Love Bites (Book one)

Chapter twelve

*Sven*

I don’t know why I bothered to come to this. I guess that I needed to show some support for my own idea. Drex sat at one of my sides with Martyn next to him, while Frankie was at my other. She was nervous, ringing her hands together as we waited for those that were still in the running to join the guard to come in.

Finally, Charles and Phillippe entered, followed by four Physveys which did not surprise me, two Telveys and the one Sedvey. Frankie started to jump up and down in her seat, waving frantically like an i***t. I was about to yell at her to stop it when the Sedvey turned, her eyes landing on Frankie as she gave her a small smile and wave before her eyes moved to me. She seemed to freeze, her full lips parted slightly as her eyes wandered over my form. I felt my own breath hitch. She was beautiful, even for a Sedvey, probably the most beautiful I had ever looked at. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a pony tail, piercings in her setum and nostril, a tattoo poking out of the bottom of one sleave and writing running down her arm. I wondered if she had any other tattoos and piercings hidden on her body. I felt a swelling in my pants as she continued to stare at me before her face hardened and she looked away.

I felt disappointed that she had stopped staring at me, finding her action of looking away disobedient, even though she was meant to be standing with the other’s. Frankie sat back in her chair, still bobbing up and down slightly with excitement. “See, I said Yasmin was good.”

So, that was Yasmin. Suddenly her name did not shock me anymore, and in fact I played around with it in my head, thinking about how beautiful it sounded. But no name could compare to her actual beauty, and I found myself hoping that she would fail the trial so that I could lock her away in my harem so that only I could see her.

“You will each take turns stepping forward and lifting the bar of weights. Each round that is passed, we will add more weight to the bar. The first to fail to lift the bar will be asked to leave.” Charles announced, walking up and down the line as they stood similar to one of the groups rather than the guard. I wondered where they had picked up on how to behave and act, thinking that whoever had trained them had done well.

The first to step forward was a Physvey, easily lifting the bar above their head before placing it back on the mat and moving to the back of the line. I watched as Yasmin stepped forward, noticing how she seemed nervous the closer to the front she became. When it was finally her turn to lift the bar, I could see the look of relief and surprise on her face as she managed to do it with a little strain. Frankie let out a loud whooping sound as she moved to the back of the line. Next up was a Telvey, she grasped the bar, trying to lift it, her feet slipping slightly.

“You can do it.” A magical voice rang out and my eyes moved to Yasmin who was cupping her mouth, shouting support to her comrade. The other’s joined it, cheering her on as she managed to lift the bar, a look of joy and gratefulness on her face before she put it back on the mat.

“Don’t try to distract me with your hollering!” The next Telvey sneered, stepping up to the mat. Everyone remained silent, watching as she struggled but eventually managed to lift the bar.

After that, the women were each cheering each other on, helping to encourage them to push themselves to lift the bar that was growing in weight, except for the Telvey who seemed to want to distance herself from the group. Frankie was joining in, seeming to feel like part of the small group and I did not have it in me to tell her that she was above them and should act as such. It had been a long time since she had had this much fun and I did not want it to end because of me.

Yasmin stepped up again, shaking out her shoulders before reaching for the bar. “Lift with your legs.”, “Keep your body straight.”, “You can do it!” The others cheered as she started to lift the bar, her face turned red under the strain and I could see that her arms were wobbling slightly. I willed for the bar to fall, for her to be the one to be kicked out, but then she raised the bar above her head, the stadium all now cheering along as if we were watching a fight to the death.

The energy was intoxicating, and knowing that it had all stemmed from Yasmin made me even more curious about the Sedvey. She had the heart of a leader and the other women seemed to follow her, she did not put herself before them, even though she knew that one of them would be kicked out for not being able to lift the weight, she chose to cheer them on instead of wishing for their failure.

Everyone cheered as the first Telvey managed to lift the weight, seeming like she was at her absolute limit as she dropped the weight gasping for breath before moving to the back of the line where Yasmin pulled her into a hug. There was a loud ooo across the arena, making my eyes move back to the mat to see the other Telvey had dropped the weight. She panted, trying to lift the weight again, her feet slipping out from under her as she collapsed to the ground.

“That is it, you’re out.” Phillippe yelled, staring at the Telvey as she shot to her feet, seeming ready to argue before she looked around at all the eyes burning into her. She grumbled as she stormed out of the arena, the others having a small celebration before they reformed into an immaculate line.

“Now you have proven your strength, speed and dexterity, it is time for you to use all of these as well as your abilities to battle against one of the guards. You do not have to necessarily win the fight, but you will be judged on your reactions and ability to plan ahead.” Charles informed the women, who all nodded that they understood.

They worked down the line, the first Physvey had the ability to turn into a lioness which was rather impressive. She stalked towards the guard that she had been paired against letting out a mighty roar. The Telvey she was aginst could make himself invisible to his enemies, but the lion used its senses to easily find him and pin him against the ground, snapping her teeth until she was told to stop.

I looked over to Yasmin, wondering what her gift was, given that Sedvey’s tended to have defensive qualities rather than attack. The next Physvey could make roots spring up from the ground, but as the Physvey she was pitted against could conjure fire, even when she wrapped the roots around his feet he would just burn them away. She proved to be fast but not fast enough and as soon as she took a glancing burn from the fire, the fight was classed as over.

The next Physvey could shoot spines from her palms, which seemed to have a paralytic agent on them as the Telvey she hit slumped to the ground unconscious as soon as he was hit. The fourth could control the wind, catching her opponent in a tornado and not releasing him until the fight was over.

The Phsyvey returned to the line, clasping Yamin on the shoulder encouragingly as she moved to the centre of the arena. I held my breath, watching as the Physvey Yasmin was pitted against, shaped the energy around him into a ball and threw it at her. There was a loud gasp as Yasmin blew the ball of energy back to him, everyone confused how she could have a Physvey ability, nevermind the exact same ability as the previous female. The Physvey dodged his own orb, forming one after the other and throwing them in quick succession. Yasmin formed a swirl of wind in front of her, sending the balls firing off back at her opponent as she slowly approached him.

Once within range, and while the Physvey was still dazed from taking his own orb to the stomach, Yasmin reached out and touched his arm before her windshield fell and a ball of energy formed in her own hand. I looked over to Drex who smiled proudly down at Yasmin as she threw the ball straight at her opponent, the short distance giving him no time to dodge as he took it to the arm and the fight was over.

Everyone cheered, getting to their feet and clapping their hands. The ability to use others' gifts was indeed rare, so rare that in all my years I had not seen it before, only reading about it in chronicles. I eyed the young Sedvey curiously as she returned to the line, everyone pulling her into an embrace, not seeming to care that she could take any of their gifts.

The last vampire stepped forward, the only remaining Telvey. She had the ability to make it so that there were several copies of herself meaning that the guard did not know which of them was really her. After ten minutes of the guard randomly attacking the wrong person, the fight was called and the Telvey rejoined the line.

Phillippe and Charles moved away from the group, discussing with each other about what their decision should be as to which should stay and which should go. In all honesty, they had all put up a good fight and I was pleasantly surprised that they had performed as well as they did. I found that my eyes moved back to Yasmin, still taken by her beauty and power. A selfish part of me hoped that my sons would make the sexist choice to kick out the Sedvey, even though she had by far shown the most resourcefulness of the group.

Finally, Charles and Phillippe walked back over, scanning up and down the line before their eyes landed on the second Physvey. “Step forward.” Charles bellowed.

The Physvey followed the order standing with her back straight and her shoulders back. “When you realized that your power was not useful against your opponent, you failed to adapt and that led to you being burned. In a fight, you have seconds to decide your plan of action and you did not manage to demonstrate that today.” Phillippe announced, his voice not as harsh as it usually was.

“Thank you for the opportunity, sir.” The Physvey replied, before giving a small wave to her comrades and leaving the training ring.

“The five of you have proven that you have what it takes to be part of the guard. Well done. Tomorrow night you will be assigned a partner who you will work with, they will show you the ropes and you will have to learn to work together as a team. Until then you are dismissed.” Charles told the group before him, before Frankie shot to her feet and ran down the narrow stairs to join in the celebration.

My eyes stayed on Yasmin, watching as she jumped up and down with glee, a look of relief on her face. “I told you it was a good idea, sire.” Drex whispered beside me and I found myself unable to counter his argument, my mind still thinking of how Yasmin would be much more suited in my bed than as part of the guard.

I got up and stormed out of the training ring, heading back towards the castle. I had plenty of women at my beck and call, why should I care if one Sedvey was not part of that. I sent for Michelle, needing to get rid of the ache in my c**k that had been there since I first laid eyes on Yasmin. She was just one woman in a sea of thousands, I would easily forget her face, her strength, her body that was hidden beneath her baggy gym clothes promising so much. I shook my head. No. This did not happen to me, I did not feel this way for a woman and it must just be my primal need to f**k taking over.

There was a knock at my office door and I quickly beconned Michelle in, and although her body and coy smile did not hold the appeal it had the night before, I still grabbed her roughly and plundered her depths. Yes, this is what I need. This is what I will do until I no longer feel anything for the Sedvey that meant nothing to me.