-What You Awoke Inside Of Me-
-Part One-

This evening a dinner is to be held. Not just any dinner either. Potential allies to the demonic race are coming to the castle to discuss terms of agreement to solidify an alliance. Zeldris isn't looking forward to it. He's been to a few meetings like these over the years. Being one of the three Princes of the Demon King, they're supposed to represent the strength and power of the demon clan while standing next to their father. It's long and winded and in the end it's always just a useless bunch of ass kissing to the youngest son.

But the Royal Vampires coming could be useful to his father, so once again Zeldris is forced to squeeze into a tux, strap on his scabbard, and dust off his scarcely used crown and appear to the left of his eldest brother, Meliodas, as usual.

The throne room, wide, tall, and decked with decorations of various shades of red and pitch black is a sight he's beheld many times throughout his youth. Seeing it stuffed with tasteful accents and long stretching tables to the sides with servants waiting for the evening to begin doesn't stir interest in Zeldris. His mind wanders to the new ways of harnessing his powers he'd recently been developing and how he could be outside right now where it's cool, fresh, and far from stuffy with the stressful air the servants fill the room with, practicing right now…

Two trumpets sound by the grand entrance doors to the room delivering a small fanfare for the arrival of special guests. Zeldris doesn't even flinch, his eyes locked on the high windows in the room which pour moonlight in that dissipates leagues before it even hits the ground do to all the lit chandeliers.

"We welcome the King of Vampires, Izraf, his daughter Princess Gelda, and their royal ensemble…."

His mind tunes the words out, letting them settle to the back of his mind as a dull drone. His eyes are drawn to Meliodas briefly, scanning his neat tux that clashes with the mess of his blond hair. Nevertheless, the older drips of strict control, from his posture and stare, right down to the pacing of his breath. Past him, is the ever passive towering mass that is Estarossa. He, although lax in his gaze ahead, stands tall and headstrong.

Zeldris turns his eyes forward with an inaudible sigh. Knowing the two all his life gives him the ability to see past their outward displays: They're just as bored to tears as he.

'There has to be something to do to make the night go by faster. Anything…' The frustrated thought is followed by one that suggests he at least pay some attention to what's going on around him. He wants to stubbornly ignore it and perhaps go over the drills in his mind that Meliodas tends to put him through each morning at dawn. But after a few moments of these he gives up, thinking it more interesting to actually be outside doing rather than thinking. Grudgingly he gives in having nothing better to do and his eyes gain focus on the several beings before them. Their figures varying in height width and overall state of tidiness nearly curls his lip in disgust. They all look like barbaric brutes. Unkempt. Uncivilized. Every single last—

His jaw actually goes slack as he sees someone overshadowed by the vampire's wild beast of a king. Shock draws tight in his lungs and the steady increase of his pulse bleeds into his hearing. No… There's one, only one, he can say is simply beyond his realm of comprehension. The young woman his eyes all but glue to, wide and awed, stands poised in an aura of palpable grace. Her hair, a pale kind of blond, he wonders how it would feel between his fingers, is twisted simply over her bare shoulder and home to the shimmering tiara atop of her head. Her eyes, he notices next with a thick swallow, are an extremely pale blue almost reminding him of crystals in their clarity. They're naturally narrow, under a pair of sooty eyelashes as she gazes about to his left with a quaint, practiced smile.

'Those lips….' His mind now beginning to sink under a haze from staring, traces over the plumpness of her mouth and the soft pink that paints it which stands out in a mesmerizing way against her porcelain skin. She's thin and curvey under the layers of her baby blue dress and he questions, no his mind screams, 'How is it possible for someone to be so… so stun—'

"—finally my son, Zeldris."

The tail end of his father's introduction is like the searing jolt of a whip's lash. He nearly jumps to attention as awareness comes to him swiftly. Zeldris grits his teeth to steady himself, then goes into a practiced bow with his arm tucked across his chest before quickly straightening up. He's almost certain at least one of his brothers noticed his millisecond of hesitation. He can only pray that his father hadn't at the very least. Still, with the worry of trouble from possibly showing a lack of discipline prickling at the back of his neck, Zeldris, as discreetly as possible guides his eyes back in the girl's direction.

Her eyes fall somewhere towards his left, quiet in her study as her hands twiddle idly in front of her. Slowly he sees her gaze shift drawing closer to him and he becomes stiff, his breathing a little choked up. His father's words have long since become a deep hum in the back of his mind as well as the vampire king's. He has no idea why this one girl seems so attractive and almost irresistible as if naturally pulling every eye in the room to her, demanding attention. And yet, as he takes a quick glance around, no one else seems to be gazing at her. No one else seems affected by this gut deep pull he can't find a way to ignore. Why does she feel so interesting? Different?

Her blue eyes drag to a stop. Right on him.

It's like his stomach dropped right out of him in meeting her gaze. Dazed is the sensation that begins to swallow him and soon tingles begin to feel like they're packed so deep inside of him his knees become a bit unsteady. He has to take a shaky breath. It's imperative that he look away before he winds up doing something that will embarass his father. He goes to do just that, determined to stop staring, when he sees a slight twinkle form in her previously calm gaze and her lips pull up in the smallest curious grins he's ever seen.

Zeldris lowers his head and is shamed himself by the heat that spreads across his face. 'That's the Princess…' He thinks as the checkered paneling of the floor fazes in and out of focus do to nerves of all things, 'Princess Gelda.'

~.~.~

Dinner was finally allowed to begin as it had been decided that the vampires would stay a fortnight to further discuss agreements before drafting the treaty of alliance. This dinner however is different than any he's attended so far. It's more mingling than anything with everyone, except the two kings of different races, walking and talking amongst themselves. That is if they found someone worth talking to.

It was starting to feel like a party as more demons began to join in celebrating something they had no real inclination about.

This is about the part where Zeldris would usually find a dark corner to keep himself occupied in or simply slip away if he could, but something is keeping him there. Something with long blond hair and mysterious blue eyes.

He had been watching her or more like taking furtive glances when he could feeling like a weird stalker for doing so each time. But she was rather eye catching to the demon, more so than any new comer in the room, so it couldn't be helped. He found that she was simple in her actions as she slowly weaved through the people and polite in her responses whenever someone stopped to chat with her. From what he could tell she was the epitome of an elegant Princess. But he... He wanted to find out if there was more to her.

He looks away from her now where she stands alone with a smooth expression, one he's seen on Meliodas a million times and remembers the shine in her eyes and that little smile with such clarity his stomach tightens in fluster. No, he knows there's more to her. He just has to find out.

But when he goes to create a path for himself through the mass of people, he hesitates, stopping to see if she's actually still there like a coward. His fingers curl into fists at his sides in frustration and he again winds up watching her as she lowers her head masking her expression further. 'Why can't I go talk to her damn it!? My brothers already have. And she looks like... she could use the company.'

Why bother though? He doesn't even know her. And talking with others isn't exactly a part of his skill set. She's just this beautiful vampire. With an alluring pull that only he seems affected by. And a smile that appears to want to say many things...

He'll only figure out all these things if he talks to her.

Courage bolstered and confidence lining his steps, he makes his way to her with the crowd of people naturally parting around him. He notices as the distance closes between them, how much more excited his insides feel, almost like they're dancing on sparks of anticipation. Zeldris feels completely ridiculous now for having put things off for so long. Why the hell did he think he couldn't do this again?

His feet pull to a stop a respectable distance from her and the world pauses in a hushed silence when she looks up at him. Shocked, pleasant surprise, and hints of delight color her eyes as a teeny, nervous smile graces her visage.

Courage? Was that a thing he had before? Up against her of all things? The world snaps back into play and with it the feel of a number of his hearts threatening to choke him up as his pulse blazes beneath his skin. Silence passes between them for several beats as he stares and she arches an eyebrow. Shouldn't he be saying something instead of staring like a slack jawed fool?

He coughs nervously to cover it up before offering his hand. Then somehow he allows some of the stupidest things to fall past his lips, "Good evening, I'm Zeldris Prince. N-no, wait! I'm Prince Zeldris! But you can just call me Prince. I mean, Zeldris! Zeldris."

If there was any time in his whole life that he'd wanted to fall into a pit and never be found again, that moment would be now. He closes his eyes tightly not wanting to see the mockery that would overtake her face as she now doubt laughed her ass off at his fumble. And he wouldn't blame her. Humiliation pierces him sharply and the skin over his cheeks and ears are so hot they prickle. But her response doesn't come the way he assumed.

Her hand slides tentatively into his clammy one—he was frozen in his state if he was still offering it to her—and she does indeed laugh, a delicate tinkling kind of sound that holds no bite. Cautiously he opens his eyes when he realizes she's the furthest from casting him away as useless to see her covering her mouth with her other hand, hiding away that smile he's starting to like. But her eyes smile more than enough regardless, setting his nervous aflame for an entirely different reason.

He closes his hand around her smaller, softer one. He'd swear something goes through them at the contact then, like a low, intense current. Zeldris almost shivers and internally revels at the contrast between her hand and his.

"Alright, Zeldris. I'm Princess Gelda. But, please, call me Gelda."

A noticeable blush flowers over her cheeks and he can only nod dazedly, his tongue at a loss for words for a moment. Her voice is like a coat of warmth that settles around him and he's astonished to realize he wants to hear much more of it.

Something ancient and foreign pings at the back of his mind. This is when he's supposed to kiss her hand. The heat that shoots up his neck at this nearly smothers him, but he swallows back against the suffocating feel and bends over her hand. His lips brush against her skin as his hearing fills with the beat of his hearts. Again he feels that current surge between them and he struggles not to let his lips linger as he shakily straightens his stance. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Gelda."

His eyes roam her face taking in the flush there that surely matches his and the way her hand finally slips from over her mouth revealing almost shy way she smiles. The nerves that coil in his chest now tells him he managed something right.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," her voice is layered thick with certainty under her bashful gaze.

Gently he lets her hand go and turns his gaze over her shoulder spotting a servant carrying a tray of red liquid which sparks an idea in his mind. "You wouldn't mind then, if I kept you company?"

Her eyes give her answer in the way they soften pleasantly. "Not at all."

'Okay,' he mentally congratulates, wanting to feel relieved but knowing he's only crossed one obstacle and is headed straight for another. Now to actually try and figure her out. A million and one questions goes through his mind as he stands next to her off to the side, just out of hearing of others. And he goes for one, deciding to throw caution to the wind when her voice reaches him first halting him in his tracks.

"You know, you look so much like Prince Meliodas. It shocked me at first."

His eyebrow raises and he recalls when she first saw him and that look in her eye. Had he mistaken it for something more when it was actually just the usual surprise everyone has when seeing he and his brother? Of course. He's always compared to the great Meliodas. Why wouldn't this time be any different?

The emotions inside him one by one begin to wither and as a result his voice comes out dry. "I'm nothing like the original right?"

She blinks and the look from the curl of her mouth is confused. "No... He looks so sad."

Zeldris almost chokes, his eyes widening in disbelief. Meliodas? His brother, Meliodas, look sad!? The man looks like he could dance in the innards of the next person who looks at him wrong, and he'd do it with pleasure. And she says he looks sad?

But she goes on further explaining her baffling belief. "It's like looking at someone trapped against their will... do you understand?"

No. Not at all. But he nods the tiniest bit just to appease her anyway. Then her eyes go to him lapsing into a more light kind of gaze that stills his insides before a wave of warmth rolls through him. He shudders under her stare.

"But then there's you. You're much different. I can't place what just yet, but... It's nice to be around." She announces earnestly.

Fuck, is that her talent? To make him go through a maelstrom of fluster that leaves him speechless and blushing like an idiot each time?

...Because damn he's starting to like it.

"Eh, thanks," he tells her with his eyes down, his voice barely above the crowd, and the red flaming his ears the indicator that this is his first real show of gratitude.

Her hand falls onto the sleeve of his tux and he feels each of her fingers curl, squeezing almost in comfort. "If you want to thank me, just always keep me company."

His head jolts up in surprise and their eyes hold for numerous beats of his hearts. He can't figure out what she means besides the obvious with those words, even as he tries to prod past the deep blue barrier in the very depths of her eyes. So all he can do is nod. "Alright."

Her barely there smile is reward enough.

He breaks away from her luminescent expression and takes his chance to ask her a question. "What is it you like to do, Gelda?" He tastes her name carefully and savors the flavor with contentment.

At his question her face becomes a bit more melancholic with her eyes dulling and her smile becoming pained. And something within lurches. He wants to backpedal, to burn his words to ashes. Anything to take away the sadness that paints treacherously across her face.

"I'm an avid reader because I... want to know what it's like out there in the world. I'm only allowed to go out so far from home. Always with guards. Always at night. So I read. Imagining what it's like to have the sun warm your skin or what places are like that has sky scraping mountains or pools of water as deep as you can imagine or is so cold you can feel it right down to your bones, but you'd love it anyway…" She admits with eyes far away, her expression now close to looking like a shattered dream. "Vampires are their weakest during the day, you know. And my father refuses to risk his only child for her silly wish to see the world."

She turns to him as he trembles in sympathy—genuine sympathy—for this girl he's only just met. But that's starting to fade from his mind as unimportant the longer he stays in her presence. "But it's okay. I've made peace with this," she goes on and even gains a fond smile that starts to put him at ease. "I actually found that I enjoy horseback riding a great deal and it lets me feel just a bit more free, riding under the stars. Although, I haven't been able to do so in a while with all the trouble brewing in the horizon. My father has been stressed and decided against it for now."

She falls silent as her head lowers the way he saw from across the room, only this time her fingers go to the end of the twist in her hair fidgeting with the stands in seemingly a habit. There's more to her, as he suspected, he just hadn't thought it'd be disheartening. Something that'd actually reach inside of him when all he usually cares about is trying to become stronger to somehow make a place for himself in his father's eyes. He didn't think he'd actually care enough to want to try and correct the situation. But he does.

First though, he needs that smile of hers back almost like he needs strict order in his life. "I, uh, might be able to help," her offers hesitantly with a forming plan in mind. At her hopeful stare he gives a grin that feels uncomfortable on his face, "But first, how about dinner? I know you must be hungry." Already he takes the initiative by placing a hand on her lower back while internally shouting at his stomach to stop doing flips at the contact.

He keeps his eyes on the table sparkling with all kinds of delicious entrees and beverages. He eyeballs the small section filled with glasses filled with red liquid like he saw the servant carrying before in hopes of distracting himself from the divine scent that flows through his senses from the girl beside him. In fact he's so busy picking out each aspect of it with great care that he almost misses Gelda state with a teasing giggle, "Zeldris, I can't eat food. I'm a vampire, remember?"

His eyes move to her face and trail down to the two tell-tell fangs just barely peeking over her lower lip. He knows he's staring too long when he feels the heavy fuzz of a daze coming into his mind, but her mouth seems to do that to him for some reason. "...Right."

He snaps into focus when she starts to pull on his sleeve guiding him instead. But the question still raises in his mind, 'What can she have here then?'

"This should do though."

Her voice simultaneously meshes with the thick swell of a coppery tinge that surges in the air and he looks to see her holding one of the glasses filled with crimson liquid. Blood. Ah, so his father did have the vampires in mind when planning dinner.

It's after she's taken a sip, her mouth twisting in consideration afterwards, that she realizes he's watching her, admittedly in fascination. She begins to redden, matching the deep red that stains her lips. "I'm sorry. Does this bother you?"

"No." And it doesn't. He thought it would, the fact that she's drinking blood so causally. But he's eaten raw dragon meat after a fresh kill, so he figures he's the worst of the two here. In all honesty though, he's just soothed by the fact that she has what she needs to survive. And that's a thought so unusual of him that he feels the need to turn away from her scrutiny.

And in doing so spots Estarossa eyeing he and Gelda with mischief deep in his gaze. Zeldris, unsettled by this fact, watches further while Gelda drinks and drinks, glass after glass, oblivious at his side. His brother must be up to something, that look spells it all. But what?

Estarossa, seeing he has the younger's attention, proceeds to snag the nearest woman, a slim, but no less attractive lavender haired demoness, points between Zeldris and Gelda, then slowly, lewdly begins to roll his hips into hers pulling a squawk and a full bodied flush from the poor woman. He ends with a thumbs up in Zeldris' direction whose entire face flushes in shame, in mortification at the implication. His mouth gapes in embarrassment.

Estarossa on the other hand laughs heartily, cheeks red from alcohol, before tugging the woman away with an arm around her waist, feeling his job done.

Zeldris grabs the nearest drink needing to cool down from what he'd been forced to witness and downs it. Only then to choke at the gut churning repulsive flavor it gives as he spits it out in a spray all over the floor.

Gelda stares with wide eyes in complete silence for so long, he fears he screwed any favor he gained in her eyes in a single instance.

But that moment shatters as she begins to laugh. A full bodied kind of sound that causes her cheeks to glow in her enthusiasm.

And even at his expense, he can't find any sense of anger or self loathing. She simply looks too beautiful, too radiant, for such things. This one time he doesn't mind being a joke of Estarossa's, as long as it puts that smile on her face.