It's been a while, I know. But there's sneakiness and nefarious plotting below to read. That should be a good apology. And I don't own Vampire Knight or its characters.

Akatsuki stood as still as a statue in the grandiose dining hall. Burnt-orange eyes were trained on his Lord's fiancée as she scribbled a list of tasks she wanted to accomplish that day.

It had taken numerous pleas ("Yuuki-sama, you cannot leave the mansion. Kaname-sama said it was not safe."), logic ("Please be reasonable, my lady. We're here to serve you. You need to let us help.), Hanabusa's wailing ("Your brother will kill me if I let you do all this!"), and more than a little emotional blackmail ("This much stress cannot be healthy for your child, my lady."), which stopped her in her tracks, to convince Yuuki to stop working so much.

Kaname had only reassigned him two days ago, but Akatsuki could see why his to be king was so worried.

Yuuki was restless.

Maybe it was because she was no longer patrolling the Academy's grounds to protect the secret of the vampires' existence. Maybe it was anxiousness over her whiplash change in status, from human to Pureblood and preparing herself to be a mother and a queen. Maybe it was worry for her brother who was returning home later each morning, drained from hunting down an army of Level E's all night.

Whatever the reason, Yuuki was unduly stressing herself, and neither he nor Aidou could stop her from thinking about the extensive list of things she needed to deal with.

There was a slight hiss of air.

In a flash, he sunk down on one knee by Yuuki's chair, head tilted to the side and neck already bared.

Aidou had quickly learned, and made sure that it was the second piece of information Akatsuki knew, the first being that Yuuki was pregnant, that that hiss of air came when Yuuki's fangs emerged unbidden, a tell-tale sign of her blood cravings. The orange haired vampire admired his cousin for handling her extreme cravings by himself for a month.

After she had fed, tongue darting out to catch the blood clinging to her lips, Aidou insisted, and got, Yuuki's return to her room to rest. The blonde, who the Pureblood was infinitely more comfortable with, accompanied her inside while Akatsuki stood guard outside her bedroom door.

Akatsuki, and the whole Kain family, had always been pro-monarchy. His family had been ecstatic about the revival of the King and Queen. They had never cared for what was supposed to be an equal distribution of power amongst the upper two levels of vampires. Being creatures that lived infinitely long lives, they needed rules and restrictions.

The Senate had been a joke. They had pretended they held power and that they were in control, but when they pushed too hard, a Pureblood always put them in their place. The Senate could not stand against the power of a Pureblood.

Not when it was so instinctively ingrained in them to defer to the will of Purebloods.

xxxtheQueen'sSacrificexxx

Sara looked critically at the young girl her handmaidens had brought before her. The human was rather cute. Sara wasn't a fan of short hair. Long hair was a sign of prestige, a testament for a female to their power and age and standing, but the short brown locks suited the human.

"Tell me your name, darling." She commanded.

"Sayori Wakaba."

"You will address her lady with respect!" snapped one of Sara's more favored handmaidens.

The brunette bowed her head humbly and repeated herself. "Sayori Wakaba, my lady. Please call me Yori."

The Pureblood vampire motioned the girl forward and she hesitantly complied, kneeling when directed to. "And what brings you here, beautiful Yori?"

The human's answer was simple and anticipated. "I wish to become a vampire."

"All of these young ladies harbor the same desire," she said, gesturing with one hand to the score of girls positioned around the room. "Tell me why I should grant you your wish. What will you do for such a generous gift?"

"I attended Cross Academy, my lady. Yuuki Kuran was my best friend."

A hush fell over the room.

Sara sat up from her relaxed sprawl. She sharply lifted the human's head, whose gaze was pointed at the floor, and looked into serious hazel eyes. "Continue."

"We shared a room. I can tell you anything you want to know about her, my lady."

"And you would turn so lightly on your friend?"

"I asked her to turn me. She refused."

"Oh, yes. She doesn't value you." Sara expertly played with the young human's feelings. "I shall treasure you, darling. I promise to change you."

Yori's eyes sparkled with pleasure and happines. "Provided you tell me everything you know."

"Yes, my lady," Yori vowed. "Do you want to know their plans for you? Or how their faring against the Level E's? Or. . ."

"Hush, darling. Business can wait. Come, sit with me. I want to get to know you first."

Yori looked uncertain but didn't dare refuse the vampire. Sara pulled her so that she was sitting in the other woman's lap and wrapped two pale arms around her waist. Dipping her chin into the junction of the human's neck and shoulder she said, "Now, tell me how you came to know of vampires and why you want to be one."

Given the politely phrased orders, Sayori obediently opened her mouth and told her story.

"The Night Class always scared me," she admitted. "There was something different about them and I couldn't understand why all the other girls fawned over them and how they could throw themselves at the Night Class's feet. I couldn't see a reason for the Headmaster to have two students patrolling the grounds every night and overseeing the switch of Day and Night Class students. Especially since one of the Disciplinary Committee Guardians was Yuuki. She was always so insistent that it was her duty, that she had to help, that she was the only one that could. But all I saw was my best friend being worked harder than anyone else, never getting enough sleep and shaking from returned nightmares.

"One night it all changed. Yuuki came back with a bandage on her neck, protesting that it was a little scratch and that I needn't worry. She wouldn't let me clean like she had her other injuries. The next day she skipped classes, something Yuuki never did. After that I hardly saw her in the dorms. She stopped sleeping in our room. She attended class but Yuuki always seemed to be preoccupied with something else.

"I wasn't stupid. I knew something was bothering her. She looked exhausted. Her skin was ashen and there were bags under her eyes. She started where shirts with high collars. Her hand would drift to her neck unconsciously. So, I confronted her. Demanded to know why she was pushing me away. Asking why she was always surrounded by at least three Night Class students. She told me she couldn't answer. It wasn't her secret to share. She ran back to the Moon Dorms crying.

"Kaname visited me that night. I thought he was going to make me pay for making Yuuki cry. He had always been so protective of her. I told her numerous times of how he looked at her, but Yuuki said there was nothing between them, said he was only looking out for her because he had saved her life once.

"If there was one thing Kaname hated, it was anyone upset Yuuki. He constantly put down Zero causing her pain and I saw him snap at a vampire that insulted her. His eyes glowed red.

"That night he told me the truth. It scared me, to think that I lived at school with so many vampires. If it wasn't for Yuuki I would have asked my father to pull me out of the academy. But I couldn't leave Yuuki alone. She needed someone to take care of her, someone to remind her that she was human.

"I told her she was stupid. She was my best friend. I would have never abandoned her.

"I supported her. She confided in me whenever she felt inadequate or when she was uncertain of their plans. That's how I learned about you.

"Kaname never saw you as a threat to his power. He was confident that revealing Yuuki as a Pureblood would derail you and leave you with no foot to stand on. Yuuki disagreed."

Yori paused her tale to take a calming breathe. "My mother died when I was young. Hit by a drunk driver. Ever since then I've been afraid that my life could end so easily, too soon. So when I learned Yuuki was a vampire I begged her to turn me. She wouldn't. And then I remembered you. Remembered that there was another person who could change me. When I heard those girls mention you I begged them to take me to you."

Sayori fell quiet, sighing softly as Sara petted her hair.

"Thank you, darling. Do you think you could do me a favor?"

Yori immediately offered her neck. "No, no, no. Nothing like that," laughed Sara. "No. What I need is for you to return to Yuuki. I need you to tell me everything she and Kuran are planning. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course, my lady."

"Good girl."

xxxtheQueen'sSacrificexxx

"Yes, Kaname?" Yuuki asked when he said her name.

"Aidou informed that you're feeling rather restless." Kaname ignored her undertone mutters about how she was going to hurt Aidou for telling him that and said, "Would you like to invite a your friend Yori to visit?"

Yuuki instantly perked at the thought, cheerful attitude replacing dark promises for her ever loyal friend. She hadn't seen Yori since they left Cross Academy. It would be wonderful to see her again. They could gossip about her pregnancy.

"I would love that. Thank you onii-sama."

"You're welcome, love. How was your day? How are you feeling? Where there any issues today?"

Yuuki prevented herself from sighing. Her brother asked the same questions every evening and her answer remained the same.

"Today was fine. I finished reading the book of Olde Magick. Both Aidou and Akatsuki were on hand any time I needed blood and they made sure I got plenty of rest. On an unrelated note, I found tablecloths to match the china for our Coronation Ball. Twenty-seven more vampires have confirmed they will be in attendance and I have started drawing a seating chart. And I postponed my appointment with the dressmaker.

"But I'm worried Kaname."

Kaname focused on his fiancée. "About what? It sounds like you have everything running smoothly. There's no need to worry about the Level E's. I have a plan to deal with both them and Sara Shirabuki at the same time."

"It's not her." Yuuki waved off his words. "It's this baby. I already love him or her, and I know a vampire pregnancy is different from a human one, but it's all happening all so fast. Mine's not like any of the ones documented. My cravings came upon me at the start and they're only getting worse. Just yesterday I thought I felt movement."

Her brother's hand's leapt to her still flat stomach. "I thought it was my imagination. I mean, it was just a twinge of my stomach, and it hasn't happened since."

As if to prove her wrong the skin of her stomach rippled as if something was pushing it from within. Kaname was smiling so widely that Yuuki didn't want to continue voicing her fears of how unprepared she was.

She had been so excited to discover she was pregnant. She was going to be a mother. She and Kaname were starting a family. It was her deepest dream come true.

And then it progressed so fast, like a snowball rolling down a mountain that gained momentum as grew larger, frightening her.

What if it was her fault? What if something had gone wrong because she had been temporarily turned into a human? Would there be something wrong with her baby?

Every day Yuuki felt she was drowning in her fears. And she couldn't share them with anyone. They wouldn't have answers for her. They would only placate her with assurances she had heard before.

"Don't worry, my love. You and the baby will be fine. I promise."

Yuuki trusted her fiancée. He knew more than she did so she believed him when he said everything would work out.

She snuggled contently in his arms, reveling in the safety she felt there.

Everything would be fine. Kaname had promised. And he had promised not to lie to her or leave her in the dark. So he had to be right.

'Everything will be fine,' she repeated to herself.