ONEUS 18 + Blood Moon - Vampire - (Book 1)

Cursed Part 4

Over the coming days, whilst the Monarchs slept, Neoma would spend time either in the library or practicing Escrima in the practising hall. The battered mannequins were her silently dormant opponents. As time passed, Neoma became increasingly aware of a mutual attraction growing rapidly between herself and Hwanwoong. They found themselves often laughing at the same things, which was often at Ravn's expense, as well as to his extreme annoyance. Ravn had the irritating habit of repeatedly attempting to patronise Neoma at every opportunity. His favourite hobby appeared to be to make snide comments when she spoke of the kingdom, or make disparaging remarks about her inability to protect herself. 

Neoma felt that Ravn's acidic attitude towards her  was the result of what had occurred during their Escrima combat. A combination of Ravn's bruised ego and possible concern at her collapse. Neoma concluded that Ravn's ego was probably more proportionately responsible.

Unfortunately for Ravn's ego, he was continually reminded by Keonhee of occasions where his precognition appeared to be 'broken' during some of the monarchs previous battles. This often resulted in Ravn becoming defensive and Neoma and Hwanwoong experiencing fits of giggles. Ravn would harshly command them to be quiet. However, if either Hwanwoong or Neoma caught each other's eye, this would set them off again. It became so intolerable for Ravn that he would insist that either Neoma or Hwanwoong leave the room. When his request went unheard, he would inevitably march furiously out of the room, slamming the door behind him. This did not phase either Neoma or Hwanwoong who would continue to enjoy the joke. 

On several occasions, Neoma became aware that Hwanwoong had an endearing habit of watching her intently. In these moments their eye contact became unbreakable and it felt to Neoma that they were the only two people in the world. On Xion's suggestion, Hwanwoong and Neoma began spending more time together, reading together in the library or wandering around the enormous chateaux gardens gathering roses.

Neoma found this time with Hwanwoong to be very calming and she felt as though they were becoming closer. She decided one evening to take the opportunity to ask him outright, 'Why do you stare at me so often Hwanwoong?'  Hwanwoong appeared to be slightly surprised by the question before responding simply 'You make me wonder Neoma, you are special'.

Spending time with Hwanwoong became a regular occurrence. Walking hand in hand in the gardens, they spoke at length about anything and everything. Sometimes they would lie on the soft sweet smelling grass just staring up towards the stars, dazzling, diamonds of dreams against an ominous blanket of beckoning darkness. Despite the horror that sill threatened them, this was becoming one of the single most magical times of Neoma's young life.

Every evening just as Twilight fell, the Monarchs would awaken and Neoma would learn more about their gifts. She discovered that Seoho had the gift of Apostleship which gave him an innate ability to provide much needed insight about the Monarchs history. He had joined her one evening when she had been in the library wistfully watching the hypnotic weaving of a soft candle flame whilst reminiscing about her father. 

'I know that there is a lot that you do not know about us and why we are here, I hope that I can help with this if you will permit me?' he asked, his tone friendly. Neoma nodded, Seoho had a charming and mischievous, almost squirrel like quality, that made her warm to him immediately. She sat captivated as Seoho told the story with an entrancing and magnetic charisma. His words painted the pictures of everything he described, keeping her attention avidly fixed on him. 

He described how historically the monarchs had been worshipped by humanity, but this had angered the sun god Helios. In a jealous rage, Helios condemned the Monarchs to a lifetime of eternal darkness at the hands of the humans who had worshipped them. Humanity had no choice but to sacrifice them. Seoho explained that as a final and grim finale, Helios cruelly cursed the Monarchs with an endless thirst for blood, making them the enemy of the humans they had cherished.