David and Nathan woke up to the sound of screaming. Not the terrifying type of scream that raises goosebumps on your arms or sends a chilly shiver down your spine. 

No, it was an angry scream. Followed by another, angrier, scream. 

David's eyes fluttered open at the noise and witnessed Nathan quickly dressing up for the day. Nathan also looked angry, but the screams were obviously not coming from him. They were loud, yes, but they were somewhat muffled by the closed doors. Even so, David could mindlessly hear what the two angry people were screaming.

"I want him beheaded! Now!" yelled a feminine voice. Probably Mary, David deduced; although, he had never heard her raise her voice that loud. 

He sobered from his sleepy state quickly. What if she had finally proven herself evil?

Someone must have said something because she soon after shrieked, "I AM QUEEN."

Then he heard a male's voice reply at almost the same volume: "Well, sorry to break it to you, PRINCESS, but you are no queen as I am A F**KING GOD. Only your brother dearest can behead me and, if he could, he probably would have F**KING DONE IT BY NOW!"

That is definitely General Reno, David thought. 

David heard Nathan mutter something under his breath too as the king pulled a tunic over his head. Then the two soulmates' eyes locked on each others, and Nathan's eyebrows were drawn to the middle of his head in anger. 

They had woken up Nathan's soulmate with their noise. And now they must be punished. At least, this is how Nathan thought.

Some place in David's heart stirred, as if it knew what Nathan was thinking, and the leshy rose out of bed too. Soon after, Nathan stormed down the hallway with David shyly in tow, wearing his pajamas. They did not need a guide to know where they were going- the continued screaming was a guide itself.

Soon they heard the scream of, "YOU ARE PATHETIC!" from the princess.  

Shortly after, the sound of the princess screaming in terror rang through the hallways. Both Nathan and David hurried their walk into a run. 

They arrived in the foyer, where the princess stood, her beauty and mental state perfected since the day before. She was being pampered by the guards, who were obviously obliged to help her since she was not only royalty, but she was very beautiful as well. Her hands were fanning her face dramatically, like she was going to faint. 

Meanwhile, Reno was being restrained by three guards, until he shoved them off. However, before he shoved the guards off, they- biased towards the princess- gave him a parting word.

"I hope you rot in hell when they finally behead you," one said gruffly, smiling an untrustworthy smile. 

Reno had given them a look- one that said: "I don't care,"  before shoving them off. But David noticed, after everyone looked away from Reno, a hint of sadness on his face.

David's heart squeezed. He knew what that felt like.

"What is going on here?" Nathan asked loudly, in his stern voice. In the voice of a king.

Every head in the room snapped into the direction of Nathan's voice. Nathan's sister, quick on her heals, came out of her stupor and wailed.

"Brother! I'm so glad you're here!" she cried, her eyes welling up with tears, "This- This little monster lunged at me! I thought he was going to kill me!"

The guards nodded in her support.

Nathan stormed up to Reno, gave the boy a once-over, and said without looking away from the general, "Arnold? Please escort General Reno back to his quarters."

Nathan's voice sent chills down David's back. The Leshy now knew why he was such a respected king and watched as Arnold rushed immediately to do as he was commanded.

"But-" Reno tried to protest, but Nathan had had enough with his back-talk.

"No!" Nathan yelled, "I don't care who you were to my father or what you promised him! There is a line, Dominic Reno, and you may have just crossed it. Go back to your quarters and await further instruction."

Dominic looked like he wanted to protest, like he wanted to yell and scream, but the tenseness in his jaw showed that Reno was trying to hold his attitude back. 

"Let's go," Arnold said softly to Reno, after clearing his throat. Reno, with a stoic expression, obediently and silently followed the butler out the door to his shack.

"This is ridiculous!" Mary snarled when they left, "He should be dead! Imprisoned! It is treason to attack royalty! Why did you do that, Nate? Why did you let him go unpunished?"

Nathan sighed and turned to his sister.

"Because I need to talk to you first, Sister," he replied.

"Whatever do you mean?" the princess asked.

"Because he may have attacked you for a reason-" that's what Nathan was obliged to say. David knew that is what Nathan meant.

But instead, the king replied, "He may not be the only one in the wrong."

The princess hushed her complaining at this statement. She looked a bit confused, but followed Nathan and David when they asked. Nathan led them to the dining room- where they sat to interrogate Mary the first time, and where they then sat for the second time to question her.

"Sister," Nathan started, "My soulmate and I have noticed some...uncharacteristic behaviors within you that we would like to ask you about."

"Yes?" Mary asked, side-eying David, as if to ask "Have you told him?"

"It is treason to attack royalty, but not if they have been threatening the safety of the king and queen," Nathan enlightened. Mary's eyes widened, and she locked eyes with David from across the table, as if she was appalled by the fact that David had the audacity to tell Nathan about her threat. David thought she was going to follow through with that threat- kill him.

However, unlike David expected, she sighed in defeat and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Yeah..." she said, "Maybe I- Maybe I took it a little too far."

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked, obviously trying to hide his shock, hurt, and anger. She didn't deny it, David realized. Now Nathan knew it was true that she had threatened them both.

"I-" she covered her mouth with her hand- "It hurts to-to talk about it, but if it beheads that little monster who lunged at me then...then I guess- I guess I could tell you."

Her hand shook as she lowered it, tears flowed from her eyes heavily. 

"I-I never met my soulmate. He never showed up. Not on my birthday when he was supposed to show up-" she paused- "Of course, you know that Nate. You were there."

Nathan did remember. He was younger, purer. Pure panic had delved over the kingdom that day; the princess had been kidnapped by King William Kain, who was younger and more able to do such a thing. Kain had put a bounty on her head at first: the kingdom in exchange for the princess. However, before the deal was set, Mary escaped and showed up on the doorstep of the castle, disheveled and frightened.

She was always on edge after that. Always jumpy. And she cried in her bedroom day after day, telling Nathan, when he asked, that her soulmate had never shown up. It was the worst birthday ever, she had claimed.

Soon after, she got better, until she fell ill to the same sickness that was inflicted on their parents. Nathan saw all three bed-ridden and ill, before quarantined to his bedroom to avoid the last healthy member of the family contracting the sickness. The next time Nathan saw his family, the servants were burying their bodies six-feet-under.

"I remember," was all he could say. She took that as a sign to continue.

"Well, he still hasn't shown up, so I- I eventually assumed he had died or something. Um," she cleared her throat, "I came across this vampire in the woods...he taught me how to hunt animals...and humans. Not that I would ever hunt humans! He just gave me the advice in case I was in danger..."

She cleared her throat again, her tears welling up.

"He- He kept having to go places. He would stop lessons and leave me. Then he would return the next day. He told me not to worry about it when I asked," the tears started to pour down her face, "But one day he was getting touchy with me. Flirting with me. Being himself as well. That day, I realized I loved him. That he would be my soulmate- the one that never showed up."

She paused, sniffing back a tear, but failing in her attempts to control herself.

"I gave into his touches! I let him take me to bed! I told him I loved him, and he said it back! It was a dream come true...until the next morning. He- He told me he was a prince. That is where he went every day- back to his castle! He told me that his parents would never let him marry a common girl, like me. I told him I was a princess- he told me it wasn't enough!

"He said that he was to become king in two days' time and I-" she choked, "I had to be a queen to be with him. To marry him. Otherwise, he'd have to be married to someone else."

She turned to Nathan pleadingly, "So that's why I came back. Please, please let me become queen. I need him! More than you would understand!"

"Mary," Nathan replied, his eyes full of pity, but also concern, "He's not even your soulmate."

"I know, Nate, I know," she sniffed, "But I can't go through this alone!"

"Go through what alone?" Nathan asked, bewildered at how desperate his sister was and at the real reason she came back.

"I'm- I'm pregnant, okay?!" she yelled, "He's the father to my baby! I- I don't want him to leave me...please don't let him leave me."

Her announcement made Nathan's eyes widen, along with David's too. David searched through his memories of her, trying to connect the dots.

Her emotional unstableness.

Her determination to become queen.

Her threat to kill him.

Stay out of her way. She didn't mean "stay out of the way of my evil plot," David realized. She meant, "Stay out of her way to becoming the new queen."

"I hope you don't mind, but I need some proof that what you are saying is true," Nathan stated. And, in that moment, David awed at Nathan's thoroughness and cleverness. Even when in shock, his soulmate still was reasonable. 

"You'll have to go under a pregnancy test," Nathan replied, "Is that alright with you?"

"Perfectly fine," Mary agreed, sniffing and drying her eyes from the emotional moment.

David was still on guard until they had proof, but, again, he felt a bit guilty for suspecting Mary for a crime she had yet to commit.

Nathan asked the guard standing outside the door to escort Mary to a doctor so that he could study her and determine her pregnant. After Mary was escorted out, Nathan let out a deep sigh.

"I see now why my soulmate is a man," Nathan commented, as he took David's hand.

"Why's that?" David asked him.

"Because women are so tiring," he replied, as he led David out in the halls. They followed the hallway, which David had memorized, down to Nathan's- well, their- bedroom.

Nathan shut the door behind David, who walked in first. However, Nathan used this to his advantage as he scooped David up in his arms from behind. The leshy let out a small squeak of surprise, but quickly calmed and blushed when Nathan twirled him around and dropped him on the bed.

David smiled happily, even when he noticed Nathan climbing onto the bed like a panther about to devour his prey. Nathan was smiling too- that's what David loved about it. David had always adored that smile. With those shiny white teeth that could brighten up the Sun.

Soon, Nathan's face was hovering above David's, their bodies inches apart. David, for a second, became a little nervous, but he trusted Nathan completely. He knew that Nathan wouldn't take it too far without David giving him permission.

Nathan decided that he was going to pamper his soulmate with love. He was tired of all of the sadness, the anger, and the shock within the castle lately. He needed his soulmate; he needed some comfort and joy.

Nathan nuzzled his nose into David's, then pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Then he laid a kiss on his cheek, in front of his ear, his temple, his forehead, between his eyebrows, then back to his nose.

Then his lips settled on David's as he kissed him deeply. David sighed into the kiss, not fully comprehending what was going on from the amount of love he was feeling. He knew he was being kissed, but it was as if it was all a dream. 

Nathan, unlike the previous times, decided to pull the kiss deeper. He was still being somewhat light, as if he was hesitating, but the difference was noticeable to David. The leshy had a harder time keeping up, and he gasped at the passion that was leaked into the kiss.

David was thoroughly enjoying it, however. He thought he would be insecure or panicky when it came to this kind of kissing, but instead, he was humming with delight.

Nathan loved the noises David was making; not only did it show him that his soulmate was enjoying the kisses, but he was also very turned on by the noises. They made him wonder how loud he would be during the real deal...

Nathan decided to experiment. He pushed the kiss a little bit deeper.

David let out a surprised, "Mmf!" as Nathan licked David's bottom lip. After hearing the sound, Nathan immediately pulled away, thinking it was a sound of distress.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you un-"

"No!" David said breathlessly, taking a few moments to breathe before recovering, "No, it was...it was good-" David was blushing at this- "Um, you just surprised me."

Nathan smiled; his soulmate liked it.

"Does that mean I can do it again?" Nathan asked excitedly. That kiss felt better than any sex he had ever had with anyone else. He was already craving more.

"Uh, yeah," David blushed harder, "Um, I would like that...yeah."

Nathan only smiled harder. This cute little man was his soulmate forever. He got to kiss this cute little guy forever.

"You shouldn't have said that," Nathan grinned, cupping David's face with his hand and dragging down David's lip with his thumb.

"W-Why not?" David asked.

"Because I will never be able to stop kissing you now," Nathan declared. Before diving down and kissing him yet again.