Taste death.

After that emotional encounter with his brother, Belial sauntered his way back to his chambers. He saw flashes of the half breed female in the hallway as he approached his chamber.

Innocent human, he thought as he walked towards the paintings, thinking back on how occupied she was with the painting and the way she was so lost in it to notice her surroundings. He recalled how her frail fingers hovered on the walls, her face bright with fascination and intrigue, her confusion when she came face to face with the door did not escape him.

It had not lasted long though because her mind seemed to be working on something, whether or not to enter the room.

And Belial had held his breath, waiting for those fingers to open and enter his chamber. He saw how curious she was and would he have been more than delighted to give her a warm welcome then; exchange names and maybe get to know more about each other in many ways. He closed his eyes and took in a chunk of air, relishing in the images he saw in his mind. They could have even skipped the ball.

He shook himself back to reality, the ball was taking place tonight, he thought as he pushed those unholy images at the back of his mind.

Belial moved closer to where she'd been, where the last painting was, staring hard at it; and it stared right back at him. The colored version of his race's dishonesty and pride. He looked at it, pained to know some of the cruel things in these paintings actually happened eons ago.

He somehow felt relaxed that the half breed didn't get to see the remaining collections, the brutality in them was something that still got his stomach turning every time he saw them. He was not sure how she understood or interpreted the painting, but judging from the her fascination, he was thinking she considered it some kind of fairy tale.

After he became king, one of the first changes he requested to be done in the palace was for the wanted them gone. But the elders and courtiers had fought mightily against it when they got word of it. They thought getting raid of those paintings engraved on the walls was considered disrespect to their ancestors and their contribution to their lives now, they argued that he being a direct descendant should not have even considered it.

"Your majesty, those paintings are a direct link to the things our ancestors went through to get as to the independence we enjoy today," an elder who was the oldest among them argued.

''Your majesty, your parents kept those paintings and carvings, they acknowledged it as a reminder of who we are and serves as a guide to where we are going. My fellow elders and I believe that it should remain."

He had been young back then to argue about it, besides he did not understand the full implication of being a king yet and he wanted to be on everybody's good side, to be accepted by all those old goodies that considered him to young and unworthy to be king, so he let it. Belial later on understood that he could not be on everyone's good side because he was no one's favorite. All the courtiers and elders ever did was reprimand him and complain about absolutely everything he did. With time, he stopped trying to please their prideful asses, stopped taking advice from them all together and started ruling how he saw fit for his people.

But he had been so busy realize the brooding life his younger brother had subjected himself to and the tad full of a mess he was. He had forgotten for a while he had another responsibility, one that was a pounce heavier that his loyalty to his people. He forgot a moment that he was not the only that had been orphaned and left lonely after their parents passed.

With all the court work and ruling in general he had failed to see the dreadful path his brother was threading. Maximus had always been the closest to their parents, especially their mother, she considered him an unexpected gift from God because she had not entertained the thoughts of getting pregnant again after years of trying. due to that, she pampered too much for his own good. Her death had taken a big toll on him, something he failed to realize as an elder brother. Maximus lived a frivolous life even when their parents were alive but everything got worse when they died.

Belial thought it would be better to let him have his moment, he was still so young for a vampire and he would wake up one day and get his shit together but he realized sooner that there was going to be no waking up for his brother when he got a lot more worse with time.

What shook Belial into action though was that one night under the bright full moon when his little brother was almost torn apart by a werewolf, he had seen how defenseless and shocked his brother had been. That was when Belial decided the fun was over and devised a plan to send him into the mountains, he knew how risky it was, given his brother's lack of skills but he knew the guy had a lot of fight in him, he was savage and that was all he needed to be to survive the place, he could perfect on the skills later. What he needed now was a push; to taste death to awaken the killer and survivor in him. And the plains offered a more death experience than anywhere else. He was sure Maximus would hate him at first but that was the least of his worries then.

The elders as usual weren't in favor of how he chose to deal with his brother, they called for a court meeting and lost their heads arguing his measures were extreme.

"He is merely half a century Your Majesty, he's got a lot of time to learn I don't see why he should be rushed,' one elder said and Belial almost scoffed.

''And besides Your Majesty he might not survive the plains, you know how dangerous it is,''

Belial knew, he had trained there with their father. And Maximus was supposed to do same but he was unfortunate, their father died before he was ready. As an elder brother, he was supposed to be there with him, to guide him through his first kill but God knew he could not leave his throne in the care of all those power hungry lunatics that occupied court seats and only talked trash.

''You left your bother alone in the cold plains to be disemboweled by animals twice his size?'' another asked. he was a vampire and not just any vampire, he was a pure blood, he could handle himself, Belial thought, slowly getting bored. Some even went as far as saying it was a deliberate plan to eliminate his brother because he saw him as a threat to his throne. Belial almost laughed, the only threat his brother was, was a threat to his own self.

''Your Majesty, we find this act totally unrequited and demand for the royal prince immediate return right at this moment,' one courtier and also a member of the leading council stood up and spoke breaking through the argument of the other courtiers with the finality of his words.

That was what what broke the camel's back for Belial, his self control snapped and he got up with so much force, he knocked his chair over. Before the man knew what hit him, Belial was in front of him, as fast as lightening and he had his neck in his hand, his back pinned hard against a wall with his legs hanging in the air and almost out of breath. The other courtier were shocked by the speed, going over what had just happened in that fleeting second.

Belial gripped hard on the man's neck as his large hands squeezed the day light out of him. He knew it was not going to kill him, that was not what he was looking for, the perpetual fear as he gagged and fought for breath was his target. still gripping on the neck, belial turned to face the others, if they had no problem showcasing their disregard of him, he would not also have any regard whatsoever for them.

"You demand?" his voice was like an irrupted volcano that burned into their skin. It took them a while to realize he was exerting his king command on them, he had never used it on them before and God, it was nothing they had ever felt before.

"I am king, no one commands me, none of you can," he said between clenched teeth, his eyes boring into theirs one by one as he spoke and he saw how they fought to keep eye contact. Arrogant bastards, Belial scoffed. "It would be easier for all of us to get that drilled into our heads if you are going to be working as courtiers in my court house."

By the time he was done talking, they all had their heads bowed. He dropped his hand and he fell to the floor at his feet, tortured gasping sounds and hoarse gagging sounds filled the room. Belial walked out of the courtroom satisfied with himself because he knew everything would change after that and it did.

Belial opened his eyes bringing him back to reality, he took of his jacket and dropped it in the bed. It was almost sun down and soon, his guests would be arriving, his aristocratic vampires. He could imagine the pain some of them might have gone through to get themselves the perfect dresses to wear considering the short time notice.

Balls were a way of communication among the rich and mighty of their race. It was the only time to get all of the aristocrats in their society together under one roof.Royal balls was a way for them to show off their wealth and flaunt their status.

And he would love to see their faces as they learn the reason for the ball, the first royal ball held in ages. How disappointed they would be when they found out it was held in the name of a human; a half breed.

He could not wait, he smiled as he got naked and went into the bathroom to prepare for what was pushing to be one of the best nights he'll have in a long time.