Dance for Me / Dove /

[Rhoan MacAray]

Rhoan hated being dragged along to these bloody dances. Luckily the MacAray family where only really invited because of their place in the courts and not because people actually wanted them around. As such they had been able to bail out of most of them. This however was the ball to usher in the Winter months and to bid good bye to the summer. Soon the nights would draw in far quicker and the days would be much shorter, a good time of year for vampyres and as such the courts see fit to hold, yet another. Dance.

It wasn't that Rhoan couldn't dance, he could dance circles around any vampyres in any room without actually putting any effort into it. It was just that he didn't get half of the rules and he had no impulse to learn any of them anyway.

So far the only dances he had been forced to go to by his bastard adoptive fathers had been small ones that had actually been away from the courts, where he had generally just been able to avoid every one and not get noticed for his inability to speak like royalty or whatever. Not that he really cared about all of that its just he knew what fate would await him when he returned to the house if he did not make a good impression at these parties. The MacAray's dungeons had been cemented in at the request of Nathaniel, well request.. more like order. That however did not detect from the fact they had had a room installed in though house that was tiny with no windows to speak of and locked from the outside. The room was also reinforced against vampyre strength. It was built to be Rohan's personal hell. It was where he was currently sat.

He coiled himself as far into the corner of the dank room and was trying to keep the panic down, hitting his foot against the wall to bee the colours to alleviate some of his stress since Albert had chained his hands together. Bastard. This was what he had gotten for refusing to go to this dance – so now he knew he lacked choice, once again the MacAray's sought to make his life hell.

Albert tore the door open, blatantly angry and snarled at Rhoan he forced a cocky smile onto his face. Immediately stopping the tapping of his foot in case the old vampyre thought to restrain his feet next time too.

He grabbed Rhoan by the back of his neck and threw him into the corridor, pulling the chains roughly from his bands and kicking him in the direction of his other room. The one that actually had a window and the one they showed Nathaniel if he ever dropped by.

“Get dressed now, there is a suit on your bed. The Alexander's have requested all of the major houses this time which unfortunately includes you.

Albert sneered as Rhoan sat on the floor, waiting for Albert to storm of so he could stand up. He knew if he tried to stand up sooner the vampyre would smack him back down again. What with one of him abilities being super strength the man seriously hurt when he wanted to. Rhoan jumped of to his room, rubbing his side slightly where Albert's boot had make contact for his ribs, that was going to hurt for a good few hours. He threw on the suit... and nearly kicked himself.. he looked like an idiot. He took the tie of and threw it back onto the bed, undoing the first few buttons on his shirt. She shrugged the midgnight blue jacket on, such a colour was practically black to human eyes but vampyres could pick out the subtle blue tones in the fabric.

The journey to the Ball was uneventful. As much as Ablert wanted to kick Rhoan again he knew it would make even more of a mess of his suit than Rhoan had already made. His only payback being that Rhoan had to sit in a closed top car the whole way there on the verge of panic.

The ball was gorgeous and stunning as to be expected. The winter theme taken to the extreme but it didn't look tacky. The room was huge, something Rhoan was happy about. He had bolted in the direction of the stairs as his family had taken the elevators before Albert could grab him. He taken a slow walk up to the correct floor and knew he would end up being announced separately which was just fine with him. This would be the first time any one if the courts barring Nathaniel had ever even seen him and he would much rather be seen separate to his wicked family.

He entered as a man on the door announced him, he made sure than man also announced his human surname. Something he knew that most vampyres did not do unless they where trying to serpentine themselves from their vampyres family – another reason why he wished to enter alone, Albert would never condone such an action.

“Entering, Master Rhoan Dean Falkon MacAray.”

The man's voice rang out and a lot of attention was suddenly directed to him, unsurprising given that new names where always something of interest in such circles. Rhoan showed little interest and swaggered his way through the room, watching the dances going of around him and feeling his muscles committing them to memory. This was gong to be too easy, he could hover feel the nerves and panic slowly brewing beneath the surface at having attention on him, people waiting to see exactly what he was going to do. He went for something that drove his family insane. Quoting random lines, his family, where to be put politely. Stupid. And they always got confused when he spouted random quotes, it would be a good way to get their murderous glares off him right now, Albert was making his k=skin crawl so he practically had no choice.

“While I dance I can not judge, I can not hate, I can not separate myself from life. I can only be joyful and whole. This is why I dance.”

[Dove Alexander]

Dove was once again sat on her throne, watching the rest of the Court dance. She really did hate these bloody things and wanted to know why her father kept putting her through this. At least this ball wasn't for benefit this time, there was an actual reason to this.

Winter was here. The nights were finally drawing giving them more time to play. Tomorrow, the first Hunt would take place, meaning yet another official occasion that she had to participate in. Though, that one she didn't mind too much, at least she got something out of it. She lived for the hunt, it was one of her favourite things to do and it was not uncommon to hear people saying she was one of the best in the Court.

This however, she hated. For her, there was very little point to Balls. She never got to dance as everyone seemed to be afraid to ask her, which, whilst being understandable, left her sat watching the dancing. Add to this that her father had forbidden her to use her powers and you had a very bored Princess.

She looked around, trying to find a source of entertainment only to fail abysmally. She stood up, needing to do something to alleviate her boredom and walked around the edge of the floor. Within five steps, her father was by her side.

He leaned towards her ear and whispered furiously, trying to keep his annoyance from his face. "I thought I told you to stay in your seat."

Dove looked up into her father's eyes and pouted. She was good at this acting stuff, but she knew that, at this point, she'd be more likely to get what she wanted if she failed to act. "But Father, I'm bored. I've been sat up there for hours now and no one has asked me to dance. Those that normally would have asked are too scared to do so in case they are thought to be conspiring against us some how. Since the attack in New Forest - "

[/color]

Her father stopped her from talking by placing his finger over her lips, not wanting her to talk about that. He'd tried to keep the attack quiet and had failed. Now it was all anyone would talk about. And Dove couldn't blame them; they're heir to the throne had nearly been killed and all fingers pointed to a traitor in Court.

Nathaniel sighed and nodded, knowing that this was one fight he wouldn't win. And besides, his daughter had gone through a lot in the past week. After the attack, half of her servants had been slaughtered and, thought she was hiding it well, he knew she grieved for them. "Very well, my dear. May I have this dance?"

Dove grinned broadly and took a step towards him, wanting to give him a hug. She stopped short, remembering her place and curtsied instead. She took his proffered arm and walked to the dance floor. The band seamlessly changed into her favourite song and the rest of the Court separated to allow them to dance. After a few turns, they slowly started to join in and, when the dance was over, they applauded to both her father and her and the band. She curtsied once more to her father and turned back to walk towards her throne.

As she sat down, the music started up once more and this time a line of young make vampyres was waiting to ask for her hand. She looked over to her father who nodded, then smiled at the first vampyre.

"James Ri-"[/color] She stopped short of asking the vampyre to approach as the footman announced the next person.

“Entering, Master Rhoan Dean Falkon MacAray.”

She looked, wide eyed over to her father who immediately walked over to her. He waited whilst the other vampyres dispersed and then looked back to her. "What is it now?"

"It's him."

Those two words were enough to wipe the slight frown from around her fathers eyes, replacing it with a hint of a smile. "The MacAray boy?"

Dove nodded. For once in her life, she was speechless and she was sure that her father was finding it highly amusing; there was a light in his eyes that said he was hiding a laugh. Then his frown reappeared suddenly, as if he had remembered something, causing confusion to mar Dove's features. Before she could ask what could possibly have caused that he walked away from her. "I'll go talk to him. Do not move."[/blockquote][/size]

[Rhoan MacAray]

Rhoan grinned as people's attention slowly moved away from him finally, people returning to their own conversations and watching people flit across the dance floor. He moved subconsciously over to one of the walls of the great dance hall. There were a few tables around the edge which was good as that was generally where he wanted to go. He normal cocky demeanour again at war with the knot in his stomach at being around so many vampyres. Rhoan knew it wasn't the vampyres in this room fault that his life had taken such an amazingly bad turn but it was hard not to blame them as a whole during times like this.

Which they had been having balls and dances and what ever it was upper class vampires did on a regular basis, their second highest family within the court had been recklessly turning men and leaving them to starve. He sat himself down in one of the plush chairs and kicked his feet up onto another chair and began drumming his hand on the table, needing to calm himself down. The band was making the room that much more beautiful, the colour of their music flitted over the room, making it glow brighter than a million candles.

He tried to push his family to the back of his mind and just enjoy the colours and relaxed back into his chair, his hand still drumming repetitively. It was at that point Nathaniel all but creeped up on him. Well Nathaniel actually just strolled over to where he was sitting, there was no creeping involved but when it came down to it Rhoan was a newborn still and he was still training in what to most vampires was their nature. Due to his traumatic birth as well some of the things that came naturally to vampyres was taking its time to assert itself.

“You should learn to pay more attention to those around you, especially in a room where so many people hate your family.”

Rhoan stopped drumming his hands as Nathaniel knocked his legs off the chair with his foot, he dropped them to the ground without much of an argument, he did however remain slouched. Nathaniel was the only Vampyre which Rhoan didn't harbour an irrational hatred towards.

“They are not my family Sir and you know that.”

Rhoan grumbled as he sat up, his hand brushing his still sore side and he grinned sarcastically at the old vampyre. He didn't look overly impressed but then he never did when Rhoan refused to refer to people by their proper titles. It had taken at least half of the two weeks they had spent together for Rhoan to even call him Sir. When he wasn't being sarcastic and calling him Sir, Rhoan was brazenly calling him Nathaniel. Which was just so much worse.

“Just checking they had not indoctrinated you or the like, how are you feeling.”

Rhoan tilted his head to one side and looked up at Nathaniel... yes the man had shown interest in his well being before but this felt like he was undergoing a valuation to make sure he wasn't going crazy or something. It irked him but he could understand why the old vampire would show concern, he had explained that everything that could be done wrong, had been done wrong when it came to him.

“I'm claustrophobic, and a few other little quirks Sir, I'm not crazy and I haven't gone on any killing sprees since you last saw me so you can un-clench.”

Rhoan chuckled before kicking back and throwing his legs back onto the stool, causing Nathaniel to roll his eyes at his antics.

“You should ask my Daughter to dance.”


Rhoan's jaw practically hit the floor, What? What the hell was that? Dance with his precious daughter? From when Rhoan had picked up on Nathaniel had gone to lengths to make sure what had happened to him had been kept a secret, the family had even been punished in silence. Why on earth would he want to bring him smashing into the spot lightl. Rhoan raised his head to make a comment back but couldn't as Nathaniel had already crossed the room and was back stood talking to the daughter he had told him to approach.

The cocky arrogant side of Rhoan wanted to jump up and walk over to her, take the lady on to the dance floor and show every stuck up vampyre in this room that he was the best dancer this room had ever bloody seen. There was however the paranoid side of him that was seemingly on the verge of panic half of the time, especially when surrounded by people who could put him back in that cell again, even though he knew it was irrational.

He stood up, irritated with his own conflicted thoughts. He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair, watching the colours on the ceiling the calm himself again before decided to just go for it. He strolled calmly over to Nathaniel and his daughter, he moved away when he was around half way their. He cut a path through the waltzing vampyres with such ease that not even all the vampyres in this room could of managed it, but then he had been very good at that in his human life as well. He came up to Nathaniel's daughter... Just about realising he didn't actually know her name. Oh great he was actually going to have to be formal or something wasn't he... perhaps this was a test... Nathaniel testing him to make sure he was actually sane. He pushed that thought from his mind, paranoia was not a good path to travel down.

He dropped into a mock bow... which in itself looked somewhat sarcastic. He couldn't help it, it wasn't in his nature to do the royalty thing. It was just silly.

“Miss Alexanader, would you care to dance”

He grinned and tilted his head as he straightened himself up. Holding a hand out to her and waiting to see if she actually accepted. He was so not going to be impressed if she told him to get lost... his Family was watching his every move and he knew if he wasn't careful they would see this as a way of embarresing them and he would be spending the next day or two back in that room.

[Dove Alexander]

Dove watched as her father walked over to Rhoan, frowning when she saw that he had slouched on one of the chairs. That was something that was never done in the Court. Ever. Whilst in Court, you were expected to behave in a particular way and that went against absolutely every rule; either this vampyre was new and didn't knew the rules or he just didn't give a crap. Probably both.

She tried to listen in to what was being said and cursed when she realised that there were too many people in the room for her to get a lock on her father. Remote viewing was always difficult in crowds and it made her edgy.

She sat up straighter, trying to get a better view on her Life Mate, but now that her father was over there she couldn't even see his feet. She growled low in her throat, causing the few vampyres that had come back to scarper once more. She was vaguely aware that in doing that, she had pretty much made it so no one would ask her to dance again, but now Rhoan had walked into her life she didn't care.

She rapped her hand on the arm of her throne in frustration and sat back in her chair. She looked around, searching for a distraction, but found nothing to peek her interest. She tapped her fingers repeatedly, playing with the gravity around some of the dancers, though even that failed to distract her from the conversation going on across the room.

When her father finally moved away, she sat up straight and let the gravity flow back to normal. "So?"

[/color]

Her father nodded once and sat on the larger throne next to her. "I do wish you'd stop with the gravity when you're in Court. It makes the lower vampyres nervous."

Dove groaned and turned sharply to face her father. "You know I can't help it when I'm nervous. What did he say? Is he ... "[/color] She struggled to find the correct word and so gestured frantically with her hands.

"Safe? Yes, I think so. His family is another matter entirely however, so it may be hard on you both. He's fresh as well, so he won't understand. You know what you were like when you were freshly turned. And his change was more ... Traumatic."

Dove frowned, wondering how he knew all of this from a few minutes conversation. It was entirely impossible for even him to be able to find that out in that short period of time, even if he did have his ways. She was about to ask him when she was interrupted.

“Miss Alexanader, would you care to dance”

She turned around, prepared to tell the vampyre exactly what she cared to do, then stopped short realising who had asked her.

She cocked her head as he straightened up from his bow, somehow managing to make even that small gesture scream with sarcasm. Everything about him exuded arrogance and, even though she normally hated that in anyone but herself, it suited him.

She looked towards her father out of the corner of her eye and smiled as he tilted his head ever so slightly in a nod. She stood up and ran her hands down her jet dress, smoothing the silk in an obviously nervous gesture.

She walked down the few steps and stood a short distance away from him, inwardly cursing her newly found cowardice. She was never like this and she hoped that it didn't last as she'd probably have to kick herself. She bowed her head and curtsied, feeling slightly odd for doing so; she hadn't curtsied for centuries, not even to her father.

She straightened up and smiled to Rhoan, placing her hand in his. "I'd be delighted to dance with you"[/color]

She smiled as they walked out towards the dance floor, hearing the band flow once more into one of her favourite dances. The floor all but cleared as they headed to the centre, the other vampyres having stopped to watch them both.

As they stopped and faced each other, Dove threw another glance to her father who was sat watching them both with an obvious smile on his face. The fact that his emotions were showing showed just how happy he was at the moment, which caused nervous butterflies to flit around in her stomach. As the music flared up she took a deep breath and stepped into the dance, trying to look more confident than she was currently feeling.
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[Rhoan MacAray]

"I'd be delighted to dance with you"

Rhoan grinned with relief, that went better than he had expected. He was however not expecting the band to seamlessly change tunes half way through a song, nor was he expecting the floor to practically clear in front of them. His steps never faltered but his eyes did flit around the room nervously for a moment as he laid eyes on his family. Albert was stood with his had resting on a chair seemingly calm, at a closer look however it was plain as day the stress fractures on the wood of the chair that he was fuming. Part of him wanted to turn tail and run, however there was the other part of him that want to swear at the man and do the other teenage rebellion things that where still stuck in his mind. He was after all, still 18.

The Rebellious side won out as they hit the centre of the room, As they stepped into the dance he let his ability take over control of his muscles, every move of the dance as perfect as the last thanks to his adoptive muscle memory. Given that people had left the entire dance floor open to them he let his side with the Ego take over, not quite content with just dancing. He leaned closer to her ear so he could whisper to her, Tempering his voice so only she could hear him. It was very helpful when every sound could be seen as it gave him more control on the volume, which in a room full of people with super amazing hearing was very handy.

“Shall we take this up a Notch?”

He grinned before upping the pace, using the lights from the ceiling to judge the speed and tempo he should be going at. It had the desired affect too, instead of people coming back onto the dance floor as what would normally happen they stood and watched. Rhoan was a peacock in his human days and it was something which really did transfer over to his vampyre days, he could forget out all the insecurities and paranoid and actually enjoy dancing without any of it really affecting him.

The dance was drawing to an end, Rhoan knew not because he knew the song but because how the colour changed. He also knew that one of the bands instruments had been badly tuned as he could see flits of red and black dancing within the blues and whites. It was irritating and he felt like going up and fixing it for the man... but as much as he liked to go against rules of court that was something he wouldn't be doing. He glanced to the band and wished the song wasn't ended, he actually felt.. comfortable? Would be a good word for it, none of the panic was coiling inside him like normal and the princess in his arms was calming him some what.

He pushed the thought away, not understanding it, another one of those vampyre quirks he was yet to figure out. He decided that he might bring it up to Nathaniel at some point, hoping the old vampyre could shed some light on it, although considering it was his daughter it may not be a good plan...

Rhoan smirked at her as it came to the end of the dance.

“I've never had a dance where I thought the music ended too soon until just now”

[Dove Alexander]

As they swirled around the dance floor, Dove relaxed which was a bit of a surprise to her; she hadn’t even realised that she was tense. Though it was only to be expected really as she was now dancing with the guy she was meant to spend the rest of her life with. It was comforting that Rhoan didn’t seem so fazed by that fact, it was probably the reason she’d been able to let go with him and actually enjoy it.

She laughed as he grinned and spun her around in perfect unison to the song. It was such a rare sight that the rest of the vampyres didn’t dare to join them and instead stayed back. Those who were content to, stayed to watch whilst a few of them returned to their tables to drink their blood spiked wine.

As she heard the band start the final few bars of the song, she sighed, not wanting it to end. She felt ... right, in his arms that it seemed to have pushed all the other thoughts from her head. Normally, she’d be more concerned on how the candlelight refracted on the diamonds sown into her jet black bodice, looking as though it had been fashioned out of a starry night sky, which was exactly the brief she’d given to her tailor. She’d be wondering what on earth had made Eliza Callery wear a bright green dress when she’d dyed her hair electric pink. She’d be wondering about almost anything whilst her mind tried to run away from the fact that she was dancing with someone she’d never even seen before but at this second, she was thinking of nothing in her mind other than the vampire spinning her like he’d been built for specifically that reason.

As the dance drew to a close, she all but pouted. She saw the smirk appear on Rhoan’s features and was momentarily distraught, thinking that he was actually glad that the dance had ended. When he spoke, however, she was put right. “ I've never had a dance where I thought the music ended too soon until just now”

Dove grinned and nodded emphatically. “I agree. Normally, whilst I cannot wait to get on the dance floor, I equally cannot wait until I can get away. But this time ...”

[/color] She sighed, watching as the other vampyres flooded back to the dance floor wishing to get back to dancing. She kept standing close to Rhoan, not wanting to move away just yet, making those closest to them stare and whisper. Not caring in the slightest, she turned back to Rhoan. “Do you wish to join me and my Father at the table?” [/color]

She turned to her father, catching his eye briefly and grinning broadly as he nodded. “Father doesn’t mind,but we will both understand if you’d rather sit with your family, what with this being your first ball.”[/color]
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[Rhoan MacAray]

Rhoan grinned as she nodded in agreement to his sentiment. He sighed lightly as the dance floor began filling again, hearing people muttering about the fact they where still stood in the middle of the floor, no-one brave enough however to approach them. Probably due to the fact that she was the princess and he was the best damned dancer this place had ever seen.

“I agree. Normally, whilst I cannot wait to get on the dance floor, I equally cannot wait until I can get away. But this time ...”

Rhoan nodded in agreement. Usually he rarely danced with other people, even in his human life, he pretty much liked owning the dance floor for himself. He loved dancing but usually people annoyed him when he finally got there.

Do you wish to join me and my Father at the table?”

He glanced over to Nathaniel to make sure he was actually able to join them. When he had been training with the older vampyre it was done away from everyone else and he made sure they where never seen together in public. Joining him at the table would kind of make that entirely pointless and he'd rather not have the old guy on his enemies list.. that list was long enough already.

“Father doesn’t mind,but we will both understand if you’d rather sit with your family, what with this being your first ball.”

At Nathaniel's affirmation it was okay he let the grin spread across his face. He couldn't explain it but he still had a sense of calm, something he had put down to the lights and to the dancing. He wasn't looking at the lights now and they had been still for a few minutes... so it couldn't be either of those things that had cause him to be so calm.

“I'd love to join you. It would be the best way possible to spend my first ball I do believe.”

He glanced over towards his family only to see Albert showing obvious distaste on what Rhoan was obviously planning on doing. People where watching him and now keep an obvious distance from the old Vampyre. Obviously knowing his abilities and knowing his temper.

“Also, I would never prefer to sit with my Family”

He made sure when he said the word Family that he was being very, very sarcastic. He also didn't bother to temper his voice in anyway at all, not caring that any one would hear him. Actually hoping that people would. He was already planning on finding away to avoid going back to the house tonight because if he did he would be spending it in the small room already. Might as well rub salt in the old man's wound at this point.

[Dove Alexander]

“I'd love to join you. It would be the best way possible to spend my first ball I do believe. Also, I would never prefer to sit with my Family”

Dove grinned broadly, even though she could almost taste the sarcasm when he mentioned his family. And the way he looked towards her father made her feel like there was something that had gone on between the two of them that she wasn’t aware of. After the ball was over and she and her father were truly alone, she’d have to ask him. But that opportunity could not arise for days; there was always someone around asking for something or other.

She took hold of Rhoan’s hand and led him through the dancers up to where the servants were now adding another chair to their table. Next to her father’s and hers, it looked rather out of place, but it was still infinitely better than the ones scattered at the other tables. It was one reserved for when Royals form other Vampyre Families visited and the fact that her father had asked for it to be brought was a good sign; he wouldn’t have done so if he was unhappy with her Life Mate.

As she sat down, she looked to her father and raised her eye brow, showing to him that she knew something was going on. He nodded once, letting her know that he would explain when he could, and then patted her hand to reassure her that, whatever it was, it wasn’t bad.

She took a sip of her wine, then realised that, whilst Rhoan had a seat next to her, that was all he had. She looked over to one of the servants who was purposely looking away from her, not wanting to be the one she blamed for this. She used her power to draw his attention to her, increasing the gravity slightly until just before his knees buckled. When he finally met her eye, she raised her eyebrow once more then indicated that he should come closer.

“Why has a place not been set for Mr. MacAray? When my Father asked for a seat to be brought up, did you not think that it would mean someone would be joining us to dine, or did you just assume that they would sit and watch whilst we drank and ate?”

[/color]

She didn’t bother to keep her voice down, but thankfully the music was playing too loud for the whole Hall to hear her. The few that could, however, moved cautiously away from her, not wanting to be in range of her powers. It was well known, that when she was in a rage, it wasn’t just the person to have caused it to suffer.

Her father, seeing where this was heading, rested his hand gently on hers, reminding her of her place. He turned to the servant and said in a bored voice, “Set the table for him, Stevenson, and quickly.”

As the servant hurried off to fulfil his order, her father turned to her and hiss in her ear. “You must learn to control your temper, Dove, for it will be your down fall if you do not.”

Dove turned to him, an angry retort on her tongue, but the look in his eyes made her stop short. Instead, she bowed her head in apology and said weakly, “Yes Father,”[/color] and returned cheerlessly to her wine. She knew her father was only looking out for her, but she felt that sometimes he was too harsh on her. When she was considerate with the servants, he would accuse her of being weak, and when she was hard on them, she was impetuous and malicious.

She just wished that once, she’d know what he wanted her to do. Even after nearly 350 years of being around him, she still hadn’t worked out what he wanted her to be, and she doubted if she ever would.

She shook her head slighting and took another sip from her wine, turning to Rhoan as the servant set his place. “So how are you finding your first official Ball? I should expect that they are slightly different from the ones your family have been known to give. Though I am surprised not to have heard of you before... Father was away on business around your area a few weeks ago and mentioned calling in on your House. He didn’t mention them bringing in any new arrivals to the family.”[/color]
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[Rhoan MacAray]

“So how are you finding your first official Ball? I should expect that they are slightly different from the ones your family have been known to give. Though I am surprised not to have heard of you before... Father was away on business around your area a few weeks ago and mentioned calling in on your House. He didn’t mention them bringing in any new arrivals to the family.”

Rhoan glanced to Nathaniel a little nervously, which was generally a mistake as the old vampyre had eyes that could bloody kill you if you looked at them for more than a few moments. Generally giving him the impression that he was too keep his mouth shut on the topic for now. No matter how well he could temper his own voice he could not temper other peoples and a word out of place would spread like wild fire in a room crammed full of this many important people. He glanced away from the man quickly and returned the smile to his face, even thought the knot of panic had just doubled considerably. He'd not been in a position where he had had to speak around it before which was some what worrying.

“They are quite different to the ones I've been taken to in the past, although to be honest I generally just sat on the sidelines. Generally the best way on not displeasing Albert is to be vaguely invisible.”

He laughed lightly, and glanced over to Albert again, his voice tempered so as to not let it carry over to the old vampyre. He relaxed back into the chair, which was a damned site more uncomfortable than the one he had been slouched in earlier. Just has he was about to carry on Nathaniel cleared his throat at him, obviously wanting him to straighten up or something. That however was enough the quell the knot of panic in his stomach. Nothing made Rhoan calmer than having the opportunity to rile some one up, and going against an authority figure would do that. Even if he had some respect for the man. Although Rhoan had no idea if that was the man's intention as he knew pretty much all of Rhoan's issues. It let him slip easily into what Nathaniel had told him to say when asked said questions, even if he did sound a little robotic.

“Albert didn't want to make it public until I was fully trained and so forth.”

He shrugged it off pretty quick as one of the servants finally filled his glass. He raised an eyebrow as he did and the man avoided eye contact as best as possible. He idly wondered if they where serving him intentionally slow seeing as he had just randomly been seated at the table. He was unknown yes but it was still annoying. He knew he couldn't say anything but he knew how to make people uncomfortable, he did it in his human life and he had had people doing it to him since he had become a vampyre.

Thankfully it was working as the servant finally finished pouring his wine and scarped a few seconds later. He grabbed the glass to take a sip, intending to kill the last knot in his stomach. Ignoring the taste as he still wasn't quite accustomed to it.

“I however expect that you have to do these balls virtually every ten minutes. I do recommend avoiding the MacAray's balls, They tend to end with yelling and occasional fighting.”

He tempered his voice again for the comment about the MacAray's ball, to the point that even Nathaniel would have issues hearing what he said fully.

[Dove Alexander]

Dove noticed Rhoan glance at her father after her question, cementing the idea that something had gone on between the two of them. She could also feel his nervousness in her chest, making her wonder what on earth it was. Granted, most people were nervous around her father, but that was just the general nervousness anyone would get around someone so immensely powerful. This felt more specific, and it worried her slightly.

“They are quite different to the ones I've been taken to in the past, although to be honest I generally just sat on the sidelines. Generally the best way on not displeasing Albert is to be vaguely invisible.” Dove frowned as she nodded. She knew that Albert was unpleasant but she’d never feared him to the point of needing to be invisible around him. But, then again, she was in no position to judge. Being Princess and heir to the throne, she was pretty much immune to it. Instead, she just had to deal with people wanting her and her father dead so that they could claim the throne. Quite why people wanted to kill her, however, she wasn’t sure. The magick that governed them all would choose who should be sat upon the throne and there was no real way to tell who would be ruling over them if their leader should die. Her being heir to the throne was merely a title as, should the Court not wish it, she wouldn’t be Queen.

But Dove wasn’t one to let that kind of thing get to her. She was going to be Queen one day. There was no two ways about it.

Her father cleared his throat, bringing her back to the room. She turned to him, expecting him to speak. Instead, he smiled at her and nodded towards Rhoan.

“Albert didn't want to make it public until I was fully trained and so forth.” The way he said it made it obvious that he were lying. He may have been able to get away with lying like that when he was human, but in Court he’d have to try harder. Most vampyres were well versed in spotting a lie, so it took a lot to fool them. Plus, the fact that she was his life mate made it easier for her to tell.

She watched as the Servant returned to pour his drink, remembering who it was so that she could deal with him later. He was being ridiculously slow and downright rude, though trying to hide it behind a careful facade. She didn’t recognise this servant, so he was most likely to be new, but that was no excuse for his behaviour. At least, not in her opinion.

She smiled slightly to herself as Rhoan raised his eyebrow to the servant making him uncomfortable. He had the attitude of a Prince already; he’d do well as her mate. She turned to her father who was clearly unimpressed, obviously having hoped that her life mate would make her less spoilt.

Once the servant had scurried off, she turned back to Rhoan and smiled as he spoke. “I however expect that you have to do these balls virtually every ten minutes. I do recommend avoiding the MacAray's balls, They tend to end with yelling and occasional fighting.”

She nodded once more, having heard about the kind of things that happen at their Balls. She’d been invited to a few, though she suspects it was more because it was the expected thing to do. Her father had always forbidden her to go to them, however and she was more than willing to comply with that. She wasn’t overly keen on the MacAray family, the girls always seemed to give her sly looks. And they were too pretty. Not as pretty as Dove, but they were obviously trying to be.

She looked over to the table and smiled at them, amused to find that the middle sister was wearing a similar dress to what she wore at the last ball. She briefly wondered whether she should just offer her the dress she was wearing now for the next ball, but she thought better of it. The evil harpies would probably use it in some bogus witch craft thing.

“I could well imagine that, your sisters have that look about them. They look as though there should be a cauldron between them all.”

“Dove ...”

“I’m sorry father, but you know it’s true. I’ve heard that they use those retched human potions and lotions to make their skin look younger.And I’m sure they use those stupid heat things that burn your hair. What is the point in those?”

[/color] [/blockquote][/size]

[Rhoan MacAray]

Rhoan followed her eyes as they hit his family of the other side of his room. And of course all five of his harpy sisters where in the group as per usually. Heavens forbid if they ever strayed more than four steps away from each other. He still wished that he knew which one of them had done thing too him, but it didn't really matter in the end. They were each as bad as each other and they had come up with their plan to just keep turning males until they found their mate together. Few people would think of it looking at them, everyone assumed the dungeons in their house and the rumours of what they could do to people who has crossed them came from Albert MacAray... Or Adrian at a stretch. Both of them had little care for who they turned or what happened to them afterwards.

This sisters however actually had brains, they plotted and schemed like something out of a horror story. Which given that he was now a vampyre was a laughable concept in itself. Thanks to their selfishness he was a mad guy, a monster. Sometimes he still had trouble adjusting to that, it was getting rarer now thankfully. Most people who were turned knew what was coming, they knew vampyres and they knew what faced them when the woke up. It had been nearly a week... if not longer until anyone had even told Rhoan what he had become. And the week was only an estimation given to him by Nathaniel. That man was a politician when it came to things like that... if Rhoan worked out it had been any longer he may not of come through this with his mind intact.

He was pulled from dark path his through had begun to trail down by Dove's voice. That was impressive, not even Nathaniel could cut through his thoughts with such skill. He leaned himself a little closer, their was something calming there, when he was nearer. It was getting addictive and he had barely known her for ten minutes.

“I could well imagine that, your sisters have that look about them. They look as though there should be a cauldron between them all.”

“Dove ...”

“I’m sorry father, but you know it’s true. I’ve heard that they use those retched human potions and lotions to make their skin look younger.And I’m sure they use those stupid heat things that burn your hair. What is the point in those?”

The smirk on his face showed he was in blatant open agreement with Dove, she seemed to have a similar view on his harpy sisters as he. The laughable thing being is that his sister's believed they where loved by all. Idiotic simpering whelps. Rhoan had to force down the erratic burst of anger he felt for them. Relying himself heavily on Dove presence to him, she was pretty much like a drug and he had no idea why. It was something he couldn't bring up either... not exactly standardised conversation over wine really, as such he pushed it back, as he did with virtually every vampyre instinct he had developed.

“I do have to agree, The five harpies instead of the Three witches.”

Rhoan grinned at that, he would have to wind them up with that at some point. He was most likely going to get thrown back into the room at some point so he might as well go down screaming. He wasn't bothering to temper his voice this time so it was likely to carry to at least some ones ears and make its way back to Albert.

“Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

[/size]

[Dove Alexander]

“I do have to agree, The five harpies instead of the Three witches. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.”

Dove laughed as Rhoan quoted Macbeth at her. She looked over to the sisters again, smiling as they all glared at her openly having obviously heard what had been said. She wasn't concerned in the slightest, however; they wouldn't be able to do anything to her without severe consequences. If it weren't for the fact that he was part of their family, she would worry about Rhoan; they were known to attack people that dared to speak a word against them.


The fact that their brother was now her life mate might be a source of annoyance for them as well. It was well known that the House of MacAray and the Royal House of Alexander were as close to being enemies as you could get whilst still appearing to be civil to each other. Rhoan being Mated to Dove was sure to be irksome to them all, Albert especially. She knew that they'll try to keep him away from her, but she really couldn't see that being successful. There was nothing that they could do to keep them apart.

Of course, this would give them all an excuse to call round unexpectedly whenever Rhoan was with her. She wasn't too sure that she was comfortable with that idea entirely, it could be a potential risk to her father and her. She'd have to find herself a residence outside of the court. She knew her father would understand this, so that wasn't a problem. Plus it would give her the chance to decorate her room how she wanted it, not how it needed to be in order to fit into the rest of the Court.

The problem was, that she'd have to take some guards with her. There was no choice in the matter. And, by taking some with her she was effectively cutting the Royal Guard in half and therefore compromising the safety of her father and her King. She knew that she'd have to do it, her father wouldn't let her do otherwise, but she didn't want to. She didn't want her father to be in danger.

They'd have to hire more guards, which was a problem in itself; they didn't know who they could trust in Court any more. And it wasn't as if they could create more vampyres; it'd take years for them to have enough control over their powers to be of help. They were no good to them at all, they needed powerful vampyres that they could trust, but wasn't already on the Guard. Which left all of about three vampyres. One had a temper which made him a danger to anyone around him, one refused to join the guard and the other was her life mate.

It wasn't looking particularly hopeful, and it was starting to get her down.

She leant against the arm of her throne and subconsciously rested her arm on Rhoans, running her finger lightly over his wrist. She'd been looking for this man for centuries, and now she'd found him it appeared to be a lot of trouble. She just hoped it was worth it.

She turned to him and smiled. "Do you fancy a hunt later on tonight? I feel that I could do with one and the ball should be finishing up in a few hours."

[/color][/blockquote][/size]

[Rhoan MacAray]

Rhoan grinned towards his sisters as they practically snarled in their direction. Tonight was not going to be a good night. He was definitely going to look into a hotel or something to avoid the harpies and the old man. Even though they would track him down eventually he could at least hide out for a day or two before Albert got too annoyed by his insolence. There was no avoiding it forever. A fact that Rhoan was intently aware of when it came to Albert. Nathaniel had made it very clear to Albert that he was not aloud to kill Rhoan and that he was responsible for Rhoan if he where to die Albert's life would be forfeit.

Nathaniel had however left out the point that Albert and the girls could do when ever they damned please to him without much of a word said against it. Well mostly because no one knew about it, Rhoan knew that running his mouth off would not help anything. It would just make things ever worse to what they where now, the room was bad enough but he knew if they wanted to they could come up with something else much worse that they could do to him.

Rhoan tilted his head to one side and he suddenly calmed down, drastically. He glanced around to try and find the source of his calm and was pretty startled to find that it was the hand tracing his own. He had no idea why she was such a source of calm for him but he couldn't help but lean towards her slightly.

"Do you fancy a hunt later on tonight? I feel that I could do with one and the ball should be finishing up in a few hours."

A few hours? Oh god there was still hours of this thing to sit through. Okay, from this point on he was going to just turn up late to these things so he didn't have to sit around for so long. Usually he drove Albert mad enough to get thrown out half way through. This time he was torn between the fact he wanted to get out of here as fast as he possibly could but he was actually enjoying sitting with Dove. There where few things left in life that Rhoan actually liked.

“A hunt?”

Rhoan hesitated a little, he wasn't overly sure on what she intended by a hunt, Animals, humans etc. cities or forests, sometimes the fact the no one really gave him any information tended to grate on his nerves. There was so many things that Nathaniel could not impart to him in few weeks that he had had with him. Albert wouldn't give him anything that could make his like easier – it was more entertaining to watch him struggle aparently.

“What do you have in mind? Also I won't complain if you decided to leave the ball a little earlier... If I have to put up with the badly tuned piano much longer I may go crazy.”

He laughed lightly at the last part, him go crazy? Well practically he was already there. He was getting better true enough but he knew a lot of the things that he did or that he felt weren't right. He just focused his attention of them to give himself a better view of himself. The Piano for one had his attention now. It had been in the corner of his mind since his dance with dove. The colours mixing at the roof of the ball room was a perfect collection of blues of greens. It was stunning. But now and then there where streaks of red and black marring it. Most people probably couldn't even here the difference, it was very subtle. The colours however never lied and the scar on perfection drew too much of a parallel to his own life.

[Dove Alexander]

Dove noticed the slight grimace at the fact there was still a few hours to go with the ball. Normally, she’d be feeling the exact same way, but she had to admit she was rather enjoying herself tonight. She suspected that had more to do with the company rather than the ball, however, but she did want to stay here for a while yet. Just to show everyone that she had finally found her Life Mate.

The rest of the court had been worried either that she’d never find him, or that she would. If she didn’t, then there would never be a male vampyre on the throne after Nathaniel, and everyone knew that they were the stronger of the two sexes. But, if she did find her Mate, her abilities would grow in power. Considering she was one of the most powerful vampyres as it was, that was rather a scary idea.

”A hunt?” Rhoan’s voice cut through her thoughts in a way only her Life Mate could. Her father would most definitely be pleased about this. Along with all the usual reasons, now he had someone that could break through to her when she went off into her own little world, something he’d been trying to do ever since he adopted her all those years before.

“What do you have in mind? Also, I won’t complain if you decided to leave the ball a little earlier … If I have to put up with the badly tuned piano much longer I may go crazy.”

Dove nodded and looked over towards where the band was now playing a jazz number, for all the younger vampyres. She hadn’t noticed the badly tuned piano before, but now that Rhoan had mentioned it, it was all she could hear. In jazz, you didn’t particularly need to play in key, but this was taking it to the extreme. Every time he hit those few keys, they jarred in the most horrific way that it actually set her teeth on edge.

And, although she wanted to stay to show Rhoan off, she had a better idea; something that would hopefully impress him. From the sounds of it, he wasn’t all too sure what actually happened in a hunt. Whilst this surprised her, it also gave her the opportunity to show off, which was always welcome.

“If we have another turn about the dance floor, I’ll show you exactly what I mean when I suggest a hunt.”

[/color] She turned back to Rhoan and grinned enough to flash her fangs at him. It was something she rarely did anymore, only ever doing so when she was up to something. She ran her fingers lightly up and down his arm, hoping that that would encourage him to dance with her.

She heard a small cough from behind her and turned her head slightly in the direction of her Father, unwilling to totally look away from Rhoan. He sighed slightly and leaned in to her, whispering into her ear. “I know what you are planning, my child, and will warn you to be careful. 200 years is, after all, a long time. She may get … feisty.”

Dove smiled once more. “I know Father.”[/color] That was exactly what she was hoping for.“I shall be careful.”[/color][/blockquote][/size]

[Rhoan MacAray]

Rhoans smirked as Dove head tilted in the direction of the band, the badly tuned keys finally hitting her ears and now he had mentioned it, not exactly quietly. It was probably coming to the attention of a lot of the vampyres currently turning on the dance floor. They could ignore it as It was just sound they where listening to is passing, but now they knew it it would be all they would here until it would stop. Which in result was probably why several of the band members where looking some what more nervous that they had been earlier. The pianist looked as if he was ready to run from the building screaming. Rhoan felt like he should feel guilty but part of him was enjoying it too much at the same time.

Conflicting feelings were something that he was starting to get accustomed to now however and he had a tendency to not side with either one of his internal debates and just ignore them both. Not siding with the one that enjoyed the idea of killing and such, whilst not siding with the one that found everything about this new life repulsive.

“If we have another turn about the dance floor, I’ll show you exactly what I mean when I suggest a hunt.”

Usually when some one flashed their fangs at him he had to fight the urge to flinch or cringe or something similar, but when she did it it didn't make him nervous like every other vampyre didn't. Nathaniel had actually made a specific point to make sure not to show his fangs to him at any point when around Rhoan after a few incidents best worth not mentioning in the following days after his release from the cage. Rhoan suppressed the shiver but the thoughts where chased away from his mind as Doves hand traced its way up and down his arm. Pushing all thought, rational and irrational out of his mind and leaving just her. It was eerie how she was doing that too him, no one could captivate his mind, the only thing that could was the colours from noise and music. Mostly music. Since he found his ability and had been free he had practically mastered every musical instrument that some one handed to him. Nathaniel had promised a violin the next time they met as it was one he not yet tried.

He knew music kept him together. And he idly wondered if he was going to be getting it today before he left the ball. He glanced up as he heard Dove say something to her father but he missed it completely, deciding to get onto the dance floor now, wanting to get away from here and do this new interesting thing they had spoken about.

The music picked up into a faster beat when they reached the dance floor, the song suspiciously without music of any kind. He grinned as the black and red dissipated from the mass of colours swirling at the ceiling and was replaced with the pale blues and whites. Tints of purple shining here and there due to the upbeat tempo the band had now chosen.

He glanced around at the few dancing people, most people having vacated the floor, not due to them this time as only a few people had noticed that he had risen and taken her with him, it had cleared due to the complexity of the song no less. The band probably irked at him specifically due to amount of growls they where receiving.

“So we dance again?”

He asked inquisitively, maybe a little playfully. Due to the nature of the song few people would expected some one as new as him to hit the dance floor. He expected that Dove would know practically all of the dances like the back of her hand,.due to her position in the courts. They probably didn't expect the young fresh vampyre to be able to take the dance floor with such fluidity that most vampyres couldn't even obtain.

Nathaniel gave him a quick nod as he summoned some one over to speak to him, Rhoan not hearing any of the conversation between the older vampyres at the man at his side due to the fact the old man, he turned Dove a few more times and diverted his attention away, glancing towards the door.

“We are awfully close to the door, it would be so easy right now... just a few more turns.”

He smirked and sped up their pace and bit, bringing them significantly closer to the door to the ball room. The same man dropping of a brown wrapped package by the door , not even catching Rhoan's eye before vanishing.

Just as they where exiting the building, following her he kept a hold of one of her hands, ducking down to grab it as he left, closing the door with speed only gifted to him since his change. When the door closed he felt like an entire weight had just been pulled off his shoulders. The hallway was nicer, calmer. Less people watching his every mood and no Albert waiting for him to mess up and to give him a chance to get back at Rhaon for yet another crime he had never committed. He sighed lightly, showing the fact he felt as if the weight had been taken of his back to Dove pretty clearly even though he was trying to hide it.

A human would of taken the misdirection but vampyres could see straight through it, as per usual. Rhoan still had not quite learnt how to hide things from vampyres. It made his situation very tricky, no one was to know the truth about his creation and yet he couldn't lie to save his life. Fun.

“So what did you have in mind?”

His face broke out into a crooked smile, Rhoan never really felt emotions for sustained periods of time, the flitted back and forth with such a speed most people would get whiplash thinking about it let alone living it.