Look! An update! And it hasn't been an entire year yet! xD Aren't you all proud :3 I meant to say this last time, but! The reason that chapter 2 was so delayed was because…. Well, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue writing the story. Life was getting busier, school more demanding… but now I've decided to pick it up once again. Let's see how long I can keep writing, ne?

Anyway! Last time, the story took place in the future with Ishtar, and Duzell had an interesting encounter with a familiar young lady… but we'll get back to that cliffhanger later! Mwahahaha.

Now… we go back once again to the past, in the view of our newly named heroine, Krisania! Let's see how the two got acquainted…

Part Three.

It was. It was him! The Vampire King himself, Lord Duzell! I knew who he was from the moment I laid eyes on him; he looked exactly like the portrait hanging on the wall… with one exception. His deep red eyes seemed even more piercing and penetrating in reality.

I was so focused on examining his physical being that I failed to notice the vampire king walk deeper into the room, until he was right beside me. He studied me with a brief, sidelong glance, and then proceeded to open a bottle of some red liquid that was placed on a table next to me.

"Care for a drink?" he asked, a smirk playing across his lips. I looked again at the bottle, and at the liquid inside.

"No, thank you," I simply replied, and his coy grin grew even more noticeable.

DUZELL'S POV:

I was curious as to how calmly this girl would respond to the offer. The liquid looked of blood—there were no variations in color at all between blood and this red wine. The way she responded would tell me much about her; If she had suddenly appeared fearful, dreading what it was and absolutely refused, then she would be worthless to me as just another overly-frightened damsel-esque character. Alternatively, if she had readily accepted, overconfident, then I would have to get of her as well…I did not need another girl of either of those descriptions… Not for my current test.

Yet she answered moderately… She does not appear apprehensive, nor overly sure of the situation… Perhaps she will be useful after all.

END DUZELL'S POV

Who does he think he's kidding? Is the big, bad vampire lord trying to throw me off my guard? Well, it'll take a little more than that to disarm me. I could smell that wine just as soon as he opened the bottle!

No time to think about that now, though. He's staring at me, I thought, while absentmindedly patting down my hair. Messing with my hair… why was I doing that? It must have been because of the way he was looking at me. Or maybe a part of me still took his title as vampire 'king' to mean I should worry about my appearance. I'll admit, there was something… charming about his look; and his long, elegant black cloak seemed to flow as freely around him as his lengthy, silver hair did, increasing his allure.

This contrasted drastically from my simple and somewhat worn black and brown dress. Also, my hair hung just below my shoulders, very messy (obviously, from my little 'trip' to this castle). Why was I so concerned with how I looked? He was still watching me. Oh no, was I blushing? Why is he still smiling like that?

"So, my dear," Lord Duzell suddenly started, "What might I call you?" I waited a moment to make sure my manner of speaking would be just so.

"Krisania, sir. Sometimes 'Kris' for short." (a/n: pronounced "kreh-sahn-niah")

"Krisania… I see," he said, then took a sip of his glass of wine. We stood there in silence for a few awkward moments more, when he spoke again. "What do you think of this castle, Miss Krisania? It is most lovely, don't you think?" I glanced around the room.

"It is quite beautiful… Maybe a little darker than my own tastes…" I answered.

What was the deal with this idle chat? I don't understand exactly what's going on around here…

The doors abruptly slammed open again. I nearly jumped out of my shoes; even Duzell seemed perturbed by the interruption.

"Excuse me, your majesty… Cyrus and Rhiannon need your 'kingly' guidance. Probably on some petty issue, I'm sure, but they insist on your audience," the man said. I recognized him; it was the vampire from earlier, the one with the long, black ponytail, Erik. Duzell did not look pleased by this disruption one bit.

"Is it quite so urgent as to remove me from my guest?" Duzell asked, a sense of anger rising in his tone of voice.

"I'm afraid so, milord; at least, that is what they claim. I beg of you not to blame me, sir, as I am but a lowly messenger boy to them," Erik said sarcastically, snickering at his own response. Duzell placed his wine glass down on the table with a rather loud thump, glared at Erik, and then turned to look at me.

"I will not be gone long. Please, make yourself comfortable," he said, waving his arm across the room. He then proceeded to stride quickly out of the room, glancing angrily at Erik one last time before leaving.

Then it was just Erik and me, alone in the room. He looked over at me with a sly grin, and a rather hungry look in his eyes.

Needless to say, I was a little worried.

(Whee! And it is done:D I hope you enjoyed it! I sure did Mwahahaha… Duzell hasn't done too much so far… but how about Erik? Yay, he's back! What shall Erik do with our confused and worried Krisania? Come back next time:D And feel free to comment of course!)