Lily flattened the dress' skirt, surprised at how thin and airy the material felt on her.

She had worn nothing but old jeans and t-shirts for the past several years, so it felt very odd for her to be wearing a dress. She also felt awfully exposed, as if everyone would see her private area with just the slight spread of her legs. The neckline of it also dipped down much farther than she wanted it to, the curve of her breasts visible in the "V" of her neck that the neckline created.

She paused and stared at herself in the vanity mirror, noticing how neat her hair looked. She stroked her hand through it, remembering how the Queen had brushed the tangles out of it so easily. She glanced towards the door, knowing that the tall woman was standing right outside. Sighing quietly, she glanced over towards the wall behind the bed, remembering the pistol that she had hidden between them.

Even though the Queen told her she could not read minds, she was still worried that her thoughts or emotions were being somehow listened to. So she quickly looked away and turned back around, looking at the pair of black sandals that were sitting on the vanity for her. Standing up, she slipped them on and adjusted her hair one more time before hesitantly making her way to the door.

The door opened before she could even touch the handle, and of course there the Queen was, holding the large wooden door open for her.

Lily paused, looking into the blank expression on the Queen's face for a moment before sheepishly looking down and walking past the vampire and through the doorway.

As the girl walked by, she brought a breeze with her, and the Queen's head turned to meticulously watch her. She felt every instinct in her scream at her to just grab the girl and drink her blood right there, but she could not do that. For the first time in her eternal life, she wasn't sure if she were to bite down on her if she could ever have the strength to pull away. And it wasn't just because she wanted to savor her blood—there was something about her that made her want to know more about her. She was confused as to why she was intrigued by a worthless human, but she wanted to stick her around so maybe she could find out.

Briefly closing her eyes as she regained her composure, the Queen closed the door and reopened her eyes to see the girl staring up at her nervously. Her eyes immediately fell to the girl's cleavage that was so very exposed in that dress, and she swallowed hard before bringing her eyes back up to the girl's. "Come this way," she spoke in a somewhat strained tone, averting her stare ahead and beginning the walk down the hallway.

Lily paused in contemplation of why the Queen had looked her up and down that way and seemed so bothered. Then she registered her command and jogged a bit to catch up with the fast-paced vampire.

They walked in silence down the hall, the Queen's eyebrows scrunched from all her inner troubles, and Lily's eyes cautiously stealing glances up at the admittedly beautiful woman who walked a bit ahead of her because of her long legs. She admired the way her chestnut hair cascaded down her back, so shiny it reflected the overhead chandeliers.

"I must say, you peak my curiosity," the Queen began suddenly, turning her face to the side and glancing at the girl from the corner of her eye. "Which is rare." She turned her face back around without missing a step.

The girl blinked, pushing her hair behind her ear. As much as she hated it, it was difficult to keep her facade of bravery around such an authoritative person, let alone one that was a vampire. "Why?"

The brunette reflected for a moment, for the first time finding herself unable to articulate herself. This was not the behavior of a powerful leader. So she swiftly changed the subject. "Holden is somewhat fond of you, am I correct?"

Thrown off by her subject change, Lily was quiet for a moment before she apprehensively answered, "Y-Yes, I suppose."

"And you of him?" the Queen pressed in a casual tone, her eyes focused on the staircase they were strolling towards.

Lily hesitated, worried if she was giving her some kind of test. She didn't want to say the wrong thing and cause something to happen to the guard who was soft towards her, although he didn't seem like he'd ever confess it. "I suppose." She stole a quick glance at the back of the Queen's head before quickly looking away and speaking, "He is kind of...silly for a guard."

The Queen chuckled, thinking about the mop-headed man who had been her personal guard for a dozen decades. "His humor is unmatched, I admit."

Lily found herself smiling softly at the Queen's accent. It was so proper and posh, somewhat vintage in its tone.

"But he is reliable," she continued. "He is the most skilled at controlling his thirst, which is what makes a vampire strong or not."

The girl watched the vampire rest her hand along the rail of the golden staircase, noticing its slender but strong quality. Her eyes followed up the woman's arm and to her leather-clad shoulders, noticing their broadness and slenderness. "Are you skilled at controlling your thirst?" she asked in a small voice as she stepped onto the first step of the stairs, worried that her questions might have been crossing boundaries.

Lily, focused on remembering how to descend stairs, had not noticed that the Queen's steps had halted in response to her question, therefore she ended up bumping roughly into her shoulder. Worried that either one of them was going to fall, she quickly grabbed onto the vampire's arm, but the strong woman's body did not move in the slightest.

The girl froze, staring at her hand that was clasped around the bicep of the Queen's leather blazer. She slowly lifted her eyes, letting them travel from the gold pendulum on her chest, up to her structured jaw and deep pink lips, and to her yellow-green eyes. Her heart seemed to stop in her chest at their closeness, at the look in those wide pupils only inches from hers.

The Queen could feel her fangs ache, her eyes falling to the girl's exposed chest. Her skin looked so soft, so tender, her breasts so plump. She was beginning to wonder exactly what kind of urge she was having in that moment; all she knew was that it was almost uncontrollable.

"Usually," she croaked in response to her questions, letting her eyes return to the girl's soft blue ones. "But recently I've found myself..." Her eyes then fell to the girl's lips, seeming to be dazed by their pinkness and ripeness, like a freshly picked apple right at the peak of its life begging to be tasted. "Tempted."

Lily's cheeks heated as the Queen turned away quickly, her arm gently leaving her grip. She found herself feeling fuzzy at whatever moment they just shared, but she quickly shook it off and reminded herself that she was probably just persuading her and that her love, Jasmine, was waiting for her to rescue her somewhere in the castle.

Catching up to the Queen, Lily inhaled before asking, "Was that persuasion you just used on me?"

The Queen turned to look at her with a scrunched brow and pouted lips. "No." She then realized why the girl was asking, and a smirk grew on her lips as she turned back around. "What would be the use even if I did? You're somehow immune to it." Irritation struck her at her own words.

A smile crossed the girl's lips. "So you admit it?"

The Queen flexed her jaw, trying to not let her ego consume her in flames of frustration. "It usually works on all humans, you being the sore thumb in that statistic."

"What about other vampires?" Lily questioned as they entered the staircase of the third floor.

"Some commoners, yes. It doesn't work on most royals, though, because they are much closer to my superiority."

Lily quietly scoffed at how she used the word "superiority" to describe herself, thinking to herself how fitting it was that the vampire ruler had such a big ego.

Not pausing her steps, the Queen slowly turned her upper body around to eye the girl with a threatening glare. "Do not even think about trivializing me or my throne ever again, even by a fucking scoff."

The girl's face turned sober, their steps slowing as the Queen's eyes sliced her with their menace, silently communicating to her that she had pressed the wrong button. Lily only stared back at her blankly, making herself believe they were only empty threats so that she would not piss herself in fear.

The Queen turned back around, feeling her mood dampened by her prickly agitation. The thing that infuriated her the most was insubordination, and that seemed to be the human girl's talent. It made her question why she didn't just sink her teeth into her neck right then and there so that she would know her place. But again, that invisible force, heavy and impenetrable, called her instincts, got in the way of what malicious act she would've committed on any other occasion.

"Where are you taking me?" Lily questioned as they arrived to the second floor and the Queen began leading them down a hall that looked identical to the one on the sixth floor.

The Queen ignored her, deciding it was best to keep her mouth closed so maybe the human would do the same.

"Answer me," Lily said in despair, growing fearful at where the Queen was taking her and why she was not telling her. To her misfortune, her words came out sounding quite bossy.

Suddenly turned around quicker than Lily could see, the Queen stared at her with eyes of fire. "Let one more word come out of your mouth, I dare you."

Lily halted her steps, staring up at the fuming vampire and nearly shaking in the spot she stood. It took everything in her to keep an unaffected face and a deadpan tone as she quipped, "Double dare me?"

It was as soon as the last word tumbled out between her lips, the offspring of an incredibly stupid decision on the girl's part, that she suddenly felt as if she were flying in the air for a millisecond until her flight ended with the harsh boom of her back hitting the wall.

The breath knocked out of her, Lily let out a trembling exhale and then tried to catch her winded breath. The Queen's face only an inch from hers, she turned her head away and struggled to feel the floor with her feet; she was being lifted up and pressed against the wall by the body of the Queen.

"Insolence," the Queen hissed right into the girl's ear, holding her up under her arms and letting the rest of her body squish her smaller one against the wall as hard as possible, "will not go unpunished here." Lily whined, trying to turn her head as far away from her as possible, but the vampire's cold hand  grabbed her by her chin and forced her to face her. "Look at me!" she growled.

The girl shifted her eyes to the Queen's, feeling every fiber of her being utterly horrified by the evilness and vexation in them, both attributes feeding off the other to turn the Queen into one scary monster.

"Pick your punishment, little girl," she spoke between her clenched teeth, her fangs protruding over her lower lip. "Another four days in the dungeon?" Upon the girl trying to desperately shake her head under her iron grasp, she let out a wicked chuckle. She snarled as she deeply inhaled a whiff of the girl, letting her nose rub against the side of her face. She felt so utterly turned on by the mere scent of her. "Half of the blood in your body drained?" Her voice was slithery, jagged by her threats and tremulous from the urges controlling her body.

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, the lower sides of her face aching from the vampire's grip on it. She inwardly prayed to whatever deity was listening that her life be spared in that moment.

The Queen's eyes flickered down to the girl's chest, noticing how her breasts were scrunched up by the pressure put against them. Chuckling darkly, she let her nose and lips drag down the side of the girl's face and to her jaw, mumbling against it, "Or let this sickening monster get a different type of pleasure from you?" She pressed her body harder against the girl's warm one, her breathing beginning to quicken from her excitement.

Lily felt her skin against which the Queen spoke heat up at the provocativeness of her words. As sickened as she was by her cruelty, her body betrayed her by being hot and bothered by her words. Not having time to have an inner moral struggle with herself, she declared it just her body reacting to the embarrassment she felt.

The brunette wanted so badly to do something, anything to quell her urges, but she couldn't. She was acting brash and out of pure anger, not logic and clarity. That force dividing her from her usual behavior of feeding whenever she wanted caused her to release the girl, jumping away from her and nearly hitting the opposite wall.

Lily's feet finally hit the ground, and she held the wall behind her to keep her balance. Staring at the Queen cautiously, she rubbed her face that throbbed from her touch.

"Come," the Queen mumbled, not giving her a chance to recuperate before harshly grabbing her arm and dragging her down the hall.

"Jesus," Lily mumbled as the Queen gripped her with enough force to leave bruises. "Can you not be so fucking rough?"

The Queen, feeling like she was going to become a maniac from how ignorantly disrespectful the girl could be, laughed bitterly before hissing, "You are a stupid fucking learner, aren't you?"

The girl, offended by her insult, didn't have time to counter it before the Queen stopped in front of a door, opened it, and threw her inside. She went tumbling to the floor, which was thankfully carpeted. "God," she mumbled, slowly pushing herself up. Hearing the chuckle of a man, she quickly glanced up and saw that she was in some sort of living room, except it was a very large one, with fancy couches and chairs and rugs, and a huge fireplace with a fire going inside of it.

Her eyes then shifted to a blonde vampire whom she recognized as William sitting on a couch, and she quickly recognized Jasmine sitting right beside him, looking at Lily with wide eyes and parted lips. Peter, who she didn't see until he moved, quickly stood from his seat next to Jasmine on the couch. He looked like he was about to go help her up until he noticed a figure emanate through the doors, and upon realizing it was the Queen, he quickly sat back down.

"William," she queen called casually as if nothing had just happened, "since you are an expert cartographer, will you accompany me to my office to sort out some maps?"

Glancing down to the girl, his golden eyes shining with amusement, he chuckled before standing up, his black suit tight on his tall body. "Of course, dear cousin." He stepped past the girl who still sat on the floor, eyeing her the entire way.

"These doors lock so don't even bother trying anything," the Queen snipped before glancing to Lily, "Especially you."

Lily scowled at her, and the Queen scowled back before closing the door behind her and William.

For the next few moments, nobody moved. They wanted to—Peter wanted to pace around the room to disperse his bundled energy, Jasmine wanted to jump to the floor and see if Lily was okay, and Lily wanted to grab Jasmine and hold her so that she could remember that she was real. But they were frightened. Although there were no guards in the room, there were probably some right outside, and they felt frozen in their places. All Jasmine could do, her heart aching as she stared wistfully at the blonde who was still flabbergasted from her fall, was sit on the edge of the couch nervously.

The room silent, Lily glanced around it and then to the door, waiting for a few moments until her (faulty) human instincts told her it was okay to move. When they did, she did slowly, sliding her knees around and placing her palms on the floor, hoisting herself up as quietly as she could. When she got to her feet she froze again, glancing over to Jasmine and Peter and waiting a few seconds longer. There was this weird suspenseful feeling all three humans had, probably because they were out of the presence of vampires for the first time since their arrival to the royal castle.

"I think it's alright..." Peter quietly said in his posh British accent, his elbows rested on his knees and his hands clasped.

Deciding that she could restrain herself no longer, Lily plopped herself right next to Jasmine and enveloped her in her arms, Peter finally relaxing now that the two broke the tense silence of the room.

"I've missed you," Lily said into Jasmine's warm neck, feeling her arms wrap around her back and squeeze her against her tightly. It was like all the stress and fear and anxiety she'd been feeling just melted away in Jasmine's arms. Behind her squeezed-shut eyelids she saw flashes of back home, memories of how their romance had developed.

"I've missed you, too," Jasmine whispered, stroking her hand down Lily's soft blonde hair, sighing at the familiar feeling of it.

When Jasmine did that action, it caused Lily to be reminded of the moment earlier with the Queen, the way her hands dealt with her hair so gently and slipped around her neck in the smoothest of manners. She felt some sort of guilt weight her heart down, even though what had happened was not her choice and it wasn't even sexual. Chills ran down her back as she remembered what had happened just right outside the door when the Queen had pushed her against the wall. She remembered the heat she felt when the Queen snarled her lips against her jaw, and that weighty guilt clamped onto her heart pulled it down even farther. Holding Jasmine in her arms suddenly felt foreign, so she pulled away before she was suffocated by the feelings inside her.

As if reading her mind, Jasmine grabbed Lily's hands and looked deeply into her blue eyes. "What was that sound outside just before you came in? It was a thud or something. Did she hurt you?" Her chocolate eyes filled with worry, she placed her hand on Lily's cheek and searched her face for any signs of injury.

Gently taking her hand away from her face and holding it in her own, Lily gave her a forced smile. "I'm fine, it just so happens to be that the Royal Highness is a huge bitch."

"Lily!" Jasmine exclaimed, her entire posture suddenly stiffening as she glanced to the door in fear that it was going to be swung open by a furious Queen.

"What?" Lily asked in confusion, following Jasmine's line of sight.

"You shouldn't say things like that so loudly," Peter whispered, causing Lily to turn around and glance at him. She'd nearly forgotten he was there. "Their hearing isn't like ours. They can hear everything."

"I don't care," Lily immediately said, not bothering to even lower her voice. "I would say it to her face." She turned back around to Jasmine, softly taking her face and turning it to hers. "Are you hurt?"

Her eyes then fell, almost knowingly, to the bite mark on her neck. It was mainly two deeply indented marks like jagged holes, with the lighter indents of other teeth around them that had not broken skin. It looked nasty, the blood around the wounds dried and dark.

"Is this the only one?" Lily whispered, and to her dismay, Jasmine slowly lifted up her wrist to expose an even nastier bite mark there. She gently took her hand, looking down at the bite with seething fury. "Is it just the William bastard that has done this?"

Jasmine, a bit frightened at the anger in Lily's blue eyes, shook her head and looked down, memories of the horrible cruelty inflicted on her causing her head to