tsubasa

The gladiator and the princess

A few months later, Lauralye help her enlarged stomach as she walked through the gardens. She was doing most of the paper work from her rooms now with her stomach being such a size that extended periods of walking or sitting began to hurt her back. However, she did take time to be outside and wandered the palace. As she grew bigger a midwife took to following her everywhere, along with a guard and doctor, just in case something happened. She was practically surrounded by people at all times now, her only sanctuary was at night when they all waited outside the door and left the King and Queen alone to sleep. However, it was good today that she had her entourage as she had been getting pains through her stomach all morning that the doctor and midwife said could either be contractions or Braxton Hicks contractions tricking them all into thinking she was going into labour. When one coursed through her causing her to grip to the midwife and buckle over with a yell of pain, for the second time in a short period, the doctor turned to the guard, "Grab the King. Tell him to meet us in the infirmary. The Queen is in labour." He took hold of the Queen's arm and wrapped his around his shoulder as the midwife did the same. The two quickly rushed her to the infirmary and prepared themselves to deliver the Royal baby.

The Ties that Bind

Rae smiled as Anna knelt down looked at the flower that was in front of her. As she thanked him and told her that she believed she owed his one, he pulled his pants up a little before he crouched down beside her. He moved his hand behind her own and in a quick movement, plucked it from the flower bed. He took it in his hands and sniffed it before he pushed her hair away from her ear and tucked it in there, "Perfect. You look more like a girl... I guess." He pat his legs and took her hand again, "Now, you're stomach is basically screaming to get fed," He started to guide her further into the garden until they reached a little gazebo with a table all set up for dinner, right now to a little bread basket. He smiled and walked her over before he moved in front of her and pulled out her chair. Once she was seated he grabbed a bottle of wine from the bucket and popped open the cork, pouring it into the glass. He looked at her, "Let Rauri be the Guardian. You need a distraction so... try to be a girl," He teased before he took his own seat. He gestured to the basket of bread, "Have as much as you'd like," He pulled out his phone and text someone before he put it away again, "Food will be here in a bit. I figured I'd let Rauri order, her appetite should match your's better than mine and I'd hate if you left hungry." He leaned back in his seat and looked around the lit up garden for a moment before sitting forward and shedding his suit jacket. He turned to place it on the back of the chair. He sat back and rested his elbow on the arm on the chair and rose his fingers to his lips, "Hm..." He thought before shaking his head, "You know, Ross. As much as I'd love you having to owe me one, I'm having a surprisingly good time. I think you're good, little Dhampir." ~ A coy little smile spread across Serena's lips when Sebastian told her not to worry about expenses. She supposed that just something that all Dhampirs dealt with in ways that the Moroi never had to. She had always liked to think about what she would buy for herself when she was out with Sebastian but she sighed and nodded, "Alright. I'll get the most expensive thing on the menu," She said with a small laugh. She placed her hand on his chest as they kissed and her smile grew when he told her he loved her. She loved hearing those words from him, just telling her that everything was alright. Although, she could tell most days that everything was alright between them, she could almost always feel love radiating off of him. Of course, that always made it very hard to remain angry at him.... She looked up when someone came along with the menus and turned to pick one up. She hadn't even had the chance to look at it when Sebastian was stealing away her attention again. She looked at him and rested her hands in her lap, "What is it?" As he continued to talk about wanting to ask later, she felt him growing more and more nervous. She placed her hands on the table and looked at him, "Sebastian, are you all right?" She watched him as he ran his thumb over her finger, she was getting worried as she felt his nerves jumping around inside her head but what he was saying didn't seem to match them. However, he was cut off a moment later by a waitress asking to take their order. Serena tried not to laugh, since neither of them had had a chance to even look at the menu let alone decide on something to eat. Her eyes fell back to Sebastian when he mentioned showing her something. She watched him as he pulled out a little black box and blinked a few times as he placed her hand over it. She took it into her hands and moved it closer to herself before she opened it. Her eyes widened a little at the sight of the diamond encrusted gold band with a little bow at the front. She looked up at Sebastian as he mentioned not wanting to get her a large ring with a fancy diamond that could get in the way. She didn't know what she was more amazed by the ring or that Sebastian had managed to keep it all a secret, closing it off in his head without her even noticing. Most times they could tell when the other was hiding something because they could sense a part of the brain being hidden away when they came to it. Although, she didn't really comb through Sebastian's head the same as he accidentally brushed her brain on a bad day. Either way, keeping a secret was quite the feat. She looked down at the ring again before her eyes moved back to her, "Sebastian," She said quietly, a small smile on her lips, "Was the question that you wanted to ask if I like the ring? Or is it... Will I marry you? Because if it is, the answer is yes."

The Ties that Bind

Name: Rae Costa Gender: Male Race: Moroi Age: 21 Guardian: Unknown Element: Fire Unique Abilities: Fire wizard ;P Highly skill in Fire combat (even if he only really uses it for fun rather than helping his guardian.) Description: Personality: Rae is a wild guy and very much a royal. He isn't always the nicest to though he deems below him, non-royals, dhampirs, humans. Of course, if you're royal or if he just takes interest in you, he can be quite charming. He's a bit of a hot head with a short fuse although, he tries to keep calm, emphasis on tries. Background: Rae has had a wonderful life. All his life, he's gotten what he wanted or needed. Waited on, hand and foot. Life was never rough for Rae. Although, due to this charmed existence, he is a bit of an ass. Due to never having to endure hardship, he doesn't really know what it is like. He looks down his nose on almost everyone. To him, your last name is a big deal. Despite his snobbery, he is quite popular and seems to attract the ladies. But what can he say? He does have rock hard abs, oh yeah. After graduation, Rae took on a major part in his father's business to ease him into taking over the company entirely as his father prepares for early retirement.

The Ties that Bind

Serena blushed slightly as Sebastian pulled her in close to her. Four years and she was still blushing when he called her beautiful. Silly maybe... but she liked how it always felt like the first. She climbed into the car when her opened the door for her and rested her head against his shoulder as they drove, enjoying the time to be off duty, even if she had to be alert all the same. She allowed him to take her hand and guide her into the building, laughing a little when they moved the rope when he gave his name. She walked with him into the building, looking around in awe at everything. Her amazement was similar to that of when she first saw Sebastian's house... She never really understood how much money Sebastian's family actually had until she saw their giant house. She pulled her attention away from their surroundings to Sebastian when he kissed her hand. She smiled at him and followed him over to their table that was a short ways away and managed to be close to the music but also secluded enough to give them their privacy. She sat down in the booth and leaned against Sebastian again, "Does this mean I have to start calling you Prince Sebastian Lazar," She teased him before taking the chance to look around again, "This place is lovely, Sebastian," She kissed his cheek and smiled, "I love you." ~ Rae helped her out of the car and turned, placing her hand on the inside of his arm. He walked over to the garden and laughed a little as Anna thanked him, "You haven't even seen anything yet, Ross." He reached the gate to the garden and punched in a code before opening it. When they were on the other side, he looked over at the Guardian with them, "Hey, Rauri, could you grab the lights?" He asked and the girl nodded before she moved quickly through the dark and disappeared. A moment later, the lights flickered on displaying the garden in all its glory. Thousands of fairy lights hung in the air above them and around various trees and bushes. He smiled and started to guide her through the layout of the garden, "My mother loves flowers, so my father built this place from the ground up for her. It cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build and for the yearly upkeep. Even when business wasn't doing well, he always makes sure that her garden is thriving with new and living flower that, of course, only bloom at night."

The Ties that Bind

Rae slipped into the car beside Anna and looked at her as she explained that they would have to choose somewhere cheap due to her lack of money. He looked at her for a moment, trying to see if she was joking before he started to laugh anyways, "Ross, you do realize I have a fortune... Right?" He smirked and leaned forward, "And what kind of distraction date would I be if I let the... thing pay?" He teased before leaning a little bit more to whisper something to the girl in the front seat. She nodded her head before the car set in motion. Rae leaned back again, resting into the seat, "Don't you worry your moderately attractive head, I've got this all handled." He looked out the window as they drove, pointing out random crap that he thought was interesting because he didn't want to let either of them dwell in the silence, especially if he was supposed to be keeping her out of her thoughts. It didn't take long before they arrived a stunning flower garden with large trees in the early process of turning orange. He climbed out and held her hand out her, "Come along, Ross, and let me show you what it is like to have more money than you can spend." ~ A smile spread across Serena's lips at the mention of their being a piano. She loved it when Sebastian played, he had played for her quite a lot in their time together and there were very few times outside of their bedroom that he looked as content as he was playing for her. She nodded, "That sounds lovely... But... It also sounds fancy," She looked down at her attire and laughed a little, "I think I need to clean up a little if I'm going to dine with a future Prince," she teased. She looked up at him, "Why don't you get us a car and I'll go get changed into something a bit more fitting for the evening? I'll meet you at the front," She said before she kissed him. With that, she turned and left heading back to their room. She was quick to change and made sure to cover up her scars. She didn't do it very often any more but she always made sure to when there was a possibility of being around humans, just to make sure. She made her way to the front in a short red velvet dress that was loose enough around her legs that she'd be able to fight if needed and she put on a pair of booty shorts just in case. However, she did wear a pair of black heels that were completely impractical for fighting in, although, she could easily discard of them. Despite being Sebastian's Guardian, she knew both of them liked it when she had a chance to be his girlfriend. Sometimes that included dressing up for something other than kicking Strigoi butt. She smiled when she saw him and ran her hands down her front a little, "I didn't make you wait too long, did I?"

The Ties that Bind

Rae smirked when Anna mentioned heading to the feeders to let him get a drink before they headed out. He nodded and stuffed his hands back into his pockets, "Alright." He pulled out his phone and dialed a number as he motioned for her to follow, "Rauri... Can you pull the around?... Yes, I'm stealing you from Jace. Just for the day... He won't be leaving and if he wants to too bad.... Thank you. I'm just dropping by the feeders and then we will be out front. .. Yes, we... Stop questioning me and be out front in 10....," He said with a laugh, "Thank you." He hung up the phone and stuffed it into his pocket, "There we go, a far guard and a car are waiting," He walked to the feeders and stopped outside the door, looking at her, "Uh... You can stay out here," He said before he disappeared into the building. As Rae was gone, Gunner walked by as he made his way to the cafeteria. He had hardly had enough to eat and decided it best to just go and get more. As he made his way though, his eyes fell on Anna. His lips tightened as he tried to keep the array of emotions under control, "Afternoon, Ross," He said simply before he continued on his way as though he had said nothing at all. Rae reappeared shortly after, pulling on his suit jacket. He looked at her before his eyes fell on Gunner's retreating figure before the suited man walked into the cafeteria. Rae fixed his own suit and looked back at her, his lips pursed, "I'm not doing to great at this whole distracting thing so far, am I?" He shook his head and placed his hand on the middle of her back before he lead her to the driveway and a very nice black car, "Alright, anywhere you want to go," He said as he opened the door. ~ Serena smiled his kissed her and leaned into him slightly when he pulled away, "Grazie." As he spoke, she rose a finger to her lip, no longer feeling the sting, to find that it had healed up entirely. She sighed and smacked Sebastian's chest lightly, "Sebastian," She said quietly, "You can't heal every little thing... It is all going to come back at bite you," Her eyes glazed over for a moment as she went in his head and inspected the darkness. As of right now it wasn't too bad but it was worse than she liked it. Carefully taking a small piece, she returned into her head and sighed before smiling at him, "Butgoing out does sound nice... especially since I will be seeing less of you now..." She leaned against him, ignoring how unprofessional it was as she wanted to just be his girlfriend in the moment. There were thirty some odd fully trained Dhampirs that could be his guardian for now, "Somewhere nice? What did you have in mind?"

The Ties that Bind

"Ross," Rae said loudly, holding up a hand, "Could you shut up.... for like a minute?" He shook his head, "I owed him a favour and he said there was a damsel in distress in need of a distraction," he looked her over again, "Although, I'm not really seeing the whole damsel thing." He took his hand out of his pocket and scratched his nose, "But... I know if I leave... I still owe Jace one and I don't want that and there's a reason you're here... I mean, I thought you and Marks were a thing but I'm assuming that's what you need the distraction from," he sighed like it was a big deal, "So, I suppose it is in both of our best interests to just.... hang out until curfew." He looked at her for a moment, "I mean, I'm a pretty distracting guy." ~*~ Serena laughed a little as Sebastian reiterated Gunner's fears when he saw what he had done. She let him turn her head, taking in the bruise, "Pay back for four years ago," she teased. She took his wrist and moved it away from her jaw, "It's okay. We were sparring... He's angry... I don't think he even realized how angry he is. He just lost his temper, he didn't mean to. I just wanted him to blow off some steam." She kissed the palm of his hand, "He didn't mean to.... promise."

The Ties that Bind

Serena nodded her head when Sebastian said to check on Gunner first and headed out. She walked to the gym to see him already working some of the Dhampirs through drills. She caught the attention of some and whispers began, although it wasn't her being known as a Guardian, it was because of the scars on her neck. She stayed strong though and walked over to Gunner, "How is everything?" Gunner looked at Serena when she spoke, "Good... There's a lot of work to be done... But they are good." "I mean with you, Gunner," She said softly. Gunner tensed slightly, not looking at her, "I don't think this is the time to talk about it, Serena." Serena sighed, "You know you are going to have to talk about it to someone." "I said this isn't the time," Gunner said with a little more force. Serena jumped a little, she'd seen Gunner angry but he had never been angry at her. He'd always be nice and protective in a way, like she was his little sister more than his peer. She hit his shoulder lightly, "Come on," She turned to face him and took a fighting stance, "You have some anger to get out and these kids need an example of what real fighting is like." Gunner looked at the small girl before shaking his head. He rose his hand into the air, "Alright, enough. Guardian Abatangelo has been kind enough to offer her services as a demonstration. I would like you to keep a close eye. This will be a good learning experience on how to deal with fighting people smaller or larger than yourself and using your size to your advantage." He turned to Serena and took a stance, the class seemed to hold their breath. Gunner seemed to drawf the small Serena and it was clear that not many people were thinking she was much of anything. Then the fight began. Serena seemed to dance around Gunner with ease, moving in and around his punches and kicks. Although, she landed more blows, he caused more devastation with his few. He didn't hold back and Serena was okay with that, she would have been angry if he had. The thing was that he was angry and threw a wrong punch and clocked Serena in the jaw. She didn't hesitate though before she grabbed his wrist and threw him to the ground and placed her foot on his chest. The class erupted as Gunner got to his feet, "You're all good to go." Once the class left he looked at the bruised and bloodied Serena, "Sebastian is going to kill me..." Serena laughed and wiped away some blood from her split lip, "Don't worry about it. You needed this." With the orientation over, she left Gunner to take his anger out on a punching bag and returned to Sebastian's room. Her chin was already starting to bruise and her lip was still bleeding. She held her arm as it was tender from a blow to the shoulder but otherwise, she'd survive. She leaned against the wall and waited for her ward to leave the room. ~ Rae left the orientation and stuffed his hands into his gray dress pants. His coat was drapped over one of his arms, leaving him in just his crisp white button down dress shirt. His hair stood up on ends in a stylish fashion and he had a bit of a shadow from not getting a chance to save that morning. His brown dress shoes walked through the slightly wet grass making it squish under him. When he reached the area that Jace had instructed him to go, he looked around until his eyes fell on Anna leaning against a tree with her eyes closed. He stared at her for a moment, not staying or doing anything to give away his presence. His eyes looked her up and down confused by what it was that Jace had planned setting him up with his ex-girlfriend who hated Rae's guts. He sighed, finally revealing that he was even there, "You've got to be fucking kidding me...."

The Ties that Bind

Serena helped Sebastian pick out some nicer looking clothes, which included a lot of telling him to put the t-shirts away. When he was finally dressed, she went about getting dressed into some guardian attire. She didn't have to dress as professionally as she had a Sebastian's home. Which was confusing since she was also there as his girlfriend. However, this allowed her to wear more comfortable pants along with her blazer and white shirt. She ran her fingers through her hair before she quickly braided it and wrapped it up in a bun, showing off her molnija marks as well as the scars around her neck. She took a deep breath and looked at him as he listed off things that she could be doing whilst he was teaching. She straightened and looked at him, "That sounds like a lot of time that I don't get to be with you." That was something she had gotten very used to in their time together. It was her duty to not leave his side and when it wasn't for whatever reason, he was there anyways. She smiled when he wrapped his arms around her and leaned back into him, "I love you too. And I'll do my best with Anna and Gunner... But I'm not as good as getting through to them as you are." She turned in his arms and kissed him, "Come on... Let's go." She took one of his hands and led him out of the room. However, the moment the door closed, she dropped it and held her hands behind herself as she moved as his Guardian not his girlfriend. ~ Gunner walked into the gym and could smell the sweat on the mats and nodded. He had always felt at home in a gym. In fact a gym had been his home for most of his life. He looked over the few students that were there, a few of them gawking, and nodded his head, "Alright... Show me what you know." ~ Rae answered his phone groggily and rubbed his face as he sat up. He leaned onto his knee as Jace spoke in a far too chipper tone for this time in the morning. He yawned and nodded his head, "Ya... Favour.... what is it that you need this time?"

The Ties that Bind

Gunner glared at Jace as the boy spoke to him in a sarcastic tone. A part of him thought for a moment four years ago that he had changed a little but it was just as much an asshole as he was then. When he mentioned choosing his reputation of Anna, his jaw clenched. He continued to glare at him until the guardians came out and asked if everything was alright. He took a deep breath and looked to the others as Jace seemed to cover it all, "Yes... Just answering a question for Jace," He looked at him, "I can't strain how important it is you do just as I said, Mr. Szleskie... I'd hate to see you get hurt." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and started to head to class before he turned and looked at Jace, "Oh and Mr. Szleskie, I didn't choose... She did," He left it at that. Gunner had nearly thrown away his entire future to beat Jace's face in and he hoped that in his words that man understood that he would do it again. He held his gaze for a moment before turning and heading to class to begin training the students. ~ Serena ran her hands through her hair, taking the last few moments of the shower alone before she turned off the water. She smiled and took the towel from him and she wrapped it around herself. She laughed at him as he picked her up and lifted her out of the shower and placed her down on the tile, "I wouldn't complain," She said with a grin, "I love seeing how you look at me. Like there isn't anything else that you'd want to look. It makes me feel special. OW!" She said loudly as she bent her knees turning to escape the sudden snap from the towel against her legs. She laughed and smacked his chest lightly, "Not nice!" She kissed him and sighed when he mentioned going and checking Anna and Gunner, "I suppose we should..." She pulled his towel from his hand and used it to start drying her hair, "No more towel for you," She stated before she walked into their bedroom to get ready for the day.