Xander's POV:

The smell of old leather and wood welcomed me into the library.

I'd just finished reading and revamping an old treaty of ours. One between the wild vampire pack that Mom and Dad lets reside in the northernmost part of the territory.

A rewrite happens every 100 years and needs to get approval from both sides.

And since there had been some incidents I've read through recently, I made sure to check and add in some fine print to make sure that those get avoided going further.

I just happened to finish quicker than I was expecting and just wanted to check something real quick before hunting down Doe for lunch.

A topic that's been nagging me from the back of my brain ever since I remembered it a few days ago.

I remembered reading something about a human scientist turned vampire in one of these books, and just wanted to see if I could find anything further on the subject.

I glanced down the shelves, moving towards the non-fiction section.

It was a minor mention of it. So much so that I nearly forgot about it completely and had to wrack my brain for any semblance of a name to start with.

Rigs... something Rigs.

Winston..? No. Wyatt..? Bigger no.

My eyes narrowed in thought, a familiar scent throwing all focus out the window.

Nico...?

Oh, my annoying younger brother senses were tingling.

I quieted my steps and made a quick detour.

I rarely if ever saw Nico in here. I didn't even think he remembered that this place existed.

His back was to me when he finally came into view, hunched over a book that sat on a large table.

He looked to be in deep concentration.

And, well, it was basically my job to ruin that for him.

My birthright if I may.

Those mischievous tendencies towards him I thought I'd lost over in Brownyn's territory re-appeared as I stalked my way closer.

He must really be focusing for him not to have noticed me yet.

Nico was nearly impossible to sneak upon.

I did freeze mid-step the second I saw him move.

He shut the book in front of him, dropping his head into his hands and then running them through his hair.

His shoulders dropped with a long sigh.

Huh... This was new.

I didn't know exactly what kind of work Dad's been giving him, but the transition might be stressful.

Well, then I'll drag him off to have lunch with me and the girls and he can get back to it after.

I closed in on him, seeing him perk up at the notice of my arrival just a second before I touched him.

I walked my fingers from the top of his shoulders, slowly sliding them down his chest.

Something quite a few of the women that tried to get with him would do seconds after meeting him,
before we left and something I knew he absolutely hated.

"Hello my love," I copied the tone exactly as well", immediately having him jerk away.

"Jesus Christ, Xander," He exclaimed, whipping to face me, "have you ever heard of personal space?"

A laugh overtook me, taking the few steps it took over to the chair at his side.

Yeah... that felt nice. Just like the good old days.

Actually... In the good old days, I rarely made it that close without getting caught.

Nice to know I've improved, I suppose.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You just looked so focused on-" My words caught, eyes widening as soon as I read the title of the book that had him so frustrated.

Was this it? This had to be what I was looking for, right?!

"William Rigs? Wasn't he that super glorified scientist a couple centuries back?" I asked.

I needed confirmation before I got any more excited or relieved.

He gave me a curious look.

It honestly looked borderline skeptical.

"Yeah. How did you know?"

Holy shit.

I came in here with minimal expectations of actually finding it, and here Nico was with exactly what I was looking for.

Rolling the chair back a couple of inches, I raised my feet onto the table.

"This library was basically where I lived before we left. While dad put you through 'Lord training' or whatever you wanna call it, I had nothing to do so I just read," It was a nice escape, and an amazing time killer until the family settled down in the evenings, "I've read basically every book here and know he's mentioned a lot in basically every history or science book, but I've never read his autobiography."

He was mentioned in nearly every engineering or biology book, but only in one do I remember reading that he was previously a human.

And now his autobiography was practically handing itself to me.

Though, one thing did stick out a little more than the rest right now.

What was Nico doing with it? There's no way he's looking for the same stuff I am, right?

"So why are you reading it? Did dad make you or something?"

I don't know what dad could want from his autobiography specifically, but...

Nico just shook his head, rolling out his shoulders as he sat straight.

"No, I was just bored. And also avoiding the things Father told me to do."

Yeah, that sounded about right.

Still...

"Man, I would switch places with you so fast, I wish dad had me do more princely things for the city instead of just keeping me to the side."

I know why Mom and Dad did it. They know the stress that comes with the job, and I can only assume they want to burden as few people as possible with it.

But it would certainly give me more to do.

Doe had so many things to do now that sometimes she ends up being busier than I do, and I end up just sitting in my room waiting for her to return.

We now had our one day a week thing, but... I messed seeing her as often.

Plus... I did enjoy feeling like I was making a positive impact on things here.

"So you want to be the Lord?" Nico perplexed.

My answer was immediate.

"Oh hell no," My words were visceral, "No thanks, that's not for me, and destiny already decided that that was all on you, dude. I just mean that dad gives you all of the prince work and just leaves me alone to do whatever. Like I get that I'm not the true heir unless you quite literally die, but I can still do things for the city y'know?"

Work without the responsibility I guess. I just wanted to help where I could to take a little weight off of everyone else's shoulders.

I had the Vanderwood name too, and I wanted to live up to it.

Nico just stared at me, as if my words surprised him.

I sighed, sagging down into my chair, "I don't know. I guess I shouldn't be getting this worked up about it, but I just kind of feel like I was a mistake or  not needed or something."

I winced at the words as soon as they came out.

I think I might have said that... wrong.

Not a mistake in the literal 'unplanned' sense, it was just a little more complicated than that.

As far back as our lineage is recorded, the royal coupled only ever had one child. Only the heir. It was more-or-less common worldwide to only have their hier.

The theory was that it would help avoid any unnecessary iter-familial drama. Jealousy from the second born towards the first. It helped keep the lineage scandal-free and therefore lead to a more prosperous reign.

But mom didn't care. She wanted two; leading me to be the first second child to exist in the family line as far as we're aware.

I guess it was somewhat of a miracle from my ancestor's standpoint that I never grew a drop of jealousy over Nico for what he had and I didn't in the family line and that the very thought of becoming the Lord made me shudder in disgust.

"Vampires can't have mistakes, Xan," He spoke pointedly, most likely knowing what I was getting at, "And didn't he have you do something recently?"

I lifted my head to see him again, replying monotonously.

"Yeah. One thing. He made me read and revise the annual treaty with the pack of vampires at the northern border and then send it out. That's literally the only thing."

Nico's gaze hardened, immediately making me remember just how much he despises that pack's existence.

It made sense now why they wanted me to do it instead of him.

"The pack at the northern border?" He spoke slowly, "They're still an issue?"

"I guess," I began, repeating what I had read from a record mom had given me, "They invaded the city a couple months ago and went on a killing spree and killed like 50 of our humans."

They must have just found that little loophole recently since I rarely remember them being a problem.

I could understand and respect their way of living. I was all for living your life how you wanted to, but drew the line at making it a fatal issue for the others around you.

His fingers tapped against the wood.

Yeah, he really wasn't a fan of them.

"Isn't the whole point of the treaty to make sure that doesn't happen?"

"Well, yeah. That's why I had to revise it. Apparently, they found a loophole, but I patched it up." I beamed.

"Thank god," he breathed.

He collected his thoughts for a moment before speaking again.

"Well, if it means that much to you, I can see if he'll let you do some of my work, or if he doesn't, just give it to you anyway. It would surely make my life a hell of a lot easier."

I sat up.

"Really! I'd love that!"

"And I think you're weird for wanting this so badly, but whatever." he shrugged.

"I mean it beats just sitting in here all day. You're always busy, Doe is always doing something and it's not like I really have friends," I defended.

He accepted my answer rather quickly, "I guess. Speaking of which where is Doe?"

"Probably with Khloe and Marcus. Those three are together pretty much all the time whenever Marcus isn't busy."

And if he is then it's just her and Khloe.

Those two had become close very fast.

Well... Those three had...

That churning in my stomach started again at the thought.

"They're probably with Lily right about now. I was about to go there myself to get something to eat, if you want to come," I offered.

I hadn't seen her since this morning and promised her lunch.

And I don't see why it couldn't be a lunch that included all of us.

I kept my eye on the book as Nico pushed it back with a nod.

I'll come back for it afterward. There's no doubt in my mind that it had the information I wanted.

"Alright, let's go."