As Kai dressed Xavier for the dinner this evening, he couldn't get the encounter with that young man out of his head. The young man's scent had permeated into Xavier's mind, to the point where he was hallucinating it. As Kai was putting the finishing touches on Xavier's semi-formal attire, a knock sounded at the door.
Kai and Xavier locked eyes, with just a nod of his head Kai moved to the door and opened it. Xavier looked at himself in the mirror, vaguely wondering if he would see that mischievous smile again this evening. Perhaps the young man was a servant of one of the royalty, seeing as he neither had a bodyguard or servant with him. Perhaps running errands for his master, for some reason the thought made Xavier irritated. Fox ears twitched at the murmur of voices at the door. The sound of the click as the door shut had Xavier turning to look at Kai.
"What is it?" Kai's face looked more somber than it had a moment ago, a thick folder in his hands.
"At a village called Kogane-Yama, in the Northern Mountains of the Empire, the entire population has been afflicted by the unknown disease that has cropped up recently. The Emperor ordered eradication and that all routes in and out of the village sealed." Kai hands Xavier the folder. He opens it slowly and looked over the contents.
Recently small pockets of an unknown disease that causes people's eyes to turn red and revert to their instinctual beastial behavior, have cropped up. The photos shown of Kogane-Yama were gruesome, innocents had been slaughtered in the middle of the street, the afflicted were skin and bones, blood splattered all over their bodies. Viscera littered houses, streets, and businesses; rivers of blood flowed down from rooftops streaking down walls, side walks, and streets. Bodies torn apart to the point of being unrecognizable. Xavier snapped the folder shut and toss it on his desk.
"Send the Kokuijin to neighboring towns on both sides of the border. I want information of anyone who has travelled in and out of that village. Also send Doc Wen and Akajui team to Kogane-Yama see if he is able to collect anything he can study. My father thinks this is a disease...but looking at those photos I'm not so sure." Xavier rubbed the tips of his fingers along his forehead deep in thought.
"I need more information. Time check?" He glanced at Kai
"Ten minutes til seven." Kai said, receiving a nod from Xavier in return.
"Then we should go."
Walking out of his room and down the hallway, Xavier was deep in thought. The Royal Academy wasn't just for future learning, it was a tool for countries to gather information on one another, and other things that were happening. It was a way to make alliances, and Xavier has every intention of doing so. He would be in a much better position than he was the previous year, considering that he is the Sophomore representative on the Student Council as well as he now has a reputation at the school.
As Xavier reached the bottom of the stairs, he let Kai lead him to where to dinner would be. There would be no formal introductions, as it was a casual affair for everyone to simply see who was who. At the entrance of the dining hall Xavier placed his hand on Kai's shoulder. Using telepathic magic he sent Kai a message
~Use every skill you have and see if any of the other guards or servants in other kingdoms have the same disease as us.~ With only a slight nod Kai acknowledged his order.
They entered the dining hall and Xavier stepped to the side to take the entire situation in. Many people were conversing and having introductions. He searched the entire area for the male student he had run into previously, but there was no sign of him. Waiters wandered around with trays of hors d'oeuvres and cocktails.
Mingling with the other Princes and Princesses of the various Kingdoms was tedious, one always needed to maintain a level of decorum. Xavier introduced himself to those royals who were new this year. Trying to gauge their political ability and clout. This Academy would prove those who would sink and drown in the world of politics or those who would thrive with the intrigue and information. The socializing portion of the evening was half way through, when the doors to the hall suddenly opened up.
All noise in the hall quieted down, as all heads turned towards the door. Stepping in through the double doors of the hall was the man Xavier had been keeping an eye out for. He was dressed in tight leather pants that laced up the sides, there was a loose silk white shirt, with several of the top buttons undone. The creamy flesh of his chest on view, a deep blue coat with silver thread embroidery was open flowing down to the backs of his knees, supple leather boots clung just as tightly to those well formed calve as the pants themselves. Xavier dragged his gaze slowly up the students body. He noticed this time he wore a collar that had glittering amethysts. On the back of his neck, right where that delicious scent of falling cherry blossom petals should be surrounding Xavier, was a scent suppressor. It took him a moment to realize this student was an Omega. Looking around this room it made Xavier realize that he was actually the only Omega in this room.
He tilted his head to the woman next to him, and made a comment, that Xavier heard thanks to excellent hearing.
"Oooops looks like I crossed the line from fashionably to unfashionably late." Then he giggled softly, it was as if that giggle released the crowd from the spell he had cast with his entrance. It didn't take long for others to react, although most of them went to swarm the Omega.
Xavier wanted to be one of the ones to swarm him, but didn't want to be dismissed so easily, instead he decided to continue his conversation he was having previously. Xavier didn't miss a beat from the previous conversation that had paused. He kept an eye on the Omega, for some reason the crowd was parting. Strengthening his gaze Xavier noticed that it was the prince of the Draconian Empire, Prince Luca Tourres, who also happened to be the President of the student council. The hall quieted down and the grip on Xavier's glass tightened. Red scales were partially scattered over Luca's body, a symbol of his shifting magic, the way they seemed to ripple as he walked could tip one off to his irritation. At this point Xavier began to move closer to the Omega.
"It is polite to apologize to a host, when one rudely arrives late." The president said.
"Isn't it also rude to reject the customs of another nation?" The Omega tilted his head, and Xavier could see that mischievous glint in those sharp purple eyes of his.
"I don't know what back water Kingdom you belong to, but it is usually proper to follow the customs of the territory one enters." Xavier gritted his teeth at the presidents words, to disparage the obviously new student.
The Alpha was obviously trying to assert his dominance over the Omega. Not many of the Kingdoms respected Omega's. The Sunabae Empire, the Elven-Dwarven Alliance, and the Kingdom of Solas, were the only kingdoms who actually treated Omega's as precious. Everywhere else saw them as tools to be used for the purpose of breeding powerful Alpha's and easily discarded after they had served their function.
"Hmmm." The man lifted an elegant finger to his lips. "Well, the customs of the back water Kingdom of Solas dictate that it is actually rude to arrive to a function, particularly an informal one, early or on time. You see it's considered one of the rudest actions one can do in a social situation." A gasp rippled through the room as the young man just dropped casually that he was royalty from the Kingdom of Solas, one of the four most powerful Empires basically in the world.
"However, since we are upon neutral territory, and it happens to be the first night perhaps Prince Luca would be kind enough to let this grievance he has against me slide." The Omega coquettishly dropped his eyes, his lips had a slight pout to them, and it could be assumed the Omega was being contrite. However, I had this feeling that the Omega was toying with the Alpha before him. Prince Luca visibly swallowed hard at the Omega.
"I..I..." he cleared his throat "I shall let this slide, as long as it doesn't happen again." The Omega smiled brightly.
"Thank you for your magnanimous decision. I will be sure to observe the rules of the Academy from this moment on." The Omega turned to walk away.
"Excuse me, but who are you?" Prince Luca asked before the Omega could slip away.
"Oh pardon me for my lack of introduction. I'm Princess Asher Blackrose of the Kingdom of Solas." It was like a bomb went off in the room. Not a single person here knew that Solas had such a Princess in the Imperial family.
=======================================================
Asher figured he would make a huge splash with the outfit, never in his life would he have thought that being late, which is actually on time in Solas would be considered as a slight to the host. At the beginning of a part a host was normally busy with the final touches. Decorum dictates that one should never arrive less than thirty minutes after the start time. Gryphon smirked next to him, she leaned towards him, whispering in his ear.
"It's in the school handbook. You know. They one you didn't read." She was way too amused by Asher's situation.
The fuming Draconian Prince in front of him was starting to emit pheromones of annoyance towards Asher. His eyes stared directly into his, attempting to force him to look away in subservience. His eyes were like two glowing coals. Asher swore he could see them flicker with flame. The silvery red scales that sparsely covered Luca's body kept rippling along his skin. It means that Asher's miscalculation of the situation, had Luca so upset he was on the verge of a shift into his dragon form.
Asher needed to turn this situation around before he made an even bigger faux pas in front of the royal sons and daughters of the multitude of countries represented here. He flipped his tone to flirtatious, playing the demure and contrite Omega. He easily fell for Asher's act, he mentally smirked 'Alphas are way too easy to manipulate.'
Asher wasn't expecting his introduction to shock people. He was pretty sure that Uncle had let the Academy know. Anyone could have easily achieved the information, in fact the week before school Asher was sent a list of Kingdoms and which Prince or Princess would be representing their home. Of course some had children of Duke's or Duchesses as their representatives.
'Really? Okay I may not have read the stupid handbook, thinking it was just a bunch of bland information like back in my past life, but I wanted to memorize every single name on that list to know who I was dealing with. I even had my sister get me the school photos to match with the names. Only the freshman class didn't have photos to go with the names.' Asher was lecturing the entire hall in his mind of the concept of knowledge is power.
Asher needed to do something quick,. for a distraction. He glanced around hoping to recognize someone and saw that sexy fox, 'heh no pun intended I swear' I thought, there he is. Thank the gods! Asher waved to him and called out.
"Xavier!" When he turned towards Asher at the sound of his name Asher stopped in his tracks. Damn, his eyes were like liquid pools of honey. His hair was styled in rows of warrior braids, akin to the Vikings in my old life, the rest of his long hair wrapped in a high pony tail with some sort string. He was several inches taller than Asher, and looked like he was pure muscle.
Asher wanted to reach out and stroke his fox ears to see how soft the fur was. Xavier watched Asher curiously as as Asher drank in his looks. He was wearing all black, with accents of gold embroidered in wind designs. Asher could see his well define muscles under the stylish short jacket he wore. His look turned to amusement as he stepped forward towards Asher. Xavier's hot breath and the feel of his lips tickling Asher's ear, as he whispered to him.
"Like what you see Princess?" His tone was playful, but Asher felt his face heat up. In response to the blush reddening Asher's cheeks Xavier chuckled. Xavier offered Asher a formal bow.
"It is an honor to meet you Princess Asher. I'm Prince Xavier Sunabae." Slightly flustered Asher found himself in a situation where words were failing him. 'Flirt damnit!' Asher yelled at himself.
"Yes. I mean, the pleasure is all mine. I mean it's an honor Prince Xavier."
'Words how dare you fail me and make me look like a bumbling idiot in front of this sexy specimen.' Asher wailed inside. Just then it was announced that dinner was ready to be served. Xavier offered his hand to Asher.
"Might I have the pleasure of escorting you to your seat Princess." All Asher could do was nod and take his hand.
They walked to where the seats were arranged, the four major kingdoms had their own table, as they were considered allies. The other three seemed to know each other fairly well, Asher assumed it was because they had met last year. Xavier introduced Asher to the others at the head table.
"This is Princess Cecilly of the Dwarfs and Prince Caspion of the Elves."
Cecilly offered me a kind smile, while Caspion let his eyes rake over me. Cecilly was a stout woman, probably no more that four feet tall. She had brown hair, braided in an elaborate knot resting atop her head. Her eyes were crystal blue, reminding me of a blue diamond. Her skin was slightly tanned, which surprised Asher. He thought dwarves all lived underground. She wore a short silk tunic, with basic embroidery and loose leather pants. She looked like she had walked out of the Lord of the Rings movie set.
Caspion was tall and slender, both his hair and eyes were a verdant green. Reminding Asher of the forest near his villa in the height of summer. His hair was down, and only the pointed tips of his ears could be seen. While his skin was darker than Cecilly's, it looked less weather than hers. His lips were the softest pink, his bottom lip fuller, looking more like he was pouting. He was dressed in a white shirt with a brown vest, as well as what looked like brown hide pants. Asher slightly shivered under Caspion's intense gaze. Goosebumps formed along Asher's skin. He could swear that Caspion was emitting pheromones. The fact that Asher could feel them; as well as they could affect him meant that Prince Caspion was a Superior Alpha, and his traits were as strong if not stronger than Asher's. Right then Cecilly punched Caspion in the arm, and although he turned to glare at her, Caspion made no move that the punch hurt.
"Stop that!" she said to him. Asher could swear he even heard Xavier growl. Yet when Asher looked at him there was no noise coming from him. Xavier gripped Asher's hand tighter, guiding him to the other two sitting at the table.
"This is Prince of Light, Connor and Prince of Dark, Alucard. Both of the Faerie Kingdom." Connor stood up and offered Asher a bow. He looked every bit of what Asher thought a Fae should look like. Tall and lithe, his body had lean muscles and he wasn't afraid to show it off. His sky blue shirt was open basically to his waist, showing off his perfectly formed six-pack. His shirt was loose over his pants, which honestly just seemed to be a pair of jeans. Asher guessed that Connor took the informal thing pretty seriously. His fire red hair was cut short; he took Asher's hand in his with his greeting. He lightly kissed the back of Asher's hand. His eyes were crystalline and seemed to pull Asher into gazing deeply into them.
"A true pleasure to meet you Princess Asher." His voice elicited a flash of heat through Asher's skin. Images of sweaty skin, a tangle of sheets, and the sound of moans overtook his senses for a moment before he felt Xavier's grip tighten on him once more. With a soft gasp Asher tore his eyes away from Connor. When Asher looked back he just grinned at Asher with a seductive glint in his eyes. 'That man is dangerous' Asher thought to himself.
Prince Alucard was the exact opposite of Connor, he was cold and distant. Just a simple nod of greeting. He was leaning back in his chair arms crossed over his chest. His eyes were the color of blood stone, with flecks of silver in them. His hair was jet black, and was only slightly longer than Connor's. He was dressed simply in a black button down and black slacks. His skin was abnormally pale, almost to the point it was translucent. His lips were a deep red in contrast to his pale skin. He had bad boy vibe from head to toe, and that kind of thing was always something I fell for easily. 'No! No falling for the sexy depressed isolated bad boy Asher' He scolded myself mentally.
Xavier pulled out a chair on the end for Asher to sit, then settled himself next to him. Dishes began to be served, and Asher could hear the chatter below their table. However, those of them sitting at the head table were silent. It wasn't even desert and Asher was already exhausted from this whole ordeal. Well at least Xavier's company is pleasant, he though to himself.