Owen's POV:

It was early afternoon and I was sitting on my tea room, preparing myself a cup of tea when the older Taylor-san invaded the room.

"Blackbourne-san!" He exclaimed, his face showing his distress.

It was only the years of training and discipline that impeded me from jumping when he suddenly stormed into the room, or immediately demanding an explanation by the look of his face.

Instead I remained impassive and raised my cup to my lip, taking a small sip before indicating for him to close the door behind himself and sit down in front of me.

Once he was sitting I calmly prepared a cup of tea for him, all the while remaining silent.

Now, some people would think I was being cruel to him by making him wait. But the truth was that I needed the time to center myself and prepare for what was obviously going to be bad news, after all, my brothers knew not to disturb me at this time of the day unless something very bad had occurred.

Once his cup was served I indicated for he to start talking.

And what came out of his mouth was worse than I could ever expect, even if a little part of me had already been having such suspicions.

......

Sang's POV:

After Wil-kun left the infirmary the boys practically pounced on me trying to convince me to take his offer.

They didn't want me to go back to my clan, and as much as the thought was tempting I had a duty to my people.

They both acquiesced to my wishes eventually, sad smiles on both their faces, but respect in their eyes.

They knew my intentions were only the best.

Once I finally was let go I ran back to my room to change and get ready for dinner.

I knew I would need to help out Marie-sama, so I put on my uniform over another, softer kimono to avoid hurting my back. Sean-san had put bandages on the open wounds, but the other lashes he left exposed.

Walking down the long corridors I passed once more by the infirmary, wishing to catch another glimpse of the boys before going back to my mistress.

The sound of their voices through the door panel was hushed but with my trained hears I could listen to bits and pieces.

"We have to make Owen stop. Or there is going to be a war between the clans."

"I know, Sean-san, but how are we going to do that? You know how loyal he is to our lord."

"If we don't do anything all of Sang-chan's sacrifices will be for nothing, because once Marie is killed there will surely be a war."

I had heard enough.

The Academy's lord had ordered Marie's death and Blackbourne-san would ensure it happened.

But without Marie not only would there be a war, the clan would be without an heir to ensure its protection.

The only way that was going to happen was over my own dead body.

I rushed silently to Marie's rooms, all the while formulating a plan to stop my most hated enemy's death.

I would need fight against Blackbourne-san on this, which meant I had to be smart and fast.

Reaching her rooms I entered and went on with my usual duties of tidying the place before helping her get dressed, all the while withstanding her verbal abuse.

Once she was ready I followed after her to the dining hall and checked all the food for any sign of poison. Finding nothing I left to wait outside.

I couldn't afford to leave her side tonight. One moment's oversight could result in disaster.

......

Victor's POV:

I was currently sitting on the floor of Gabriel's room.

My friend and brother was sitting in a stool with paint brush in hand painting at a mad speed on his canvas.

The colors he'd chosen varied from deep green, to blood red, golden yellow and a creamy color that resembled Sang's skin to perfection.

The picture he was creating was the image of fierceness, courage and beauty.

He was painting a scene of Sang fighting against those thugs that attacked us on the street.

My friend wasn't usually one to enjoy violence, and neither was I, but the image of Sang fighting along-side us was engraved on my memory for all the time and I never wanted to forget it.

She was as fierce and graceful in her fury as one of those feline predators. I didn't know which to compare her to, a tigress? A jaguar? A cheetah? A lioness?

I didn't know, maybe a lioness made more sense, there was something very regal about the way she carried herself.

Gabriel was now putting the finishing touches on his painting but I could see he was getting frustrated with it.

This was actually his third attempt at painting her. He didn't seem to get satisfied with what he was creating even thought I couldn't see anything wrong with his art.

To me it was perfection, just like her.

She been kind of sad today, and distracted.

It was something that bothered me deeply and every time she lied about being fine and refused to let us help her I felt my despair growing.

Why didn't she let us in?

I wanted to help her so much that it had stopped being a simple want and become a need.

I needed to make her smile, to make her happy, to see those green eyes of hers lighting up again.

I didn't understand how I could be so affected by a girl so fast, but then again, Sang-chan wasn't like any other girl I had ever met.

I sighed.

"Shit! Motherfucking shit!" Gabriel suddenly exclaimed, throwing his brush with such strength against the wall that it broke in two.

I stood up and walked behind him to get a better look of the painting. It was as beautiful as the other two he'd made but I knew telling him that wouldn't help so instead I asked, "What about it do you dislike?"

He ran his fingers through his hair before grabbing at the strands and pulling in a way that had to be painful.

I grabbed his wrist and made him let go. "Talk to me Gabriel." I said softly.

"I can't get the color right, Vic" He whined. "Her eyes have such interchangeable shades of green and gold and black. I can't get it right."

I cocked my head to the side and studied the painting once more, then I turned and looked at the others.

In one she seemed to fighting against the thugs, her eyes were bright green with rays of gold, showing her free and strong spirit, as a true lioness that I had thought of her a few minutes before.

In the next she was walking through the market, her eyes were a deep green color, with only a tiny flicker of gold and black, her expression one of curiosity and happiness, innocence.

On the last one there was blood flying in the canvas, she had her knife out and was cutting and slashing at our assailants with it. In this painting her eyes were a blackish color, almost lifeless, but with a trace of green still.

"There is nothing wrong with your paintings Gabriel, they simply show different sides of Sang." I told him, knowing that I was right.

He gazed at them for a moment more and sighed, giving in to my suggestion.

"Perhaps you are right, but I will still ask her to model for me sometime. Maybe I can capture all those sides of her in one only picture."

I nodded at him, "As you wish, my friend. But remember to invite me along, I too would like to spend some more time with the Princess."

Gabriel snorted, "Who don't wants so spend time with that beautiful trouble-maker?"