to grit his teeth but forced himself to keep his composure. It was bad enough she had seen him lose a modicum of his carefully handled calm earlier.

Sydney turned back towards him, sighing. “Don’t suppose that helps, does it?” Her gestures indicated she did not think much of this information nor attributed it to any credible nature. But he knew otherwise. That description couldn't belong to any other except the king of parasites himself. Even the mere thought was enough to make him grimace. Garreth had never enjoyed reflecting on the other leaders of the other races except when strictly necessary. But there was no other way to piece the puzzle together.

They had arrived at the scene a few weeks prior and there had been that undeniable stench marring the atmosphere. Now at this mention that that parasite had settled his eyes on Sydney's sister... Garreth released a breath he had known he had been holding as a bit of sympathy flitted into his gaze. There was no need for personal experience, it was well known what Alexander did with the humans that he brought with him. There was absolutely no way the Simone girl could've survived a feeding like that and if his suspicions were correct, then she had been taken by him and sucked dry.

His mouth set into a thin as he glanced down at Sydney and shook his head vaguely. "Not exactly the end result I had anticipated..." He murmured before raising his volume so that she could hear him. "Not by much but perhaps it would be best to discuss this outside of such a barbaric atmosphere?" He offered as he looked over towards the exit. One would think that a club like this wouldn't be so occupied given that it was a Sunday... Admittedly it wasn't nearly as wild as it could be, like in the hours, but still.

Syd wasn't exactly sure what he'd found worthwhile in the information, yet it had clearly been something of significance. Still, she wouldn't press, not here and now. The suggestion was a welcome one, and she nodded simply in reply, more than eager to be gone from the location herself. Maybe this was the kind of place that others could enjoy, but she was not among them.

He was more gentle this time with his direction, lightly pressing a few fingers to the small of her back as they made their way through the crowd. Perhaps he was getting a little soft, feeling sympathy for a human. But this had always been a touchy subject with him, so maybe this was only a natural reaction.

They were nearing the exit as a few jeers from over his shoulder caused him to pause, just momentarily. He glanced back with a frown, catching sight of a group of humans in the far corner of the club. They were all clearly drunk, a slur of words leaving their mouths in the form of crude yells and half-thought sentences. One of the men was clearly more far gone than the others and pushed one of the others on to the ground.

Garreth narrowed his eyes in disgust; that kind of behavior had always reviled him. As he turned to lead them outside, a jostle from the far corner caused his reflexes to kick in. He pushed his hand more firmly against her, jolting her out of the way as he raised his other hand to catch a beer bottle that had been thrown in their direction. He ground his teeth as he felt a bit of glass dig into his palm but ignored it, loosening his grip so that the remnants of the now crushed bottle fell to the ground. He ignored the stares from the onlookers and just focused on grabbing Sydney's arm and pulling her out of the club behind him.

As soon as they got outside, he looked down at his palm to get a better gauge of the injury in better lighting. It wasn't as bad as it looked, though it still stung like all hell. The glass had pierced through the fabric of his gloves and he went to take out a few shards casually, halting as he felt Sydney's stare. He released a short laugh and shrugged, making to move his hand into his pocket. "It's nothing, just a flesh wound." He remarked, walking over towards the driver's side of the car. In truth, it really was nothing--it was bound to heal pretty quickly anyway. The injury was just proof of just how lacking of intelligence most humans were anyway.

---

---

Nebellia raised her eyebrows ever so slightly, hiding them behind her mildly messy bangs. She took the vial delicately with pursed lips as she listened to Alexander. There was a hitch in his voice, one that she was unaccustomed to hearing. He was and always had been the calm one--easily handling his position of power with ease and comfort. Certainly kingship wasn't a leisurely stroll and it could have its taxing moments but she had yet to see him become troubled by it. Yet, to see him like this... to hear the unfamiliar tone in his voice. Frustration, yes, that is what that tone of voice indicated. To be displaying this to her... It was a rare state indeed.

She was quick to cast glances around the hallways to ensure there were no one around before raising a few fingers and cautiously brushing them against his cheek. Just as her touch upon his hand, this fleeting moment was precisely that. She kept it brief and lowered her fingers almost instantly afterwards as a wry smile worked itself on to his lips. "Perhaps," She began as she caught him looking towards the kitchen doors. "A different approach is in order," She said lightly, dropping the vial she had been holding into her lab coat pocket.

"If she is indeed different as you say, then all that needs be done is an alteration of tactic." She let a warm smile flit across her face as she regarded him fondly. Alexander had more of a heart than others would credit him for but then again, to be King, one was not necessarily known for how tender they could feel. "If she does not conform, I would surmise it is because she has yet to feel comfortable in her atmosphere. She does not seem to be one you want to rule by fear, if you'll forgive the forwardness of my statement," She paused, bowing her head slightly before continuing.

"I assured you she would come to no harm under my watch so you need only request it and I will offer assistance if needs be. Besides," She let a devious tint into her smile as she winked playfully at him. "I do ever so enjoy new observational notes." She mused, a bit of her melodic pitches returning to her voice. Nebellia could never resist the excitement that research provided her and this was going to be a most riviting point of interest. She would keep her promise to him--she would not lay a finger on the human girl. But this was a curious case and she wasn't about to miss out on a chance to discover new information.

Admittedly, she had never had a chance to observe a human... naturally. The test subjects that she was privy to she had either taken herself or were given to her. And those humans were almost always broken or had given up fighting back, at the very least. So to see someone that was still so energetic... Ohh, it sent chills up her spine. The things she could learn! And possibly apply to later experiments...

She reigned her thoughts in--now wasn't the time to let herself wander to her laboratory hours...~ She curtsied once more before gesturing towards the kitchen with a bit of a dramatic flare. She didn't like to see Alexander troubled but was usually good at increasing his mood, even by a little bit. "Shall we check on her? By the sounds of things, Bree Bear and that other servant girl appear to be fumbling around... and not in a productive manner~"

She took a few steps back over towards the door, pushing it open just slightly with a few petite digits. She knew better than to enter before him and merely kept the option open for him if he chose to take it.

He was staring at her. Green eyes were on her, seeming as surprised as she felt, but only for a brief moment before they lit with realization, like memories of the night before came back to him just then. Gods, right now she really wished that would happen to her as well, but she was realistic enough to know that all she would get was a few flashes of memory, most likely the most embarrassing ones. But she didn’t care about that. She knew the night before had been good for her; it had helped her forget mostly about Simone, and now here she was, and her redheaded sister was among the very first things on her mind, even though she was lying naked in a man’s bed.

The second Sabine spoke, it dawned on Sapphire that she was still nuzzled against his chest, her one leg nestled in between his, skin touching skin. Everything suddenly felt very, very real. Especially as he then moved. That was exactly the push Sapphire needed to actually react, and she scooted as far away from him as possible as she stared, still not entirely sure what to think about the fact that she’d just slept with a man who’d previously told her he disliked being touched. He sat up, stretching casually, but as the sheets fell off of his entire upper body, she couldn’t help letting her eyes wander. It was strange; from the looks of him with clothes on, you wouldn’t imagine him to be this muscular. He had a slight, although tall, frame, but he was all muscles. It was oddly appealing to her. Even as he stretched, there was a certain elegant, powerful touch to his movements.

“Hi…” she trailed dumbly, inwardly cursing her own lack of articulation as she soon realized she was still way too focused on his chest, and her eyes shot up almost instantly, almost too suddenly, trying to hide the fact that she was completely fascinated with him. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when he merely turned and informed her it had been her own idea… this entire thing. She raised an eyebrow, the statement a little funny to her. She finally managed to sit up herself, dragging the sheets up with her to cover her more womanly parts, regaining the cool indifference she usually displayed after drunken one-night stands. A wry smile flittered across her face.

“Yeah, it usually is.” She noted drily, before continuing, “I’m just surprised you went along with it. Aren’t you supposed to dislike being touched?” Her question held a trace of the same teasing amusement his had just before. “To my knowledge, sex sort of involves touching. A lot of it.” While Sabine turned to inspect the room with his gaze, Sapphire took a moment to look around as well, and as she did, bits of memory began invading her previously blissfully vacant mind. His jealousy, them kissing, him carrying her home, then mere flashes of glistening skin and moans of pleasure. The feelings then followed. Those were the worst. There were no pictures connected to them, but she had memories of feeling particular things. Intense pleasure for one, heat… attraction. She remembered her own feelings of urgency, and she practically heard him teasing her.

She wanted to remember all of it. She wanted to remember every little bit of pleasure and passion shared between them, but she didn’t, and she couldn’t. That was the thing about getting drunk out of her mind, she supposed, but she’d never actually wanted to remember as much as she did right now. Her headache had been almost forgotten, forced into the back of her mind while it was much too busy doing other things. But it came back as soon as he spoke up once more. “Hmm?” She hummed. He’d said something about being loud. She stared at him for a moment before she shook her head only a little, wincing at the pain racing through it by even this slight movement, and she sighed, right hand coming up to rub her one temple, closing her eyes.

Then he raised his voice, apparently addressing someone not in the room, and the second the volume of it hit her, she took one of the pillows and folded it behind her head, covering her ears enough to dull the sound as she glared at him. What the hell was the point of that? “That was entirely unnecessary,” she grumbled tetchily once he was done, dropping the pillow. He’d just made her list. Sapphire hated waking up. She hated waking up with a headache even more. And he’d just made it worse. Bastard.

When he spoke to her, Sapphire raised an eyebrow, irritated with him for no reason she could really discern. Well, save for the fact that he’d raised his voice much too close to her. The rest of her body was still aching so very pleasantly, and the passion from last night still played memory puzzle inside her mind. But that didn’t keep her from wanting to rip his head off, so she ended up narrowing her eye at him. “I’m fine,” she almost sneered as she got up in all her naked glory, not caring one bit as she stalked through the door connecting bedroom and bathroom. Well, she assumed it was the bathroom. Fortunately she was right. It would’ve been really awkward if it was the closet. She slammed the wooden hindrance behind her and took a deep breath, leaning against it as her eyes closed.

She heard someone else in the bedroom, but she couldn’t make herself care. Maybe she just needed coffee. Yes, she needed coffee. She’d get some on her way the hell out of there. She just… needed to wash some of the… not too sanitary remnants from the previous night, off of her. She spotted a grand shower stall quickly enough and slipped in there. She put her hand under the water, waiting for it to heat, and as she stepped into the warm, cascading drops of heaven, her eyelids fell shut and she leaned her head back, drowning out everything else.

---

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Voices. She heard voices. Actual voices speaking. Not moaning, not groaning, not panting. Just talking. Lena breathed a soft sigh of relief. She’d feared they’d pick up right where they’d left off this morning, but fortunately things seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. She merely hoped she’d be able to sleep today, because it was not even the middle of the day, and she was so tired. She worked all day every day, and by the time she usually went to bed, she was nearing fatigue, so she needed that recharge she got from her seven hours of sleep every night. She’d never gone without it. Until today. But she supposed she was merely lucky that she was this young.

She remembered some of the others talking of times when the king would take women to his bed quite often. Perhaps his dry streak was over and she’d better get used to noises at night. If that was the case, she felt she might have to move to another room, no matter how unsafe it was for her to dare outside the king’s wing, especially to do something as vulnerable as sleep. She might as well step into the guards’ wing and shout “hey boys, I’m right here, come and get me!” Lena stepped closer to the door connecting the king’s more private quarters to the hallway of his personal wing. She put one dainty hand on the wooden door, sighing.

She wasn’t sure whether she dared simply enter. This situation was entirely too unusual and she didn’t like it. Then, however, blessedly, Sabine’s voice cut through clearly. Granted, Lena jumped in shock at the king’s words, but it was a lovely thing nevertheless. He might as well have told her she was allowed to enter. She smiled softly, carefully and quietly opening the door. He knew her quite well, didn’t he? It was funny, she hadn’t thought much of it, but he really did notice things about her. She was so very fortunate to have him for a master. Many demons were not quite as attentive.

Lena slowly shut the door behind her, glancing towards the door to Sabine’s bedroom, which was standing slightly ajar. The blonde female from the night before was in his bed with him. Lena blinked a couple of times, taking in the messy look of them both, and the fact that they both appeared to be naked beneath the covers. The mere thought brought a soft pink to her cheeks as she began chewing on the inside of her right one, inching closer to them. She didn’t feel comfortable with this blonde human. Not even a little. Lena didn’t go out a lot, which meant she hardly ever even interacted with humans. She had no honest idea how to carry herself. She was just… going off of what she read in books, but that would only get her so far.

When she heard the king mention her name, Lena straightened and looked at the both of them immediately. However, the human sneered at his majesty and then got up naked, and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her. Lena stared, wide-eyed. No one talked to the king that way. Not even the captain, and that was saying something. The small Asian Halfling found herself frozen in shock. How could she talk to Sabine like that? Why did he allow her to? She shut her mouth the second she realized she’d been gaping. Instead, she shook her head and skipped quickly into the king’s bedroom, curtsying respectfully, her eyes on the floor. Then the water turned on in the bathroom. She was really glad she could address Sabine appropriately right now.

Water running would make the human unable to hear the conversation in the bedroom. “Your majesty,” she murmured in greeting, completely and utterly flustered at the situation. The pink in her cheeks only intensified as she looked around the room. Such a terrible mess. Lena’s fingers were practically itching to clean up the room. Of course, she had no honest clue how to deal with the human’s clothes. Should she wash it? Or merely fold it properly and leave it for her when she returned from what Lena assumed to be a bath? She could only hope Sabine would give her some order or another. That, or she’d simply ask him.
 

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When Nebellia’s fingers daintily brushed across his cheek, Alexander sighed, looking down at her. She was among the few people he would ever let himself seem even a little vulnerable around. Actually, she was the only person. To everyone else he was a leader; a king, or a father. To everyone else, he was supposed to have everything figured out, and he usually did, but Simone was in a category all to herself. Which meant he was left with a bit of frustration. He could tell his dear friend and adviser did not particularly like seeing him this way, mostly because he knew she cared for him. He was grateful of her presence. Sometimes he wondered to himself how he had fared before she had come to work for him. It was rather nice to have someone to talk to at times.

She was also the only person he would allow to touch him this way. When the contact ended, he glanced at the kitchen, but she drew back his attention when she began speaking of a different approach. He frowned slightly in thought as he listened to her suggestions. Make her feel comfortable? A human? Had he not been plenty kind to her already? Granted, he still made it very clear that she had reason to fear him, but… it seemed as though she wanted his company sometimes. And then she didn’t. Such a confusing human. Nebby was right of course. Simone did not respond well to fear, but even when he treated her nicely, she had this tendency to throw every kindness back in his face. He gave her a nice room; she trashed it, he allowed her into the kitchen; she started playing with knives (yes, he’d heard that), he let her out into the garden; she searched for ways to escape.

And he couldn’t remove the guards, nor the supervising servant, because he didn’t trust her not to run. He didn’t know what to do differently. When she paused, bowing her head, Alexander let a soft sigh escape him. “I know,” he told her calmly, surprisingly not hostile. It was merely an admission, laced with just a sliver of despondence. When she then offered her assistance, Alexander cast a dry smile in her direction. “You may observe her, but do not make her feel like one of your lab humans. I do not expect she would take kindly to such, and she is plenty difficult as it is.” He told her, only a slight tint of amusement escaping with his words.

At Nebbs’ suggestions of checking in on Simone and the servant girls, Alexander nodded only once. Before she entered however, he stopped beside her. When she displeased him, he punished her, but likewise, when she pleased him, he would reward her. It wasn’t unlike how you would deal with a child… or a dog. But it worked. The system. Not only on Nebby, but everyone else as well. It set clear boundaries. As such, Alexander inclined his head slight in her direction before he quietly added. “Ah, we’ve had a few additions to the human wing of the house, my dear. You may choose one.” With that, he was of course giving her a new test subject. He knew that during her punishment, all of the ones she had gotten without allowance had, well, started rotting a bit too much, so she had nothing to play with. He was also telling her that he did not need her assistance right now. He would call for her when he did. For now, he would like to be alone with Simone.

Then Alexander pushed the door the rest of the way open and entered the kitchen, keen eyes scanning the place only briefly before he approached Simone She was writing on a notepad. A shopping list, it seemed. He gently placed a hand on the small of her back as he stationed himself beside her, on the opposite side from Sarai as he looked at the list of groceries over her shoulder. Nebbs thought kindness would work better than fear, then he would be on his best behavior. Hell, in the end maybe she’d even stop trying to escape. That would certainly make things easily. He tilted his head slightly, watching the writing. “This should be procured easily enough,” he told her gently, before he glanced at Sarai. “You may bring one of the earth humans. A female, preferably. That should help you find everything.” Mostly he just didn’t want her to take forever to get it. A human would know what all of these things were. Alexander sure didn’t.

He then directed a brief nod in Brigitte’s direction, telling her quietly that she was to leave him. She had some cleaning to do anyways.

The fact that the door opened slightly immediately caught Simone’s attention. She looked away from Sarai who stared blankly at her, unsure of why her comments had suddenly shut up the red head. Nebellia’s fingers were in view and she heard the hushed hum of her voice and Alexander’s. For a moment she tried to pay attention to it. Sarai didn’t let her, however, as the servant tapped her hand on the counter towards the list. Simone gripped the pen in her hand tighter, inhaling deeply as she continued to write from memory the things she wanted to make or would need. She didn’t know how long she would be here. Or alive. But she was starving and now that her stomach was awake to the possibility of eating her own cooking, she was keen to have as much accessible to her as possible. If only he would let her go to the store herself.

Chicken. Beef. Veal. Tomatoes. Broccoli. Cauliflower. Red bell peppers. Yellow ones too. Enough spices to buy a mansion in the 16th century. The list went on. Simone drew her hand down the names, tossing a few snacks on at the bottom. She was engrossed in it when she suddenly felt him behind her. Simone tensed, dropping her pen when Alexander slid a hand over her lower back. A chill ran up her spine and she edge away from him initially, leaning closer into the counter, her cheeks flushing violently. Biting on her lower lip, she glanced back up at Sarai and Brigitte.

“This should be procured easily enough,” Alexander announced. Well duh, she wanted to counter. Everything she wanted could be found in any grocery store. She looked over her shoulder at him, trying to figure out what had changed because something was telling her that his demeanor was different. To a degree he seemed to have calmed down a bit. The weight of his arm on her was not lost on her. It was comforting. She had wanted him back in the room hadn’t she? And here he was. And his presence was soothing. In that moment Simone couldn’t help but not want to want him.

“You may bring one of the earth humans. A female, preferably. That should help you find everything,” Alexander told Sarai. Simone raised an eyebrow, watching as the blond servant nodded, taking the list from Simone and glancing at it, her lips silently mouthing the words like they were entirely foreign to her. Seriously. Who hasn’t heard of broccoli? But it was increasingly clear. Sarai’s words. And now Alexander’s. They weren’t from here and by here she meant her planet. Earth human… She felt her heart seize in her chest at the clear recognition of what that meant. The fact that he was blatantly sexist she ignored. A question for another time maybe...

Sarai glanced at the list again in her hand before taking her leave after Nebellia, not so much as looking back. When the girl hit the door she tore away with vampiric speed to the human wing of the mansion, the air snapping with her departure.

Simone watched Alexander nod away at the blue haired servant. She pursed her lips, knitting her hands together as she continued to lean into the island, propped up on her elbows. It wasn’t until they were alone that she glanced at him directly. “You’re not from here,” she whispered lowly, the conclusion still startling to her. “Your blood slaves aren’t from here. Why is Sarai different than the other girl? Why does she have a temper? How do you even become what you are?” The questions suddenly spewed forth, and she didn’t know why she was finally asking them. It wasn’t that she hadn’t tried to understand from Sarai, but the girl had never been forthcoming. It was scaring her more to realize that he was alien to her world. “Where then?” she wondered aloud. “Where are you from?” Her concern was visible on her face. This was not pure curiosity. It was worry. It was from another planet, or something…he would undeniably leave here at some point wouldn’t he?

Brigitte Lebelle

No words of thanks or scolding. No words at all. Just a simple nod of the head and then His Highness was back to talking with his human. These things did not bother Brigitte however. All it meant was that she had done a sufficient enough job and was now dismissed to work on her other duties. The duties that had been piling up while she had been babysitting Nebellia.
The thought made her almost cringe...almost.

Brigitte turned around on her heel and left the kitchen, the door swinging shut soundlessly. She moved along the hallway, her steps being quieted by the the plush carpet beneath her feet. Turning this way then that she finally reached her destination. It was a plain oak wood door. Said door was slightly taller than her with a shining brass knob. Further down the hall were similar doors. This was the servants quarters, with Brigitte's door being the closest to the main part of the mansion, enabling her to respond to His Highness's beckons faster. She turned the knob and pushed the door in gently. Normally she would have just pushed it in and given no thought to whether she was gentle or not but after spending so much time in only the company of a door...her respect for the inanimate object was effecting her more than one would think. Inside the room was as clean and cold cut as it's owner. Every surface was polished and devoid of personality. Brigitte leaned over the small desk that sat next to the single window of the room and reached inside its top drawer to pull out a black leather bound book. Opening it she skimmed her thin finger down the crisp pages, her lips moving as she read.

In the past two weeks she had missed out on a quite a few things she was supposed to do. Granted those tasks had probably already been carried out by the other servants who would have known of the situation however it was important she go and check over them. Brigitte tapped her nail against the first thing on the list.

Disposal of leftovers.

Before placing the book back in the desk Brigitte committed her other chores to mind, that way she would not have to return and waste time. Although she wanted to get to checking on these immediately there was one other pressing matter.
She hadn't showered in two weeks. As a vampire sweat wasn't a problem for her and she had not been involved in any sort of activity that could have made her dirty however it was still an issue.

Quickly she stripped down, showered, and dressed. Satisfied with herself Brigitte left her room, again gently handling the door. As she walked her hands effortlessly pulled her blue locks into a french braid. It was a bit of a habit of hers, to braid her hair while walking. She had no need for a mirror and her hair rarely tangled. It just made more sense to fix her hair while walking instead of wasting time in her room doing it. Wrapping a hair tie around the flawless braid she let it fall against her back and picked up her pace.

Down this hall. To the left. Left again. Down two flights of stairs. Unlock this door.

The smell was the first thing that hit her. There were perhaps only two other smells which Brigitte could identify as easily as this one. The first was His Highness's and the second, Nebellia's. Unlike those two scents however, Brigitte did not find any pleasure in this one. Rotting meat. Burnt hair. Urine. Blood. This was where the humans who had no more use were thrown. None of them were alive when placed in here but the fact remained that it was a room full of corpses. Each week the bodies were to be shoved down the large hole in the back of the room where they would then be incinerated. Although there were only a few corpses in the room right now, the stench of it's previous occupants forever haunted the air in the room. It was a displeasing smell yet Brigitte did not scrunch up her nose nor turn away from it and gag. She grabbed the shovel like tool that lay by the door and began moving the few bodies towards the hole. This weeks disposal had already happened, so the most she could do for now was move the bodies closer so things stayed slightly more organized.

After a few more shoves here and there Brigitte was done. She put the shovel back in it's original place and left the room.
Lock the door. Up two flights of stairs. To the right.....

Her king was watching her, likely taking in her reaction to this entire mess. How did he expect her to react, she wondered. Indifferent? Accepting? None of that. He probably hadn’t even paid her any mind before now. He usually didn’t. She was just there, quiet in the shadows, the little servant ready to do his bidding at any time. It was a place she was content enough to be, but in instances such as this one, she really wished he would take her into consideration… at least a little, because right now she was basically going out of her mind. This mess was just… overwhelming. Her king was usually a very orderly man, but this human, however she was, clearly had some effect on him.

If she didn’t, Lena doubted she would be in his shower right now. Everyone knew how the king felt about humans and now it seemed as though he was actually condoling sex with them, whereas he’d always been known to regard such an act with, if not disgust, then at least a certain level of distaste. Which of course made all of this even more strange. Lena was fairly certain she would’ve felt calmer if it had been a female demon the king had chosen to bed, instead of a human one. At least then it would only have been one part entirely freaky. This was just all-round confusing and it made her more than a little flustered.

She couldn’t help the flush on her cheeks, no matter how much she wanted to hide it from the king. Lena didn’t usually like showing her emotions, because, well, most times she did everything in her power to dampen them, to seem less like she was a complete and utter anomaly to her race. Not that it did her any good, but she had this idea in her head that everything would be much worse if she didn’t at least do a little to make herself less inconspicuous, because as it was, she seemed to be very attention-drawing.

Her eyes couldn’t quite keep themselves from straying to the discarded clothes, the mess all over the floor, the messy sheets she wanted to change and then wash… thoroughly. Who knew what kind of odd… fluids, had been left from their nightly activities. Lena didn’t even want to think about it too much. Therefore she was thankful when Sabine gestured towards the clothing, telling her that she was to wash the woman’s, Miss Parker’s, dress as well as the king’s clothing. She cast him a faint smile, the red on her cheeks not even fading a little. Hopefully she would stop feeling so awkwardly misplaced when she exited the rooms, or when she cleaned it up. Yes, that was it, she simply needed to clean. Make everything look like it always did and that would help bring them back to normal, surely. Frankly she had no clue what else to do.

She nodded eagerly in response, “right away, your majesty,” she told him with a small smile and hurriedly gathered all of the discarded clothing in her slender arms, hurrying out of the room, feet tapping against the floor as she walked. Her gate was nearly completely soundless, but to her it felt as though every step resounded through the room and reflected off of the painted walls. She winced as the door slid shut with an audible click behind her as she exited. Gods, she was such an idiot. If only she’d been more mature and experienced herself, then maybe this situation wouldn’t have done this to her.

She hurried down the halls to the washing rooms, where she immediately set to washing the clothing, slowly calming herself by keeping busy with work.

---

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The water felt amazing, and it was almost as hot as her temper. Almost. She sighed, closing her eyes as she let the water drape her and wrap around her, washing away all her worries, and all the metaphorical dirk she felt made her skin clammy. Sabine was the last man she’d expected herself to wake up beside, especially feeling this amazing. Her body was still aching in all those private places, whispering of memories she couldn’t yet access properly. It was definitely enough to tell her that the sex had been amazing, if not completely mindblowing, and that assumption was only supported by those short flashes of memory that were sporadically returned to her.

After a while in the warm, relaxing water, Sapphire opened her eyes to look around her, searching for any kind of soap she could use to wash herself properly; he wouldn’t mind. And if he did, well… then too bad for him. He might think this was all her fault, that she’d lured him to this, and that she’d given him no choice, but there was always a choice, and he’d chosen to take her home to fuck in his insanely humungous bed, on his extremely soft sheets. That was that. One might say he’d taken advantage of her alcohol-induced state of mind, since he’d obviously been sober, and some might consider that morally… well, wrong. But then, Sapphire knew herself, and she knew how she got when she was drunk.

But that didn’t mean this was all her fault. Nuh uh. He couldn’t dump the blame from this solely on her. Deciding that he he could just suck it up if he didn’t like her using his soap, she reached out and grabbed a small, expensive-looking bottle of shampoo. She looked at it for a little while before squirting some into her palm. It smelled good. Fresh. Like Sabine. She shrugged, but the bottle down and bean massaging the stuff into her hair, closing her eyes. She let calm wash over her at the familiar act, even if she shampoo was much different than her own. It was obvious that Sabine liked his hair well-groomed, and he took care of it. Because that wasn’t feminine at all. Cough.

Once her hair was well-soaped, she washed the foam off of her hands and gave the shampoo bottle a scorching look. If nothing else, she could be petty. She grabbed the thing, screwed off the tip. Then she turned it upside down and emptied it all into the drain, a satisfied smirk on her lips. Sure, the cost of it was probably nothing to him, but still it gave her some perverse level of satisfaction to know that she’d at least let out her anger some. It had been almost entirely full. Well, now it was empty. She put the bottle back on the shelf and then she washed the foamed-up shampoo out of her blonde hair. After that, she did the exact same thing to his even more expensive looking conditioner. After she’d put some in her hair of course.

Okay, maybe it was childish, but she’d never claimed to be above such things. Well, she… no, wait, she actually hadn’t. He should just be happy she didn’t have anything fun with her to fill in them. Once she’d washed out the conditioner, Sapphire cut off the water, and then wrung her hair slowly, listening as water poured from the golden locks. Then she stepped outside of the bath, looking around. A folded, white, clean towel was more or less right in front of her, and she looked around. No dirty towel of his. Who didn’t use their towels more than once? People who had servants to do their freaking laundry, she supposed, and she did remember something about a smaller girl following them. Was that his servant? Huh. He certainly didn’t strike her as the house-orderly type himself, nor like the type to have wife or children.

She swiped her hand out, grabbed the towel and loosely rubbed it around her locks of hair while she leaned forward, thinking of everything and nothing. Once she’d casually dried her hair, she wrapped the cloth around her body, tugging in the end of it at her chest to keep it there without her holding it up as she straightened with a sigh. Well, she supposed she’d have to emerge at some point. She heard the outer door close, but she figured it was just whoever had entered before her shower, although honestly she hoped Sabine had left as well. He probably hadn’t though. She just… needed to get dressed, go home and then drink tons of coffee while grading papers. In her bed. In her pajamas.

Sapphire drew in a deep breath and then emerged, only to find Sabine with his back to her, and her dress missing from the floor. She frowned, irritated all over again. Her fuse was exceptionally short in the morning if she didn’t get her coffee, and this situation wasn’t making it better. “What the hell did you do to my dress?” She demanded, her tone making it obvious alone that she was not kidding around. “Where is it?” It was a very freaking expensive dress, damn it.

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The king watched Sarai scurry off with the list of groceries, followed by his personal servant soon after. She always did obey his every whim flawlessly, didn't she? Whenever something went wrong, it was always because it was out of her hands, usually due to Nebellia, and he knew what a handful she could be. He also knew that her behavior changed quite a bit when he was not in her immediate vicinity. She had a tendency to sober up whenever he was near, which was the only reason she was still his adviser, madness be damned. Of course she was also a friend and perhaps that made him just a touch softer, although he’d never outright admit to such things. He didn’t have a soft side, of course.

He returned his attention back to Simone then, attentive to her every movement, almost intensely so. Brown eyes scoured her face. She seemed perplexed, a bit nervous even, but not from him being near. No, he’d felt her relax at that after the first few seconds. This wasn’t him personally, her knew that much. Her lips were pursed a little, as though she was considering saying something, while her hands knitted together, a nervous gesture, he knew. He said nothing, merely awaiting the questions he knew where coming. They were inevitable, and of course he couldn’t blame her. She probably knew nothing correct of his race, and she wanted to know at least what her captors were. He supposed that much would be understandable, so when she finally looked up at him and spoke, asking her questions, he was prepared for them.

He smiled faintly and inclined his head a touch in a agreement when she stated that he was not from “here”. She seemed almost disbelieving of her own statement, which made his smile just a little but wider and a bit wry. He stayed quiet as she seemed to spew forth all the basic questions she’d likely wondered at for quite some time, and here he was, seemingly forthcoming. Well, wasn’t that just a joy? Why had she not asked these questions of the young servant in her service?

He let her finish talking, before he took a step back, smoothly pulling her with him while he easily spun her around to face him, his arm around her waist loosely, so as to not smother her. He looked down at her, a seductive smirk on his face. He would use this to his advantage, as much as he could. It wasn’t much, but he figured at least a little could always help her feel more comfortable. Knowing what it meant to be a vampire would perhaps be a little helpful, if he could avoid scaring her too much in the process, something he was very unaccustomed to. Alexander usually didn’t pay such trivialities much mind, but it wouldn’t do to find some random vampire to explain everything to her, if he wanted her to want to stay with him. He’d have to show her a “side to him” she’d like. Even if it wasn’t much beyond and act yet.

“Why do humans have different personalities?” He asked her rhetorically, his voice patient and considerate, “some have tempers, and some do not. It is no different for vampires, and Brigitte, well, she was raised to be my servant from the day she was born. She was stripped of everything beyond that by her parents.” He explained further, his free hand wandering along her neck and shoulders deliberately, his fingers brushing against the skin almost casually. Not that he didn’t know exactly what he was doing to her, brushing the sensitive nerves under her thin, soft skin.

“As for how vampires are made…” he trailed then after a short pause. He slowly moved his fingers from the side of her neck to the back of it, trailing fingers down her spine teasingly as he continued, “It can happen in one of two ways. Either a vampire is born, like any other creature, or he is made by another vampire once he has grown into the proper age. These vampires are of course born as humans. Some please a certain vampire and earn the right to his blood, which fuels the transformation. Others are simply changed because a vampire wills it, because it will benefit him or her in some way, I suppose.” He watched her quietly for a bit before he continued, answering her final questions.

“Where we are from, is a more complicated matter. You might refer to it was a parallel world to this one, in a fashion. It is not like we live in outer space, and our world, well; it has adapted to our needs. The sun, for one, doesn’t hurt us. In my native tongue, we call it Cruorem Orbis.” He was certainly trying to dumb all of this down. Mostly because he did not particularly wish to confuse her, and he figured bits of simple information would do.