Shuriki x Esteban Requests

Night Terrors Part #5

The day after Queen Shuriki married her chancellor, Rico and Gabe were assigned to to act as the leads of Isabel's personal guard detail. They'd been told to protect Isa at all times and to do whatever she demanded so long as her orders didn't go against Shuriki's own commands.

Isabel didn't have much to say about the matter. Or any say in it. The child was healing-albeit slowly, from what Shuriki had done the night she'd first returned to Avalor and took back the throne.

Isa herself seemed to have little or no memory of what'd happened. All she remembered was turning in for the evening and then hearing a strange tapping upon her balcony door. The girl had gotten up thinking the noise might be Luna or some other jaquin looking for a safe, dry place to wait out the upcoming storm, but it had been Shuriki. The rest was a blur.

Whatever the witch had done, it seemed that Isa was content to forget. Gabe quit asking after Isa had insisted she couldn't remember.

Shuriki insisted on caring for Isa while she recovered. This made Gabe uneasy. He'd lived in Avalor all his life. Not once had the witch cared for or about anyone or anything, except herself, of course. It was disconcerting.

He kept a close eye on the witch when she was around Isa. Not that he could've stopped her if she'd wanted to harm the princess. His sword was no match for a wand. He, Rico, and the rest of the royal guards watched her every move praying she'd let Isa be and not hurt the child.

One afternoon Gabe poked his head into Isa's room and what he saw shocked and nauseated him. The witch had curled up around the sleeping princess almost as if cuddling the young princess while they slept. Blood stained Isa's lips bright red. It looked as though Shuriki had bitten into her own wrist.

The wound, though closed, still seemed raw, as if it had just begun to heal. Had the witch really bit into her own wrist? Was she forcing Isa to drink her blood? Isa didn't have any injuries from what Gabe could see, so why would Shuriki, who'd never shown any sort of maternal instinct toward any living creature ever, suddenly become so protective of a child that wasn't even her own? And one sired by her eldest enemy no less? It made no sense.

Rico joined him in the doorway. They exchanged worried looks. What in the name of Maru was going on?

"Do you think the rumors are true?" Villalobos asked quietly after they returned to their posts at Isa's door.

"I don't know," Gabe admitted. "Shuriki's actions match some of the stories we've been told, but none I've heard mention a vampiresa being capable of maternal instinct or genuine romantic affection."

"She could be faking to make herself look better in the eyes of the people."

"Yeah, but why even bother pretending? Everyone in Avalor already knows how she really is."

Shuriki yanked the door open to scowl at them. "I can hear you." She folded her arms and continued to glare. "Has it ever occured to either of you that I might not actually be the cruel dictator your people make me out to be? Contrary to popular belief, I am a living, breathing person. I have feelings."

Gabe frowned. "You kill people."

"I have reasons for doing so," Shuriki replied, giving the nails of one hand a nonchalant once over.

Gabe's frown only deepened. "What are you?"

There it was. The one question that everyone was too afraid to ask.

Shuriki bristled. "I am Avalor's queen, and those who dare to stand against me will suffer fates far worse than death at my hands. You'd do well to remember that in the future, Lieutenant Nuñez."