A/N: This is my first story on fanfiction so I'm curious to see how all you lovelies will take it. The idea is roughly based off of the Norwegian tale 'The Polar Bear King' or 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'. If you don't know that shit, look it up. It's a personal favorite of mine because the heroine isn't a whiny bitch who needs her ass saved. Hell she saves his. Anyway enough of my rambling, read the stuff below- it's better than listening to me.

Prologue

It began the day of Claude's first journey to the realm of the living. Even amiss his usual stoic air, he had still managed to find a trickling of joy that would forever find a way to take root in his stony heart. It was a feeling Claude outwardly loathed, but secretly embraced. It was the needing, the knowing that he must have it or he would surely parish.

The other was just a young teen then. A rather handsome child that had striking features even for a mortal human. Claude was mesmerized with the other, as the mortal child laughed and rough housed happily with the others. There was an innocence in him that was missing in his own kind, something that seemed to make the feeling in Claude's heart swell larger at the sight of.

The children scrambled up the rocky face of the hill at which he sat at the peak of. The boy at the head, smirking in triumph when he took the lead. Another boy reached up and shoved him down, both taking the tumble back towards the dip in the earth as the other children paused in their scrambling to laugh at the sight.

Claude watched with ageless eyes as the boy stood up with rumpled clothes boasting dark splotches of green and moonshine pale skin stained with crimson patches at the palms and knees. The droplets of blood were quickly forgotten as ruby eyes shimmered mischievously before the boy turned and tackled the other back to the ground for a bout of wrestling.

That is when it took hold of him like a beast in the night. The breath of wanting, of craving nothing more than the boy he saw before him. It was a desire akin to obsession and all Claude knew was that he'd have him.

And so he did.

Not then, not that day, but later.

- XxxX -

Those handsome ruby eyes were the same as they had been all those years ago, yet different in a way. They no longer held the innocence that they once had sparkled with, but that did not serve to diminish their beauty in his eyes. Even with the unbridled fury burning within their endless depths they were still captivating.

The boy had grown into a handsome young man and Claude couldn't have been more than pleased with the outcome of the male that now stood before him. Even in comparison to their kind, the male stood his own and attracted many lustful glances. Raven black locks framed a strongly shaped face, the same pale skin held no blemishes to mar its perfection, and the once gangly teenage body had been tastefully molded into a lean frame.

He was absolutely perfect.

"No."

Except he didn't seem to think so.

Claude's heart clenched painfully at that single word, delivered in an acidic tone that boiled with defiance and hatred for all the creatures laid before the male- creatures he'd only just learnt existed. Yet instead of shying away from the tone, Claude found that it only served to fuel the fire of his desire for this being before him.

"Very well," their King sighed, his eyes mournful as he looked over the mortal. "It is a shame I'll have to destroy you for refusing my idiotic son."

Claude flinched at his father's, the King's, tone. It was laced with the disappointment for him having broken the laws of their people, the most ancient, the most binding of laws. By bringing a mortal to their dwellings, he'd proven he put his desires before the safety of their kind.

"Wait."

His head turned, along with every other head in the room, toward the large wooden doors at the entrance, where a woman of their kind stood proudly. The determined set of her brow compelled Claude to want to hear what this brave creature wanted to say as his father beckoned her to come forward. She did so, with her chin held high and indigo eyes gleaming scarlet for a singular moment, before flickering back to their dark blue. The woman paused before them, bowing her head politely before standing tall once more.

"Hannah," the King purred in a dangerous lit. "It has been a while since you have graced us with your presence."

"Too long, your highness," she stated softly.

The King's eyes hardened slightly as he looked over her. "What calls you here to disturb us after your decades of silence?"

Claude's eyes followed her movements as she moved towards the mortal man, the pang of jealousy was sharp when the she wrapped her lithe fingers around that smooth jaw to prop it upwards. Not a word was heard from her as her eyes swept across his face, taking in every hardened line as the male returned her look with a fierce glare.

"My King, I have a proposal."

Gasps rung across the room, echoing against the high vaulted ceilings and all the empty recesses. Claude's own silent reaction mixed with them as he watched her incline her head back towards his father and himself, regarding them with emotionless eyes.

"Give this mortal a chance to escape the fate sealed to him by your own son's foolish blunder. Allow him to choose a mortal of his choice and bring them to live with him for a full year. If the other does not lay eyes on his true face in that time then he shall be set free."

The idea that another would share the male did not please Claude and his lips curled back over his fangs to display his displeasure at the woman. An angry wave from his father forced him to collect himself, though his golden eyes still burned holes at the woman before them who dared to propose such a thing.

"And how is he supposed to interact with this other mortal if they cannot see his face?" The King mused.

She smiled softly, yet there was an indecipherable lit about it that spoke of ill intent. Their kind simply did not extend offers of kindness, there was always some form of gain for themselves. It made him weary of her intentions of coming forward with this offer. If any harm came to the other, Claude would not take mercy upon her. He'd rip her limb from limb, performing the task slowly. He'd draw out her torture for centuries before he would mercifully end her existence.

"A simple spell, your highness. During the day he shall bear the skin of an animal, free to move about the other mortal as he pleases, at night the face of a human is his to proudly boast while he sleeps besides the other."

"And if the mortal is to see?" The King pressed, curiosity swimming in his dark eyes.

"Then he shall be turned over to your son," she answered quickly, but with a briskness that suggested otherwise. "It gives both a fair chance, without having to waste life."

The King hummed thoughtfully as Claude's heart dared to clench hopefully. The mortal would fail if it was accepted. No mortals were known to be able to control their curiosity for very long. It would guarantee his win in the end. He would get what he desired and his heart soared high at the thought, though he dared not show it outwardly.

"If the mortal agrees to these condition I shall accept this preposition," the King finally announced to the awaiting crowd, before his eyes turned to the mortal kneeling on the ground before his throne. "What say you, mortal man? Do you wish to live or die here now?"

Ruby eyes danced with defiance; his answer obvious even before he allowed the words to pass his lips.

"I accept."

The woman smiled, her lips twisting upwards into a cruel grin. "Then you have a year once you make your choice. Until then, time is infinite for you."

His screams of pain filled the throne room.

"I suggest you choose wisely."