A/N:  I had 6 chapters for this story already written, so I hope y'all have enjoyed them! I'm hoping to post a chapter weekly, so the next chapter should be up sometime next weekend ^^

After washing up, Yuta sulked in a chair in the corner of their shared room for the better half of the hour they waited for the guard to show up.  Once gathered, the guards led them to the dining hall where the royals ate for special occasions. 

Yuta’s eyes trained on the splash of reds and golds that lit the room.  The royal family was already seated, and after bowing, they, too were gestured to sit down as well. Taeyong sat across from the King at the end of the long rectangular table.  The rest sat accordingly. 

Waiting until the chairs were filled, the King suggested with an attempt at a smile, “Why don’t we introduce each other?”  All 13 heads nodded in agreement.

“I am King Yifan, son of Minho, of the Northern vampire clan.  Some call us the Chinese clan for short.  It’s nice to finally meet you all.”

“I am Queen Amber, welcome to our home, and I hope you manage to enjoy yourselves during these difficult times.”

Yuta shifted in his seat.  The next two vampires were the ones he was most interested in. 

Cutely wiggling in nervousness or excitement, Yuta wasn’t sure, the blue-blood spoke softly, “Hello, my name is Sicheng, son of Yifan, and um…” The boy looked up as if he had forgotten a script he had memorized and tapped his nose in thought.  The King’s eyebrow twitched.  It seemed Sicheng was a bit of an airhead. 

The boy next to him put a hand on Sicheng’s other hand that was lying on the table and spoke in his place.  Sicheng gave him a thankful, cute smile.  “I am Kun, fiancée of Prince Sicheng, please excuse the prince.  He’s really pretty but a bit dumb.  Kun playfully nudged his fiancée in the shoulder, causing the other smile once more. 

All eyes were now on the small blue-blood.  He made quite a show before his speech, crackling his knuckles, leaning back in his chair, and casually crossing his feet on the table.  The King face palmed but said nothing, probably used to his son’s personality over the years.  “Yo.  The name’s Chenle and that’s my dad,” He pointed to the King at the end of the table.  “And this is my best friend Renjun.  Oh mai god. Haha.  Renjun’s so cute!” 

Yuta was definitely right in assessing the kid; he had quite the personality.  Yuta hoped Donghyuck and Chenle would meet someday and destroy each other.  Talk about an epic battle.

Lost in his train of thought, Yuta almost missed the next kid’s introduction. “Um,” he wrung his hands in uneasiness.  “M-my name.  I-I mean.  I’m Renjun, brother of Kun, nice to meet you all.”  Yuta was pretty sure the poor kid was looking at the ground the entire time.  Because Renjun was sitting right across from Yuta, as soon as Renjun looked up, Yuta sent him the biggest, brightest smile he could muster.  Renjun saw and shyly smiled back.  He was already quite fond of this kid

Taeil, too, smiled at Renjun in encouragement before starting his introduction.  “I am Prince Taeil, son of Baekhyun, thank you for letting us stay with you.”

Because everyone in the room already knew Taeyong and Jaehyun, the next to go was Yuta.

“Hi! I’m Yuta, son of Sehun, and Taeil’s unit captain.” He ended with a bright smile but soon frowned when he saw the King slip the Queen a worriedly confused glance when he mentioned the name Sehun.  It wasn’t just the King though, all the vampires around the room sent him weird looks, Taeyong most intensely of all.

Too worried about his own introduction, Yuta didn’t realize Johnny and Hansol had said theirs until the King was giving them permission to dig in

For the first time, Yuta realized human food was set out only before him and that everyone else had golden goblets filled with blood.  Too hungry to be bothered, he tore through the turkey, stuffing, and vegetables that were laid out for him to eat. 

Taeyong, like usual, kept glaring at him, but these glares were somewhat different.  It was like he was trying to look into Yuta’s soul, looking for answers that Yuta probably didn’t know the answers to.

Once supper was had, the King brought up the central focus of their visit:  the 10 chosen ones.  “It was brought to my attention that only 2 more need to be found and that they are most likely to be found in my kingdom.”  Taeyong inclined his head. 

“I think it would be smart to start with these four here,” Taeyong gestured towards Sicheng, Kun, Chenle, and Renjun.  “There’s a strong possibility that the 2 come from royal blood.” 

“You brought the heart, I expect?”  At the King’s question, Taeyong dug out the heart from his pocket and unwrapped the cloth that bound the crystallized heart.

With the cloth between Taeyong’s hands and the heart to avoid setting it off, he set the heart on a small pedestal that a guard had brought to the hall.  All 14 of the company gathered around the pedestal in wonder. 

“Renjun?”  The King motioned for the small boy to go first. 

Shaking every step of the way, he hesitated before touching, but when he did there was no reaction from the stone.  Realizing he was not one of the 10, his knees wobbled in relief, and he fell to the floor hands and knees first.  Kun chuckled and lifted his brother back up to his feet.

Chenle didn’t wait for anyone to tell him it was his turn; he confidently strutted up to the heart, tapped it once, and strutted back with his chin held high.  “Oh mai god, Renjun, neither of us are gonna fight demons!  We can play together forever now!” 

Everyone chuckled at the boy’s innocence before putting on a more serious face as Kun started towards the stone.  It would set them back greatly if the remaining two weren’t part of the prophecy. 

Kun took in a deep breath and slowly breathed out before placing a hand on the stone.  The room lit up in a magnificent ruby red color.  He was one of the chosen!  They clapped in relief.  One down.  One to go. 

All eyes were on the pink and yellow prince, who looked just as nervous as the little Renjun.  Kun took his hand and helped him walk up to the heart.  When they reached the pedestal, Kun let go, not before whispering words of encouragement in his ear.  Sicheng looked to his father, muttered a quick apology, and finally touched the stone with the tip of his pointer finger.  Sapphire light broke through the heart.  It was the only time Yuta had seen the blue light since his own encounter with the stone. 

Both King and Prince broke out in wide grins as they embraced each other in celebration.  All 10 were found!  They could finally move onto the next stage and start training together.

Straightening up and composing himself once more, the King turned to Taeyong, “Now that you’ve found all the chosen ones, what is the plan?” 

“We go back to my kingdom to train those who do not already know how to fight demons.  There’s not much we can do after that but to wait for their attack.”

“The youngest twin has yet to hit puberty, I’m assuming?”  The King shifted his gaze to Chenle, who casually had an arm draped over Renjun’s shoulder.  “We were lucky with Chenle that his puberty came so soon.  Is Donghyuck showing any signs at all?”

Taeyong sighed and shook his head before replaying, “Absolutely nothing.  His fangs haven’t even started growing in yet.” 

“That’s too bad,” the King murmured. 

A few minutes of gloomy silence passed until Taeyong cleared his throat and addressed Sicheng and Kun, “We leave at dawn so try not to be late.”

The King clapped his hands together as he spoke his final word for the night, “Well, you all have had a long trip, and I’m sure you’re ready to rest, so be safe tomorrow and get a good sleep tonight.” 

The King and Queen left the room together with the little ones following after them. 

“Why is he human?” Kun bluntly asked Taeyong as he pointed to a surprised Yuta. 

Taeyong scoffed, “That’s one of many questions you’ll have when it comes to that thing.”

Did Taeyong just call him a thing?  A thing??  Two could play at that game.

“Ha, well that thing,” Yuta pointed to Taeyong, “failed.  He had one job and ed it up.”

Kun raised his eyebrows at Yuta’s impertinence while Sicheng had a small grin appear his face.  If looks could kill, Yuta would’ve burned up on the spot from the laser beams radiating from the ice prince’s eyes. 

Kun started walking towards Yuta, “Have you had anyone else try?  I could-“ Taeyong cut off Kun’s speech with a low growl.  Kun stopped a foot from Yuta and whipped his head around to look at prince, surprise evident on his face. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that you two were mated,” he admitted looking back and forth between Yuta and Taeyong. 

Jaehyun let out a loud bark of laughter and the tips of Taeyong’s ears turned red.  “They’re not mated, not even close.  I think hell would have to freeze over before that happened.” 

Kun opened and shut his mouth before deciding on what to say.  “Then why…?”

“Honestly we all wonder the same thing, so don’t kill yourself trying to figure it out.”  Jaehyun said through giggles.

Taeyong humphed and crossed his arms, not believing this conversation was actually happening.  “Anyways, let’s get to bed.”  He pointed to Ten.  “Don’t be late again.”  Ten smiled, small crinkles forming around his eyes. 

“You don’t need to worry about him, he’s got me this time.”  Johnny winked at the small, flustered vampire. 

Taeyong rolled his eyes,  “Whatever.  Just don’t be late.” And with that, Taeyong stormed out of the room without a backwards glance.

“He hasn’t changed one bit,” Kun sighed, gazing softly at the door Taeyong had just gone through. 

“So he’s always been a pain in the then?” Yuta snarkily asked.

A small, quiet voice came from the Chinese prince, “I wouldn’t say it quite like that.  Ever since the 10 chosen ones prophecy came to being, he’s kind of gotten worse.  He was always a cold guy, but lately you never really know how he’s going to be.”

“And you’re not helping things,” Jaehyun pointedly told the curious human.  “But Taeyong’s right.  We need to get to bed.”

Minutes later, Yuta found himself in front of the door to his room.  Yuta had pleaded with Doyoung to let him stay in the room with him, but Jaehyun was very adamant about not letting that happen.

“Stupid Jaehyun.  Stupid Taeyong,” he pouted.

He knew Taeyong was in the room.  Yuta could feel him.  Yuta could always feel him.  Groaning in defeat, he entered the bedroom.  Thanking the gods that Taeyong was in the bathroom, Yuta hopped onto the bed and pulled the sheets over himself.  No way was he sleeping on the ground. 

Not too long after, Taeyong came out of the bathroom, not happy to find a certain someone in his bed.  Yuta peeked over the comforter to find a steaming Taeyong with hands on hips, feet most likely tapping on the ground from annoyance. 

Yuta watched as Taeyong walked to the foot of the bed.  His eyes widened as Taeyong reached under the covers and grabbed his ankles.  With a quick yank and a howl of pain, Yuta once again found himself -first on the cold, hard floor. 

Taeyong took that moment to claim the bed.  Yuta quickly stood up and also tried to get on the bed, but Taeyong wouldn’t allow it.  Every time Yuta got close, he would kick at him.  Many bruises later, Yuta sat on the floor in defeat, glaring up at the smirking man.

“Here.”  Taeyong threw a pillow non-too-gently at Yuta.  “Now sleep.”

Throwing his hands up in the air at the unfairness of it all, Yuta demanded, “Where’s my blanket?”

“You’re lucky you get a pillow,” Taeyong mocked as he lied down to get comfortable.  Yuta turned off the light before following his example, fluffing up the pillow before lying his head down.

After minutes of silence, Taeyong spoke up, “By the way.  You said your father’s name is Sehun…?”

Taken aback by the question, Yuta answered, “Yea…? Why?”

“He’s human?”

“Yea?

“Huh.”

“Why?”

Yuta could imagine Taeyong shrugging his shoulders and ignoring his question, but to his surprise he actually answered.  “Sehun, that was the name of one of the 12 great EXO vampires early in this era, but during the Exodus War, he was killed but we could never find his body.”

What did this guy have to do with Yuta’s Sehun?

“He was my father’s younger brother.  I never got to meet my uncle, but my dad said he was a brave guy and proud to call him his brother.  He was actually the youngest of the 12.  You actually know and have met some of the 12.  My father, Jongin, was one.  Kris, the King here, was one of the older members.  Yixing, the healer we always talk about, was also part of EXO.  Jongdae, Jaehyun’s father and my father’s oldest brother was another one.”

Yuta interrupted Taeyong’s spiel, “Wait, if Jongdae’s older, why isn’t he King?”

Taeyong quickly answered, a bit annoyed at Yuta’s intervention, “Jongdae never wanted to be King, so he passed the crown on to my father.”

“Ah.  Makes sense,” Yuta muttered quietly.

“Let’s see, Luhan and Tao were from the Chinese kingdom, too, but they were killed along with Sehun.  Minseok and Junmyeon are others from my kingdom, and they’ll be the ones in charge of training you over the next couple months.  And then that leaves… Ah.  Nevermind.”  Taeyong had only mentioned 10 of the 12, and Yuta was curious.

“And the other two?”

Taeyong hesitated before speaking.  “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but you can’t mention this to your prince friend or else I’ll kill you.”

“Hmm. Ok.”

“King Baekhyun… Is actually a vampire,” Taeyong whispered just loud enough for Yuta to hear.

Yuta immediately bolted up into a sitting position and yelled, “WHAT?”

“Shut up!  They’ll hear you!” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“Then how was Taeil human?  That’s not possible!”  Yuta felt like he had been thrown through a loop; his mind reeling.  Was Taeil a vampire but never told him?  Or was Taeil also unaware?

“Taeil was conceived before King Baekhyun decided to turn.  Remember, Taeil is a year older than you and two older than me, so the King decided to turn at the very last second before the war began,” Taeyong explained.

“Why is everything so complicated?”  Yuta asked more for himself than Taeyong.

Taeyong concluded the list, “And the last member was his lover, Chanyeol.”

“Wait.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait.  Wait.  King Baekhyun’s lover?  But he’s married to Queen Taeyeon?  Are you saying he was cheating on her?”  There were so many questions Yuta needed answered

“How I understand it is that his marriage to the Queen was only for political reasons with no feelings attached.  The Queen was well aware of his relationship with Chanyeol, so no.  There was no cheating involved.  But anyways.”

“Chanyeol was the only other human-turned-vampire in EXO.  His death was the most tragic; just hearing about it is...  It’s also the reason why King Baekhyun refuses to keep in contact with my father.”  Taeyong took a deep breath before telling the tale.
 

“At the end of the war, the members didn’t realize it until it was too late, but a demon had drained all the blood from Chanyeol’s body.  He was in the middle of transforming when Baekhyun found him, my father also with him.  King Jongin wanted immediately to kill him so they didn’t have another demon to worry about, but King Baekhyun absolutely refused, attempting to protect the unconscious boy from my father’s killer intentions, in hope they could somehow save him.  However, Jongin being the strongest of EXO, easily threw Baekhyun off and put a stake through his heart, instantly killing him.  To this day, King Baekhyun doesn’t speak of the incident or of King Jongin.”

Taeyong couldn’t see the gesture, but Yuta covered his mouth with his hand in shock, a tear slipping from his eye.  He had known King Baekhyun for years; he was also as much as a father to him that Sehun was.  Knowing he had this kind of a history made his heart ache.  Yuta felt like everything he had ever known about the world was being stripped from his eyes.  What would Taeil say if he knew?  A new ache throbbed in his heart.

“So to answer your question, I was shocked to hear my uncle’s name because of what I just explained to you.  However, the fact that he’s human throws my concern out the window.  Unless, like King Baekhyun, he’s using the pills, but that’s very unlikely.”

Yuta had no doubt in his mind that Sehun was human, did he?

Taeyong must have drifted off to sleep because no more was said.  After an hour of trying to find sleep, Yuta gave up; he was shivering from the cold ground and would do anything for some warmth. 

He peeked at the bed where Taeyong laid, his back to him.  Yuta quietly stood up and tiptoed to the edge of the bed.  Slowly and very carefully, he lifted the covers and slipped into bed.  Luckily Taeyong had gravitated more to the other side, which allowed enough room for him to have some space. 

Yuta froze when he felt Taeyong shift.  The prince flipped sides and was now facing Yuta, so he turned his back to the vampire.  After more shifting, Taeyong’s front molded itself to Yuta’s back, becoming his big spoon.  Yuta didn’t dare to breathe, afraid of waking the other.  He’s sure Taeyong wouldn’t appreciate the intimate position they were currently in. 

Still shivering a bit, not yet recovered from the cold, Yuta leaned more into Taeyong for warmth, not that vampires had that much warmth to give, but it was better than the freezing cold floor.   Taeyong shifted again, but this time it was to wrap an arm around Yuta’s waist, pulling him even closer if that was possible. 

Was he awake or was he moving unconsciously?  Yuta would never find out.  The warmth turned into comfort, which then became drowsiness.  Soon enough, Yuta found himself falling asleep in the arms of his prince.

“Yuta!  Wake up!  You’re going to be late!”

Yuta stirred; sleep still overtaking his consciousness.

“Yuta!”  Hands were now shaking him awake.

“What the hell?”  He rubbed his eyes and cracked them open to see a crazy-eyed Taeil standing over him. 

“They’re already leaving!  You’re lucky I came up here to find you!”  Yuta cocked his head in confusion, not fully comprehending.

Leaving?  Leaving.  LEAVING???

Yuta sat up in a rush, joints cracking from disuse.  “THAT ER!”

“Yes, that er is leaving right now along with everyone else, so hurry up!”  Taeil yelled as he left the room.

The piece of didn’t wake him up!  And now he’s just going to go off without him!  Was this punishment for sleeping in the bed?  Hell if Yuta cared.

In a flurry of movement, Yuta threw everything into his bag, straightened the clothes he was still wearing from the day before, and ran out the door.  What a great way to start the day. 

He was still very tired, not having slept very well.  Once again, he had his red eyes dream.  It was concerning him that he was having his nightmare so often.  Never had it occurred this much in so little time. 

The group was just leaving the stables when Yuta arrived.  Taeil must have saddled up his horse so he could easily catch up to them, which he did.  He rode past the members until he got to his position.

Taeyong looked back when he heard Yuta’s horse approach from behind.  Their eyes met and Taeyong’s mouth formed into his traditional smirk.  Yuta glared and mouthed, “ you,” with a raised middle finger.  Taeyong’s smirk disappeared as he glared back. 

Jaehyun disrupted them from their glaring contest, “So, I’m assuming things between you and Taeyong went pretty well last night judging from the way I found you two this morning.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.  You guys were spooning and Taeyong even had his arm wrapped around you.”  Jaehyun wiggled his eyebrows.  “Is there something you two need to tell us?”

Yuta could feel his face turn red from embarrassment but didn’t want Jaehyun to have all the fun.  “Things went just as well as it probably did for you two last night.  I mean you were so desperate to have Doyoung all to yourself,” Yuta shot back.

Jaehyun smiled innocently, but Doyoung was a deeper shade of red than Yuta was previously.  Doyoung was never good at hiding things.  “So are you two a couple now or what?”  Neither Doyoung nor Jaehyun would meet his eye, not sure what to say in front of the other.  It’s fine though, because he’d just get Doyoung to spill the beans later.

The two days passed pretty quickly without any incidences.  It was evident that Doyoung and Jaehyun weren’t the only couple hitting it off.  Johnny and Ten were becoming like Tom and Jerry.  Johnny was no longer the only one initiating the teasing; Ten was enjoying it just as much. 

There were a couple times Yuta thought they were getting attacked from the sound of Ten’s squeals, but it was only Johnny spraying Ten with water from his bottle he had filled as an extra for Yuta.  So much for that, not that Yuta really minded.  He liked seeing his friends smiling and getting along with the vampires. 

Doyoung and Hansol were pretty quiet, Doyoung leaving a snarky comment here and there.  Sicheng and Kun were in the very back, talking amongst each other, keeping entertained from Johnny and Ten’s teasing that was right in front of them

A lot of the ride Yuta sifted through everything he had learned since that first day at the vampire castle.  It’s amazing how drastically his life changed from training and taking on random missions to becoming a member of the vampire society.  He was still befuddled and disappointed about not being able to become a vampire.  There must be some reason, but for now there was no solution to be heard of. 

If Yuta wasn’t thinking about his life changing experiences, his mind was centered on a certain silver-haired prince.  What exactly were they?  And why did he feel so strongly towards him?  It was infuriating, not being able to control your feelings… or more importantly your . 

Time passed and soon Yuta found himself riding through the castle gates, into the stables, and finally into his own room, where he crashed on his bed and didn’t move from that same spot, having instantly fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.