Blossom wanted to dispose of the dress she was currently wearing. She felt the familiar heating of her body, and it made her feel like she had been dropped in boiling hot water. She could feel her sweat starting to form, and she could feel the stares of the occupants of the Dining Hall. The heat was so strong she didn't even care about their stares, but no matter how much she wanted to leave and enter the coldest bath in the palace, she did not want to make a fool of herself. At least she knows that the person responsible for the heat is one of the people in the Hall. Her eyes scanned the people, and all of them turned away, not wanting to look at her in the eye. There was one, though, that looked reluctant to turn away from her. She had a smug smile on before she turned, and Blossom immediately knew she was the one who commanded it.

The woman was a concubine, seemingly one of the older ones that were chosen at a young age, seeing as she has the most jewelry on her, even the ribbons on her hair had studs of rubies that sparkled every time the sun hits it just about right. She had an air of arrogance, and sometimes Blossom caught the younger concubines looking at her, some of them with envy while the others with adoration.

She watched the concubine as she ate, though she was much more subtle than the concubine herself. She watched as she continued to wear that smug smirk, glancing at a certain table not far from where she was sitting. It was a table for the Prime Minisisters' table. Blossom scanned them, until she noticed how one of the older Prime Ministers looked almost exactly like the concubine. He had her dark red hair, though their were some gray strands on his, they both had the same eyes, though his shined with much more wisdom whilst the concubine shined with arrogance and greed. She can see the family resemblance, and it made her fell a bit nostalgic, seeing as her family was far from where she was at.

She noticed some differences between father and daughter, though. While the daughter had the air of arrogance and pride circling around her, the father omitted an air of calm and warmth, something a true father had. While the daughter wore the most extravagant of jewelries and clothes, her father wore a simple attire, yet people can see that that man was to be respected.

Blossom can already understand the situation. The father looked kind and intelligent, but the way the daughter acted throughout the time she dined, the father must have spoiled her too much. The concubine looked down on the servants, treating them as if they were non-existent, she had her chin held up high, looking at the rest of the concubines like they were filth animals left out.

The father may have the ability to think and plan for the Emperor, but he seemed unable to control his daughter. The way she was acting, her father must have treated her like a true Empress long before she was turned into a concubine. Blossom could already see that he would do anything for his beloved daughter, so it was obvious the daughter asked for his help.

The heat started to get more intense, and the Emperor must have noticed it, because all of a sudden, he grabbed her hand from under the table and held onto it. There was a warm golden glow coming from his hand, and the heat in her slowly, resided, leaving her bask in the cool feeling of her body returning to normal.

She heard a gasp, and turn around to see a man, one of the higher ranked warriors fell, clutching his arm like it was poisoned. She saw how his arm was enveloped in the same golden glow, but this one was much harsher in color, and as he continued to thrash on the floor, the pain evident in his face, his hadn started to looked burnt, bits of it balckened and started falling on the ground like ashes. The others seemed stunned as his ash-like hand continued to fall off from his body, until nothing was left from it.

The man's eyes closed as tears came forth, the pain to great to bear. Suddenly, the Emperor stood up, and the rest of the occupants looked at him, wondering about what he was about to say.

"This is what happens to those who tries to harm my betrothed. If any of you try anything else to her, I will make sure your punishment will be worse that just losing your hand."

She saw the prime minister's face turned pale, looking at the fallen man with a mixture of pity and guilt in his eyes. His daughter, on the other hand, looked livid, her face red from anger. She glared at Blossom with a silent promise, and Blossom raised her eyebrow, challenging her to do so.

Still, she can't help but feel sorry for the man's lose of limb. It wasn't his entire fault. No, she needed to punish the true person that wished harm on her. The concubine needs to learn the lesson of how powerful she could be as an enemy, and she will find out soon.

o O o

Buttercup couldn't believe it. He was actually a demon. She had heard how people like to think they were as powerful as a demon, and some where given the name thinking they were just as strong as one, but to think he was actually a demon...

"You're lying."

That was all she could think of. She would have found out if he was a true demon, his scent would have given him away. She could only hide her scent because she-demons have been trained to do so. She-demons would hide their scent to be able to hide from the eyes of their male counterparts, seeing as she-demons were quite rare. Killing a she-demon or mating with one would give the males much more power than they had alone, something all males wanted.

He smirked, annoying her once more. "She-demons are not the only one who knows how to change their scent, but since you still think I'm lying..."

He took a piece of linen from the bed and rubbed his wrist and neck. All of a sudden, his scent changed, from the scent of a mere human to a demon. His scent was overpowering, commanding her to submit, showing her that he was a demon of high breeding, someone that came from one of the lower parts of the caves. At the same time, the scent allured her, telling her that he wasn't mated, and that he was at the age to do so. The smell of power and strength was so...tempting to her, and any other she-demon that could have pickdd up his scent. She absentmindedly licked her lips, and she noticed how dark his eyes turned, staring at her lips, like he wanted to devour her in the most pleasurable way...

She shook herself, not willing to succumb to her carnal instincts. She will not allow herself to be control by lust, she is a warrior, not like the other she-demons that only knew to make their male species chase them, only to give themselves up when they couldn't control their needs. She was stronger than them, she doesn't need a mate to increase her abilities, she has been able to do it herself just fine.

A sudden thought came to her. Did the Emperor knew who she was? Was that why she was given to the General? To be able to insure the increase of strength?

She noticed how the General was still looking at her, how his cool and aloft mask slipped, showing her a demon controlled by his own carnal instincts. As he took a few steps forward towards her, she growled, warning him. That seemed to give him enough reason to calm himself down, though he looked much more infuriated. As much as she ordered herself not to, she enjoyed the thought of a strong demon losing his ability to control himself becsuse of her. She enjoyed it much more than she should have.

"Food will be given to you here. You won't be able to leave this room now, seeing as I placed quite a few things in here that could hurt you should you try to leave again."

He left, though his scent still lingered around the room, frustrating her even more. She broke away from the chains much more easily, but as she tried to get out of the room through the window, something hit her. She looked down to see a needle on her shoulder. She pulled it out and looked at it incredilously, but then she started to feel dizzy.

She took a sniff on the needle before cursing him. She felt her control over her body slipping, and her eyes closed, as she fell on the ground, unconscious. She was taken down by a needle covered with *Wraith's tears.

o O o

Bubbles can sense the change in the air as she noticed the concubine from before glared at Her Lady with so much fury. She had the urge to smack that woman for even daring to look at Her Lady that way, but Her Lady took her hand, squeezing it assuringly.

She can understand what Her Lady is trying to tell her. She was to stay calm, and she is to stay invisible. She didn't how she was supposed to do that, though. She glanced at the two royalties that had been looking at her, only to notice that one of the two was gone, while the one left was still looking at her, making her feel the blood in her once cold body rise up to her face, heating it up.

She had never had a man look at her before. She was used to being in the background, only noticed when someone needed something from her, that she had never even known what it was like to be looked at by a man. It was...intriguing, but at the same time unwanted. It was a distraction that has given her an enemy she didn't need. She has to stay invisible. That is what Her Lady needs her to do, but she can't stay invisible if he kept looking at her. It will cause a commotion in the palace if anyone else would notice.

She saw as Her Lady stood up, but before she could stand beside her, the Emperor took Her Lady's hand. Her Lady seemed to not like it, but at the same time, she didn't push him away. Bubbles waited for them to take a few steps ahead, before quickly following Her Lady and the Emperor. She glanced at the concubine's table only to see the concubines glaring at Her Lady with such malice. The red haired concubine seemed to have crushed her cup, causing her to wound her hand.

Bubbles quickly followed Her Lady and the Emperor, making sure that she could help Her Lady the moment she needed to. She watched as the Emperor's hand slowly engulfed Her Lady's hand in a soft golden glow, just like it had earlier. Bubbles was about to separate their hands, afraid that something bad would happen to Her Lady, just like the man earlier. Her Lady stopped her with one look, and she looked like she was relieved. The soft red color on Her Lady's cheeks began to subside back into its original pale color.

Bubbles felt like she shouldn't be watching this moment, but she couldn't leave Her Lady alone. That would be like leaving a prey inside a predator's cave. The Emperor, he looked concerned. This was something Bubbles didn't think would happen.

He led Her Lady to her room, and Bubbles watched as the Emperor stole glancing at Her Lady, and Bubbles had a suspicion he was making sure she was okay. It was strange to her, seeing as she was taught to understand that the Fire Kingdom's people were cruel and viscious, she had never in her life seen an Emperor making sure his captive was okay.

When they were right in front of Her Lady's room, he surprised both of them when he kissed her forehead. Bubbles didn't know how to react to that, so she just kept silent. Apparently, her lady didn't know how to react either, because she stood there, as stunned as she was.

"Take a cold bath, the effects will wear off soon," was all he said, before turning around and walking away.

As soon as the Emperor left, Her Lady entered her chambers, and Bubbles hurried to prepare the bath. Once Her Lady stepped into the bath, Bubbles sensed her need to be alone, and so she left, hurrying out to listen to what the servants have to say. It was quite funny to her, how the Fire Kingdom's servants have quite a slippery tongue.

o O o

General Butch cursed himself, urged himself to calm down. He was close. So close to losing his control, and that was all because of the woman tied up on a bed. Her scent, it was so faint, yet it only took one whiff to make him forget all his common sense and listen to his baser needs. It was sweet, her scent, alluring and feminine, something she tries hard not to be.

The she-demons he had met so far thrown themselves at him, begging him to mate with them. He hadn't accepted any of their begging, it disgusted him. Her, on the other hand, he wouldn't mind seeing her beg. He thought she would, the second he wiped off the ointment. He expected her to fight to touch him, and he would accept the invitation to mate with her gladly. She didn't, though, and it surprised him, how he was the one that turned into an animalistic creature while she was the epitome of common sense. It annoyed him as well, how she wad able to ignore her cravings while he barely hold on to his.

Was he that undesireable? He quickly erased that thought from his head. He knew he was well endowed, even the servants who served him couldn't control their needs when he was around, and they were mere humans. Demons have better senses, their scent tells others who they were and if they were unmated, and right now, he felt like he, for once in his life, wanted to mate someone.

Someone who is currently his captive and a gift from the Emperor. To be fair, he didn't want her at first, but he captivated her. Her scent, though so faint, was so addictive. He loved toying with her, too. It amused him, how this woman tries to escape to get back to the woman she serves. It shows loyalty. It shows dedication. Two traits he wanted in his soldiers.

As he entered his own chambers, he felt inclined to think of her, and what she seems to be doing now. He wouldn't be surprise if she tried to escape, he'll just capture her and return her to her chambers. The thought of a chase excited him. He wanted to chase her down until she finally realizes that he will always be there to hunt her down.

o O o

Concubine Berzerk felt envious, something that didn't happen very often, but the way the Emperor looked at the annoying captive Princess of the Ice Kingdom infuriated her to no end. The way he allowed her to enter the Dining Hall made her blood boil, and the way he held her hand as they left the Hall, she was so angry, so full of rage, she didn't even notice she broker her cup until she felt the stinging pain of the glass.

She wanted to kill her, but now she had to do it much more subtly than before. She didn't care much for the man who lost his arm, he was a nobody in the palace, there were others like him that she gets to use.

As she left the Dining Hall, she had noticed one of the Princesses, Princess Brat, glaring at someone, before leaving earlier. She saw her glaring at that woman's servant, and she saw why. That servant managed to enamour Prince Boomer, and everyone in the Palace knew how much the Princess loved him.

She began to smile an evil smile, as she began to formulate a plan to get rid of them for good.

oooo

*Wraith's tears- a liquid drug that helps demons control their own race by injecting it to those demons who are out of control. It relaxes the muscles and sends the angered demon to sleep for a short while.