I needed to feed. Between father's abhorrent abuse and my "leash," I never fed from another or another from me. Too intimate. Too much trust. Too much time. I stole from Xelan's supply of Vittle crop to satiate me. I think he knew. He left me scraps. But with our relationship in such a delicate predicament, I elected to seek a victim for my needs--

"Son."

"Mother?" I turned from my chamber doors to find Savis waiting in hers. "Why are you out of bed?"

Over the years, the tremor in her hands advanced throughout her entire body. Tiny, frail, and sad. Unable to bear it, I kept her from my thoughts often. Because if I dare let her in, my heart would break knowing she did this to herself.

I helped her back to bed. Her maids and nurses waited to tend her. One caught my eye. Most Icari are brunettes. Not this one. Her fair hair slipped from the tie and bounced in tendrils that framed her sky-blue eyes.

"Son, listen to me." Her voice was light as the air, but it still snapped me from my reverie.

I leaned close and held her hand. "Tell me."

Savis spoke between shallow breaths, "Seek the Third... and seek Cinder's destruction."

More of this. I lowered my head to hide my frustration, but allowed her to finish, "Nox, you will only suffer. You promised to stay with Cinder. Leave Xelan to the Vittle... please..."

"What made you so sure of this? Where is your faith in me?"

Tears poured from her eyes and spilled into her hair. "It begins already. All those years ago--Nox, I kept my promise. I reared Xelan. You must keep yours."

The blue-eyed female caught my attention again. She looked so sad as she shook her head.

I understood. "Mother." I kissed her forehead. "Please give this up. Your nacre may yet recover you. Xelan could--"

"I will die on my world. Everywhere I look, I see my father's work unmade. Do not ask me to stay another moment, son. Not after I gave up my revenge for you and your brother." She turned those iridescent eyes at me, and I saw the resolve buried in her soul.

I kissed her hand. "I am here for you, should you need me."

I returned to my chambers, no longer in the mood to hunt. I paced, pulling at my hair with worry. What could I do for her now? What could I say--

A knock sounded.

"Enter."

My mother's nurse, the blond woman with soft blue eyes, stepped into my room. She met my gaze with nothing short of purpose.

"I cannot change her mind. Can you?"

She shook her head.

Mute. Like many of the servant caste. "Thank you for seeing to her."

The woman lowered her gaze and waited. For what? As she stood there, I considered her. Tall, pretty, soft. No hard lines. Only round curves.

My fangs elongated. I turned my back to hide them. I couldn't afford to put off feeding much longer.

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She surprised me by tugging on my robes. The Prince's robes.

I turned with an eyebrow raised. "Yes?"

The woman held her wrist out to me and made her intentions clear.

"You want me to feed from you?"

She nodded.

I frowned. "Why... how did you know?"

She met my eyes. Stern. Intelligent. I'd insulted her. The nurse thrust her wrist back to me, carrying with it the spicy scent of her. I closed my eyes and took it in.

Alone for so long. We stop maturing around Earth-age twenty-five, so I'll refrain from equating my age at this point. I spent five million years alone. The isolation left me oblivious to so much and confused with the rest. But smelling her scent, I knew I wanted to take blood from somewhere more intimate than her wrist.

I took both the nurse's hands, gently. Turning her, I pressed my chest to her back and wrapped her in my arms. Curious at her quickened pulse, I kissed her neck. She gasped, and her scent thickened. Spicy and sweet like cinnamon. Against her ear, I whispered, "I promise not to take more than I need, but you must know that I will make it as painful as possible."

Again, her pulse pounded and flooded those precious vessels. At her nod, I punctured them with my fangs and tore into her tender skin.

She cried out and panted as I drained her away. When her nacre, slow as it was, healed her, I ripped into her throat more.

I fed. The "leash" fed.

She tasted sweet and lonely. That's the only word to describe the edge of bitterness.

Once more, the abyss opened to me. Kill her. Satisfy the "leash." No one would care. Aside from me. And in that moment, I decided something.

Unlocking from her, I cradled her in my arms. "Do not forsake my gift to you. Tell no one."

She gazed up at me, but not with terror. She was captivated and eager. The woman mouthed, "Yes."

"Open your mouth." I pricked my finger on her fang and let my blood drip inside her until it healed.

The young woman's complexion brightened instantly. Her sky-blue eyes sparkled. And then shimmered with tears. I released her to stand on her own. She opened her mouth to speak, "S... sire."

I made sure to steady her. "How do you feel?"

Her smile was radiant. "Strong."

Despite that, she stumbled, and I caught her. "Sit down. Do you have a name?"

"Colita, your majesty." She sat on the edge of my bed and gazed around the room as if seeing for the first time.

"A pretty name."

She blushed, and I appreciated it longer than I meant. "Am I your concubine now?"

I recoiled. "Concubine? No."

Colita pouted, and I wondered if something went wrong. Or if a woman in her caste thought of whoring for the royals as an honor.

I cleared my throat, preparing to recover this. "You were kind to my mother and to me. I wanted to return your kindness."

She laughed. It was hard and ugly. "Your majesty does not know his own motivations. I took in your scent. I know kindness was part of it, but not all of it."

It definitely went wrong.

Colita pawed at me to remove my shirt. "Finish what you started." She leaned in to kiss where she exposed my chest.

The "leash" depleted by half a day. "Colita, stop."

The forward woman shoved her hand into my pants and licked my neck. Disobeying an order from her Prince and reducing the "leash" by another half a day. I snatched Colita by the hair and pulled her away.

I retrieved an hour. Through gritted teeth, I growled, "You defied me--"

There was no fear. The scent of her only grew stronger, tantalizing. Her smile lost its edge and pulled seductively at lips that only then I realized were so full.

Colita traced mine with her fingertips. "Alone. Always alone. I cannot marry as the royals' nurse. I have needs, sire." She inhaled deeply. "As do you."

I pulled on her hair to make her stop touching me, but she only purred deep in her chest. She liked the pain, but I couldn't risk the "leash."

There were other uses for her. "I need to feed. Regularly. Are you willing? I will not tell you beforehand. I will find you and take what I need."

Colita's eyes flared with excitement. "Please do."

I released her, and she stepped away. I straightened my clothes. "Are you grateful for the gift I gave you?"

She folded herself onto the floor and fully subjugated. "Eternally. Your majesty knows not the extent of the gift he has given me. I will always serve you in all things."

"I will employ you. Serve my mother until..." I licked my lips and skipped to the point. "Do you know of my brother, Xelan? Can you work in his laboratory with him?"

Colita served as a bridge between Xelan and I for a long time. When we fought, she acted as a necessary liaison. It was innocent in the beginning. But as Xelan experimented on more projects without discussing them with me, Colita served as an informant. A reliable one, at that.

But the projects and the new planet weren't the only barriers. Eventually, it became clear we went about the survival of our species very differently. Yet I still believed that as long as we served the Icarean prerogative, we both looked to save our people. Nothing could come between that.

After all, we were family.