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The Empress Luna

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"I will protect you with my life from anyone who tried to hurt you as my Empress."

The Faerie Prince clasped a hand over her husband's shoulder and insinuated himself in their sweet conversation, breaking the magic spell.

His dimples flashed as he ran a hand over his long and straight auburn hair that reached to his waist.

The Faerie Prince offered her a gold cuffed hand. "Let me dance with your beautiful Empress, cousin, before you take her away then."

There was a brief pause before Luna let that statement sink into her brain.

Luna demanded softly, "Cousin?"

She narrowed her gaze at Prince Aspen with utmost suspicion, dropping to his seemingly transparent robes made by the finest of silver silk threads.

Her gaze had continued to drop over his mighty legs before she brought her sights back to his shrewd light blue eyes which also regarded her with a curious fashion.

She didn't let her eyes linger to his muscular body or she might make her possessive husband jealous for no reason.

"I don't think it would be appropriate to call me cousin in my own Kingdom, Aspen." The Vampire King retorted as he swatted Prince Aspen's hand, stepping aside. "I do not acknowledge any Faerie blood in me."

"I am a pure-blooded vampire and even if my mother who had passed away, curse her, was a princess from the Faerie Realm." He shrugged with nonchalance as he brought Luna closer to him, circling his hand around her waist as a sign of ownership. "I am detaching any of my ancestry to your Kingdom so don't link me with your kind anymore."

The Faerie's lips curved in open amusement.

"I thought we had finally come to an agreement to make peace between our Kingdoms for the last half of the century, Apollyon." Prince Aspen quickly countered, not at all surprised by her husband's sudden outburst.

"I hadn't killed your trolls and goblins even if I knew you were still looting in one of our mines, Aspen." Apollyon responded with a chuckle but his cold, flinty gaze had said otherwise. "You talk too familiar with me, Fae, but I will let it slide for now. The lady—who I had a familial connection with, unfortunately--is dead to me and I refuse to talk about it."

Luna glanced at the exchange back and forth and she could feel Apollyon's posture as it went rigid, ready to strike like a wild cobra.

His emotionless face gave an air of calm but his body was the opposite.

As he gave Prince Aspen's sideway glances, Luna silently concluded that if Prince Aspen would go overboard, he would be the next—the second death for today.

Prince Aspen's eyebrows flicked upward as he lifted a shoulder. "Are you sure that Empress Ourania is dead after breaking the blood bond with the previous Vampire King?"

Apollyon's lips flattened into a hard line and it was clear that the Faerie Prince had pushed him too far. "I had tolerated your antics at the Acquaintance Affairs when I clearly told you not to manipulate the Consortium women to bend to your will."

Her husband's cool response only deepened the Faerie Prince's amusement and Luna just noticed his faerie wings fluttered under the lights at that exact moment. "Alas, I have included your wife by a twist of fate in one of my compulsions—"

"—which made her astral travel somewhere we couldn't reach with Faerie magic and I'm afraid she was going to float whenever I least expected her to." He squinted at the Faerie Prince as he clenched his fists. "You know how much I hate surprises."

"Don't hold any more grudges, Apollyon. It's not good for us to play the blame game." Luna chastised him as she wrapped her arm around his waist to calm him. "It was already done and there was nothing we can do about it."

Apollyon's expression showed uncompromising lines as he focused on her. "I want to have the assurance that your soul would remain here in the Vampire Realm forever."

"Where have you gone off to, Empress?" Draco asked abruptly and she remembered that the Dragon Emperor was there with them, eavesdropping to this private conversation which he had no right to--just like the rest of the Masquerade Ball attendees.

It was about her husband's family that he didn't want to talk about.

She didn't want anyone else to listen on to this or they might use this information to use it against Apollyon and destroy him.

"Let's end this conversation, gentlemen." Tightening her fists, Luna stepped between Prince Aspen and her husband.

Luna glared at the Dragon Emperor pointedly as she said, "Prince Aspen and I will begin our last dance before the Vampire King and I will retire."

+++++

Luna danced with the Faerie Prince along one other couple when the quadrille started.

Quadrille was easily understandable since it still had the element of the Waltz.

It was the longest dance of her life.

Luna wanted it to end so bad when she had noticed that the Vampire King had his smouldering gaze scan her from head to toe with a stark possession in his sapphire blue eyes that threatened to burn to her.

From the way the devilish glint in his eyes became more pronounced, Luna knew that Apollyon knew what he was doing to her as he held a goblet of red liquid—probably warm blood.

Apollyon held the stem of the goblet as he placed his thumb and forefinger, drawing little circles as he gripped the base of the glass.

He swirled the warm blood like it was wine.

She flashed a suggestive grin at her husband for she realized that Apollyon wouldn't be able to drink something that wasn't hers.

Apollyon returned her smile and winked.

Luna carefully adjusted her hand on Prince Aspen's shoulders because it had unconsciously slid unto his chest.

The Faerie Prince stroked a slender finger down the length of Luna's jaw when they did a particular turn where the Vampire King couldn't see it from the angle where he stood.

"Who are you and what did you do to my cousin, Your Highness?" Prince Aspen asked.

"It's none of your concern, Prince." Luna murmured, smirking. "--unless if you want me to put a death spell on you."