The Juafera- Poppies Rise 3

As the alphas made their way down the mountain to the Misadime, the desert sun beat down on them as they traveled through the dessert. They had taken a break passing by Shet’Anu merchants. Zahad had been especially irritable as his already walnut skin darkened under the desert sun. His tightly coiled hair freed itself from his box braids. As the heat bore down on his scalp causing the sweat to evaporate before he could cool him down.

Abeni sat on a crate as Shet’Anu people passed by. They were dressed appropriately in the weather with veils that hid them from the wicked sun. Zahad growled at anyone that dared look at his hair unkept. He let out a soft whine as Abeni summoned a small cloud to keep his skin from further burning under the merciless sun.

“Where the fuck did the iternerary said to go?” Zahad barked.

He began running his claws through his hair, never fully going down it’s length. Addae gently stroked Zahad’s head, his own obsidian skin somehow darkening under the sun. Zahad snapped at first, hating the sensation of another person’s claws going throw his scalp. The dryness and the heat was slowly driving the alpha towards Zali’s flowers.

“Patience Zahad, we’re doing our best. You know Misadime script is hard for me to read,” Abeni growled out. Her dense curls expanded into an afro like cloud under the sun’s pulsating rays.

“Are you heading to the Misadime,” said a merchant walking up the group.

A red scarf wrapped up the jackal’s hair. They had red eyes like a poppy with little specks of gold mixed in. Their body decorated with all kinds of jewels. Their delicate orche brown skin protected from the sun’s tainted heat. Their smile was kind and understanding of the clearly non-jackal people.

“Yes, we are,” Addae said, his voice cracked from the heat sucking up the moisture in his mouth. His yellow eyes droopy from the heat. His dreads itched something fierce with the sun burning his scalp.

“We are merchants heading there ourselves. May we ask who are you and you’re reason for visiting the Misadime?” The merchant asked, pointing to their caravan.

“Who wants to know,” Zahad growled.

He tilted his head, his purple eyes deepening in color and the seclera of his eyes darkening to a vivid black. His fangs are bared. His lips pull into a twitching motion. The other alphas notice, lilies poking out from under his robes. To any other his hostile behavior would be seriously taken as a threat or declaration of war. But to Addae and Abeni they knew it truly was the heat getting to Zahad.

“Ignore my friend. We are the Oluri Mbwa Alphas heading over to the Misadime.” Addae said. His eyes could see the waves of heat taunting him.

“Oh, that’s perfect. Our caravan are the Shet’Anu merchants heading over there ourselves. You may join us,” The merchant said with a polite smile. They climbed into the decadent caravan asking the alphas to follow them.

Zahad pushed the others out of the way, jumping into the Caravan. He took deep breaths relaxing himself as the caravan had some kind of cooling magic that calmed his mind as well. The other alphas climbed in and they continued their way on to the misadime.

“Hey at least now, we’ll be there at least two days earlier.” Abeni said offering Zahad a tired smile.

Zahad snorted. “The sooner we get there, the sooner we leave and I can get back to my mate.” Addae and Abeni rolled their eyes as the caravan’s wheels rolled them out of Shet’Anu territory and closer to the Misadime. 

CHAPTER 2—ANARA

Princess Anara took a moment to breathe; standing up from her desk she looked out her office windows. The sea breeze drifting in felt like heaven. She could easily close the windows and allow for the buildings natural cooling to fill the room; but there was something soothing as hearing the waves and the children in the distance.

Begrudgingly she turned back to her work. Soon the other tribes will be here, and the king and queen will be expecting her to be prepared for their arrivals. Her aunt and uncle were hard on her. The stress was making her more than irritable. She had demanded that the entire building leave her to her work.

Unlike her siblings and cousins Anara was the person behind the curtain. Her older sister was a high priestess and two of her brothers were generals in the military. Anara was the one to do all the communications not just with the two other tribes of the Juafera but with the Illura and Usiku. She had been preparing for the Sol-Festival for almost two years now. She could only pray to Alinsa that she was prepared enough.

She mentally made a list of things to look forward to: The Alpha’s would be visiting Nillia which always cheered her up; Soon she will be able to see Ambassador Samsun. Even with no one here to read her thoughts she blushed; on his many visits to the Misadime capital he would stop by her office have a cup of tea and challenge her to three-tiered chess. He was the only she knew of who could match her move for move. She made a mental note to bring her board. Hopefully there will be time to play with him at the festival. There was a knock at the door pulling her from her own musings.

It was her head assistant Iliana making her way into the office. “Your highness, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the two other members of the Juafera are set to be arriving two days earlier than expected.”

Her once sepia toned knuckles starting to turn white from the grip she had on the missives; she slowly put the communication scrolls on Anara’s desk. As she turned to leave, Iliana looked her over boss once more and took note that the princess was low on blood. And she put the communication scrolls on her desk and before she turned to leave Iliana looked her over once more and took note that the princess was low on blood. Her once dark dewy skin now sallow and slightly ashen. Her eyes were no longer the golden yellow of the current royal family. Instead the telltale signs of the red rings of hunger were starting to form in her eyes.

“Ma’am, when was the last time you have had bloodberry wine or iron fish? You know what happens to us without those. I’ll have the kitchens bring something to you. We don’t need you feral, not this close to the festival.” And with that Iliana left Anara’s office.

She shuddered at the thought of being feral. The vampires had left that part of their culture in the very distant past. She had to admit she couldn’t remember the last time she had eaten. She cursed herself for allowing this mistake. One simply couldn’t function without proper sustenance. She paused all her work, jotting down a few memos but nothing to taxing till she could eat.

As if on que the chef had sent enough bloodberry wine and iron fish to feed a small family. She didn’t realize how ravenous she was. She was glad that there was no one else around her as she was tempted to forgo the silverware and eat with her hands. Yes, she had been so illogical to let herself get even an inch closer to being feral. She was not a Wolf; She was a Misadiman princess. She devoured her food without thinking of proper decorum; it was just her after all.

Once she had finished, she used the powers Alinsa had granted her to remove all the mess she had made. Full and no longer ravenous; knowing that the wolves were two days away she sent a message to Nillia through their link.

“Cousin are you there?” She was hoping Nillia wasn't in the training grounds. She prayed to Alinsa that she would be able to respond quickly.

CHAPTER 2—NILLIA

Nillia wiped the sweat off their deep brown skin. They pounded their bo staff into the ground. The ground shook and twisted before sporadically shooting off into the air. Nillia slammed her foot into the ground and the earth spikes fell to dust. The young Misadime children looked at her in awe.

“Children this is why you must know the counter to every offense attack you made. You never know when you will be giving demonstrations yourselves and you don’t want to injure anyone.”

“Yes, Master Nillia,” All the children responded in unison.

Nillia grinned, showing off their big fangs. Nillia remembered she wasn’t around family and made her grin smaller. On occasion she forgot that showing off her fangs was insulting if not downright threatening. And she doesn’t need some child running off to their parent that their teacher threatened them. When in reality, their teacher just happened to have large fangs. One of the unfortunate things about being an Oluri Mbwa, Misadime hybrid.

All the children grew a little nervous when they saw her fangs. Nillia’s smile fell into the familiar thin line the kids were familiar with.

“Sorry children. In the Oluri Mbwa, showing off your teeth is thought to be a sign of familiarity and friendliness. So please remember when an Oluri Mbwa person does it, there is no ill intent behind it. And we all happen to have large fangs so sometimes they slip out when we smile,” Nillia said reassuring her class about what their smile meant.

The children nodded, whispering about how that sounded logical. If you just happened to have larger fangs it made sense that they would accidentally flash when you smile.

“Now class I have a very important guest I brought over. Everyone say high to Private Chibu!” Nillia exclaimed.

All the pups gasped about the meeting the private. Nillia reminded the children to not get overly excited. They still could be excited but they needed to remember control over their emotions. And Nillia needed no fussy incidents due to the children’s overexcitement and of course they intense training session she was making them go through. The only reason Nillia was doing this was due to the fact they would have to cancel classes very soon due to the Sol Festival.

“Thanks Chibu,” Nillia whispered into his ear.

Chibu shrugged. “No problem,” he whispered back.

“Okay kids, your instructer has told me some of you have fire abilities.” Some of the pups excitedly raised their hands and nodded.

“Okay well Master Nillia has an amazing treat for you all! We are going to be doing a fire safety demonstration! Whether you possess fire abilities or not you should all know how to handle an opponent with fire abilities. So, your Master and I will be teaching you all about how to control your fire abilities but also how to block and defend against someone with them.”

All the royal children giggled in excitement. It took a bit of time to get them to all sit still but once they did everything was easier from then on out. Nillia drew a curved line in the dirt marking the area as a barrier that was safe for the children to stand or sit in. Outside of that was a danger zone as the children very well could get hurt.

“First up is a fire ball,” Chibu said.

He curved his hand into a ball like shape. He closed his eyes and relaxed his face. His hand then opened his hand and, in the middle, sat a fire ball. He waved around in front of the children and explained the mechanics around creating one. It was a very basic ability to learn and those with fire abilities would learn it soon enough.

When he was ready he threw the fireball at Nillia. Nillia slammed her foot into the ground and a wall of earth jumped up in front of the fireball. The fireball stopped in the middle of the earth wall. Nillia brought her hand down and the wall flattened the ball of fire, extinguishing it.

“The first thing you should do when dealing with a fire ball is block it from hitting you. Your opponent is looking to burn you, stop that before it happens.” Nillia said plainly.

This time Chibu summoned multiple fireballs, creating a circle of them around himself. A small grin found itself on Nillia’s face. Nillia loved training with Chibu whenever they got the chance. She found it refreshing no longer having to hold back and getting to use the full extent of her power. Though there were also rare occasions like this where she got to really show off what she could do.

Nillia raised a dome around herself with the dry ground. The dome got hotter as the fireballs moved around it. Nillia took deep breaths. She knew what Chibu was doing. He was going to surround his fireballs around her, heating up the earth forcing her to expose herself to him. An excellent strategy though a little too lethal than they preferred to teach the kids. No matter, it wasn’t something that was entirely a problem. Some of these children would possibly go into the military themselves, never too early to start learning the skill sets.

Nillia brought her arms closer to her body and the ground moved around her. It hardened and formed a rocky like armor around her. She then shot out different pieces of the rock, snuffing out each fireball. She pounded the ground with her fist sending a crack through the dirt. The earth began to shake and the children all fell down. Chibu fell on his face and chuckled a bit. The little shock could be felt through at least half of the castle.

Nillia could feel a slight pressure building in her head. She knew the sensation to be that of her cousin speaking into their link. Nillia grinned, excited to hear from her cousin, Anara.

“Cousin are you there,” she was hoping Nillia wasn't in the training grounds. She prayed to Alinsa that she would be able to respond quickly.

Nillia smiled happily at the young Misadime children. She had just gotten done with a fire safety demenstration with one of her friends who was kind enough to volunteer their time for Nillia’s class. Nillia felt the sudden words of her cousin's voice enter her head.

“Cousin! How are you?” Nillia asked in a chipper tone. Nillia easily dodged one her students attempts at a sneak attack.

“Are you able to speak? I do not wish to take up your time if you are training the young ones. This matter is important but not as important as educating the young minds about their powers.”

Anara knew that once she told Nillia classes would be done for the day and possibly the next three days. But she was not prepared for the Wolves and the Jackals to arrive so early. She needed help.

Nillia raised an earth wall against the attacks of the children. She dispersed the wall drilling into the children that their attacks needed to be quicker and more versatile. “And I can multitask? Is there anything you need for the Sol Festival? I wouldn’t mind letting the young ones out early!”

Sighing, knowing that Nillia really couldn’t multi-task she felt bad to be asking her for this help. Mostly because the classes would definitely be out untill the end of the sol-festival. Not that the children would care about that. With time they would learn the path to Alinsa is based in hard work and logical progression.

“Now cousin, please don't get to excited but the other member or the Juafera are about two days away making them almost a week early. I am not prepared for them at the Summer palace.”

Nillia pounded her bo staff into the air. It sent shockwaves through the ground that knocked off the children. They all looked in awe at her as they also showed the children how to use a weapon with their ability. With that Nillia dismissed class, freeing the children. Some let out disappointed sighs while others let out excited whoops with the end of their training.

“Does that mean the alphas are coming?” Nillia asked trying to contain obvious excitement. Nillia being part oluri mbwa always meant they were a little more inclined to giving into their emotions.

Through their link Anara could feel the excitement boiling over in her younger cousin. The Wolves were so free with their emotions. It was almost commendable. Unlike Nillia, Anara was able to contain her secondary thoughts away from the connection. She almost laughed through their link at the young demi.

“Yes, they are coming and their rooms are not even close to being done. I’ve been going off the list you gave me as well as the etiquette book on how to show respect to the Alphas.”

Anara could hear Nillia's laughter through their link. They cleared their throat but they could still feel Nillia grinning.

“I genuinely appreciate the thought about you creating the etiquette book for the Alphas but really that isn't necessary 'Nara. Oluri mbwas are very grounded people. The pleasantry of palace life isn't...” Nillia paused at their conflict of cultures. Nillia didn't want to seem that the Oluri Mbwa didn't have their own pleasantries and formalities to attend to. But those were very “in mountain things.” To the rest of the world they preferred a more relaxed approach to those understanding the culture.

“Let's just say that Oluri Mbwa alphas aren't too concerned if we don't get all of the etiquette down. We don’t really have a lot of formalities,” Nillia said with a shrug as if conversing with her cousin face to face.

Anara this time sent her bemusement through the link. “I didn't make this book I borrowed it from Ambassador Samsun. I know that your Alphas have their own decorum and yet I wanted them to feel comfortable here as well.”

Even though Anara's telepathic abilities far surpassed anyone in their family or even the other houses of the Royal Zodiac she could not suppress the bashful feeling of the blossoming of love out of her messages when she mentioned Ambassador Samsun.

Nillia immediately picked up on the bashful feeling Anara held towards Ambassador Samsun. Anara could hear the kissy sounds Nillia was making into their link. Though Nillia was already beginning to enter the very early stages of adulthood they couldn’t help but choose sometimes the most childish of actions.

“Oooh, and I hope the Ambassador will be getting here soon too,” Nillia said in a sing song voice. They wiped down the sweat from the earlier training session and made their way towards their private quarters to rest and well wait to be of assistance if need be.

The lack of maintaining sustenance let her emotions slip through. “Enough! We have 3 wings of the palace to make ready for the Alphas. The message didn't say how many Alphas we were to expect. So I made sure we have room for all the packs Alphas. Fourteen rooms should be enough right?”

Nillia raised her head, hearing Anara snap. Once more Nillia held up her hands in surrender as if physically conversing with Anara.

“Okay, no more teasing. Well I won't lie to you Nara, we usually try to avoid the Sol Feastival. Which is why we usually send like one representative. Leaving during the festival isn’t just taboo it's kind of considered dangerous. Leaving one's pack defenseless during our most vulnerable time isn’t much encouragement for us to descend the mountain. Even I get wary about it and I’ve stayed in the Misadime for most of my Solar eclipses,” Nillia said with a nervous chuckle.

They had made a stop at the palace kitchen and requested for some blood fish. One simply couldn't be any help to anyone without proper sustenance. Especially after such an intense training session as Nillia had held for the misadime royal children.

“I am sorry for that outburst cousin it has been a long day and I am still at the library. I will come to you. So, I may show you the rooms we have been preparing. They are the ones closest to your rooms. And I know the Sols often take you to low energies. I have had the royal vintners make what I am calling moonblood wine. I had the idea to hide the bloodberry wines from the sun and only let them out during the night. I believe that this should help all of you.” Nillia could feel Anara was quite pleased with herself on her newest invention. Making this the second time Anara had displayed her emotions in their chat.

Nillia smiled as she dug into her bloodfish. Though it wasn’t preferred given the past of the Misadime, Nillia always liked her meat a little on the bloodier side.

“Hey, it's okay cousin. There's a lot of stress on you. And don't forget to eat today! You always get a little cranky whem you don't eat,” Nillia chuckled.

Nillia could feel Anara's pride and that in turn made them proud. They loved seeing how happy their cousin was. And they also greatly appreciated the lengths of accommodations Anara made for her and the other Oluri Mbwa members.

“Ooh, this will be interesting! And thanks Narie, you're always so sweet. I bet the alphas will appreciate it. Especially if Alpha Zahad comes though he might just deplete our wine supply,” Nillia joked.

Putting the last of her scrolls and missives away. Anara was getting ready to take the long way back to the palace. She didn’t trust herself to teleport in the famished condition she was in. The attempt might make her loose control of herself. She shuddered at the thought of even potentially going feral.

“How did you know I haven't eaten? Was it that obvious? I'll have to take the tunnels to the palace. I am in no state to teleport. I may have forgotten to eat the entire day. Most illogical of me.”

“Wait you what!” Nillia had accidentally yelled that part aloud.

Nillia cleared her throat and sat back at the table. They began taking a few steps they learned as a pup to calm down. Sometimes Nillia’s Oluri Mbwa side got better control of them than they would like to admit. Once feeling calmer and more logical, Nillia responded.

“Nara I was joking. Indeed, very illogical of you to forget eating but not too much either,” Nillia said trying to cut their cousin some slack.

“It would be understandable on such a rare occasion as this where you are under so much stress even eating can gain a lower priority ranking. Just please be careful of not letting it become a pattern. Everyone's already worried about a certain someone acting feral, I would prefer you don't end up on that list as well,” Nillia slightly chuckled.

Their humorless smile fell as they thought about all the things that occasionally people whispered about her when they thought she wasn’t listening. Especially about her wildness and risk of being feral.

Anara going through the winding tunnels that would confuse someone else; but she knew the ways and could find her way to the courtyard of the palace with a blindfold covering her eyes.

“Ni ni, I know you hear the whispers. It will be nice to give them someone else to talk about for a change right? But if you could please get me the bloodiest blood fish and like a barrel of blood wine. I’ll be in your rooms in about half an hour.”

Nillia scoffed, easily downing a bottle of blood berry wine. “I would rather face Zali then let the courts have fun talking about you. Besides,” Nillia grinned flashing her large fangs, “its fun to scare the gossipers. Sometimes they need a reminder I may be a Misadime princess but I'm still an alpha's daughter. And we wolves have very big fangs.”

Nillia snickered to herself. “Oof. Someone definitely sounds hungry. I just finished up training and I'm currently in the palace kitchen but I'll meet you at my room.”

Nillia finished her plate and let a servant come collect it. She then asked the kitchen staff to prepare two bloodiest blood fish and bring a barrel of bloodwine to her room. Whether Anara was being literal or not didn't matter to Nillia. She would at least have enough blood berry wine that she could eat in her room for a couple of days undisturbed. And fortunately, not have to deal with anyone’s comments on her getting a midnight snack of bloodfish. Nillia made their way back to their room and decided to shower as they awaited their cousin's arrival.

As Anara made the final turns she blinked stepping into the sunlit gardens. She put the sliding stone back into place. If you weren't trained by the previous Head Archivist you would never know it was there. The sun felt almost too hot on her skin. It never burned like that. She rushed to Nillia's rooms. She didn't even bother to knock.

“Food. Now!” Without even a pleasant greeting to her younger cousin.

Nillia’s eyes largened seeing the state Anara was in. Nillia pointed to a bloody blood fish that it was bordering on being raw. Of course, not hunted raw but it was barely cooked to the standard of the Misadime royal family, one would say of even just the common Misadime.

There was a literal barrel of blood wine in the corner with a tap for them to pour some into a cup. Though with the way Anara was hungry Nillia guessed she was going to just drink it from the tap. Nillia grimaced now deeply concerned now for her cousin's health. She had never seen her so pale or her skin as sunken.

The only time she even come to an experience like this was when Nillia had experienced her first blood moon in the palace. She had almost become feral and was unfortunately extremely blood thirsty the whole day.

“Narie please tell me you genuinely didn't starve yourself the whole day.”

Anara looked sheepishly at her cousin. “The Queen has put all the preparations onto me. She has said she has other more important things to plan. I think it might have something to do with the leader summit. Anyways, I have been beyond stressed. I may have not eaten for the last day and a half. Now please don’t watch as I am about to be the most impolite I have ever been in my life.”

With that she grabbed the fish with both hands and ate. A rare look into how far the Misadime vampires had come and how the could easily go back if they didn't contain the monster behind the logical brain. Anara was never one to eat like this. Her stress was almost palpable and radiating off of her.

Nillia turned away out of respect for her cousin but she had to admit it was almost freeing seeing her cousin like. For the Misadime, this style of eating were to be expected out of someone who had been starved or a child. And even young pups had better manners and control.

But for the Oluri Mbwa this was common. It was another conflict for Nillia. One the one hand her Misadime princess training told her that this was wrong and greatly concerning. But her Oluri Mbwa culture said she shouldn’t shame Anara for eating this way. It was natural and efficient.

Nillia gave in more to her Oluri Mbwa side and turned to face Anara practically devouring the blood fish. She gave her cousin a soft smile.

“You've never judged me when I ate like this on a full moon Narie, I'm not going to judge you for it either. But by Alinsia you haven’t eaten for the past day and a half!” Nillia exclaimed.

They groaned and filled a large glass with bloodberry wine from the barrel. “Narie that’s dangerous! If you needed someone to get you food from the kitchen so you could eat in privacy, I would've done it," Nillia said with concern for her cousin.

Anara wiped the blood off her mouth. “Ni ni... I forgot to ask for food. I have to get over 6,000 Misadime to the festival. If something goes wrong people can die. What happens if I chose the wrong hot air balloon ship? People will fall to their deaths. I can't have that. It will have been my fault. Queen Delisia has tasked me with this what else can I do?”

“Narie, you're panicking again,” Nillia said. They went over and first handed their cousin a napkin before giving her a hug.

“Yes and people could die if you go feral from hunger too or you could die. Please don't be so careless with your life. And look, Aunty Delisia I'm sure would agree the logical resolution would have been to take breaks or ask for help. You're more inclined to fail if your stomach is empty. Because what will your brain supply fuel from?”

Nillia asked and shrugged their shoulder. They sighed and patted Anara's back. “But that's all over and done with. You have done your job, you are taking a break, and for right now that's really all that matters. The rest will be done in due time as it always is, because you're the best Narie,” Nillia said with a smile.

Taking the napkin Anara smiled. “You are right cousin. I am sorry you had to see me like this. I should at least have a plate of bloodberries at my disposal. I’m just so tired. She told me that I was solely in charge of this. I asked for help. I really did and all I got was a contact list. Honestly cousin. I am losing my way.”

Nillia's nose twitched and a small growl escaped her. They blushed at their cousin and took one huge gulp of bloodberry wine.

“Sorry cousin and don't apologize to me! You've never once been mean to me about my behavior or me giving into my wolf tendencies. You've honestly been the only family member to not be an ass about it,” Nillia said playing with the ends of their large braid.

They began to braid and unbraid the ends, a nervous habit they formed as a very young pup. Another growl bubbled up Nillia's throat and they shook their head.

“And I hate that too! I know Auntie Delisia is Queen but she shouldn't overwork you like that. That's just illogical to put the entire organization of the Sol Festival to one person. This is why we have councils and delegations. And don't you event think that for a second Anara. The fact that you're making everything run smoothly and not a single person knows your plight shows not only your ability but it very may well be a blessing from Alinisia,” Nillia said quite passionately.

Those deep brown eyes of hers had a bit of a certain glow to them now that Nillia was fired up. Nillia’s hand accidentally crushed a part of their wooden bed frame. A deep blush appeared on their face.

“Not again! That's the 3rd time in four months,” they said hiding their face behind their jug of bloodberry wine and beginning to chug it.

Smiling at her cousin. “We are not unalike you know that right. We both are kind of the black sheeps of the family. It is alright though. Soon all will be finished; and I might be able enjoy another thrilling conversations with the Ambassadors and other ministers of communication.” After saying this she took the jug out of Nillia's hands to chug it herself. Her color was starting to comeback.

Nillia nodded and smiled. “It’s honestly why you're the only one I'm okay with seeing me like this Narie. Everyone else has some cruel joke about how us wolves but you’ve never been like that Narie. Seriously it's so refreshing when I get to be a wolf and I don't have to hide. Thanks for being the best cousin ever,” Nillia says and hugs Anara.

Nillia lets Anara take the chug of bloodbery juice and chuckles. “Ohhh! Are you excited to see your cyclemate?”

Nillia teased seeing Anara come back to life. Nillia felt a little sigh of relief exhale from her body as Anara looked less feral now. There was only one really expected to be black sheep in the family and Nillia would prefer it was her than anyone else, especially if it was Anara. Nillia began to eat her own blood fish she ordered tearing into it with her fangs and claws.

After finishing her food. Anara looked tiredly at Nillia. “Can you do the rooms for your Alphas. I think I just need to sleep for the next day at least. I hope the Sol-festival goes off without a hitch.” She was too tired to walk to her rooms so she sluggishly went to Nillia's bed.

Nillia chuckled. She licked the blood off her hands, her hair puffing up from excitement. Their hair almost puffed out of their braids which would’ve been a slight nuisance for the young princess. Nillia grinned at Anara, once again showing off her large fangs. They then went and properly wiped their hands.

“Not a problem Narie! You just rest and I'm gonna take care of everything. Love you,” Nillia giggled, then exited out the room.

***

Where Anara was stressed in preparing for the guests of the royal family; Queen Delisia was almost giddy. Where Anara’s skin had been losing the red undertones of her dewy dark skin; Queen Delisia’s dark amber skin glimmered and gleamed in the sunlight. Her plans were coming along nicely. In an odd juxtaposition to Anara’s office there were no papers on her desk, just an ornate vase with beautiful bright red poppies. She didn’t want there to be a trail to her for what must be done. She had heard whispers of a call of no confidence in the Elm Wala royal house.

That the other royal houses were planning a coup and to have been spreading word to the masses that she was not leading her people well. She couldn’t have that. So, she was doing what must be done. Delisia sat waiting for her two nieces to arrive; the top assassins of the Misadime.

A sound wasn’t made but Delisia immediately knew that they were in the room. “Cara! Meesha! It is rude to stare and lurk in the shadows.”

The two were often confused as twins; they both had the dark umber skin of their father’s people and the light golden eyes of the royal family. The only true way to tell them apart was by their hairstyles. Meesha the younger one preferred her hair to be in very small microbraids and Cara preferred to allow her dark tight curls to be free from braids or other hairstyles.

Her two nieces almost appeared out of nowhere. Meesha was the first to speak. “Aunt Del, what services do you need done that it requires both of us here? You have taken us off the assignments you gave us months ago. We did not even finish our investigation into the Anara/Samsun situations.”

Cara’s dark brown eyes darted between her younger sister and her aunt. Her eyes in shock that her younger sister would dare speak to their Queen in such a manner. She may be her aunt and in a different setting this would have been acceptable. This wasn’t an aunt to her nieces, but a queen to her subjects’ moment. As if on que Delisia stood up from her chair to the younger woman who dared to speak so freely. Her once yellow eyes turned redder than the poppied on her desk her once hidden fangs becoming visible, both signs of a feral vampire. Faster than either sister could move Delisia struck the face of Meesha causing the young vampire to fall to the ground. Delisia shook her hand from the sting of the force of the slap.

“Princess Meesha that’s no way to speak to your queen. Now apologize for hurting my hand.”

Meesha slowly got up from the floor. She had forgotten her place and that right now she wasn’t talking to her aunt. When she finally got to her feet, she bowed to her “I am sorry for my impotence. How can we be of service to you, your majesty?”

Delisia smiled at the respect being displayed. Gesturing to the chairs in her office. “That is much better. Please be seated. There is much to discuss.”

Queen Delisia played with her amulet; it would let her know if either woman tried to read or link with her mind. “Now, children there have been rumors and whispers of an uprising in our lands. We cannot have that. While I have the Minister of Communication, Princess Anara working on the minutiae of the Sol Festival, I need both of you to handle a few members of other Royal Zodiac houses. We must first start with the beginning of the Zodiac wheel; Sadly, it is our allies the Kapanbere. I believe they have a young soldier at the royal academy. He should be easily delt with. I trust you both to have this done by the end of the week.”

“I require half of the Zodiac to be dealt with while I am at the Sol-festival. Do I make myself understood? The main thing I need done is to slowly handle at least two lower-level members of each Zodiac House. This cannot get back to us. There is no list, despite your lack of respect I believe you both will make the correct choices. I will personally select the ones from our house to be blessed with sacrificing themselves for the family. We cannot lose our power. We have held this seat for the last thousand years. Do you wish to lose our power. Do you want to be like a lesser house? We hold the power, and we will not lose the power. By Alinsa’s grace will be the first and last star. We will be the Sun and the Stars. We are the Elm Wala house. And I will die before I let anyone take this from us. Do you understand?”

Cara had remains silent until this moment. “Yes, my queen. I understand the importance of our mission. We will not fail the family. Those who wish to destroy us will be destroyed themselves. We will carry out our mission. Soon people will question who amongst us is willing to spill blood blessed by Alinsa. We will sow discord and paranoia.”

Delisia smiled “And I will comeback ever so shocked and be the leader they claim I am not. We will show everyone what I am made of.”