Cassius gently cradled a sobbing Claudia in his arms, letting the girl empty herself of tears into his chest. He bitterly fought back his own, burying his face in her hair and thinking how badly the girl’s weeping made him ache; it only intensified the loss they both felt, though for the Princess it was infinitely worse.

Not a Princess, he reminded himself, Queen.

That word passed through his head and he found himself succumbing to angry sobbing. That's right…she was a Queen now. And that meant that she would be marrying as per the agreement of the engagement. There was no chance for her to ever be his. He felt dizzy and forced his own sadness away, trying desperately to support the girl in her hour of grave need. The guard gently pulled away from the woman, kneeling down before her. “My Lady… maybe you should get to bed.”

“I won’t be able to sleep, knowing they’re gone,” she cried, falling to her knees.

“You’ll get sick if you don’t try,” he told her, gently lifting her up despite her hindering dress and carrying her to her chamber. Setting the crying girl down, he gently stroked her hair.

“I’ll leave for a moment so you can change,” he told her, getting up. She grabbed onto his wrist, whimpering.

“No, please. Don’t even leave the room; just turn around. I can’t be alone,” she sobbed, doubling over and burying her face in her hands. The guard stared down at the woman he loved, wishing there was more to do to comfort her; he figured that in this situation, it was best to conform to her wishes.

“Very well,” he said, spinning around. “Hurry up.”

He heard the girl’s crying momentarily stop and she sped to her closet. He listened for long minutes to the rustle of fabric, agonizing over the image his mind created for her, one of seamless, beautiful skin and great green eyes. He fought it away, instead closing his eyes; No more heartbreak, be begged himself. He’d already been denied twice, even if the second time was merely through her engagement. If he failed again, he wasn’t sure what he’d do with himself, and since there was absolutely no chance…

“Okay,” she called, her voice as soft and fragile as her body. He turned around and saw her as she was, almost breakable in her white nightgown, and his heart skipped a beat: no matter how confident she always seemed during the day, how powerful and strong-willed, she was still the girl he had to protect.

As she settled down into the bed, Cassius joined her by her side and gently tucked her in, smiling. “I haven’t done this for a while,” he said quietly, smoothing her sheets. She avoided his eyes and turned her head away when he lay down on top of the sheets next to her.

“You know,” she said finally, her voice barely audible, “I’m not sad that they’re gone. I’m just… very angry.”

The guard sat up, looking down at the girl. “Why is that?”

She looked at him, shaking her head. “They were never there for me. Mother…she couldn’t even be here for me after Father died. I just…I can’t believe her. They’re both so selfish.”
“Of course they were there for you,” he chided, frowning. “You shouldn’t say such things, my Lady. Adria and Dimitri loved you very much; you were their only child.”

“Then why is it,” she asked coldly, “that every time I close my eyes and summon up my favorite memories, it’s never one of them? It’s always you. Why is it I never see Father playing with me in the garden or reading me stories? Why is it I never see Mother educating me on how to be a lady or tutoring me?”

His heart stopped a little and he looked away. “Those are just a few memories, my Lady.”

“But they were always so busy,” she whimpered, sitting up. “Too busy for me. They just handed me to the servants and expected to be able to raise me at their whim, whenever they pleased! I always resented it.”

“It’s coarse to speak such ill of the dead,” he growled, trying to make her stop. “They were my friends.”

“They were my family,” she snapped through new tears, these of anger. “But they never treated me right! If they weren’t busy with their damned kingdom, they were busy running off with one another painting their sheets white!”

“Now Claudia,” he said in defense of the late King and Queen, “how can you say that? You’re just angry! Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

“But I do mean them,” she said, shouting now. “I mean every word, every syllable, every damned comma! If every single person on the planet dropped dead right now save you, I wouldn’t shed a tear; but if something happened to you, you left me or were hurt or died, I don’t know what I would do because you are my only family and have been my only family, the only person I’ve loved for seventy-nine years!” She broke down, cradling her face in her hands, and the guard watched, devastated.

He wrapped his arms around her, feeling the softness and warmth of her skin beneath the sheer fabric, and heard a bitter chuckle. “You don’t have to hold me, Cassius.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“You hate me.”

He gawked, eyes wide. “…Hate you?” She nodded. “Where would you get that idea?”

“Oh, come on,” she sobbed, looking up. “I’ve denied you twice, now. I treat you like a slave, I yell at you and boss you around. I’m a selfish, terrible girl who doesn’t know how to love, Cassius.”

The guard whimpered and dropped to his knees at the edge of the bed. “I do love you, my Queen. Do you need me to prove it?”

She stared down at him, her brow wrinkled and her eyes watery. The vampire’s paw dove into his pocket and he withdrew the necklace, staring down at it. The necklace that once belonged to his mother, Alitia: to the controlling Spartan woman who had trained and molded her son, even though the time of the Greek city-state had long since disappeared; to the woman who Cassius had so admired and protected; to the woman who had died in her son’s arms, bleeding to death, her arms and throat slit by the Visigoths.

That necklace was the last thing he had of her, and the only thing he had taken from Rome. It was his heart; his soul; his very essence. Ever since Claudia had refused him the first time, he carried it with him as a reminder that there had once been something better for him; that there would be again.

“My Lady,” he said, catching her eyes, “I love you more than anything. I would murder for you, I would die for you, I would die with you, like your mother and father, if you asked me to. I’d do anything for your smile,” he sobbed bitterly, shaking his head and catching her hand. He stared down at her ivory skin, planting light, gentle kisses up and down the back of her hand and the blue veins of her wrist.

“I need you, my Queen. I love you like a man has loved no other; you haunt my dreams and make me sick inside every time I see you. Your face is burned into my eyes, and there is no other I can see any more. If I ever had to see you in the arms of another man, I would die. I would suffer less in Hell than I would to know that James is the man who gets to lie by your side.”

Tears were coming now, and he pressed his shut eyelid against the back of her hand. “Please tell me you’ll let me have you, Claudia, my sweet. Please make me yours. Abandon James, leave him behind. We can live in secret and,” he smiled through his tears, “have five children: Cassandra, Ashton, Claudius, Brutus and Lily, and you and I will rule the kingdom together. And we’ll love each other and mean the world to one another until we die.”

The girl gawked down at him, in shock to hear her own words. He nuzzled her hand, gently sobbing. “What do you say?”

His world was smashed to pieces when she slowly drew her hand from his grasp; he just stared at the bed, her words going in and out of his ears. “You know I can’t,” she whimpered, “I’m sorry.”

“Not as sorry as I,” he mumbled, rising, still avoiding her gaze. “…I don’t know if I can keep serving you like this, my Lady.”

As he turned away, he heard her startled gasp. “No, Cassius! It’s not because I don’t want you! Come back,” she begged, “I need you!”

Baring his teeth, he whirled on her. “I can’t keep seeing you like this, Claudia! You can’t understand how deeply, passionately I feel for you! If I have to sit by and watch, not only knowing another man is taking you into his arms and claiming you every night, but having to protect him, I don’t know what I’ll do! I’m sorry,” he lowered his voice, exhausted, “I can’t keep doing this. I’ve let you chew on my heart for fifty-five years, Claudia… I just can’t take it anymore.”

He made a b-line for the door, but behind him the guard could hear more fabric rustling; before he could turn the knob, her arms were wrapped around his waist. “Please, Cassius,” she begged, holding him down, “please don’t go! Please, please, you don’t know how badly I need you!”

“Then why won’t you marry me?”

She remained silent, gripping him desperately—they both knew the answer. A sigh escaped his lips and he looked down, trying to work on her fingers. “Let go of me, Queen. I promise I won’t quit, all right? I can’t go a single day without seeing your face, anyways.”

The girl sobbed into his back. “Stay the night with me,” she begged, and his jaw clenched.

“I can’t. You’re getting married.”

“You’ll do as I say!” She cried, glaring up at him with reddened eyes. “I’m the Queen, dammit!”

He let out a low sigh and turned around to pet her hair. “…As you wish. Give me a moment.”

Prying himself free of Claudia, he slipped out of her room and wandered blindly to his own, dropping the necklace the first opportunity he got. I’ll never ask her again, he thought quietly, getting changed, I can’t take this anymore. I can’t love her.

He knew that it was fruitless: he couldn’t not love her. It was impossible.

Trembling still with cold, angry tears, the guard pushed down the hall back to the girl’s room and stepped inside to find her back on her bed, the lights snuffed out. He closed the door behind him and headed to the other side of her bed, getting under the covers without a word.

“…Cassius?” She asked after a moment; he ignored her, so she went on. “…Do you hate me?”

He closed his eyes, mumbling, “No, Claudia. I could never hate you.”

The sound of shifting filled the room as she sat up. “Will you tell me our story?”

A smile briefly flitted across his lips. “I don’t know if I remember it all.”

“Liar.”

The guard sat up with a sigh, staring into the dark. “Fine. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young woman named Claudia. She decided to go visit her grandmother, a very sick woman who lived in the woods; the young lady brought with her all manner of wine and cheese and meet to make her grandmother feel better.”

He felt his muscles clench as the girl’s warmth was pressed up to his side; when he looked, he saw that she’d snuggled up against him, the way she always had as a child. Looking away with empty eyes, he went on.

“When she was on her way there, she met… a wolf. The mongrel saw her first, and his heart clenched with joy; she was beautiful, and no doubt kind.”

“…Was the wolf’s name Cassius?”

“Yes,” he muttered bitterly, “the wolf’s name was Cassius. Although I still wish I was the hunter.”

They both chuckled darkly as he continued the story. “He approached her tentatively, asking her name. When they spoke, he realized what that pain in his heart was: it was love. He wanted to hold her in his arms at night and be by her side during the day, to show her all the most beautiful flowers and things the forest had to offer until the day they both died. But he knew that she would never want him; after all, what was he but a wolf? Who could ever love a wolf?”

Claudia opened her mouth as if to say something but then turned away and shut it, her hand sliding down to rest in his.

“So, knowing that he’d have to take her by surprise if he would ever be able to love her, the wolf pointed her to a long-untouched path through the woods, claiming it was a shortcut lain with the most splendid wildflowers anyone had ever laid eyes upon; he told her that her grandmother would surely delight if she brought her those, and it would be faster.

“So the girl listened to him, and indeed the path was filled with beautiful plants, but it was much longer than her initial route. The beast sped to the grandmother’s house and chased the woman away, donning her clothes in an attempt to surprise young Claudia when she came in the door.

“Hours later, she did finally appear, heading to her grandmother’s bedroom with a bundle of flowers in her hands. She stopped with a gasp several feet away from the bedside, however: her grandmother was far worse off than she imagined. She approached her bedside and said-“

“‘Oh grandma,” Claudia murmured, shocking him, “What big ears you have.’”

“The wolf purred in reply, ‘All the better to hear you with.’”

“And the girl said, ‘What big eyes you have and what a big nose you have.”

Cassius smiled in the dark, leaning closer to her, even though she couldn’t see him. “‘All the better to see you with my dear, and all the better to smell the wonderful treats you’ve brought me.’”

“…What big teeth you have,” the new Queen managed, Cassius’ breath hot on her neck. His arms snaked around her waste and he forced away his sadness and his reservation; for a sweet moment, everything seemed so right. They both needed this, and they both knew it would never come again.

“…All the better to eat you with…” he whispered, his lips to her ear. The girl trembled against him and he pressed his mouth against her neck, kissing and sucking her skin. She moaned and leaned into him, turning her head away so he could have her.

Have her he did. His hands slid all over her, stripping her of her nightgown and leaving her lying there, completely unprotected. Even in the dark, he admired her skin; gleaming bright white in the moonlight, her legs spread for him already. He throbbed, but sadly knew he couldn’t take her: he had no doubt that they were meant for one another, and if he claimed her that night, the whole castle would be able to smell it; once two such vampires gave themselves up, their scents became identical.

That doesn’t mean I can’t pleasure her.

He made love to her that night, in the truest sense of the word, doing so despite the fact that he would go unsatisfied in the end. Palm and fingertip and tongue ran over the Queen, leaving her squirming and gasping below him, her arms snaking up his and wrapping around his shoulders as he pleasured her for what seemed like forever; every time she called his name, he felt the agony of loss and the rush of love.

“Cassius,” she cried out again, her nails digging into his back, “Oh Cassius, I love you.”

He watched, distraught, as her body found its peak and she came crashing down. Her forehead was beaded with sweat and her pupils were dilated, her breath coming heavy and desperate.

Why won’t you let me be there with you? he thought sadly, gently drawing his hand away from her. The answer was common knowledge to everyone in the country, let alone him, but he didn’t want to accept it. He ignored her whimper and sat up, pressing his fingers to his mouth in an attempt to savor the taste he knew he would never get again.

The girl trembled, sitting up and drawing the covers over her body. She looked at the guard wordlessly; he couldn’t return her gaze, instead staring at the sheets. When she pressed against him and kiss his mouth, it was like kissing a statue. The girl clung to his shoulders, sobbing into him and shaking against him, muffled pleas mixed in with her tears and attempts for breath.

“I love you,” she whispered again, clinging to him. He still refused to look at her.

“No, you don’t, my Queen. Please,” he whimpered, closing his eyes, “please let go of me.”

“No,” she gasped sadly, sliding down and planting little kisses along the muscles of his stomach, “no, I can’t.”

His head lolled back as her fingertips drifted down the trail of hair that traced from his navel and disappeared into his pants. He bit down on his own lip, trying unsuccessfully to fight back his desire.

“Please, Claudia, no,” he whispered as her hand began to disappear under the hem of his pants. “Pretty Queen, you can’t. Don’t sully your perfect hands.” Cassius reached down and caught her hand before she could touch him, pulling her away with agony. “This is something you don’t want, and we’ll both regret it. I know I already do.”

“We could be lovers,” she breathed, mouth on his.

“We couldn’t and you know it,” he replied, turning his head to the side. “Once James is the King, he’ll have a lot of support. If you were to be caught and shown as an unfaithful woman…” Cassius couldn’t bring himself to say it and instead fell silent.

The girl opened her mouth to argue but then closed it again, her eyes downcast. “Lie down, then.”

The guard did as he was told, lying on his back. He felt Claudia’s bare skin press up against him, the softness of her breasts and stomach against his torso and her face buried in his neck, and took a deep breath to steady himself.

As his breathing began to slow, Claudia’s voice danced in his ears. “Finish the story.”

“You know how it ends.”

“Finish it,” she said, more of a plea than a command.

Eyes still closed, the guard opened his mouth just a little bit. “And after Claudia and that awful wolf, Cassius, were done, he realized how cruel he’d just been. She couldn’t love a wolf; he’d surprised her, unfairly taken her when she was most weak and worried for the sake of her grandmother. The wolf hated himself. Claudia didn’t love him.

“The hunter came to the door, then, bursting in. The grandmother had found help and he went to kill the wolf; when he found Claudia sleeping in the mutt’s arms, he roiled with fury, for he had always loved the girl. The hunter drew out his knife and slit the wolf’s throat; the animal did nothing to stop him, full of self-loathing as he was.”

“Stop.”

“When he was dead, the hunter covered the body so Claudia couldn’t see and shook her awake, ushering her out of the room. He said that a wolf had hurt her, and though at first she didn’t understand, after much convincing she became inclined to agree. And she married the hunter, and they moved into her grandmother’s home to take care of the old woman as she died.”

“Stop.” Claudia begged again, looking up at him, her eyes filled with tears.

“And the wolf, his body thrown to the vultures, who had died in his love’s arms, was long forgotten, and Claudia and the hunter lived happily ever after.”

The girl trembled, burying her face in his chest and crying until she began to fall asleep. He absently stroked her hair, staring up at the ceiling, mumbling, “And you always wondered why I wanted to be the hunter.”