Fanged Skulls

The Tower

-Ashe-

I looked down at Siren as his eyeballs affixed themselves to the back of his skull, soft whimpers falling from his lips.

I looked up from his blue to meet the scowling green again of the Prince, and my lips curved. The drop of fae blood in Siren gave me a slight buzz, but one of us had to stay somewhat sober, and with great effort I pushed back the fuzziness on the edges of my vision.

"I'm sorry, did we interrupt your bathing time, your majesty?" I asked, my voice rough from the long battle, and the coupling with the man still buried between my thighs

His eyes had been on us for long enough, and I'd watched him as I rode Siren, sucking the blood from my partners veins whilst Alec had not even made an attempt to leave, his eyes fixated on the blood that had dripped from my lips.

I saw the obvious swallow, the slight fear and curiosity in his eyes, before the green dropped to the man beneath me.

"What happens if we get attacked in the night? This is stupid." He hissed, but the words weren't filled with as much venom as his posture and face were trying to portray.

"Then I'll protect him." I shrugged, a soft sound leaving my lips as I rose off of Siren, pushing a kiss to his forehead as he tried to tighten his hands on my hips to hold me to him.

Alec's eyes dropped and he seemed to have trouble lifting them again as they drifted down over my body, focusing on the apex of my thighs.

"What's it like?" His question was almost a whisper, once again focusing his gaze back onto my own.

"The sex?" I grinned, my fangs peaking through, unable to resist playing stupid at his line of questioning.

Clearly, it was the wrong thing to do, as his emotions wiped clear from his face, his eyes shuttering as he stepped towards the river, unbuttoning the front of the shirt he'd worn under his chain mail.

"I would like to bathe in peace, assassin." He said, the words even and bored sounding. "Please take your partner and leave me."

I looked down to him, my mind storing away the little titbit of himself he'd shown me.

I tipped my head into as little of a bow as I could get away with, before pulling Siren's trousers back on, yanking my top over my head, grateful it fell mid thigh and then deciding the rest of the clothes were no longer fit for purpose. I stopped and picked him bridal style as he wrapped his arms around my neck, nuzzling into the skin there.

"I love you" he whispered, which I reciprocated, taking in his blown pupils as I snuck us back through camp, only throwing one glance over my shoulder towards the Prince, who hadn't got any further in unbuttoning his shirt, and was just limply holding the front of the material and staring into the river.

Noise was rampant when we made it back to the camp. Very few people survived after a battle with vampires. They were deliberate in their movements, only going for the kills, so moans of the wounded and bed bound were far quieter than the hustle and bustle of celebration that was happening, and I winced as the noise burrowed into my skull, pushing further into the camp to escape the noise as best as I could, despite the longing panging in my chest.

Most of Siren's platoon knew that he liked to be left alone after battle, only emergencies were allowed into his tent, which is why I was surprised when I walked in to his dark tent and saw a barely pubescent boy standing anxiously in the middle of the room, picking at his fingers.

"Speak." I barked, walking past the boy to gently put Siren down on the makeshift bed in the tent, before turning and laying my full stare on him, causing him to start anxiously picking again.

"I was told this was for the eyes of Lieutenant General Siren only, ma'am."

The boy had a backbone.

"Well you can either speak to him in 5 or so hours when he wakes up, or you can tell me now, as he'll tell me anyway." I stated, walking forward into the little moonlight filtering through the open door of the tent.

The boy visibly baulked as my eye came into view, and I couldn't help the feline grin that split my lips.

"The king just requested that I bring him this letter." The boy finally stuttered out, his confidence sputtering out as he passed me a rolled piece of parchment, before dipping his head in an awkward bow as he left the tent, scurrying off.

I picked up an apple someone had thoughtfully brought in for Siren as I made my way to the bed, lounging against it as I bit into the fruit, lengthening my nails to a claw as I ripped through the seal on the paper, familiar enough with the royal family's crest to not have any interest in studying it.

I hope this letter finds you well, Siren, after you won us a marvellous victory.

I was rolling my eyes at the first sentence. Pompous prick.

An important item has been stolen from me, and you are close to the location, please see the map below regarding our estimated whereabouts for it.

The map itself was a separate piece of parchment, presumably drawn up by one of the cartographers as I doubted the King had ever done anything artistic.

I request that you send Corporal Ashe Stranger and my Son, Prince Alec Chamidras to complete this mission. Ashe will be aware of the item once she's seen it, and my son will ensure it's arrival back to me in one piece, and find it a valuable learning opportunity.

He then proceeded to sign it off, and I stared at the letter dumbfounded, wracking my brain for what 'important item' of his I could ever possibly be familiar with.

Siren shot up into a sitting position next to me on the bed, panting softly as he turned those pale blues to me, smiling as he reached out and plucked the letter out of my hand with those long dainty fingers of his.

"Are you reading my mail again, doll?" He teased, the pet name falling easily off his tongue.

When we first met, I'd been standing behind the King's throne, everything but the right side of my face hidden in shadow, just a whisper of a threat behind him.

Siren told me I reminded him of a porcelain doll, emotionless and unmoving, up until the point my dagger had been at his throat.

He said that was the moment he fell in love with me.

Siren scanned the paper in front of him.

"Well, I can't let you go alone now, can I?" He smiled, leaning forward to press a kiss to the tip of my nose. "Any idea what we're meant to be going to find?"

My brow furrowed, which he quickly raised his lips to kiss to try and smooth the creases. "You can't come with me." I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest. "And no, I don't know. I don't spend enough time around him to know what item he'd deem important."

Siren huffed, pulling me up against his chest as he laid back down. "This sounds like tomorrow's problem, let's get some sleep, hm?" His voice was already heavy with the sounds of exhaustion as I rolled my arms, snuggling back into his arms.

"Sure, for tomorrow."