His Little Fae

Melancholic Bloodlust (II)

"Come sit with me on the edge of the world,

Where the calm meets chaos and we are met by our dreams.

Let's watch as madness swirls by our feet and love and scars and all that is beautiful passes by,

And then we'll lean over and catch memories in our butterfly nets."

_______________________

Livius' POV:

Council meetings were always such a hassle.

I watched disinterestedly while my advisor's, generals, and elder's argued. The final decision on these matters were almost always left to me, but they did everything to ensure I saw both sides.

We rarely ever hosted massive council meetings such as these, but it seemed necessary now.

Admittedly, there was nothing I wouldn't give to be with my Alexandria right now. I still remembered her dismay when I told her I needed to return to the castle, the way her eyes dimmed with disappointment before lightening once again at my promise to sleep beside her.

Goddess, I wanted to mark her.

But a part of me feared it was just my own grief speaking, my own fear of the unknown.

That final marking would link us forever. Our emotions would be translated through the bond, not just the strongest and most intense of them. The connection we had now was nothing in comparison. After the marking, her joy, her pain, her sadness, would be my own.

We could be miles apart, but I'd still know. And I'd be able to protect her, even if she didn't truly need it.

But I couldn't mark her out of fear of what the future would bring. A mark out of paranoia wasn't a true mark. And if I only yearned to have her in my arms to ease my grief, then that'd be no different than treating her as some sort of consolation prize.

And Alexandria was no consolation prize.

I suppressed a sigh. That didn't mean I didn't want to see her. She was probably lazing about by now. General Levon had rejoined the meeting after concluding training fifteen minutes ago. Last he saw her, she was heading back to the royal wing.

One more hour, Livius.

Bracing an elbow on the long conference table, I rested my chin over my knuckles, my eyes sliding over my council as I listened in once again.

"This is unacceptable. We know who was responsible. We know where to find the Vampire Queen. Let's give them the response they want," one of the senior members shouted, and I arched a brow at his raised tone.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes, his fists clenching around the documents that'd been shared. "And I assume you're going to be the one leading our men into that battle?" His voice was calm, but the underlying menace couldn't be missed. There wasn't a trace of the man who frolicked around with my queen.

Julian also cleared his throat, the strategist within him unable to remain silent. "I would have to agree with Sebastian on that, Elder Lucas," he said, his voice quiet and his emerald eyes pinned to the man who'd spoken. "There is a great amount of planning that must go into an attack on the Vampire Kingdom."

"Then we plan," Lucas ground out, his temper rising. "We burned a kingdom to the ground once, we can do it again."

This time it was Levon who spoke. "We are not butchers, Lucas."