"You're growing more radiant by each day, Queen Averinka." A blonde haired man spoke to Tsarina who sat in the Terem part of her palace surrounded by her favorite darlings. The young Tsarina was sitting in chair drinking her brewed red grape wine dressed in a white tulle gown for the evening hours after attending hearings about state matters at the council. A black haired tan man sat on her left side on the floor and the blonde man was sitting to her right, both shirtless in nothing but leather straps coiled around their neck and chest. Thick leather straps were fastened around their thighs over their black tight breeches.
"You're the one with your mouth, Christoph." The queen laughed and the man shrugged taking copper chalice of wine from the table and chugged it down.
"Your majesty should know by now that he's a philanderer." Aaron snorted at the antics of the other man and finished his own drink.
"I'm a man whore too." Christoph winked at Aaron looking up at him from his chalice which made the man blush in embarrassment.
"How did you find her, Averinka?" Aaron gestured at Irina who stood in the farthest corner of the chamber with her hands clasped and head bowed in reverence.
"I happened to save her life and she pledged her life and loyalty to me." Tsarina answered sipping her drink and looked at Irina from the corner of her eyes who remained standing in silence.
'Why would a blood sucking creature pledge her loyalty to a human?'
"You have pretty things coming after you Averinka." Christoph pulled Tsarina's hair back from her neck and was about to press a kiss on there when he felt himself being pulled back from the queen with a force and slammed into the stoned wall of the chamber.
"Irina!" Averinka stood up at her chair and barked at the girl who had her hand closed around Christoph's throat in rage.
"He tried to touch you, master." The girl bared her teeth at the blonde man ready to rip his head from his neck for his impudent behavior towards her master.
"Enough!" Averinka barked at Irina who let out a whimper in submission instantly letting go of the man's neck.
"Feisty!" Christoph licked his mouth rubbing at his bruising throat and Irina immediately snarled at him like a predator which only made him chuckle.
"Why do I have horny people under my roof." Averinka face palmed at the entire situation and sank back in her seat.
"It shouldn't come as a surprise to you after being familiar with Christoph." Aaron stood up, draping black cloak around his body and Christoph did the same. They slipped knives inside their straps on their thighs and adjusted hood over their faces. They both were given as slaves to Tsarina as a gift from the neighboring countries. Christoph was offered as a royal gift to her from Lithuanian king, and she had bought Aaron from the slave market when travelling through the land of ancient Persia. The boy had been held for public auctioning in the Bazaar, his auctioneer calling people for his price and the queen bought the young lad out of her pity for his age and brought him back with her to Russia. She had taken both the boys under her care, honed their skills in archery and swords and trained them as assassins and as her personal messengers who live as shadows among elderly body of the state's council whom she had suspected more than once for conspiring to dethrone the Tsarina. Besides Vladimir, Christoph and Aaron were the only two people she could trust in the palace among the council body.
"We're taking our leave, Queen Averinka." Christoph spoke as he pressed a lever on the wall which revealed a secret passage behind the chamber. Both men entered the passage and closed the wall as if nothing had been there to begin with.
"Now, you." Tsarina turned to Irina who was staring at the wall in anger where Christoph had disappeared to. Averinka should have thought better about taming the girls lest her position in the royal palace is jeopardize.
"Come here!" Averinka motioned her with her finger. Irina walked towards the queen who grabbed the girl's chin and brought her near her face.
"Didn't I tell you to behave." Tsarina spoke with a smile which was anything but sweet. She brushed her lips against the cold cheek of Irina and spoke against her ivory skin, "Don't make me punish you."
_
Ava tossed and turned in her bed unable to sleep and heard a knock on her bedroom's door which opened to reveal Alex standing in the doorway.
"What do you want Alex?" Ava asked confused at the boy's sudden appearance in her room at such a late hour of the midnight. Alex said nothing and silently walked up to her bed.He closed his small hand around her arm and pulled the girl out of her bed tugging her downstairs with him.
"Where are you taking me?" The boy said nothing and dragged her outside of the house running towards the thicket of trees on the left side of the house.
"What's wrong with you, Alex!" Ava shouted trying to free her arm from the boy's grip but Alex's grip on her wrist tightened and he pulled her towards the woods ignoring her shouts. The boy came to in the heart of the woods and let go of her arm standing still in the fog filled darkness of the woods.
"Alex?" The girl questioned and Alex looked at her over his shoulder with expressionless face before sprinting towards the mist and disappeared behind the fog in the woods.
"Alex, wait!" Ava started running after the boy looking for him, but the dense fog in the woods and darkness made it difficult for her to see anything. It was then she heard clacking sound of horse's hooves approaching behind her which drew near with each passing second. Ava turned back in horror as a black horse appeared from the fog and charged towards the her. There was woman on the horse, dressed in Victorian style white shirt and black long boots with a black tilted hat on her head that covered most of her face. The horse drew near, running past her and Ava saw ruby lips of the woman pulled up in a smirk.
"Found you"
"Aaaah!"
Ava jolted upright in her bed from her dream breathing heavily and nearly jumped back in fear when she heard frantic knocks on the door.
"It's us, Ava." The door opened to reveal David and Mason standing with clothes bags in their hands.
"It's your first day at the school so we thought of giving you a new look for it since you have no fashion sense." David commented rubbing back of his head and looked at Mason who nodded in assurance to calm down the nerves of the man.
"Um-mm okay?" Ava looked at her father's pleading face and the sighed before leaving the bent and going into bathroom for quick shower and changed into clothes her father and David had picked for her. She came out of the bathroom dressed in black jeans and a pink cropped top which earned giggles from Alex who had also come inside her room to watch the embarrassing fiasco.
"This is ridiculous!" Ava shouted looking down at her clothes as if she was a fifth grader. David slammed her with another bag and she went to change into second dress, and came back to show a red frock jeans with black stockings which was too formal for the school.
"No." Mason and David shook their heads and Ava changed into loose grey shirt button down shirt and ripped jeans, and she looked like a hipster on weeds. Alex huffed in annoyance and pulled out a white blouse from the shopping bag and stomped towards the girl's closet to find a plain black jeans tossing the clothes at Ava. Ava changed into them which looked pretty decent on her. Alex pushed her towards the dresser and straightened her hair with hair iron. He went through his jewelry casket and asked Ava to put a pendant around her neck. She finished up with light touch of make-up and Alex handed her black cropped blazer and Ava looked good to go.
"That's how you do it." Alex turned to look at his father and Mason who were standing stunned and amazed. Ava slipped into brown leather long boots and went downstairs for the breakfast. David and Mason drove both Alex and Ava to school in David's car, and bid them goodbye after dropping them at their destination. Ava composed herself and went inside the building to the main office to receive her schedule. Ava, after getting her class schedule, went to search for her locker but was stopped by a blonde guy in the hallway.
"You're the transferred student?" The blonde haired in red jacket asked putting his arm on the locker trapping the girl which made Ava raise brow at him. It was really bold him of to approach the Ava like that out if nowhere.
"Chris?" The girl looked past his shoulder to a black haired man who stood with narrowed eyes at the Swiss man.
"No, Aaron it's not what you think?" The black headed man stomped away from the
Locker room and Chris followed the other man trying to explain himself. Ava stood stunned in shock, blinking in surprise at what had just transpired and left for her first class. Ava found that both Chris and Aaron were her classmates and good people, and soon became her friends not before when Chris apologized to her earning a smack on his head from Aaron. Chris told her that she should tell him if any guy in the school gives her trouble and he would like to take care of that boy himself with a wink which made both Aaron and Ava groan at his innuendo.
Chris was just Chris.
Aaron and Chris asked Ava to join them at lunch in the cafeteria. Both boys walked towards a table in the corner of the cafe where a girl with golden highlights in her hair sat wearing nerd specs and reading a book, and Chris introduced the both women to each other.
"Ava, this is our friend Annabeth and Anna this is our transferred girl, Ava." Annabeth looked up from the book she was reading and extended her hand to greet the girl.
"Nice meeting you." Ava gulped and took Annabeth's hand in a firm shake. "Likewise."
Annabeth gave a smile before turning towards both males and gave them a murderous glare.
"And where were you two?" She slammed her book on the table and narrowed her eyes at Aaron and Chris who swallowed nervously knowing that they soon would be murdered by the angry woman.
"I was sitting here alone waiting for you guys and creeps weren't leaving me alone!"
"We are sorry but we had to wait for Ava because he had to put her books in the locker." Chris answered taking his seat beside the grunting Annabeth and Ava joined them at the table. Aaron went to buy them lunch and came back with hamburgers and salad, with blue berry smoothie for Annabeth as repentance and she took her smoothie from his hand as acceptance of their apology, and mostly she was weak for the blueberry smoothies.
"So, your family has moved here for business reason?" Annabeth asked Ava who was busy eating salad.
"No, my father...err...he moved in with his..."
"Husband?" Chris spoke with a smirk on his face. "I'm gay too so we don't judge people."
"Thanks but he and David aren't married yet."
"Do you like it here for so far?" Annabeth asked and Ava shrugged in answer.
"I don't know... it's not like David is a bad person. He's bought me plenty of clothes like a mother would do at your first day of the senior year but his thirteen years old brat son, he is a pain in ass."
"At least he isn't 19 years old brat." Aaron mumbled making Chris choke on his meal.
"I already said sorry! I was just trying to intimidate the new girl."
"Intimidate? My ass!"
"Don't mind them." Annabeth commented at the situation."They bicker like this 24/7."
"Are they a thing or something?" Ava asked Annabeth who shrugged in response and took a sip of his blue berry smoothie.
"It's complicated."
The rest of the day passed in a blur and after the school, Ava exchanged her number with Chris, Aaron and Annabeth. The group said goodbye to each other and left to their homes. Ava was happy to make such good friends at a new place. It was such a relief.
She received a text from David that he wouldn't be able to pick them, and she and Alex should come home by themselves. Ava sighed and waited for Alex outside his school. The boy waved at his friends and came running to his soon to be sister with bag slung on his shoulder.
"We are walking home." Ava told Alex and the boy groaned in annoyance and started walking towards their house which was at fifteen minutes walk distance.
"How did your day go at the school?" Alex asked the elder girl who smiled at the boy knowing that the brat actually cared than he let one to believe.
"I made new friends at college. Aaron, Annabeth and Chris."
"Chris? That man is a gigglo!"
"Alex! You shouldn't be using that kind of language." Ava noticed the strange looks from a couple, and she immediately scolded him offering a forced and embarrassed smile to the couple.
"But I swear, even boys at our school know about him." Alex whispered in exasperation only for the girl to hear him this time.
"What?" The girl was taken by surprise, but ignored Alex's words, beside she could tell that Chris was a nice person and bore no ill intentions to anyone. He's already interested in men, what could possibly go wrong, right?
They arrived at home, and Alex sneaked out a spare key from his pocket and opened the door, and both froze in shock upon seeing David and Mason making out on the kitchen's counter. Both Ava and Alex blushed in mortification at the sight of both men. Mason noticed, the children out of the corner of his eye and pushed back David, who turned to see Ava and Alex standing at the door with shocked faces. David and Mason looked at each other coloring in embarrassment and Mason immediately started buttoning up his shirt.
Alex coughed awkwardly and asked the girl,
"I'm ordering pizza for lunch. Want to join me in my room for Netflix? Your pick."
"I am in." Alex went to his room followed by Ava leaving two embarrassed men behind.
"So..." David rubbed back of his neck grinning sheepishly and asked Mason, "Should we carry our previous activity to the bedroom?"
"David!"
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