"So, why the hell did you wake me up?" Dominic Reno huffed, looking quite agitated and ruffled. Nathan rolled his eyes at the young general, praying in his head to whoever could hear for the peace he so desperately needed. With all of the preparations going on for the ball, Nathan was mentally exhausted, and he didn't even have his soulmate with him at the moment to calm him down if Reno got on his nerves. 

Nathan had realized that David did not particularly like his sister, so whenever she was around, he left shortly after. Nathan wasn't sure why, but he was planning on asking his soulmate soon. He wished that David was here with him now. However, his sister was sitting behind the door next to him reading an enthralling book about vampires, or so she says; therefore, David was nowhere in sight.

"Tomorrow is the celebration ball," Nathan explained, "And you are invited."

"You woke me up just to tell me this?" Reno growled, crossing his arms. Reno reminded Nathan slightly of a mother reprimanding her son. "I'm not even going!"

"Yes, you are-"

"No, I'm not," Reno retorted.

"As my general of arms, yes you are," Nathan said more sternly; he wasn't in the best of moods. He wanted to be with David, giggling, snuggling and kissing with him. He wanted to see David's beautiful colorless eyes and run his fingers into David's pristine soft hair. But, no, instead he was dealing with a temperamental general and his silent sister, who had shown no more interest in Nathan since her initial crying episode. "It is mandatory for all of those close to me to make an appearance. Trust me, my cousin in the east is not happy either since I was just staying with him a week ago, and now he has to come to see me again. But this is my family and soulmate we are talking about, and this is important to me."

"I am not dressing up in some f*cking rich class clothes and sitting there awkwardly, pushed into some f*cked-up social activities, just because your apathetic sister and your dainty little belated soulmate want to party," Reno growled, "Definitely not when I could be sleeping."

"Well, you're going to have to deal with it, Reno. It's an order," Nathan glared, "I am your king, and if I deem it necessary for you to come, you will come to the ball, understand?"

"You are not the king-"

"Then who is, Reno?" Nathan glared. Reno glared back ferociously, but for a minute, Nathan thought he saw hesitation in those inky black orbs glaring at him.

"You are not my king," Reno replied, his voice cold- lacking any emotion other than slight anger. Instead of giving Nathan an answer, the general stated, "Name one reason why it would be necessary for me to come to this ball."

"Because my soulmate is there. My sister too, who has just been declared alive again," Nathan replied easily, "I know they can both take care of themselves, but William Kain doesn't know that. He might send somebody in to attack them, or me, while we are distracted with the festivities. I want you to be there to keep an eye out for anything suspicious so that I and my soulmate can celebrate in peace. Can you do that?"

"Do I have to dance or socialize?" Reno asked.

"No," Nathan replied.

 "Is there a catch?"

"If William Kain shows up," Nathan said, "You kill him."

Reno didn't smile, but his eyebrows slightly moved away from each other and his glare softened slightly enough for Nathan to tell that he was in agreement.

"Alright, fine," the general accepted. Nathan was aware that King Kain was their enemy, but it was as if General Reno had a thirst for the monarch's blood. He knew by mentioning William Kain, he could convince Reno to come to the ball.

"Great," Nathan said, breathing a sigh of relief that the argument hadn't turned into a physical fight. It had never gotten to that point before, but some arguments made Nathan wonder if one day the general would pounce. "I will send Arnold to get you a suit along with my soulmate's."

"Ew, a f*cking suit? You had to go there?" the general growled.

"If it makes you feel any better," Nathan smiled, glad that the mention of the suit did not make Reno flip out, "I will make sure that Arnold gets everything in the darkest black they have."

The general snorted unhappily, "That jack*ss will probably collect me a bright f*cking pink one just to spite me."

Nathan tried to hide a smile at Reno's remark. Arnold and Reno were such opposites, it was rather entertaining to watch them bicker, which is one of the reasons Nathan always sent Arnold to wake the general. The other reason for Nathan doing such a thing is because he noticed that some of their fights sounded like a married couple quarreling; the king may or may not have been secretly hoping the two would end up together. It was one of the few things that made him smile when he was all alone in the castle before David came around.

Nathan knew, deep inside, he was born to play the role of a matchmaker.

~{()}~

"Wow, darling, you look... gorgeous," Nathan's eyes were wide as he said this. David was dressed in green, his attire tailored to fit him almost perfectly. Green was David's favorite color besides the color of Nathan's ocean blue eyes, and Nathan thought green would flatter him nicely since he was a leshy- a guardian of the forest.

Apparently, it flattered him too nicely because, suddenly, Nathan's arms were around David's waist, squeezing him into the king's chest, allowing the space in between them to minimize until it was only an inch wide. Nathan's nose brushed against David's as he smiled that grin of which held David's adoration since the very first time David saw him.

"Everyone will look at me with envy because of how beautiful my soulmate is," Nathan said while staring deeply into David's eyes, losing himself in the way they shined with love. Oh, how many years had it been that he dreamed to see that in someone's eyes, looking at him? Far before his soulmate was absent on his twenty-first birthday, far before his family died. Far before, when he was young, when he yearned to have someone look at him the way his mother did toward his father.

He leaned in and kissed David softly, and David never refused his kisses. Nathan savored this feeling, the feeling of his soulmate's lips, the feeling of the soft warmth in his heart swelling, the feeling of the aching loneliness melting away with every movement of David's lips against his.

David was the embodiment of perfection to Nathan; he was his savior from the heartbreak. Nathan no longer felt lonely in his castle, not with the beautiful man before him as his soulmate.

Nathan tried to take it a bit deeper, but David pulled away, their lips making an odd sucking noise when they parted. The noise made Nathan smile, and David giggled, still blushing and flustered from the kiss.

"We will be late for our own celebration if we don't leave," was David's explanation to breaking the kiss after Nathan tried to re-connect their lips.

"Do we have to go?" Nathan playfully whined, still holding his soulmate by the waist, and nuzzling his nose into the skin that showed on David's neck. The leshy blushed further when he felt the breath of his soulmate brush against his skin.

"I-I mean, I suppose we don't-"

"I'm just kidding," Nathan lifted his head and smiled, "We can't have a soulmate celebration without the soulmate, can we? Plus, Derrick is here, and I don't enjoy making him wait."

"Derrick is here?" David raised a brow. 

"Yes, and I wouldn't be surprised if his father forced him to come. Probably something along the lines of 'Nathan went to yours, so you should go to his,'" Nathan replied, "And, knowing Derrick, they would probably argue until Jake decided that he also wanted to go."

"Jake is here?!" David asked, getting excited at the thought of seeing his best friend again. He missed having direct communications with Jake Pierce all of the time. Other than travel, the only other way to talk to Jake is by letter.

Nathan could barely get a "yes" out before David was dragging him away.

~{()}~

David was unsure if he was enjoying this ball. As much as he felt appreciated, others simply did not believe that he and Nathan were soulmates.

Some of the richer folk, who seemed like disgusting snobs that treated others as lesser beings, asked extremely invasive and offensive questions to Nathan, that David couldn't help but get annoyed by.

Questions such as, "Are you sure he's your soulmate? Not some boy you brought into your bed and caught feelings for?" 

Or, "Are you sure you prefer this male over all the girls you could have? Surely you have plans on an heir?"

Each time Nathan got questions like that, Nathan would either get angry or some other emotion that falls on the range of upset. David himself was offended that some believed he was just another boy for the king to use in order to quench his loneliness. It was a celebration ball for the discovery of Nathan's soulmate for God's sake. Why else would Nathan throw a celebration ball?

Oh right, Nathan's sister was here as well. 

People seemed to be much more interested in her, especially those who already knew her before. David didn't blame them for being so excited at her arrival, and he also didn't mind the attention being on her. He was socially awkward anyway, and would much rather the focus of the attention be anywhere else but on him.

Speaking of which, he didn't know what to do now. He had just finished hugging and catching up with Jake, telling him of all the things that he had experienced within his short time in the Kingdom of Mare. He told of everything but the run-in with Philotes; he described the warm beach with its soft sand, the beautiful forest that he went walking in, and the bathing tub with the pink-tinted water. Jake talked about how Derrick and his relationship was going nicely, and how he was still somewhat recovering from the death of his mother while trying to lead a pack of wolves. Then they were separated once Nathan had got done introducing Derrick to Mary, who was also Derrick's cousin, and Jake decided that he would like to dance with his soulmate.

Nathan whispered that he would be right back into David's ear, before being whisked away by a bubbly woman ranting about a wedding.

Now, David had slowly become awkward from being left alone.

He kept glancing over toward Dominic Reno, who was also standing alone on the sidelines of the ballroom, wondering if he should go talk to him. However, the general didn't seem as awkward as David himself. In fact, Reno looked almost content being by himself- well, as content as Reno could look. David decided that he didn't want to bother Reno, and tried to keep his mind off of his loneliness by people-watching.

He spotted Arnold in the crowd, yet again another person he recognized. The man was dressed so pristinely, every crinkle in his tunic was smoothed and every speck of dust brushed away, that it made David pull at his sleaves with self-consciousness. Arnold wasn't necessarily talking to anyone either, other than the conversations he was dragged into due to his politeness or the occasional order to a nearby maid. David was about to approach him- maybe because he didn't want to be left alone- when the stare of someone made chills go down his spine.

There she was- Mary Drake, Nathan's sister- approaching him with an angry, predatory look in her eye. If not for the curiosity as to why she looked at him like that, David would have walked away from her and gone back to Nathan- wherever he was.

However, he was curious as to why she was so...angry at him. So, unafraid, he stood put, and he waited until the woman was right in front of him. He wasn't afraid of a vampire. Normal leshiye could defeat regular vampires without a hitch.

Normal leshiye, David repeated in his head. Was he even considered a normal leshy? -The thought made his confidence waver.

She didn't give him time to speak before she spoke. Her voice had gone from innocent and naive to the most chilling of snarls. It was caused by the faint hiss vampires produce from their fangs, mixed with a throaty reverberation throughout their larynx. Most vampires used this to give their prey or oppressors or enemies a warning, like a dog's growl. David was not so much concerned by the warning snarl, but more as to how she knew of it. She was supposedly living in the forest while she was a vampire- alone. How could she mimick the behavior patterns of a vampire if she had never been alongside another?

Then David realized- Someone would have had to change her into a vampire.

But if she was around other vampires this whole time, why would she lie about being alone?

"I know who you are," she hissed quietly, getting her anger across without drawing attention from others around her, "I know what you are. I didn't expect you to be here- so listen carefully. Listen well, Leshy. I am aware that I am inferior to you when it comes to my brother's heart. So stay out of my way-"

David was about to interject, but then Mary interrupted him.

"Shh," she said smiling for some passersby who were obviously curious about her angry expression toward David. Mary held a finger to David's lip, still smiling. 

She leaned in to whisper quietly into David's ear, and he froze at the closeness of the stranger.

"Just don't get in my way, Leshy. Though it is more difficult than not," she chuckled humorously. Her lack of empathy showing in her soulless laugh. " I have no qualms about killing my brother or his soulmate."

Then she backed away and turned, the trail of her dress chasing behind her as she walked to the drink table. David was frozen, watching her walk away, confused and wary.

The wariness made him jump when he felt big arms wrap around him from behind; looking above him, he saw it was just Nathan, and let out a sigh of relief. Nathan greeted him with a kiss on the forehead and a smile.

"What was that about?" referring to the exchange between Mary and David. David looked up at him, worry in his eyes.

"We need to talk."