{Keenan}

He didn't so much as lift his head when Freyja entered. The downside of the fae form was also a blessing. This time he actually wanted to feel something. Everything hurt. He had sacrificed so much for this relationship and he had desperately wanted it to work. In the space of a week, everything he had known for the last decade had come crashing down around him. This was the first time he'd actually cried about it, first time he'd cried in a long time, all things considered, he was handling it reasonably well. Just the act of crying felt foreign, Freyja's hand on his back helped ground him, breaking him out of his negative downward spiral.

After a few moments, he lifted his head and caught the scent of the blood. That was enough to force him to shift. This time he almost blacked out. Feeling dizzy, he groaned softly, not only did he feel like his soul had been ripped out, but his muscles torn apart as well. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a black handkerchief, a habit of vampires and one he was grateful now as he wiped his eyes. He was just glad he wasn't wearing any makeup.

Letting out a soft sigh he faced her, "It's done at least," he said in a broken voice. Shuddering he reached for the pitcher of blood. He was beyond grateful as the strength gradually returned to his aching body, after two glasses he was able to just sip at the third. The violent hunger soothed enought for a civil conversation. Freyja knew exactly what he needed. After a few more moments he was ready to talk about it.

He let out a shaky sigh, he knew what was going to happen but it still hurt. He loved Aleks or at least had loved him. He would of course move on, he was a prince, qt least this would please his father. That boy will break your heart, it was worse because he was actually right.

"Monty wants time to process today but he didn't quit. I was worried that he may leave especially after what happened to his sister. Aleks and I are done. He will remain in my inner circle as I cannot afford to lose a member before we leave and we will re-evaluate when we return to court. We will just have to wait and see if he manages to keep his mouth shut," he said sadly. His hands had stopped shaking so at least that was something. He was glad that he decided to tie his hair back in a low ponytail, if he hadn't, he'd probably be even more of a mess. He felt vulnerable enough crying in front of Freyja but unlike a vampire, she didn't use his moments of weakness against him.

He forced himself to sit up, the careful mask of the perfect prince, settled across his features. Despite what he might be feeling emotionally, he had things to do and a ball to attend.

He unlocked a draw to his left and produced a key and a piece of parchment. "A key to my private training room and a map of the hidden passages in the castle. Once you have memorised it, you must burn it as it is knowledge that only a select few are allowed to possess." He carefully handed both items to Freyja, although he'd stopped crying, he sounded detached and empty, perhaps because that was exactly how he felt. Almost as if he was missing something, "you have more than proved yourself trustworthy and I am grateful to have you by my side."

{Aleks}

He was relieved when Faustin opened the door. He was worried that he would just ignore him. He offered the fae a small smile when he mentioned the mess, "I doubt anyone's quarters are spotless. Other than Keenan's but I'm convinced he's a bit of a sociopath," he said with a shrug.

He thanked Faust for the glass of water and sat down on the couch, carefully perched on the edge. He took a small sip of water, it was strange to be drinking something other than wine or blood but not entirely unwelcome. He was too polite to refuse as vampires did not need to drink water. The cool liquid did however help sooth the burning ache in his throat where he had been fight back tears.

He gulped before looking up at Faustin, "so I ended things with the prince," he said bluntly, his voice only shaking slightly. He brushed a strand of his short brown hair out of his face, trying to busy his hands, "he isn't what- who," he corrected himself, hoping Faustin wouldn't pick up on it, he didn't want to lie to the fae but what would happen to Keenan if he told the truth? Did he even care? It was clear he favoured the company of his new bride. "He isn't who I thought he was and I learned something that I wasn't sure how to deal with, so I ended it," he sniffed, he loved Keenan, had loved him for a long time, hell it was his longest relationship, "nothing to do with Freyja," he added quickly, "although he told her first," he said bitterly.

"And," he said groaning, "There is the infernal masquerade ball tonight. Do you think people would notice if I didn't attend? I mean they'll know that me and Keenan aren't a thing anymore, gossip spreads faster than wildfire here," he said rolling his eyes.

{Keenan}

He looked at Freyja, who was now level to him. He grimaced when she mentioned that Aleks wasn't for him if he couldn't accept it. "I don't know if he even had a problem with the fae part, of course he would have his bias because he is a vampire and was once a human but I think he was jealous, jealous that you learned about it first. Hell I only ever shared blood with him once and that was when m father was trialling a serum to make the fae in my blood undetectable, he had no opportunity to learn as I was careful. I think he was just hurt over this whole wedding thing. I was never supposed to be married off, the king was supposed to sire another child and I was supposed to be removed from the line of succession, neither of which happened."

He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck, "Monty handled it surprisingly well. I don't think he was angry, more suprised than anything, he tries not to act rashly, he's likely just gone away to process. He will want to talk later once he's decided how he actually feels, emotions are hard for vampires," he admit, "I was surprised he took it so well," Keenan sighed, Freyja should know why, afterall she had told him why Faustin hated vampires so much, "I guess I should actually tell you the story of why Montague hates the fae so much, beyond being a war general. Unlike both Claude and Aleks, his title is not one he won through merit alone, of course he earned general but unlike the others he does have significant lands near the border between us and Sylvia. As you can imagine there were occasional fights at the border but it had never been far enough in for us to worry about his manor. We were on our way after one particular battle, both exhausted and looking forward to a real bed. By the time we arrived, the place had practically been burned to the ground. The towns folk had fled but his family stayed to fight and we slaughtered. His younger sister died in his arms," Keenan sniffed slightly, remembering the emotions from the day, "That's why I ask you to be patient with him. He will come around eventually. That I can promise you."

He raised an eyebrow when she said she had outfits planned, "Is it bad if I am both terrified and excited?" He pursed his lips for a moment, trying to picture what she could have designed, "I do have two questions, it's not orange is it? And will I looke pretty?" he said with a wink, he had to have his priorities. He didn't want an apology from Aleks, at least not right now. He wanted to move on and Freyja was right, he had to embrace this ball. "At least this no more Aleks thing will get my father off my back about one thing for a short while. Although I don't intend on not being a disappointment for long," he said with a small laugh.

{Aleksander}

"More like he isn't what he says he is. I didn't guess it at all, hell I'd been with him for 10 years and didn't know. Montague didn't find out until today either. I don't know how much it changes who he is but I don't intend on getting my heart broken trying to figure that out," he said stubbornly.

Aleks actually laughed when Faust suggested that they had been involved like that, "gods no. They shared blood last night, I could smell it but Keenan is gay. Never taken a female lover, much to the king's dismay. The king picked Freyja out as a bride to 'try and get him to settle down and produce an heir'. I also do not want to be around when that shitstorm explodes," Aleks shook his head. The king and Keenan had butt heads many times over it and after all these years, he didn't think the prince would ever budge.

Aleks immediately regret forcing Faustin to attend the wedding with him. He did not want to go to this ball but it didn't look like he was going to have much choice. "I'm actually going to have to go through my wardrobe to find something to wear," he said with a sigh, "Vampires put far too much effort into these things. Doing makeup takes forever, only to put a mask on," he rolled his eyes, "yet they all do it."

{Keenan}

Keenan laughed when she compared it to cutting his hair. "I won't get executed for cutting my hair. I wish it was that simple. Despite being the prince I would be viewed as a traitor to my kind, hell they would probably try and say that I killed Maksim so that the fae could be represented on the vampire throne," he said rolling his eyes, "You are right though... as much as I don't want to admit it, it is slightly overkill," he shook his head, "I mean people knew that Maksim and I were only half siblings. Hell I even look more like my mother than my father, so I don't know why everyone would be so shocked. Also it's not my fault, like I didn't ask the king to decide he wanted to try and create a halfling soldier."

He sighed as she talked about Monty, "you are right. Perhaps I should just talk to him about it. He's had the same time to get his head around it as the rest of us. Now he is just being difficult and it's not fair on you. As for the blood vow, I'm not as cruel as people think, it was nowhere near as air tight as the ones I have been forced to make in the past. I made him swear the vow and I can break it. I offered him an out and he refused," Keenan sighed softly, "Which is at the very least something."

He grinned when she asked if he was up for having his hair curled, "Of course I am, I am very secure in my masculinity. As long as we are not committing any outrageous fashion crimes then I am up for anything. You seem to have a vision so who am I to ruin that," he said with a wink.

Talking to Freyja had helped. He'd gone from dreading the ball because Aleks would be there, to being excited and looking forward to getting ready. Skipping dinner was no real loss to him, he would just make sure to feed before and with the amount of energy he'd just expended, it was probably safe for him to just keep feeding throughout the day. His father may not appreciate him skipping the dinner but he would have a change of heart when he realised he was with Freyja.

Once Freyja left, he poured himself another glass of blood. He was still more shaky than he wanted to admit, although that was probably because he was coming down off that emotional high. Switching forms in high emotional states was always worse.

Gripping the edge of the desk, he forced himself to his feet. Now he had fed, his strength was returning. He was grateful that both forms had accelerated healing, he couldn't imagine what it would be like for a human halfling.

He decided to look for Montague. They needed to talk and he had to put an end to this anti-fae crap. he didn't have the energy or time to deal with it. Either Monty pulled himself together or he would deal with him himself, before Freyja finally snapped.

Monty was in one of the training rooms and had left the door unlocked. That was enough of an invitation for Keenan. He walked in when the male was resting, Monty bowed and Keenan sighed, "We don't ever bother with formalities, why now?" Kee asked.

Montague looked him dead in the eyes and said, "I don't even know who you are any more. I mean I have known you for my whole life and I didn't even suspect the whole you actually being fae thing. Did Freyja have something to do with it? Hell are you one of them now?"

Keenan fought the urge to roll his eyes, Freyja was right, this was absurd. "I am a halfing. I am both. I have been and will always be one of them. It's not something I can just turn on and off. It is they same with my being a vampire, I will always be a vampire and nothing will even change that. The king is still my father, my mother just happens to be fae. I'm not some fae sleeper agent. Good gods, I fought with you in the war, slaughtered more fae than I like to admit and yet you dare question my loyalty? I tell you something that could lead to my execution and your first question is if my new wife had something to do with it? Are you kidding me right now? My father tortured me for fun so I'd never show anyone. Hell why do you think I survuved so long without going out of my mind? I promise it's not walk in the park trying to hide an entire aspect of who you are because of people like you," Keenan snarled, this time he was angry. He was over it. This whole thing was ridiculous. Why should he have to hide being a halfling. It wasn't fair. "And then you have the audacity to blame Freyja. Who you have made absolutely no effort to get to know and you make her feel most unwelcome. News flash Montague, she's not going anywhere and from now on I expect you to be nice," Monty opened his mouth to protest, Keenan snarled, "No. I am done with it. Be nice to her or I'm locking you in the dungeon for two week and you can feel what it's like to be truly starving and maybe I'll feel sorry for you."

Monty whimpered, "I had no idea... thats horrible Kee," he said softly.

This time Keenan rolled his eyes, "of course you didn't I am the prince and it is my job to just bear things like that. Hell Maksim tried to kill me because he caught me midway through a shift, so don't you dare even claim you've been betrayed."

Monty just nodded, too stunned to speak. Keenan just sighed and walked to the door, "I wasn't kidding about the Freyja thing. You either pull yourself together or I will put you in your place."

With that Keenan stormed out of the room and marched down the hall back to his rooms. Ugh he wanted to punch Monty. In a way he did feel better but also he was so frustrated. He knocked on the doors to Freyja's room, "I've dealt with Montague. I have feeling he will have a change of heart now... that or I'll just lock him in the dungeon," he said with a shrug.

He was done with the drama. Tired and burnt out, he was ready to lose it at someone. He did feel slightly better after dealing with Montague so that was at least something. He didn't want to have to follow through on his threat but he had tried the nice way. He had tried to reason with both parties and Monty made absolutely no effort. He already had the reputation of the cold cruel prince, maybe it was Monty's turn to experience it.

This whole halfling thing was beginning to frustrate him. Before he was content to just hide it forever and pretend it wasn't happening. Lady Elena had said it wasn't possible and that it would build until it exploded and he had no choice. He was just glad he'd been alone the first time and with Freyja the second. Freyja was right though, why did it matter so much? It was part of him, it always had and always will.

At least he had the ball to look forward to and whatever Freyja had planned for that.

{Aleks}

Aleks knew he had over reacted at the wedding and Keenan did assure him that there was nothing there but it looked so real, "I guess I was worried that he had finally bowed to his father's pressure, he was very very convincing. It's just strange that he told her before he even told Montague, let alone me. They haven't even known each other for a few months." He was jealous, that was the worst part, plus he didn't understand this whole half fae half vampire thing.

Faustin called them hybrids, Keenan called himself a halfling. "Hybrids huh? Are they dangerous or something?" He was struggling to keep up with all this terminology. He'd only been a vampire for the last 15 years, now it turns out his ex-lover (now boss?) was a hybrid or a halfling and he had absolutely no idea what any of that meant.

Aleks admired the masks. He had to admit that Faust had good taste. They were surprisingly feminine and he was surprised to hear that it was something the male was interested in. If he was so fashion forward, no wonder he didn't object to Aleks painting in the makeup for the wedding.

Aleks sighed, "I do have something. It's buried because I haven't had a chance to use it yet, a yule gift from Claude, years ago. We don't tend to have many masquerade balls here. The king doesn't like the anonymity so this is a rare occassion. I would be foolish to miss it," he said running his fingers through his short brown hair and brushing it out of his face.

Now he had stopped sulking, Faust was right. Besides Claude had gifted him a mask that looked like the night sky, with crushed diamonds representing the stars. It was beautiful and going to waste in the back of his closet. The next thing would be finding a suit to match, he'd just had some made with the new fabric that was imported, perhaps one of those would match.

He smiled at Faust, "thanks for listening to me about the whole Keenan thing, I do really appreciate it." His and Faustin's friendship was both unlikely and strange but he really enjoyed the male's company. He made him feel like an equal unlike the vampires. Even the inner circle did it at times, often forgetting that he was not hundreds of years old and did not understand all the things they were talking about. Hell, he was born during the war against the fae.

Keenan rolled his eyes as he sat down, "I did knock, I just let myself in anyway." Customs pshh, who cared about customs at this point. He was a gay halfling prince in an arranged marriage to a fae, they couldn't be farther from tradition at this point. Oh and he was refusing to sire his own children, so the only thing that would make the arrangement less traditional would be if he abdicated as well, something he was not willing to do.

Keenan rolled his eyes as he dramatically flopped onto the sofa. "We had a conversation, there may have been some yelling. I may want to punch him for being a block headed fool, other than that I definitely feel better." Keenan rolled his eyes when she mentioned threatening him. "I doubt degrading tasks would make much difference. Besides I only threatened him with two weeks. That isn't that bad. I managed 6 and would have kept going. Sure after three weeks pureblood vamps slowly lose their minds but," he shrugged, "I had to say something that would scare him. Besides vampires fast for week long periods all the time, an extra week wouldn't kill him. He'd just be very hungry and uncomfortable." Mentally torturing someone did sound intriguing though. Maybe he would look into that next. "It was in the heat of the moment, I didn't have much time to be imaginative, next time though." He pursed his lips, "I don't know if I would actually follow through with it. Probably? He seems to think so, so maybe I really am that bad," he shrugged, "although it wouldn't do me any favours if I tried to deny the crazy evil fae stereotype, would it?" Keenan groaned, if he was going to reveal that he was a halfling then he actually had to start thinking about how his actions fell into the stereotypes that caused this whole problem, "nah I'd probably still do it. It looks worse if I make empty threats."

He shrugged and examined his nails, only perking up when she asked about letters, "Just send them off with a servant, they'll then be sent off immediately," he said nonchalantly.

He sat up, staring at her, "So when are you going to tell me what you have planned for this ball? All I have heard so far is that the palace tailors are busy and then you asked if you could curl my hair. I need more information," he said dramatically flopping back onto the sofa, "The wait might actually kill me."

He sighed, "I have at least spoken to Montague. I don't really want to talk to Aleks right now, even if he apologises. He made his beliefs very clear and you are right, I can't be with someone who only accepts half of me... I also need to speak to Claude, I only found out she knew a few days after a riveting conversation with my father," he rolled his eyes, "At least the man is finally starting to look aged. I give him a few years."

{Aleks}

Aleks pursed his lips, "you could be right. They shared blood last night, considering everything, I wonder how that impacted him?" he sighed softly, "it's good that he has her in his corner, he will need it if this gets released while his father is still alive. Of course the king knows but I don't think he would appeaciate the general public knowing considering Keenan is over three hundred years old and there are less than 10 of us who actually know what is going on." Aleks chuckled softly when Faust said about him not being born royal, "I wasn't even born a vampire, so it's a huge jump from human village politics to a vampire court," he admit sheepishly. He knew exactly what Faustin meant about guilt gifts, he had recieved a great deal of them over the years.

Aleks grimaced when he saw Faust sniff the shirt, "My gods man, just get a servant to do your laundry regularly," he said shaking his head, this male was a prince? gods help them. He laughed out loud when he said he didn't know what to think of the king, "Most don't like him. The whole Maksim and Keenan thing only made things worse. Now if the court found out about Keenan... it would not be a good time to be here. After all, we regularly have to go and deal with the rebels. That's how Keenan got stabbed and I got attacked visiting my family," he said with growing frustration.

He raised an eyebrow when Faust mentioned waking up next to a stranger, "look it's generally not my business to care about who you get flirty with but if it's a vampire, just be careful," he said firmly, "Vampires like to bite. It's not a bad thing, kind of weird and took me a while to get used to but, hell it's even pleasurable when done right, just don't ever agree to it without a few mouthfuls of their blood first. Excruciating honestly and I'm speaking from experience. I have a knack for being cornered and attacked," he said with a sigh, subconsciously touching the scar at his neck, "Only been attacked by a crazed vampire once this year, it's a record," he seemed to have the worst luck. Keenan had tried to teach him to defend himself, as did the entire inner circle yet he kept being caught off guard. It was frustrating but he just dealt with it. Really he should stop visiting the human village but he didn't know how long his sister had left.

The healers could help, that's what frustrated him the most, if they would just let him bring her back to the castle, Keenan had sworn they would help, even Claude has strings to pull in that department but they refused. His mother always said, I'm not letting those bastards take away another one of my children. They already turned you. He had many problems with that statement. Starting with the fact that he had not gone anywhere. It was an adjustment becoming a vampire and learning to control it. He'd only slipped a handful of times after that first major one. That one wasn't his fault, he was dumped as a fledgling in a village by his sire. He had no control and every other time someone had been there to stop him. The vampires and mages at court wouldn't hurt or turn her. His mother and sister refused to believe that and it was frustrating. Hell they still flinched when he moved too quickly and he was no danger to them. It was beyond frustrating. Was this how Keenan felt when he and Montague reacted so harshly?

Smiling when Faust mention the fox mask, he took another sip of his water, "so you guys really take this seriously huh? I do have to agree though, finding an outfit is painful." Makeup would be the easy part, a benefit of being with the prince for so long was that he prided himself on his appearance and the perfect appearance of those he surrounded himself with so he had sever good teachers in that department. "I'm thinking of a night sky theme, I have the perfect mask, mirrors a galaxy. It's just finding an outfit that does it justice," he said groaning.

Keenan sighed, perhaps it was unbecoming but still, Montague almost deserved it. "I gave him a second chance. It's more than my father would have given me. Besides the inner circle currently think I'm some freak of nature so he would deserve it. I have given him a warning," he shrugged, "being the prince isn't all about being pretty and flirting with the kings inner circle. Although I have to admit it is a nice bonus. The look on my fahter's face when he realises they are all into it," he laughed, "honestly there are few times he has looked that shocked and I have savoured each and every one of them."

He nodded when she asked him to send the letters, he called over a servant, "Have these sent to Sylvia immediately. If I find they have been intercepted or tampered with in any way, heads will roll," he said firmly, his voice low and eerily calm, the servant nodded numbly and disappeared. He turned back to Freyja, "How you establish yourself depends on how you want them to view you. Fear is a useful motivator but some respond better to kindness, humans mostly," he said with a sigh, "fear just makes humans panic."

The way she said our legends made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, welcome and safe. Vampire legends were far more gruesome. All the vampires had at least heard the legend of Hades and Persephone. He grinned as she explained the idea. She was a genius, and recieved far less credit than she deserved. "It's perfect," he said, his eyes wide with amazement, "a truly brilliant idea Freyja and I get to play the role of the pretty trophy husband, I like it." Hell he really liked the idea of being the pretty trophy husband, what was the point of being this beautiful if he didn't get to flaunt it at occasions like this. He wasn't sure how he felt about green, but Freyja would not have picked it if she didn't think it would work, he trusted her judgement.

Keenan grinned when she asked if he was ready, "of course," he was both excited and nervous to see what had been designed.

{Aleks}

His face softened when Faust mentioned his mate, "I am so sorry Faust," he said softly, Freyja had briefly explained what mates were and he felt for the male. It was some small comfort to know that he wasn't the only one given a random assortment of gifts when things went wrong at least, "I was not supposed to be turned into a vampire, random changes are very illegal and as they couldn't find my sire, you should have seen the gifts the king gave me to shut me up. One of the few times the man has bothered to be nice," Aleks laughed shaking his head at the memory, the vampires were all like 'oops sorry we took your humanity and caused immense trauma by leaving you alone, here have diamonds, a room in the castle and all the outfits you could ever dream of'. "Hell, I still haven't worked my way through a fraction of the coin they gave me intially, forget the fact I get paid a very inflated wage."

Aleks rolled his eyes when Faust said he didn't want to invite the servants in. "Gross Faust, they are literally here to make your life easier. How are you, a prince, so uncomfortable about it? At least let a human servant in," he said shaking his head, "I think the humans would be more afraid of what you would do to them if they dared even breathe too loudly in your presence."

Aleks blushed when Faust mention fae biting lovers, "Gross, hell even the vampire thing is gross. Supernatural species are weird as. How the hell is biting someone a sign of affection?" he shuddered. No, just no. After hearing that, he was more than willing to knock back the blue liquor Faust had offered him.

"I am going to have to talk to your sister eventually. I am just going to avoid doing it while the prince is around," he said firmly.

The whole Keenan is a halfling thing was strange. Freyja was at least Fae. Maybe that was why they got along so well. Perhaps he would talk to Freyja while they were travelling, assuming Keenan left her side for more than a few minutes. "I do owe her an apology though, I have been an ass." His eyes sparkled when Faust said he should gel back his hair, he liked that idea.