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The sounds of the forks and knives clinking against the plates of food set before each attendee echoed in Misa's ears, pounding on her brain. Her world seemed to be moving in slow motion, and she struggled to retain her focus on the happenings around her. She had her fingers on the thin neck of her goblet, totally without intention to drink what had been poured inside. 

Burdened by her burning desire to drink every last drop of the blood in her goblet and then more, Misa, starving, dying of thirst, was painfully at war with her human brain.  

"Troubled?"

Misa started with a little jolt and looked to her left side. A nobleman who seemed to eternally be in his mid-forties was looking at her with a perplexed yet kind expression on his face. He had a goatee of deeply gray hair coating his chin and upper lip to match his lowly cut head of hair. The nobleman's eyes were a beautiful startling blue, the color of sapphire. 

Most noticeably, his eyes lacked the feral thirst for her human blood that Misa so feared she'd see.

She fought a sigh of relief and smiled at the man as she replied, "Only a little? To be honest, I'm not used to these sorts of occasions."

"Oh?" The man said, leaning closer. "Aren't you, m'lady? You must hail from nobility yourself, being the chosen bride to our honorable Prince Ran. An occasion such as this is unfailingly common among all noble families across the land. Of course, among those of us here, we have never heard tale of your noble standing. M'lady. 

"Yours must be... rather special?" His milky sweet voice matched the sudden mischievous gleam in his sapphire eyes.

The harsh switch in the vampire's now predatory demeanor caused Misa's skin to tickle with chills and her smile to falter, though almost imperceptibly. A sense of gloom and panic washed over her as she thought, What does he know? What is he trying to find out?! But she refused to let any telling mannerisms show. 

She forced a relaxed titter of laughter and replied, "Special? Mmm, I guess you could say that, Sir..."

"Oh! Forgive my extreme disrespect. Sir Toto Chibana, m'lady."

"Sir Toto. Nobility would be the wrong word to describe my origins. I was born into great wealth but hidden among the noble classes, with the freedom to come and go as we pleased. It's only natural that others would know nothing of me. And vice versa, of course."

The vampire beside her hummed in response and reached for his goblet. "Please, accept my most humble apologies for prying. m'lady. We are all just so curious about you, you see? We might be here for political discussion with His Majesty, but really," he leaned in close, offering his goblet to Misa in a gesture of cheers, "we are truly here to see you."

Stunned, Misa gave the nobleman a close-lipped smile and, picking up her goblet for the first time, touched her rim to his. The dull clank pulled some uncomfortable attention towards the two of them from the other diners, but nothing felt half as oppressive as the aura wafting off the queen herself.

Oh, God, Misa thought, her brain in turmoil as she watched the deep, dark red liquid slosh around in the cup as she pulled it back toward her. Additionally, the eyes on her body felt like the points of spears running her through.

Like the queen was waiting to see her drink--to watch Misa make the fatal mistake of proving she was a human and not a vampire. It would only take one second, then, to rip her to shreds in this room full of predators.

To Hell with it, Misa said to herself as Sir Toto took the goblet to his mouth and drank to their heavily watched cheers. She followed suit without a second thought and, to her horror, drank in earnest. 

Misa drank until her head tipped back and the goblet was risen high into the air. Her sharp teeth clinked against the golden cup as she lapped the rim of the goblet with her tongue, searching for droplets of blood, waiting for more. When nothing dripped, she very nearly found herself about to shake the cup down for at least one more drop--I need more!!--until Prince Ran's chilling voice at her right had her freezing in place.

"Misa." 

The sound of her name on his tongue made her afraid to turn around, to move, even. Misa knew that if she'd had a stronger heartbeat, it'd be hammering in her chest right now. 

Finally, she lowered the goblet and set it on the long, polished oak table with a small thunk. It was then that she noticed her hands were shaking. Her eyes, glowing a vibrant green, were doing something funny, constricting then dilating before returning to normal. There was a powerful, almost incontrollable urge coursing through her, and her body felt like someone else was this close to taking the reins. Her body needed more, more, more, more, more--

"Eat now." Prince Ran's voice was louder than normal in her head. When she snapped her attention to him, his handsome face was as unfriendly as it always was, but his eyes were different than normal. 

She got lost temporarily in the unusually bright yellow of his eyes. "You must not overindulge," he told her. He indicated the meat with his head and again, he said, "Eat."

Swallowing, Misa turned toward the plate she had earlier pushed away and stuck her knife and fork into the bloody meat. This time, she did not hesitate. Instead, she ate hungrily.

Forty-five minutes later, a noblewoman asked the King, "So, what are our options, Your Majesty, if we are forbidden from entering the villages and taking what we need? Our reserves are low and there are too many of us to feed. We'll dry up in no time."

A chorus of aggrieved voices spoke their agreement, and the king hushed them with a raised open palm.

"I hear you all," King Kousei announced. His voice was strong, like every word he spoke was as important as the air they all breathed. "I, too, am concerned about our current state of affairs. The humans are resisting and are getting smarter, braver, and dare I say, stronger--"

At this, about half those gathered jeered at the prospect of stronger human beings. 

"Never stronger than us!" Someone called out.

"Or faster!" said another.

The King cleared his voice and the jeering stopped at once. "Of course, we are still far superior to our human neighbors, but it is true that they are growing accustomed to our methods of hunting. Blending in with the humans, charming them. It is evidenced by our dwindling ranks that it is becoming harder to do so."

"Which is why we must exterminate the fighters and take the humans by force. We will thirst again!" A man's voice from the farthest seat at the table called out. A few chorused his words while another cried out.

"Is it Your Majesty's intention to have us befriend the humans and ask for their blood, the way Prince Ryusei sees it best?"

"Watch your tongue, Aizo!" Queen Yori ordered, her eyes set ablaze at the mention of her outcast son. The guest in question lowered his head and the King spoke once more.

 "The humans outnumber us two to one. While this poses us no major threat, they have developed different approaches to oppose us, and it has been working for them. For all we know, they might have made contact with the Fae, which is all the more reason for us to practice caution. As such, we must also take a different approach, since infiltrating their villages will likely work against our favor."

At this, the King looked pointedly at Misa who had calmed considerably after cleaning her plate. Now, her eyes grew wide as she met his wizened gaze. The man looked every bit the king he was--the well-groomed facial hair, slicked back hair, blood-red suit and black tie with matching, shiny black dress shoes to complete the look. On his pocket, he wore an obnoxiously expensive golden brooch, its image a diamond-studded skull with the fangs of the undead; the mark of his kingship.

 "Our prophesied princess has come home." King Kousei said, and all eyes turned to Misa. Prince Ran suddenly took her hand and stood, pulling her up and away from the table. 

What is this? Misa cried in her head as they made their way around the table, What is going on? What is going on?! She squeezed Prince Ran's cold hand for comfort. Of course, the cold bastard didn't squeeze back.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed the Queen standing up to meet them, and finally the King. Misa's eyes were bugging. She squeezed Prince Ran's hand over and over again, urging him to explain what in the living hell was happening.

"She is our secret to a lasting and prosperous kingdom. The two will come to rule the human villages and bring the Fae to their knees. She will one day make our son a mighty King."

The banquet hall erupted into cheers and Misa tipped her head up to look into Prince Ran's eyes. He met her wild ones, his eyes as calm as a dark, cloudy night. He finally squeezed her hand back, and that one small acknowledgement made her want to ask him everything. Like what this all meant, and what the plan was, and what she herself was meant to do.

But then she heard a vile hissing against her right ear and turned her head to meet Queen Yori's terrifying silver eyes. They were glowing brightly amongst the darkness that overtook her pretty features. 

Misa stopped breathing.

"You have no place among us. No place beside my son. I assure you that you will never be Queen," Queen Yori spat, "you filthy human."