They awoke to sirens. Lailah heard them first, so she shook Jed awake and they quickly dressed. By the time they reached the throne room, where they were expected to meet at the sound of sirens, they had stopped. Shaegin entered just after them for the opposite side of the room, shouting order at the soldiers behind him.
"Shae! What the hell." Lailah yelled at him, running to greet him in the centre of the room.
"A Hybrid was spotting inside our Sector Captain, right outside the border."
"What time is it, why wasn't I alerted before the sirens."
"It is nearly midday Captain." Lailah seemed to pale considerably considering she had no blood circulation. Jed had discovered that she did not have a heart beat at all last night.
"Shit. Shit."
"I'm sorry, it's my fault." Jed said.
Everyone seemed to turn to him, remembering he was there. Lailah spoke first.
"It's both our faults. We should have been awake. Is anyone hurt, what actually happened, Shae?"
"Three Hunters were hurt but no damage they couldn't heal before they returned. The Hybrid was not killed. They are bigger than we anticipated."
"What do they look like."
"Half man, half wolf, with the inability to shit. From the reports the Hunter's told to me, they have fangs like ours. No witchcraft was used on the three hunter's but it was only a small encounter."
"We can count on magic being involved." Just as she finished speaking, the King entered the room and took his place on the throne."
"I thought I heard shouting. What's all the ruckus about?" He said, crossing his legs.
"Did you not hear the sirens, father?" Lailah said, she seemed to be beginning to panic. Jed resisted the urge to hold her hand, he knew that would not help their case. She had be coddled enough, and he knew she was tired of it.
"Of course I heard them, but they have stopped now so I assume all is well."
"On the contrary, sir, there was a Hybrid within our borders this morning." Shaegin said, cutting in.
"We have to move, now." Lailah said.
"Move?" her father replied.
"My vision, sir. It is coming true." He considered this.
"Your emotion clouds your judgment." His calmness only aggravated Lailah more, and she was near yelling at this point. There were tears in her eyes.
"I saw you all dead at my feet. How could you say that. To me of all people. I have been heartless and cold my entire life, and now that I am finally starting to feel something. You turn your own feeling to spite. I see now that you cannot hope to make judgment without emotion."
"Oh Lailah please, from a small child you have always been logically based. This is why we arranged your marriage with Almar, for you did not love him and everyone knew. But that has been retracted now, has it not? For this human?" He turned to Jed who was standing awkwardly behind them. "You know you will die one day and she will live on. Does this not concern you?"
"Father, no." Jed kept steady eye contact with the King.
"It does concern me sir, yes. But I can not help my feelings, and I did not force anything upon Lailah either, I can assure that to you. But, with all do respect, there are certainly bigger issues currently at hand to deal with, rather than thinking about the imminent doom of our relationship." Lailah turned to him at that last part, but he kept his eye locked with the Kings."
"Very well." He said after a very long pause. "Do what you must."
"Thank you, father." Lailah finished, and with that, she was on her way to the Barracks.
~
Jed was only halfway out the door when the King stopped him. Lailah continued on, and did not turn back.
"Hold on, Jed."
"Sir."
"I may have not gotten my point across. Are you serious about how you feel about my daughter. You have known her but a fraction of her life and you will not live to even a fraction of what she does. I need to know what you plan to do."
"She engaged to Almar, sir."
"Is she still?"
"Yes sir."
"Intersting."
"I do not plan to hurt her."
"That may not necessarily be up to you." Jed understood what the King was saying.
"She is strong."
"No one is really that strong."
"Clearly you do not know your own daughter." The King considered him.
"I see."
"I am sorry if I have offended you."
"Such nice manner's, for a human."
"Listen. To be completely honest, I have no idea what my future will look like. Being a human in a war between Hybrids and Vampires, I most likely won't survive anyway. What does it matter to you if I live or die."
"It does not."
"I asked Lailah to turn me into a Vampire." The King looked taken aback.
"You...what."
"I asked Lailah to..."
"I heard what you said. Did she agree to it."
"No."
"Good."
"I'm sorry, sir?"
"Boy, I may not like you, but my daughter seems to have formed an attachment to you. For a Vampire, that is not a small thing. You also seem to have re connected her to her feelings. She hasn't had those in a very long time. This is why you think her to be so strong. However since you have arrived and she has been able to actually surround herself with someone with authentic humanity...I believe you have changed her. Reminded her what it means to be alive even if she is technically not. I, like her, would not want to take that from you."
"My influence."
"Your humanity."
"You've barely been around, how do you even know anything about me?"
"I'm the King of this palace and this Sector. I see everything."
"Point taken."
~
Jed met Lailah again at the top of the barracks stairs.
"Can I ask you a question." He asked her.
"You're not going to ask me to turn you again, are you." She looked annoyed and did not turn to Jed.
"No. I will not ask again. However I do want to know why you won't. The real reason." Now she turned to him.
"What did my father say to you?"
"Don't worry about that. Answer my question."
"Because I am afraid. I am afraid that if I turn you, you will loose the one thing that stands out the most about you."
"What's that."
"Your love of life. Not alot of Vampires have that. Life gets exhausting, and knowing your life will never end is confining. And, your stubbornness to not give up. Stubbornness to not give into that voice in your head telling you to stop. Telling you to quit. The reason you even have this is because you are human. And I adore that about you. Your humanity is what drives you. I am afraid that if I turn you, you will realise that time is infinite, and give up trying."
"What if I promised I wouldn't"
"It wouldn't matter. Promises you make when you are human don't count once you've died."
"Then I suppose I am to remain human, then." He turned to her. "Does that mean you would not care for me if I were immortal." She kept her eyes straight ahead.
"I do hope you come to my wedding, Jed. If you live that long." With that, she walked into the barracks, leaving Jed wondering if that was hostility, or evasion.
