Deva did the best she could to avoid Darius. She knew anywhere he was Red would be too, and she just couldn't take looking at them like a couple. It should have been her in Red's place. The blistering heartache made Deva build back all of her defensive walls Darius had torn down. She just wanted to feel numb again. It was easier in the beginning when she didn't care, when she wouldn't let anyone get close to her.

Deva entered the kitchen and immediately regretted not checking before walking in. Red was seated in a high chair with Darius beside her. His half smile was transparent. Deva could see how forced it was. Yet she had to give it up to him. He was trying.

Red was leaning over ushering a spoon full of some kind of food towards Darius' mouth. Deva wanted to barf.

"Wow Darius I didn't know your hands weren't working."

Red scrunched up her face at the sound of Deva's voice. Was it wrong of Deva to feel some sort of satisfaction? Her presence was just as intolerable. Their feelings for each other were mutual.

"What are you going on about?"

Darius pressed his back against the chair and exhaled. He feared the tension between the two of them would never go away.

"Are you practicing on Darius until the baby actually comes?" Deva opened the fridge and grabbed the bottle of grape juice.

"Yes and every night too."

Red's blunt attempt at hurting Deva worked. She froze as the image of them lying in bed together haunted her thoughts. It stung more than she'd ever let on.

"Shouldn't you have your head over a toilet puking out your guts right now?" Deva asked referring to her morning sickness.

"I feel fine actually. Thanks for your concern." She turned to Darius giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Darius has been taking good care of me."

Deva couldn't be upset. She had no right to be. Darius was trying to be helpful to the woman carrying his child. She would be stupidly selfish if she thought anything wrong with that.

Darius rose from his seat. "Deva we're needed in the throne room. There are a few ongoing trials that need to be taken care of."

"Right," Deva had completely forgotten about the trials.

In order for the remaining girls to get a feel of the kingdom and develop an understanding of the people, the King decided they should spend the afternoon in the throne room.

It amused her that the King hadn't announced her as the next queen yet. He was dragging Julia and Evie into everything hoping to lessen the pressure on Deva. It was working. It let Deva settle into a calmer groove.

In the hall, she felt the warmth from Darius' body walking too closely beside her and it sparked old memories.

"How are you feeling?" Darius wanted nothing more than to hear her voice.

"Sober." Her flat voice held no emotion.

The King and Queen sat tall and dominant in the massive gold throne chairs. The throne room was half the size of the ballroom with marble pillars surrounding the edges. Vampires were already gathered around the sides of the room awaiting their turn or just there to witness. Three elegant chairs were set in the front for Deva, Julia, and Evie to sit on while the trials were being handled.

They watched as vampires came to plead their requests. Since the King and Queen were soon leaving the throne, the princes were left making the decisions. The three princes stood broad with fierce expression of intimidation as they listened to each desperate vampire and human. The brothers took turns giving their answer and when a simple request came through they would ask the girls their opinion.

By evening it was time for the committed crimes. It was vampire after vampire pleading for their lives after stealing, cheating, or killing. The princes were strict and firm with their answers showing a merciless side that the girls had never seen before. 

The last trial involved a Duke.

He wore a fitted expensive suit with a snobbish domineer to match his privileged lifestyle.

"Luther Ingrid, Duke of Barclay, is charging Henry and Jonathan McKinney for attempted murder on his life." A councilman announced.

The brothers stepped forward, kneeling down on the last few steps respectfully.

Darius examined them with judgment in his gaze. "How do you plea?"

"Guilty your highness," the brother with blond hair replied. His head was cast downward.

Darius ran a finger across his brow.

From what Deva had witnessed in the countless hours listening to trials was that Darius was in fact the more ruthless brother. Their break up might have added to the tension of his brutal deliberations.

"Punishment for attempted murder is death," Darius recited.

"Nnnoooooo!" A woman cried, pushing through the crowd. "Please no, your highness."

Darius waved her forward so the crowd would let her pass. "And who are you?"

"Linda McKinney. Please your highness, they are my brothers. They were only trying to settle my debt."

The resemblance couldn't be overlooked.

"Is this true?"

The two men, who had their lives dangling in the hands of their prince, finally sought justice with their chaste eyes. "Yes and when we finally did pay off her debt your faithful Duke raised the price."

"The price has always been the same. I have the documentation." The Duke pulled out some papers from his left pocket.

"They are false. He is a liar." One of the brothers claimed.

Something in Deva's gut was telling her they were innocent. "Why would a Duke need more money? You seem well off. How was she paying off her debt?"

Deva's questions hung in the air for a moment before the Duke answered.

"She serves me."

"Slavery?" Deva ground her teeth to absorb her anger.

"It's legal. It's not slavery if she's getting paid for it." Luther Ingrid, Duke of Barclay, and asshole of the day said it in a way that made Deva cringe.

She rose and dissected Linda McKinney's expression. It was a sick compromise.

"Now I see why they wanted to kill you." Deva tilted her head to the side and her lips curled vindictively. "What's their word against yours?"

He was taking his nobility too far and Deva was ready to stop him.

"Do you and Linda have a physical relationship?" Deva sought the answer from the sister. "Do you have sex?"

Linda's lips remained sealed but she nodded.

"Consensual?"

"Of course." The Duke answered spitefully while Linda averted her gaze.

"You care for her?"

"Yes."

"Do you beat her?"

Luther's eyes grew dangerously dark. Her accusation was pushing the envelope. She was betting he'd lie.

"You look like a possessive son of a bitch. You don't love her. You own her." Deva had maneuvered herself directly in front of him, not the slightest bit of fear. "I can see how your privileged ass my get that confused."

His murderous glare hardly subdued her efforts. Deva studied his pose and malevolent features. He was trying to mask them with an unreadable stone.

"Linda is mine. This is how our world works."

He might be right. Deva wasn't used to slavery being a normal thing. She could see it in his eyes. He would never let her go even if she did pay off her debt. She was an object he could control.

"But the problem is she isn't yours anymore, is she? Her brothers did pay her debt." Deva was positive of this fact.

"No," he denied the allegation.

He was lying; she felt it like a sixth sense. A force possessed her to touch his arm. The overbearing tension rippled through him. He was a guilty man.

"Admit it; you raised the price so you wouldn't have to give her up."

He furiously narrowed his eyes and wired shut his mouth. Darius moved protectively behind Deva experiencing the tension himself.

"Come on, Duke of Barclay. The truth will make you feel better."

Holding in the pressure, his vital confession was making him physically ill. His strong exterior was being penetrated and he could only guess it was her witchcraft.

She leaned closer to lock onto his agonizing dark eyes. He tried to look away, but something wouldn't let him. There was a force pulling him to look into her terrorizing gaze. He trembled while something tugged on his conscience.

"I think I have this gift; people feel compelled to tell me the truth when I ask." His face was stern, but she could see his flaws. "Admit to her freedom before your tongue burns from the next lie that escapes your disgusting mouth."

Luther cursed. "N-" Like she promised his tongue was on fire as he tried to spin the truth.

His eyes were fixed upon her wanting to rip her to shreds. Darius scooted between them.

"They paid her debt. Linda is free." He grunted through his teeth.

Deva smiled triumphantly.

"You lied and almost sent innocent men to the slaughter. Get him out of here." Darius addressed the guards.

Luther was dragged away and the two brothers took his spot, bowing before Deva. They graciously looked up at her.

"We are eternally grateful." Their cool green eyes surveyed her courage. "May we have your name?"

"Deva." She smiled. 

______________________________________

Deva ran through the woods, faster and harder she pushed her legs to go further. Crushing fallen leaves and breaking stubble branches in her path. It was getting harder to breathe with each step, with each intake of air. It was dark and dreary making it difficult to see what was in front of her, but she couldn't stop. She felt something following her, forcing her deeper into the wild woods. Then she heard a noise, movement and she stopped.

Listening for more commotion and panting for more air, Deva searched and waited. It was trapping her, stalking her every move. Her heart accelerated as her eyes scanned the morbid surroundings. Something to the left by the tree caught her eyes. It was a bright color and stood out from all the darkness. Slowly she approached the object one step at a time.

The fear was consuming her senses. The bright object came into focus and Deva couldn't help but pick it up. She stared at the white delicate rose in her hand and was mesmerized by its' beauty.

The jolt of arms grabbing her from behind made Deva scream in terror. Lucian was hovering above her protectively.

"What the hell Loosh?" She pushed his hands away and sat up on the bed. She wasn't sure if it was because of Lucian or the dream, but her blood was pumping from the small rush she had of running.

"I'm sorry Deva it was just that you were tossing in your sleep. I thought you were having a nightmare." He frowned.

"It's okay Loosh. It sorta was a nightmare." She wiped away the sweat from her forehead with her palm. It felt so incredibly real.

"Was I that loud that you had to wake me?"

"What?" He asked confused. "No, I was on my way to get you any way."

"Why, what's up?"

Deva climbed out of the bed and stretched her limbs. Every bone in her body cracked.

"It's time to announce the next queen."

There was a sharp deep pinch in the pit of her stomach. It was a ghastly pain of dread dragging her to the bottom of the ocean. She was stupid blind to ignore what she already knew to be inevitable.

"Can I be drunk for this?"

He averted his gaze as she scrabbled to put on clothes.

"I wouldn't advise it. We can celebrate after if you want."

"I love your compromise."

The Queen sat in the modern upholstered armchair while the King stood behind her, leisurely resting his hands on the corners. Julia and Evie occupied the vintage loveseat anxiously awaiting Deva's arrival. Izzy, Marcus, and Darius stood as well giving Deva no rest for her nerves.

Out of habit her eyes roamed over Darius' face. He gave her a look of remorse as if foreshadowing her future. It took everything in her not to bolt for the door and run as fast as she could.

Lucian led her to the couch were Julia and Evie were seating. She sat and Lucian reluctantly backed away to where his siblings stood.

"You three have showed the greatest potential. Each one of you are unique and talented in your own way. But only one of you has what it takes to be queen of our world and now your world. It takes a certain courage and strength, self-sacrifice and willingness to be what you were born to be, Queen." The King scanned the girls' faces with admiration.

"One of you has shown all those qualities and more and with each new task has proven herself worthy over and over again, in trial and in life." The Queen looked at the girls with pride like a mother would show.

The King inched closer to the girls. "The future queen is..."

Deva held her breath; she wasn't ready to be queen.

"Deva," he proclaimed with satisfaction.

It was an honor she didn't want. It was an honor that would only burden her with misery and hold her prisoner to their kingdom.

"We rest our peoples' future in your hands."

This was what every little girl's dreams were made of; to find a prince or princes, fall in love (without giving much thought to heartache), but eventually becoming queen. To be a queen one must rule. That meant having power. Why couldn't she have the power to say no?

Deva would forever be stuck, connected to their world and the meant Darius as well. She could never be free of Darius.

Deva stood, shoulders back, and confidence exceeding from her pores as she accepted her fate.

"I'm honored."

"The transition won't be so terrible," Queen Emma pulled Deva into a soft embrace. "I promise to help you through everything you need to know."

"I'll help you too Deva." Izzy congratulated her.

The rest of the meeting consisted of planning for the coming out ball. Every royal on their planet was invited as well as the media to declare to the kingdom that a queen was chosen.

Planners were called in for preparations and everyone made a commotion over the entire affair.

Deva excused herself shortly after complaining she wasn't feeling well. The King and Queen graciously let her leave. She avoided the heavy stares from everyone in the room. Lucian quickly followed after her, and she didn't protest.

"Where are you going?" He curiously asked when they were heading the opposite direction of her room.

She didn't bother to reply when they reached the kitchen. Chef wasn't present so Deva stalked over to the cabinet she knew he kept his liquor. It was meant to help decrease her headache.

Lucian didn't stop her. He just waited and watched as she drank the whole bottle down. She set the bottle down and turned to him. He wasn't mad or angry with her choice of venting; he never complained or told her what to do, but by the look on his face she knew he was disappointed.

"You don't want to be queen?"

"I want everything I can't have Loosh."

Her head was spinning. He lifting her into his arms before she could even blink again.

"Deva?"

"I don't feel so good Loosh."

"Sleep baby. I'll take you to your room." Deva closed her eyes and let the peace of sleep take her.