A part of me expected when Gio mentioned being treated that I would be taken to something like a nurse or a doctor. Back home, Father would always bring one to me if I needed the attention. I never got sick, so usually it would be for injuries I sustained in my clumsiness.

But instead of a doctor, Gio led me away from any other being. His hands were gentle as he carried me, but I'd still not been allowed to turn my face away from his chest. I could feel the wetness of blood running down my arm and leg. Every step he took sent a sharp pain through my leg and I just knew whatever weapon had been used against me was still there, embedded into my flesh painfully. I kept a tight grip on his shirt, my teeth gritted together as I gasped periodically in pain.

I felt Gio release his hand from my head and I instinctively opened my eyes. He had been wise to forcefully keep my eyes closed if this was my immediate reaction. I glanced around to see nothing but darkness and tensed even further with renewed fear.

"Gio," I whimpered.

"I've got you, my lady. Close your eyes," He instructed calmly. I did as he requested, hoping that the next time I was allowed to look I would be able to see. I heard doors opening and then closing, felt him step carefully down flights of stairs, and heard yet another heavier door being opened before shutting solidly behind us.

Gio lowered himself briefly before standing again and this time when he lowered, I was cradled delicately on his lap as he sat down. My eyes fluttered open to a familiar room; the dungeon-like one Kol had been chained in before. A small light of a candle was in the distance, purely for my sake, but otherwise it was just Gio and me in the darkness.

I felt lightheaded, both from pain and also from a heat that was rising throughout my body.

"I'll have to remove your dress, Lady Rin," Gio said to me carefully. "I apologize."

"I-I understand," I replied, wincing at the throbbing pain throughout my body. The sapphire dress Madame Lena had selected for me was beautiful, but it would be in the way of treating the wounds from the attack.

Gio lifted me further so that I was lined against his chest and began to swiftly undo the ties to my dress. I clung to his chest, resting my head against his shoulder with my face pressed into his neck as I panted painfully. He pulled the fabric carefully over my arms, especially careful over the deep cut on my shoulder. And then he began to pull it from my torso, leaving me in the slip underneath.

I tightened my grip on Gio's shirt, afraid to look at him directly. My eyes were no doubt brightly gold at this point. Would he hate what I was? Would it disgust him?

"I'm going to start with your leg," Gio said to me gruffly. I tensed at his words, my fears refreshed. I didn't dare to even look at my leg. It was both numb and on fire. "I have to remove the blade. That'll be the worse part. You don't have to hold it in, Lady Rin." I opened and then closed my hands over his shirt, as though trying to comfort myself.

"Okay," I finally braved to whimper. Gio tightened his grip on me, holding me more firmly against him, and then reached for my leg. I suddenly felt an intensely sharp pain, like an explosion of fire over my body. I inhaled sharply and screamed in agony just briefly before a wave of darkness blackened my mind for just a moment.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer clinging to Gio. I must've fainted and fallen back because now I was lying back against his arm while he bit into the flesh of his free hand painfully. I'd seen Niko use his blood to heal me before, when I burned my hand, and I knew he must have done it before that to heal the wounds on my wrists from being bound on the ship. Now, Gio reached for the wound on my leg, free from the blade, and pressed his bitten hand against it firmly.

I gasped at the sharp pain that followed, but it quickly numbed into something more peaceful and relieving. After a moment, it wasn't the agony in my leg that pulsed through me but the deep cut on my shoulder instead. Gio lifted his hand to his mouth once more, biting it yet again probably because his own wound had healed already, before reaching to grasp the cut on my shoulder.

The initial contact stung, not as badly as my leg had, and the relief was more immediate than before. My eyes fluttered closed from it and I allowed my head to lean back as I relaxed in his grip. I felt a humming sensation throughout me, which was both pleasant and uncomfortable. I also felt a steady increase of heat that came with it. I felt weak, but not in pain.

I turned my head to the side, away from Gio, and he carefully moved the hair that had fallen to my face back behind my ear. For a moment, he didn't do anything further. And then I felt a wet warmth along the cut just under my eye. I closed my eyes tighter in response, the feeling both stinging, but also pleasant.

Gio paused, but then I felt his breath as he trailed the warmth further along the cut back towards my ear. I opened my eyes slightly, realizing he wasn't using his bitten hand as he had done with my other wounds. His mouth hovered over my wound as he seemed to huff with restraint. I tensed, lifting my hands to clasp at my chest nervously.

He lowered his mouth over the cut on my face again and I whimpered, turning further away. This probably wasn't the best response because now his tongue ran further back to where the blade had sliced my ear. As his tongue traced the cut over my ear, I felt a chill throughout me in response. Gio paused again, seeming to try to gain control over his own instincts.

"Gio?" I wasn't sure what to ask him. I recalled Kol's threat not long ago. "Are you going to... to devour me?"

"You've been marked," Gio responded huskily, a hunger deep in his words. I turned in response to look at him, his face far too close to mine. His eyes were bright with that hunger, watching me with a thousand thoughts flickering behind them. "This is the most I can do."

Gio bit into his finger and reached for the cut on my face, trailing his blood over the wound delicately and with a bit of reluctance. After he was done, all the pain from the attack had vanished and all I had left was this heat within along with a growing weakness. Was it caused by the blood? I couldn't remember feeling such a sensation.

"Are you hurt anywhere else, Lady Rin?" Gio asked me, seeming to have gotten control over whatever instinct healing me had given him. With the physical pain of the cuts and puncture wounds gone, I could feel that heat within me more sharply. I took a breath, tightening my grip to clasp at my slip just over my stomach, and breathed again.

"I don't feel well," I admitted before looking to him with a pained expression.

"Where?" He asked, concerned.

"Inside," I answered with difficulty. I whimpered as the heat began to climb, sweat beginning to build over my skin in response. It was as though the blades had gone inside of me, rather than just in my flesh. I could feel it, cutting my insides in tiny, sharp lines. I whined, tensing in Gio's grasp. "Gio, it hurts. Please, it hurts."

Gio stood, lifting me in his arms with him, before turning around to lower me on top of the bed. I immediately reached for the surface of the bed, tightening my grip over the fabric in increasing agony. My hair and slip was beginning to cling to my skin from the sweat and a whimper escaped my throat over and over painfully.

"I can't feed you my blood, Lady Rin. Just wait for the Prince, okay?" Gio called to me, pulling off his bloodied shirt before ripping at the fabric and using it to try to keep my face dried. My lungs were burning, my chest heaving as I struggled to breathe around the growing pain. What was happening to me? What did he mean about feeding blood?

Would Kol be able to stop this pain himself?

This was something I'd never felt before; even when being held in the dark of the ship on the way here. This pain was overwhelming. I couldn't think of anything else besides it. Gio watched me struggle, crying out, and writhe from it. My skin began to glow from it, leaving me unable to even attempt to hide what I was. And yet, even in his discomfort, his eyes watched my form as though enthralled. With the sweat and the glow, the slip had become something almost transparent and I lied almost completely bared before him.

"Kol," I whimpered, calling out helplessly. Gio closed his eyes firmly, scolding himself.

After time passed, the door to the room suddenly burst open and Kol stormed in angrily. He paused for a moment when seeing me on the bed and then approached with an air of murder about him.

"Why the fuck haven't you healed her?" Kol growled furiously.

Gio looked up to him expressionlessly.

"The blades were poisoned. That's why they didn't just aim for a kill shot immediately. I healed the surface wounds, but to do anything further would mean...," Gio looked at the Prince pointedly.

"You're smarter than you look," Kol responded coolly.

"Thank you, Prince Nikolas. Please give the lady your blood."

"Shut up, Giovanni," Kol snarled before stepping further towards my form. I could barely hear them over the rush of blood in my ears. Kol lowered himself to his knees beside me, across from Gio.

"Should I go?" Gio asked simply.

"Don't you think about going anywhere if you want to keep your head," Kol hissed dangerously. He then lifted his wrist to his mouth and bit into it. Then he reached for me, lifting my head carefully. My eyes fluttered open blindly in confusion. "Open your mouth, Rin."

"Kol," I began to say and it was enough. He pressed his wrist to my lips, holding me firm against his bleeding flesh. His blood filled my mouth abruptly, the taste so foreign that I immediately fought against it. Kol didn't allow me to resist. I coughed as his blood slid down my throat and winced as I was forced to swallow it. When he was satisfied, he finally released me and I fell back against the bed gasping.

I felt the pain and heat begin to fade as the blood I'd swallowed seemed to stretch within me. I panted painfully at first, but then felt the pleasant relief rushing through me gently. Kol's blood didn't feel like the wild, angry side of him. It was calm and sweet; protective even. I sighed as I felt it in my fingertips down to my toes, lulling me into a restful sleep.

"Does King Cyril know what she is?" Gio asked Kol carefully.

"No, and he will never know," Kol responded sharply.

"If he finds out, he'll do worse than kill her," Gio warned.

"Are you planning on telling him, Giovanni? Or maybe someone else?" There was a threat rising within Kol and it was becoming clear why he hadn't wanted Gio to leave the room. He was assessing Gio's threat; to him and to me. He wasn't planning on letting Gio leave alive if he gave the wrong answers.

"I am loyal to you and only you, Prince Nikolas. As long as you are protecting the lady, I will do so, too. It doesn't matter to me if she's a Seraph," Gio answered determinedly. A deathly silence followed the word seraph as Kol glared at Gio intensely.

"Fine. If you betray me, I will kill you myself," Kol threatened him sincerely, heat in his words.

"Message received, your Majesty," Gio teased him before standing. "I will go assist with finding the assassin. I didn't get a good look at them, but I sensed him well. I should be able to track his scent from the garden." Without waiting for further permission, Gio left Kol to attend to me.

I awoke to the comfort of a bed with Prince's fur in my face as he dozed next to me. On instinct, I reached for him to hug more comfortably and he vibrated happily next to me. After a moment of this peace, I suddenly recalled dancing with Kol, being attacked in a garden, Gio taking me to that dark room, and Kol's blood over my lips. I jolted awake, sitting up sharply.

No one was in the bedroom with me besides Prince. I looked at myself to find I was still in the slip I wore under my dress, bits of blood staining the side I'd injured my shoulder on. Kol must have brought me back to the room at some point after I'd fallen asleep.

I stepped out of the bed and went towards the bathroom in hopes of secretly taking a bath, but as I entered, I found Vienna and Shan there already waiting for me. I knew better than to argue with their aid, so I obediently allowed them to help me.

As Vienna scrubbed shampoo into my hair, I traced my shoulder where the blade had cut me. Someone had tried to kill me, during a royal banquet, with the King of the Daemons not far away. Was this going to be my life here? Did someone consider me a danger, even not knowing who I was? If Kol hadn't given me his blood, I would've surely died, wouldn't I have?

"Vienna, Shan," I mused thoughtfully, catching their attention.

"Yes, my lady?" They answered quickly.

"Do you know what it means when a daemon has you drink their blood?" I inquired curiously, turning to look at them. I wasn't sure if they would know, being that they were human. Gio hadn't given me his blood, even while watching me suffer, so it must mean something more than just healing.

"I-," Shan hesitated, catching my attention, "Why do you ask, my lady?"

"Kol... Prince Nikolas gave me his blood," I answered honestly, "He did it to heal me, but I keep wondering if it means something more." Both of them seemed to freeze at my response, looking at one another as they tended to do when I'd said something atypical.

"Can I be candid, Lady Corrine?" Vienna suddenly braved. I frowned at her.

"I'm asking honestly so I can be answered honestly," I said slowly, "So, please do."

"Firstly, you really mustn't be so trusting," She abruptly scolded me while Shan nodded beside her in silent agreement. I flushed at her statement, but the advice was much easier given than done. "I understand that it is your nature, but you're not only among Daemons here. You're among Royalty. If you speak of something you shouldn't to the wrong people, it could put yourself and even the Prince in danger."

"I'm sorry," I apologized quietly, ducking further into the water as though to hide myself.

"Lady Corrine, you are also soon to be Royalty. You do not need to apologize to anyone, much less people of our status. I'm only saying this for your sake," Vienna responded in a panic, clearly not expecting my remorse. I felt like Sylvia was before me, both scolding me for improper actions and following up with a gentle affection. "As for the daemon blood, I will tell you just briefly... a daemon does not give their blood so easily. When blood is shared, it creates a connection between you that is rarely broken, and if the Prince has shared his with you, it may be considered a weakness to him. A part of his shadow is with you, now. What it all means should be something you discuss with Prince Nikolas, and only with him."

"I understand," I replied carefully, "Thank you, Vienna."

I continued the rest of the bath in silence, but my mind was in an uproar over Vienna's statement. How does giving me his blood make me a weakness for Kol? And what did it mean to have a part of his shadow with me? What exactly was his shadow? It didn't sound like the same thing as a typical shadow...

I stood in a daze as they dried me and began to help dress me for the day. I felt much better, far more normal, now that I had bathed.

"The butler has informed us that Lady Aurora wishes to have a visit with you when you're ready," Shan chirped to me quietly.

"Lady Aurora?" I inquired slowly. It took me a moment to recall her face; that elegant beauty who had been speaking to King Cyril at the banquet. "She's still here?" Once again, Vienna and Shan looked at each other, knowing something I didn't.

"Lady Aurora stays at the Royal castle frequently. After the mania at the banquet, she decided it would be easier to remain as a guest than to head back to her own estate," Vienna explained knowledgably. "Do you feel well enough to visit? We'll bring you breakfast while you get to know her."

"She's the leading lady of high society, so it would be good to become acquainted with her, if possible," Shan added, a note of doom in her tone. Vienna sent her a sharp look at her last comment, but I was too deep in thought to notice. I never had any chance of having friends remotely my age before... not that I knew how old a daemon would be based on first appearances. I just knew it was older than the five years of my siblings.

"I'll visit her, then," I agreed brightly. "Prince!"

As I called for him, Prince slipped into the room quickly like a shadow, appearing by my feet faster than the eye could see. The maids jolted back, still fearful of the beast. I crouched down, much unladylike, and cupped his face in my hands adoringly.

"Are you ready for breakfast, handsome?" I asked him and he seemed to bounce from foot to foot happily.

"My Lady, you'll bring the bea- I mean, the shadow daemon with you to visit Lady Aurora?" Vienna asked, though she seemed to already know the answer.

"Of course," I stood and made my way to exit into the hallway happily. As I looked around, I saw a new guard standing by the door stiffly; one I wasn't sure I'd met before. I looked both directions down the hallway, frowning. "Where's Sir Gio?"

"Sir Gio is taking time off, My Lady. My name is Anthony Acosta. I will be guarding you-"

"No, I don't want you," I interrupted the man abruptly before just as quickly raising my hand to cover my lips in surprise. In my sudden panic, I didn't mean to sound so rude, even if the new guard didn't appear to be shocked by it. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you're a fine guard, but I... I want Gio. Will you send him a message for me?"

"If that's what you wish, My Lady," Anthony bowed slightly, a curious yet amused look on his face.

"Ask him not to take time off because of me. And ask him to return to me immediately. But... if he feels he can't guard me because... I'm not a daemon," I was looking at my hands at this point, a blush of embarrassment rising on my cheeks as I tried to dance around my own meaning without giving away what I was to this daemon. "Then I would understand."

"We'll be in the parlor with Lady Aurora," Vienna chimed in before the man could ask. Anthony bowed again before leaving us to deliver the message. I frowned at his back, wondering if Gio would actually return. Perhaps his kindness extended only towards healing me and after that he couldn't find it in him to protect a Seraph. Why else would he suddenly distance himself from me?