Chapter 1 Zane Cobriana opened his red garnet eyes. Though the black shades were closed, a bit of sunlight filtered through. He grumbled and turned when he finally noticed a warm form next to him. He turned around, slowly and carefully, not to wake the sleeping form. He was facing his beautiful Naga, Danica Shardae. Her blonde hawk's hair was falling peacefully over her soft, angelic face. She was breathing evenly and smoothly as Zane watched her chest rise up and down. He brushed back her hair and softly kissed her cheek. And then, quite suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Danica grumbled and rolled over. Zane got up, and he had only black slacks, and answered the door. There was Andreios, Danica's guard and friend, standing there. He looked quite exhausted. Zane stepped outside the door and shut it quietly. "What is it, Rei?" Asked Zane sharply. Andreios looked frightened a bit at Zane's tone but then spoke, without showing any nervousness. During the night, a very young woman, who looked helpless, was in the forest. She was lingering near the palace and asking for help. Your guards found her and brought her inside. She is resting right now, although she is very pale. We give her food and she eats, but she stays pale. We are not sure what is wrong with her." He paused for a moment. "The doctors are doing everything they can to help her, but nothing seems to be working. I suggest you go talk to her, because she won't tell us why she was near the castle." Rei stopped talking and looked at Zane. Zane looked at him for a moment and then said, "Where is this woman?" "She is on the floor above yours. If you follow me I can take you to-." Quite suddenly he stopped. He was looking at something behind Zane. Zane turned around and saw Danica standing behind him. Her golden eyes (A/N:I am not sure if her eyes were golden or not, so please let me know.) were questioning as she looked from Zane to Rei. Her hair was situated on top of a black tank top and black slacks. "What is going on here?" She wondered. Zane, took Danica, and wrapped his arms about her waist and pulled her to him. He looked straight into her golden eyes with his red ones. "There is a young woman here, in the palace, and we are not sure how she ended up here. I was about to go see her. Would you like to come, or would you rather have a shower first?" He said looking in her eyes. She looked at him, smiling, it was hard not to. "I think I will, go take a shower and let you talk with her." She stood up on her toes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. She then embraced him. Zane returned the kiss and embraced her as well. "See you, my love," whispering in her ear, and he let go of her. She smiled at him and turned to go inside her room. When she shut the door, Zane said to Rei, "Well let's get going, Rei." Rei nodded. He started to walk ahead of Zane, walking through the palace hallways. Zane acknowledged his people as he passed them. Zane and Rei walked up a set of stairs and down another hallway. They stopped in front of a door that was black. Zane sighed and his red eyes were bright, and fiery. "Let's get this over with." She pushed open the door and saw a very, beautiful looking young woman sitting in a chair. She had long, straight black hair, falling to the middle of her back. She had very bright purple eyes, though she wasn't very pale, as Rei had explained her to be. She had on a black tank top and black baggy pants. She looked at Zane and smiled. "Well I'll be leaving you two to talk. I'll be guarding outside the door and if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Said Rei, smiling. "And you're looking a lot better." He added to the young woman. "That's good, at least something of the doctors works." He left and closed the door. Zane shook his head and then lifted his gaze to meet the young woman's eyes. His red eyes stared, deep into her purple ones. There was something about her that wasn't right but he couldn't quite figure it out. He seemed to be lost in her gaze, until she finally spoke. "You can stop staring now, because I won't be doing a trick anytime soon." She laughed, and she had a thick accent, though Zane was not sure where it was from. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Julia Cortenzia. People call me Jules for fun." She held out her hand to Zane, who looked embarrassed. He took her hand and shook it, kind of still lost in his dream world. "Your name is?" Said Julia questioningly, though she could not hide the slight giggle in her voice. Zane shook his head and said, "Sorry, my name is Zane Cobriana." He noticed her hand was soft as a feather while he shook it. "I am ruler of this palace. And my Naga is Danica Shardae." "Naga?" Said Julia, confused. "Naga means, my wife." He said answering her, though he kind of regretted he said that because her expression faltered. "Why are you so pale looking?" She was still was quite pale. "My skin has always had a problem like this, I tried to explain that to the doctors, but they just kept giving me stuff. I have no idea why." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You're a shapeshifter, with the ability to turn into a cobra, aren't you?" "Yes I am, but that's not the point." He leaned closer to her, so he was about one and a half feet away from her face. "The point is, what are you doing here?" Julia suddenly looked away from him and looked out the window, gazing at the beautiful forest of the Serpiente Palace. She then looked at him and sighed, as if she did not want to say this but she had to. "I am here because my family did not like me anymore. They said I was too arrogant and disobeying so they kicked me out of the house. I am traveling from place to place to live and I stopped in your forest. I was resting there for a couple of days when your guards found me. They helped me inside the castle and that's how I ended up here." She then quite suddenly, produced a seductive smile at Zane. "I am so lucky to be under the protection of such a handsome guy." She said very seductively and she reached for his hand and held it. Zane took his hand away, but he caught in her eyes. She looked at him and felt something bursting deep in his soul. She was leaning forward and so was he. Then ,suddenly the door burst open.