I knew I thought I wouldn't try at all but I ended up doing. There were things that I was just good at. I was strong, fast, I was smart and intuitive. I had much better coordination. But you're dead....

I knew I couldn't do anything to a certain extent. If I got noticed by the public they'd be onto me. My parents moved a piano in on Thursday as I requested. Maybe I'd get to learn it, like I wanted to when I was human. I could afford not to care, because death was always knocking until I woke up in the morgue. I couldn't do nothing for all eternity now. Maybe this was a start. It was a small black grand piano. There was a bench for it, so using that wasn't a big deal.

My dad knocked on the door.
" Come in dad." The door opened and I turned in my fixed position.
" I asked around the community for any pianists. Would you like her to help you learn?"

Nodding he invited someone in. I could tell she was older than me by many years. Her curly black hair swayed as she walked and her eyes were a deep rich brown. Her ebony skin glowed and everything about her screamed powerful yet so delicate and feminine. She wore a simple shirt and a pair of overalls, that flowed into a lovely long skirt. And a pair of boots of course. She looked down at me with a smile, a slight one. " She's played the piano for a little over 200 years, so you should be in good hands." My mouth dropped open in shock.  Wow. She looked lovely and incomparably gorgeous... My father left and she sat next to me on the bench. " My name is Aisha, and I'll be teaching and helping you learn piano." I nodded, thanking her. She pushed her curls out of her face and faced me " What do you know?" I pressed the key to the left of a double-black set. I knew that was C. That was it. She laughed and nodded. I smiled nervously and just stopped. " Can you form the C chord?" Shaking my head, she nodded and pushed my forefinger off of the note.
" Thumb on C if you're playing it on your right hand. It's less awkward and as you learn, it'll be much easier to reach different notes and chords. I'm surprised. And a little confused." I nodded, but looked back at her. We shared a look, on my end trying to make sense of where she was getting at.

" You're dad is royalty. You're a princess, have you spoken to the king? Otherwise you'd all be dead."

I wasn't sure I could trust her. She was brought in by my dad though, which meant telling her wasn't as risky " The king is my lover, Aisha. He's been my lover since before he got back and became king." She was shocked but continued " What of Duchess though? Does she... Know?"

" Yes. She does know... Duchess doesn't care, because she loves someone else too. Their marriage was put together by their fathers." She nodded, shocked, but not very surprised.

" Well," she sighed " let's get you memorizing keys and playing chords since you seem to get that. Let's set up a sort of schedule and frame of time, okay?"
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Everyone was on edge and the guards were unsure of what to do next. My counselor's lifeless body lie below me and his blood was all over my clothes and the polished stake used.

Handing the stake to a servant, I turned and looked at all of the guards, who were slightly frenzied. I sat down and calmly addressed them." Calm down... Please, let this be just a suggestion that you shouldn't double-cross your king. Is that understood?" I whispered, my voice so low that the men across the room were unlikely to hear me if they were human.

" Yes, your majesty." They said in unison. I thanked my servants as they handed me wipes for the blood. I stared at my father sharply before leaving. That wasn't at all a threat, but a promise that he would end up much worse.

" As of today no vampire is allowed near the west forest. Make everyone aware of this and do it speedily. A war isn't necessary and can be prevented if everyone adheres to the terms that my father set up without announcement or consulting anyone." Every member of council looked to my father. He looked back, unashamed. The council members looked back at my counselors dead body and stepped back. They wouldn't interfere.

Duchess sat, undisturbed by it all. Her father was practically glaring at her, looking disgusted. Antón stepped forward. " Your majesty, if I may, information has been shared with me that you aren't in love with our queen, Duchess. I've also been told that you've spared the lives of the remaining members of the old royal family, which is dangerous."

Duchess stood up. Her dress was signature, a royal purple embroidered in silver and gold with light and dainty jewelry. Her hair was no longer tied back all the time and she could do her hair however she wanted. Her natural wavy hair was medium length as she stood.

At first all that I felt was anger, but I knew Duchess and trusted her to speak when I couldn't. She reached out for my hand, which was bloody. I stood and she held my hand nonetheless. " No, Antón. We do not love each other. We're best friends. If my friend needs my help in anyway, I am here. We came to the decision after meeting, talking and getting to better know them that they were no threat to our positions. That is all."

Her grip on my hand was tight and her fear to me was evident. But to everyone I knew she looked collected. How she managed to do so amazed me. Her father stood " That is a lie! You-"

" Father be quiet. You didn't give me a choice then so I won't give you a chance now. " Her father looked taken back, unable to comprehend her words. She looked back at Antón " The daughter of Blake Grimme has become a close friend of mine, something any of you in this room know is very, very difficult. Blake and Melody, his wife aren't resentful. They would like to stop being restlessly pursued by our parents commands. Trust that we know what we're doing. We've trained our whole lives without falter to exercise that training. Trust Tristan. Trust us." The councilman looked moved, nodding and stepping back into position.

Nobody said anything. She was convincing and she was persuasive without needing to lie. The other council members nodded, approvingly. But our parents were furious. " Everyone is dismissed for now, and please bring someone to both bury him and clean up the blood. " Duchess grabbed my hand again as we exited, shaking.

Nothing showed on her face but her hands gently quivered. I was surprised she stood up to her father, as she had that authority but never used it.

I still had that distant memory, of Duchess when we were children. The only time Duchess could do anything was with me. Other than that, she was with her personal teachers and instructors.

We went wandering about in the east, not very worried about where we were going. " Tristan, you know my dad is going to be mad at me for missing work to play with you." I was insensitive, and unaware. " So what? You can just spend time with me and my mom." She picked up some sticks and ordered them into a neat row. Some of them were bent and ugly yet she managed to make them look graceful. " My dad's still going to be mad. He hit me once because we got dirty running away from those wolves. "

Shrugging and looking into these other pile of sticks " Why would you let your dad hit you?" I wasn't aware enough to understand. I was much luckier to not have that environment. She had grown up much sooner than I had, years ahead of me. Pressure for perfection and anything less wasn't an option. I locked the door behind us, because Duchess was much paler, and Duchess was an unusual pale color already.