Chapter Three

Faithful

The Hall of Khledon Lurt was loud as usual the evening that Prince Mika walked in. He wore his natural all-black ensemble, black turtle neck sweater, black leather gloves, black slacks, black cloak and black hard-soled shoes, because the Prince was not afraid to make an entrance. That was normally how the other vampires in the mountain knew their sire was approaching.

Mika took his seat at the front of the hall, almost immediately a young, handsome vampire set a large mug of blood in front of him, bowing respectfully to the Prince. After he had left another vampire, this time a young woman, put a bowl of broth and a loaf of bread in front of him. Mika's attention was drawn to the movement of her light dress, which was fairly colorful, violet with a few woven patterns on it, seemingly done by hand. His eyes trailed up her body to her face; she blushed lightly under the handsome prince's gaze.

"Is there something specific you would like this night, sire?" she asked him in a light voice. She was considerably smaller than most of the other vampire women. He could guess that Arra Sails, a prominent female General, heckled her constantly. She didn't believe in weak vampires and this woman did not look too strong. She was pale, slender, and quite beautiful. Not a scar among her face, and light brown, almost blonde, hair down to her waist. Her pale skin looked considerably lovelier than it did on other the vampire women. The Prince once more felt the pang of lust within his body as he gazed upon her features.

Many of the vampire women, and even a few men, were taken with him due to his handsome features. He was seen as tall, dark and handsome among the vampires, even though there were many taller, darker and just as, if not more, handsome. He believed his title helped him a bit when it came to his attractiveness. Mika Ver Leth was well-known in Vampire Mountain for his ways with women, never had he taken a mate, there could be no consequences or children, so why bother? Simply allotting for one night stands was enough and all he was willing to give. One night was all he ever had.

The Prince opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by his fellow Prince, Paris Skyle, taking the seat next to him.

"Good evening, my friend." Paris greeted Mika in the usual fashion, unaware of Mika's thoughts of bedding the female before them. Because his mentor had sat beside him, Mika's thoughts immediately cleared and he began to focus on his meal. The female before them bowed quickly and left, a blush still tinted on her face.

The two Prince's sat in silence while Mika chewed idly on his bread, a mug of ale and a mug of blood on either side of his plate. He would take a swig from each one in kind to wash it down before taking another bite.

"Mika," Paris began after another vampire had set his own food before him. Mika barely acknowledged his mentor, the elder continued anyhow. "You have been quite distracted as of late; care to speak what is on your mind?" Mika inhaled deeply, trying to relax the muscles in his face. The old vampire looked deeply concerned, and Mika knew he owed the fellow Prince an explanation for why he had been so moody and disconnected lately.

"My thoughts," began the younger.

"Well quite obviously!" laughed Paris. Mika resisted the urge to snarl at his companion. He had a short fuse when it came to things like this. Mika Ver Leth was not supposed to be a daydreamer. Mika Ver Leth was a Vampire Prince, the youngest at that, and needed to demand the respect from those around him, if they did not already surrender it beforehand. But Paris Skyle was Mika's mentor, and his closest companion as a fellow Prince. The young Prince quietly sighed and shook his head, continuing his explanation.

"I am constantly drifting to thoughts of my past. I don't know why, I had blocked it out until now, but why would she- these thoughts- begin to visit me now?" The young Prince was clearly exasperated, and the elder could not help but chuckle. The hall slowly began to fill with more vampires and the volume level began to rise as a result. Time passed as the two ate in silence, Mika allowed the sounds of the hall to enter his mind and block out the thoughts that were sure to consume him in a short time.

"You have been very busy for a long time," Paris said finally. Mika sighed and continued staring into his almost empty bowl. "Perhaps, now that you have the time to think, these memories find it necessary to resurface." Mika looked at his mentor, who had gone back to eating, and wondered how it was he could think of these things.

"Or perhaps, the time has come for you to remember for another reason." Paris said on the subject before he rose. He looked down at his young counterpart and put an aged hand on his shoulder. "You should take the time to think now. I'm sure we shall survive one day without you in the Hall." The old vampire smiled. Mika nodded his thanks as Paris walked away.

After a few more agonizing minutes of trying to understand what Paris meant when he said it was 'time to remember', Mika rose and made his way back to his chambers. It would be easier to think in his dreams, he decided.

Upon reaching his chambers the prince could hear someone else within. Mika narrowed his eyes, hand ready on the hilt of his sword; he peered around the entrance and saw a woman on his bed. It was the woman from the Hall of Khledon Lurt. She jumped when she heard him enter and began stuttering apologies to the Prince.

"A-apologies sire. I-I just wanted to see your chamber and- I lost track of time…"

Mika observed her flustered manner, he could smell her arousal and it made him slightly angry. He never understood what women saw in him. Was it because he seemed dangerous? Didn't they know he would just leave them?

"Strip," The only word he said before descending upon her. His mouth on hers in a kiss with little feeling, save for lust and need. Mika needed to put off remembering her. Juliet… she wasn't in his life anymore. This woman was, and he wanted her more than he could really comprehend, at the moment.

Mika removed his mouth from hers, vaguely remembering a kiss that tasted much sweeter. His hands made their way under her dress and trailed up her sides, she was thin, almost too thin. The female sighed under his touch, obviously pleased at the attention the prince was giving her. The Prince's hands found her breasts, small and firm, enough to squeeze and knead, enough to make him hot.

"Sire…" she breathed as he pushed her onto the bed, suckling on her neck, nipping and biting when the need caught him.

Mika pushed himself onto his knees and stared down at the girl below him, the smell of her arousal grew, and he, too, was quite aroused. The scene made him remember a similar picture from long ago.

"Mika…"

The Prince's thoughts were broken at the sound of the voice; it hadn't come from the woman beneath him. 'It sounded so much like…'

He ignored it for the time being and went back to the vampiress beneath him, who had begun massaging his groin through his pants. Mika hissed quietly as she found the zipper and removed his throbbing manhood from the confines of his trousers. Her fingers wrapped around his shaft and she began to stroke and pump his member tenderly, the Prince inhaled deeply, his head tilting up.

"You like that don't you?" she giggled, he chuckled himself, she had a way of getting him to do things like that.

"Sire?" the vampiress breathed, Mika snapped his head back down to look at her. He had already come. He looked at her and himself quizzically. Why was he so sensitive this night? The female began to provocatively lick his semen off of her hand, eyeing him suggestively at the same time. The Prince narrowed his eyes.

"Get out."

She looked at him, wide eyed and confused. Mika's face was drawn taught, she could tell the Prince was angry. Bowing her head as she hastily made her way off of the bed, she uttered apologies on her way out.

"S-sire, I-…"

"Don't, just leave." He growled.

Alone again, and finally. Mika sighed, gripping his temples and shaking his head, he fell back onto the bed softly. There was no mistaking the voice he had heard. What would drive him to go mad at this point in his life? Why now particularly?

'Paris suggested I remember…' he reminded himself. Paris Skyle was wise enough to know what to do at a time such as this, so Mika surrendered himself to his thoughts and memories.

Every night Mika would make his way to Lord Highland's manor, though now it belonged to Juliet, as stated in her benefactors will. The property was vast and situated at the edge of the oldest part of the city. There were no servants, just Juliet. Lord Highland had at one point housed several young children, she had told him, and they would do the chores around the manor for the old man.

Every evening, just as the sun set, the young General would rap at her window, even though the door was a perfect possibility, seeing as there were no others in the home and few citizens ever ventured so far into the old district. Juliet would greet Mika the same way each night. The brightest smile he had ever seen would await him on the other side of the glass panels, along with words that seemed too sweet for his ears.

"Mika Ver Leth, my night is much better now that you have arrived!" Juliet would chuckle, opening the window and allowing her Vampire companion to enter her vast bedroom. Mika always smiled a small, but friendly, smile at the young woman as she embraced him. They would sit and talk about various things, Juliet always pressuring him to speak of life as a Vampire, her eyes would cloud with imagination as he told his stories, including a few about famous Vampires, but mainly those about himself. She rarely talked about herself, seeing as she barely knew anything about her past in the first place. She would tell him of her days with Highland, friends that she used to have, occasionally about her job in town at a local pub. Juliet had been hired to work the less tiring day shift, the owner believing that she would be too forgetful at night ("It's amnesia, not air-headedness…" Juliet had remarked when she first told him). Each night brought them together in a tighter friendship, Juliet laughing and smiling, being swept out of her loneliness by a handsome Vampire, and Mika happy to finally have his first human friend since he himself was human. Finally when they both felt the sun would soon rise, Juliet would bid Mika farewell in the same fashion,

"I await your arrival Lord Mika, until tomorrow night." She would smile and open the window, allowing him to jump to the tree outside and he would smile back and reply,

"Until the next night, Juliet."

Three months of spending nights together. Mika had grown quite fond of Juliet. Of course in Vampire Mountain he had people to fraternize with. Paris Skyle, the Vampire Prince, would be his companion whenever the old Vampire had free time. Many different Vampires of different races and backgrounds provided more than enough entertainment for the young General. But in the outside world Mika had been hesitant about getting too close to people. Juliet seemed to draw him in.

But this night was different.

This night Juliet didn't answer his knocking.

Mika kept his place in the tree, but furrowed his brows. It was unlike Juliet to not answer. Mika began worrying about his young friend. Glancing around his shoulder, for unapparent reasons, Mika jumped down from his tree and made his way to the front door. The large wooden door was, from afar, quite understated in its creepiness. Mika actually felt hesitant about knocking on it, but his hand moved faster than his head, and before he knew it he was rapping loudly on the door. There was an almost unnoticeable shuffling and a small moan from behind the door.

But no answer.

Mika frowned.

He was no idiot. There had been muffled noises from behind that door.

Mika glared at the house.

Was someone there? Was Juliet trying to surprise him? He heard another noise. It sounded violent. An ordinary human would not be able to hear through the solid oak doors, but Mika wasn't ordinary, nor was he human, the young Vampire General heard the noises and knew exactly what they were, or at least hoped they weren't what he thought they were. Without hesitation Mika kicked in the large and heavy door, with surprising ease, even for a vampire, and stalked into the large room behind it. Like most manors, Mika was led into a large and very dimly lit greeting room, though the dark did not hinder the Vampire Generals' eyesight.

As he glanced at his surroundings, Mika noticed numerous paintings on the walls. Photography had been around for quite some time, but it seemed Juliets' benefactor preferred to be captured by oil paints. He saw quite a few paintings of children, probably orphans the lord had taken in before Juliet, and a large, muscular man, presumably the lord himself. Upon closer examination he noticed that the majority of the paintings were of Juliet and the lord, it seemed she arrived at the orphanage as a young girl, no older than fourteen years old. She looked extremely happy in every portrait of her, especially the ones of her and a small blonde girl, they must have been great friends, the General mused. Mika focused on a picture in the corner of the large room and noticed another, larger painting, leaning against a wall near it, covered with a large sheet. Mika removed the sheet and stared face to face with Juliet.

A life size painting of the young woman stared back at him with striking realistic features. It must have been painted very recently. She stood in a pentagonal alcove with windows on every wall, causing the room to be filled with light. Juliet looked stunning; Mika smiled at her beauty, in the light, her tan skin seemed to glow and the yellow sundress she wore added even more to the effect. She had a large brimmed hat upon her head with a small stitched flower on a string dangling from it and a sad smile on her face. Mika frowned. Why would she be looking sad on such a bright and clear day in such a pretty dress?

He shook the thought out of his head and remembered why he had come into the house in the first place. Mika glanced around the room and discovered a small source of light seeping from a door on the left wall. Opening the door, Mika was led into a kitchen, with a large basin sink to his right and a counter top situated in the center of the room. There were numerous pots hanging from hooks above the counter, a large oven with a fire burning under it sat across from the counter against a wall and next to a closet, which, upon inspection, held numerous bags and canisters or flour and sugar, among other things. A strange scent wafted to his nostrils, he presumed from the oven. He felt heat from his right and saw a large fire pit with a pot situated on top of it.

"Strangely archaic…" he mused.

A moaning noise made its way to his ears and Mika turned the corner to investigate. He came to a door and immediately pushed it open. There he found a large sofa situated in front of a fireplace. The room held more paintings of the Lord and Juliet, but that was not is main focus, on the sofa there was a girl, covered with a blanket and crying. She had stunning blonde hair, milky white skin and a strikingly beautiful face that would make any man melt Mika moved forward to see if she was okay, his senses on alert for intruders, other than the girl in front of him.

Reaching out, Mika placed a hand on the lady's shoulder. Her red-rimmed eyes snapped open and Mika could only notice that they were a deep and achingly beautiful blue before she screamed bloody murder and jumped of the couch with amazing grace and speed. Mika jumped back from her and placed his hand on his sword wondering what she was screaming at.

"JULIET JULIET JULIET JULIET!" She screamed, clutching the blanket around her and looking around frantically, for a weapon, Mika presumed.

In rushed Juliet with another blanket and a mug of liquid from the direction of the kitchen. Before she could stop herself she ran straight into Mika, both of them seemingly shocked to see one another. They tumbled to the floor, limbs twined around each other in what would have been sensual if it hadn't been so painful to crash onto the solid stone flooring. The blanket Juliet had been holding tangled around them making it hard for the two to move.

"Juliet!" The girl screamed again. She pointed an accusing finger at Mika who was trying to sit up with a dazed Juliet squirming on top of him. "This man broke into the house; HE'S THE ONE WHO BROKE INTO-"

"Calm down!" Mika shouted. He stood up, adequately dropping Juliet off of his body and back onto the floor with a loud 'THUMP' and 'OW~' on her part. He looked around under the blanket, trying to find Juliet so that he could help her up. Juliet looked up at him and their eyes met, she gave him an apologetic look and went to take his extended hand.

As he helped her to stand the blonde girl, still pointing at him, eyed him suspiciously and glanced at Juliet.

"Julie, he-"

"Kathy, this is the man I was telling you about, REMEMBER?" Juliet snapped, still looking into Mika's eyes, only now she was blushing a little, Mika looked back into hers as well, only now a tad confused. The blonde, Kathy as Juliet had called her, gave Juliet a quizzical look then looked back at Mika. The Vampire General sighed and turned his gaze from his friend to… her friend.

"You're Juliet's boyfriend?" Kathy questioned, sounding suspicious.

Mika furrowed his eyebrows. Boy he was, friend as well. But the two together meant something completely different. He glanced back at Juliet, who avoided his gaze and blushed.

"Apparently so." He replied.