OH, MY BETROTHED!

The wooden table in the cafeteria cooled my burning cheek as I pressed a cloth to my wounded neck. I felt dizzy and nauseous.

"I can't believe you let a vamp drink from you!" J-Vil exclaimed, the Worry having taken over her face completely.

"Well, I didn't exactly have a choice," I said groggily.

"Of course, you had a choice! Drinking blood from a human is a highly sexual act for a vampire. According to Article 212 of the Global Constitution, no supernatural is allowed to demand a sexual favour from a human in return for any manner of aid whatsoever," she said as she slapped her hand on the table.

That startled me and I straightened up, "I wasn't aware of that."

"How?" she said, baffled, "That's the first thing that our parents teach us. Humans are at a huge disadvantage in the society, so of course we need to know every possible way to protect ourselves."

I had of course read the Global Constitution. But I wasn't a human so I never paid attention to any of the articles that were written in protection of them.

"That asshole played me," I gritted my teeth as I held the cloth tighter, "No wonder it felt so sexual. Can I sue him in the Adelmerion Court?"

She sighed and glanced at the ceiling in exasperation. Her Worry seemed even more aggravated, "Article 212 Clause B: No human may solicit aid from a supernatural in return for sexual favours. Basically, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot."

She pulled out a healing bandage from her bag and helped me dress my wound. She then removed her red woollen scarf and tied it around my neck.

"So, I will be held accountable too?" I asked.

"Yup, if you decide to sue, that is. If you don't, everyone will believe you wanted to do it. And you know how much that is frowned upon."

Rubbing my forehead, I huffed. What the hell had I gotten myself into? I hated to admit it but I should have listened to Ryne.

The venom had lost its effect and my entire body throbbed. Whenever a new mark was branded on my skin, all the marks from before even if they had healed hurt just the same as if they were all connected. It was creepy and painful.

J-Vil sighed and placed a tray loaded with potatoes, rice and gravy in front of me. I pushed it away, feeling nauseous.

"At least drink this," she said, handing me a glass of lime juice.

I sipped slowly and tried to clear my mind. At least Julien kept his promise and gave me the mark. Or else it would have all been for nothing. The juice hit the spot and I relaxed in my chair. Just when I was feeling slightly better, a group of people entered with much flair. Ryne and Yuvien were a part of the group.

"They know each other?" I asked.

"Duh! They are half-brothers as well as best friends," J-Vil replied.

I was taken aback. Eyes wide, I asked, "They are brothers? But, he-"

"Yuvien is popular among his friends but a brat to the lower echelons. And since he's Ryne de's younger brother, he gets away with most of the things he does. De has never had to take action against him before though. That's probably one of the reasons your punishment was so severe. He is extremely protective of his family."

Except the final year students, everyone else called Ryne, 'de'. It was a word which meant multiple things, 'senior in age or skill', 'respected person' as well as 'brother'. I hadn't thought much of it when Yuvien had called him that, as I believed he was just addressing him respectfully.

Their relationship only served to cement my hatred for Ryne. Yuvien was evil. How much better could his brother be? Besides, it seemed to be common knowledge that my punishment was more severe than necessary. And the reason for it was because Ryne was biased towards his family. I could already predict what kind of eglor he would be one day.

The group of people took up a large table at the centre of the room. It seemed to have been reserved for them. Noticing my interest towards them, J-Vil kicked my foot under the table.

"Be like cockroach! Be like cockroach!"

"What?" I asked, frowning as I massaged my foot.

"Do you know how many pandemics, famines and supernatural wars we've had in our history?" she asked, hints of the Smiley on her face.

"I-"

"Too many to remember," she interrupted me. "But do you know the one species that has survived through it all with no casualties? Cockroaches. And they will survive in the future too."

She reached across the table and patted my head with every word, "Because. They. Lay. Low."

"I just want to know who they are," I said, nodding at Ryne's table as I brushed her hand off.

Tucking her honey blond hair behind her ear, she glanced at them, then back at me and whispered, "They have six people in their group."

"I see, but why are you whispering?"

Clearing her throat, she began speaking normally again, "Anyway, all of them have prominent backgrounds and they've all known each other for a long time. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen anyone else with them. See that unnaturally tall guy?"

I looked at the person she meant. He was very tall, much more than Ryne in fact, which was quite surprising as the latter was not short by any means. His features were somewhat like those of the sirens, very angular. He had white hair, amethyst eyes, high cheekbones and extraordinarily long limbs. He must have gotten his uniform custom made to fit him.

"That's Gyrod. He's a final year student and an oddity, never interested in anything or anyone. But that's quite normal for a fae, I suppose," she said. "The girl beside him, that's Hystia," she pointed at the rose-blonde.

I remembered her. She was the girl who tried to stop Yuvien from hurting the odih.

"She's probably the nicest person in their group. She's a witch, quite powerful too. She has been crushing on Yuvien since forever. The whole school knows that. But she's the youngest one among them, and very meek. So she gets treated like a sister by all of them, Yuvien included," she said.

I nodded. I had never felt that way for anyone before. So, I couldn't empathise with her.

"And you know de and Yuvien," she said.

"There are only four of them. What about the other two?" I asked, curious.

"Tha-"

She was cut off by a short, curvy brunette with hazel eyes, "There she is, great Ms. Meredith!"

Her voice was loud enough to get the attention of the entire cafeteria. I glanced around and noticed everyone staring at us. Everyone except Ryne, who focused on the food on his tray and pretended not to notice. I looked up at the strange girl, wondering if she was a friend or a foe. Her fleshy red lips were pulled on one side, her eyes were sharp and cold. "Definitely not a friend," I sighed.

"I heard you caused quite a stir yesterday. You must be really stupid for breaking into de's dorm," she sneered.

"Um... who are you?" I asked.

J-Vil began to cough violently and in between the coughs, "De... ex-girlfriend," she uttered.

So, she was that swine's ex-girlfriend?

"Actually, it doesn't matter. I don't know you enough to be up close and personal with you. So if you don't mind, I'd like to have my lunch in peace now," I said and continued sipping my juice.

The girl looked momentarily taken aback. Then she scoffed and ignoring what I said, she continued, "And as if that weren't enough, you went on to share blood with Julien. You must be really desperate, huh?"

My face grew warm and my heart rate increased. I took slow, calming breaths and tried to hide how uncomfortable I felt.

A royal was married off by sixteen in my lineage due to our early mortality. It was to ensure the continuation of our bloodline. However, I had vehemently opposed it. I had begged the elders to give me more time. I was twelve when I first set out on the quest with my teacher. I travelled the four corners of the world in search of the great god but, it was only a month ago that I had any progress at all. A month ago, was when I heard his voice for the first time. Hence, I never had a very normal teenage life. I didn't even have a boyfriend. But somehow, I had now transitioned from having a non-existent sex life to being a hussy with a wild... something with a vampire. This was unbelievable.

"You seem to be very offended," I said maintaining a neutral tone, "Are you upset I broke into your de's dorm or that I shared my blood with Julien?"

"I... of course both!" she cried out, "You are ruining the reputation of Adelmiro Circle."

I took a deep breath. She was annoying me now. "If you have feelings for one of the men involved, or even both for that matter, I suggest you let them know instead of coming to me."

J-Vil choked on the water she had begun sipping.

"As for the reputation of this institute, you can blame me when the wolves stop celebrating their Moon festival, the sirens their Copuliai and the warlocks the Season of Neralia," I said referring to the various venereal festivals that were celebrated on campus.

"How dare you!" she said and her claws jutted out. Was she going to go wolf on me? My body tensed in preparation for what was about to come. I clenched my fists tightly and leaned on the balls of my feet. If she were to do something to me, no one would blame her. Afterall, werewolves were higher echelons. I had to protect myself.

"Keelin, stop," I heard a familiar voice.

Gasping, I turned around to the handsome brown-haired boy I had grown up with. Except for the one time I ran into him three years ago, I hadn't seen him ever since I set out on my quest, keeping in touch only via letters. He had changed much in the past few years. His light brown hair was longer and fell on his forehead. His left ear was pierced. His muscles had become more defined and he was finally taller than me.

"Arlan!" I cried out as I rushed towards him. His face lit up in a smile as he embraced me.

"Meredith, how are you?" He then held me at arms-length and looked me up and down, "I'm glad you didn't grow taller than me." He embraced me again and buried his face in my neck, "I've missed you, Ditty."

"Arlan, do you know her?" Keelin asked interrupting our moment.

"Of course I do. This is my fiancé, Meredith," he announced.

The smile on my face faltered for a second before I recomposed myself. I realized that he wasn't just my best friend. He was a reminder that if I didn't complete my quest in a year, I would have to get married to him, give birth to a child and then die as a nobody.

The cafeteria was in a frenzy. Everyone began speaking at once. I honestly didn't get it. I didn't even mean anything to these people. Why did they have to be so interested in me? Or... was it me they were interested in at all?

Ryne pushed his chair and the sound of it scraping against the floor had everyone shutting up. Yuvien and the rest of the popular kids, followed behind him and walked towards us. Ryne stared at me and as he came closer, his full attention remained on me. I stared back at him, not one to back down. My throat became dry, my heart drummed against my chest and my palms turned sweaty. What was wrong with me?

When he was just a few steps away from us, he stopped and finally turned to Arlan. "You're back? How did the diplomatic meet go?" he asked.

He knew where Arlan had been? It wasn't much of a secret, still...

"Yes, de. The chief of the human tribe agreed to become a part of the Circle. They all acknowledged my father as their king and are now under our protection."

Arlan, or better yet, Prince Arlan was the heir to all of humankind that was within the Circle. He also enjoyed some special powers due to his unique lineage. Years ago, when warlocks began hunting the weakened dragons, they took refuge in a small village inside an enclosed valley. Angered by the humans for helping them, the warlocks sent out a deadly plague that killed nearly everyone. The lone surviving human boy of that village prayed to goddess Earth. Moved, she placed a blessing on him and his descendants that none of them shall ever be harmed by a supernatural. Furthermore, she gave him a bell, that if rung eight times by someone from his bloodline, she would wake up in all fury and cause the destruction of everything in her path. Arlan was a descendant of that boy.

"You did well," Ryne patted his shoulder.

Yuvien broke into a smile as he swung his arm across Arlan's neck, "I've missed you, jerk. Come eat with us."

"They seem close," I noted grudgingly.

Gyrod, the apparently detached fae inserted himself between Arlan and Yuvien, effectively removing the latter's arm. He then coughed and said, "Glad you're back."

Then they all proceeded to move towards their table as Yuvien and Arlan played around merrily.

"You are Prince Arlan's fiancé?" J-Vil who had been standing ever since Arlan came, asked me, dazed.

I nodded and let out a laugh, "I didn't know you had an expression that wasn't the Smiley or the Worry."

"The what? No, that isn't important. I didn't kn- Your Highness!" she stuttered as she quickly bowed down.

"Please, J-Vil. Don't weird me out," I said as I sat back down. She nodded, muttered something and sat down awkwardly in front of me.

"They are the other two," she said, not looking me in the eye.

"Hmm?"

"The other two members of their group, Keelin and Prince Arlan, I mean."

I looked up at her, surprised. Arlan was that close to all of them? But they were all so cocky and annoying.

Just then Arlan called out loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear, "Ditty! Come sit with me. We've been apart for long enough, love."

I glanced at Ryne. His lips were pulled into a straight line and his fists were clenched on the table. When he finally looked up at me, his expression was full so of anger and unconcealed disgust. Without breaking eye contact, he said aloud, "I'd rather she stays where she is."

I felt a spine-tingling chill and tried my best to not shudder. "That bastard!"

Arlan looked surprised, "What do you mea-"

"That's fine Arlan," I said, reigning in my emotions even as my eyes prickled. I couldn't let him get to me. Standing up, I bowed deeply at Ryne and said, "I didn't plan on sitting with you anyway, my Lord. I've had enough of you to last a lifetime."

I watched as his face grew red. I gave him a huge smile, waved at Arlan, turned on my heels and walked away. Boy was I going to be in trouble! But it would be so damn worth it.