There was a festival happening in the village within the palace walls. The maids were speaking about it constantly in whispers, but I overheard more than once. My interest was piqued immediately, just based on the rumors, but I knew there would be a major obstacle in allowing me to attend any festival: Kol.

I paced in my personal bedchamber back and forth, a small flower being spun in my hand absently, plotting on how I could be allowed to go and knowing it would be impossible. Prince was still missing from his injuries and Lady Aurora had been arrested for attempted murder of a future Royal. It had only been a week, maybe two weeks, since then. There was no way Kol would allow me to leave the walls of the castle.

After awhile, I had a thought. Perhaps... I could lie? If I were to just say Kol gave me permission, who would honestly question it? I wasn't good at lying, but I'd heard plenty. All I had to do was just say the words as though they were true. Just say them and be done.

That decided, I moved towards my bedroom door and opened it, intending on calling my maids to me for assistance. Instead, I was greeted by the one man who would question anything I said; Gio. I looked up at him, his crimson eyes on my form curiously, and swallowed heavily. The scratch on his face had healed in time. I knew now that he hadn't truly aimed for Prince to die; he'd prioritized protecting me and had the team of daemons left behind bring Prince for aid behind us. I'd felt a small bit guilty, but only a small bit.

"Do you need something, Lady Rin?" Gio asked me finally. I supposed I could still try my lying plan and start with Gio. It wouldn't be like he'd go ask Kol himself, would he?

"I-I want to go to the festival," I spoke the truth before attempting to add a lie, "I... was... well... I... asked... I was... told..." The more I tried to get the words out, the redder I became. My entire form was tense with anxiety and I felt I couldn't breathe. At my frustration, tears began to build in my eyes and I promptly gave up.

"Did the Prince deny your request?" Gio asked curiously.

"I can't ask him now. He would say no," I pouted unhappily. I had already accepted that I wouldn't be able to go when Vienna appeared out of nowhere and grasped my hand.

"I've heard everything. Come, let's all-," Vienna dragged me into the visitors room and called for Gio to follow us determinedly. He paused, but then did so before shutting the door behind us. Vienna turned to me once more. "My poor Lady, you're stuck inside all the time since coming here. You should be allowed to go to one festival one time, isn't that right Sir Gio?"

Vienna mustered a quite pitiful look as she appealed to him. I looked from her to Gio who looked unmoved and then decided to try as well. I stepped forward and lifted the flower in my hand towards Gio innocently.

"Won't you let me go just once, Gio? Please?" I pleaded sweetly, offering my most pitiful look. For a moment, Gio only watched me and ignored Vienna, but then he lifted his hand from his crossed arms and reached for the flower I offered him.

"You'll have to go with the maid. As a commoner. I'll follow in the distance in case there's any unwanted visitors," Gio finally submitted and I found myself jumping in the air with happiness before stepping forward to embrace him in a hug.

"Thank you, Gio," I said and released him promptly to turn my attention on Vienna. I grasped her arms excitedly.

"Let's get ready, my Lady. You can borrow my clothes," Vienna said before beginning to lead me back to my bedchamber. She left shortly thereafter to go to her own living quarters in order to bring me the clothes. I offered to go with her, but she said if anyone saw the Prince's intended in the servant's quarters would cause too much of a scene. It didn't matter that she was located not too far within the wing my own bedchamber was in.

Vienna wasn't gone for too long. When she returned, she had a handful of dresses to pick from between the two of us. While it wasn't nearly the amount of dresses I had to pick from usually, it was still enough. I picked a simple red dress with a white top. Vienna picked a blue and white one which was similar to mine. They were easy to put on in the end. And being that I was acting as a commoner, I couldn't wear any of my jewelry. Vienna tied my hair back simply and in no time we were ready.

I stepped from the room to show myself to Gio as though looking for approval.

"Do I look common, Sir Knight?" I asked him humbly as though he were higher class than me. Gio looked at me dumbfounded for a moment, making me hesitate and wonder if I'd done something wrong, but then he cleared his face.

"You look like a noble lady pretending to be a commoner, yes," He responded, much to my disappointment. I frowned unhappily and he looked away.

"Oh, shush, Sir Gio. We can't hide her beauty," Vienna teased me. Beauty? Me? I'd never been called that except when I was younger by my Father. The only interactions I'd had were with my family though and I didn't tend to call them beautiful either.

Did Niko and Kol think I was beautiful?

"Oh, did it get to your head?" Vienna continued to tease me when I blushed in response.

"No one's called me beautiful before," I answered shyly. I was suddenly recalling Kol, his hand on my face as he called my eyes beautiful after they'd changed from golden to blue. It had been a frightening situation back then and his comment had sounded more threatening than complimentary.

"Well we can't have that. You look beautiful, Lady Rin. Don't you agree, Sir Gio?" Vienna looked at Gio pointedly as though she might smack him if he disagreed. He suddenly looked extremely uncomfortable and he eyes searched the hall before finally ending up on my form.

"Yes. You're always beautiful," Gio finally submitted with a sigh. "You two can go ahead without me. I'll follow behind in another vehicle." Gio abruptly disappeared, fully intending to avoid any future antagonizing comments from Vienna.

The entire time I followed Vienna outside and to a vehicle which would drop us off a few blocks from the actual festival, I thought of Gio. I remembered his offer to mark me as a way to provide me with protection against the Royal family I was tied to. Did he still think of that moment? If I asked, would he still let me take him up on his offer? It was things I wondered, though I knew I'd never accept such an offer. I only wanted to belong to Prince Nikolas and no one else.

When we arrived at the festival, I was absolutely stunned. The roads were filled with more people than I'd ever seen in my life. I automatically clung to Vienna, worried I would get lost if I let go. But besides the people, there were market after market of all types of things.

Most of it was food, snacks, or candy. Vienna pulled us over to these determinedly first, forcing me to try far too much for any normal person to be able to. We avoided the daemon related markets where humans were for sell and various blood types were sampled. In one place, it claimed the most rare of human blood for certain prices.

Besides food, there was music from various places. There were several markets where trinkets and clothing were being sold. In others, paintings and other arts were sold. Jewelry, stained glass, and all other sorts of items were selling all over the place.

"Do you want to see a puppet show?" Vienna asked me excitedly.

"What's a puppet show?" I asked curiously.

I followed Vienna until we came across a larger tent. We entered into a small auditorium, with a stage up front. I watched with intrigue, squished among the other humans and daemons. The puppet show was a cute show of a princess looking for a prince in order to have a happy ending. My eyes wandered halfway through, looking around and behind us.

Was Gio nearby? Was he also enjoying the festival?

After the puppet show, Vienna decided we'd probably should head back to the castle before we were caught being out. I began to follow her when I saw someone I recognized. Just outside of the tent, a pregnant woman stood speaking adamantly to another person loud enough for me to hear.

"I'm telling you, she didn't do it. There's no way," The pregnant woman was saying to the other person with passion. I recognized her as one of the maids at Lady Aurora's dinner party.

"But she said she brewed the tea herself," The second woman answered hesitantly.

"I saw the entire thing. The new servant brewed the tea. Lady Aurora only said that to make herself seem like a hospitable host. She didn't know someone would put something in the tea. I'm telling you, she's innocent," The pregnant woman continued to ramble on about something that obviously she felt no one else was listening to. I wasn't sure if I could take her word as fact or as something a maid who loved her master would say to save her.

"Lad... Rin," Vienna appeared out of nowhere and grabbed my arm determinedly. "I thought I lost you. Come on, we have to head back." Without another thought towards Lady Aurora, I followed Vienna back to the castle. I wondered again if Gio was following, but I was certain when we arrived at the castle he would come out of hiding as my personal guard again.

However, when we arrived, Gio remained hidden. Vienna and I went back to my bedchamber to change out of our clothes. Vienna left Shan with me once our outing was hidden so that she could go back to her room. Once I was dressed for bed and left on my own, I knew I had officially gotten away with my secret night out at a festival. I put on a robe over my nightgown, intending to head towards the Prince's main bedchamber.

When I opened the door, I gasped when a mangled mess of a person spilled into my room. I fell onto the floor with the person falling onto me, the door closing loudly behind them. There was blood everywhere, but my eyes spotted red hair and scars above the ear. I twisted under him and reached to grasp his face, lifting it with difficulty to see him.

"Gio!" I cried out, immediately wiping at his face and the deep cut along his jaw before looking at his body which was riddled with injuries. "Oh! What happened to you?" I tried to move out from under him to get a better viewpoint, but the weight of his form on me held me captive.

"Attack," Gio was able to grunt around his own pain, "At the festival." My heart raced as he struggled to speak, fearing that this would be enough to kill a daemon.

"Can I help? How can I?" I asked desperately before reaching to wrap my arms around Gio's shoulders and pulling him to me in a protective hug. He nearly collapsed on me in response, his body pressed along mine in a way that got his blood over my skin and clothes. I didn't care; entirely concerned about his well being as though he were Prince in daemon form.

I had a thought.

"I could transfer some of the wounds to myself," I suggested simply as though I hadn't just healed from the last time I'd taken someone else's wounds. Gio twitched at my words, pushing his hand on the ground next to my head to jerk upwards and away from me painfully.

"No," He growled dangerously. I still considered it as he hovered over me. I wondered if it were possible to only take a couple instead of all of them. Gio seemed to know I still was planning it because he suggested suddenly, "Blood."

"Blood?" I asked hesitantly.

"I... can heal with blood," Gio gasped painfully.

I lifted my hand to my chest, touching my skin absently as I thought of his suggestion. Blood might be painful to give, but it was better to have just one cut instead of several deep cuts with transference. Gio would have to cut me with a knife or his claws. I still hesitated; not used to offering anyone my blood.

"You can have... my blood," I offered shyly, blushing at my own daring. Gio had a look of wild hunger on his face as I spoke, but he didn't aim to cut me yet. Instead, he held back and looked at me determinedly.

"Are you sure?" He asked, huffing dangerously.

"Y-yes," I responded, nodding shortly. I tightened my hands into fists and lifted my arm towards Gio with resolve. His crimson eyes only glanced at my arm before turning back to my face. He then abruptly moved over me, caging me in his grasp even more than before to keep me from moving. And he grasped my robe and gown over the shoulder opposite of Nikolas' mark.

"D-don't bit-" I began to say in panic once I realized his plan, but before the words could leave my lips, Gio was biting into my shoulder painfully. I yelped, clawing at his form and trying to get out of his grasp, but he held me to him tightly. Whereas Niko had bitten me to mark me, Gio's bite was deeper and longer as he drew my blood into him.

My struggle ended when a wave of lightness rushed over me; a pleasant pleasure pooling over the pain that Gio's bite initially caused. My grip loosened and I instead turned my head, wrapping my arms around his neck to pull him closer to me.

It was like a veil of pleasure was being pulled over my brain far quicker than when Niko had bitten me; probably because of how long I was being exposed to a daemon's bite. I was in a trap of ecstasy and I didn't want it to end.

When Gio released me, I was left panting on the ground, my eyes burning a bright gold and my skin shimmering a white glow. My arms fell from Gio's neck as he rose up, but I clung onto his shirt pleadingly.

"Gio, please don't stop," I asked of him desperately. In my haze, I could see his wounds had been healed and that there was no reason to continue, but the effects of a daemon's bite didn't leave me with any reasoning. Gio huffed above me in restraint as my hands trailed from his shirt to his chest underneath, the feel of skin on my skin making me sigh with happiness.

"I think you need rest, Rin," Gio said in response, moving to stand while grasping me to him in a way that made my robe fall uselessly below us. I gasped in delight at the feel of his body against mine, but he only lifted me from the ground to begin taking me to my bed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and nuzzled my face into his shoulder, purring at each brush of his skin against mine.

When he lowered me onto the bed, our faces were suddenly closer than usual. The bold part of me completely drowning under the effects of Gio's bite lifted my chin to press my lips against his daringly. A thick heat was building over my skin and when Gio jerked away, it seemed to only burn brighter and I whimpered.

"Gio, please," I whined sweetly, "Please."

Gio wasn't as restrained as Niko had been. He huffed and then moved forward to capture my lips against his dominantly. His kiss wasn't like Kol's or Niko's. It spoke of secret desires that only just had the chance to be exposed. Gio's kiss wanted to devour all of me, to take my soul and pull it from me so that he could have it for himself forever.

My body was on fire as I felt him taking me over and I knew that if he wanted to, he could take me completely and I wouldn't stop him even if deep down behind the effects of his bite I wanted to. It was like drinking too many glasses of wine. My mind was gone and only Gio could decide how things ended.

Or so I thought.

The door to the room abruptly burst open and a furious figure of Kol stood there in the frame. Gio immediately released me, jumping away from me on the bed. I had no reaction to Kol's appearance itself. I continued to squirm on the bed, desiring that touch or bite or whatever would save me from the heat that was throbbing over me so powerfully.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Kol said to Gio decisively.

"If you do, she'll die too," Gio responded carefully, pointing to me on the bed. I squirmed whimpering on the bed, tightening my legs together as my body throbbed between them dangerously. "Take a look at her neck. I've marked her."

Kol stepped carefully towards me and my body reacted to his presence intensely.

"She let you mark her?" Kol asked seethingly, though this rage seemed to be more directed at me.

"She let me heal from her blood. She didn't know I'd mark her," Gio surprisingly spoke the truth as though protecting me from Kol's rage. "I did it for her own good. So kill me if you want; see if she'll survive. Or get used to this face while you can because I won't let you continue to force her into this engagement farce any longer."

"Get out!" Kol shouted furiously at Gio. He paused at the order, looking from Kol to me squirming on the bed, but then decided to obey and began to leave stiffly.

"If you hurt her, I'll know," Gio growled dangerously before leaving completely. Kol was furious. He grabbed the nearest lamp and threw it at the furthest wall, shattering it loudly. Even in my current state, I tensed at the noise, before relaxing and grabbing at the sheets of the bed once more.

"Kol," I called to him like a madwoman. Be silent, I wanted to scream at myself, but that's not what the effects wanted me to do. Reach for him, it told me dangerously, but I did as it asked. I reached my hand out and Kol was close enough for me to grasp a pinky from his own hand. "Kol?"

Kol looked like he wanted to kill something, but at my call his crimson eyes rolled over to my form coolly. He didn't move from his spot and instead looked at me like he was seeing something he didn't like at all. I would've felt hurt under other circumstances.

"Please bite me," I asked him politely, repeating a request I'd asked from Niko so long ago.

"I won't refuse if you ask so nicely, Rin," Kol responded darkly.

"Please," I repeated, twisting and turning on the bed, tightening my thighs together as my body heated up further, "I'm so hot. Please bite me and... take my body. Please." I panted as I begged him, my heart fluttering loudly in my chest at my own daring.

Kol was suddenly on the bed beside me. He leaned over me and I went to grasp for him, but he grabbed my wrists and pulled me away. I whimpered at how close he was and how unfair it was that I couldn't touch him.

Kol abruptly lifted a single finger to my cheek, his claw pronounced and sharp threateningly.

"Don't move," He warned me carefully. I listened for the moment. And then he began to use his claw to rip at the gown covered in blood, shredding the fabric with his claw easily. I moved without meaning to, reaching for him and raising my body to him as he bared it. He quickly moved his claws away so that he didn't cut me before making a tsk noise with his throat. "I said don't move, naughty Rin."

"Please," I whimpered sweetly.

"So impatient," He responded with amusement. Before continuing to rip the gown off of me, he shredded pieces from it and used that to tie my wrists to the headboard of the bed determinedly. Only then did he continue, slicing the fabric all the way down before cutting the arms and peeling it off of my form entirely. "Hmmm, you still smell like him."

There were just a few parts on my chest and hands where Gio's blood had remained beyond the fabric of my gown and robe. Kol began to run his tongue over my chest, determined to remove any part of Gio from me no matter how slow and excruciatingly he did so. He untied one hand and I turned away as he ran his tongue over my skin. Then he tied it again before grabbing my other hand to do the same.