The Dance
1024 Words
Kaede took Yuki in his arms and pulled her waist close to him. He felt comforted just by the nearness of her.
He missed holding her this close, being able to smell her sweet perfume and feel her body close to him. If for nothing else but this, Kaede would not have wished for the music to ever stop.
He could hold on to her like this, his beloved safe and always within his reach. "I hope we can stay like this until the end of time," Kaede whispered in her ears as their bodies swayed to the sweet melody of the song.
Yuki looked up to him and met the warm blue eyes, the shade now a deeper blue than the bottom of the ocean.
"Whatever do you mean?" Yuki asked as she looked down, her long lashes touched her cheeks, now the color of cherry blossoms in full bloom.
"I was just kidding, my dear. Your feet will hurt if we keep on dancing forever," Kaede's deep baritone voice floated in the air even when he failed to inject humor into his words.
Finding his own words silly, Kaede couldn't help but smile. He had become the most pitiful demon in the whole realm.
"Though, I honestly won't mind if we did," Kaede added before Yuki could dismiss his words as nothing but a joke.
Yuki observed the demon fox, now revealed to be a prince of the light faes as well. She wanted to ask but was afraid to ask him directly.
What does he mean? Could this handsome prince with blue ethereal eyes possibly be in love with me? No, impossible! Even in this ballroom, I don't stand a chance against the truly beautiful mermaids.
Yuki sighed. "Why do you confuse me with your words, your highness? Please stop saying words you don't mean."
Kaede's hands tightened on her waist, he kept her closer to him, until their faces were just a breath away. "Yuki, don't you see? I mean every single word."
Yuki's eyes widened even when she felt Kaede's hand caressing her cheeks.
The look on the prince's face was forlorn like he was caught in his silent misery. "You are my whole world, Yuki. You are the very air that I breathe."
Yuki stood frozen as she felt Kaede's hands on her hair, his hands removing the hairpin, and making it flow freely on her shoulders.
Yuki felt Kaede's lips firmly planted on hers even as she closed her eyes, aware that all eyes were on them.
She tried to struggle from his grasp, conscious of the merfolk's gaze completely locked on the pair.
He was tasting her honey-flavored lips as nothing else mattered except for the two of them.
In the merfolks' minds, they could barely believe what they were seeing. Could it be that the long-lost prince was willing to gamble away his just-recovered status all for the human girl?
Just when the prince was about to tell her everything, the atmosphere fell silent. The music stopped playing as sinister shadows surrounded the palace.
In that instant, Yuki felt a familiar feeling that her world was about to come crashing down again.
********************
The air thickened as the smell of war enveloped the halls.
Kaede gently kissed Yuki's hair as he instructed her, "Run, my love. Wait for me inside your room."
Kaede signaled for a court attendant to approach them. "Bring her to her room now."
Yuki wanted to protest, to at least know what was going to happen, but her instinct told her that they didn't have the luxury of time to do so.
The seriousness in his voice and the worry on Kaede's face said it all. There was going to be a bloodbath.
When Kaede was satisfied that Yuki had been taken to safety, the duke approached him as the mermaids were led by the guards out of the palace.
The mermen stayed, directed by their inner sense of honor and nobility.
Every single merman on the palace, regardless of rank or social status, conjured their trident and waited for the inevitable.
Kaede took a step forward and conjured his sword. The blade formed its signature icy frost as he waited for the unwelcomed guests to step forward.
A sultry blue-haired woman stepped forward, a captain of the demon world, the same one who had been in charge of monitoring the demon general while he was in the human world.
"My prince, I hope you don't mind, I have orders to arrest or to kill you. Which do you prefer?" the blue-haired woman said, l*****g her lips.
New courage to take on the once-feared general flowed in her veins. She had, after all, just been fed with blood from the new crown prince of hell. The blood from his veins circulating within her body had given her more power than she could ever hope for.
And so, with confidence, she walked through the hall toward the handsome traitor with blue, smoldering eyes.
"That should have been funny, but seeing you makes me lose my appetite for the night. You always were one to annoy me, captain." The demon fox confidently drew his sword and waited for his enemies to advance.
"And you have always been the one to fill me with desires. What if I make you my pet instead?" the blue-haired woman's eyes shone with l**t even as she met the cold eyes of the demon fox.
"The most disgusting proposal I ever have received." The demon fox's laughter filled the halls as the brigade of invaders lunged forward.
Insulted by the prince who had always rejected her despite her attempts, the blue-haired captain resolved in her heart.
The demon fox has to die tonight.
As the swords and tridents collided with each other, and blood colored the waters red, the prince of hell smirked.
"Have your day, brother, while I will be having her instead." Jiro smiled as he forced open the door to Yuki's room.
A calm expression settled on his face as he announced, "I have come to take you away princess. I hope you don't mind."
- Writer
