The Vampire King and the Mafia Princess

Lost Battle

Far back is the memory that had long been forgotten. The younger ones would sing the poet that they had inherited from their predecessors unknowing of the weight it bears. Three centuries into the memory, a man in his inner garment leaned over the spread map of Reino de Espana on the table wondering yet again what he had overlooked. His grey eyes swept over the map in concentration as he came up with ways he would have dealt with it if he were the enemy he would soon be battling. He had fought and lost the battle so many times, but he had yet to figure out how his enemy had won. He heard one of his men sweep away the lion leather at the entrance before approaching him. Danilo straightened his broad shoulders and his deep grey eyes narrowed in annoyance at the disturbance. Danilo saw Lysander in his peripherals folding his arms behind his back and waiting for his acknowledgment.

"Your Majesty, anything new", Lysander turned to his brother to take a look at his expression. He knew it gritted His Majesty's nerve to have to give a negative reply. Sometimes, he felt like his King was too hard on himself, but he wasn't one to complain. Danilo's anger brought him joy.

Danilo stared at the man before him, there were only a few differences in their appearances. Unlike his own buff stature, Lysander was on the slender side, and his face was small compared to Danilo's, in replacement of Danilo's raven hair was a head full of sandy blonde hair that he inherited from their mother, and instead of the grey commanding eyes of Danilo's, his were green eyes that made you want to tell him all your secrets. The green eyes are the courtesy of their mother's affair. Their mother Alivia had cheated on Danilo's father with his brother, Lorenzo.

Danilo grunted in reply

"I have never questioned your decisions my King", Lysander's eyes narrowed in seriousness.

He continues " But as your brother, cousin, and battle advisor, I'm telling you, brother, you are making a huge mistake",

Lysander's bluntness was one attribute Danilo adored in his little brother, but when its claws were pointed at him, Danilo did not find it very adorable.

"Your priority is misplaced", Lysander thought to himself that it was his brother's loss for appointing him his advisor for battle. It was after all his job to tell the cold bitter truth.

" Just like you misplaced the respect for me", Danilo countered. He knew he wasn't angry at his brother for being disrespectful instead he was angry because Lysander had told the truth he did not wish to hear or know.

Lysander paid no mind to his reply as he pointed out " You have lost the battle too many times that I've lost count. Maybe you will never win, maybe it was destined that you would lose", his voice was as soft as a feather, the content was anything but. His words poked at Danilo's ego, he had just said what everyone wanted to say but lacked the courage to.

Danilo turned his back to his brother as he struggled to keep his fury in check and to stop himself from attacking Lysander.

" What are you hoping to achieve brother? Lysander absentmindedly asked. They had all lost something to Battle of Blood. Reliving the battle was something he would never wish upon his enemy even though he had not witnessed it himself, but he heard stories all of which bespoke losses and blood.

"Is their pain worth your ego, My King", When King Lorenzo took over the throne of Nyxorian eight centuries ago, he had conquered all cities under Reino De Espana but the Witch clan had refused to bow their head to their sovereign. King Lorenzo had thought of their resistance as insignificant not until five centuries later when the insignificant clan had amassed lots of supporters that posed threats to the throne and by then his Son Danilo had barely sat on the throne. They went to war led by King Danilo Luther and fought for a decade. The war ended with the falling of the Nyxorian flag and the Vampire's Kingdom suffering irreversible losses. How had an elephant fallen for the wiles of an ant?

King Danilo could not accept that he lost his first war as a king and he been defeated by such a small clan as the Morrigans was even more difficult to swallow. So he went back again and again and again trying to unravel the voodoo the Witch clan cast to have won the warrior. After three centuries of trying, he found nothing. Danilo could not sleep without dreaming of how their enemies had drenched the mountain of Sierraza with the blood of his warriors and cast a spell upon the sky in Luminaria for darkness not to descend as they closed in on them. The witches had won dauntlessly with minimal casualties. His injuries had been so grave that he fell unconscious on the battlefield and when he awoke, it was in his palace chamber and the battle was over. After the battle, they had worked tirelessly to find ways for Vampires to walk in the daylight.

" This battle has already been lost and if you were to win now brother, would it be fulfilling", Lysanders voice pulled Danilo out of his reveries. Danilo knew the major reason he kept coming back was to reverse his greatest regret. Danilo's jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed in resolution. There was no room for discussion, but, had the brother before him shut up it would not be Lysander.

"It is okay to lose a battle, but it is unbearable to lose one's beloved", Lysander's reminder brought forth the thoughts of his beloved, Aurora. The first time he saw his beloved was at the airport. Something had happened to the jet so he had to take the public one. He was arriving while she was leaving. She was fifteen. His beloved was a red-headed beauty with striking blue eyes the reflection of the ocean. The first time he saw her he was floored and the hurricane of affection that had flooded his heart made him staggered on his feet. He had never loved any in such a manner, not even the witch he had loved once. Those overwhelming feelings scared him into staying away. Yet he could not stay away for too long, he shadowed her dreams and could not help but do some things a child should not hear. She thought of him as a fantasy and he could not wait to watch the expression on her face as he graced her with his presence and drowned himself in a gentle whisper of serenity that enveloped him in a warm, golden light, pulled him into a soothing embrace that calmed the tempests of his mind that was her essence.

Lysander looked at his elder brother with those eyes of I've seen all of your thoughts. Danilo was the one he loved and respected the most out of his three brothers, but this brother of his can be foolish too sometimes " What scares you, brother",

Danilo looked into those green eyes that could see into his thoughts, he was not ready to give him the satisfaction of being right.

"I sent them to propose a marriage",

" And is that the proposal she deserved", Lysander turned away unwilling to continue looking into those stubborn grey eyes.

He continued "Do you think Viktor was the best person to propose the marriage on your behalf, I believe there was Kael",

" Kael would have given too much information. I'm not saying he can not be confidential, I'm saying instead of easing her into our world he would have dumped it on her. He has the mind of a warrior and not a solicitor", Danilo countered. He could feel a headache assault his head and he pressed his temple for relief.

Lysander pulled his armor over his head, his voice muffled by the metal that made the heavy protection "At least, he would not be cuddling with your beloved",

Danilo's eyes narrowed in confusion before his eyes turned into slits in fury at the realization of what his youngest brother meant. He paid no heed to the sound of heavy steps as they approached his tent.

" My Lord, it has begun ", A soldier cried out outside his tent.

The war cries of his soldiers resonated in his ears as he strapped his weapon into the inconspicuous stash by his ankle "This conversation is not over", he dashed out of his tent with Lysander not far behind him.