Blood Red Roses

Chapter 1

Rath inhaled the sweet lavender scent of Cesia's dark hair, her soft, bare skin pleasant warmth against his. He could feel her deep, slumbering breaths, and as he gently trailed a slender finger down her smooth back, a soft murmur escaped her lips. The late afternoon sun cast a soft shadow through the white canopy surrounding their bed, casting shadows over the dark red satin sheets that outlined their tangled legs. As he leaned up slightly, Rath's dark crimson eyes trailed over the exposed soft curve of Cesia's breast, to her shoulder, and up her neck where the light dragon amulet still hung.

As he moved to fully sit up, he felt Cesia stir and looked down to see her brilliant golden eyes gazing up at him. With a small smile, he leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead. "You can still sleep."

"You're leaving?" she sat up, her long, dark locks of hair trailing over her chest.

"Yeah…I should probably head back. Before Rune finds out that I skipped out on doing half of that paperwork." Rath let out a sigh, already turning to slide out of bed.

A coy smile on her lips, Cesia leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing close against his bare back. "But you're the Dragon Lord. Surely he can at least give you one day off."

He grinned. It had been three years since he had officially become the new Dragon Lord, Nadil long dead and gone. Rath turned to her, placing his hands on her hips, never tiring of seeing her delicate face, the same one that had helped him overcome his turmoil. The one who helped him find new life. And became his beloved wife.

"Well…if she really wants…and I can't really go against my Queen's wishes, now can I?" he said with a slight smirk, gently pushing her back down, one hand running along her leg.

She returned his smirk. "Like you ever could?"

Rath just grinned before pressing his lips against hers, feeling Cesia's body soon arching up against his.

x x x

Bierrez stared at the report in his hands as he walked down the hall where the royal suites were. He closed his eyes as he remembered Rune's aggravated face when the White Dragon Officer had failed to find Rath in his office.

Fine. So Rath's not there. Isn't it your job to track him down, not me?

So the report had something to deal with a demon being sighted within the city. Why couldn't Tetheus give it to him?

…On second thought, I'd rather do it myself than just pass it onto that guy…

He let out a sigh as he contemplated which room to try first. They had about ten of them, something he could never understand. Maybe he'll give Cesia a visit. It had been a while since he had last even seen her. He had been busy with sending Sabel and Gil out to various cities to heal deal with the demon problem. Though Nadil was dead, things were still not peaceful, as the report suggested.

Oh well, if it were, I would be out of a job, I guess.

Of course the only reason why he even stayed as the Red Dragon Officer was because of Cesia, but that was beside the point.

He stopped in front of Cesia's door, raising his hand to knock, when he thought he heard…something. With an eyebrow raised he leaned a little closer, only to jerk back upon realizing what exactly was going on. Bierrez brusquely turned on his heel and walked away.

Even though the two had been married for a couple of years now, he still felt a pang of regret and remorse every time he saw them together. It was one of the many reasons why he usually tried, and mostly failed, to avoid any public ceremonies in which the two were together. He was happy for her but…he knew that on more than one occasion he had wished he was in Rath's place.

With a grunt of frustration, he slammed his fist into the marble wall; the papers now crumpled in his clenched his fist. "Damn it…"

"You really need to learn to let go."

Bierrez whirled around, his heart beating quickly as he stared into the deep purple eye of the Fire Dragon Knight that stood before him, his long purple bangs half covering the black eye patch over his right eye. A small red dragon perched on his left shoulder.

Seeing it was only Gil, Bierrez quickly turned away. "What's it to you?"

"It's unhealthy."

"I'm still doing my job. And I'm not going to do anything stupid." Not wanting to really be in anyone's company, particularly Gil's, he started to walk away.

Gil raised a brow at the remark and just followed him in silence before speaking. "I've noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"Lately you've been staring in her direction, Bierrez. Moreso than usual. You've also been spacing out more than before, as well." He stopped in his tracks, arms crossed. "You've become obsessed."

Bierrez turned to glare at the Knight, but he knew the words Gil said were true. He lowered his head, the shadow of his orange bangs covering his face as he bit his lip. He hated this time of year. Normally Rath and Cesia would act their normal selves, usually with Cesia reprimanding Rath for not working or chasing him out of the kitchen or yelling at him for skipping off work to sneak off with the Dragon Fighters whenever they were sent off to dispatch some demons. It was only then that he could tolerate their relationship.

But now, in these past few days, they've been joined at the hip, as in the years past. It was nearing their anniversary, and Rath had been asking every male about what he should give Cesia this year. The twit even had the gall to ask him. Bierrez gritted his teeth at the memory, how hard it had been to not just give him his coldest glare and just leave. It did not help matters that Cesia would come to him for advice sometimes. He sensed she knew how awkward it was for him, but she was attempting to keep a friendly relationship, and that only twisted his emotions further.

"Here." The Dragon Officer shoved the crumpled report into Gil's hand. "Give it to Rath when he's…finished his business," he said through gritted teeth and stalked off.

Gil stared after the retreating back, a slight frown on his lips. He could sense something different going through his friend's mind. After having to share "living quarters" in Rath's body in the past, he felt he had at least some sense of how the then demon thought and behaved. He glanced at the report and then back down the hallway Bierrez had come from. Figuring it would be a while before Rath was "done," he decided to just leave the report in his office, turning his thoughts over in his head. As he walked through the halls, he absentmindedly rubbed a finger against Fire's neck, while the heels of his boots echoed through the emptiness that he felt Bierrez must be feeling.

Afterword:

Hn. Angsty fic is angst. And for once, it's not a Rath one. Then again, I have no clue what a lot of the angst fics are centered around nowadays.

If you haven't noticed yet, this fic is about Rath, Cesia, and Bierrez, with a lot more on Bierrez and Cesia. If you don't like the pairing…read it anyway. I can guarantee you this story will be far from having a happy ending.

There's a reason why this is a Romance/Tragedy/Drama/OMG fic.

Also…if you don't recognize me, that's because I stopped writing fanfiction years ago, so this is my first fic in years. More than three probably. My more memorable ones (Dragon Knights and the Dragon Eyes, a Monty Python and the Holy Grail parody, or Dragon Knights Theatre ring any bells?) had been taken down years ago when the site went through its "no more script format stories, haha" stage. Oh well.

I have about…ten other stories running through my head, and ironically, this wasn't the one I planned on debuting again (meaning, I'm going to have re-edit the afterword I had written on the other one, dammit). In fact I thought one up a few hours before writing. This won't be a really long one, but not sure how long.

Also, if you haven't realized, this is set after the events of the series, so sorry for spoilers? Things will be pretty much as canon as possible.

Disclaimer: Dragon Knights and all the characters belong to Mineko Ohkami, though the story concept and actual writing is of my own design.

Special thanks to Teshyra for helping me think up the idea and being a big inspiration. Same to you Aqua xP Also, I guess I should thank myself for creating a Dragon Knights role-play community that further helped inspire me to write, bwaha.

Reviews, comments, whatever, are highly appreciated