Sehun asked if they would at least allow him to say goodbye to his father. Even though they abducted him, they allow him to say goodbye. Sehun doesn’t even know where he’s going or who he’s going with. But the vampires threatened to kill him if he told. His father understands and pulls him in for a tight hug, begging him to come and visit if he can. They blindfold Sehun once again and ride for a long time. Sehun tries to size up the one vampire riding with him in the back of the carriage. “Don’t even think about it kid, I’m not just a full blooded vampire. I’m pure blood; I could rip you to shreds in one breath.” Sehun gasped horrified and turns away from the man. They stop for food and sleep, it’s a ragged old inn and Sehun doesn’t trust the seedy looking keeper. But the others have red eyes and fangs, so they send him to get a room. Sehun silently passes the man the money afraid to speak, thinking that it will reveal his identity. He nods slightly when the man passes him the key and he goes up to the room, before opening the balcony and helping to pull the three others into the room.

“I have no idea where I am or which way home is, so will you tell me what you want with me?” The vampires share a glance between themselves and one that threatened Sehun earlier starts to speak. “We understand you’re the only child of your mother. A long time ago about twenty years before you were born, your mother was betrothed to me. I at the time was well over 200 years old and found it odd to be marrying someone so young. But seeing her bright smile and loving eyes assured me that she was the perfect bride. I asked for exactly one week each morning if she was having any second thoughts regarding our marriage and she assured me that she was not. But the day of our wedding she was gone, along with the baker who had made our wedding cake.” Sehun knew that the baker was his father but he refused to believe that his father would do something so awful. He had never asked how his parents met fearing it would make his father sad by the fact that they weren’t together now. “Even if your outrageous story were true, what do you want with me?” Sehun doesn’t know what he has to do with something that happened over three decades ago. “I was promised an heir from your bloodline; you’re the only living heir of age. Tomorrow we’re going to visit your mother’s parents and make it official.” Sehun is even more confused. “Make what official?” “Your betrothal to me.” And before Sehun can throw a punch at the guy like he wants to the others are restraining him.

The following day they arrived at a large home, just as the sun began to set. Sehun had been in a worsening mood since learning about their plan. He hadn’t been exposed to dating and never experienced a real relationship, but when he imagined his future he was always running his father’s bakery, married to a beautiful woman and with kids of his own. He didn’t imagine being kidnapped and being forced to marry a stranger to make good on some deal formed before his birth. Before they left the inn, they dressed him in probably the most expensive clothing he had seen. Sehun wasn’t nervous, but it seemed that his captors were. Before they entered the home they were checking each other over and taking deep breaths before the doors were opened. Sehun came face to face with a woman that looked exactly like his mother he took a step back shocked as if he had seen a ghost.

“This is your grandson, he’s a Halfling.” Sehun was confused, because the woman looked no older than his mother but apparently she was. He knows very little about Vampires or any other mystics but he guessed by the speech the man had given him before that vampires stop aging at a certain point. The woman approached him cautiously before pulling him into a tight hug. He was uncomfortable but didn’t pull away. “I came to ask for his hand in marriage. If you deny this request it will be assumed an act of treason and your entire family will be murdered, including him.” Sehun pulled away and hit the man in the jaw, the first hit he’s managed to get since they took him. But moments later he’s being restrained by the other two and the man is slapping him back and forth across the face. “I didn’t announce my rank to you because I wanted to see your true nature. But I am Luhan the governor of Garnet and all who inhabit it.” Sehun laughed because he’s never heard of a vampire governor, and he knew it was an awful prank. The woman stepped in front of him to shield him from the next series of hits. “He’s just a child, he doesn’t know how to behave. As for your request, we accept but he will remain at our estate until the wedding.” Sehun wanted to protest, but the glare he received from the men kept him quiet. “Fair, but one of my men will be staying also to make sure he doesn’t escape.” The men let him go and climb back in the carriage leaving him with the strange woman.

“I’m sure you have many questions. I’ll start with probably the most peculiar subject, the marriage.” Sehun nodded wanting understand the reason behind this odd union. “Centuries ago many female vampires would die while giving birth. Most often their marriages were motivated by politics and economics rather than love. To insure that a certain family remained faithful in their promises, the widower would take another child of the families as their spouse. This was most often the youngest son. But as medicine advance the practice faded away but was never made illegal. How old are you?” Sehun was surprised the woman even sounded like his mother. “I’m 16.” She smiled and petted his head. “You’re quite young; I don’t even remember my 16th year. It’s been quite some time.” Sehun wanted to ask how long but decided that it wasn’t polite. “When I heard your mother had been executed, I was sure she hadn’t had any children. But here you are.” Sehun nodded awkwardly, even when speaking about subjects like death the woman’s tone remained calm. “Your grandfather is away right now, but I’m sure he’ll be pleased with you as well. I’ll bring you to your room and later we can talk about your mother. I’m sure we’ll be able to tell you more than your father could.” Sehun followed her silently.