"Nivian!!" Shaina yelled, "If you don't hurry up I'm leaving without you!"
Nivian walked from around the corner, "Ok ok, as if you'd leave without me anyway".
Shaina grinned; they were on their way to Riada, the Blood village by Ebon Rih, to do some shopping. They left the house, but stopped as they saw Daemonar standing in their way, arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Shaini sighed, great. If anyone in the history of the Blood had ever been overprotective it was Daemonar.
"So, where are you two off to?" He moved forward in between them and slung his arms over their shoulders. Shaina grinned up at him and kissed his cheek while Nivian just scowled, "We're just doing some shopping Daemonar! Nothing dangerous involved so we'll just be on our way now". Nivian shrugged off his arm and stalked down the track, Shaina followed more slowly with the laughing Daemonar.
At the age of 20, Daemonar was definitely a warrior, when you added in the cockiness of his race and the over protectiveness of a gray-jewelled Warlord Prince it made for an…interesting… combination. Especially when he considers me as another sister Shaina thought wryly. She was 16 now and while she loved Daemonar, having him try to escort them everywhere got old very quickly. Even Papa isn't this bad. When she had learned she was being adopted by Jaenelle and Daemon, she had immediately begun to call them Mum and Dad. She remembered a talk she and Jaenelle had had a few years ago - Daemonar had yelled at her for doing something stupid and getting hurt and she had gone to Jaenelle angry and upset.
"It's not like he doesn't do things just as bad!! Why does he think it's ok to get angry at me!!?" Her mum had just smiled,
"He's a Warlord Prince, that's what they do. They need to be protective, it's in their blood and all we can do is set our boundaries. You need to let him fuss a bit, he can't help it and not allowing him to do that will just hurt him, but draw a line so he knows how much you'll allow."
"Does that actually work?"
Jaenelle had laughed, "Sometimes. It's just important for everyone to know where they stand, how much they can do. Warlord Princes especially will push that a lot, but if they push too far, then you're allowed to get upset and they know they brought it on themselves".
Shaina looked at Daemonar considering, then looked away when he noticed her watching him.
"What is it Shai-shai?"
"Nothing, just remembering something, that's all"
****
Shaina looked at the selection of books in the local store. While her family had a big library, there was nothing like buying your own books. Taking her selections to the counter, she paid and went outside. She was meeting Daemonar and Nivian at a local diner so she made her way down the street. She didn't notice a man she passed give her a second look and then stop and stare after her.
"Excuse me!!" she heard someone running towards her and then the man was grabbing her arm and spinning her around.
"Wha…"
"It is!! I knew it!!" The man still had her arm and was looking her over. "But it can't be..."
Shaina was trying to free her arm and was just thinking about using some of the tricks Uncle Lucivar had taught her when a knife appeared at the man's throat. She looked at Daemonar and shivered, his eyes were expressionless, always a bad sign in the males of her family.
"I'd re-think your strategy. If you don't remove your arm now, I'll do it for you" Daemonar's voice was a blade on ice. The man immediately let go and backed off. "I'm sorry, I thought the lady was someone I knew…my mistake"
They watched as he raced off. Daemonar vanished his knife and he and Shaina made their way to the café.
"Any idea what that was about?" asked Daemonar.
"No", Shaina shook her head "I've never seen him before in my life". But a chill went down her spine as she said it and neither of them noticed the man still watching them as they entered the Café.
****
By the next day Shaina had almost forgotten the incident and she was putting all her concentration into surviving doing stick drills with Lucivar. Panting and sweating, she watched as her younger brother Morton went slowly through some movements. Two years after joining the SaDiablo family, Jaenelle had finally gotten pregnant and had Morton. He was now a mischievous 5 year old who drove them all crazy. But for some reason I still love him, she smiled as he waved at her. Remembering the razer edge the males of the family had walked during the final stage of Jaenelle's pregnancy, Shaina was suddenly glad that they weren't planning on having anymore kids. Morton had Daemon's features but Jaenelle's eyes, a combination that meant he looked very cute now and was going to have to hide from girls if he wanted any peace when he got older.
Morton finished his practice and came over to her. "Shaina, have you finished as well?" She handed him a towel and smiled,
"Yup, let's go get some breakfast". They walked inside together, Morton humming some tune under his breath. They entered the dining room to find their parents already there.
"How did you get out of practice with Uncle Lucivar?" she accused them as she sat down with her food.
"We hid" they answered, not even bothering to look up from their food.
"I like learning to use the sticks" Morton said, "it's fun!!"
Jaenelle patted his head, "I thought the same thing when I was young, now it's a habit Lucivar is making sure I maintain."
"By the way" Daemon spoke up, "Everyone's coming over here next week for a certain someone's birthday" he looked at Morton who gasped.
"Everyone?! Chaise and Alex and Dayton and…"
"…and all the Uncle's and Aunties" Daemon interrupted "may the darkness have mercy on us all".
Shaina and Morton grinned at each other. Morton was turning six next week and all of Jaenelle and Daemon's friends (honourary Uncles and Aunties) and their children were coming to celebrate. It was always chaos when everyone got together and they loved it; although Grandpa Saetan always said it takes him a month to recover from the excitement.
Shaina settled into finishing her breakfast, it's going to be a fun week.
****
Terreille
The man knocked on the door and, receiving a response from inside, entered the room.
"So," asked the man behind the desk, "what's so important that it couldn't wait until our next scheduled meeting?"
"I've seen her! She's still alive!" the man said, moving closer.
"Who? What are you talking about?"
"The girl!! She ran away eight years ago remember? We sent men after her to finish her off but I've seen her!! She's alive!"
The man behind the desk stood as his chair crashed to the ground, "You're mistaken!! You old fool, she can't be alive!!"
"It's her!! There's no mistake! Her colouring, her jewels, her age!! I asked quietly around the town and they say that she just appeared eight years ago with no memory."
"Impossible" the man whispered. He looked up, his gaze piercing the older man. "You said she remembers nothing from her past?"
The other man shook his head, "Not even her name apparently. What should we do?"
"I'll send someone to finish her off, it shouldn't be that hard. She not guarded all day is she?"
"Well no, but…"
"Good then" the man righted his chair and sat back down behind the desk.
"But…"
"What is it now?"
"The family she's living with now. It's the SaDiablo's".
The man behind the desk slumped as his face paled, "Shit".