A Reunion Suited For Royals

Thanks to the Drakenhardts, Ari had a safe place to stay and a loving boyfriend to cuddle with. She also had knowledge of the city's layout and no longer got lost. She lost track of how long she had been staying on the island. It was probably a few weeks or so. She grew attached to the strange royal family and treated them like they were her own. Meanwhile she still never contacted her own family. She had her doubts that they knew where she was. Sometimes she missed them, but then she would remind herself of the catastrophe she created. No way they would want her back.

The girl strolled down the street with clothes that made her blend in with the commoners. Her long white hair was out and draped over her shoulders. Her heels clicked against the cement as she kept progressing down the sidewalk. Tight skinny jeans, a simple long-sleeved tee, and a jean jacket? Definitely not princess attire. The only thing that made her visually stand out besides her physical traits were the silver claws on her fingers. She never bothered removing them. Something about them gave her comfort.

She arrived at a emptier part of the sidewalk. This put her in clear view as she prepared to cross the street. Her arms carried about four shopping bags of varying sizes. The Draganarakta did not expect to have company on this trip. She was in for a big surprise.

@"Tom Marvolo Riddle"

Aricia didn't expect to see any of her family members here. As interesting as this place was, why would her royal family care about this location? She hadn't considered that they would consider this mish-mash place as a nice vacation spot. Yet she did sometimes wonder how her family was doing. She wondered how each of her siblings were faring. Did she have more younger siblings that she never got to meet? Did they settle relations with that other clan? Did they grow bigger while she was away? Had they conquered new territory? She had gotten used to no longer dressing for political meetings or dealing with associates.

If there was anything that she missed though, then it was her older brother.

She felt bad leaving Alaric behind. She cared about her older brother dearly. They always went to meetings together and chattered about the various allies they had and the guests that would show up to the castle. They went on trips together and enjoyed fine dining and fabulous luxuries. She hadn't indulged herself as much for a while now. This was hardly appropriate for a princess like her, but she couldn't bring herself to do those kinds of things. Plus she did have to consider her funds. Not like she was low on funds anyway; the girl was taught resourcefulness and investment. Staying rich was easy.

What was decidedly not easy was taking in the presence of Alaric. At first, she ignored the blood smell. That had to be her right? Wait no...she realized the scent was coming from a distance and edging closer. She never ran into another blood dragon on the island. What a funny coincidence! She couldn't believe that there was another blood dragon just wandering around on a day like this. Maybe she was less rare than she thought. The princess then noticed something off about the scent. This was no stranger; the scent was familiar. Super familiar in fact.

Aricia froze as her name was called. That scent and voice was unmistakable.

It was Alaric Serkan Draganarakta, her big brother.

Her red eyes stared at the man in disbelief. The blood dragon stood there like a deer in headlights. The shopping bags slipped from her grasp. Many thoughts ran through her head. An array of emotions hit her. Happiness, excitement, caution, disbelief, shock, fear. The sea offered her a whole gambit of feelings that could influence her actions. Should she stay? Should she run? Should she speak? Her delicate lips could not move. Not a single sound was uttered from her mouth. The surroundings fell into dead silence as the younger sister continued to stare.

Suddenly she was curled up against the white-haired man with her arms wrapped around his torso. Her red eyes became quite watery as she hugged him. Her head leaned onto his shoulder. She nearly trembled. He was physically there. This wasn't a dream; this wasn't a nightmare.

Alaric was here.

"Alaric...."

She ignored the bags of cute gifts and sharp knives that she left lying on the sidewalk. She ignored the people that walked around the royal siblings. She ignored the bustling of traffic that sped past the corner.

It was only the two of them.

"I'm sorry Alaric....please....don't hurt me....."

Fear quivered in her voice. The implications of him being here could spell doom for her when it came to the family. After all, she did commit a crime, and she did run away from the Draganarakta family.

Yet she was just so thrilled to see her big brother despite all of that.

@"Tom Marvolo Riddle"

A light squeal escaped from her lips as she hugged her brother. He was holding onto her so tight that she could feel the metal claws imprinting their mark on her body. Not like she wasn't hugging him tightly either, but not to the extent he was. She could feel the anger and love in his touch. It was almost like telepathic communication; their link as brother and sister opened them up to each other's emotional states of being. Tears gently rolled down her face as she clung onto him. She could almost stay like this forever.

His grip loosen after she plead with him. She didn't want to suffer too much for what she had done. She didn't want to die. Her fears may have been irrational or unfounded, but they still felt very real to her. Thus it brought her great comfort when he pulled away and wiped the tears from her soft face. Her cheery smile returned as he cupped her face. Yes, that was definitely her older brother she was looking at. She'd kiss Alaric if it wasn't for the fact that she would find kissing her brother incredibly weird.

"We'll talk. We'll talk about everything. I have a lot to catch up on and a lot to share."

It was likely that the blood prince didn't know about the Drakenhardts. It was even more likely that he didn't know about Gwyn Drakenhardt, the glass dragon that she was dating. Well, half glass dragon, half fae. Yeah, she was dating a hybrid. A non-pureblood. This was going to be troublesome. Perhaps if she had chosen the family head as her mate there would have been less issues, but it was Gwynny whom she had her eye on. He loved her madly, and she loved him madly. If only things could play out simply.

But nevermind that, the current order of business was to find a place for them to talk. She knew of several nice restaurants they could acquire seats at. They could use the meal while chattering about the various affairs that required discussion. There was one particular place that she knew had a VIP section that they could easily purchase for some well-needed privacy. Her tone went back to bubbly as she addressed Alaric once more.

"Let's go out to eat! I know an excellent restaurant we can go to for lunch."

She then remembered the shopping bags she left on the ground. Her head turned to look at the bags She frowned as she realized that the knives she was trying to hide were spilling out of the bag. She needed to take care of that.

@"Tom Marvolo Riddle"

Her cheeks blushed as he noted what was inside the bags. She scurried to pick them up. Her hands shuffled the knives into the plastic. She felt the urge to prick herself on the sharp blades, but she resisted it. This was not the appropriate time to exercise her pain kink. Alaric was kind enough to help her out as well. Soon the mess was cleaned up. They successfully cleared the sidewalk of pointed objects. Aricia stood up holding some of the bags. Her grin became notably goofy thanks to how flustered she was with getting caught by her older brother of all people.

"Haha, yeeaah.... They were just sooo shiny!"

The silver and gold was far too tempting for her to ignore. But nevermind that, it was time to locate the restaurant! Where she was going was probably the most expensive restaurant in town. It was high class, chic, and definitely a place Alaric would approve of. While she was less picky and would even be willing to eat the cheapness that was fast food, she knew he would settle for nothing less than the best. In fact, she didn't want to picture his reaction if she told him how many times she decided to have a Baconator from Wendy's.

They arrived at the elegant place. It was smack dab in the center of high society, so there was no mistaking where they were. All the people walking in this part of town were well-dressed and in the latest fashions. Inside was more of the same people sitting at well-decorated tables as relaxing, classical live music was playing. The serving staff dressed impeccably in fine suits. As she stepped foot inside the place, she immediately felt under dressed and out of place. There were even a few women that gave her the look of disapproval. Jeans? Really honey?

The princess hid her discomfort by marching forward to the stand. She put on her best confident strut as she approached the woman behind the desk.

"A table for two in the back, please!"

"Er....that's the VIP section, ma'am."

The attendant's tone was polite but baffled. Clearly from her words and tone, she didn't think the prince and princess would be the appropriate people to give a VIP room to. Ari was being judged based on her attire, and the woman hadn't noticed the royal claws yet. From the scent and pointed ears, this worker was an elf. Likely a simple forest elf; no high elf would hold such a lowly position.

"I know that, silly! I've been here before!"

"Are you positive?"

Crap, this was likely a new worker. Not like she went in here every day, but she had entered the place frequently enough to recognize some of the attendants. This was not one of them. While mildly offended, she didn't retort with a response yet. Her eyes glowed just a bit redder than before. This was a clear opportunity for Alaric to step in should he choose to inject.

@"Tom Marvolo Riddle"

Aricia was a gentle soul; she didn't like having to rip into people. It had been a while since she exercised her royal status. This was not a normal thing for her to do in Manta Carlos. She considered what she would say to the elf. She definitely wanted one of the VIP rooms and refused to be told what to do by a restaurant attendant. However, before she could say anything, she was shoved aside by Alaric. Now he was better dressed for the occasion and had a particular....tone to his words. He showed the silly princess how it was done.

The elf steadily shrunk behind her counter. It was true; she was just a mere forest elf. She worked her butt off to try and get into high society and ended up an attendant at the fanciest restaurant in town. However, now she made the mistake of ticking off royalty. The meek elf trembled in fear of the dragons. She tried her best to retain her composure, but she bowed her head much lower than she did before. The newly promoted worker learned a lesson that day: don't judge by appearances. Knowing very well that she was out of her league, she led them to the VIP section.

Aricia sat down in the chair pulled out for her and crossed her legs. She was pleased that they got this space. The silencing charms on it would allow them to talk about anything they wanted without risk of people overhearing them. There were many topics they had to discuss. One topic worried her, and it strangely enough wasn't about her running away. It was about her current relationships. One in particular: her and Gwynny. Even though she was lax on the royal front for some time now, she knew her brother would freak out if he knew that her boyfriend was a half-breed.

"She's definitely a new attendant. I can't believe we went through that hassle...I'm sorry Brother. If that was anyone else, then we would've gotten here instantly."

The princess cracked open the menu. She debated what she would have for food today. There were many fine choices to choose from. Hm...she felt like having cheesecake. Maybe the steak lunch with strawberry cheesecake would be good. Satisfied, she shut the menu and glanced at her brother. She would probably help herself to some red wine while she was at it.

"So where do we start?"

Might as well start somewhere with this conversation.

@Tom Marvolo Riddle