Baelon stared into the midst of the dancing nobles and the beautiful ladies giggling, sending little winks to their lords.
There, Daemon danced with Laena, her palm in his clasp as she wore a polite smile whereas the rogue stared into her eyes, hoping to peek into her soul.
Baelon, in contrast, twirled the glass in his hand, a small smirk etched on his visage. He took a sip of some fresh blood, rich in taste and rather well-oxygenated.
Deep euphoria rushed across every single point of his body. His smile deepened as he revelled in the delight of his delectable meal.
'That hit right.'
It was his first blood of the day. Recently, he had begun to control his blood intake for the sole reason of elegance.
He had also learnt that quality beat quantity,
'Im not a rabid beast after all, a man of my stature… can not behave similar to a kid wetting his bed.'
Yes, to Baelon the idea of consuming blood too much felt something that a maniac would rather do.
Especially since, Baelon had been getting small visions of Alliandre's brother that she had turned into a vampire through the blood bond that he had between all of his sirings.
'That kid…. Is cooked. He's drinking blood every second of the day…'
Just the thought of it made the vampire prince scrunch his face with a mix of disdain. As he had expected the Martell kid had turned into a slave to his desires.
'Even Alliandre is not fairing much better. She is starving herself and the serpent is throbbing inside her brain screaming inside her ears, to drink blood! The only reason she has not surrendered to it is her hatred toward me. Sooner or later, she will become berserk. Heh. This is entertaining.'
Shaking his head, Baelon chugged his cup down. With a slight smirk, Baelon trudged toward Rhaenyra.
"Dearest sister, may I have the honor?"
Baelon reached out his palm for his elder sister to take. She glanced at his wicked smile and raised her brows in irritation as to wonder what her devious brother was up to now.
Rhaenyra grabbed Baelon's outstretched hand as the two walked amidst the dancing nobles.
Baelon's fingers clasped her waist while her hand lay on his shoulder as the two waltzed in a slow harmony.
The vampire prince observed his sister's face. It was the same as ever but a tad bit fuller than in her teenage youth, her skin certainly marred a few wrinkles of age… however nonetheless she appeared beautiful.
Rhaenyra stared into Baelon's piercing red eyes that glowed ominously.
Honestly she often wondered why Baelon kept his eyes closed in the mornings and why all of a sudden his eye color had changed.
Among most maesters and nobles the reason of belief for his eye color change was the strange disease that had bedridden Baelon for years.
Even though now cured… it has definitely left its marks… so the maesters believed.
'That doesn't explain why he keeps them shut.'
"Baelon… whats your ploy now? Whats your insidious mind plotting?"
The Vampire prince showed an expression of heartache almost stuttering behind if it was not him controlling the waltz.
"Wild accusations. I should ask you dearest sister, whats your ploy? I hope you know… I am the future king and that is set in stone."
Rhaenyra furrowed her eyebrows and released an irritated sigh. Baelon continued, the slight smirk on his face ever present.
"Your kids are bastards, are they not?"
Rhaenyra instantly flinched, her eyes seethed with fury as she raised her palm to slap the pale prince.
Before her hand could leave a mark on his face or create a commotion, Baelon grabbed it, his fingers carresing her skin and… veins.
He glanced deep into Rhaenrya's blue eyes and burned her shocked face into memory. The man opened his mouth slightly before whispering into her ears.
"Now, we would not want to cause a political scandal would we, dear sister? I was merely posing an innocent question."
Rhaenyra's eyes did not leave Baelon, she peered into them with the same weight as a thousand needles.
"They are not."
Baelon lightly shrugged, "Sure, I believe that." Instead he raised her palm and for a moment Rhaenyra was awestruck by his glowing eyes, which suddenly froze her soul itself.
Currently the targaryen princess was experiencing deep paralysis. Baelon smirked as he raised her palm toward his mouth.
The candles flickered and darkness loomed over the room for a second.
Baelon wiped his lips and licked his finger which still had a bit of blood. He closed his eyes and relished in the quiet euphoria.
"Mhm, as I expected. Delicious."
He smiled at his frozen sister as he said that. He observed her face that had frozen in trepidation, pursing his lips he clicked his finger in front of her face a few times before shaking his head in dismay.
'She's out of it.'
He looked around to see if anyone had noticed anything and to his joy it seemed that everyone was too busy dancing.
Shrugging, Baelon walked around the corner, smiling at the girls that threw flirty gestures at him, toward Laena and Daemon.
The rogue glanced at the vampire prince with a small smirk. Baelon smiled lightly at him, his eyes narrowing into slight crescents.
"Uncle maybe you should check on my dearest eldest sister."
Daemon paused for a moment, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion as he glanced across the room to where Rhaenyra still stood still, frozen like a statue… staring into space as if she had witnessed the abysmally depths.
Instantly Daemon bolted but not before giving a confused glance to Baelon… whereas the pale prince himself turned around to look at his betrothed.
"I hope I did not keep you waiting, my lady."
Laena raised her eyebrows, biting her lips as she twirled her hair in her fingers.
"Oh no, my lord I was entertained."
Baelon raised an eyebrow, dangerously close to his fiance.
"Were you?"
His fingers reaching deep into her hair whereas his right hand crept a little lower than her waist.
"Mhm~!"
Laena whimpered before immediately shutting her mouth close with her palm.
She stared at Baelon expressing astonishment through her eyes before glancing everywhere else to see if anyone heard it.
Baelon smirked coyly, his hand outstretched. "May I have this dance my fair lady?"
Laena rolled her eyes grudgingly holding his palm before releasing an exasperated smile.
"Could I ever deny you my lord?"
Baelon clasped her waist with gentleness and her other hand with a practiced ease.
"I guess not."