I remained in front of Xavier as everyone turned to us, making my annoyance grow with their prying eyes. The four guards in the dining room didn't recognize him and they held their defensive stances with guns aimed past me at him. I could hear their heartbeats thundering in their chests, yet they kept their composure, finding comfort in their weaponry.

"Drop your weapons," I said.

"Keep them up!" Julius yelled with a smirk. I understood that he was challenging me to do something, and I let it slide that he was underestimating me. The last time he saw me, I was a small child whom he threw around and beat in "the name of God". My supposed misery was believed to wash away his sins.

A couple of guards lowered their weapons, earning a scowl from the people at the table, and Xavier laughed from behind me. I raised my brow at the guards that remained, giving them one last chance to bow down, but when they didn't, I raised my hand, prepared to snap my fingers and drain the life from their miserable bodies.

"Stand down!" My mother ordered, earning sour looks from the guests. When the guards did as she said, I dropped my hand and put it into my pocket.

Xavier walked from behind me, bumping my shoulder as he did, and stepped towards the table. "Hello, I'm Syn's best friend and I have convinced him to do what is right and marry your daughter."

Oh, please. I rolled my eyes at him and scoffed, crossing my arms.

My mother stood up and rushed to his side. She put her hands on his shoulders and examined him as if he were some otherworldly creature, grabbing his cheeks and looking into his eyes. "I didn't know Syn had friends," she said, her tone still laced with unease.

"Friend," he corrected as he reached out to shake her hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"Syn talks about me?" She asked, her arms dropping to her side as she glanced at me.

"I meant from Lucifer," he admitted with a look at the guests around the room... the disrespect. My mother blushed and shook her head. The rest of the room broke out into gasps and coughs, meanwhile, Julius scoffed at Xavier's reveal. How embarrassing, I thought to myself. His own wife preferring the company of the devil over the man she married.

My mother began twirling her hair between her fingers, and looked up at Xavier, eyeing him one last time. "You and I will get along." With that, she locked arms with him and led him to an open seat at the table.

I didn't understand how he managed to get along with people with so much ease. If I had done the same thing people would have screamed and run away. Admittedly, I wanted them to, but I was still curious. How did it feel to have someone want to truly want to speak to you...bereft of all fear or pressure?

I took the open seat next to Xyla and felt her eyes on me as the kings discussed the terms of the treaty with me. Her stare was burning a hole into the side of my face during the conversation, and I could see her fondling the hem of her short blue dress whenever I spoke. When the discussion was over, Julius excused himself along with the king and queen, and I took the chance to turn to the nuisance beside me.

"Xyla, correct?"

"Yes?" She said in a low voice as she batted her lashes.

"Don't stare at me. It's not flattering." Her cheeks flamed, and she looked away from me in an expression I could only assume was embarrassment.

"Sorry," she muttered, her fingers returning to her dress and pulling at loose threads she had created.

I leaned back in my seat and looked around the room. Xavier and my mother were at the end of the table engrossed in a conversation about Lucifer, and Xyla was sitting next to me, still silent from my request.

"Want to tell me a bit about yourself?" I heard her ask.

"No."

My head swung in her direction to see her cheeks redden, but her head snapped forward and she cleared her throat. "We are getting married soon. We need to get to know one another."

I wanted nothing more than to tell her off or leave the room, but I needed to gain her trust. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Favorite color?" She asked.

"Purple," I lied. I didn't have a favorite color, but it was the first one that came to mind. I didn't want to say "none" and fall into a conversation about why. My answer would most likely be some unintentionally deep one that she'd read into, causing us to have a further discussion.

Which I didn't care to have.

"What do you like to do for fun?" She questioned, clearly not taking the boredom in my voice as an indication that I didn't want to speak to her. Not very perceptive are we, little angel?

I groaned inwardly and clenched my jaw. This felt like an interview and I was growing bored with her. I forced myself to search my mind for an answer but couldn't think of anything that wasn't gruesome.

"Nothing," I said.

"Nothing at all?" She asked and I responded with a shrug.

It was then that she decided to go into a deep conversation about her likes and dislikes, and I made no effort to listen or pretend I was listening. King Julius, Jonathan, and his wife walked back into the dining room and took their seats for dinner a few moments later, saving me from picking up the butter knife in front of me and severing my ears.

They ate in silence, no conversation taking place between them, and I observed them, moving away from the fancy cuisine in front of me.

"Queen will be here tomorrow, Xyla," King Jonathan announced.

Xyla began coughing and glared at her parents. "What do you mean?"

"She has been wanting to see you for a while now, and you are about to get married. We figured it would be nice for your sister to be here with you."

I didn't care for the conversation until I heard Xyla's heart banging against her chest. That was the only thing that had now interested me about her since it stood out from every other prosaic thing about her.

"Okay," she mumbled.

"What's she like?" My mother queried.

Xyla shrugged, but her father answered for her with a large and toothy grin. "She's our pride and joy."

"I didn't know you had another daughter," Julius said, careful not to say the wrong thing and mess up their progress towards peace.

"On one of our tours, we found her abandoned in a forest- just a young child- we took her in and raised her as one of our own," he said, his uninteresting smile growing even larger.

His wife smiled up at him as she continued in his stead. "When I first saw her, I immediately fell in love. She was hesitant about us at first, of course- we were strangers to her, but she let us in eventually."

My mother smiled at the story, and let out a small laugh. "I hope she's nothing like your other joyous daughter." She muttered, stabbing her fork down into her food and forcing a smile at them.

"Genesis!" Julius snapped. She shrugged, an innocent pout appearing on her face before returning to her food.

King Jonathan smiled and shook his head. "Polar opposites."

I looked at Xyla as she had a death grip on her spoon, a vein in her head popping. As someone who specialized in pushing people beyond their limits, the urge to do it to her began to compel me, but I decided against it. There would be time for that as I'd be living here.

"If that's the case then she is more than welcome to stay here at the palace. We have more than enough-"

"No!" Xyla snapped. A smile replaced her angry features when she saw everyone's eyes on her, and I rubbed the stubble on my jaw in thought. "I mean, let's not make plans for her. Mother, you know Queen is not interested in this life. I'm sure she's busy anyway."

Lie.

I could immediately tell she was lying. Whatever the reason she didn't want her sister here, was completely selfish. It had nothing to do with what she wanted.

"Well..." My mother said, setting down her fork and sending Xyla a mistrusting look. "She can come and if at any moment she wants to leave, I will take drive her home myself." Xyla and my mother glared at one another. Anyone within a hundred mile radius could sense the tension between them, and I wondered what made it emerge.

King Jonathan cleared his throat, breaking the tension, and spoke up, "Great. I will have my men drop her off tomorrow morning."

The rest of the dinner remained quiet except for the spontaneous bursts of laughter that erupted from Xavier and my mother's side of the table.

After dinner, everyone retired to their bedrooms, and Xavier and I moved our belongings into the palace. It was late and it took us a couple of hours, but we were used to being up at this time of the night. Usually though, it wasn't doing something as mundane as lugging around large boxes.

Xavier and I decided to occupy the rooms that were in the Far East wing of the palace. We needed to keep our distance if we wanted to follow through with our plan without being compromised. Xavier stayed a few rooms down from me though, because I did not need him that close. He had a tendency to sing in the shower that was genuinely annoying. Not because I minded the noise, but because he had a horrible singing voice.

I heard a knocking sound at my door when I finished unpacking, and I sighed. I walked to the door, opened it and saw the redhead that had found her way into my bed several times over the years.

"Mia. May I help you?"

She laid her hand on my chest and stepped into my room, moving me backward. Her blue eyes were twinkling with mischief as she twirled her hair between her fingers.

"I missed you," she said.

"Am I supposed to say I missed you as well?"

"Yes."

"You want me to lie to you?"

She pouted, kicking my bedroom door closed. "Why does it have to be a lie, Syn? You had to have missed some things, no?" She asked as she dropped the black silk robe she was wearing, letting it pool to her feet and exposing her naked body. Instead of getting aroused at the compromising position we were in, I crossed my arms; tiredness and annoyance aching at the forefront of my mind.

Mia to me was just someone to pass the time, but over the years, she had been taking it further than I wanted. She wanted to hold my hand, fall asleep with me, and even go on dates...fuck that. If I were obligated to date every girl I fucked, I'd die of boredom.

I told her multiple times I wanted nothing to do with her in that way, but she took my rejection as ammunition to continue pursuing me.

I turned my back to her and pulled my shirt over my head, getting ready for bed. She stepped towards me and placed her hand on my back, tracing my scars. "I love these."

I scoffed and shook my head. Strange girl.

"Mia. Leave," I ordered as I turned to face her. I didn't have the patience for her tonight and I would snap at any moment if she continued pushing.

"Or what?" She said with a seductive grin. She was crazy, I knew she wanted me to choke her or hit her or cause her any physical pain. It was her kink and I had indulged in it several times for her but I was not into it, not tonight.

She continued to touch me and move towards me and I lost my patience. I grabbed her small neck with my hand and slammed her into the nearest wall. A moan escaped her lips and I clicked my tongue in irritation.

"Mia. You know me well enough to know I will kill you...with no hesitation." I growled as I squeezed her neck. The only reason she wasn't already dead was that her father Vitus, was the General of Jeradua's army. Julius promised him she would be safe at the palace were he to be gone for long periods of time. If I killed her he would never help me takeover in the future.

Mia's eyes fluttered from the lack of oxygen, but she still smiled at me and bit her lip. It took all my power not to snap her neck right then and there, and be rid of her pushy advancements, but I somehow managed to do it. I let her go and she dropped to the floor, erupting into a fit of coughs.

"Get the fuck out."

She stood up on trembling legs, her hand moving to her neck to catch her breath. She snatched her robe and shot me a glare, her eyes bulging out of their sockets. "I'll be back tomorrow since you are not yourself right now."

I rolled my eyes at her as she scurried out of the room. Finally. I threw myself onto my bed and groaned into a pillow as I thought about my stay here.

I fell asleep soon after, but was disturbed when my doors burst open. I opened my eyes and winced at the sunlight that was now lighting my bedroom. It felt like I got zero sleep as I rubbed my burning eyes. When I focused my vision on the subject of my turmoil, I saw Xavier prancing around the room with a carefree grin on his face.

He kept opening curtains despite my obvious pain and came to the edge of my bed, smiling down at me. "Good morning sunshine!"

I winced at his chirpy voice and threw a pillow over my ears. Xavier reached out and snatched the pillow, surprising me with his sudden strength. My head snapped at him and I glared.

"What do you want?" I sneered.

"Xyla's sister is coming this morning," he said with a smile, ignoring my venomous tone.

"You woke me up for that? I don't care," I said, my face matching my seriousness.

"The nice thing to do would be to greet her when she arrives."

"I don't give a shit."

Xavier rolled his eyes at me and turned to walk out the door. "I'll let you rest for one more hour. After that, I'm hauling your ass out of the bed. Whether you like it or not!" He yelled over his shoulder.

I dare him to try.