Note: Dawn's views do not reflect my views of Trans gendered people. I just feel that a protagonist who has Twenty-First Century Progressive Western Morals that is born outside that timeline would be too sueish. And I feel it is good to have a character whose morals aren't always perfect. And if constantly stress that Dawn isn't perfect and then give her perfect morals it is an insult to the reader's intelligence.

He loved her. He loved her. He loved her.

Dawn should have wanted with all her heart for it to be a lie. Dawn should have wanted him to be cruel about saying he loved her. Dawn should have wanted it to be game.

But she didn't.

His confession of love had sent her into a whirlwind of confusion and emotion that she could not yet grasp the pieces, much less sort them out.

The human girl laid on the bed, her golden curls sprayed across the pillows, her breath slow, and her body still.

She lifted her hand above her face and just stared at the silver and ruby ring that had been given to her. What would have been the most Dawn thing to do would be to toss the ring into the fireplace or right back at him, but at last she couldn't find the will, or even the desire to toss the ring aside.

She had hide her hand, as she left the study, and every time she went out she had gloves on. The last thing she needed right now was for people to catch her with the Consort Ring.

It was a fine work out art. So many tiny details of roses and vines engraved in the silver. The ruby itself was cut to resemble a rose.

She then covered the ring with the other hand and laid it down on her chest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Vampire romances are so damn complicated." She finally said.

Memories of his confession played throughout her mind. But she couldn't feel the emotions she had wanted too; disgust, anger, and hurt.

No, instead she felt a sort of happy bubble in her chest. He spoke so honestly about her. Dragos hadn't painted her as a romantic ideal or some sort of Saint of Feminine Virtue.

He spoke her selfishness, her wrath, and her flaws.

And he didn't love her in despite it.

Dragos loved her because of it.

He loved both her roses and her thorns.

And isn't that what anyone would want? To be loved for who they were and exactly what they were, no false illusions only the raw truth.

She closed her eyes and thought of Amaro. He spoke so greatly of her virtues and strengths. But had he been blindsided to her many faults? He did reach out to her when she had been in the self destructive trap of pity. But was that ignoring her flaws? He had confronted Dragos about this, so had he blamed Dragos more than her?

There were moments were he called her out, but was it because he understood or knew she could do better.

But then there was the thought that Amaro brought out the best in her. He encouraged her to do the right thing and overcome her all too human flaws.

And Dragos seemed to be fascinated by the whole package; roses and thorns.

But which one was better?

Was it knowing and loving all, or was it encouragement to overcome the thrones.

She opened her eyes for a moment and whispered.

"If only I could have both...but once again that is selfishness talking."

Dawn gave a sigh and rolled onto her side and allowed sleep to overcome her.

Dawn almost felt as though the world could see beneath her purple velvet gloves, and see the consort considering how much she fiddled with it underneath the cloth.

Despite all her work to get to the Vampire Council Meeting, she couldn't truly focus. Partly because it was far more boring than she initially thought, but mostly because of the ring.

She amused herself with the thought that perhaps Dragos had given her the ring just to keep her distracted. She shook her head and looked from her balcony seat the council. There was Dragos looking like a true King at the head of the table as he conducted governing business.

The human girl tried to see if there was any different body language or expressions on her that usually weren't, but she find none. He wore the same mask even hear.

Dawn was very tempted to slump her shoulders and adopt a very unladylike posture, but years of training were planted into her to always be alert and professional.

"Excuse me, mind of I take this empty seat." Came a feminine voice. Dawn turned her head to see a very tall woman with raven black hair, that went all the way down to her hips, and skin as pale as any vampires. Probably the human offspring of a Vampire father. She wore a black and red dress that was covered in lace and frills.

Dawn privately thought this was gaudy for just watching a meeting, but she knew better than to say anything.

"Of course, you may. My name is Lady Dawn."

The woman's black eyes sparkled a bit and her red lips formed an oval.

"Oh, are you the Lady Dawn."

The blonde inwardly cringed. Damn it, was she now famous? The last thing her nerves needed now was worrying about gossip or attention.

"Very likely." She answered without sounding nervous, "What's your name?"

The tall woman took the empty seat next to her.

"Today, it is Chole."

Dawn rested the urge to sigh, despite knowing this woman for less than a minute she already didn't like her.

"May I ask, what you mean by that?"

The woman gave a giggle that grated on Dawn's nerves.

"Let's say I like to switch things up or life would be boring, don't you agree?" The one known as Chole asked her with a wink.

"To a certain extent." Dawn said the most polite thing she could manage to say. Chole let out another giggle. Dawn consciously clutched her fan a bit tighter, as a secret way to let out her frustration.

"Not what I suspect out of the famous upstart. You certainly have my old schoolmate's attention."

Dawn felt curiosity at that. Girls were usually privately tutored.

"Do you mean...Lady Snow?"

It was the best Dawn could think of considering Snow was the only girl she was close too.

"No, I mean King Dragos."

Dawn's bright blue eyes widened,

"Do you mean you are a female vampire?"

They were so rare and even Dawn had never meet one. At this question, Chole let out a true laugh.

"Not in the biological sense."

The Human Girl felt confused.

"I don't...understand." She repeated.

Chole then opened her fan, and smirked as she fanned herself.

"Come on now, Darling. You are a wise little bluebird. I know you can figure it out."

It took Dawn a few moments until she realized the truth. She turned bright red, as she thought.

She's a he, she thought with disgust.

A perverted man who liked to dress up like a woman. Now she firmly disliked this Chole and his disgusting fetish.

But if Chole realized it he gave no signs. He just leaned back and fanned himself.

"Dragos was such an interesting school boy." Chole continued despite Dawn's indifference, "So shy and different from the others. Of course, his prince title kept the bullies away, but he truly only had a few friends who liked him for himself."

Now that caught Dawn's interest. Dragos always seemed to sure and in control about everything. The idea of him being shy and almost unpopular didn't seem to fit in her view of him at all.

"I can tell that has caught your curiosity, Darling." Dawn looked over at him and once again Chole only laughed in response. "Surely, we can skip this boring little conference and take a little trip down memory lane."

Dawn wasn't an idiot.

"Forgive me, but I would much rather remain here. I was an invited guest and it would be rude to skip out on his majesty's invitation."

Of course, she could smell a trap when there was one. She wasn't going to go on a walk alone with this perverted man. God knows what he would try to do with her.

"Oh, right, Darling." He leaned back in a very relaxed fashion and began the tale.

"Everyone knew that last King was well...off his rocker keeping his consort locked in a tower and all. And baby Dragos got ignored and then his mother killed himself. His father ignored him and little Dragos tried to hide himself from most contact. He was a very studious boy. Always studying, pleasing the teachers, and other teacher's pet things. And when he wasn't studying, he was in the library reading. I suppose books were his escape."

Dawn wasn't sure if she believed this man or not. It wasn't that she couldn't imagine Dragos being a shy boy. In a way, it seemed to fit even as a grown man Dragos was very closed off. Yes, she could picture it in her mind's eye very clearly. A young boy, who avoided contact with others, locked away in a library.

Then it hit her.

It sounded exactly like her. She was a lonely girl who read for escape, was only protected from bullies by her title, and always working for approval from the teachers she despised.

Had he sensed or saw that about her? Was it what drew him to her?

"Something wrong, Lady Dawn?" Came Chole's smooth voice. It snapped Dawn out of her phase. She silently cursed herself when she saw that smugness in his eyes.

"No, not at all. Please continue." She managed to recover quickly, but the damage was already done.

"He had only one friend and only one; Emilison."

Dawn could almost feel her blood freeze. Dragos knew Emiliosn. There were many things that could go wrong here. She wasn't sure if Chole knew that she was familiar with him. Amaro was her bodyguard, but he rarely talked about his past.

"Oh, and what were they like together?"

She tried to avoid sounding either like she knew him nor that she didn't. Playing dumb wouldn't help her if Chole knew.

"Oh, quite a fitting though opposite like pair. Emilison was very charismatic, outgoing, and had a way of words. He could capture the attention of anyone he wanted too. He was a troublemaker, but a clever one. He could used his honey words to get out of any trouble and others as well."

Chole then gave a chuckle, as he fanned himself.

"Dragos often got tangled up in his schemes, though by being the fall man, which Emilison said was better because he got off more lightly because he was a prince. But, oh, did he hate it." He still had a smirk on his face as he mentioned this.

It made Dawn burn with anger that he could be so amused at Dragos' suffering.

Dawn's eyebrows raised, as she analyzed about the implication of such a thought. She was angry at how with such casual amusement at Dragos' suffering. She was upset about Dragos.

She had grown to care for him...and on some level. But how much had she grown to care? Was it love? Was it fondness. Or even friendship?

For some reason romantic love seemed more reasonable than friendship in her mind.

But the thought of loving Dragos brought the image of a tall man with deep set eyes into her mind; Amaro.

Damn it, she inwardly swore.

"But why was Dragos friends with a person who made him take the blame for his wrongful actions?

"Well, like most lonely people who find a true friend, they will often sacrifice themselves, their dignity, and ironically their happiness to keep or please them."

While Dawn had never did such a thing, she could see how easily someone could get caught up in such a cruel game.

"I take it they aren't friends anymore?" Dawn inquired.

"No, we aren't" Came a smooth voice.

She turned and saw a tall man, silvery white hair, piercing eyes, and a smile that could make most women weak at the knee.

But there was one constant about him. The feeling of danger. His gaze, it was like the feeling of being looked at by a predator.

But she was no shy gazelle.

She returned his smile with a cold gaze to reveal that she was truly unimpressed by such actions.

"That will be all Chole." The Man in a dress got up and turned to wink at Dawn. That bastard he was using how uncomfortable she was against her.

Dawn felt it would be wise to leave the box, but then she thought that Emilison could follow her to a secluded place. At least here she was out in the open.

"Emilison, I presume?"

"Lady Dawn, I know."

She gave a nod and turned her attention forward to the Council Meeting, as though she was bored, but in reality all her senses were in overload, waiting and curling at the slightest hint of danger.

"What did you come here for, Lord Emilison."

He chuckled a bit, as he sat beside her.

"My straight to the point. I like that in a person."

Dawn didn't respond to that.

"Well, let's get to the chase. I want you to destroy the world."

Now that was something you couldn't just ignore. He wanted her to what? That caught her attention and she turned to him.

"What?" She managed to get out.

"Have you heard the story of Lucifer?"

"I have. I take it you see a lot of yourself in him?"

"A little, but mainly I see a lot of him in you"

He smiled to reveal his pearly white fangs.

"So you are calling me the Devil?"

"No, I am calling you, Lucifer. The Devil is such a flat character, don't you think. Just a little bedtime story to remind everyone to be good little girls and boys. But Lucifer, now that is someone I can get behind."

She studied his posture, noting how relaxed and opened it looked compared to hers. He felt he was in total control. Was he in the firm belief that he was going to get exactly what he wanted out of her? Well he was sorely mistaken.

She felt herself straighten up in her seat, with her hand more firmly gripped around her fan. She still did not look this silver haired Luficer lover in the eye.

"I see." was her mere replied. Dawn swore that she heard something like a repressed chuckle come from him.

"Ah, forgive me for dancing around. I didn't mean to ramble on about the details...or did I? Well, let me state that in the story of creation, God created the angels before man. Perhaps even billions of years before man. The angels were perfect beings who were loyal and faithful to God. They did everything right, and how did God reward them for their faithfulness? He created Man, a flawed imperfect race of beings that had the audacity to betray God. And to poor more salt in the wound God said he created them in in his own image."

Emilison then paused, closing his eyes as a smile curled over his lips. He was really enjoying this tale so much, it would look almost innocent if she didn't know what kind of monster he could be.

"And the God rewarded all the Angels' hard work by telling them they had to bow to this imperfect, flawed, and disgusting creatures compared to themselves. And the angels loved God, so much they did so. All except for one. His name was Lucifer and he was the brightest of all the Angels and only loved beyond anything else, but he would not accept such an insult. So he betrayed the only person he loved and went on to destroy a third of heaven. One-third of the angels joined him and they ruled together in Hell, as they plot against men to this day."

Dawn eyed him.

"I don't recall those details."

He gave her a bright smile, but there was an undercurrent of dark pride with it.

"Let's say I just embellished a little more. Any good storyteller adds what they feel will make the story better...to give it more flair."

"I see." She said, turning her gaze away from him again.

"I want you to be my Lucifer and destroy heaven."

To her credit, she didn't turn around to face him, so he didn't see the shocked look on her face. The only physical hint to her state of shock was the firmer grip on her fan.

"You are comparing humans to angels, and you want me to be Lucifer?"

"Ah, I am. I don't mean angels in purity, humans are far from pure. But you roamed the Earth for countless generations before the Vampires came and took the Sun from you. Why should humans bow to Vampires? Vampires aren't any better than humans in the end."

Dawn gazed down at the Council Meeting below them. She thought of all the decisions they would make...most of which wouldn't end well for humans.

"So you want humans to be free? You don't strike me as an abolitionist."

"You are right in that. The truth is I just hate the Heaven that has exists in this world."

She furrowed her brows.

"This world is far from Heaven."

"Ah, but only if you think of Heaven as a paradise. There was a saying among humans "Heaven for the Atmosphere, Hell for the company.' Eternal peace sounds find and wonderful to the ears, but really it is a place of stagnation. The good humans and loyal angels live in paradise for all eternity, unchanging and unchallenged. It is a place where no growth can be obtained because the world is dedicated to peace and endless loyalty and worship to God. That doesn't sound like the paradise to me."

Dawn brought her fan to her lips, as she looked over at him.

"Then what would be your paradise."

"Truth be told, I don't want a paradise. There is no way a perfect society would end well in the end. A world dedicated to perfection instead of achievement will not gained neither."

"So you want Hell." Dawn answered for him.

"Oh, you are good. Yes, something like Hell. I want a world of chaos and blasphemy. I want to see a world where humans and vampires go toe to toe with each other and perhaps some love and tragedy mixed in."

She finally turned back to him, her blue eyes narrowed.

"What on Earth makes you think I'll help you?"

"Because it is the only way to truly liberate humans. There might be a hidden colony somewhere, but let's end the false heroism. You'll never reach it in the end. The best place to start is at your feet."

She gave a bit of a wince.

"What do you mean?"

"I know Dragos very well, and I can tell when he is in love with someone."

She felt her heartbeat rising.

"What makes you so sure."

"Because he looks at you the way he now looks at you."

She nearly dropped her fan. Her eyebrows climbed to her hairline.

"You don't mean.."

"Dragos fancies both men and women. Do you have a problem with this?"

"Not really." She admitted. She didn't care for men who dressed up like women, but at least when those that loved other men still kept to their gender, at least.

But that is beside the point. I know he has likely asked you to be his consort hasn't he? Now don't dare lie. I know Dragos is more romantic at heart than he let's on."

"What's in it for you?" She asked, "What would you gain from this 'Hell' you want to create?"

He just smiled,

"Because I'm bored."

"What?" She asked, hardly believing such a ridiculous answer.

"You heard that right." He leaned casually back, "I don't like this false order the world is in it. It is completely unnatural. We are creatures that need change and to have our towers destroyed only to build them back up again. I want Hell to create a natural world. Peace is the most unnatural thing in the world."

She dug her hands into her skirts. She was letting her anxiety show.

"Why should I help you? I don't see how you could benefit from it."

"Because if you were consort it would change everything." Before she could ask, he continued. "You are different Dawn, a natural Lucifer. You play the part so well, and seem so faithful to your masters, but underneath it you are so much more. You have pride, and I like that. You can be the most precious thing in the world to Lord. Once you are consort, things will fall into place."

She gritted her teeth and tried to ignore everything that agreed with him.

"And what about Amaro? Why should I trust you when you hurt him."

"Actually, Amaro has a lot to gain with this." He answered smoothly, looking amused at her crumbling resistance. "Probably more than the both of us."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he could forge his own path in life. He could leave without worries. He wouldn't be a slave to the house and could get away from me. In the new world I wouldn't stop him. He could go as he pleased."

Dawn wasn't sure what to make of this. Her mind couldn't match equilibrium with it.

He stood up and smiled at her.

"Good Day, Lady Lucifer."

And he left her.

He left her to simmer in her own thoughts.

Note: Once again this does not reflect my view on trans people. Dawn simply has her own prejudices and bias like most people.