It's Complicated, Our Love/Hate Relationship.. (Fall and I)
 

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[IMGLEFT]http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu270/Forumpostit/zff7cc3-1.jpg[/IMGLEFT]Name: Nikolai Duarte

Race: Demon

Age: 20

<-- Appearance

Short Bio: Niko is the second oldest of three children to the demon royal family. As second oldest he has been able to live with certain freedoms his brothers never got, learning skills later to be use as an emissary and adviser to his older brother. He is a skilled fighter, though it is not his favorite thing to do. If not for growing up in wartime he might never have progressed past the basic level of combat required of him to learn.

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[IMGLEFT]http://i961.photobucket.com/albums/ae91/AnimeDeath543210/Anime%20Maids/21_maid.jpg[/IMGLEFT] Name: Elisa

Race: Demon

Age: 18

Occupation: Lady's Maid

Bio: When she was still a kid Elisa was sent to the castle in Palesca to be the princess' maid. She was well trained and loved her work but the Princess was killed in the war and Elisa stayed on as just a servant until the angel princess, Adalina came into the picture.

Bells rang through the entire city in celebration and announcement of the royal wedding about to take place. The city itself had seen better days. Signs of war were everywhere, but most notably were the signs of the years the city had passed between hands to the angels and demons. Their architecture and cultures met here and melded in some areas where as others had gone to the point of building walls to keep the others out. Walls of protection within an already walled city, for when the military wasn’t enough to protect the citizens here. The need for such measures was at an end today.

Inside a temple of mixed architecture; the dark lines of the demons and the lighter, softer curves of the angels the two royal families waited for the bride to walk down the aisle. Tension was high as they stood there, watching the procession begin, listening to the music swelling. Prince Nikolai Duarte of the demon nation was glad he didn’t have to walk with any angels. He simply flanked his oldest brother, the groom, along with his younger brother and took his place to the side of the alter. His older brother stood before the alter and turned to look directly down the aisle with bated breath. This was it.

Niko watched with a touch of boredom as the angels began their procession down the aisle. They were all beautiful in an exotic kind of way but he couldn’t help but think of how bloodthirsty they had proven in the war. It tainted them in his opinion. As a small child he’d been told about how kind spirited and artistically gifted angels were… and then the war started and all good things about angels had already been said. Soon enough, he’d have a sister that was an angel. He felt his mood darken as he thought of his own sister, long since murdered as an act of war. Nothing, not even a marriage to stop the war, would erase what it had done to him and his family and he’d be damned if had to be nice to his new sister in law.

((You can leave the attack to me in my next post. I thought I'd let you get and intro in before I start mass murdering people. ))

The building were falling apart due to the many battles the city had endured over the years. Adalina looked about the city in distraught before she went into the building where the marriage was to be held. Her sister had requested her to stand with her at the alter. No matter how much she protested, Lina was still standing there, waiting on her sister to make her way down the aisle.

The wedding march started and everyone stood and turned to see the beautiful angel bride walking into the room. There seemed to be a glow around her. In appearance, Lina and her sister Claire were exact opposites. While Lina had brunette hair, Claire had golden almost silver hair. She also had ocean blue eyes while Lina had dark green eyes.

Claire reached out and squeezed her sister's hand for support as soon as she made it to the alter and they stood their, waiting for the priest to begin with the wedding procession. Lina sighed silently and stood there, praying it would be over fast. Her gaze went to the man standing near the groom, she assumed he was the brother. Which would mean he would be her brother-in-law by marriage. This made her grimace, the thought of having a demon as a brother was not something the young angel wanted to even remotely think about, even though it was soon to be true.

((Alright that's fine. ^^ Let the massacre begin!))

Niko didn't notice the angel girl looking at him. He was determined to look anywhere but where the wedding party stood. It because of his disdain that he didn't see how it all started. Men in unmarked black uniforms flooded out of the priest's chambers which had a second exit to the streets. The crowd screamed, the priest never having time to before he was slashed down. The bride and bridegroom were fast seconds for the same sword.

Before Niko could be made the fourth victim he dashed behind the swordsman and swept the man's feet out from under him with a swift kick. Picking up the sword, he fended off another of the assailants, but was losing ground quickly. He hardly noticed the girl he backed into except to see she was unarmed and wasn't in black. He took her hand in his free one, swinging the sword to block and parry attacks from the man who was attacking them.

"Stick with me," he told the girl, not glancing to see if she heard him or not or even if she agreed. It wasn't a question, but a command. The few guests who had smuggled hidden weapons in were fighting and the number of men in black was diminishing quickly, but that was no reason to stick around. Nikolai took the girl through the same door the men had come out of, walking through the priest's home and to the street exit. He paused, looking up and down the street. It looked clear... but he wasn't sure.

"Listen," he turned to look at the girl for the first time and blinked, surprised by looks. An angel? He was saving an angel? He didn't have time for a moral battle with himself. She was a girl and defenseless and people were being killed all over this place. "When we get outside I need you to run with me to the left. Don't look back, no matter what you hear... I'm going to get us out of here alive. Okay?"

"I'm afraid I left my spare sword with my other wedding suit... and this priest doesn't strike me as the violent type. You're just going to have to trust me for now. We can get you something if we have to kill another man." He really didn't look convinced that she needed a weapon. In his experience an angel with a sword meant death to any demon who came across them. He didn't think that the angels had sunk so low as to train their beautiful women, but he wouldn't put it past them.

His hand squeezed hers and he flashed a half smile of encouragement at her before stepping out into the street and starting off at a run, trusting her to keep up or fall. They had hardly made it around the next corner before they met another man in black. Nikolai dropped the girl's hand and stepped forward, protectively, in front of her and met the other man's blade in a fight that didn't last more than thirty seconds.

Blood spattered onto his face, clothes, and hands but he didn't hesitate from taking the angel's hand and starting off again, heading for the part of town where his family had a small townhouse. It would be safe there, he knew. "Whoever these men are," he said as they ran, "they're not well trained soldiers. They can hardly put up a fight..."

"It's to match the blood on my hands and clothes," he told her without a moment of thought when she pointed out the blood on his face. For the time being he didn't have time to think about what he was doing, who he was saving, or even that he probably looked like a mess. All that mattered was getting them off the streets.

They made it the rest of the way without meeting another man in black. When they reached his townhouse, which was more like a small manor house behind a guarded gate and surrounded by a high wall, he skidded to a stop and said something to the guard in the demonic language before the gate was opened and he pulled the girl inside with him. It was only then that he breathed a small sigh of relief and let his brain start working.

He turned to look at her, still holding her hand as he led her inside the front door. Before he could say anything a servant girl, a teenage demon girl, rushed into the hallway. Her eyes widened in fright at what she saw.

"Oh, good." Nikolai wanted to pass this angel girl off onto someone else. "Take her upstairs to Melly's old room... get her what she needs to get cleaned up and see about something a little more..." He paused, taking in the dress that the angel was in. Seeing her curves and how high that slit was momentarily shut his brain down. "... comfortable." He finally tore his eyes from her bare leg up to her face again. "I'll come and see you once I get cleaned up as well." This whole while he hadn't let go of her hand and even now he held onto it while he waited for her to follow the servant girl.

Nikolai watched the angel go, noting that the way she held her dress made the material stretch even tighter over her backside. He smirked, not able to help but admire the view before he headed for his own room to get cleaned up. He was hardly half undressed before one of the family's body guards came into his room to ask what had happened. Niko did his best to explain, but when he was asked about the angel he'd brought home with him, he just shook his head.

"I'm not sure who she is. I wasn't paying attention at the temple and when the attacks started she ended up behind me and I just kind of saved her without thinking. I'll go and talk to her in a little... see if I can figure out who she is. It might be a good idea to assign a guard to her, just in case."

~

The demon servant girl kept glancing at the angel from the corner of her eye and didn't say anything at all until they were in a lushly decorated room. Everything was creamy and soft.

"Would you like me to run you a bath, Miss? You can soak and clean up while I try and find something for you to change into from the closet."

If nothing else spoke of wealth in this house, the closet the servant girl was speaking about did. It had once belonged to the princess and was nearly as large as the bathroom it connected to. The quality of the dressed and clothes hanging there were the highest.

The demon girl did her job silently and respectfully before leaving Lina alone, though there was no door separating the closet from the bathroom so there wasn't really any privacy while the servant rummaged through the dresses trying to find an older one that might fit the angel. The princess had been older by a few years and pregnant when she'd died so most of the clothes wouldn't fit the young girl soaking in the tub.

"Is she taking a bath?" A man's voice asked a while later. It was gravely and serious. The servant girl responded that she was and told the man to wait in the main room. There was a hesitation and then the girls were alone again.

"I've found you something to wear," she told Lina, holding up a pale lavender and grey dress that had a looser skirt. "If it doesn't fit we can see about getting it tailored... depending on how long you'll be... with us..." She smiled a little, but it was a sad smile, filled with pity. "There's a guard waiting outside. He's going to watch over you. I'm sure Prince Nikolai will come to see you soon as well, so maybe don't soak too long? If you need help with your hair or dressing I'll be waiting in the closet." There was a small stool in there for just this reason.

"Yes, Miss. Prince Nikolai of the Duarte family." She hesitated, putting it the same way as the angel felt disrespectful. "The demon prince... he's the man you arrived with."

She came in and smiled when she saw the dress fit just as she hoped it might. Standing behind Lina at the vanity she brushed through the girl's hair with a delicate nature. When she was younger she'd been in training to be a Lady's Maid. It had been a while since there had been a Lady in need of a maid in this family, however. They were mostly men and her duties had become scullery work. It was nice to finally get back to what she was best at; waiting on a woman of noble birth, as she had no doubt this one was.

"You have very beautiful hair," she said as she brushed it, stealing a glance in the mirror at the girl. "I know it's not my place to ask, but how is it that you and Prince Nikolai came to be covered in blood?"

The servant girl's eyes widened when she was told what had happened. Against all stories of demons being heartless and incapable of crying, tears filled the girl's eyes. "Prince Andre is... Oh, that's just..." She couldn't seem to find a word strong enough and settled for, "Horrible."

She was silent as she wiped away her tears and went back to working on the princess' hair, not sure what was more surreal, hearing that peace had been shattered the same day it was to be brought about or that she was hearing all of this from the angel princess.

"You're lucky," she said at last in a quiet voice. "Prince Nikolai is very good with the sword and has a big heart. I know a lot of people who wouldn't have saved you... not after the war and..." She sighed and shook her head before she could start crying again. "I'm sorry. I'm forgetting my place." She wove a silvery ribbon into the braid she put in Lina's hair before tying off the end with a small hair tie. "Finished."

"I... couldn't say. Maybe you should try to talk to him about it later. He's going to come back to see you." She frowned a little, unsure why the prince would have saved this girl. Motive aside, he had done it and now the foreign princess was in their care. She considered the guard waiting outside and wondered if maybe they would arrest this girl, hold her prisoner. It might be the perfect play to bring this new war to an end... or maybe it would backfire and just make the angels hate them all the more.

She smiled, and patted Lina's shoulder gently. "You're welcome. Come on, we don't want to keep the men waiting too long. If you need anything else, have someone send for me. My name is Elisa."

~

Prince Nikolai, dressed in a much more comfortable outfit of dark trousers and a red shirt left open at the top was waiting with two guards in the main bedroom, talking quietly when the girls emerged from the closet and bathroom. His pale eyes went right to Lina and he couldn't stop a smile. She looked lovely.

"I hope you're feeling a little more refreshed," he told her. "Come take a walk downstairs with me. We can get something to drink and talk a bit, alright?"

Elisa blushed and excused herself, though in private she smiled at the compliments given to her. It might have been wrong of her, but she rather hoped the angelic princess would stay a while. She could be of more use than she just had been and it was so refreshing to have a young Lady in the house. Not to mention Elisa wanting to see the way the Prince looked at Lina again. Was he smitten with the girl? They couldn't know each other, not really... but Lina was pretty. Who knew that Nikolai didn't have a demon woman because he was attracted to angels? It was almost scandalous. Elisa couldn't wait to share her theories with the cooks.

~

Nikolai felt his heart race a little when she said she had things to ask him. What sort of questions? He offered her his arm, being a proper gentleman about it. As they walked, however, the two guards followed silently. One to protect him and one to take care of her if the need arose.

"What was it that you wanted to ask me?" It was hard to concentrate with her so close. She smelled sweet and clean after her bath. It was hard to remember what she was.

His brow furrowed and he looked down at her, frowning a little. "I saved you because you needed saving. I'd have done the same no matter who it was I bumped up against in the temple." After he said that and he heard one of the guards cough he realized how insensitive that had come out. "I mean... uhm..."

He shook his head a little bit. "I really don't know who you are. I didn't take time to think about who I was saving and I'm sorry for that. Introductions kind of had to wait." Stopping her in the hall way he turned to face her and gave a slight bow. "I'm Prince Nikolai of the Duarte Bloodline. Who is it that I've had the pleasure of saving today?"

Nikolai's jaw tightened a little bit and he lost the twinkle of mirth in his eyes at what she said next. "I know it's not the same where you are from... but here we are raised to honor the life of women and children, regardless of their race. I'm afraid I'll need more than just you being an angel for reason to leave you to die somewhere."

He felt his throat constrict when she finally introduced herself to him. His eyes were steady on hers but there was a flash of anger in his expression that he couldn't hide from her, not when she was staring at him. Inwardly, he was berrating himself. Of all the people to save he didn't only pick an angel but one of the royal family! He'd be charged with kidnapping and... and he'd been checking out his almost sister-in-law! Ugh! Outwardly, he was as calm as could be.

"I see... It's an honor to meet you, though I wish it had been under different circumstances, Princess. Forgive me for not recognizing you." He offered her his arm again, though now it was with hesitation rather than the carefree motion before. How could he have been so stupid to not realize? He hadn't stopped to consider that she'd been up at the front of the temple the same as him... but he'd never once looked over at her when they were standing there and waiting for the ceremony to start. "Any other questions you need answers to?"