11 10

Silver woke up with one of the biggest headaches he's ever had. He also woke up to see the biggest and bluest eyes he's ever seen. Bigger and brighter than the prince's himself.

The man leaning over him was thin with short, curly brown hair. "Oh, you're awake," the man backed up, giving Silver room to breathe. The man wore a simple grey hoodie over a white shirt with doughnuts printed all over it. He also wore faded blue jeans and red converse. Silver looked around and realized he was back in his own room at the castle.

Prince Nicholas stood right behind the man with the brown hair and Donald was over in the corner casting worried eyes over Silver's figure.

But Silver felt fine albeit a bit groggy in the head and sore around his joints, but overall fine. Silver, on the other hand, didn't actually remember what had happened to him.

"Who are you?" he said, trying not to sound rude.

The brown-haired boy looked up from his smartphone that he was checking the time on, "huh? Oh, my name is MJ," he held out a hand that Silver dazedly shook, "You've probably never heard of me since I'm a secret of Willow Kingdom. I'm Felix's husband... Felix!" he shouted to the man sleeping on the armchair in the corner of the room.

The man's snoring ceased at MJ's shouting and he stirred awake. That was when Silver recognized him, "King Felix Winters!" The King of his home kingdom, Willow Kingdom.

King Felix was a muscular man, much larger than Nick. He had light brown skin with hazel green eyes and short dark hair. He was wearing a white suit with gold embroideries lining the seams.

Felix was half awake and half asleep. He blinked wildly and then turn to Silver, "Huh? Yes. Me. uh..." he wiped away the sleep from his eyes, "Nice to meet you,"

You're the King of Willow," Silver stared at him with admiration, MJ smiled fondly as well in Felix's direction, "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't react that way when you met me," Nick wrinkled his nose in scowl.

"Yeah, because 1. I thought you were going to drink my blood and 2. You're not the ruler of my home kingdom. He's the King of my home kingdom," he rolled his eyes "What's going on? What's happening?"

"You got in a car crash, hon," MJ answered softly, "Prince Nicholas didn't want anything to happen to you so he flew me down here to heal you... well we were already on our way but we took a detour at the castle for you guys."

"And you are...?" Silver asked

"A witch," he smiled, "Yes, a male witch. Yes, that is weird. Yes, it's pretty cool. No, I'm not transgender, it's just a really long story," he answered all of Silver's unasked questions

"Wow," Silver gawked, "So you came all the way here to heal me?"

"And your cute little butler over there too. Since you two are the only humans. Prince Nick didn't get that banged up," MJ giggled, gesturing to Donald, who was now in a heated phone conversation that no one really paid any mind to. Something about drunk drivers and past trauma.

"He's not that cute," King Felix cut in, pouting his lips.

MJ hip-bumped him, which actually went to King Felix's mid-thigh since the king was so large, "Hush your face."

"So you guys are, like, actually married?" Silver asked, breaking up the cute moment, "How come I've never heard of you before?" He directed his question to MJ.

"Because Willow prefers to keep me hush hush," MJ shrugged, "Being a male witch has made me a target in the past," MJ sat down on the bed next to Silver.

"That's so cool, being married to the king," Silver gawked, "And you dress and act like a regular person,"

"Well, I was just a prince at the time we got married," Felix shrugged.

"That's still something I could only dream of," Silver said with a laugh.

Nick cleared his throat harshly for everyone in the room to hear; he crossed his arms with a scowl, "I'm a prince? Does proposing to you in front of both of our fathers mean nothing to you?"

"Oh!" MJ covered his mouth, "I didn't realize you two had that kind of relationship."

"Um, well..." Silver didn't want them to get the wrong idea.

"Silver grew up with werewolves and vampire stereotypes so he's not very fond of me," Nick explained, "But we've grown close."

"Trust me, early marriage is not the weirdest thing in the world for royalty," MJ leaned closer and assured him in a softer voice, "When I first showed Felix my face, he immediately proposed and I thought that was insane. He didn't even know me, right?

But that's kinda how royalty works. See, unlike us, they don't have the luxury of searching for their soul mate their whole lives. Most of their lives have already been set aside to deal with the kingdom's affairs and supporting the kingdom.

So when a royal family member finds someone who they feel they can spend their life with, they latch onto them. No matter what their species is or what their parents say," Nick was listening in but just hardly so MJ leaned in even closer to whisper into Silver's ear, "So give him a chance. He's not that bad, or so Felix has told me," He winked, backing up and standing in front of his husband again.

King Felix casually wrapped his arm around the witch contently. Nick was staring so openly at Silver to the point where he started to feel very self-conscious.

His eyes were so bright and full of an emotion that Silver just couldn't quite place. He felt he could stare into Nick's eyes for eternity, no matter how many butterflies it put in his stomach, but King Felix shook him out of his thoughts.

"The reason that we're actually here, Silver-- that's your name, correct?" He asked

Silver nodded, still in awe of how the king of his home kingdom was addressing him casually by first name.

"We actually came here, Silver, because MJ decided to be nosy and look into your situation," King Felix said with the roll of his eyes.

"That's not entirely it! We're also on a much-needed vacation so we'll be here for a few days," MJ added, quickly turning a cute shade of pink, "But-but I did look a bit into your situation and I think you should investigate your past a bit more to figure out more about these Dragon people."

"How? No one from my past is still alive, as far as I know," Silver explained, "I don't know anyone in my family besides my parents and my aunt, who are all dead."

"You can go to their house, maybe?" MJ suggested, "Maybe you'll see some clues there if no one's living there currently."

"I don't know where my parents lived and my aunt and uncle's house was torn down a long time ago," Silver shook his head, "It's just a dusty patch of dirt with a few trees there now."

MJ bit his lip in thought, "Well maybe there are clues left there," he said, "Remember clues can come in forms other than object and materials. They can even come in the form of magic,"

"We should check the area for magical energy, you mean," Nick said, staring at the wall in thought, "That's a brilliant idea."

MJ nodded with a grin, "Magic almost always leaves a trace," he warned, "Let's see if those Dragons left some footprints."

***

Klara could not believe she was actually going through with this. It was an outrage, it was absolutely terrible, it was... Darius's father.

Klara did not call back Dwight D. Mallory, but to her utter delight, Dwight decided to call her. Four times. She was forced to schedule a meeting with the man and talk about Darius and (he promised) a possible internship at Dragon co.

So here Klara was now, at the receptionist desk inside the large mirrored building that is Dragon co. She pulled down her plaid brown pencil skirt, feeling it was a bit too high in the back and adjusted the matching blazer as an extra touch. Klara wore a simple white blouse underneath, flesh-colored tights, and black pumps. Her hair was tamed, up in a tight bun, framing her pretty, scowling face.

The receptionist looked up from behind the nameplate reading 'STELLA ROSE' placed on a desk that was much too high for her chair. The woman chewed her gum expectantly at the werewolf.

Klara could sense the vampire in the receptionist with cherry red hair and skinny rectangular glasses but said nothing about it.

Ms. Rose cleared her throat, "Do you have an appointment with someone at Dragon, hon?" she said in a deep, nasally tone.

The woman wore the loudest green pantsuit known to man and it did not compliment her hair or her beady brown eyes.

"Yes, I'm supposed to meet with Mr. Dwight D. Mallory," Klara answered with a half-hearted smile.

Blinking rapidly over long mascara-coated fake lashes, the receptionist turned to her computer. She clicked away on it for about five whole minutes before letting a short squeak out of her overdrawn nude lips.

"Of course! Over course this piece o'crap wifi shuts down on me!" she hollered.

She clicked and clacked with her stiletto shaped green nails once again, "Aha! Thought you could get me, you old technology, hm?" she chuckled to herself before lifting her head up to Klara.

"You are uh.... 'Kara Burns', hm?" she asked, somehow mispronouncing both the first and last part of the very simple, four-syllable name.

"I- um, yes, I-" Klara said, trying to correct the woman.

"That you, right? You are Kara Burns, correct? Hm?" She asked louder, bobbing her head after each sentence, still mispronouncing the name.

"Yes, yes, that's me," Klara said sharply, "I'm Klara Bruno."

"Eeeeexcellent," she clicked on her computer for a bit, then nudged her head towards an elevator shaft, "Twelfth floor, hon. Follow the signs after that, hm?"

"Thank you," Klara said slowly, making her way toward the elevator that had conveniently just arrived.

She sighed, pressing the number 12 and leaning against the green-tinted metal and closing her eyes.

"What am I doing here?" she asked herself.

By the time she got to the floor, she found herself in a room of cubicles with several opaque doors that lead to other offices. Sure enough, there was a sign that said DIRECTOR DWIGHT D. MALLORY.

She went through the door that was all the way at the end of the hall and, without knocking, burst through the door unceremoniously. She found the man himself, sitting at his desk signing a document with a black pen.

He looked up at the sound of the door opening and then smiled right as it closed behind her. "Hello Mr. Mallory," she said, feeling that she should be more formal in the workplace setting. Mallory laughed.

"Again with this, Klara? Please, call me Dwight," he beamed, "Sit, sit! Do you want coffee, I can ask Stella to bring up coffee? Do you like Stella? Lovely gal, huh?"

"She's very lovely," Klara agreed without any feeling in her voice, "No coffee, thank you."

"Suit. Your. Self." he said, jabbing the air playfully with every word, "Ha! I finally got you here! Whaddaya think, huh?"

"It's a wonderful company. I especially like the mirror tile on the outside of the building," She commented politely.

He got up and walked around her, "Do you? See I do too, but people always tell me it's dangerous," he sat on the corner of his desk in front of her, crossing his arms with a shrug as he spoke, "Reflects light into peoples eyes, they say, yadda yadda yadda. You know, you and I, we think alike. We're so in sync, we're practically family already."

"Already?" Klara raised an eyebrow. Surely he wasn't hinting that she soon would be his family, because she already turned his son down once before, "Besides, I thought we were going to talk about an internship," she pressed.

"Fine, Klara!" he threw his head back and sighed like a child, "A true businesswoman, eh? Knows what she wants! That's great! Exactly what this company-- and my son --need.

Fine, fine. You want the internship. You got it. I'll make it happen. Give you a cubicle by November, promise. Mum's the word. Now can we discuss my son, pretty please, Klara, my girl?"

Klara sat back in her chair, crossing her arms and legs, "Okay, then. What is there to talk about?"

"Have you given it any thought?" He asked.

"What, marrying your son? No, I haven't," she said, sparing the manners since he obviously didn't care at this point, "In fact, I've tried much harder to not think about your son."

To her surprise, Mallory grinned, "Just can't keep him off your mind, eh?" he snickered, misunderstanding her words.

She scowled, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Mal- Dwight, but I do not have any interest in your son romantically."

"You haven't been on a date with him have you?" Mallory persisted.

Klara threw her hands up, exasperated, "Now if I just said I wasn't interested in him romantically, why would I go on a date with him?"

"Isn't that what dates are for? C'mon, one date. Just one," Mallory pleaded.

"Absolutely not," she said, her tone reminding her of her cousin Silver. She realized she hadn't spoken to him or the prince in quite a while.

"How do you know you're not interested in him if you've never even been on a date with him? Just one date, please," the man insisted, "Just one."

Klara looked at him begging and went for a new approach, "Why do you want me to be with him so much?"

"I told you-"

"No, honestly," Klara narrowed her eyes, "you wouldn't be trying so hard if it were for the reason you gave me."

Mallory was silent for a second. Something twisted in his face, his nose twitched a bit when he couldn't control it. His eyes gave away that he wasn't saying something and Klara desperately wondered what the man was thinking at that moment.

Then, all of that was gone and he broke out into a big smile, "Alright! You got me! You want the truth? Fine, here's the truth."

He kneeled down in front of Klara and lowered her voice, "Darius has always fallen in love too easily. He's fallen in love with many people and some he's even still in love with."

Klara raised an eyebrow, not sure how this relates, but Mallory just continued, "You see, you're the first non-vampire that Dar-bear has ever seemed to take an interest in. The reason why he's taken an interest in you is... irrelevant. But you're the only non-vampire who has the potential to get close to my son."

"I don't understand," Klara shook her head, keeping her voice low like his. Something in his voice told her this wasn't the truth either, but she didn't want to go into dangerous territory so she went with it, "Why wouldn't you want your son to be with a vampire? I mean, you guys are vampires and, from what I hear, you're a traditional family. Wouldn't you want to marry into your own kind?"

"I would," he smiled, "But that's not quite possible at the moment. Let's just say, I think my son can do better. Better than vampires, I mean."

"But you are a vampire," Klara reminded him again.

He laughed, "Just go with it, Klara. All will be revealed once you're my daughter in law," he winked, "Good plan, right? I mean, don't we make such a great pair? You and I? You... in your cute little work outfit! We'd be a match and, years later, you can come home from work to Darius, who had the servants prepare dinner- AH! I can see it now. The whole family, the picture of domestic bliss, doesn't that sound lovely?"

She gave him an obviously fake smile, "As lovely as Stella Rose."

He laughed and stood up, "Well whaddaya say, Klara?"

"To marrying your son? It's still a 'no' of course," She shrugged.

"No no no, to giving him a chance. Give him one date," he pleaded, "Just one and he'll love it, I swear."

"Just one date?" Klara rolled her eyes, "And if it's clear I don't like him, you'll leave me alone?"

"One hundred percent" he beamed.

"And Darius won't bother me either?"

"Of course,"

"And I'll still keep my internship?"

He laughed, "Ah, naturally, my girl, naturally. Your internship is set in stone."

Klara eyed him and his tan suit ominously, "Fine. But don't tell Darius that you're the reason I'm doing this," She stood up, "Poor guy's about to get led on, don't want him to know his father is behind it."

Mallory gently clasped her shoulders, squeezing them slightly, "I was just about to ask the same, my dear," he chuckled, leading her out the door, "Great minds think alike, after all."

***

So that's how Klara ended up in her pajamas, pacing the hallway next to her dorm room with her phone anxiously pressed against her cheek. Angie was in there and, for some reason, the thought of asking Darius out in front of her made her nauseous.

The phone rang for a few more seconds before she heard his familiar voice, "Hello?"

"Hey Darius," she said, trying to sound less rude than usual, "It's Klara," she facepalmed. Of course, he knew that.

"Yeah... I just kinda didn't believe that you would be calling me," he laughed shakily, "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Ah, no, I'm just... How's it going?" She stuttered stupidly.

"Fine," he said suspiciously, "Is that why you called? To check up on me? I still feel a bit sicker than usual but really I'm fine,"

"N-no, not really," she gritted her teeth, "I just, you know, I've never called you before. I figured, hey, why not talk to Darius for a sec?"

"So you just wanted to talk to me?" Darius sounded just as shocked as she expected him to, "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad. I'm just... surprised?"

"Yeah, well actually I really just wanted to ask you..." Here it comes, "there's this movie that I really wanted to see but it'll be embarrassing to go without, like, a date or whatever... would you mind going with me?"

There was a long silence and Klara thought-- no --Klara hoped that the line had somehow disconnected right before she said anything.

But, alas, Darius replied a minute later, "Are you asking me out? Like on a date?"

"Yes. I am," she said, tight-lipped, "To the movies."

"Um.... yeah, sure. Of course," he said, sounding very doubtful still, "When? And Where?"

"Oh I'll text you everything once I get it sorted," she explained, waving her hand even though he wasn't in front of her.

"I thought you were already planning this? That's why you needed a date?" he reminded her.

"Uh, yeah. But it's showing at a couple of different places," she answered quickly, "I gotta check the times, the food, the prices, and stuff like that, then see with one suits my taste the best."

"I see."

"Yes... well... goodbye," she hung up without waiting for a response and went back into her dorm room.

Angie was splayed out on her own bed, texting in nothing but a black sports bra and Nike shorts. The very slight curve in Angie's waist immediately attracted Klara's eyes before they went back up to Angie's eyes which were already cast on her.

"Going to bed?" her roommate asked.

Klara nodded, getting into bed and then groaning at the still mattress. She shifted in her bed, trying to get comfortable, "I hate these dumb old mattresses the dorms have. They're like made of sand or something."

Angie laughed softly as Klara turned off the light, "Yeah same. But you know what I hate even more?" she asked, "The really thin walls the dorm has. You can hear practically any phone conversation a person is having in the hallway."

Klara froze in the darkness, eyes widening in realization.

"Goodnight, Klara!"

***