Finally, she thought. After weeks of wandering through endless acres of trees and shrubs she was finally at the Royal Court. As prestigious as it sounded she didn't realize that it would actually be this big. Seriously there were actual castles, like huge castles. When she got closer to the gates she noticed that there Dhampirs guarding the entrance.
"Shit." She knew there was no way they were just going to let her waltz into the royal court without any identification. Especially after what happened to their last queen. She decided to try going around to the other end of the gate. After it seemed like she'd been walking for hours she came across a part of the gate that wasn't guarded. The only problem was she would have to scale the wall which she didn't exactly have appropriate equipment for. She looked around for something, anything that could get her over that wall and her eyes caught a low hanging branch that just reached over the wall into the courtyard.
"Hmm that looks a bit more promising." She'd been a tomboy since birth so climbing trees wasn't something she had a problem with. She walked over the the tree and started to climb because her hands were so small it was easy for her to find places to grab into the tree. when she got up high enough to climb out into the branch she realized a problem. towards the end of the branch it was way too skinny to support her weight there was no way she could climb all the way over to the wall, she would have to jump. She stepped tentatively onto the branch and walked as far out as she could. She was about 5 feet from the wall, not too terrible a distance but it would still hurt like hell if she missed. She took a deep breath and jumped. To her complete surprise she landed on the wall on both feet however she didn't have awesome balance and fell over the side. She hit the ground hard on her hip and a small cry escaped her lips.
"Ugh." She stood up satisfied that nothing was broken but rubbed her hip tenderly. "That's gonna leave a nasty bruise." She finally took a look at her surroundings. She was really here at the royal court, now all she had to do was find the queen and convince her to let her stay here. But how was she supposed to get to the queen? Humans weren't even supposed to be here unless they were feeders and that idea made her shiver. She started to move towards one of the closer buildings and as she did she noticed someone stumble out of one. He was tall, definitely Moroi, he had deep brown hair that looked like he just rolled out of bed. He wore jeans and a button up shirt, even with his back towards her he looked good. Really good. He also had a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand which made all the stumbling make sense this guy was drunk, exceedingly so. She saw him start to fall over and without thinking about it rushed to his side to hold him up.
"Whoa there dude." She caught him by the arm and kept him from hitting the floor. When he finally looked at her she was mesmerized by his gorgeous eyes, pale green. His voice is what kept her from drowning in them.
"Thanks." His words were so slurred she could barely understand him, and God did his breath stink. "But I got it from here." He attempted to pull away from her but that only made him stumble more and she kept a sturdy grip on his arm to keep him from falling. She laughed at his feeble attempt to get away.
"Um no you don't, you're drunk off your ass." It took great effort but he actually managed to stand up a little straighter and really look at her. She knew what he was seeing. She was about 5 ' 4 which meant he was at least 5 inches taller than her. She had tanned skin since she was always out in the sun and natural curves that would make any man, human or vampire, drool. Hair that was jet black and hung to her hips. She also knew that he would see the faded lily tattoo on her cheek that marked her as an alchemist, well former alchemist anyway. At this revelation his eyes widened and she fought hard against the smile that threatened to creep across her face.
"You're human," he said completely dumbfounded. A snarky comment played on her lips but a slight movement in her peripheral made her look away from him. Guardians, if they found her here they will definitely send her away at least until she got permission from the queen which she wasn't going to be able to do alone. She turned back to the guy and he was still staring at her with his mouth wide open. She took this opportunity and used it to her advantage. She put on her best maneater smile and stepped closer to him.
"Is that a problem?" She could she the war raging within his eyes. Relationships, or intermingling whatever you wanted to call it, between their races had been taboo for centuries. But she could tell this guy wanted her and it depended on whether he was drunk enough to let go of everything he'd been taught his whole life. Apparently he was. He flashed her a smile that almost knocked her off her feet.
"Nope," He held out his hand to her. "Adrian Ivashkov." Cute name she thought. She took his hand and wrapped it around her waist, this earned her another fanged smile.
"Adriana." He raised an eyebrow at that but the smile never left his face.
"Did you know half of your name is my name?" She knew it was girly and stupid but she couldn't help it, she giggled. She stepped closer to him and traced a finger down his chest playing with the buttons on his shirt.
"No but I do know I want to go somewhere with you. Say, your room?" Again she caught him by surprise but he didn't stay that way for long.
"Alright," he pulled her completely to him closing the small space between them and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her. "Let's go." Without warning he'd pulled her along toward the other end of the court. He seemed to sober up enough on the walk to his room to make conversation with her.
"You're one of them. Why exactly are you here?" She looked up at him and she knew immediately that he was talking about her being an alchemist. She seriously considered telling him the truth, she doubted he would remember much of it, but she decided against it.
"It's a long complicated story." This only seemed to make him more interested in her. He started to ask something else but she beat him to it.
"Why exactly are you drinking your weight in alcohol?" All of the laughter disappeared from his face and his expression turned solemn. She barely knew him but she knew she liked him better smiling.
"That is also a long and complicated story." She smiled but she wasn't backing down.
"Good thing I've got plenty of time." That brought the smile back to his face but it didn't reach his eyes. They didn't talk anymore until they reached his room.
"Well here we are." He opened the door and she was surprised at how big it was. He was royal so she guessed he only wanted to best.
"Fancy." He smiled and sat down his bed and placed the bottle on the floor.
"So you gonna tell me why you're here?" She turned to face him. So he hadn't forgotten. Somehow the drunk man that she'd found stumbling out of a bar had disappeared and was replaced by someone who was genuinely curious about her. She walked over to where he was and sat crossed legged on the floor.
"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours." He smiled at her ultimatum and slid off the bed to sit closer to her and held out his hand.
"Deal." She smiled and hoped that she wouldn't regret what she was about to tell him.
"You first." He laughed and took one more swig of his bottle before starting his story.
"I was recently involved with...someone. I gave her everything, my heart and soul. I loved her so much and would have done anything for her. But she cheated on me with her ex." I could see the sadness in his eyes, he had truly cared for this girl. "The saddest part was that I knew it was going to happen. I let it happen. I basically pushed her into his arms, unintentionally of course." She was listening to him but she couldn't help admiring him at the same time. Besides the fact that his eyes were a beautiful green he had a handsome face. Despite being Moroi he was built very nicely, she liked that. "You remind me of her." That caught her by surprise.
"I do?" He shook his head and gave her a weak smile.
"Yeah, especially your hair. Even though yours is longer and lighter than hers. In my drunken state you looked so much like her." She could tell how much he had loved her, how much he still did. She didn't like seeing him sad.
"Hey, you want my advice?" He turned back to her and nodded.
"Sure."
"You've got to move on. It's obvious she has and you are too good to be sitting around sulking about some girl who obviously didn't know what she had. Anyone who could leave you doesn't deserve to have you." She could see the wheels turning in his head a if he'd never thought of it that way before. They sat that way in silence until he finally spoke up again.
"You're right." She smiled, satisfied that she'd made him smile again. Then he did something else that caught her by surprise. He crawled over to her on all fours, reached out and stroked her cheek, where her faded tattoo was no doubt. The suddenness of his touch made her blood spark and she knew he felt the same electricity.
"So what's your story, alchemist girl?" She smiled and even when he pulled his hand back the sensation of his touch stayed on her skin. So she told him everything about her past and what brought her to court. At some parts of her story his eyes got so wide she thought they would fall out of their sockets. And other times he just looked thoughtful. She ended with her desire to stay here and told him she needed a way to get in and see the queen. His face lit up when she said this.
"I can make that happen."She looked at him in disbelief.
"Yeah right. How?" A mischievous grin spread across his face.
"The queen and I are like this." He held up his fingers and wrapped them together to show his point. She didn't know whether or not to trust him but she also didn't see a reason why he would lie. Besides if he could get her in to see the queen that would make her life so much easier. Also going with him to see the queen meant she would get to spend more time with him. That decided it.
"Alright, take me to the queen."