A/N: The story is moving in its own direction. As much as I'd like Rima to tell a story (or start to tell one and be interrupted like in the Alice in Wonderland book,) I couldn't fit one in. And I'm a little bummed about that.

-V-A-M-P-I-R-E- -K-N-I-G-H-T-

{ Chapter 9 – The Mock Turtle's Story }

"The King will be returning," Kain says.

Aido looks at his cousin and frowns. Kain just smiles, raising his glass of blood. Aido raises his too and the two vampires take a long drink. The blood is energizing but it's not the same as sex. Aido feels thirstier when he finishes his blood. His naked penis stands straight and erection when he finishes.

"Ew, Aido!" Kain growls. "Control yourself."

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Aido shrugs.

Kain turns away. "I wish you'd wear clothes."

"I won't as long as Kaname is The Queen and my dick controls me," Aido says.

Kain frowns. "I wish I was as bold as you are."

Aido shrugs. "It's a talent. Now why are you talking about The King?"

"Because The King will return," Kain repeats.

"It's been so long…" Aido says. "I can hardly remember… what The King looks like… was it a male or female?"

Kain takes the last of the blood in his glass and sets it down. The Cheshire Cat was right, everyone had forgotten. If Sara hadn't reminded him about The King he wouldn't know either. It was a powerful spell that few vampires could resist. A spell to make them forget their King.

"Kain?"

Kain shook his head. "Never mind. Why don't you go take care of that?"

"With who?" Aido asks. "Masturbating would be like throwing away energy and there's no one to feed off of. And besides being disgusting I can't feed off you – your family, and family is unable to share sexual energy."

Kain glares at him a moment before saying, "What about Ichijo? I thought you and he were a steady thing."

"I…" Aido looks away with a sigh. "I say every time that it's the last time… but I can't seem to stay away from him."

"Why stay away?" Kain asks.

Aido picks up his glass.

"Why can't you be with Ichijo?" Kain asks.

Aido takes a long drink and doesn't answer.

-V-A-M-P-I-R-E- -K-N-I-G-H-T-

Ruka notices the hooded figure moving quickly through the palace. She races after the hooded figure. Anyone concealing themselves in total black has something to hide, Ruka knew that. She rushes, quickly catching up to the hooded figure.

Kain catches her hand just as she reaches out for the black cloak. The hooded figure doesn't even turn around, slow down, or notice, but continues to the garden at a brisk pace.

"Let go of me," Ruka growls, jerking her arm out of Kain's grasp.

"Don't stop the Cheshire Cat," Kain says. "She's on our side."

Ruka frowns at him. "Does our side mean Kaname's side?"

Kain gives her a blank stare. As she starts to walk away he grabs her by the arm. "Please stop, Ruka."

"He is our Queen," Ruka says through clenched teeth.

"This isn't a bad thing. If Queen Kaname were in any danger…" Kain begins.

"What is this about?" Ruka demands. "What's so important that you'd betray Queen Kaname?"

"The King…" Kain says softly.

Ruka jerks away from Kain. "You're a fool." She turns around and marches out to the garden. The King? What did The King have to do with any of this? What did The King even look like? Ruka couldn't remember.

-V-A-M-P-I-R-E- -K-N-I-G-H-T-

Sara moves through the air as if she were an angel with glorious wings. The vampires that tried standing up to her fell dead where they stood and she danced over their corpses and bathed in their blood while singing to herself. It was all a game to her.

Yuki screams, hiding behind Kaname, not wanting to see the bloodbath. Kaname flicks his wrist, attacking Sara with some of his own power. Sara counters it with some of her own. There was an explosion between them but neither was hurt.

"I am your equal, Queen Kaname," Sara sings.

"I am Queen. You will never be my equal," Kaname says. "White Rabbit, take that foolish cat down with your Bloody Rose."

Zero pulls his gun out and takes aim, though Yuki can see the hesitation. He looks down the barrel and fires once. Sara narrowly dodges the bullet, giggling the whole time. Zero fires again and misses. Then she takes a turn towards one of the closest noble vampires. She takes a bite out of the vampire's throat, making him drop to his knees. His family around him begins screaming.

"Take her down, Zero," Kaname says, "Or I'll be very angry."

Zero fires three rapid shots, hitting Sara each time. She hits the ground and Kaname's guards all jump on her. They're all blown away a moment later and Sara stands up, her clothes in torn, bloody ruin. She grabs the clothes and tears them away so all she wears is her black cloak and the blood of her victims.

"I thought we were having fun, Queen Kaname," Sara grins.

"How dare you crash my party," Kaname says.

"I come bringing a message," Sara says, bowing her head. "That is all, Queen Kaname."

"And what is this message?" Kaname demands.

"That The King is going to return," Sara says. Her nude body fades away slowly, leaving only her toothy grin. "You can't stop it from happening, Queen Kaname."

Yuki grabs a handful of Kaname's white jacket. Why was The King returning a bad thing? Judging from Kaname's expression it was a bad thing. Looking at Zero Yuki couldn't read anything. She watches him put his gun away and walk towards the palace, probably to wait for Kaname in his bedroom as he was ordered to before.

"My Queen!" Ruka cries, rushing over to Kaname. "My Queen, I can't believe this happened."

"Will you assist in the clean up?" Kaname asks.

"Of course," Ruka says. "Is there… anything else I can do for you, My Queen? Anything at all."

"That is all," Kaname says, putting his arm around Yuki. She flushes when Ruka glares at her. Ruka turns away from the two. She goes over to help clean up the mess made by The Cheshire Cat. There were so many dead vampires. But some of the wounded ones were healing. The vampire that lost the front of his throat was almost finished healing with the help of his wife or mistress.

"Vampires heal incredibly fast," Yuki whispers.

Kaname nods. "Blood heals us, keeps us alive. The same with sex."

Yuki flushes. Kaname would know all about sex. He was like sex if it were living and breathing. She lets him take her by the hand and lead her towards the palace. The guards at the doors bow down to Queen Kaname. The servants and the maids stop working to bow low.

He moves through it all so gracefully. Yuki was overwhelmed by Kaname's power, his beauty, everything about him.

-V-A-M-P-I-R-E- -K-N-I-G-H-T-

Rima puts her glass of blood down and sighs deeply. Aido does the same. They were sitting inside Aido and Kain's house, waiting for Kain to return. Rima was happy to see Kain, Aido, and Maria were still alive after Kaname and Zero left them with the human girl. Shiki was so happy he actually smiled for a moment.

"What was so important that Kain had to go to the palace after he almost died by Kaname's hand today?" Rima asks.

"Something about a cat…" Aido mutters. "I think it has to do with that person he was pounding."

Shiki nods. "Probably."

"What?" Rima asks.

They explain when Kain was fucking the cloaked figure in his bedroom.

"Wow," is all Rima says after they finish.

"Do you think he's in danger?" Shiki asks.

"Kaname just wanted the girl," Aido says. "He forced Zero to threaten us with the gun, but the girl got up and went quietly. Kaname knows Zero stole his powers to turn the girl into a vampire and bring her through his rabbit hole into Wonderland. Kaname also knows there's a reason why she had to be turned back into a human."

"And why's that?" Maria asks.

"I don't know," Aido shrugs. "She had to become a vampire to enter Wonderland, we all know that. But for some reason she had to be turned back into a human… for some reason she's needed to be human rather than vampire."

"Why?" Maria asks. She puts her glass down. "None of this makes sense."

Aido frowns. "Kain… has been talking about The King a lot lately."

"The… King?" Shiki repeats.

"Strange that The King used to rule beside Queen Kaname but we can't remember what he or she looks like…" Aido says.

"You're so smart," Maria sighs.

Aido beams at the compliment.

"So the question is," Aido continues, dramatically stroking his chin, "What does the human have to do with The King?"

"Kain knows," Rima says.

"Yes, but he's not talking yet," Shiki says.

Aido feels the sudden stab of hunger. It was sexual hunger that took his breath away. He pushes himself up from the table and walks away before the others can see his erection.

"Where are you going?" Maria asks.

Where am I going? Aido wonders. "Out," he replies. He walks to the door and pushes it open. The need for sex with almost painful. He had given Yuki all of his energy. And now that he needed more he knew exactly the person to go to.

-V-A-M-P-I-R-E- -K-N-I-G-H-T-

"You're okay? As the Duchess I apologize for what happened on the Queen's behalf. I'm sorry this happened to you. The Queen will be handling the situation with The Cheshire Cat soon."

Ruka walks away from the last group of nobles. They were a sensitive bunch that needed a lot of coddling. She hated cleaning up the mess. But that's what Kaname meant – not for her to clean the bloody remains of the killed vampires but to mend broken noble vampire hearts. She was good at that.

As she walks back to the palace she sees Kain standing by the doorway. She frowns at him as she enters the palace. "What do you want, Kain?"

"I want to tell you the truth," Kain says.

Ruka shakes her head, trying to walk away. He catches her arm and pulls her along with him, trying to look causal so the servants don't fret for Ruka's safety. She grudgingly follows along with him.

"About The King?" Ruka asks.

"Yes," Kain breathes.

He finds a closest and pushes her inside before stepping in himself. It was a large closet with a lock on the handle, which he locks. He turns the light on and the moment he sees Ruka his cock becomes erect. He almost cries out at the suddenness of it. He'd give his energy to Sara, and then the rest of it to Yuki during the Tea Party. He was drained.

"Not now," he groans, going down to his knees. He takes a deep breath in and all he can smell is Ruka's scent.

"You're…" Ruka frowns.

"Starving," Kain groans.

"Why?"

"Turning Yuki - the girl with Kaname – human," Kain says.

"That's Queen Kaname to you," Ruka says.

"Help me," Kain says.

Ruka laughs at him. "Really? You're avoiding the issue again Kain…"

He stands up, grabbing her face in his hands. He kisses her on the lips, opening her mouth to his, pushing his tongue inside. She cries out when he backs her up against the wall. She moans when he presses his body against hers. She reaches down, unbuckling and unzipping his pants.

"Fuck, Kain," she growls, pulling away from his kiss. "A little warning next time."

"Sorry," Kain breathes, loving it when Ruka frees his penis from his underwear. She grabs his penis with one hand, stroking it from tip to base, making him shudder. This is exactly what he needed. He needed her. Not only her energy but Ruka herself.

"I don't mean to keep secrets from him," Kain breathes. "It's not that I don't trust you. I trust you with my life, Ruka."

"Shh," she says. She lifts her long skirts and drops her panties to the ground. She hops onto a flat surface and spreads her legs, guiding him over to her by his penis. She presses the tip to her entrance, letting his pre-cum add to her wetness.

"At the end of the day I trust you too," Ruka says. "Now fuck me."

Kain was glad he wasn't the only eager one. He smiles at her, leaning in for a kiss. As their lips touch he thrusts his hips, filling her completely with his penis, making her cry out into his mouth.

-V-A-M-P-I-R-E- -K-N-I-G-H-T-

{ Continued in Chapter Ten }