Destiny's Promise, Fate's Lies

Chapter One

                                                     Fate discovered us once again

                                                                         - Bite Me

It began as it always did.

A spark. Stolen glances. Hands brushing against each other.

Fate laughed as it always did, controlling them as they were mere puppets. Each time, they fell in love and believed it to be immortal. Immortality was dangled in front of their faces and snatched away the very next second.

It was amusing to Fate.

Destiny always brought them together. It was their path to meet and fall in love each lifetime, but Fate drew them apart. Fate would never allow them to be together and each time would tempt them, promising them what they could never have.

The pureness of love, the very life of it, could not survive this world. Fate ensured it couldn't.

And so it began as it always did.

In a delicately decorated ballroom, the sound of the orchestra danced through the hall and the glittering fabrics of the dresses shone. The nobility and other elites made idle chatter, sipping from their champagne as the younger prince overlooked them all, bored by the frivolities of it all.

People ignored him and went straight to greet the rest of the royal family. A gentle king, a strong queen, and the charismatic older prince were the face of the throne. Highly revered and respected, the nobles of the court trusted them.

The same could not be said for the sullen younger prince.

Born in the longest night of the darkest day, under the new moon, they said he was barely human. Dark and vicious, there was an undeniable thirst for blood in his eyes. He was a beast who killed relentlessly, the throne powerless to stop him for he would kill them too.

Mothers kept their children in line with his name. Ladies would avoid him like the plague. His own father never spoke to him. He was darkness in this world, silent on his blood throne.

The music stopped and he waited.

His red eyes watched as the girls filed into the ballroom, about his age. They were the debutantes, presented to the royal family as they took their places in court. Dresses in frilly dresses of all colors, the girls were one and the same in his eyes.

The girls bowed and the people clapped for them. As expected of him, the prince and his older brother got up from their thrones and walked to greet the girls. In the background, the music picked up its pace again as the nobles began dancing across the smooth marble floors of the ballroom.

The prince stalked through the crowd, his eyes narrowed like a predator looking for his next meal. The girls stepped out of his way as he approached, praying they wouldn't be asked to dance by this ravenous beast.

It wasn't like he would ask them anyways.

Cowards. They felt faint at the mere mention of the rumors surrounding him. They thought he was dark – dark and wild.

That wasn't what he was looking for. Scared for no reason. He would never spare them another glance after this night.

Amidst the fabrics of the ballgowns and the swaying of the dancing nobles, the prince knew what he was looking for.

And there she was, directly in his path.

And like a predator, he smirked and walked towards her. But she didn't move away. She looked at him, challenging and pure.

Her doe eyes, framed by long lashes and complemented by her light makeup, seemed to invite him closer. Her beige ball gown was frilly, with ribbons and laces arranged in a complex pattern. She was radiant, feminine, and confident.

He walked closer to her and she stared at him unflinchingly.

"May I have this dance?" he growled, reaching for her soft hand.

"My Prince," she responded, her voice twinkling like bells. "I would be delighted."

As they swayed together in the busy ballroom, the nobles feared for the young girl's life. But Fate did not.

Instead, Fate carefully took note of the pair. They had found each other again.