Ceana's Story

When Sabine directed a faint nod in her direction, Lena knew he was telling her she’d done well in staying quiet. She breathed an almost indistinguishable sigh of relief. It was a good thing she’d learned how to read her king, wasn’t it? Certainly. Because if she hadn’t, she’d have no idea what to do in a situation such as this. After all, she’d actually never been in it before. In all the years she’d been Sabine’s personal servant, he’d never as much as caressed a woman, much less a human woman. It wasn’t a secret among demons that the king did not consider humans worth more than a shallow glance, which was in part why Lena did not understand her own position. He was disgusted with humans; considered them base creatures… yet he took pity on Halflings. It was like an odd paradox.

Regardless, now he was here with a human woman, and he clearly intended to… to what? Take her to bed? Did Lena really dare guess at the king’s intentions? His mind worked in the oddest ways at times, so maybe… maybe he had some plan. Maybe there was a rational explanation for this, and it was merely on too high a level for her to understand it. Yeah, that would make more sense. Much more sense. Because… Sabine didn’t… he didn’t take to humans. He barely let anyone touch him, and yet Lena had just witnessed the blonde with her arms around his neck, her lips on his skin. This situation was starting to scare her.

Lena’s eyes had fallen to Sabine’s feet as they usually did, her demeanor submissive as ever, so luckily the confusion on her face could only be guessed at. As Sabine spoke, however, she was pulled out of her almost panicky state and she blinked a couple of times, quickly glancing at Sapphire in sudden reaction, but quickly letting her eyes fall even further to the floor as she, instead of looking at Sabine’s feet, looked at her own. Then she softly, almost fearfully, murmured, “my apologies, Miss,” to Sapphire. The human, who Lena wasn’t looking at currently, made an odd sound before saying, “Hey, don’t apologize. It’s not like I died.” Lena knew nothing worse than to be admonished and the human’s assurance didn’t help one bit. She knew her staring had been impolite, and she regretted it already, but she’d simply been so shocked.

Of course… her king knew all of that, which was why his tone had been so gentle with her… and why Lena wasn’t cowering in submission. Besides, she had to pretend to be… what? A… normal servant to a rich human? She could do that. Right? Well, she’d have to. It was obviously what her king wanted her to do. His admonishment also told her something else; he wouldn’t be answering any questions, so she might as well pack away all her unspoken ones. Not that she’d ever really question him; she had no right to. But… others… certain others… might. She wouldn’t put it beyond the captain, while the adviser would be a bit more… sly about it, most likely, but he’d want to satisfy his curiosity. Luckily, Lena had nothing to tell him.

She almost jumped when Sabine suddenly began moving, motioning for her to follow. Lena bit her lover lip nervously, but managed to start moving, a little bit behind her king and his… companion. She said nothing as her small feet padded across the floors… down the halls. Even as they spoke, she kept her head down and her mouth shut. She didn’t even dare look to see what was happening. When Sabine finally spoke to her, Lena took in a deep breath. Okay… he was definitely taking a human to bed. Oh gods… what if she became pregnant?

Lena’s brown eyes widened, and her voice stuttered just a little as she said “Yes o-of course. I’ll… make sure to deliver the message…” Her voice trailed off. Something was missing. Lena always addressed her king formally, almost by Your Highness, Your Majesty, or My King. None of these could be used, obviously, so now she felt like she lacked closure. Calling him sir would be downgrading him, since he was far above such a title. Maybe… again… it was better to not say anything at all. That was normal for human servants these days, right? She hoped so.

She didn’t dare leave yet… in case Sabine had more to say, and she had yet to be dismissed, so she kept pace behind the duo, although she would much rather be… anywhere else. This was too… weird. When Lena heard him speaking to the human, his voice dropping to a husky murmur, the servant girl blushed, embarrassed to be around the two. She wasn’t… accustomed to sexual encounters being… pleasurable for both parties. She’d never seen seduction, nor had she ever experiences sex to be a thing one would ever want… yet the human woman seemed very eager. Lena hadn’t even heard of that outside of her books. When she finally noticed the king gesturing for her to leave, she practically sped off, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible.

She stopped by the foot of the stairs, drawing in a deep breath as she closed her eyes and slowly let it out. She couldn’t think about this. She needed to not think about this. Balthazar. Yes, she needed to find Balthazar and… inform him of the king’s wishes. She could busy herself that way. Yes, that would work. And then she’d find the captain… and tell her too… and then she’d… clean the kitchen. Or something. Anything to not think of what would be happening upstairs very soon. And so Lena opened her eyes, blinking a couple of times as she breathed, before finally heading towards Balthazar’s office. That’s probably where he was. Once she’d reached the dreaded door, she carefully knocked twice.

“My lord?” She inquired, wanting to know if he was there… and if she could come in.

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“Patience?” Sapphire countered as she felt Sabine’s arms snake around her waist once more. “I don’t do patience very well.” Then she laughed softly, leaning in to brush her lips against his skin… until the little Asian appeared, staring at her so very curiously. Sapphire turned her head to see her properly, but her eyes dropped quickly to the floor, and Sapphire tilted her head slightly. She was a pretty thing, wasn’t she? Sapphire had always found Asian women rather gorgeous, and this one was no exception, yet she had this… innocent to her that just made her downright adorable. She looked to be in her late teens, and Sapphire briefly wondered if Sabine had underage staff working for him.

Maybe so, but it wasn’t that was illegal… was it? Huh, maybe she should ask Syd. Oh gods… no… she couldn’t think of Syd right now, because thought of one sister led to thoughts of… another. Sapphire tensed just a little, closing her eyes briefly until Sabine let go of her with one arm and turned slightly. She let out a soft sigh, turning her attention towards the happening at hand. She needed to focus on that… she needed… she needed Sabine to start kissing her again. He… he had to kiss her again. It worked before, right? Took away everything; a magical cure.

When Sabine spoke, almost… what? Admonishing the girl as though she was a mere child. Huh, perhaps she was. Perhaps she was his own? Nooo… no, he didn’t have children. Did he? Nah. The girl seemed much too submissive. She had to be a servant. The girl seemed to cower and Sabine’s gentle words, and soon she was murmuring almost… fearfully. Sapphire looked up at Sabine, surprised. What was she apologizing for? It wasn’t like Sapphire was even offended. Jesus. This was a weird place, wasn’t it? She snorted, responding in slight amusement.

“Hey, don’t apologize. It’s not like I died.” She told the girl, still a little confused at the whole situation. Maybe it was just the booze. Yeah… it had to be the booze. She wasn’t thinking clearly. Sapphire nodded to herself, glancing from the servant to Sabine as he began moving. She expressed a surprised sound, blinking several times as she stumbled a little to get her feet to walk properly again. “You… really need to warn a person before you just start dragging her,” Sapphire noted, giggling a little as she found her balance, walking along with him well enough now.

She merely walked along with him, the servant forgotten as expectations and excitement began building. She was a very sexually inclined woman and she’s been without it for much too long. Now she’d finally have it… now she’d finally have him. She could hardly wait. He seemed determined to get them somewhere specific as well, so she merely accompanied him, resisting the urge to kiss him… to touch him properly again. A kiss would make everything better. The lingering thoughts of Simone would disappear, the odd feelings she had about this place… everything. She’d drown in desire once more. She wanted that so much right now.

When Sabine then once more spoke to his servant, Sapphire couldn’t help the eager grin that played across her features. No disturbances all night? She bit down on her lower lip once more as images began playing through her head, her body remembering every pleasure he’d inflicted on it in that club. She could scarcely imagine the intense heat once clothes were off and they were alone. It took all she had for her not to get too worked up already. The servant was still there! And they were in the hallway… did that really matter though? She looked up at him, her eyes filled with desire once more. She barely noticed the servant replying, but she very much noticed the second Sabine leaned down to murmur against her temple.

Another of those infamous shivers danced down her spine and she drew in a deep breath. Sapphire looked up at the man who seemed to set her body on fire with mere words. If they weren’t there yet she’d… oh… screw it. She gave the hallway a glance, finding the servant lacking. Couldn’t be better. “Here looks good to me,” Sapphire shot out before she put her hands on Sabine’s chest, her hands fisting around his shirt to stop him from moving as she stood on her toes, her lips taking his instantly. Her lids fell down to cover her eyes as she leaned into him, letting the desire wash over her, making everything else disappear entirely.

This was what she’d wanted. A soft moan of bliss and relief escaped her as her hands relinquished their hold on his shirt to slide up his shoulders and around his neck, her breathing pattern deepening. Just… one kiss. That was all she needed. Then they could move on and pick things up more privately, but she needed that kiss. Right now she couldn’t remember why, but she did.

Alexander didn’t miss the brief frown touching Nebellia’s features as he told her that he would not be pleased should she harm the human. He hadn’t expected anything else; he wasn’t usually the picture of a caring man, especially not with humans, so he completely understood the thoughtful surprise. But then, Alexander had a sneaking suspicion that his dear adviser noticed more than she said. He knew she’d been able to smell Simone on him, and he knew she would remember the scent from two years ago. Nebellia didn’t often forget such things, although she may at times pretend to. However, she was also clever enough to know when to let such sides of herself show and when not to.

He watched her as she spoke in reply, having waited to continue until he had finished. Ah, she knew him so very well, didn’t she? He smiled wryly. She hadn’t needed to explain to him why she needed the blood. He trusted her with his life, and knew that she would not ask for his blood unless it served a proper purpose. She wasn’t just going to sell it. Alexander’s blood was old and powerful, and it could potentially provide a drug to enhance strength and speed in a vampire. “I see,” he told her, his eyes sparking with just a touch of amusement at the fact that she’d bothered to explain. Normally such things went unspoken between them. Once you had been with a person for a certain amount of centuries, some things didn’t need words.

Then she assured him that Simone would be safe from her, and he inclined his head slightly while looking at her still, green eyes observant. He smiled wryly and took both vial and needle when she handed it to him. He didn’t give it a single thought as he uncapped the glass container and put the needle to the tip of his index finger. As she curtsied respectfully, Alexander tipped his finger over the rim of the vial, letting a few drops of blood run into it before the small prick healed up and the bloodflow stopped. Then he licked the small remaining trickle off of his finger, put the lid on the glass vial. “What is it?” He then inquired, noticing the sudden frown back on her face.

As she spoke, explaining, he handed her back the vial, which now held three drops of royal blood. If she’d needed more, she would have handed him a knife instead of a needle, so he didn’t bother worrying about the small amount; it would do, or she would come to him at a later time, asking for more. If she could figure out anything about Simone’s blood at all, he would be plenty pleased. He wasn’t sure it could be replicated, since he was not even sure she was fully human, but nonetheless, perhaps Nebellia’s studies could clue him in on what made her so damned special. There had to be something tangible.

“I realize that,” he informed her calmly when she commented on Simone’s state. “She will not eat properly, nor will she sleep enough, which, on top of my taking her blood, has proven to be rather disadvantageous to her health,” he explained to her, a slight sigh escaping him. He was a king; he was supposed to know what to do, yet with this human… things got difficult. She was so different from the humans back home, and Alexander did not often take an interest in caring for the fragile beings. Suppose he’d forgotten to bring servants who were properly educated and trained to keep humans alive. He’d needed caretakers from back home; the vampires who ran the breeding facilities. Most other servants weren’t expected to keep the humans alive for longer periods of time. Perhaps he could not expect Sarai to do much better than she had.

When she offered to hand over her observation papers, Alexander frowned slightly as he thought. “She’s different, Nebby,” he told her, his voice letting out some of the frustration he was feeling with Simone, “normally our humans conform to our daily habits easily enough, but she barely sleeps during the day. Two weeks it’s been, yet she continues to struggle with something so simple. I was hoping her own cooking might help her at least gain some nourishment.” He gestured towards the kitchen, “hence the current situation.”

The thought brought a wry smile to his lips, as he added, with a slightly amused countenance, “apparently we cannot pride ourselves on preparing proper human meals.” Then he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at the kitchen door before once more watching his adviser. “If your notes can help Sarai deal with Simone, then I am open to it, but I do not feel certain they can apply to her.”

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The second Balthazar spoke, Lena expected to at least be admonished. But she wasn’t. She blinked a couple of times when Balthazar instead noted that her curiosity was a testament to her intelligence. Her eyes were still fixed obsessively on the floor beneath her, and her mouth remained very shut, but her shaking subsided along with her fear, quietly dispersed into nothing. Of course she was still wary of Balthazar, and her fear for him in general remained in the truest form, but he didn’t intent to punish her. She wouldn’t have blamed him if he had, though. She knew what she’d done was inacceptable and disrespectful. There was more to Balthazar Cross than one would think, it seemed. She drew in a deep breath, calming her body even more as her mind settled as well.

It was like when he’d asked her if she feared him, and she thought she’d sensed some kind of… irritation that she’d told him that she was. Why? Most demons she encountered rather preferred her to fear them, and it honestly wasn’t all that difficult; she was a fearful creature and she knew it well enough as well. And he called her Miss Anguaren. She didn’t know why, but it held meaning to her, like it somehow made her feel less like a big piece of nothing in the world. She was never Miss Anguaren. She was Lena, or Dove, or Flower, or whatever else someone chose to call her. By addressing her with outward respect, Lena couldn’t help but feel like he was trying to even the playing field a little. But… that was probably just her over analyzing everything.

Suddenly the illumination in the room changed, the sound of Balthazar snapping his fingers reached her ears. Safety? The word seemed to resound in the room with Balthazar’s next question. It was a rhetorical one, yet she felt like it was an odd jab at her. Like he was accusing her of doing exactly that; hiding her own intelligence simply to feel safe, and perhaps he was right. To some degree, she did, yet on the other hand, safety wasn’t something she could ever achieve. “There is no such thing as safety, my lord,” she retorted carefully. It wasn’t a luxury extended to one such as her. Hell, it wasn’t really a luxury extended to anyone, was it? Safety. It was an illusion people chose to don because it helped them move on and think of other things… it helped them feel comfortable. But no one was safe. As such, his phrasing did indeed seem appropriate; “a sense of safety”. That was all it would ever be too.

Wait… had she just said that out loud? She really needed to watch her tongue around Balthazar. He might seem to actually want to converse with her, but she was certain that was only up until a certain point; until she unintentionally offended him. Aaand… then it came. The dismissal. She nodded her head once. Whenever she wished? Why did he have to phrase it in such a way? She shook it off, and left with a soft sigh. Her feet carried her almost soundlessly in her search for the captain, her mind racing, trying to figure out the conundrum that was Balthazar Cross. Life had been simple and easy until he’d decided to make a game of her. Yet she wasn’t sure she wanted to go back.

She found Ceana not long after, in the grand garden of the mansion. She stood in the middle of a huge, green patch, her eyes cold and determined as she watched her men sword fighting, obviously making sure they stayed in shape. Lena carefully made it outside, drawing in a shaky breath. Ceana was the only woman Lena felt as terrified around as she did men. Not because she feared that the woman would rape her, obviously, but because she was the most ruthless person she had ever in her life encountered. And she completely dominated the violent men who had raped and abused Lena so many times over. Anyone who could demand respect or fear from them, demanded even more from Lena. Yet she had a message to deliver.

So she inched closer to the slender captain, keeping her focus on the long braid running down the woman’s back. It was funny, really. For as long as Lena had been alive, Ceana had been the king’s guard’s captain, and she’d often heard of the amount of vampires and lykae she sled, and calculating way she managed to control every battle situation. That was what Lena had heard of her, so when she finally saw her, she’d been shocked to see her looking so… feminine. The long, thick hair, the makeup, the cat-like elegance with which she carried herself. It had been astounding. Except then Lena’d witnessed the captain speaking to nobles, and that female elegance fell away to reveal the savage she really was. In comparison, of course.

Lena knew the king did not approve of his captain’s lack of manners, yet her worth meant he ignored it most of the time. Her thought trail froze up when Ceana glanced her, one eyebrow raised as though to say “what do you want?” Lena drew in a deep breath, trying to quench her fear as she hurried the rest of the way over to the captain, trying not to notice the many looks she got from the guards gathering in her immediate proximity. Lena’s gaze was on the ground now, but she glanced up briefly when she heard Ceana yelling “What the hell are you doing?! Get that sword up, back straight, eyes on your target, and for the love of the Sun, get those fucking feet in position! Is this how you plan to protect your king?!” The captain narrowed her eyes on the two guards in question. One of them had become distracted with Lena’s approach and he’d let down his guard enough for his sparring partner to cut his thigh open, a deep laceration now present.

Lena’s eyes immediately went back to her feet. She couldn’t interrupt this. She didn’t dare. The guard growled under his breath, but he seemingly obeyed, because all Captain Ceana did was murmur “four hundred years old, and he still fights like a baby,” under her breath. Then her eyes once more fell on Lena, not that the little servant could see it, but she could feel it very clearly. “Yes?” She merely said, inferring that Lena was allowed to address her now. The servant had to extend a surprisingly big effort to be able to speak without stuttering through it. “The king wishes to be left alone this evening,” she said carefully, “all matters of urgency have been left in Lord Cross’ hands.” Once spoken, she bit the inside of her cheek, keeping her head down, her hands folded in front of her.

“Yes yes, I realize he’s got some human broad here – been a while, huh?” She spoke, and Lena thought she detected some odd level of amusement, but then… she was almost swimming in her own fear right now. This many guards and the captain. It really wasn’t Lena’s favorite cocktail. When she remained quiet, merely shrugging her shoulders, the captain waved a hand in the air, gesturing for Lena to leave. “Get out of here,” she added brusquely and Lena turned, speedwalking as fast as she could towards the house.

After that, Lena spent most of her evening cleaning up wherever she possibly could, and exhausted by the end of it, her body wiped from the rollercoaster of emotions today, she went to her room, bowing her head and trying to ignore the… sounds… she heard coming from the king’s chambers. They were too much for her to handle on top of everything else, so she didn’t let her mind dwell. As she opened the door, the first thing she noticed was the light. It was surprisingly illuminated, like she’d left the lights on, but different. This was like… like the light in Balthazar’s office. She tentatively made her way inside, her eyes almost immediately detecting the little blue rabbit on her night stand. She let the door slide shut behind her.

Without much thoughts, she walked around her bed and over to the little blue thing. It was almost… more beautiful than it had been in Balthazar’s office. It took her a little while before she thought to read the note, and a vague smile spread on her lips as this odd rush of joy danced through her. She had her own fire rabbit. He’d made her a fire rabbit, and right now she didn’t even want to think of why, or what he’d want in return. Right now, all she could do was feel… happy. Happy, like she did so very rarely. And it took no more than a gesture such as this. A small thing such as this… but to Lena it meant everything.

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Why wasn’t he up yet? Was he waiting for her to wake him? What was she supposed to do? Lena paced the hallway outside Sabine’s chambers, her little feet bringing her up the floor, then back down, her eyes fixed on the door. The sounds had stopped… very late. She’d been able to hear a surprisingly loud amount of sounds through the walls, so she’d only fallen asleep herself a couple of hours ago. She’d kept the rabbit alight, trying to focus on it and the way it worked, but it hadn’t helped. She’d still been kept up. Breaks between the sounds had been few and brief… so she’d hardly gotten to settle in, and now he was torturing her even now, leaving her to this… uncertainty.

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.