Ren moaned stirring from his sleep.
"What are you doing here?" he asked the ethereal creature looming over his bed.
"You're hungry." Kyoko replied dragging her fingers along the blanket that covered him.
She felt powerful as the king sat up and accepted her into his arms. She straddled his lap and their noses brushed.
"How do you know that?" Ren asked unable to stop his hands from running all over her back.
"I can feel it." She said tilting her head to the side to expose her slender neck.
"You shouldn't be able to feel that." He whispered against her neck.
"I can, my veins throb with the need to feed your hunger." She said, shuddering as his teeth grazed over her skin. It gave her goosebumps, and she tilted her head back further to expose more of her neck to him.
"And what if I hunger for more than just your blood?" Kuon asked not bothering to conceal his glowing green eyes.
He pressed his nose to her throat inhaling deeply and dragged it down. His tongue pressed to her collar bone, and he dragged it up the column of her neck. She moaned arching her back wordlessly begging him to bite her. The movement caused her erect nipples to brush against his chest and he groaned wanting nothing more than to pull one into his mouth and bite down hard. He moved down to do just that when Kyoko jerked away.
Her eyes snapped open, and she was in her own room. She lay still sensing a familiar presence in her head. Someone else besides the king had entered her dream. No that couldn't have been her dream. She had never dreamed of anything that shameless. It must have been the king's dream and he had dragged her into it as some sort of cruel punishment for attacking him during training. She growled and threw her legs over the edge of the bed then froze. There was the scent of another vampire in her room. Her eyes strained to make out the shadows in the darkness and her heart skipped as she could have sworn something moved in the shadows. She reached up and threw the blackout curtains open and the presence vanished as light flooded her room.
"Yuka! Honami!" She called to her servants who were at her door in seconds still in their pajamas. She felt bad but it comforted her to know that they were so quickly summoned. "I'm sorry did I wake you."
Sweet smiles plastered on their faces they replied in unison, "Not at all my queen."
"What can we do for you?" Honami asked with a bow.
"Sorry." She would have said that she had had a bad dream only then they might ask questions.
"Did you need some blood?" Yuka asked walking over to her. "As queen you have every right to every last drop in our bodies."
The mention of blood made her think of Ren. Her throat was parched, and the demon was gnawing at her insides.
"No." She said dragging her tongue over her flat teeth. It wasn't them she wanted to bite anyway so she wasn't too disappointed that she couldn't. "If you could bring me a cup of warmed blood and an omelet."
Yuka and Honami exchanged looks when she asked for human food. She knew what they were thinking. That she was still clinging to her human life. That she was a weakling for not drinking from them. She had seen other Upyr eating food though. Lory and Maria were particular to sweets. Shotaro enjoyed a good steak. Extra rare of course but it was still human food. Even Kanae ate ice cream when coaxed into it. Yet here were her servants judging her for liking eggs, and she knew they would report that back to whichever heir they were spying for.
"Will that be all my queen?" Yuka asked as Honami exited to get her food.
"I should shower and get dressed." Kyoko said absentmindedly. She should not have sent Honami away. The servants were only algul and she felt more protected with two of them around rather than one.
"Yes, I will prepare the bath for you and choose an outfit while you are in there." Yuka said beginning to walk away.
"No!" Kyoko shouted seizing the other girl's hand. If she were left alone the presence could return. There was no telling how much time they would need to overpower her.
"Y-yes, my queen."
"Please stop calling me that." Kyoko said not knowing what else to say.
"Oh," Yuka said a bit nervously. She didn't respect the new queen, but she had seen and heard of the power the queen possessed. She didn't want to be burned. "I'm sorry Takarada-den…"
"Kyoko-chan would be fine."
"Chan!" Yuka pulled her hand away wondering what kind of attack Kyoko was about to hit her with.
"Or san would be ok too." Kyoko said sincerely. "I am not a queen. Tsuruga-san just decided that on his own. Well not on his own Takarada-san and Yashiro-san helped him to make that decision. None of them even asked me," she bit her tongue seeing that Yuka was too eager for her to keep talking. "Call me Kyoko-san, please."
"Alright, Kyoko-san." Yuka said taking a slow step back. "Will that be all?"
Honami reentered with a tray for Kyoko. "Yashiro-san was already on his way up. He said Tsuruga-heika told him to bring you omurice and plenty of blood."
"You may go now Yuka-san." Kyoko said and Yuka rushed away from the odd upyr. It was unlike a vampire of her rank to not have superiority complexes. Even Maria looked down on other vampires as lesser beings.
"Tsuruga-san doesn't like being referred to as heika." Kyoko said to Honami.
"Yes, well you are his queen. I'm sure he would prefer it if you used his name."
"It isn't that." She almost admitted that they weren't close at all. Certainly not close enough to use first names. "He doesn't think of himself as royalty."
"Here eat." Honami said not wanting to argue with the king's favorite.
"You should call me Kyoko-san too." Kyoko said and Honami's eyes widened with shock. "I would prefer it if everyone stopped calling me queen and Takarada."
"If that is what you wish my, er Kyoko-san." Honami said with a bow.
"Thank you."
"Wha… I!" Honami stuttered her eyes darting around the room. "Please eat your food my, Kyoko-san. Please don't thank me for things. It is both unnecessary and inappropriate. You are the queen and I live to serve you."
"I can't thank you for doing your job?" Kyoko asked her face falling.
Vampire rules were confusing. She was so high in rank that thanking people was inappropriate, yet she had to marry someone against her will. She had to take baths and never showers and Yuka was always trying to help her bathe. She was able bodied and capable of washing herself just fine. And dressing herself.
"An invitation came for you." Honami spoke up when Kyoko picked up a letter that had been sitting on her tray. "Matsunai-san would like you to join her for lunch. She is a pretty high-ranking hunter at LME."
Kyoko held the invite running her hands over the textured parchment. She had been invited to have dinner with another vampire. A girl had invited her out. A noble female vampire wanted to meet with her to talk.
"Should I choose a gown for you to wear later?" Yuka asked reentering the room.
"Yes." Kyoko replied resigned to being dressed up like a doll by her servants.
At least she was going to lunch with another vampire. Maybe Matsunai wanted to be friends and could help Kyoko figure out how to be a vampire princess. Maybe Matsunai could be convinced to fall in love with the king. Then he could marry her and drag her into his perverted dreams. The thought of the dream reminded her of the strange presence, and she looked around paranoid.
Ren paced his room still unable to erase the dream from his head. Probably because it hadn't been a dream. He could still taste her skin on his tongue letting him know that it had been all too real. He had called her into his dream because he was hungry. He told himself that it was their training that made him yearn for her blood. His vampire nature reveled in the helpless way she fought whenever he held her captive. It swooned whenever she pounced on him and wrestled him to the ground. She was either growing stronger or he was growing weaker. Perhaps both as she kept up with Yashiro's regimen of a cup of blood every hour, but Ren barely sipped from his cup if he took it at all.
He growled both hungry and angry at himself for being so bloodthirsty. He lifted the cup Yashiro had set out on his desk to his lips and he recoiled from the revolting scent. Inwardly he berated himself for not wanting the blood. If he wasn't careful, he would break again, and Kyoko would be the one who was hurt.
"You really should have a seat." Yashiro said patting the back of Ren's chair.
"I can't sit right now I have a training session to get to." He said dumping the contents of the cup into his mouth. He blanched at the taste, like a child taking medicine.
"Kijima-san could train the girls." Yashiro suggested and held up his hand when Ren growled at the idea.
"You could also just drink from your bride to be." Yashiro said refilling Ren's cup. "Since you have such an aversion to the donated blood."
"And you could mind your own business. Besides you were the one who took her fangs because you thought the two of us were being inappropriate." Ren snapped as he snatched the cup and quickly swallowed it.
"I took her fangs because she had already drained you into this weakened state. That is why you need to drink more. Alternatively, you could use your coffin."
"That is an outdated practice. No vampire sleeps in a coffin anymore." Ren sneered.
He had always confined himself to his coffin as a teen. It wasn't that he didn't like drinking blood but rather that he thought enjoyed it a little too much. There was something in Kuon that craved the violence that came with hunting humans. He had enjoyed watching someone else curled up in fear and pain. It felt better than being the victim. It had worried his parents when he started replacing blood with long stints dead asleep in his coffin. He was a vampire who refused to drink blood despite having many offers from lesser vampires and humans to be his blood doll.
"I'm not drinking from her. She has lived her entire life as that guy's blood doll. I won't put her through that again." He said even though he could still feel her in his arms offering her neck to him.
"You would be getting better if you had stuck to the regimen, I placed you on. Kyoko-chan stuck to it. She's such a good girl." Yashiro said taking the empty cup to refill.
Ren held up his hand to indicate he'd had enough but Yashiro shoved the cup back at him. The assistants gave him a look that commanded him to drink.
"Who's the king here?" Ren grumbled taking the cup.
"What kind of assistant would I be if I let my king starve?" Yashiro countered. "Now down to business. The vultures have made their move."
Yashiro held up his hand and a clipboard materialized in it. Ren slumped into his chair not ready to be forced into socializing with the endlessly squabbling heirs.
"Ruriko-chan has invited Kyoko-chan to lunch today. Will you attend with her?" Yashiro asked. He had a pen poised to jot down Ren's answer.
"If I do their gossip about her being too weak and afraid to face them alone. On the other hand, if I don't join her, they'll spread rumors about me secretly hating her." Ren said.
"You could always escort there and excuse yourself to go to a meeting." Yashiro suggested writing down Ren's concerns for Lory to read later.
"Then they'll gossip about me not trusting her to go somewhere by herself and she'll probably be pissed at me for ditching her with Matsunai-san. After she realizes that Matsunai-san is a wicked witch."
"So, are you going or not?" Yashiro asked knowing that Ren could go back and forth making up excuses all day.
Ren sighed, "I'm going."
"Good. Chiori-chan has sent a request for Kyoko-chan to have dinner with her tonight. Will you attend that as well?" Yashiro asked placing a question mark next to Chiori. Her mother and her were the last of the once great Amamiya Dhampir coven. Not much was known of them since they lost their fortune and status.
"No, we'll let her go alone. Amamiya-san holds little weight with the other heirs. She's unlikely to pose much of a threat to someone as strong and Kyoko-san." Ren said.
"You're probably right. Kana-san has requested permission to throw a ball in Kyoko-chan's name. Kimiko-sama has seconded this request. The Ishibashi coven have also suggested that they would like to have a gathering in her honor."
"Of course, they have. We're trying to apprehend a criminal who has the power to possess dhampir and all any of them want is to gather themselves in one room like sitting ducks." Ren said jumping up from his seat. "In that case there is no time to waste. We have to go educate the future queen."
"We?"
"I know nothing of proper etiquette for Upyr snobs. You and Maria-chan will have to teach her all about gossiping." Ren said and Yashiro sputtered at the insult.
"What would I know about gossiping?" Yashiro asked chasing down the king who had glided out of the door.
His notepad vanished as he followed Ren to the training grounds where Kana and Maria were already warming up. Ren looked around confused when he saw Reino and Miroku idly leaning against a wall. Reino appeared miffed while Miroku looked bored. Yuka and Honami were standing with trays two cups of blood atop each. Ren looked every which way then turned to Kanae.
"Where is your princess?" he asked crossing his arms.
"I dropped her off at the library." Kanae replied wishing the king's penetrating glare didn't scare her.
"Why? She's meant to be training with you two." Ren said with a growl.
"She told me to take her to the library." Kanae said. "She ordered everyone else to stay here."
"I told all of you to never leave her alone. I also remember saying that the three of you were to be here to train. I meant all three of you together. Why would you permit her to go to the library by herself?" Ren was really irritated.
Where did this strigoi get off disobeying his orders? It was bad enough he couldn't send Reino and Miroku away since it was Katagiri who had gifted them to Kyoko before taking of. Even though Reino gave everyone the creeps he was her bodyguard now.
"Permit her? She's the queen! As if I had a choice to disobey her. You royals are so annoying and bossy." Kanae said then bit her tongue remembering who she was speaking to.
"Future queen and I your king told you to never leave her side." Ren said looming over Kanae.
"The queen and king hold equal positions Ren-sama. We can't just ignore Onee-sama's orders to obey yours." Maria chimed in.
"You can and you will." Ren said his voice softening as he spoke to the child.
"Just because you're the man?" Maria asked appalled by Ren the thought.
"No because I am king, and she is not yet queen. And because I gave you a direct command which she should not be able to break." Ren said. How many powers did that girl have? He mentally added command break to the growing list of her abilities. "Yashiro-san will start your training. I will get our wayward princess and bring her back here so she can learn how to be a proper queen."
He left the training grounds as Yashiro materialized a long banquet table out of thin air. Kanae cringed as Maria excitedly skipped over to the table filling up with treats.
"Can you teach me how to create the table instead of the proper way to sit at it?" Kanae asked with little hope that he would.
"Please take your seat Kotonami-san. As the queen's bodyguard you will sit to her right and taste all her meals five minutes before she can eat." Yashiro explained pulling her chair out for her. As the king's assistant and main bodyguard, I will stand behind him tasting his food. Maria-chan gave her bodyguard food poisoning," he said giving Maria a pointed look. "Until we find a new one it will be up to you and me to taste her food."
Kanae raised her eyes at Maria who smiled shamelessly.
"You cannot prove that I made her sick on purpose." Maria said shrugging. "How was I to know that chicken was left out too long before I cooked it for her?"
"You shouldn't have been cooking to begin with. Stop sneaking into places you don't belong." Yashiro admonished.
"I only wanted to have a tea party with someone. Now I have Onee-sama and she'll have tea parties with me whenever I want. Since she's older than me the kitchen staff listen to her and bring us all the best sweets." The child swooned grabbing a tiny pie from the table.
"Maria-chan put that pie down. A princess does not serve herself." Yashiro said waving for Honami and Yuka to come over.
The two servants placed the cups of blood in front of Kanae and Maria. Then they proceeded to pick up dishes and offer them to the two girls. Kanae grumbled and stood up to reach for her own food.
"Kotonami-sama, you are a bodyguard, but you are also a strigoi. You despise royalty but you are of noble birth. In fact, your appointment to the queen's bodyguard has earned your family some of its status back. This is why you must learn to sit like a lady and be served like a noble."
Kanae sat down and did her best not to glare at Yashiro.
"This is going to be a long day. Maria-chan please act like the princess you are and help me train Kotonami-sama." Yashiro said to Maria who dropped the donut she had been shoving into her mouth.
In the library Kyoko was scanning through books. The voice was searching for someone named Mogami. She shivered as she recalled how close that person had felt earlier. It had been like they were in her room with her. They had been in that dream with her watching as she… she gasped covering her face with her hands and blushing furiously. That had not been her dream but now some stranger thought she was dreaming of the king.
"Mogami Jun'ichi?" The king's warm voice washed over her. To her dismay she clenched her thighs and remembered the way his skin had felt.
"Tsuruga-sama, what are you doing here?" she asked slamming the book shut.
"You know I was just about to ask you that." Ren said turning her chair and leaning over her. "Are you avoiding training now?"
She shook her head with her eyes closed.
"No? Then you're just avoiding me?" he asked finding it hard to resist teasing her. "Because of the little dream you dragged me into?"
"I did no such thing!" She gasped accidentally opening her eyes to glare into his. She gulped seeing his expression. "THaat was yOUr dream!"
"Nope, I've never had a dream like that." He didn't have to say about you because she already knew nobody dreamt about her like that. "I have to admit it was pretty interesting though." His voice turned seductive against his will. She leaned closer touching her nose to his.
"Interesting?" she asked taking in a shuttering breath.
"You had no hesitation in the dream. You weren't shy at all. Not an ounce of fear as you offered a grown man your body." He said closing his eyes and breathing in the intoxicating aroma of her blood.
Their lips barely touched when he tore himself away realizing what was happening. She sat there wide eyed and confused as he walked around the table to put it between them.
"You were using sexual inducement on me." He accused as a way to explain what was happening between them.
"I do not." She said jolting out of her bemused state.
How dare he accuse her of such a thing? She didn't even know what sexual inducement was. He was probably the one using it on her.
"It's a common vampire power. One most vampires don't realize they're using. They draw in their unsuspecting prey by emitting extra strong pheromones." Ren explained as he rummaged through the books she had on the table.
"You're messing up the order!" Kyoko said trying to snatch the books from him. "And I am not the one with the extra strong pheromones or the emperor of the night gaze."
"Emperor of what gaze?" he asked moving around the table as she began to walk around. "I think you and your pheromones should stay on the other side of the table."
"It's not me. It's you! That's why I feel compelled to walk around the table." She said.
"That's ridiculous I've never had a problem keeping my hands off someone before. It has to be you." he countered trying to distract himself further with the books she had out.
"How to Find the Fae. Making Friends with the Fairy Folk. Fairy Eats: common cuisine of the fairy. You trying to trap Tinkerbell or something?" He mocked, "Vampire and Fairy, Friend or Foe? That's a good one. Tells you all about an ancient war between the Duris and Mogami covens."
"Duris and Mogami were enemies?" She asked happy for the distraction.
Ren nodded. "Jun'ichi had two sisters Tsukasa and Manabe. Tsukasa married Ryuji, a human, and they started the Takarada coven. Jun'ichi made Ryuji an Upyr. Manabe was in love with a human as well, but her story didn't have a fairy tale ending. Ironically because of a fairy."
"Then fairies are real?" Kyoko asked conflicted with excitement and dread over the story with a real live fairy having a bad ending.
"In a sense. The Duris are what humans would commonly mistake for fairies or angels even. They are all unnaturally beautiful even for vampires. They are stronger than other fae however and they drink blood like vampires. Maybe they are both and maybe they're neither."
Ren regretted bringing up the subject as he had no desire to think of the Duris or the Hizuri. Yet the eager twinkle in her eyes made him want to tell her a story. He smirked; she was still a sucker for fairytales.
"Alright I'll tell you but don't say I didn't warn you. There is no happy ending here." He said opening the book to show her the pictures of the first royal vampire family. "These were the mogami."
Kyoko leaned over the table to peer down at the image of a handsome man seated upon a throne in a way that commanded respect but somehow appeared casual. He was leaning slightly to the left with a mischievous smile on his face. The spritely girl at his left had her own secretive smile. She appeared young and playful compared to the equally beautiful but stoic woman seated to his right with a regal posture.
"The little one is Tsukasa. She was his favorite sister, and he gave her whatever she asked for. Even when what she asked of him seemed impossible, such as finding a way for her to marry a human. Before Jun'ichi figured out how, vampires did not turn humans into vampires. Upyr and dhampir were all that existed and none of them knew where they had come from. Jun'ichi and his sisters had human parents and other siblings who were born without vampirism. They aged slower than their families and eventually watched all their loved ones die of disease or old age. Tsukasa did not want to lose Ryuji as she had lost so many others."
"So, her big brother found a way to make Ryuji an Upyr?"
"Yes. Don't interrupt me." Ren replied flicking her forehead. Kyoko rubbed her head with a pout. "No one knows exactly how it was done but Jun'ichi found a way to make a human into a vampire. It is an ability many have tried to hone with varying success. That is how we got the other variations of vampire but no one else could figure out how to make Upyr. That is where the sad part of our story begins."
Ren looked at Kyoko then cocked his head to the side as his eyes traced the features of the three Mogami siblings. It was a painting reprinted into the book so there was no telling how accurate the likeness was. Still, he could swear there was a resemblance between the vampire sitting across from himself and the three in the book. He flipped a couple pages until he found an image of an ethereal woman and a rather imposing man. Both had golden blond hair with bright green eyes.
"They have wings." Kyoko gasped excitedly pulling the book towards her for a closer look. The woman was stick thin and wore a dress of thin see-through fabric. The bodice had strategically placed vine appliqué with streams of superfluous gossamer fabric attached and cascading to the floor. The brightly colored wings were like a butterfly but not one Kyoko had ever seen. They were beautiful a delicate.
"Not really." Ren said placing two fingers on the book and dragging it back. "They are powerful shapeshifters and give themselves wings. Most of them can fly without the use of wings. These are the Duris siblings Kseniya and Luka. They were born from Upyr parents who were born from Upyr parents. Not only did they believe it was their right to be the king and queen of the vampire, but they also wanted Jun'ichi to create more Upyr for them to rule over. Before Tsukasa married Ryuji, Luka tried to demand that Jun'ichi force her to marry him. When Jun'ichi refused Ksenia attempted to kidnap Tsukasa thinking that Tsukasa was weak due to her tiny stature and cute face. Tsukasa however was a feisty little devil and she blinded Kseniya in one eye during her escape. Luka took it as a great insult when Tsukasa married a man who was born human. It displeased him even further when Jun'ichi turned that human into a vampire."
Kyoko watched the emotions play across Ren's face. It was clear that he didn't like Luka or Ksenia and Kyoko could understand that. What she could not comprehend were the giant waves of guilt and self-loathing rolling off of him.
"Luka demanded that Manabe become his bride. Knowing that Luka would never love her and only wanted the throne Manabe refused. If he could not have her then he would declare war on Mogami. The Upyr covens took sides Takarada, Hizuri, Todoh, Kitazawa, and Misonoi, sided with Mogami. Uesugi, and Hongo sided with Duris. Adding insult to injury Manabe married a human named Masa and Jun'ichi went on to turn him as well as several other humans into vampires. The war devasted many vampire clans but it wasn't until Masa and Manabe were murdered that Jun'ichi, and Tsukasa lost it.
They were betrayed you see, by Kitazawa. The coven leader Natsu didn't just kill Masa and Manabe, she tortured them. They suffered for days before Manabe's siblings reached them and," Ren paused seeing the despair and hope warring in her eyes. "I told you this doesn't have a happy ending."
"I know but they saved their sister, right?" she asked leaning closer to him with pleading eyes.
He shook his head. "Jun'ichi had to kill Manabe when he couldn't heal her wounds. They wiped the Hongo and Kitazawa covens out of existence. Uesugi saw what they had done, and he surrendered swearing allegiance to Mogami."
"And Masa?"
Ren sucked in a deep breath releasing it heavily before telling her, "He ended his own life."
For a long moment Kyoko stared at the image of Luka in the book. A deep rage boiled beneath her skin. It wasn't the kind of rage she would feel when someone had committed an injustice against a stranger but rather a personal hatred for someone who had wronged her. She hated Luka and Ksenia more than she despised Shotaro.
"Wasn't Duris punished? Why do they still exist?" she asked clenching her jaw.
"Hizuri Sakiko, cursed their descendants." Ren replied flipping to an image of a tall woman with long dark hair and hazel eyes. "Which is funny since the current Hizuri leader is married to the daughter of the current Duris leader."
"That isn't funny, it's cruel. Luka and Ksenia committed the crimes. They alone should have been punished nit their children. Just because Luka was a bad guy doesn't mean his children or their children will be." Kyoko said seeing a hurt in his eyes that she didn't understand.
"On the contrary their descendants are the worst kind of bloodsucking demon."
"Tsuruga-san do you not like the Hizuri or the Duris?" she asked. Though she knew he didn't really seem to like any vampire other than the Takarada coven.
"One or two of them are ok." He said with a shrug. "The rest are bloodthirsty monsters with little sense of honor and no respect for human life."
"Tsuruga-san we're all bloodthirsty monsters, aren't we?" she asked casting her eyes away from his neck.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
"A little." She admitted.
"That's what happens when you ditch your guards and hide away in a library. There's no one around to fill your cup." He said flashing his fangs. "Would it really have been so bad to see me after that dream you dragged me into?"
"That wasn't my dream!" she protested.
"Well, it wasn't mine."
"It had to have been you dream because we not in my room. Since I've never seen your room, I couldn't have imagined it in my dream." Kyoko reasoned and Ren was stumped.
"Well I…"
"You?" she asked proud of herself for getting the upper hand.
"Me? No, you. You skipped training and need to be punished." Ren declared taking off the necklace with his crest on it. "Give me your hands."
"No, why?" Kyoko said hiding her hands behind her back.
"Because I am your king, and you need discipline." Ren said walking around the table.
"I'll do fifty laps around the training grounds." She said running away from him.
"You'll come here when I tell you to, or you'll receive more punishment." He said running the opposite way to try and catch her.
She switched directions too and turned to flee. He chased her back and forth for five minutes before climbing over the table and catching her in his arms.
"No!" she couldn't help herself and giggled as the struggled, him to catch her hands and her to keep them out of his grasp. He laughed hugging her tight so she couldn't get away.
They were unaware of the audience that had accumulated in the hallway.
"Aww young love." Lory whispered to Ruto who nodded in agreement. "We should encourage them to have their bonding ceremony sooner than later."
They watched as Kyoko gazed up at Ren who had just caught her hands. The jovial that had surround them shifted to a more intimate and sensual feeling. Lory blushed and closed the door.
"I'll call Kuu." He said and Ruto nodded before glancing back at the door.
"He's right about it being unfair to her. He'll have to tell her the truth about himself before it's too late."
"It will never be too late if they fall in love, and she willingly gives him her blood. Then they and live happily ever after." Lory said practically skipping down the hall.
".." sometimes Ruto want to burst his bubble and tell him that love didn't conquer all. The curse was real, and it would take more than affection from a fledgling to break it.
Back in the library Kyoko sighed against Ren's lips and he unconsciously leaned closer wanting to taste her. The feeling of cold metal surrounding her wrists shocked Kyoko out of the king's spell.
"What is this?" she asked holding up her hands to see that they had been bound together and Ren's crest was dangling between them.
"Your punishment." Ren said proudly mischievous as he patted her head. "It doubles as training too. We'll see if you have the ability to reform things. Commonly called matter manipulation it is a very advanced skill which requires a lot of concentration and energy. You have to imagine what you want the object to look like and force it to bend into that shape. In this case I made my necklace into handcuffs."
"Get them off of me!" she demanded stomping her foot.
"Get them off yourself. Without breaking my necklace please. It's very important to me."
"Then why use it like this in the first place?" she asked, and Ren stared at her not really knowing the answer.
"Never mind that. All you need to worry about is reforming it back into a necklace to free yourself."
"I don't have time for that. I have to meet Ruriko-san for lunch."
"Oh, I forgot about that." He said and she smiled raising her hands up to him. "I need to go get ready. You should go back to your servants and have them get you ready." He turned on his heel and began walking away from her.
"Tsuruga-san!" she screamed chasing after him.
A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long. I had a chapter finished but then I decided I didn't like it. So I rewrote the whole thing but it didn't feel right either. After several rewrites of different paragraphs and scenes and throwing out the entire chapter I decided to go back to the first chapter I wrote pick out what I did like about it (the bed scene) and rewrote everything after that. I'll need to reread this later as I can't remember what happened it's be rewritten and dissected so many times. Mostly because of the info overload of a backstory that Ren didn't want to tell and because the original had them moving too fast. Lots of kissing for a couple who are being forced to marry.
