Lucian woke to the sound of a feint humming, a soft feminine voice that he thought sounded familiar.

'Good morning grandson.'

Lucian bolted upright, knocking Danika from his body. She groaned and rolled over, muttering something about her head hurting now.

'Grandmother...'

Nicoleta slowly walked over, looking at the beautiful woman asleep in her grandson's bed.

'Dress and meet me in the attic... alone.' she whispered.

Her image faded and Lucian frantically dressed and raced out of the room to the attic. Nicoleta slowly wafted beside Lucian as they moved through the attic area moving toward the tall cupboard.

'You know of my history Lucian?'

He nodded.

'I am a cursed princess.' Nicoleta said sadly 'My family and my people fell to a monster and with time my husband and I did too. The only blessing in this tragedy is that your mother survived. When I was a young woman and that terrible tragedy happened to my people, I didn't think I could ever survive it. In the moments after the slaughter of my people, Miranda hurried me to pack as many of my prized possessions as I could. I did not know why she was in such a state but I did as she requested. She had the staff help me as quickly as they could and we left Atlantis. I was grateful for her help but I do wish that she had told me what was going on. I don't wish to dwell on the past and I understand the reasoning but it doesn't sit well with the soul to know of how many perished that terrible day. It was in their best interest, I know that. There was no amount of help that would ever save them, human or vampire there was no forgetting what happened.'

'How did you or your staff cope?'

'I had your grandfather.' Nicoleta grinned 'He has been the soothing guide in my healing, if it wasn't for him I would have surely gone the path of my people. Even in those few moments as I was rushed out of that town, they had started to go mad. The staff were able to occupy themselves with tending to my needs and of course once I was taken in by Lucian's parents, they came to serve his family. I think you might know them.' She smiled again.

Lucian struggled to think of which one of his staff members it could be.

'Rosa was my handmaiden, William was the coachman. Fine servants and even after our death they were loyal to us. They searched for your great grandparents when Gavril wasn't around. They were the ones that moved these things up here, they are the reason that this was not detected.'

He moved quickly to the cupboard as his grandmother squatted down to the lower part of it.

'There is a movable panel, jiggle this until you hear a pop.'

Lucian did as he was told and when the panel went pop. The whole piece pulled out, revealing a hidden draw. It was full of jewellery, stunning pieces that looked very expensive.

'These were mine; I fear that many of your grandfather's family pieces have been lost or sold. It was unlike me to be so distrusting of other family members but I was. If only I could have seen them for their true worth.' Nicoleta pursed her lips at the thought of them 'They lived in this castle pretending to be one happy family but there was something that I just could not shake. I should have listened to my instinct; I should have trusted myself. Now our family has paid the ultimate price for his actions but it is in the past and we cannot change it. All of these pieces except for one item were my most treasured, they held sentimental value to me. They are from my family and they have travelled a great distance and I am grateful that I was distrusting otherwise they may not be here for you. I have spoken to your mother about it and she is more than happy for you to have everything here, however I would suggest to you that you divide it between your siblings so as not to cause fuss. There is one piece that I thought you might be interested in though.'

She gestured to a little box in the back corner. Lucian picked it out and opened the box to a very old looking diamond ring. He thought it was stunning, a rectangle diamond surrounded by perfect round cut diamonds, the gold band had more of the same round diamonds trailing down it. It looked so delicate.

'This is the only piece that was not from my life in Atlantis. This was a gift from your grandfather to me when we found out we were pregnant with your mother. She is the light of our life and we have wallowed in our sorrow for such a long time, we never thought that we would see her again. Your mother never visited us. If she had we could have told her that everything was ok, we would have known that she was ok. But when you and your love ventured down the path and spoke, your great grandparents knew that there was hope. We begged Godfrey for one moment to convince your mother to move our bodies here and he gave it to us. Your mother has a strong exterior, a facade that in recent months has been slowly breaking. Godfrey knew that her suffering needed to be dealt with swiftly and granted us this one opportunity. We are grateful that your love has encouraged you and your mother to the path. If she hadn't, if you had continued along the path in your quiet, solitary walks, no one would have known that you were there. You never spoke.'

Nicoleta smiled softly at the tears that welled in her grandson's eyes. She tried to wipe them away but couldn't, her form turning to air. As she huffed, she gave him an apologetic smile and returned her attention to the ring.

'This is for you to give to your love, we know of your intention to marry her and we would like nothing more than for her to have this piece, not just as a declaration of your love, but as a thank you for returning us to our home, to our family.'

'Thank you grandmother, it is beautiful.'

'A beautiful ring for a beautiful woman, your grandfather said that to me when he gave it to me, and I think it applies to its new owner.'

Nicoleta grinned.

'She is quite a catch darling, and from what I understand very interested in our ways, she will make a great queen.'

'But what of her king?'

'He will do his family and his people proud, as all Eliade's have.'

Nicoleta stood from the ground as Lucian replaced the draw, slipping the box into his pocket.

'I hear movement downstairs, I think the humans are awake. I will see you later.'

She disappeared into the air as someone walked up the stairs. Lucian stood up and saw Danika making her way to the top of the stairs. She looked happy to see him but there was something wrong. The smile on her face was forced, her eyes told a different story. She was worried.

'Hey, uh... we have to talk.'

Danika looked a little concerned as Lucian walked over.

'What's up?'

'Bill's happy with what's been done, he said we're ready to leave. We have to go back onto the tour.'

Lucian's entire world just fell to pieces, she was leaving. Danika could see it in his face, he wasn't taking it well at all. She feared this negative news could send his new found sobriety into a downward spiral. Danika didn't know what to do, the tour had been booked for a year now. All of the tickets had been sold and then there was all of the promotional interviews that had been booked. Her life was booked solid for a very long time. This past few days had been bliss but it was just a momentary gap in their very long schedule.

'How long?'

'Until we leave or till the tour is over?'

'Both.'

'The staff are packing up now, so probably within a couple of hours, the tour has another year.'

She took his hand, hoping to find the right words. She didn't want to go but she had to.

'Come with me.'

'I can't.' Lucian shook his head sadly. 'The document I signed, it was to take over as ruler of Rostonin. That's what Terrance was talking about, the ceremony, that is when they are going to crown me as king. I have to stay here or it will be seen as abandoning my kingdom and I will forfeit all of my rights and cause a massive upheaval. My mother will be in trouble for being so careless with her kingdom by signing it over to someone that takes off for a year.'

'So that's it then? Your job's more important, you won't leave it?'

Her tone was cold as she felt the anger swell.

'You won't leave yours, will you?'

Danika struggled with her emotions, anger at him, frustration at the situation, fear of losing him, sadness for the inability to change it. All of her emotions that were tied to his sobriety were forgotten in the heat of the moment, all she could see was her own pain. But it was anger that dominated her emotions, taking over and causing her to lose it.

'Fine, your highness.' she hissed. 'Enjoy your kingdom.'

She stalked down to her room and packed her bag, failing at holding in her sadness.

********************

Tears freely rolled down her cheeks as she haphazardly stuffed the clothes into her bag. He didn't even bother to follow her. She wondered what he was doing, if he was ever going to try and stop her from leaving. All of her fears about things turning bad were coming to the surface. It had only been a few days and already her world was torn apart. The love that she felt for him was far greater than she had ever imagined she could have for another person but none of it mattered anymore. He didn't try and stop her. He didn't chase after her. He didn't even try and find a reason to make her stay. She knew that she had lost her temper far too quickly and that she could try and search him out so that they could find some kind of middle ground but she couldn't. The fact that he had let her walk away spoke a thousand words to her. He didn't care. He cared more about his precious kingdom and that's all he could see. There would be no suggestions of things that they could do to fill the year apart from each other. She knew he would never suggest it. Danika could see that Lucian's world was all about him. She laughed despite the tears, thinking about the way that he had been. It was always about him, what he wanted, who he wanted. His life was filled with the need for something. The narcotics had been replaced by the kingdom. He needed his kingdom and not her. As she zipped the bag shut, she thought he could have his kingdom. Just like he didn't need her, she didn't need him either.

Lucian could bear the thought of going downstairs, he would have given anything to follow her, a week ago, he would have without a second thought, but now he had duties. He was bound to his new life now and to this kingdom, going away for a year would be seen as the throne being abandoned and it left him and his mother open to all sorts of problems. Lucian watched from the tiny window in the attic as the staff packed the trucks, the bus being loaded with the band's bags. He went around the attic in circles, trying to avoid looking out the window but he always ended at the same spot. Watching them move quickly, packing things, a few of the trucks left. The last to leave was the bus, it sat on the driveway with the sun glinting off the roof. One by one the band got into the bus. The last to get on was Brendan and Danika, he could see the look on Brendan's face, it looked like he was ready to kill someone. Someone named Lucian. He couldn't see Danika's face but by the way her shoulders were rounded, he could see she was upset. It felt like Lucian's heart was being ripped out, he couldn't stand to watch it any longer, leaving the window to find solace with an old friend.