Reverence

Repulsive

Predominant of the visitors where feeding! On the luxurious upholstery to the walls of extra large golden window panes. They where all... feeding... everywhere!

Exclusive for pure blood... Guess Ruviena forgot about what menu they'd serve for the evening. A number of humans that didn't seem to look like slaves. Kidnapped? But they all looked so willing to be feasted on.

It was not the mass dining that repulsed Ruviena, It was the other thing they where doing while dining. They where fornicating. Majority of the guests where already half naked! Flesh and blood was what literally reflected on her ice orbs.

Ruviena almost slightly stumbled backward but Xerion held her firm to regain her posture.

"Hellsworn?" Luscious sweet voice echoed from a certain direction. Towards the would be throne area. An extravagant concubine straddling the one known as the emperor. She had light brown hair that curled all the way down to her small back. Thank god, she was clothed— barely. Her fabric that hardly wrapped around her obvious curves where in cherry red see-through. The jewellery on her where showered all on top of her pretty little head that dangled till the length of her hair.

The emperor raised his hand to gesture the couple in, with the woman in her lap beaming a smile at Ruviena's husband.

"Your highness" Xerion took a step forward before kneeling on one knee with his head down infront of their Father of blood seekers. Ruviena's eyebrows scrunched together out of confusion, she wasn't sure what to do at that moment if she should kneel down as well or do one of those overelaborated greeting curtsey like what her sister Reilyn had taught her in one of their secret studies.

'No! No! curtsey... imagine that you are an elegant swan or a soft silken fabric submerged in crystal water sister' Ruviena recalled her sister's ridiculous choice of words for a mere female version of a bow. It made Ruviena's eye twitch at the thought.

With the awkward long pause she had already taken, perplexed - she ended up acknowledging the emperor's presence by nodding her silver head respectably instead.

"General... Silver Huntress..." The emperor greeted returning a nod for both. With that, Xerion stood up tall and went back beside his wife.

"Welcome, make yourself at home and enjoy"

'Yeah...no' Ruviena thought. Surrounded by half naked blood suckers isn't her cup of tea. Although the scene wasn't enough to make her go home crying.

The gorgeous concubine hopped off from her emperor's lap and approach Xerion with excitement.

Her pale hands raised to hold Xerion's chiseled jaws in between, as she gazed at him almost... desirably.

Not another one

Ruviena remembered the pitiful Olivia, and now there was this girl.

"I've missed you... You rarely visit the palace for me now" The concubine pouted teasingly. Xerion returned her gesture with a formal smile. Unfortunately, the concubine took it as a welcoming signal for her to do a more intimate motion. Pulling his face slowly towards hers as she herself began tiptoeing. The concubine was going to kiss Xerion right there where Ruviena has the front row seat.

Ruviena wished she could roll her eyes back... far far back. She instead clicked her tongue and let out a short sigh before stepping in. And by stepping in, it meant Ruviena held a handful of the concubine's mouth... pushing her a step apart from Xerion as she held her still. What came over her?! At the back of her mind, she thought she made a suicidal move but if she thinks about all the facts of who she is and her purpose.

She'll be fine

The concubine's apple tinted eyes shot open wide in surprise as the crowd around them halted. Like a cold breeze suddenly froze them all. The sudden chill in the room matched Ruviena's dull cold leer on the woman that was about to sully a simple moral rule with human marriage. Even though their kin are obviously never monogamous to the point that they'd share their women, but Ruviena was not about to embrace that culture in her marriage and she was going to make a very risky statement.

"How dare y-!" A male servant hissed at Ruviena as if he was about to stalk towards her and rip her head off like how everyone else in the room wanted to but he was cut off from Ruviena's words

"With all due RESPECT. The emperor wishes to co exist with my kind which meant reverencing each and everyone's economical function or culture, correct?"

The emperor was calm as if he didn't care less for the life of the concubine who was muffling in her screams within Ruviena's fairly strong grip. In fact, he found the silver headed beauty amusing and didn't even bother stopping her even though he could easily kill her right there and then and just replace the general's wife with another woman with hunter's blood. They would stage an accident to avoid further rage from her kind and especially prevent casualties with the hunters.

But if she was invited to such a party by the general himself made it clear that she was of a higher value to the general. Replacing her was not an option. The other pure blood knew it too... They despised her but they wouldn't dare to harm her without making an enemy out of Hellsworn and the rage of whoever was loyal to her as a huntress. She used those basic facts and decided that she would come out unharmed with her actions. Remarkable

He replied to her with a low approving voice

"Correct"

"In my kind, Ordinary people declare that third party intimate activity is a crime" Ruviena's ice orbs seemed like she would freeze the concubine to death.

"Not that I am implementing our human rules to ALL of the vampires, But it will surely apply to whom I'm married to. Unambiguously, my current actions are not illegal"

"Wife of Hellsworn, As much as how I approve of your judgement but I do not recall your people handling such trivial matters to a life threatening manner"

The emperor held her dreary gaze, as if she was doing no wrong. Brave that woman is. His general did say that she was stern and capable of righteous violence.

"My economical status is enough to let me handle things... 'thoroughly'. Especially when the other said party fit so well with my career's scope"

The woman in her grip flailed and gripped on Ruviena's arm, wanting to break them but for some reason their strength where equal. A basic mind trick was what Ruviena did, she'd grip on her face tighter if she attempts to break Ruviena's arm and as she had expected... the concubine was a coward that only knew how to spread her legs, she was one of the few non-pure blood. Ruviena knew the moment she layed eyes on her because the shade of her red eyes where light, similar to that of Yoran's

"I understand" The emperor said with his lips curved to an interested smile

Ruviena then let go with a light push where the concubine over reacted her fall and made a matching light screech. She crawled towards her emperor

"My emperor! she was hurting me!"

"Silence" The emperor said in boredom towards his petty concubine.

The concubine tightened her lips in frustration and disdain, she merely sat on the ground beside the throne in silence. The emperor soon waved his hand gesturing to the crowd to continue enjoying the evening. Xerion put on a proud air around him from his wife's strong statement. She was territorial of him and he liked it very much. The general did mingle with a number of women before and the concubine was one of them... though like every other women he has been with, they where never interesting outside the bedroom.

"She is a brave one" 'Much like the former generation Vellis woman' The emperor thought and began a soft conversation with the general

"Yes, Yes she is" Xerion responded casually. He looked beside his woman that looked like she was still pissed that her husband didn't even do anything to reject the concubine. They both knew he did it on purpose to see what she would do. Unfortunately Ruviena didn't like THOSE kind of jokes and she handled it beyond his expectations.

Xerion leaned down to give her a light kiss on the cheek and whispered a short sentence in her ear

"That was an adorable display of affection"

'Adorable... wait till I get my hands on you when we get home' Ruviena twitched an eyebrow at his supposedly sweet comment

"Wife of Hellsworn, If you don't mind... I'd like to have a word with the general" Asking politely to a huntress even though he is the emperor of vampires? Even Ruviena found it odd, yet it felt satisfying to her. She was managed to gain a seat in one of the individuals the emperor respects now.

"Not at all... your highness" Ruviena then gave a warm yet professional smile. Once she turned on her heel planning to approach the most normal drink she could get her hands on, her arm was trapped by a big fist. Firm but not hard, just enough pressure before she heard her husband's sexy rasp of a warning.

"Be careful"

Be careful? Right... A room full of vampires with 90% pure bloods and 10% food and non pureblood which she also effortlessly piqued by grazing vampiric ego.

'Okay maybe that wasn't such a good idea choking the concubine'

-

Noir had been circling around the palace. Because he had to keep an eye of his mistress, that was already a daily doing. He could fly only within the lands of Froxenheim, but this morning his flight limitation seal had been broken. Xerion granted him his freedom but for what?

As Noir glided on dark sky occulting him from sight, he began recalling the general's words

'I will release your limited flight perimeter, But you have to follow a very simple order'

[CAW!] 'I only take orders from my mistress, scum!'

Xerion then held up a small chunk of wood. A piece from the crate. It looked boring and Noir thought he was showing trash, until he caught a glimpse of one tiny shimmering dot. It did not shimmer gold nor silver, it specifically shone a distinctive red. One that Noir recognises fully

His mistress had also discussed with Noir what has been going on and if it was related to the general's current investigation which she elaborated to him in detail. But what Noir saw made the crow feel devastated.

[CAW CAW!]

'Right, now that we have an understanding. Keep this information from Ruviena. She will know when it's time, I need her to not give away the impression that she knows about this'

Noir's head jerked in a bird like motion as it tilted to face to the side where his eye focused on the wooden chunk that now hid the shimmer. It was too small, and if the crate where all assembled with that piece it was impossible to find.

[CAW] Mistress is not gonna like this

'Bird, Ruviena will start relaying messages from Froxenheim to Villesberg once I tell her she can. All of the back and forth information especially ones that involves this Jackal... No message doesn't go through me first. Understand?'

[CAW]