Twenty-Two
[This picture is kind of how I imagine Lady Kahtrina ☺️]
Dohmenic
With her auburn locks and crystal gray eyes, the Lady Kahtrina looked nothing like his beautiful, blonde, brown-eyed Mihrisa.
Yet still... he couldn't take his eyes off her.
Sweet Miss, she was stunning. Her beauty struck him the minute he gazed upon her, hit him like a mace.
Her hair cascaded down her shoulders and stopped mid-chest. It looked silky in the daylight from the windows, which also happened to fit the description of her pure, alabaster skin. Her lips were tinted a faint red color and her eyes sparkled as she stepped forward and curtsied slow and deeply before him. Automatically, he extended his hand and let her kiss his ring, but other than that, words seemed to escape him.
She truly was beautiful. The dress she wore was whiter than her completion and looked as satin as a summer cloud. The design suited her limber figure, her full bosom and her plush hips. As the Dralan took in every little detail about her, he knew instantly this female would no doubt suit his throne beautifully. He would produce beautiful heirs with her genes and no doubt in his mind told him her hips couldn't survive birthing them as well; She was a prime candidate.
And yet... even with all his requirements met to the fullest, he felt nothing inside his body. Nothing. Not even the slightest tingle or pull. She was beautiful beyond what he could've ever imagined, yet his body was blind to it.
- And of course he knew why.
"Lady Kahtrina," He nonetheless greeted her. He reminded himself that this was all for the better. It would just take some time, he would eventually grow fond of her. Or so he told himself. "Arise."
Lady Kahtrina slowly arose, keeping her eyes lowered. She was just like his Mihrisa in many ways; he had to tell her every single little thing she had to do, only he didn't crave to do it as much as he did it with his own. He didn't long to see this female's eyes land upon him, tempt him. If anything, he perhaps just wanted this female to keep glaring down at his feet.
But that wasn't how he was raised. "Look at me."
She obediently did. Her eyes flipped up and met his, but where his own Mihrisa usually sucked in a breath at the same time - as if the act of looking him in the eyes needed an extra breath - the Lady Kahtrina seemed steady enough, though not arrogant even the slightest. She was humble and respectful, just not as nervous as his Mihrisa - perhaps her feelings towards him were as blatant as his were to hers.
"You are a beautiful female, Lady Kahtrina," He told her and did not lie. She was beautiful, just not his taste. "I'm confident we will make better acquaintances over the next couple of days."
The Lady Kahtrina bowed her head respectfully and folded her hands over her skirts. "It is an honor to meet his royal highness. I will do everything I can to live up to his majesty's demands."
Her voice was like her appearance; Beautiful. Pleasurable. Nice. And yet like all the rest of her, it did nothing for the Dralan.
"Indeed she will," Lord Amasgohn - his old friend he hadn't seen in years and the father of the Lady Kahtrina - now spoke up, just as his daughter took a step back and joined the rest of her family on the bottom steps of the grand stairs. "As will we all. Allow me to reintroduce you to my family again after all these years, my lord. My female, the Lady Derina."
He gestured to his mate who curtsied deeply and bowed her head. She was still easy one the eyes, even though she was reaching her older age. The Dralan acknowledged her with a firm nod. "Blessings to you, female."
She nodded and smiled back. "And to you, your highness."
"My son, Tharlis," Lord Amasgohn continued once his wife stepped back and then gestured to his only son, "And his lovely mate, Seralia. It's an exciting time you have chosen to arrive in, my lord," Lord Amasgohn explained and smiled proudly when his young son and his young mate stepped forth, "We are expecting their bonding ritual to be consummated any day now. My son turned 15 just days ago, and his female will follow soon after. We are but waiting for her first bleed."
Something clicked inside the Dralan's head. He remembered the two youngs standing before him. Of course not by looks, but by names. They had been one of his first Bhrakla Auroras that he had conducted as Dralan, after his father passed away. These two youngs were now entering the phase of the completion. As soon as the female had her first bleed, they would have to consummate the Bhrakla Aurora he had brought them together in. An exciting time it was, indeed.
"Last time I saw you, you were but a infant, Tharlis," The Dralan said and smiled hard to the young male in front of him. He stepped up to him and looked down at him. "You're almost a grown male now. Do I trust you will look after your female and impregnate her as soon as nature allows it?"
The young male, high on his youngster hormones and fed up with getting his new title as a grown male, nodded back firmly and stood up straighter. "You have my word, your majesty! I'll claim her as soon as I can."
The Dralan couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. He remembered being that age; Young and racing on needs - both blood and carnal. You had so much energy, but nothing to with it. This young male had been waiting 15 years to bed his female and now the wait was almost finally over. There was nothing to say about him being and sounding impatient.
However, the female was awfully late on her first bleed, the Dralan thought. Most females got it around their 13th birthday, some even younger. To not have bled yet at the age of 15 was uncommon, but not unheard of. He knew better than any other, one couldn't rush nature and that The Blithesome Miss decided when it was time.
"Don't keep your male waiting for too long, young female," He nonetheless instructed the young male's mate who nervously gulped and nodded. She, unlike the Lady Kahtrina, was nervous and jumpy.
"I p-promise, your highness."
"And finally, my youngest daughter, Auhrelia," Lord Amasgohn said and directed the Dralan's eyes to a very young female who still sucked her thumb as she stood in her pretty little dress and gazed up at him. She could be no older than 4. She had the same shade of red hair as her older sister and mother, but not as long, only shoulder-length.
She stepped forward and did a clumsy little childish curtsy for him, one he was sure his mother had instructed her to do, but one that brought a twitch of a smile to his lips anyway. He gave her a little nod, but then turned his head to Lord Amasgohn. "Only one son?"
Lord Amasgohn lowered his head, but it wasn't out of respect this time. It was almost shame - humiliation of not producing more than one male heir in his prime years. "Unfortunately, my lord. My wife had two stillbirths, both males. The Blithesome Miss bless their souls."
The Dralan bowed his head in respect for the male's loss. "I see no ill fortune, my friend. Not when your eldest daughter stand before me beautiful, healthy and of age, in a time where one such female is exactly what your Dralan is looking for. The Blithesome Miss may have taken your sons, but she gave me your eldest daughter. Be in joy of that."
Lord Amasgohn bowed humbly, as did the rest of his family. "Our deepest thank you, your majesty. We cannot thank you enough for choosing our Kahtrina for consideration. When Lord Merram approached me, I could hardly believe it. If there is anything his majesty needs, even the least, we and my entire staff are all at your disposal."
The Dralan nodded firmly. "I'd like my Mihrisa to be escorted to my chamber," He ordered and turned to gesture to her, whom in all the introductions had been so very silent behind him. Even now as the attention shifted to her, she kept her head down in shyness, shielded herself from all the eyes upon her. "I take no chances until I have determined the Lady Kahtrina to be suitable, and therefore my Mihrisa stays by my side at all times. Night and day. She doesn't leave my side or my chamber when I am gone. Nobody but people selected by me is allowed to enter or see her. Is that fully understood?"
If the order surprised the Lord Amasgohn, he didn't show it. He simply bowed his head and replied steadily; "Of course, your highness. We shall make sure that his majesty's Mihrisa gets settled comfortably into the Dralan's private chambers. Anything else?"
The Dralan nodded satisfied. If they had questioned his orders, he would've reminded him why he their Dralan was. "That will do for now. My Kathmirs will get unpacked with assistance of your staff and my Lathras will be attended to with everything they might need after their journey. Food, blood, healing, females."
Lord Amasgohn bowed his head again. "Already being taken care of, my lord."
"Good," He approved. He was impressed that the male had managed to pull all of this together in hardly three days. From the day Merram had learned of his daughter's status, to right now, it had hardly been three full days. Evening was coming by now, the dark slowly falling.
"Well, if his majesty is hungry, dinner will be served within the hour," Lord Amasgohn informed with a tight smile. "We hope you and - if she is allowed - your Mihrisa will join us for a great feast."
"Thank you," The Dralan affirmed, just as his eyes fell to the Lady Kahtrina again. Her head was kept down, eyes on the ground. "But I think I'll take my dinner in private. With the Lady Kahtrina. The quicker we get to know each other, the better."
Lord Amasgohn was stunted for a short moment. Obviously, he had pecked him to at least join them all in a polite dinner before he begun the courtship on his daughter. But as if it came as any surprise, the Dralan was no patient male.
Of course patience had nothing to do with his urged demand to dine with the Lady Kahtrina alone so quickly. No, this was all about trying to break the bond with his Mihrisa, hoping that the pull inside his body would let go of her and maybe latch on to the Lady Kahtrina instead. The faster that happened, the faster he could get her home to where she was safest; in his castle, far away from Phlague.
"If that is what the Dralan wishes, so be it," Lord Amasgohn loyally replied and bowed before him. "We shall set up the dining hall for the two of you and make sure you shan't be disturbed."
The Dralan gave him a hard nod, but then turned and gave Callath a just as equal, but more telling nod. Callath, being his friend and personal Kathmir, understood the meaning behind his nod and instantly held his hand out to his Mihrisa to lead her to their room. Just before he did so, the Dralan tried catching her eyes. She didn't meet his. She continued keeping her eyes down and it irritated him.
She was growing more and more stubborn and feistier around him and he wasn't so sure that he liked it. Right now he would've slain dragons to see her eyes, but he denied her so, even though he knew with certainty she could feel him staring hard at her. She rejected him, just like he tried to reject her.
But unlike her, his body didn't listen to his mind. It craved her, wanted to see her eyes, needed to hear her voice.
But he couldn't. That's why, instead of following her to their chamber and making sure she was more than comfortable, he forced himself around to look at the Lady Kahtrina, who silently and pliantly still stood on the stairs, waiting there like the rest of her family for him to dismiss them.
"Lady Kahtrina," He said and forced his voice into a soothing tone. She instantly looked up. "Take a walk with me through your father's fort."
Leyla
She was breathtaking.
Silver was painted in the corners of her eyes and a sharply drawn black line accentuated her eyes. Her lips were pouty and rosy, a perfect arch for kissing. Her cheeks were pinched so they looked fresh and youthful, not that she needed it, the way her skin glowed.
Even with all her makeup, she looked polished and simple, radiated like an angel in her vanilla white dress. One similar, but much more expensive and bigger than the one Leyla was wearing herself. In comparison, the one Leyla wore looked like a mere shift.
When she had bowed down deeply before the Dralan, her grace had exceeded anything Leyla had ever seen. Even her fingertips were graced. Her hair was silky and a vibrant red color, and her figure was one that only healthy food all throughout your life could give you. Leyla's confidence was shattered in the very second she laid eyes on her.
- And as if she needed any more to break her soul, the look on the Dralan's face had crushed her heart into bleeding shards.
He was awestruck, just like Leyla had been. The Lady Kahtrina's beauty was not exaggerated, if anything it was the complete opposite. She was a vision of beauty - a mascot to how females of wealth should groom themselves.
And there Leyla was, a simple Bahk trying to mimic someone who belonged in the same room as her. As any of them. She was almost pleased when the Dralan ordered her to be stuffed away in his room, hidden away from the public as she was sure he was now ashamed to be seen with her. The Lady Kahtrina outshone her by miles, no other female existed within her orbit. And Leyla had accepted that the first minute of being in her presence.
Slowly, she was coming to terms with the fact that soon, this fairytale existence she had been living in these past few weeks would be over. She would wake up from her dream and be reunited with what she knew best; work, fear and constant worry of who to trust.
But at least she would belong. She would have Bhria and maybe she would even get to see Ahrron again and thank him in person for what he did. In light of all the horrible, she had to focus on the good that would come out of it.
And that's exactly what Leyla did as soon as Callath had led her through all the halls, to the Dralan's chamber, closed the door behind her and left her to be alone.
Lord Amasgohn didn't have the same wealthy furniture that the Dralan did, but it was obvious that the interior in this room had been carefully selected and dusted off to accommodate the last pureblooded vampire alive and their kingdom's leader; the Dralan.
However, they hadn't expected Leyla to be staying in his room, so while the bed was a kingsized, it was smaller than the one Leyla was used to sharing with the Dralan. That meant they would have to sleep even closer together now, unless he wanted her to take the floor.
Just great, Leyla thought and sighed as she took a seat in one of the plush chairs. Another room, trapped with the Dralan. How was this different from the Dralan's castle? Of course she wouldn't have his undivided attention here; no, that was reserved for Lady Kahtrina from thereon out. All Leyla had to do was sit there and wait until he came back at the end of the day to feed and then go to sleep. And like the obedient female she was, she didn't have a choice.
A perfect female is an obedient female, Leyla remembered her mother telling her. She trusted her mother and so therefore she heeded her words; she was going to be the perfectly obedient female and sit it all out, until the moment where she was free and could go back to taking care of who she should be taking care of - herself.
So with a determined mind, Leyla took a deep breath and refused to let this situation break her. Her soul could be shattered and her heart could be in pieces, but as long as blood still flowed in her veins, she could make it through. She had Bhria to support her and knew that when the time came, everything would be alright again. She just knew.
Leyla therefore forced the last words that had left the Dralan's mouth before she was led away, out of her head. She refused to feel her heart shatter by the thought of where the Lady Kahtrina was taking him inside their fort. She didn't allow her mind to wonder what the private dinner between the two of them would spark.
And above all, she banned herself from thinking about what would happen afterwards.
***
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