As they approached the giant castle-like structure, Ryvian turned to Arkonus with a confused look.
He looked down at her with a sad look.
"We might have to tell them" He said, dejectedly. "And I'm not sure exactly what they will do."
Ryvian's heart thrummed against her chest as she began to panic.
"What if they try to experiment on me?" She asked, fear filling her voice.
He shushed her and lovingly caressed her face.
"I don't think they will as long as we don't tell them you are an artificial version of an Achilees." He said, reassuringly. "But if they try you know I won't let them."
Ryvian raised an eyebrow at him.
"I know you're strong, but do you really think you could fend off 5 royalty level vampires on your own?" She asked.
He scoffed.
"Absolutely not. At least not if they all came at me at once." He said. "But Royal Vampire etiquette states that one on one fights are the only acceptable fights."
He smoothed her wet hair back for her and tapped her nose.
"Haven't you ever wondered why they allow me to stay in the royalty ranks, and why they haven't killed me off yet with all things considered?" He asked her teasingly.
She shook her head.
"It's because I'm the strongest of all of them." He said "I was the only one who actually fought in the vampire human wars."
His eyes glossed over for a moment as if he was remembering the past, a small smile tugged at his lips.
Did he enjoy fighting in the war?
"What about Lord Hagren? He seems really tough" Ryvian asked, remembering how muscular he had seemed.
He cleared his throat and brought himself back to reality.
"Lord Hagren may be the most brawny and may be great with battle strategies, but he is big and slow" He explained as they got closer to the big wooden doors of the Meeting House.
The doors flew open making both Ryvian and Arkonus jump.
"Who you calling slow, you big softy" Lord Hagren bellowed.
At first Ryvian thought he was angry, but a big teasing grin was plastered across his face.
Arkonus laughed awkwardly.
"Well come in, you drowned rats. You are very very la-" Lord Hagren stopped when he saw Ryvian's blood stained clothes. "The hell happened to you?"
Ryvian began to speak, but Arkonus stopped her.
"We will explain later. Is there any spare clothes lying around for her?" He asked.
Lord Hagren nodded and showed them to one of the guest rooms at the top of the large staircase.
"Should be some in the drawers of the dresser near the back of the room. They will probably all be too big for her though" He said, eyeing Ryvian up and down.
Ryvian shifted uncomfortably and hid herself behind Arkonus.
"Thank you Hagren, we'll be down in a minute to explain everything." He said as he shut the door to the guest room.
Arkonus let out a stress filled sigh and began going through the drawers of the dresser.
It wasn't hard for him to find clothes for himself, but Lord Hagren was right, finding something that would fit Ryvian was looking impossible.
The closest thing he could find was an oversized white shirt and some knee high socks.
He held them up to Ryvian with an apologetic smile.
"If I wear that I'm gonna feel like the main character in a cheesy romance novel" She said, grimacing.
Caught off guard by her comment, Arkonus burst out laughing.
"I mean you aren't wrong" He said, wiping tears from his eyes as he caught his breath from laughing too hard.
Ryvian took the clothes, smirking at him.
She was glad she could lighten the mood and make him feel a little less stressed about the situation.
After cleaning all traces of blood from her body she put the oversized white t-shirt and white knee socks on.
She looked in the mirror and grimaced.
"It's better than nothing" Arkonus said, patting the top of her head.
Ryvian pouted.
" I don't know, is it?" Ryvian asked.
Arkonus smirked and started to lift her shirt off.
"I was kidding! I was kidding!" Ryvian said, swatting at his hands.
After Ryvian helped Arkonus button his new shirt they began walking down to the ballroom.
"Just remember not to speak unless given permission" He said nervously as they drew closer to the ballroom entrance.
Ryvian nodded.
As they entered, the once loud room grew very quiet.
There were much fewer vampires there than the last time they had come to a meeting.
A very unamused and impatient looking Lord Vyromere stood up at the main table.
"I see you have finally arrived" He said through his teeth. "You are late even for you Lord Arkonus"
He motioned for Arkonus to come sit in his seat.
"What kept you, and why are you wearing untailored clothing?" Lord Vyromere whispered as Arkonus sat in his seat.
Lord Hagren leaned back in his seat and gave Arkonus an almost undetectable wink.
"We got into a small car accident on the way here." Arkonus said slowly, realizing that Lord Hagren hadn't said anything about the way they had arrived."We had to walk two miles in the rain to get here"
Lord Vyromere nodded, but had a look on his face that neither Arkonus nor Ryvian could decipher.
Lord Vyromere called everyone to attention to start the meeting and Arkonus mouthed 'I owe you one' to Lord Hagren who just nodded with a devious smirk on his face.
He definitely planned on cashing that in.
Lord Vyromere began the meeting by explaining that the preparations for attacking the hunters were complete as well as some smaller operations being a success.
He then went on to explain that the hunters had a main meeting house the same as the vampires had and that their next objective was to attack the hunters during one of their meetings.
Lord Hagren stood up as Vyromere motioned to him.
"Most of you have undergone some training with Lord Hagren as well as your servants, slaves, peasant vampires, etc" He said, "We didn't think we would have to rely on the Royals to fight and do any of the dirty work. However with how many hunters there will be at the meeting house we think it may be necessary to add you to the fight."
A mixture of annoyed, angry, and scared whispers swept through the crowd.
Lord Hagren's voice cut through the murmurs.
"Don't be so soft! Have you all lost your resolve? How are we supposed to be the best of the best and the most powerful of the powerful if you cower in fear at the thought of fighting some hunters?" He yelled into the crowd angrily.
The other vampires were quiet but then a surge of whispered agreements filled the room.
"Will you be joining the fight?" A voice asked from the crowd.
Lord Hagren puffed out his chest proudly.
"Of coursel And so will our secret weapon" He said, motioning to Arkonus who stood up from his chair. "Lord Arkonus."
Groans and mumbles of 'what's he gonna be able to do?' and 'He might be on the hunter's side; human lover' could be heard amongst the lower royals.
Hagren held up his hands and the room fell silent again.
"Not many of you know, but Lord Arkonus fought in the vampire human wars. He has more direct battle experience than all of us combined"
More hushed whispers.
"We we're avoiding throwing him back into fighting, but with him on our side we cannot lose!" He bellowed loudly.
Hagren succeeded in bolstering the royals spirits and they all yelled in agreement
and excitement.
After a moment Vyromere quieted the crowd.
"I have prepared rooms for all who wish to aid in the attack." He said "You will spend the next three days working on strategy and doing more combat training with Lord Hagren."
And with a wave of his hand he adjerned the meeting.
Arkonus tried to leave with Ryvian quickly, just as he had the last time, but Vyromere stopped him just as he got to his feet.
"There's nowhere to run off to this time Lord Arkonus, won't you finally join us for the after party?" He sneared.
Arkonus held his composure, but was desperately searching for an excuse.
Ryvian grabbed his sleeve and gently tugged at it.
He looked down at her and she gave him a reassuring nod.
Finally he sighed in defeat.
"Of course, Lord Vyromere" He said "But could we go somewhere more comfortable and warm? We're still recovering from our walk in the rain"
Vyromere seemed taken aback but nodded and motioned for the other royals at the table to follow him.
He led them all to a cozy lounge, with a lit fire place and beautifully ornate and comfortable looking couches and arm chairs.
Arkonus chose one of the chairs near the fireplace and Ryvian without thinking much of it sat in his lap.
As she realized maybe it wasn't a good idea in front of the royals and she began to get back up Arkonus wrapped his arms around her waist and made her stay seated.
The others eye'd the two of them but they seemed more curious than judgemental.
Ryvian realized this would be the first time Arkonus had partaken from a bloodletter in front of them, and would probably make him look better in their judging eyes.
She was glad she could help in some way.
Vyromere, who sat on one of the chairs opposite them, took no time at all in roughly grabbing his Bloodletter, a lanky blonde girl in a beautiful blue dress, and sinking his fangs deep into her outstretched wrist.
The girl bit her lip, obviously holding back a scream, her whole body shaking in pain.
Hagren sat on the couch, his raven haired bloodletter sat at his feet.
He very uncomfortably made eye contact with Ryvian and sunk his fangs into the girls neck.
The raven haired girl whimpered in pain.
Lord Pyrus was also sitting on the couch and seemed to be teasing his bloodletter, who was a young man with light brown hair similar to his own.
He would pause over his wrist, his arm, and his neck, as if preparing to bite down but then moving to a different area.
Finally he chose the mans wrist and bit down aggressively as the man grunted in pain.
Rwvian watched the scene, completely confused.
Why were they all having such a different experience from her.
They all seemed to be in pain and thorougly hating it.
Arkonus sighed in defeat again as he noticed the others occasionally glancing up at them, gauging what he was going to do.
"You sure you're okay with this?" He asked Ryvian quietly.
She nodded and tilted her head to the side
Arkonus moved her long hair out of the way to expose her neck, he carefully avoided the ribbon covering her mark and pressed his lips to her neck, giving her a gentle kiss, before sinking his fangs into her skin.
She held back a gasp as she tilted her head back against Arkonus's shoulder.
Her body filled with the ecstacy she had begun to crave.
Every atom of her being vibrating and humming with the perfect mixture of pleasure and pain.
All too soon Arkonus pulled away, licking up the stray blood that had seeped from her neck.
Still drunk from the feeling Ryvian slowly sat back up.
She grew very uncomfotable and sunk farther into Arkonus's lap as she realized every vampire and BloodLetter in the room were staring at them.
Except for Lord Pyrus's BloodLetter who lay crumpled up at his feet and no longer seemed to be breathing.
Lord Hagren whistled, breaking the silence.
"I can see why you picked her Ark. She enjoys being bitten as much as us vampires do. Can feel the sexual tension from here" He said, ammused.
Lord Vyromere looked frustrated but said nothing and Lord Pyrus was staring intently at Ryvian with an unfamiliar expression.
Arkonus cleared his throat awkwardly and wrapped his arms around Ryvian tightly.
"She is quite the rare one." He said, giving Ryvian a small wink.