Dinner 3: Unspoken rule

Red hair, honey brown eyes, pale skin... Lily took in the features of King Francis as she bit into her plate of vegetable salad.

While everyone was eating meat, she was eating vegetables. Lily felt sad for herself. Couldn't they at least make her well-cooked meat without blood? She thought to herself as she quietly ate.

Now she saw where Sabrina got her features from. She really looked like her father while Devon looked like their mother.

No wonder Sabrina was so beautiful, she had extremely good-looking parents.

Lily was thinking all these to escape the awkward silence in the room. Devon wasn't helping either as he kept trying to initiate conversations with her to which she replied with short answers.

Sabrina was also uninterested in the food before her as her eyes searched for who Adrian could probably be among the princes seated at the other end of the table.

"Attention everyone," Margarita, Sabrina's maternal aunt, called out as she clanked her wine glass with her spoon.

When she finally got the attention of everyone she spoke, "I've been here for over a week, and I've never been introduced to the man my dear Sabrina would be marrying."

Sabrina's eyes widened. This was the moment she was waiting for, her eyes focused on the Maximilian princes to see who would identify as Adrian.

"Yes that's true, now that we're all gathered, can Sabrina's husband-to-be introduce himself?" Another woman asked eloquently.

King Uriah pursed his lips before he spoke, "I'm sorry to disappoint you all, Adrian is not present at the moment as he has important matters to tend to."

Sabrina sunk into her chair when she heard this. Was she really not going to see Adrian before the wedding?

"What insolent behavior is he displaying days before his wedding?" A man asked with disgust in his voice.

"I'm not surprised. An uncivilized mother breeds uncivilized children." Another man spoke and was surprised at how loud his voice came out. He had meant to say it under his breath and hoped the murmurs of the rest would cover it up.

Aziel's lips twitched when he heard the demeaning words used on his mother. He slowly stood up with his cutlery knife in his hand.

"Who just said that?" He smirked as he slowly dragged the knife onto the table, creating a long line.

When he got no answer, he gripped the hair of the closest person to him and held the knife to his neck.

"Point him out or die in his stead," he said out loud for the person to hear.

The man with a knife to his neck frightfully pointed at the person immediately. "There, there."

Aziel slowly pierced the man's neck with the knife and scoffed, "Are you trying to ridicule me?" He pierced the knife even deeper, earning him a loud yell from the man.

"You know I can't see, I need specific directions," Aziel emphasized.

"Aziel!" King Uriah called out, but it seemed like Aziel added deafness to his disabilities.

"Five chairs to the person opposite me!" The man painfully yelled as Aziel dug deeper.

Aziel unexpectedly jumped on the table, surprising everyone. He went to the opposite side and slowly counted seats as he was at the table.

"I won't tolerate it if you take one step further," King Francis warned. He had had enough of Aziel making him look like a fool in his castle.

"I'd like to see you try," Aziel smirked and abruptly bent in front of his target.

"Please, I'm sorry…" The man began to plead when he realized Aziel finally found him. He had thought Aziel's lack of sight would be an advantage for him, but he was wrong. Aziel spot on picked him out amongst the hundreds of people present.

His pleas fell on deaf ears as Aziel used the knife to stab him at a vital point in his neck instantly leading to the unfortunate death of the man.

Right in front of everyone, Aziel sucked his blood dry and flung his lifeless body on the floor.

With a smirk on his bloodied lips, he turned to king Francis, waiting for what he had to say.

"Satisfied?" King Francis asked in calm anger. As much as he wanted to break Aziel's wings, he knew he had to tread carefully otherwise his lifeless body would be lying next to that man.

"His blood was bitter," Aziel said casually standing upright on the table like he owned the place.

He walked from the table to the opposite side before jumping down. "If you think your blood can satisfy me," Aziel said as he traced his hands on the seats counting each of them till he got to his, "...try mentioning the name of my mother."

He drew out his chair and nonchalantly sat down. He took the tablecloth and dabbed off the blood stains before resuming his meal as if nothing had happened.

The Maximilians said nothing throughout the whole ordeal. It was an unsaid rule never to mention Aziel's and Adrian's mother in front of them, especially Aziel.

The defaulters of this rule either met their early death, just like this man or were left physically deformed for life.

The first victim was the king of Danville who had called Aziel's mother a cheap whore at a summit to decide what to do with Aziel when he was first cursed.

Aziel had gone into beast mode and ripped him to pieces in front of everyone.

The news of what Aziel had done to a man of high status such as a king spread like a wildfire and many people feared to talk ill of Aziel's mother before him.

Many people had ended up like the king of Danville in the hands of Aziel and Adrian and everyone feared falling into the same category.

But some foolish ones like the man who just died earlier, won't learn until they were served death.

And both Aziel and Adrian didn't mind, they were creating more examples for others to learn from.

"Why are we not eating?" Aziel asked calmly when he saw that no one touched their food again after what had just happened.

"I-i suddenly don't feel too good, I'll retire for the night," a woman said and hurriedly left the dining room.

"I just remembered I have important letters to send to my cousin down south, I beg to leave," a man said and left the room in a hurry.

Suddenly, everyone had something to do, and they all left one by one until only the Bufords and the Maximilians were left with Lily included.

Now that everyone was gone, they could now see how far apart they were; each family at the far end of the long table.

"I'm sorry for the ruined dinner," King Uriah apologized. He wasn't going to apologize for what Aziel did as he saw no wrong in it. Though the method Aziel used was wrong, the reason was valid.

King Francis cleared his throat and stood up with the chair screeching loudly before he left.

Queen Eloise grabbed the hand of her daughter, Sabrina, and with a curt bow, they both left.

"I guess I'll be leaving as well, Do you wish to come with me, Lily?" Devon asked knowing full well what her answer would be.

"I'm sorry," Lily said softly, her eyes not giving him a bit of attention. Instead, they focused on Aziel who seemed very relaxed.

"See you around?" Devon said taking Lily's hand and placing a kiss on it. Lily finally looked at him and a smile played on Devon's lips as he left the room.

"You just had to be such a brute and ruin dinner," Elliott angrily tossed his tablecloth and left.

King Uriah silently stood up and left wordlessly as well.

"At least for the sake of your brother, try to stay level-headed," Edward advised before he left as well.

"Tut Tut Tut..." Ethan clicked his tongue with a shake of his head. He picked an apple from the fruit basket before him and left. He didn't go in the direction his brothers went but instead took the corridor to the female servants' quarters. He had already arranged a meeting with three female vampires.

"Goodnight," Elena smiled softly at Aziel before taking her leave as well.

Lily and Aziel were now the only ones in the dining room, both at the far ends of the table.

Lily still hadn't gotten over the shock of what had just happened neither did she understand the reason behind Aziel's brutality. But seeing how everyone handled it, it seemed there must be a credible reason.

"Won't you leave as well?" Aziel's voice echoed in the dining room.