Luna descended through the steps of the stairs like she was marching up the gallows.

She had this fear of being seen in front of the Consortium.

Luna was an Amazon warrior with her long silver hair, tall and lean stature and flat chests.

She would be judged by how different she looked from the normal dainty, feminine and curvaceous females.

Of course, Luna knew she wasn't the normal choice as the Empress--her character and attitude weren't expected of a Queen.

Luna wasn't nurturing, safe, gorgeous and meek at all like how other queens should be.

Just a wallflower.

An accessory Apollyon must have expected her to be.

If she would be honest with herself, Luna was a mix of light and shadows, night and day, masculine and feminine, yin and yang.

Doubts and desire melting together.

Apollyon and Luna will either conquer their light or lose it.

Luna was too balanced for her own good but sometimes the masculine in her took over when she needed to defend herself.

She thought this was also the reason why she kept on butting heads with her husband.

As the feminine in this connection, she should learn how to be receptive of Apollyon's energy.

Of course, the Vampire King was the epitome of masculinity that his dark bluish aura bled out of him without his notice, wrapping her in his sexuality, sometimes a little bit toxic that it threatened to overwhelmed her.

Apollyon was the true Alpha.

Patriarchal.

Demanding.

Arrogant.

Possessive.

He always gets what he wanted.

Well, Luna couldn't really blame him.

She also had those qualities when the masculine energy in her takes over.

Amazons were trained to be stronger than men and sometimes, Luna just couldn't stand someone dominating her in terms of strength but she guessed it was better than being mated to a weakling.

That would be disastrous.

Luna would eat the man alive with her capabilities.

In a sense, Luna and the Vampire King were equals if not more.

The Vampire King walked alongside her, her arm tucked carefully in his.

Luna needed to be aware of the yin-yang dynamic between them.

Apollyon was the masculine--action-oriented, full of passion and should be the giver—while Luna will be still, graceful, and on the recipient of Apollyon's energy.

This wasn't about acting weak.

It was about receptivity as his wife.

Luna thought it was the same as sexual congress.

The Vampire King gave the pleasure through his cock and the precious seed of life that comes along with it while Luna, the female, was in the position to receive it.

It was a timeless knowledge ever since the Creator had created humans and other creatures alike.

Luna had to wait for his initiative or it would lead to fights for sure.

She knew this wasn't about acting or playing roles.

She learned quickly that there should be a certain dynamic to follow to maintain the peace between them as a married couple or else their fragile relationship would break apart.

Luna decided to heed Hecate's advice.

The art of knowing how to adapt is always useful in love but to do so, however, you must be compassionate of the other person.

She had to be proactive in doing something to fix their issues.

Luna had to keep in mind that her husband wasn't a threat to sanity.

Perhaps, that will work.

"Husband," As she clutched his arm to lean a bit of her weight unto him, Luna asked as they continued to stroll through the long flights of stairs carefully in a parade while the servants, eunuchs and the soldiers followed them closely behind. "Don't you think I'm a tad too strange?"

Apollyon tried to keep her slow paces because of her high heels.

She knew her husband was a gentleman.

"What do you mean, strange?" Apollyon stared at her like he couldn't keep his eyes away from her face.

His blue eyes were hooded as he chuckled, "Are you referring to how you look?"

"Hm. Just in general." Luna glanced at him and her eyes crinkled in amusement while her left hand lifted her skirts so that she wouldn't stumble, rolling over on the flights of stairs and breaking her ankles in the process.

"Wife. There isn't one person that does not have a little secret or a strange little something they have done or do and yet sometimes we go on pretending to be normal. Normal changes all the time." Apollyon explained as he detached Luna's hand from circling his bulky arm.

The Vampire King wrapped one arm around her waist to guide her through the steps. "Most people want to fit in, blend with others in order not to feel strange. Sometimes, standing out can make us feel vulnerable. Conspicuous. We all have our little oddities and we can exhaust ourselves trying to erase that vulnerability."

"Sometimes, it is our nature to hide who we truly are because we are afraid of rejection," Apollyon said earnestly as he gazed deeply into her eyes, squeezing the underside of her breasts discreetly. "We do not speak of who we are and we try to convince others that we are just like them."

Luna stiffened at her husband's boldness.

Apollyon blinked, trying to act innocent. "Why would you hide your own strangeness, wife?"

Luna had caught her husband being a pervert oagain.

Did he think she wouldn't notice that?

"We are all mad here, I assure you." Apollyon continued as he lifted his chin, daring her to challenge his declaration.

Craning her neck to look at his handsome face as they came down, Luna arched one eyebrow and remarked, "But I don't want to go among mad people."

"Oh, you can't help with that." The Vampire King said as an amused snort escaped him. "Everyone else is mad. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" Luna asked she peered at him before lowering her gaze shyly.

"You must be. You are brave enough. Mad enough." Apollyon responded as he tried to keep a straight face. "Or you wouldn't be my wife. "

Luna knew he was trying to hard not to laugh at their own predicament.

Apollyon couldn't help but smirk. "Everyone is interesting in their own way, a little bit of different and full of secrets, good and bad."

Luna nodded in agreement.

Hearing that from her husband was reassuring.

"One must never be ashamed of his own weaknesses," Apollyon said.

"I'm used to being alone, husband," Luna admitted softly, her eyes cast downward as she focused on her steps. "You came into my life and I suddenly don't know what to do and how to deal and care for another person besides myself."

Then the Vampire King flashed a mischievous grin. "I'm not saying that solitude is bad but it had made your will-power stronger."

When they reached the foyer, Luna surprised to find it deserted.

Both of them were silent for a long moment.

"Sometimes, wife, I feel like I recognize a part of myself in you. Some of them, I like and I didn't like. It made me remember who I really am without the Blood Beast." The Vampire King's voice was silky, yet gruff, managing to soothe and incite her rioting senses in a single stroke.

Recognizing the hectic patches of colour staining Apollyon's cheekbones, Luna knew that her husband was aroused once again or perhaps, he was embarrassed to reveal his feelings to her?

She didn't know.

"I was taking back fragments of my true character which I thought I have lost. Knowing you felt like I was also learning about myself all over again. I had been an immortal for a very long time. Meeting you felt like I had come back alive from a suspended limbo."

Apollyon lowered his gaze to her lips, a fringe of thick, dark lashes veiling his smoky blue eyes. "My body fervently desire to lose itself in yours."

The Vampire King was going to kiss her again.

Unable to resist the compulsion, Luna moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue.

Apollyon gently framed her face in his hands and kissed her as if it was her first kiss and his last.

As he swirled his tongue through the warm, honeyed depths of her mouth, the most extraordinary thing happened.

An array of golden notes poured through Luna's veins, glorious and sweet, soaring on wings of melody.

Apollyon broke the kiss and it took her a dazed moment to realize the music.

Luna and the Vampire King was about to enter the banquet hall to meet with the Consortium.

She clenched her fists in agitation.

The girls from the Consortium have gathered to witness her official appearance as the crowned Empress after her marriage with the Vampire King.

Luna nervously glanced over her shoulder at the trains of her elaborate ball gown to check if everything was in place.

She smoothed the silk flounces adorning the bodice of her gown before she nodded at the palace guard to open the entrance hall.

They gazed at each other and the Vampire King kissed her forehead swiftly before facing towards the wooden double doors.

The Vampire King's face was both handsome and irresistible, his dark beauty reflecting the blackness of his soul.

Her heart skipped into an uneven cadence.

Luna wondered if the Vampire King was an overall good or a bad person.

It was too early to tell.

After the doors to the banquet hall opened, Cederic announced loudly, "Behold the Vampire King Apollyon and the new Crowned Empress Luna of the Vampire Realm."

Luna heard the murmur of voices of the girls from the Consortium falling into strained silence as she arrived at her throne seated next to the Vampire King with head held high.

The string quartet began to play their instruments in wonderfully pleasant melodies.