AT NOON

2023

Hera knight woke up later than expected. The just-risen sun shone softly on the city streets, bringing with it a flurry of early morning activities.

"Wasn't tiger(her bodyguard) on duty today? wasn't she having her regular morning tutorials today?", she wondered as she lazily walked towards the bathroom with her phone in her left hand.

She made a mental note to call Luca Vesper(her best friend) later in the day. She hasn't heard from him for two days now which was incredibly weird. He always had one new idea or invention to share with her.

Yeah, he was an aspiring scientist.

"I hope everything is alright", she muttered.

She removed her shirt, tossed them on the bed, and then her pants followed. She walked into the bathroom scrolling through the net.

A very familiar picture popped up on her screen and she frowned, hating the way her heart melted within her from mere gazing at his picture.

This was bad. She just ended her relationship with Leo and she was now ogling another man's picture.

What type of person was she? she thought as she gazed angrily at the picture in front of her.

She wondered what on earth she liked about him. Was it his jet-black curls or his very charming smiles?

Either way, it was all a waste on him.

Why would someone so annoying have such good looks?

Zayn woods? she gritted as she coiled her fingers in anger.

He was her childhood friend until his father, Mr. Woods came into politics and begin competing against her uncle. Naturally, as expected her uncle opposed their friendship and she was left with no option but to cut all ties with him.

She didn't hate him on spot but the game of politics built gradual hatred within their hearts. Her family was always winning the election. Though it was a lot harder when Mr. Woods joined the list of contestants but they still prevailed anyway.

They couldn't like each other. It was just their destiny. Though, she couldn't deny her attraction to him.

"The upcoming elections would be another ball game. They were going to win again", she muttered as she placed her phone on a stand far away from where water could reach it.

She began pouring water into her golden-brown hair. She dipped her fingers into it, scrubbing her scalp to her satisfaction. She then took a warm bath.

After 15min she was done. She tied a pink towel around her body, grabbed her phone, and walked out.

She moved to her wardrobe, getting herself something comfortable to wear. Her wardrobe was filled with black clothes and she loved it that way.

After picking a simple top with tight jeans, she wore her boots. She combed her golden-brown hair, allowing it to fall over her shoulders.

Soon she received a message on her phone, telling her to come to some unknown address. She frowned, arching her eyebrows at the message.

It was from her bodyguard. Was he trying to step up her training? She wondered as she tossed her phone into her back pockets and hurried on her heels.

***

She was driving inside her car at a very high speed as usual. The road seemed fairly empty as most civilians were indoors due to the upcoming elections. People suddenly happened to turn up dead so this was no surprise.

She kept speeding down to the address she received earlier but out of nowhere came a black sports car.

One moment the road was empty, clear, and safe, the next minute, there are loud noises, acrid smells, and pain that you may or may not recover from.

***

1922

The knights' family came through the door and everyone turned, honoring their arrival.

Herbert knight, the current ruler of Cloud-Storm City and a human to be precise, was standing at the door with his brothers, Lucas and Jacob. Ember knight, herbert's wife was also standing at his side with a baby in her arms.

Her gaze fell on Silas, Luther, and the unknown man in their mist. She could already decipher the situation.

They were probably disturbing the poor man. These vampires were so annoying, she taught as she plastered a smile on her face and walked up to them.

Her gaze traveled to both Silas and Luther who were standing at dust's side.

She coughed, taking dust lightly by the hands. " let me get you another seat, will you?", she uttered, her emerald green eyes gazing at him pleadingly and he nodded.

"They are just too full of themselves", she uttered once they were far away from those vampires.

" obviously and they are all going to suffer for it", dust deep voice uttered and she smiled, her two huge dimples surfacing.

"Don't take them too seriously. They are always like that. Though, in the end. They never kill anyone", Ember said as she arranged cups on his table.

" oh?", dust uttered and she laughed.

Dust scanned her carefully. She had piercing green eyes and a beautiful set of dimples. She seemed like a genuinely good person, which was very rare by the way. Her words came out without any form of hidden intention and he wondered if innocent people still existed.

"Yeah, you just need to understand them", she paused, glancing up to meet his eye line. " tea's on the house today. Have some, will you?", she muttered and he nodded.

She was struggling with pouring the tea with a child in her arms so she looked over to dust.

"Help me, will you?", she uttered as she passed her precious baby over to him.

The baby who has been sobbing for quite some time suddenly stopped and Ember cooed, "awhn, she likes you"

He narrowed his eyes at her, glancing at her as though she was some unknown creature. He wondered how ladies handled these things. It was funny how he had so many people to take care of, yet, had never had a baby.

"The names Hera as in queen. I just felt that she was born to assist a ruler like how I'm assisting herbert. So I named her. Silly right?", Ember said as she poured him a cup of tea.

" no, it isn't. Maybe you're right", dust uttered and she smiled, locking eyes with him.

"You should come to our party tomorrow", she uttered not removing her eyes from his and dust smiled before shaking his head.

"I have something to deal with", he uttered and she smiled, moving over to collect her baby from him.

"It's alright, just taught it would be great if you were there", she uttered and dust nodded in understanding.

" you should go back to herbert. He isn't giving me a good face. You know?", dust muttered as he rose to his feet and ember shook, slowly turning to gaze at her husband who was looking over with jealousy.

"How did you know? You didn't even look at him. Are you a vamp or a witch? But how come I haven't seen you before", she thought aloud with eyed eyes.

"I'm dust", he uttered as though that was enough answer to her question.