Chapter 47

"You are serious about this." Disbelief filled the raven haired man's words after having heard the prince's plan. It had now been three more weeks and the prince's condition finally settled, his body healing properly without any lasting side effects to impend his otherwise busy schedule now that he was finally free to do as he wished once more without the restrictions imposed by his own bed and weakness. "They tried to kill you and you want to throw a banquet in their honor? Have you finally gone mad?" Ian desperately tried making sense of the situation after having pointed out the obvious issue he was uncomfortable with more than once so far. Why give praise to those who've tried ending your life? It made no sense which in turn could only mean the prince had something else in mind and nothing good at that. After all, the last time something close to this happened, the simple feast turned into a down right bloodbath and massacre. And given all the things the latter's done so far it would neither be a surprise nor unexpected for both to occur. Which in turn brought for the very same question, why the hell would they even accept the invitation and come to the rendezvous point as requested?

And then it hit him. They wouldn't accept, not unless…

"They will come." Vlad's deep voice broke his line of though catching his attention with ease. The mere way in which he subtly smirked sent an involuntary chill down the man's spine. How well he knew that particular look. If only there was a way to forget, but that could never happen. Not after all he's seen that one look bring over the years. "Be sure of that." A look born on the very night both of them received their freedom from a burning citadel.

They will come alright. And they'll do it just to see the look of fear and discomfort in their victims face, never knowing when or where they'd strike again. That alone was worth the potential death sentence hanging over them the moment they set foot beyond the castle walls.

"We cannot," Ian briefly pauses shutting his eyes momentarily while pinching the bridge of his nose. He then lowers his tone of voice with a heavy exhale knowing full well he was taking part in a game he couldn't possibly win. "We cannot have a repeat of last time. It won't look good especially now. Most of the bodies are still out there impaled on the hill, no one will touch them. Not even their own families. You made sure of that."

"And?" he asks with a hint of boredom in his voice. He wasn't about to stop his plans for vengeance so easily.

"You think too much of other peoples fear of you. And fear won't always help you. Just because you want vengeance just as they do in return. It won't end well."

"I do what I know best."

"Do you? Do you really?" Ian questions raising his voice, his eyes narrowing meeting those of his master. "Because so far all you've accomplished is gaining their hatred more. We're at war and all you're doing is fueling another one instead of…"

"Of course we are!" Vlad shouts back knocking the water pitcher of the table with his left hand almost growling the words in the process. His eyes filled with such rage Ian is forced to take an involuntary step back and shriek back from a look of unbridled rage. The pitcher fell shattering on the floor with a deafening sound. "Do not take me for a fool. I know full well who I'm dealing with, don't you ever forget that!" Turning his back on the raven haired man the he instead turns his attention to the distant window in his study. Towards the setting sun and it's brightly glowing orange and red colors painting the sky beyond the mountains in the distance. "They don't plan on killing me again. They wish to sell me instead." He lowers his voice back to its normal deep pitch whilst releasing a long sigh in the end and walking up to that very window in question. He chuckles leaning against the glass with his right forearm, his long dark hair falling over his right shoulder in the process. "Those fools. They believe my disposal will bring them peace with the ottomans. No death, no fear, no taxes. Such sickening fools. They know nothing." He hisses, eyes narrowing, irises darkening in his own reflection in the glass as he continued to stare at the dying sun; the end of so called peace. For the coming night would bring only death and those to follow a new chapter written in nothing but gore and blood. "The nobles plan on ending it soon. So I must strike first and crush them where they stand before they get the slightest chance to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"The original agreement was for us to meet in a different location. I was to meet them there then journey back together, a fact I have agreed to. However, all that changed the moment they tried to dispose of me. Now I don't plan on fulfilling my part. They wish me dead before negotiations could take place. I will see them dead before the sun rises on this day. They will come to me, I will see to it."

"How do you know this?" Ian asks picking up on the absolute certainty in his words. There wasn't a hint of doubt regarding the outcome of that night.

"I have my ways." Vlad cocks his head to the side with a subtle grin gracing his lips. Gold was so beginning to engulf the sky and the red reminded him of…

"Childe." He calls peering over his left shoulder and beyond the silhouette of his adviser just enough to see through the curtain of raven black bangs covering his forehead and framing his face. The door made no sound upon moving and the silence of the room was never broken. Then…

"Master." Seras speaks up acknowledging his need of her and the sound of her voice fills the room with that familiar sense of comfort once more. She was far too skilled at this than he ever would have imagined.

Seras's sudden appearance startles the other raven haired man immensely. He hadn't even heard her come in much less the door creak or the lock click open or close after her. He gasps in shock and his shoulders involuntarily jerk at the sound as he spins around and his eyes fall on the crimson eyed girl. This strange creature his master had, for a lack of a better word, adopted. She was always there like a shadow. And she just appeared one day out of the blue without warning or proper introduction. She simply was. And sine her appearance, she was always by his side and always following in his footsteps without anyone knowing who she was or where she came from. Ian himself never engaged her in conversation, the single time being after the prince had been poisoned. He kept his distance and she kept hers, at least that's what he hopped.

People talked and they talked a lot, though most of it was done in whispered tones behind the warlord's back and in secret. No one actually dared to speak up in person. They feared for their lives and valued them more than the possible fact that their Lord may or may not share more than just a mild form of acquaintanceship with another woman, one that wasn't his designated consort. A lesson learned the hard away by more than one person over the years.

"How did you?" he can't help but ask astonished by her presence. He had locked the door behind him, he was sure of it. And his eyes can't help but quickly glance behind her to confirm it.

"Take this." Vlad tells her bringing forth his left hand holding onto a neatly folded piece of paper with the royal seal pressed in crimson wax that elegantly rested between his index and middle finger. He offers it for but a moment before throwing it her way, the paper easily gliding though the air until her small and dainty fingers catch it. "I want," his tone lowers an octave enlisting her full attention as well as Ian's just as her fingers touch the paper. "Every word fulfilled." The scheming and narrowed look in his blue eyes is just as breathtaking last time for her, yet very unnerving raven haired man.

"Done." Seras replies without blinking and for a moment Ian is reminded of that same confidence lingering in his master's words. The notion that it will be done as though it has already been accomplished somewhat astonishing. No failure, no mistakes. Absolute certainty.

"Fret not." The prince's attention then shifts back to his confidant with a grin that tops it all of. "She is quite and most efficient."

"Yes but Sire..." Ian tells him turning away from the girl to meet his eyes.

"And Childe" he say without taking his eyes off he man in front. "Before the sun rises."

"As you wish." She merely nods lowering her lashes in silent reply.

"No. You can't just delegate such responsibility to one so…" his last conversation with the young woman left many questions unanswered and very few answers opened. To say they shared an apparent mutual hatred for another was the closes they'd gotten to a joint understanding.

There is a simple click and the door shuts yet again without as much as a sound whilst his attention was solely focused on the prince instead of her. Seras was gone and he never saw her move.

"Small?" Vlad asks chuckling, his grin wide with amusement. "And here I was expecting you to know exactly," he turns his head around sparing one last glimpse to the still descending rays of sunlight fading beyond the mountain range in the distance; the sky turning into an array of beautiful shades of orange and red as the moon slowly begins to make its appearance. It would be perhaps an hour or so before the sky would be pained a dark royal blue and stars would shine and glisten like tiny crystals carefully weaved within the fabric. "What she can really do." He whispers with a knowing smirk on his face. "You were the one to tell me how things evolved in my absence."

"It's not the same thing." Ian protests none the less. "Have you any idea of the chaos she's already caused? Did you even bother to listen to what I told you then? This will only fuel the fire more. You're sending her to the wolves."

"I prefer to look at it the other way around. The nobles won't see her coming. She's not worth the trouble."

"Why must you always complicate things? I barely managed to sooth each party from the mess she made last time. She basically stepped all over our careful preparations so far and spat in their face telling them to go fuck themselves."

"Yes, a shame to have missed it. It would have been most entertaining." While still confined to his bed at the time and Ian already tending to another problem with one of the nobles, his hand had been forced and there hadn't been anyone else to send to resolve the issue other than his faithful vampire. He only sent her there to delegate things in his name, yet everything turned a lot different that he ever would have expected. Just thinking about it made his smile. He smirks picking up the dagger from the table and stabbing it in the map laid out in front of them. The rendezvous point marked in black. Such a shame indeed.

"She declared herself the enemy Vlad and worse, a traitor in her own country, an assassin for hire. How does that look? When the general consents is that you're paying her money we don't have to spare. How many times must I say this to you until you finally understand?"

"That's absurd."

"To you not them. She's not normal or haven't you noticed that?"

"Normal?" the word peeked his interest especially given the way he said it. And the prince slowly turns his head back to the raven haired man. "And what is normal by your definition? Yours or theirs?"

"You mean beside the fact that she somehow managed put the fear of God in them with just a few simple words and publically denounced herself far worse than the Ottomans? You tell me."

"You have no idea." The prince laughs unable to hold the chuckle inside. No idea at all. And it grated on his pride more that he had been unable to see those crimson eyes put a room of full grown men in their place to the point of pissing in their pants. Damn.

"She's just a child herself, or has that too escaped your gaze? She can't be more than 16 summers despite her rather….unique appearance." Since it seemed she had most of the male population that visited the castle lusting after her with a mere glance. Not that he was complaining or anything, but it was just wrong as hell. "Who the hell would take her seriously? Do you even know who she is in the first place?"

"I know," Vlad begins to whisper but then stops midway and the tone of his lowers until it fades into a moment long silence; his eyes fixed on the distant window watching as more and more red filled the sky with the setting sun, the horizon getting darker and darker. "No debt will ever pay her back." His tone remains just the same, melancholic and silent and deeply in thought. Not for this life nor the one she already provided him with. Nothing would be in his hands this day had it not been for one piece of pared bearing the black and red mark of his freedom. "While you have no real reco…"

"You don't have to keep reminding me of how I failed to uphold my own debt to you." Ian interrupts feeling the same sense of guilt rise up within him once more. His name never should have been on the same piece of paper to begin with. He simply wasn't that important. No name and noble blood line to speak of. No one to offer a singular though at the notion of his death.

"We watched Edirne burn Ian." The prince's gaze focuses even more on the fire burning away the sun. "We ran through ice cold rain chasing down a monster, do you remember? And fought the death that seemed to take us one by one."

"I have the scars to prove it. As do you."

"That monster moved for vengeance, did you know?"

"I thought we decided never to speak of that place again." He didn't have to be reminded of how close to death he came in that place be it at the hands of that so called killer or the people who commanded there. They had so many scars to prove it. What was the point? "I have no fond memories and neither have you. We died there too."

"One night, the beast did come." His eyes turn on the raven haired man with a sudden look of fondness that seemed to pass straight through him and instead settle on the door behind him. Looking at something that wasn't actually there. "And set the whole world on fire."

Flashback

"Wait." The prince calls just as Seras reaches out to unlock the door to his chamber. The latter stood just a few steps behind her with the sleeve of his right arm rolled up and no bandage wrapped around his bleeding wrist. "That night you took my son."

"I meant him no harm." The words pass her lips slowly and softly as her left hand settles on the frame of the door instead of the doorknob. The long sleeve of her cream colored sweater still covered more than half of her hand baring only upper half of her fingers. "He's so much like you." For a brief second he sees her fingers tremble and her head drop just a little as if it hurt to acknowledge it. Briefly and quickly after which it fades never there to speak of. "Did you know he stood up to something such as me?" crimson peaks at him from behind golden hair with matching lips no longer as pale but rosy offering better contrast to the pointed tips of a sharp canine. "Such a strange little thing."

"You will never to that again."

"I could not if I wanted to." She turns to face him fully weaving her hands behind her back in that all too familiar gesture. "He's no longer afraid. There would be no point."

"I do not recall giving you permission to reveal yourself. Much less to a child." My child to be exact.

"Who else am I to serve should you die?"

"A vampire rather than a human." His tone comes out with a hint of sarcasm carefully disguised as amusement. "I would consider that enough."

"Only one." She whispers it so softly it goes completely unnoticed had it not been for the obvious movement of her rosy lips. Yet with her head turned away from him he didn't see anything. Bloodline or not, she could and would only ever serve one. And as sweet as that little boy was he could never be enough. He was like a broken piece of a shadow, similar but not the same. And growing up would not help matters.

"You should rest. You are unwell still." Avoiding any more answers she puts a quick end to it all.

"Vampire."

"There is no such thing." She's gone in a whiff of black smoke. Vanished without a trace.

Flashback end

"Vlad?" the man was at a loss for words in the face those words and the expression on the other's face. What was he trying to say? Was he hinting at the girl somehow? That she was more than looks implied? Was she somehow connected to…

"Just go and get ready Ian." Vlad offers him a small smile choosing to say no more, both his tone and expression turning away from that one moment of pure vulnerability. Instead he turns his attention back to the window watching as death claimed the sun, his thumb subconsciously brushing over the ring baring the crest of his family wrapped around his middle finger. "And let the wolf play with the lambs a bit longer. You might enjoy it." She would not fail. And the full moon would be especially beautiful tonight. Even though he never did get all the answers he wanted that night.

"Maybe not, but you might. People always deceive in some form or another."

"Is there something you wish to tell me by that?"

"Never mind." it's too late to rethink his words and start again, he'd already cast the line far into the ocean for a fish to nibble on his bait. So Ian stayed quiet a moment longer in spite of the message he might be sending. Something he held deep within his own heart.

.

.

A crescent moon would have shone on the night sky peppered with thousands of glistening stars to surround it that night had it not been for the heavy and thick clouds gathering up above.

"It's been raining a lot." Two crimson eyes follow the movement of said clouds whilst sitting atop the stone railing of one of the towers bordering the edge of the castle grounds. She had her right leg drawn up to her chest with her chin atop and her arms wrapped around it while the left hung loosely off the edge close to touching the rooftop.

The prince finds himself nodding without interrupting his own inspection of the night sky, his gaze only dropping lower towards the vast open field spreading out form the foot to the wall beyond the borders of his home. Hundreds of black spikes, blackened with coagulated blood, marred the sight of what should have been that simple green field. The moisture would worsen the decaying process of bodies already passed the point of recognition. This wasn't the first time they found themselves atop this tower isolated and alone from the rest of the household, on the farthest corner of the grounds, and it certainly won't be the last. Throughout their time spent together so far, sitting atop that tower had become close to a nightly routine. And it only increased after attempted poisoning. All it took was a portal and a closed door and they had all the privacy they could ever require. He didn't have to walk and strain himself and there was always a place to sit most comfortably, the cool air and the silence of the night a welcoming comfort after the scorching heat of the day. And every night she taught him something new, something that wasn't in that large leather book. The air was cold and moist around them as the heavens prepared themselves for the inevitable downpour about to take place.

"You wish to ask something." Seras whispers mimicking his actions and looking down as he had had. For the last ten minutes that had been their only conversation. He sensed the words on the tip of his tongue, but he kept delaying them. "Something you want done."

"I need a lot of things done vampire." He stood there stoic as ever with his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze far away. "Naming out is barely scratching the surface."

"Need and want are two different things master."

"The why not just tell me what I want. You're good at that."

"I can tell you what you need not what you want."

"Would it make any difference at this point?"

"You tell me."

"I can't recall the many times I've told you not to read my mind."

"I'm not."

"You need to lie better."

"All in due time my master." His eyes finally land on hers as he turns his head to the right, the steadily growing wind dancing through his long raven hair. "So what do you need?"

"That bounty on you head," he slowly begins to form the words with a look of intense contemplation on his face. "How much have you spent?" the sly look in his eyes told her there was more to his questioning than that.
Seras smiles turning her gaze back on the field laid out before her. "You want to feed an army."
"A deal with the devil himself seems better than one with his puppets." His gaze does not falter from her face. "And you will not break your word. You never have."

"The day I will, will harm you." She in turn does not look back. "All loyalty is flawed one way or another. Don't expect a saint regardless of how nice I can be."

"I expect your word instead."

"And I'll still make you regret." She takes a second to peer at him from the side and meet his gaze before turning her attention back to the field. "Beside. Why make a deal at all? You're my master now, you just need to ask me that way and it will be done."

The prince remains silent instead, yet even so he already conveys a partial answer without the required words to hinder him. He was willing to take what he could get. Beggars can't be choosers.

"What would you like?" he questions back without yet offering his answer.

"Not a very good start offering anything up front." The latter smirks widely holding in a chuckle as he steps closer to the edge, closer to her, hearing that familiar scolding tone hidden amongst her words.

"You are a vampire. You do not eat or drink," he can't help but pause and smirk at the particular choice of words hanging of the tip of his tongue. "Wine." And the smile grows wider when she briefly laughs unable to hold it in, the white of her fangs peeking out from under her full pink lips. Still he continues after temporarily joining in on the laughter. "Money means little to you." And her clothes all but appeared and disappeared on their own. She already had a roof over her head.

"Perhaps." Seras replies catching wind of that last stray though of his. But did she really have a home there? Or was it all just one form of an illusion trapped over another. Either way she chooses not to bring that particular subject up for debate just yet. "You might not have anything I could want either."

"And yet you're offering maybe by not rejecting me completely."

"You'd rather offer it to me, one of my kind, instead of them?" though the words needed be said out loud for him to understand. "That hardly sounds like you."

Silence stretched out between for several long minutes until the first drops of rain began falling from the sky wetting their hair and the ground around them before reaching al the way down to the grassy field below. And unlike that very grass, both of them stayed mostly dry as a small shadows began circling above their heads keeping them safe. "I don't require land or title and come with a far smaller price to pay." A lot less. And while that too came with a hefty price, it proved a lot less trouble on his part. The implication of her own words briefly reflected into something else entirely for the brief span of a moment or two within her eyes before they turned back to being utterly neutral and indifferent towards the subject at hand.

"But you still haven't learned how to talk to a vampire." How to talk to me. And it hurt.

"Would you want any it?" he posses the question, though mostly convinced of the answer she was about to give.

"No." she snorts with a partial smirk on her lips. That was the last thing she wanted. She didn't want humans around her. She didn't want the looks and the thoughts or their feelings around her. She wanted silence. "You're voice is enough in the silence." She didn't want anyone else.

"Then what would you like?"

"Whatever you're willing to part with."

Vlad looks at her for a moment longer when a chest appear on floor in front of him, a chest and 5000 golden pieces within. Not one golden coin out of place.

"You still have to ask them. It will look suspicious otherwise. Though why you would when or more of them attempted to kill you…."

"Because it must be done." He tells her with a heavy sigh. However distasteful the act may be, it required doing. "As long as they believe themselves safe there is little I need to hide and my own actions against them will seem less premeditated. Asking for help," and the word rolled of the tip of his tongue like poison. "Puts me in the clear. It means I trust and am still in a position to be manipulated by their respective offers. I can't do much without money to pay for the soldiers or the soldiers themselves."

"I already killed some of them. If you turn to me for help it will look far worse. Especially to that man. His son's blood was warm in my hands when I crushed. I took pleasure in it."

"Regrettably no. All you killed was close to a bastard." He corrects her. "The third born son with far too much to prove. His first born the other hand lacks the convictions of his father which brought him one hunting accident one day and a crippled leg the other while the second is the same cruel bastard as his father. Perhaps he may prove a challenge but not the rest."

"Why ask me at all?"

"Because the blood on your hands keeps my life. You alone ii may ask for sake of that life knowing you will give it back should I ever ask."

"You don't need to ask." Thunder rolls with a flash of lighting that rips through the sky. "You never have to ask."

"Why is my life so valuable to you vampire? One human in a sea of thousands."

"I will tell you when you die. Before the last breath leaves your body."

"Yet in the month of my dead you have remained silent. For the life you save burning a citadel to the ground. You who protected me form myself above from all others. This world that is nothing but cruel."

"Cruel, but beautiful my master." Rain began poring down with large ice cold droplets bringing forth a pale grey mist to rise from the ground up with each falling droplet. "If only you know were look."

"The deal we struck long ago," he breathes in briefly closing his eyes. "I will offer whenever you require sustenance. And for that I would like you to…"

"No." Seras smiles and with a quick move grabs hold of his right wrist and pulls him down on the ledge beside her momentarily shutting him up. "That deal has ended. I do not want another." Her large crimson eyes soften with the tilt of her head looking as if she was about to let it rest atop his shoulder.

"In the two week since that night you've not taken blood other than mine. Do not think me foolish in not knowing you are starving. It's easy to accept."

"Then go ask all the nobles around you." She challenges back breaking the protective circle that hovered above them, ice cold rain soaking them in less than a minute. And still neither of the two moves. The wind blows harshly as the rain turns colder and the thunder growl louder. "Did you know," the vampire's eyes flashing bright red just like the lightning bolts above. "People wonder, if you're fucking me yet. Over a half of the minds I look into consider it and more think it already done since you never spoke to anyone as to what my purpose here is. Staying here with me as you do every night fuels the fire."

"A shame I must disappoint." But did he really? For a small part of him thought otherwise. A small part of him wondered what it would be like to cross the distance and leap over the edge completely.

"It's for the best." She pulls away with a fanged smile that somehow fells as if pushing him further and further over that precarious edge. "You're only human, master." Hardly if ever. But at the moment that was all she could take.

Seras then stands up and with a flick of her wrist turns around to walk away as the shadows reform above her master's head to keep him dry and a sudden warmth surrounds him drying him completely. The sound of her retreating footsteps doesn't overshadow that of pounding rain and large droplets hitting the stone floor of the tower once she begins making her way to the archway and the stairway leading down from the tower.

If I wasn't?

The thought briefly flashes through his mind just like the lightning whipping above his head, a very intriguing notion and one drifting in a vast sea of indecision. And for the moment it hat to stay that way. He was curious to see just how she would respond and how well. For everything she did was anything but normal. From the simple way she looked at the world around her to her manner of speaking, acting, and walking. It all seemed so utterly out of place in regards to each and every other person residing within the walls of his castle. She thought unlike anyone else and that was what he wished to test further. How well could she play this game?

A few hours or so later finds the prince leaned back against the backrest of his chair, broad shoulders resting against the plush fabric with strands of black fallen over both his shoulders contrasting with the white color of his cotton night shirt, his collar opened in the front down showing off the middle of his chest. His were crossed one over the other while a dark brow leather bound book, its spine worn from use, rested between his right hand as he red in silence; a silence only broken by the occasional turning of a page. The hour was close to sunrise basking the room in a faint warm light as the curtains themselves were partially drawn away from the windows.

"You'll hurt your eyes," Seras emerges from darkness behind him, dark mist momentarily swirling around the back of his chair, and sits down on the left side armrest crossing her legs in the process. Her long golden hair was pulled to the side draped over her left shoulder exposing the back of her neck. "Reading like that."

"I could not sleep." His lips can't help but sketch a playful smile in reply, a simple upward curl though mischievous nonetheless at the manner of her greeting.

"Forgive me for troubling you then."

"You are not to blame." the prince shuts his book setting it atop his lap. For many of his nights were spent in this exact manner.

"Even so." She presents him two small keys placing them atop the closed book. "It may help to ease your mind."

For a moment, the prince is left to ponder unsure of her meaning before a small gesture on her part redirects his attention towards two neatly staked coffers against the wall on the other side of the room. "Not to worry." She hops down from the chair redirecting his attention yet again. "I've been good gathering it. You may use it as you see fit."

"Where did you get this?"

"Gold is gold. Where I got it from doesn't really matter."

"There are limits even for you." The prince stands up from his chair leaving both the book and the keys in his place. "And there are things being a vampire can't protect you from."

"You worry?" the small smile flashes for just a second filled so much amusement. Of all things, to worry over one undead. So amusing indeed.

"You are my only pawn." The words escape his mouth more harshly than he would have liked altering the meaning they should have had. His only connection, link, to a world that did not scream on the night. My only ally and I cannot loose you to your own foolishness. Foolishness born of my behalf.

"I know that."

"You do not." He's quick to cut her off before some form of misunderstanding and sadness may appear in her crimson eyes. "I did not mean it as an insult. It was to…"

"I do not require an explanation master." He didn't mean to insult as she never considered it as such.

"Do not put words in my mouth." He suddenly crosses the distance between them and grabs hold of her shoulders. His eyes bore into hers and in the moment his lips part to say more he simply stops realizing how strong his grip had become. So he lets her go and drops his arms.

"I promised to obey, you do not need to worry about the things I do. I know best how to hide myself from humans."

That wasn't what he was worried about. But to say it loud proves somewhat of a challenge.

"You endanger yourself far too often."

"I apologies." Seras smiles kindly lowering her gaze humbled by the genuine care her master was showing. "I will humbly accept whatever limits you offer master."

"Stay out of trouble Childe." he tells her lowering the tone of his voice just a little, though it is enough for her to understand and take notice. He watches as her eyes close in acknowledgement and her chest expands with one single deep breath pushing her ample breast forward before lowering it once more. It looked as though she were merely considering accepting his demand when both parties already knew she had already agreed. And it fascinated him even more. "I would like this little charade to go on flawlessly until the last possible moment."

"Have I more to do tonight?" Her words are so softly whispered that the gentle sound of her exhale curbs the amusement of that lingering fanged grin once more. Another thing she would do from time to time, though never quite to high extremes. And it seemed that the more time he spent with her, the more familiar things between them became.

"One." The prince says pausing for a moment after which he removes the seal ring from his finger. The skin beneath it was a shade lighter than the rest considering he's not taken it off in years, for nothing and no one. How the tied has turned. Curse the girl.

The ring easily slips on her middle finger instead offering the chance to openly examine both the shape of the ring and the crest engraved on top for the first time.

"Wear red." he says without taking his eyes off the page he was reading.

"Don't expect a quick end." She tells him briefly, just briefly meeting his gaze, before her entire body vanishes in the very same black mist she appeared from. Her voice was serious and her tone hard, the very words what he'd hoped to hear. And without another thought to spare he walks back to his chair picking his book to continue reading in silence once more while placing the twin keys in the pocket of his pants. Flicking the pages one after another, he can't not help but wonder how many more souls this young creature would stir up in anger. And how many would wish her dead by nightfall. And one final sunrise before the moon bathed everything in blood.

.

.

"Everyone's here." Ian whispers lowering his head to the prince's level as he stood by the prince's right side with his arms behind his back surveying all those around them.

"For now." Vlad replies crossing his right leg over his left as he sat in his chair with his head resting in his right hand, the elbow resting over the armrest. "But it's still not red enough."

"Red?" he asks perplexed not quite catching the prince's meaning. "No one is even dressed in that color except for you." His eyes follow the movement of those around them before returning to the prince's crimson jacket with golden embroidery. His pants were black as were his knee high riding boots. His long raven hair was ties with a matching crimson ribbon in a low ponytail while his bangs still framed his face.

"I don't mean this kind of red." Vlad chuckles smirking wide, wider since the two hadn't been able to pick up on the hidden meaning.

"I wouldn't bother." A woman's voice interrupts them. She wore a dark emerald green gown with matching long sleeves and corset while the kirtle of the dress was a light shade of green matching her headdress. "Talking in riddles make people not understand him at all. He likes it that way." She adds while taking her own seat next to his chair.

"Milady." Ian graciously bows his head in acknowledgement to which she politely nods her head in return.

"I presume our friend," he takes a brief moment to pause. "Hasn't graced us yet? I don't see…"

"The screams haven't begun yet Ian. There's still time." Vlad tells him turning his head towards one of the distant window noticing how the dark sky briefly shone as a lightning bolt flashed somewhere in the distance behind a heavy curtain of clouds. A storm was brewing in the distance, but he had a feeling it was already taking place.

Flashback

"No wait. Please." A desperate voice cried out while backing up on all fours. It belonged to a middle aged man whose house was already burning several feet to his right while all of his men had been beaten and thrown all about the outer courtyard of the house. Red, blood red eyes advanced on him with each step Seras took towards him. She no longer wore her leather coat but a black cloak and hood which gave her an even more surreal look within the darkness. "Who are you? What are you doing?"

"Obeying command." Seras replies bringing forth her left hand, a bolt of lightning flashing in the sky above her illuminating her features beyond the glow the fire cast. The rings seal shone through and the man's eyes widened immensely.

Flashback end

"Enough people have died." The woman speaks up close to hissing the words hearing the two talk about screams and death once again. "Haven't you had enough?"

"It will never be enough." The prince coldly replies effectively silencing her by the sheer strength of his deep voice. His narrowed blues eyes stared her down peering from the side behind the curtain of his long bangs froze her on the spot until she was the one to turn away first.

"Sire perhaps its best t…" Ian tried stepping in between with little success.

"What have you done?" she's almost afraid to ask and the sound of her voice is so low it's almost completely overshadowed by that of the music. Her green irises portray fear she's afraid to voice and it's a sentiment that only grown when looking into blue as cold as ice that narrow further if only a fraction of an inch.

Flashback

"You have no right to enter my house! What are you…? " a brown haired man barely got to speak before a slender, pale hand grabbed by the collar of his nightshirt crashing his back into the wall of his house leaving a large dent behind

A scream was heard as the young woman he had been with bolted form the bed at the sight of blood.

Flashback

"I have yet to do anything." Vlad replies in a manner that sends chills down her spine. He then stands up from his chair gesturing to Ian to follow him as the two leave the banquet hall behind heading for the prince's private study. The young captain awaited them there. He bows his head in acknowledgment and then steps aside so that the other tow may enter and finally closes the door behind.

"However much you might dislike the notion Milady is right. We can't just kill them. You passed the law yourself. You need proof first and a conviction second."

"I am well aware of that. However, you should consider how much I actually do know already." Vlad replies sparing him a quick glance from the corner of his left eye as moves around his desk setting his attention on the neatly staked pile of papers sitting atop his desk, papers that had not been present earlier that afternoon when the very last fine details of the plan were polished.

"Yes I understand that, but what we know without proving won't sit well with the counsel who…" The raven haired man stops talking after his gaze too falls upon the paper the prince was in the process of examining. A total of 6 neatly folded letters several pages long each, some even baring incriminating wax seals.

"Read." The prince extends his offer to both men without bothering to read the letters themselves. He knew who was responsible for them and who had brought them.

And so, while the other two read through the papers the prince made himself comfortable with a glass of rich red wine as he leaned back against the front edge of the desk twirling it in his right hand without yet taking a single sip. And just as he was finally about to he stops short of the crimson liquid touching his lips.

"This is impossible." The young captain whispers having just finished another one of the incriminating letters. He then immediately turns to another quickly scanning it over reaching the same conclusion. "Why wouldn't have they burned these after reading them? After answering like this. Why keep them still when…"

"Because she was faster." Vlad replies with a smug grin lowering his glass back onto the surface of the desk.

"So you did make her go." Ian ads a little surprised he'd actually went through with it. Though he shouldn't be surprised considering the many facts that girl seemed to be capable to bringing to light since arriving at the castle.

"Of course I have." The prince tells him as though it was the most sensible answer he could give under the circumstance. "I'm not a fool to pass this opportunity. I've told you before," his tone of voice lowers ever so slightly as to emphasize the meaning of his words. "Of the things she can do."

"Sire there is mention here of…" the captain speaks up noticing a distinct peace of information hidden within the 3rd page of the second latter he had been looking over. Yet his words are momentarily pushed aside by Ian's sudden laugh as he lets his own letter drop atop the desk.

"You sent her after them. I don't believe this." He tries to smile and find the humor in this strange turn of events, but can't. Not really. She was so small, just a child still, barely a woman. "This whole time, you lied, to me and them. You planned this…all of it." he exhales releasing some pent up frustration at the sheer lunacy of that statement.

The prince only smiles, a devilish and self satisfied grin that sends chills down the other man's spine as he watches him take a sip of his wine in the most casual manner possible.

Flashback

Large, strong legs crash down hard on solid wood splitting it as the solid metal hooves of the pitch black stallion come down hard with a bellowing neigh. A rope was tied to his saddle which he pulled with a sudden burst of strength as soon as his legs touched back down, the door the other end was tied to being ripped from its hinges. The horse's rider was glad in black yet streaks of gold peered from under its hood. One more house, one more victim.

Flashback end

"Jesus you planned this. The slaughter. Here, tonight. Are you mad." His whole face paled for a long moment as the full ramifications of the situation struck him. It wasn't how the plan should have worked. There were hundreds of people there, hundreds, just beyond the door of this study…of that ball room. They were going to die. All of them or just a few? Was he serious? Was this even happening?

Already he could hear the screams and the shouts…like cattle for slaughter….all of the blood. So much blood. Just like last time.

"Don't give me that look Ian." His words hold not one bit of emotion as he continued to swirl that half filled glass of his. "It doesn't become you."

"How many are you planning to kill?"

"Childe." The prince suddenly calls putting an end to the discussion. The tone of his voice issues a challenge, daring the raven haired man to question him further. She never failed and it was the impossibility of that very notion that he came to notice over and over again whenever he gave her a command. No matter what it was he asked she always found a way to deliver. It intrigued and amazed him greatly how profoundly efficient she was. The second was how quickly she responded when he called her name.

And as the seconds ticked by he briefly wondered if she could actually hear him this far away? And if she did would she answer or tend to the duties, the request, he had bestowed upon her. She wasn't even there, so how on earth could she hear?

"Don't you do that!" Ian quickly tells him as if scolding his child like behavior. "It was disturbing the last time she suddenly appeared out of nowhere when we were talking and I don't want t…"

"Master." and the word comes faithfully and instantly, startling the raven haired man again. His shoulders immediately tense and his body reacts without a moment's hesitation jumping in shock before quickly spooning around to meet the bright crimson of her eyes.

"Jesus Christ!" Ian curses, his right hand over his chest, as the frantic beat of his heart slowly calms down again with a heavy exhale. "Don't….dothat." he tells her while leaning back against the desk. "That sneaking around like your some sort of ghost. Are you trying to kill me? Do you think it amusing?"

"If I did you'd be dead by now." Seras calmly replies with a mischievous smile gracing her full pink lips. Her voice bares amusement as well as a bit of mockery.

"Why are you here? Why is she here?" his head quickly turns to the left towards the prince. "Didn't you just say she was…"

"Now Childe," he speaks up interrupting the raven haired man once again. "Didn't we agree you are not to come back until you finish." He moves around the desk to come and stand in front of the golden haired woman. His tone bares amusement and a seriousness he blatantly fails to cover up. He'd been the one to call for after all. "Are you?"

"I did as asked." Her head slightly tilts to the right in a version of a light bow. "And you called, master."

"Did I now?" he chuckles stopping in front of her as she turns to greet him, his hands going round his back.

"How may I serve you?" Seras purrs crossing her own arms under her chest.

"Captain." He calls briefly turning his head towards the platinum haired man in his late 20is gesturing for him to approach. The latter still stood there dumbfounded; mouth slightly agape, at the sight of the young woman who appeared as if out of thin air while his back had been turned trying to get the prince to listen to him. Beautiful…

It was the first thing that came to mind once his gaze fell upon her petite, yet curvy frame, heart shaped face and shining golden hair. Yet her eyes bore the most unusual color he had ever seen.

"Ye…yes. Yes Sire." He quickly snaps out of his daydream shaking all other thoughts aside and clearing his throat although the blush still briefly lingers on to stain his cheek when he comes to stand by their side. She was the reason, as he later came to discover, he and the prince were still alive. He owed her a life debt.

"You were saying, in the letter."

"Ah, yes sire. Of course. The payment was in the form of a gift." He presents him the page in question and the words describing the final transaction.

The gesture of goodwill the prince himself has bestowed upon my house when sealing out treaty. Payment for a just end.

Vlad quickly takes the piece of paper out of his hand immediately upon reading that particular paragraph, all form of amusement leaving his face. The gesture of goodwill. How ironic and foolish at the same time.

"What does this mean? Gesture of goodwill. Sire do y…."

The prince's shoulders tremble as he laughs. The chuckle is light at first before the booming sound of deep baritone fills the room.

"The letter is incomplete." Turning around the captain walks back to the desk seeking the final piece of paper. Unfortunately, it didn't provide the answers he was seeking. "There is no further mention of any gift and…"

"A locket and seal." Vlad whispers slowly turning around so that his back no longer faces the desk and the golden haired vampire.

"A locket?" Ian questions raising an eyebrow.

"The gift was a locket with a hidden seal within. One baring the crest of the dragon." The prince slowly approaches, with a look that spoke of stalking prey, crossing the small distance in less than a step so that a few cm alone are left in between his chest and Seras's. He leans his head down towering over and gently takes hold of her left wrist bringing her hand up. The ring she still wore on her middle finger catches the glow of the light. His thumb moves up along her palm caressing it while the rest of his fingers encircle the back of her hand and then traces the ring with his index finger.

"You haven't been showing this to anyone, have you little one?" the light term of endearment came without warning straight out of the blue and yet neither finds the situation strange or inappropriate.

"They won't tell." Seras carefully pries her hand out of his gentle touch, but continues to hold it up beside her face. "Master."

"I wish them alive." The prince leans his head down to her level placing his right index and middle finger under her chin tilting her head up. Marks of blood already marred her clothes in the form of light bloods later over the upper hem of her white shirt. "That one, especially."

/He was next./ She silently projects into his mind so that the other can't hear her. /But you called me first./ He would not be getting any help any time soon either way.

/Bring him back either way./ he thinks and the look in his eyes is enough to let her understand him. His thoughts reach her loud and clear. The bond weak, but present.

"Of course master." She replies to both his verbal and unspoken, silent request. One more fact to commit to memory in the long run.

"Good girl." He purrs pulling away and dropping his hand, but not before allowing his fingers to linger a second or two more in contact with the silk like texture of her skin.

"Sire, do you wish me to accompany her?" the captain carefully poses the question with the intent of maybe getting to know a bit more of this strange young woman. "These other men referred too in the letters…"

"Outside your door." Seras interrupts him with a quick glance over her master's left shoulder.

"What?" the captain is left baffled by her reply.

"The ones I have found are all outside the door. I brought 5. There are 3 more you may arrest yourself and two are already attending downstairs."

"Outside…" he repeats even more stunned as his head turns in the direction of the door while the prince merely smirks widely and Ian quickly drops his pages over the desk heading for the door yanking it open in one fell swoop. And true to her word, 5 souls were all tied up on the floor. Some still in their sleepwear, others covered in mud or blood from having tried to flee.

The prince crosses his arms back over his chest whilst studying her with new found interest shining in his ocean blue eyes. Such a good girl indeed.

"Fuck." Ian can't help but curse at the sight that greets him. How did she do that?

"How did you do that?" and yet it's the captain who actually poses the question out loud.

Flashback

"No please. What are you doing?" black tendrils that encased the man's waist retracted from around him leaving him stranded on top of his roof with no one to hear or see him. The rest of his household was still asleep utterly unaware of what was happening around the; their sleep heavy and undisturbed by dark powers watching over them. Glowing red eyes stared him down, color wild and blazing against the dark background of the cloud filled sky. The wild wind blew around them hard swishing her long hair and his short gray, the storm approaching fast.

"Why not?" the woman sweetly asks with a toothy, deadly grin.

"I will see you pay for this! How dare you?"

"You dare harm my master." Seras hisses angry and upset. "I will do whatever I want with you!" she screams making him flinch back in fear. The ground beneath her feet cracks open as her shadow suddenly grows and pitch black flames burst into life around her. "I know it was you. And I'll make you pay just like all the rest." His mind spoke of how he'd planned for the entire exchange to take place. Unfortunately, she had yet to find the one who actually dealt the killing blow by poisoning him.

Flashback end

"I asked nicely." She whispers in reply causing the prince to chuckle out loud, the low pitched baritone of his deep voice echoing throughout the study once more. It was a lie and what a grand one at that. And he couldn't care less about what she really did. However, her actions left the other two occupants of the room utterly perplexed.

How the hell did she do it? How could one simple woman outmaneuver five grown men with such ease? How could she sneak them into the castle without notice? And while her actions seemed pleasing to the prince and wondrous to the young captain, it left the raven haired with a far different taste in his mouth and a not so pleasant afterthought somewhere in the back of his mind. If she knew all that, if she was capable of discovering such carefully hidden plots and ploys and finding the people responsible…what else could she do? What else was she aware off but kept safely hidden. Suddenly, it was no longer a question of wonder or mild annoyance towards the strangeness of her character and behavior in spite of how exemplary skilled she was, but a question of weariness towards a future she could possibly jeopardize. What if she knew of his involvement with…no he shouldn't think about that less risk her somehow finding out. It was problematic enough what the prince had mentioned once about the citadel burning down. For it made him wonder if she hadn't been there too.

"Ian." The prince calls his name a second time raising the tone of his voice ever so slightly to get his attention.

"Yes, yes sire. Forgive me I was merely…considering…the next step." He quickly replies turning back around with shutting the door completely leaving it half way open. The next step…one that included a great deal more of caution of his behalf, more caution when dealing with this seemingly innocent young maiden his master had adopted so to speak.

"Dispose of them, discreetly. I will not have blood shed just yet. Take them to the dungeon, the captain will assist you. Then return to the banquet and watch for the two mentioned."

"As you wish." Ian nods compliant to his master's wishes opening the door and stepping out of the room a moment later. The captain follows his lead with a nod and a bow exiting the study shortly after.

"He's beginning to wonder if you know." Her crimson eyes followed the man's movement as he leaves the study closely followed by the captain. "If I told you…that."

"And have you?" Vlad asks while reaching for the discarded cup of wine and bringing it up to his lips drowning the glass. He wasn't yet a hundred present sure how to deal with his friend rather interesting deed. So for the time being, it seemed best to push it to the side and ignore it.

"Not that I recall." Seras brings her hands behind her back clamping her hands together.

"Excellent." He smiles placing the now empty glass back atop his desk. "Come here…" He then briefly extends his left arm out to her in a simple gesture and lowers it once she steps closer. At the same time, he surprises her by bringing his other hand up to her face and briefly tracing her left cheek with the back of his middle finger.

"This blood is not your own." He whispers indicating towards the reddish highlights in her hair on that same side.

"Why would it be?"

"Why indeed." The prince offers her a kind smile in return this time around choosing to push aside the sarcasm. His eyes continue to watch her, eyes fixed upon the crimson lake that were her burning irises, and it's so easy to imagine was might come to pass. How lovely 'red' would look on her, more red than she was already wearing now. He could almost picture how that blood came to stain her clothes.

"I was good I promise." The red within her irises swirls capturing his attention to the fullest providing him with the nightly entertainment.

Flashback

The locked doors rumbled in the wake of the powerful blow dealt to them scaring all who stood around it. The doors didn't budge, but the blow dealt had all the anticipating the moment they failed. The host took the opportunity to move the rest of his men were distracted and make his escape leaving them to deal with the situation. Light thunder continued to rumble in the distance as the twin doors shook anew, this time stronger, and the people began to whisper in fear.

"Make sure the door stays locked!" one of the guards shouts undistracted ordering some of his men to stand by the door while the others tended to the window. One man is quick to obey, though never makes it. The twin doors burst open, the latch breaking, in the wake of an even more powerful blow subsequently followed by the loud neigh of a large dark horse. The left side door strikes one of the men down hard smacking into his nose and jaw with a vengeance pushing him back a good two feet so that he falls on his back groaning in pain. A gust of wind sweeps into the room blowing out the closest torches mounted on the walls as well as twin bowls of fire lit on either side of the door itself. Those two feet were easily crossed by the large stride of a black stallion and in the short time span it took the man to regain his bearings and notice the blood on his face the horse was already standing up on his hind legs neighing deeply. The hooves come crashing down before the scream even passed his lips. And the sound was loud and violent as those very hooves crashed into the stone floor missing the left side of his face by a few inches alone and was accompanied by a deafening thunder and a bright flash of lightning passing beside one of the large windows of the room sticking a tree and setting it on fire. The immediate, seconds long silence was broken by the pounding sound of rain and ice sticking against glass, the drops large and many quickly falling one after another.

The horse groaned shaking his head before the rider atop it silently urged it forward with a light pull on the leather reins. A rope fell across the fallen man's shoulders while he was still recovering from the shock and the pounding sound in his ears caused by the horse's hooves and started dragging him away back into the room as the sea of people quickly parted getting out of the way of the massive black stallion and its cloaked rider.

Tow bodies were left behind by the door having fallen from the horses back, their blood seeping out of their clothes and their sight causing unease now the people were noticing them.

"Silence!" the dooming voice of the elderly man put a quick end to all the whispering and whimpering instilling a new kind of fear throughout the room demanding silence, a silence broken only by the sound of the stallion's hooves as he continued to walk on heading for the throne like chair and the struggling whimpers of the man dragged behind him like a log in spite of his protest.

"What is the meaning of this?" on of the other elder nobles attending dared to speak up after one of his men quickly came to inform him of the twin bodies lying dead in front of the threshold of the door; both of them belonging to him. Unfortunately, he doesn't get the chance to say much more as the horse bellows loudly and the man's attention is drawn back to it and the figure atop it, to the blood dripping onto the floor by the horse's left side twin saddlebags smeared red. He hadn't notice at first, no one had in the commotion, but each step the stallion took had left a trail of red from the door to the middle of the room where he now stood. The bottom of the sacks stained dark red and dripping.

With the stallion no longer moving the rider dismounted bringing her right leg over the saddle and then easily sliding down on the left landing with both feet on the ground at the same time. Lightning and thunder accompanied her movement once more making it appear as though she commanded the weather herself. Small, slender hands remove the bags from the saddle surprising most people by how delicate, yet blood coated they were. The black cloak concealed the rider's features as it draped around her body and trailed behind her atop the horse making her look all the more imposing, yet once her feet were on the ground it briefly parted revealing the slender built of her frame. The hood hid her face allowing only the lower half of her face to show, the slender curve of her jawbone and full lips no longer pink but blood red. The only thing that completely stood out of place were the long golden strands mixed with light, simple curls and slightly wavy hair not perfectly straight that fell from under the hood as soon as her feet touched the ground. Each step she took revealed the knee high boots she wore and, just like the horse, were accompanied by marks of blood on the floor.

"I demand you…." the man spoke a second time only to be silenced by the rider's unexpected gesture. Seras mockingly bows in front of the man in question while spreading her arms on either side of her body and raising them up to present her bounty, one dripping bag clenched in each hand. And as she bowed lowering her head in a sign of submission the man finally notices all the blood staining her clothes, especially the long sleeves of the white shirt she wore and the low hemline across her chest.

"Death," She speaks and grins wide revealing her fangs far to content to care who saw it. This was revenge. "My Lords." At the same time she raises her head and the dark shadow cast over her face parts enough to reveal the blood red of her eyes and the face of death.

Flashback End

The prince remained silent without taking his eyes off the young woman who had ridden his horse. He didn't remember her asking to take him nor offering him himself. No man dared go near the beast and he alone could ride the wild, untamed beast. Surprise, surprise. His lips can't help but curl into a subtle smirk at the impressive sight. She was after all such a small thing barely reaching the base of his neck when standing before. And the horse could have easily trampled her to death without a spec of effort.

His fingers move back under her chin elegantly tilting it up. He longed to see it. Now more than ever.

"Were I to ever ask…" the look in his eyes demanded an answer and yet there was a softness to it that spoke of lingering concern and uneasiness toward posing such a question in the first place.

"You won't." her reply is endearing and offered without a moment's hesitation.

"If I did?" Yet he presses on tilting her head up a little bit more while simultaneously leaning his head down closer to her face.

"You're not meant to be ruled over." Her breath is warm caressing his face and her eyes are honest and sincere while gazing up into his own. He was and forever would be her master not the other way around. She would never turn on her own master. It simply wasn't done.

"Bring me the three. Then retrieve me the locket little one. And we will play some more."

Thunder still boomed in the distance, the clouds alight with flashes of white. Not much longer now. Yet he should have been a lot more considerate…careful…of the things he desired.

.

.

To be continued….