A few hours of idle chit chat later Arkonus got to his feet, picking up Ryvian in his
arms princess style.
"We're off to bed" He said, as he began to walk to the door.
"Servants rooms are in the basement" Vyromere said, eyeing Ryvian.
*I like to have my cake and eat it too" Arkonus said with a smirk.
Ryian's face went bright red as she realized what he was implying.
Vyromere seemed disgusted but waved him off.
As they made it into their room at the top of the stairs Hagren opened the door just as Arkonus was about to lock it.
He carefully closed the door behind him and flopped onto the bed next to Ryvian, who back away against the head post.
Arkonus sighed in frustration
"Can I help you?" Arkonus asked, his voice filled with annoyance.
"Yeah, you can actually" Hagen said, smirking at them both. "I want an explaination for what I saw earlier "
He reached over and gently tugged at the bottom of Ryvian's oversized shirt.
"Why were vou covered in vour own blood. but without a scratch on vou." He asked
Ryvian glanced up at Arkonus, her expression showing she was uncomfortable and unsure what to say or do.
Arkonus rubbed his face, looking exhausted.
He walked over to Ryvian's side and ran his fingers through her hair comfortingly.
"You must swear not to tell the others Arkonus said, glaring him down.
Hagren nodded with a serious expression.
"Ryvian is an Achilees" Arkonus explained, "and also the woman I love"
Ryvian looked up at him in surprise.
She hadn't expected him to tell Hargen about their relationship.
"The relationship thing doesn't surprise me, neither of you are exactly discreet about it" Hagren said, not looking the least bit surprised by the news "but I thought the Achilees died out forever ago."
*I thought so too" Arkonus agreed, looking a little surprised at Hagren's reaction.
"But apparently their are still some out there."
He didn't mention that Ryvian was an artificial Achilees.
Hagren sat up and rubbed his beard, deep in thought.
Suddenly he smiled deviously.
"Ark, this is a big secret for me to keep, and I saved both your asses back there with Vyromere and the others" He said looking back and forth between the two of them.
"I demand compensation and payment."
Arkonus raised an eyebrow at him.
"How much do you want?..." He asked him confused. Hagren was already just as wealthy as Arkonus.
Hagren laughed.
*I don't want money, I got plenty of that." He looked over at Ryvian, his eyes turning blood red. "I want you to share your Bloodletter with me."
Arkonus froze and he growled threateningly.
Hagren raised his hands.
"I'm not gonna take her from you, I just think for such a serious and dangerous secret, sharing your bloodletter with me is a reasonable ask." He explained.
"I would never ask her to do that. She is more to me than just a Bloodletter." Arkonus said, his body still frozen and his muscles stiff with anger.
"Then I guess I don't need to keep this little secret if I'm not getting compensated for my efforts" Hagen said with a shrug, getting up and walking towards the door.
Arkonus was about to lunge at him when Ryvian spoke up.
"I'II do it."
Arkonus turned to her looking shocked and Hagren stopped just in front of the door.
"Ryv, you don't have t-" Ark began, but Ryvain interrupted him.
"Yes I do, I don't want to be on the run." Ryvian said, dejectedly.
Hagren turned around and walked back to the edge of the bed.
'Y ou two really know howto make a vampire feel like the bad guy" He said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
*I know you've been planning on asking for this since the beginning of the meeting."
Ryvian said, glaring at him.
Lord Hagen froze and then burst into boisterous laughter.
"You caught me there." He said, wiping a tear from his eye. "I didn't expect to be guilt tripped for asking for compensation though"
Ryvianwas disgusted that that was how he saw it, but realized she was expecting too much emotional maturity from a vampire, especially vampire Royalty.
Arkonus dropped to his knees so he was eye level with Ryvian.
"Are you sure about this?" He asked her, looking worried.
Ryvian nodded.
"Well then it's settled! Your secret is safe with me" Hagren said happily.
Suddenly he grabbed Ryvian's arm and tugged her to her feet.
He spun her around so her back was against his chest and he leaned down, taking in her scent.
"Wait until tomorrow, I already took her blood today" Arkonus said, looking worried.
"She'll be fine, it's not like taking too much from her will kill her" He said, pulling her closer.
Ryvian squeeked in surprise as Hagren sunk his teeth deep into her neck without warning.
Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as the familiar hum of ecstacy filled her body.
Did this feel even better than when Arkonus bit her?
She did'nt want to admit it, but it did.
This felt more primal, more instinctual, and more confident.
She reached up and gripped the back of Hagren's neck, not wanting him to stop.
With a soft gutteral growl that sent shivers down her spine, he pulled away from her neck.
Feeling drunk and exhausted, her whole body limp in Hagren's arms, Ryvian glanced over at Arkonus.
He was looking away and Ryvain could'nt tell what expression was on his face, but his ears were bright red.
Was he embarressed?
Suddenly her sight grew dark and her eyelids heavy, the room feeling like it was spinning uncontrollably.
Her head dropped back and she lost consciousness.
"Ryv!" Arkonus yelled, running up to her limp body in Hagren's arms.
"Relax, she's still breathing" Hagren said, pushing past Arkonus and placing her gently on the bed.
"I have to admit though, I had a hard time stopping."
Arkonus glared at him but nodded in agreement.
"Her blood is intoxicating, I couldn't stop the first time..." He said, his voice trailing off and a guilty look crossing his face.
Hagren sat next to Ryvian on the bed, moving the hair out of her face.
"Do you think Achilees count as human? Because if so I think I'm starting to understand your facination with them." Hagren said, staring at Ryvian's sleeping face, her mouth wide open as she gently snored. "They seem very strange. I can't get a good read on her."
Arkonus snorted and Hagren looked over at him, raising an eyebrow.
"I said almost the exact same thing about her when she first showed up in my life. Human or not; she is very strange and unpredictable." He explained.
Hagren nodded and then got to his feet.
"Try to get some sleep, we have a lot of planning and training to do tomorrow." He said as he left the room.
The next day was filled with tedious plans and grueling physical training, but at least she finally had real clothes to wear.
Servants from Arkonus's estate had shown up the next morning to bring them both new clothing.
Ryvian did her best to stay out of the way and to stay out of trouble during the training and the meetings, but Arkonus had to save her several times from various things that would have ended up killing her.
She sighed in frustration as Arkonus caught her as she tripped over thin air and almost cracked her head open on the side of a table.
"You're so lucky the others aren't here to see all your bad luck" Hagren said with a laugh. "They would definitely be suspicious".
They were in one of the smaller dining rooms after just finishing a snack before more training.
"Why exactly aren't the others here?" Ryvian asked as Arkonus decided carrying her was easier than dealing with her clutsiness.
Hagren followed them out the door to the large courtyard.
"I could make up some excuse and say they are working on other stuff related to the raid, but in reality they just couldn't be bothered to be here." He said shrugging his shoulders. "They want to watch the drama unfold without dirtying their hands".
Ryvian had begun to realize that Hagren didn't seem like such a bad guy. His views on human's were still very flawed, but he had been the only vampire besides Arkonus that treated her like she wasn't just another blood bag.
She could tell that Arkonus was still very wary of him though.
As Arkonus and Hagren began to spar at vampiric speed, Ryvian sat on the stone steps and watched, her eyes unable to keep up.
"At the meeting you mentioned that Ark was in the vampire-human war" Ryvian said "what was he like back then?"
Ryvian though she saw Arkonus stumble for a second.
"Oh he was a real delight back then." Hagren said sarcastically as he threw another punch at Arkonus's face. "He scared even me back then. Never seen a man that liked the carnage of war as much as he did".
"There's a reason I don't talk about those days" Arkonus said pointedly as he glared at Hagren.
Hagren ignored him and continued, narrowly avoiding Arkonus's leg as he kicked at his ribs.
"He's like a completely different man on the battle field. When he's out there it's like it consumes him." He explained. "Which is why we wanted to avoid bringing him back onto any sort of battlefield. He's unpredictable and down right psychotic when that switch gets flipped."
Ryvian's eyes widened.
Arkonus psychotic? Him?
Her memories flashed back to when he had protected her in the city from those men.
The anger he had shown and the way he had broken the man's fingers suddenly made a little more sense.
"I'm not that kind of person anymore" Arkonus said as he flipped Hagren on his back with a loud thud.
Hagren grunted in pain but quickly got back to his feet and began swinging at Arkonus again.
"I'm just worried you'll lose it again once the thrill of the battle comes back to you" Hagren said, looking honestly concerned. "Part of me likes seeing you in your element, the other part of me is terrified"
Another vampire terrified of Arkonus? and saying he was psychotic? He had to be joking.
Suddenly the sound of glass shattering filled the air.
Before Ryvian had even blinked Hagren had thrown his body over her to protect her from the glass now raining down from one of the high up windows.
"Sorry!" a lesser vampire yelled from the broken window.
Hagren turned around, glass sticking out of his back.
"If you're gonna spar do it in the courtyards!" He yelled back.
Arkonus ran over to them and careful looked Ryvian over, who was apologizing profusely to Hagren.
"I'm fine, really" He said, waving away her apologies.
Ryvain started helping him pull the glass from his back, but sliced her finger open in the process.
"Ouch" she said, as blood began dripping from her pointer finger.
Both of the boys stopped in their tracks, their eyes turning bright red as they watched the blood drip from her finger onto the stone steps at her feet.
She felt like a rabbit in a den of wolves.
Suddenly Hagren grabbed her hand and slowly stuck her finger into his mouth, almost seductively.
Ryvian's face turned bright red.
She glanced over at Arkonus's face to gauge his reaction, but he was looking away, his face just as red as hers.
His reactions confused her.
After Hagren cleaned the blood from her finger he pulled a bandaid out of his back pocket and wrapped it around her finger.
"I started carrying bandaids after finding out what you are" He said, giving her a wink and patting her bandaged finger gently.
Was Hagren actually kind of sweet?
Arkonus cleared his throat awkwardly as the lower royals from upstairs walked past them, one with bruises all up his side and glass sticking out of his elbow.
After dinner came and went Arkonus, Hagren, and Ryvian went to the large library and sat down with cups of coffee at a small round table.
"I'm thinking of sticking you both with me for the raid" Hagren said as he sipped from his steaming hot mug.
Arkonus raised an eyebrow at him.
"But that would put us directly on the front lines, dealing with their leaders" He said looking confused.
"You are correct, but it would also be easier to protect little missy over here if she is around two capable vampires instead of one." Hagren said, nodding at Ryvian "Especially if one of us goes psycho mode"
Arkonus looked annoyed, but nodded.
"I'm not going to go 'psycho mode', but I get what you're saying. I really don't want to put her in danger but I don't know what else to do." He said with a stressed sigh.
Hagren nodded in understanding.
"I'm in danger anyways. You've both seen first hand how bad my luck is." Ryvian said "Plus I would much rather go and realize my Achilees weakness is a silver tipped arrow than stay at home and die on the toilet or some stupid shit like that"
Hagren burst into laughter and then cleared his throat akwardly as he realized Ryvian was being 100% serious.
"I'm just worried about how you're going to react to the pain" Arkonus said as he gently grabbed Ryvian's arm and moved her into his lap. "After the car accident you seemed really bad off for a bit"
Ryvian shivered and curled herself into his chest.
"Yeah, that death was an intense one, but I doubt any death would be much worse than having every bone in my body broken," She said as she shivered again, remembering the pain.
"You'd be surprised" Hagren said, his voice suddenly taking on a serious note, as if he had felt something worse before.
While Ryvian was still curled up in Arkonus's arms, Hagren reached across the table and grabbed her hand.
He kissed it gently, keeping eye contact with her.
"We just want to protect the little princess." He said "Not just from death, but from pain as well".
Ryvian tugged her hand out of his grasp, her face turning bright red.
She looked up at Arkonus, still unsure how he felt about Hagren's advances, but he seemed unbothered and was nodding in agreement with him.