My Most Precious Human

Kanan seemed pleased that I agreed to join hands with him. I wasn't certain what he was truly able to do, but I felt hopeful and definitely not as depressed as I was when I woke up. He was right about one thing; I couldn't sit and do nothing. I had to strengthen my position in the vampire world, not only for the sake of being with Sariel but for my survival. For the last few weeks, I had grown completely dependent on Sariel's power, and I didn't like that at all. It wasn't because I didn't trust him, but I needed to feel that I was the one in control of my life.

I didn't want to keep my alliance a secret from Sariel. I felt I should tell him about meeting Kanan and thought he should also be aware of everything that had happened between Sophia and me. I felt my chamber and decided to take a little stroll around the main castle building to look for Sariel. I went outside the east wing and walked to the main entrance. I passed the two guards standing on both sides of the door and reached for the door handle. As soon as I did, they blocked my way in.

"Concubines are not allowed to go inside the center palace," one of the guards grunted, glaring at me.

"W-why?" I asked, confused.

"Only the King and the Queen have this privilege. Only they can invite someone to enter the palace, and you are not on the list," the guard stated angrily.

That felt like a slap in the face. I stepped back, confused. Feeling humiliated, I looked around to see if anyone saw my failed attempt to enter. No one was around, but that merely didn't make me feel any better "Why would I not be allowed inside?" That question appeared along with a sharp pain in my chest.

Obviously, I immediately tried to find a logical reason to excuse Sariel. He was a king for less than a day. Perhaps he didn't think that he needed to give me his permission to enter his part of the palace, and he would fix that problem later... I was desperate to chase gloomy thoughts away.

Since I couldn't talk to Sariel, I thought I should at least find a friendly face I could talk to. The only one who came to my mind was Patrick. The problem was, I had no idea where I should find him. He was supposed to be assigned to protect me... but I guess it was just another thing that wasn't functioning yet.

Not certain of what I was doing, I thought of visiting the military training grounds. At least I knew where they were since I could see them from my chamber's balcony. No one told me where I could and where I couldn't go, so there was a chance I would be chased away from there, but I was going to try my luck. Something was telling me that if I wanted to look for my bodyguard, that could have been the right place.

As soon as I stepped onto the muddy path leading to the barracks, I knew that wearing a flared light-pink dress with a light jacket and a pair of high heels was a terrible idea. I would give anything for a pair of jeans and sneakers right now. I blamed myself for idiotically changing my style recently. I had never dressed to impress, but something about Sariel made me want to look girly and pretty for him. Stupid me. I thought of going back and changing my dumb outfit, but then I found myself right in front of the entrance to the training grounds.

There was no doubt, I was curious... curious as hell. That reminded me that I missed the endorphins practicing martial arts gave me. I couldn't even remember when my last real training was. At that moment, I would gladly use a punching bag to blow off some steam. Then I started to wonder what my practice would look like now when my super-genes activated...

I passed some soldiers coming out of their barracks. Based on their sweated black tank tops, they probably finished their training. As soon as they saw me, they bowed down to me respectfully, having the "what is she doing here?" expression. I smiled at them, trying to pose as if I knew where I was going. As I kept walking straight, I saw a big, arena-kind of building in front of me. I figured that if someone could tell me where I could find Leo or Patrick, this would be the place... If not, at least I would confirm that I was looking in the completely wrong direction.

I noticed a crowd quickly gathering and entering the building as if something was about to start. I walked closer. Those who passed me by were giving me a curious or awkward stare. Some of them looked me up and down, but I didn't care. If I was ever going to get more authority here, I couldn't feel intimidated by those who were supposed to be loyal to my man.

"Fuck, they've already started! Get your ass here, Callan!" one of the soldiers called out, holding the door open for his colleague to enter.

"Wait up, Blaze!" The other came running from behind me.

As soon as this Callan guy passed me, he stopped and turned around to look at me, stunned. Then he grinned nervously, slightly bowing, and then gestured for me to walk into the building first. The other soldier gulped, seeing me there, and then held the door for me to enter. I chuckled softly.

"Thank you," I hoarsely murmured, sounding seductive enough to produce a flushed grin on their faces.

Their cute reaction made me think that wearing a dress and heels while walking in this land of testosterone wasn't a completely bad idea. Of course, I kept wondering if they had any idea of who I was, but as long as no one chased me away from there, I was going to continue my hazard wander.

As soon as I passed the threshold, I heard the sounds of the fight. The place inside resembled a huge gym with fighting mats on the floor. There were a lot of men standing in the circle, yelling, cursing, and cheering. It was obvious that there was some kind of match happening in the middle of that circle. Curiously, I glided my way through to take a peek.

The soldiers who noticed me, a 5.4-foot woman in heels wearing pink, hurriedly stepped aside, politely allowing me to see what was going on. I nodded with a faint smile, thanking them and taking their attention off the fight. Finally, I got to see what was going on. As soon as I did, my jaw dropped.

Two men were fighting in the round arena in the middle of the hall. They were both all-muscles, perfectly sculptured and... shirtless. Normally, I would enjoy the view with semi-indifference, but the problem was that one of those men was Patrick. My adorable, puppy-like bodyguard-slash-ex-assistant was beating the shit out of his opponent with fire in his eyes while proudly exposing his six-pack!

I watched the fight, absolutely stunned. As I got past my initial bemusement, I became unimaginably impressed by Patrick's fighting skills. Damn, he was fast and agile! Although I found myself strangely able to keep up with noticing his amazingly fast movements, I was certain there was no way in hell I could repeat them. Less than a minute later, Patrick's opponent was lying motionless on the mats while the whole crowd went crazy applauding the winner.

I stood there, clapping my hands in admiration while watching Patrick celebrate his moment with a sly grin on his face that only made him more attractive. Certainly, his attractiveness was nowhere near Sariel's, but still... I had to admit that he looked hot. Once he saw me in the crowd, his grin became beamingly sweet. He ran towards me, a surprised look painting his face.

"Lady Lilith!" he exclaimed joyfully, "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I came here hoping to find you..." I smiled nervously, my eyes scrolling down his dripping in sweat abs ended in a V-shape.

Once I saw the grin on his face becoming wider and more mischievous, I realized he noticed me ogling him. A slight flush popped on my face while my smile at him became more awkward. My choice of words also didn't help me get out of this uncomfortable situation.

"I... I just... needed someone to talk to and..." My inept explanation made Patrick smirk, making me wonder what the hell happened to my innocent puppy.

"Sure thing, Lady Lilith," he said, winking at me, "I just need to grab some clothes and-"

"Lady Lilith?!" an angry male voice fumed, "You are Lady Lilith?!"

Some man walked fast across the arena while pointing his finger at me as if he was aiming at me with a weapon. Patrick immediately stood in front of me, shielding me with his body. "Back off, Kylo!" He roared at him.

"I just want to know if Lady Lilith is her!" he thundered straight in Patrick's face.

I leaned out from behind Patrick and looked that man in the eye. I didn't know what his problem was, but he seemed furious while panting heavily, as if he was letting the steam out of his nostrils.

"I am Lilith. Can you tell me what your problem is and who gave you the right to call out my name in such a rude manner?" I said confidently, trying to force him to lower the tone of his voice. Patrick stepped aside but stretched his arm out, separating me from this enraged man. Kylo lowered his finger that pointed at me and smirked coldly, staring into my eyes. "So you are that bitch..." he hissed.

"Watch your mouth, Kylo!" Patrick warned him.

"No! I won't watch my mouth! I want to challenge this bitch! I'm going to kill that fucking whore that sentenced my sister to death!" he yelled, loud enough for everyone to hear. "What are you talking about, Kylo?" Another soldier came over and patted Kylo's shoulder.

Kylo's eyes darkened as he gave me a murderous glare. I forced myself not to cringe under his gaze, but with his easily towering posture, he certainly looked intimidating. I gulped quietly but refused to avoid his stare while the grin on his face widened, becoming more spiteful.

"She is Lady Lilith, the King's concubine who sentenced my sister Sophia to death..." he paused, letting rows of gasps and enraged remarks fill the hall. "Since it was her decision alone, I have the right to avenge my sister by challenging this wench to fight me!"

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes for a second while asking myself one hectic question, "Is he for real?!"