"You are terribly late," Emilia said to Mathias in a petulant accusing tone the moment he stepped out of the portal and into the bedroom of her family manor.

They were seventeen this year and had physically outgrown the small cave by the sea. What had once seemed cavernous when they were children had turned out to be seriously lacking in height, forcing Mathias to drastically stoop when standing or risk bashing his head on the cave ceiling. Without fail, Emilia took the opportunity to laugh her heart out at the sight of the tall vampire crawling on his knees every time he emerged from the portal.

Even Emilia could no longer squeeze herself through the cave mouth and had somehow sweet-talked Mathias into meeting in the most hostile place for vampires on Earth, the Feronia family manor right in the heart of the witch's administrative capital, Onirique.

It was a terrible, terrible idea, but one he had impulsively agreed to simply because Emilia had fluttered her lashes at him, begging with wide grey-blue eyes and an adorable pout. Although this was his third time visiting the manor, he was still on edge.

Emilia was glad her father was away on business. Emilia loved her father, but even she knew how he coveted the position of Witches Committee Leader to the point that it consumed his every thought and determined his every action. It became the only focal point in his career drive and dictated all life decisions. It was the reason Emilia had grown up in the witches' administrative city here on Earth, the only child among dull, uninteresting adults. It was Paul's way of showing dedication to his work; by showing his voters that he was willing to stay off-world, he portrayed himself as a hands-on leader who walked the talk.

Her father's intentions were never to hide his pompous ambitions but to showcase his matching skills, meaning that he made multiple public appearances throughout the year, on Earth and back at the witch's homeworld, Zandlana, to drum up support from the voters. There was no denying that he was charismatic and confident, faring well among the younger generations, although his opponents were critical of his overly bullish, risk-taking nature and penchant for warmongering.

Right now, he was travelling through the Earth territories, canvassing votes for the next Committee Election. After all, voters needed to be reminded now and then of who their Committee members were, including their achievements in the last decade or so. Emilia was secretly thrilled because it meant she had the whole mansion to herself, having given the rest of the staff the day off.

"I could not excuse myself from that dreadful meeting," Mathias said apologetically as he closed the portal and walked over to her, "but now my time is only for you." Unfortunately for him, Gaius and his generals had chosen to have a long-winded discussion regarding troop deployment just as he was about to come to visit Emilia.

Mathias reached out to hug her, and she offered no resistance, immediately melting into his arms without hesitation. Sighing deeply, Emilia said, "I have missed you."

It was getting harder for them to enjoy moments such as this together, she thought a little sadly. Mathias was the future ruler of his people. His time was hardly his own. Emilia did not wish to imagine what the future would be like once he ascended to the throne.

They stood in the middle of the room, locked in each other's arms, unwilling to break the peaceful moment. The prince nuzzled his face into her hair, enjoying the silky softness against his cheek. Her hidden pleasure was listening to the steady thumping of his heartbeat, the only sound amidst the overpowering silence of her empty home.

Without warning, there came the sound of footsteps outside the door. The unlocked door. Caught off guard, they quickly pulled apart to stare in shock and panic at each other. The house was supposed to be empty! Mathias realised in dismay that there was no time for him to form a portal. "Hide!" Emilia hissed, even as Mathias frantically looked around the room, still panicking away, and ended up diving at vampire speed under the bed.

The doorknob turned, and in walked the towering frame of Paul Feronia, a look of confusion plastered on his face. "Where are the servants?"

"Father! What are you doing here?" Emilia blurted out in undisguised surprise.

Paul frowned. "The war council called for an emergency meeting. Now, will you tell me why our servants are missing?"

"I gave them the day off. I intended to spend some time outdoors today and felt their presence in an empty house was unnecessary."

Her father gave her a look of irritation. "Your actions were unwarranted, Emi. They are paid handsomely to tend the manor, and I expect them to do so at all times. Do not interfere with their work schedules again."

Emi lowered her eyes to the floor. "Yes, Father."

Paul strode out of her room, and Emi quickly locked the door. From under the bed came sounds of a struggle until the tall figure of Mathias finally shimmied his way out from the tight space. He glared at her and whisper-yelled, "Now, do you agree that this is a bad idea?"

Emilia winced, "I admit, today was not a good example of a successful rendezvous."

"I think it best if I leave," Mathias said hurriedly, "just in case your father returns. Meet me tomorrow at midnight at the cave. Worry not. I will widen the entrance so you can squeeze in."

Emilia pouted but agreed that it was too dangerous for him to remain. "Very well." She stood on tiptoe to kiss his nose tip. "Until tomorrow, vampire dear."

Mathias grinned, "Until tomorrow, my love."

Mathias reopened a portal to his room in the castle back in Riogven and stepped through. It was a neat and orderly room, with everything in its place, since he disliked it when things were messy or chaotic. When he wanted to be alone, this was the one place he could enjoy some much-appreciated peace.

'Now that I have returned earlier than planned, I can have myself a good nap,' he thought happily while walking towards the large four-poster bed, with four fluffy pillows arranged neatly at the head. Just as he was about to launch himself onto the enticingly soft sheets, a voice rang out from behind, "Hello, little brother. It is nice of you to grace this castle with your presence once more."

Mathias yelped, spinning around to find Lannetta seated on one of the high-backed armchairs in his room. A shiver of fear ran down his spine. 'I am doomed.'

He sputtered, "H-how did you get into my room?"

Lannetta gave him a smile that was not a smile. "Through the door, of course. It was unlocked." Mathias groaned out loud. Today was turning out to be a day of cursed unlocked doors. Suddenly, Lannetta sprang out of the chair and, with a giant leap, landed right in front of her ill-prepared brother, grabbing him by the ears. Mathias had good reason to be scared of his elder sister.

"You have been keeping such a wonderful secret, you little sneak!"

"Ow! Ow owww," he yelped as she tugged and twisted both ear cups ruthlessly.

"Did you think I, Lannetta Bloodreign, the one in charge for all of these years of finding you whenever you tried to shirk your responsibilities and hide from Father, would not notice your mysterious disappearing acts over time? I assumed you had found a hidden spot in the castle grounds that no one knew off to go hide in, but never had I imagined this! Today, I saw you heading to your room, but when I knocked on your door, there was no answer. Imagine my shock when I entered to find an empty room."

She glared at him menacingly, sky blue eyes narrowed to slits. "Brother, if you value your life, you had better start talking." Although she was shorter than Mathias, Lannetta knew how to make him feel small, as if he were the one staring up at her and not the other way around.

"I'll talk, I'll talk, just let me go!" Mathias shamelessly begged. Lannetta released his burning ears and returned to her seat on the armchair, sitting on it as if it were a throne. "Start talking, little brother."

Mathias told her everything she needed to know, from the first time he formed a portal, how he first encountered Emilia, to their subsequent meetups. He only left out the true nature of his relationship with Emilia.

Lannetta sprang out of her seat while placing both hands on her hips, always a sign she was beyond angry. "Are you insane, Mathias?! Stepping foot into Onirique is foolish. You could have been killed!"

"I was careful, and nothing happened," he stubbornly replied, earning him a hard knock on the head. "You are not to endanger yourself any further. Do you understand me?" Lannetta used her authoritative big sister voice on him but garnered only a non-committal grunt in reply.

She glared at him, which was why Mathias quickly nudged the conversation in the direction of his powers instead. He explained his efforts to further understand how his powers worked and his reasons for not telling their father about his Talent. Lannetta listened carefully and remained silent after he had finished his story.

She was silent for so long that Mathias was beginning to fret. "Netta? Say something."

She stared him dead straight in the eye. "The witch. Do you... have feelings for her?"

Mathias could never understand how his sister could see through him so easily. There was nothing he could hide from her. "I do."

She sighed, one hand rubbing her forehead to ward off a headache. "You need to tell Father about your Talent. I will not mention your indiscretions to him, but you cannot keep this from him any longer. I know you wish for peace, and so do I. But has it ever occurred to you that while you have kept your powers hidden, the witches have actively sought out unique new Talents within their society to weaponise?"

The look on Mathias' face told her the thought had never crossed his mind.

Lannetta was angry, and she did not hide it. "Have you forgotten that it is your responsibility as future king to protect your people from threats, especially since you have been given such a gift?" It took a lot of effort on her part not to smack him hard on the head once more. Her brother was so naive!

"Frankly, brother, I am disappointed in your lack of good judgement. Keeping such a secret from Father when he has worked himself to the bone to keep us safe, does it not bother your conscience?"

Mathias suddenly felt like the lowliest son in the world. How had he been so blind? He was selfishly clinging to the hope that the impasse would lead to peace talks, but his yearning and inaction came at the expense of his father's health and wellbeing. He was the worst, undeserving of the love and care the king unconditionally gave. Mathias hung his head in shame, "I am sorry, Netta."

"It is not me you should be apologising to," she said, making his face crumble. Lannetta watched the miserable boy before her and felt her acrimony dissipate. Mathias had grown as tall and broad as their father, but he was still a seventeen-year-old boy, after all. Sometimes, she forgot that.

Sighing, she reached up to squeeze the youngster's scrunched-up face between her hands until he looked like a befuddled goldfish. "I will not remain angry with you, little brother, so cheer up."

She decided to tactfully change the topic and gave him a small smile. "Your Talent is a wondrous gift. I would love to see more of it. You said you were trying to control it further. How so?"

Mathias gazed down at her gratefully, thankful to his sister for letting him off so easily. He said, "Initially when I started opening portals to places, it was purely by intuition. I think of a place or feel a place emotionally, and the portals somehow lead there. I did not know how."

He remembered days when he did nothing but open portals from one point of his room to another while wrecking his brain on just how he did it. "It took me a while, but I realised something important. The ring of light that forms before the portal opens is not a ring of light at all. Instead, it is a band of interwoven strings of light, and each portal destination is produced by a different weave of these strings." Mathias excitedly said, "I can see the weave!"

Lannetta met his enigmatic expression with one of dumbfounded awe, "I do not think I follow what you mean."

Mathias tilted his head to the side as he cracked his head, thinking of an analogy that would make more sense. After a while of hard thinking, he came up with one. "Right. Imagine I braided some ribbons together and placed them like a wreath on a tree. There is nothing special about this tree, in a forest of trees that look just like it."

"Okay."

"That wreath with that particular braid would be unique to that tree alone. It acts as a marker." Lannetta nodded to indicate she was following.

"So let us say, I create a unique wreath with its distinctive personalised braid for every tree in that same forest and give you a drawing of all the wreaths. If I told you to stand before the first tree, even though you have never been to that forest before, how would you know which of the many trees in that forest was the one I was referring to?"

Lannetta pondered the question before quickly understanding, "I would identify the tree by its unique wreath."

Mathias nodded, "Exactly. The portals have interwoven strings of light that, in my eyes, look just like those ribbon wreaths. The weave in each portal changes according to location."

"Just like the wreaths on different trees," Lannetta said in fascination, "Brother, I am impressed."

He shrugged his shoulders, brushing off the praise. "I am still learning. I mean, I can manipulate the portal to some extent. At the moment, I can enlarge the portal size and thus far, I can get it big enough that two men standing abreast may enter. Oh, and I have a fun trick I can do. Here, let me show you." He took a few steps forward before shocking his sister by disappearing entirely from the room and reappearing a few seconds later in the same place.

Lannetta's look of shock was comparable to a startled owl. "You vanished."

"All I did was step into a portal and back. I just made the portal invisible."

She chuckled evilly. "That would make for excellent entertainment, brother. Perhaps you can scare the generals with your disappearing act at your next meeting."

"Very funny, Netta," he said sourly, not liking being reminded of his upcoming meeting with the vampire elders. To distract himself, he began tossing a tiny ball of flame from one palm to another like an expert juggler. Not only were the elders boring, but they also seemed to have a penchant for droning on and on about the exact same things every time they met, such as troop placements, supply chain issues and weapons manufacturing.

'Perhaps one day there will be a Talent that allows a person's words to be copied onto some sort of inanimate object so that they need not even attend a meeting and instead send the object in their place.' He sighed.

"How is it that you passed through the portal with your clothes still intact?" Lannetta suddenly said. Mathias blinked and then froze. The thought had never occurred to him. The portals linking the three homeworlds to Earth never allowed for anything non-living to pass through, including clothes or weapons. This was a sore point for the vampires because they could not transfer far superior armour and weapons over to Earth.

"I have no idea, but I intend to find out," he said, intending to spend his free time studying the vampire portal.