Prince of Astion

Sebastian

"Don't forget the council meeting tomorrow Sebastian." My father poked his head around the carriage, glaring at me. He knew how I'd find a way to weasel out of it if he was here but with him gone, I had to take his seat.

"And please, no bringing random women into the palace, we need to save some of your reputation if we ever plan on getting you a princess to sit next to you." My mother chimed in, smiling shyly. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course, I'm immature, not an animal." I grinned at the two as Sir Garrett closed the door behind them. He turned to me, handing me a piece of paper.

"Keep in mind our talk. I'll be back in a month. This paper is for Lilith, its instructions in case of an attack. Half of our forces are being taken with us; it's leaving you extremely vulnerable." He grabbed my hand, squeezing it, "If you have to use your... secret... make sure no one knows it's you." He patted my shoulder before releasing my hand. He turned and hopped on top of his horse.

I sneered. I'd love a chance to have that moment of pure joy plastered across my face the way Lilly had hers. Dancing and playing in a dead man's innards. I shivered as goosebumps ran up my arms.

"Love you Sebastian, we'll send a crow with updates!" They both waved and smiled at me as the carriage pulled off, the guards following closely behind them. I did feel a little sad about them leaving. They're my parents after all, and I wished them safe travel. A maid cleared her throat while she stood behind me.

"Sir, dinner is ready if you're hungry." She bowed before she took her leave. I turned to follow her. I packed up a plate for Lilith, and one for myself. I carried hers to her room, placing it on the desk for her to eat when she woke up. I silently left as I headed to my room to eat and read up on the Lahnust clan.

I took a seat at my desk, taking the small book that was neatly wrapped up. I unwrapped the twine, then worked my way through the cloth the bookkeeper wrapped it up in. The little black book flopped onto the desk. I ran my fingers on the outside of it, it had etchings of demons in it.

"Interesting..." I flipped it over in my hands. The book was titled: "Lahnust: Women". I peeled the cover back, revealing writing in an ancient language that Azazel translated for me. I ran my finger over the dark red ink.

I flipped the title page and began to read:

"The Lahnust clan virtually appeared overnight. The women of the clan are the backbone. Some say they gave their bodies to a dragon deity to birth warriors to fight the great demon war.

The clan leader, Onyxia Lahnust, made a pact with several dragon deities. She'd give them children for their souls to inhabit, virtually giving them eternal life, in exchange for their abilities and battle prowess. The deities agreed, but great magic was used to ensure the souls would stay once they inhabited the vessels and would only inhabit the bodies of females.

The women of the Lahnust clan undergo extreme trials that force the deity's soul to bond with theirs. They then call themselves guardians. Once the bonding is done, training is immediately started. The Guardians excel at physical strength in their human forms, their warrior forms resemble the type of soul bound to them and their strength, speed and abilities are increased by tenfold.

There can only be twelve women at a time who can hold the deities in their soul. Once they expire, the soul is then transferred to another. The youngest this has happened to be a child of the age of three. Certain women get held up on a pedestal, they can pick the clan they wish to marry into, while others are merely used to producing lethal offspring. Those who are chosen to only produce weapons are marked with tattoos from the bottom of their eyelids all the way down to their toes.

The women who do not have guardians are still trained to fight in battle. They're born with enhanced strength and speed. They're described as so strong without a guardian, they can arm wrestle a full-grown warrior of Astria. They're fierce and are the sole reason why this country won the great demon war.

The Guardians undergo a transformation, where their armor is pulled out of their bodies. The armor has blades placed on the elbows, feet and nails. The Guardians fight in the front, taking the blunt of the damage and dealing the most damage so the warriors of Lahnust can clean up. It is said only one Guardian is needed to win a war, and if you have one on your side, you're ensured absolute victory.

The Guardians are bred able at a young age, most starting a heat cycle at the age of thirteen. When their heat hits, it's imperative they mate, even if it's not for reproductive reasons as it can cause extreme pain and immobilize them. In order for them to reproduce, they must have a heat cycle during a full moon with their bounded mate and write runes on their bodies to complete the ritual of conception."

I flipped through the rest of the book; pages were ripped out as others were ineligible. Frustrated, I threw the book across the room. The last part of them being bred able at thirteen pissed me off. The thought of Lilith being taken and mounted burned through me.

"Don't forget, she hasn't had her heat yet..." Azazel said, trying to calm me down.

"I don't know if that makes that worse! What hell did she endure to force her body to not go through it?" I pushed away from my desk.

"Wait, you said you go through a rut, correct?" I questioned Azazel. He nodded.

"When is that? We're always... vivacious... I don't really pay attention to it when you're more... Aggressive?"

"Uh... Hmmm... remember how you don't recall being with some women and a lot of them are completely and utterly terrified of you when they see you again?" He chuckled. "But it'll never be satisfied unless it's done with a mate. It especially becomes more excruciating to deal with when there's a possible mate in store."

I sighed as I headed to pull my blankets down. I had a lot to process, and a lot to do tomorrow. I stared at my ceiling as flashes of the carriage incident ran through my head.

I did not rest well; I was up at the crack of fucking dawn. I arranged my outfit for the council meeting today. I stroked my chin as I planned my speech to Duke Spry on how I would not be blackmailed into making Lilith leave. I don't care if it ends up being a mess for my parents to fix, she was not leaving. Even when her contract was up. I exited my room wanting to check on Lilith before I started my day.

I quickly rounded the corner and made my way up to her door. I softly knocked and waited for an answer. None came. I reached out and grabbed the handle, turning it. The door slightly creaked as I cracked it open. Lilith lay where I left her last night. I heard a soft cry, causing me to completely enter the room. I made my way up to her, halting as I realized the sheets were covered in blood.

"Lilith..." I reached down, grabbing her. I felt a sharp pain run through my hand as I yanked it back. My palm was completely sliced through. Azazel started healing it shut as I yanked back the sheets.

Lilith was writhing and grinding her teeth as her armor kept snapping in and out of her body. It must have been happening to her all night for it to have done this amount of damage to her body. Her body steamed as the wounds closed, then reopened. Her ears were pointed and fluffy as her tattoo sizzled.

I grabbed her by her shoulders, pulling her up and shaking her. Her eyes snapped open as her armor completely wrapped around her. Her clawed hand grabbed my neck as she threw her body at me, knocking us off the bed. She held her retractable claws mere inches from my heart as she stared blankly at me.

"Lilith..." I choked out as her grip tightened on me. "Lilly?" I questioned as her gaze slowly focused on my face.