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"The troublesome girl is rather beautiful, more so than I thought she was going to be," Majandra commented.

"I would not call her beautiful," Viggo retorted, not interested in the discussion.

Of course not! I'm plain in your beautiful green eyes.

"No, you would not, would you?" Majandra mused. "Beautiful is not the word you would use."

"Do not overly romanticize the situation as anything other than what it is," he sternly warned, not in the mood for her crap.

That makes two of us.

Majandra softly snorted. "I truly do not understand where your overwhelming cynicism came from... Why are you so pale?" she asked.

"Unlike those of my mother's genetics, I pale by comparison due to the French side that my father's family tree is deeply rooted. Besides, it has been a trying day," he said.

"No, I sense your soul is struggling, weakening, as if your Qi... You tried to counter the salve by giving it something to feed off of, did you not?" she demanded.

Viggo didn't say anything.

"Goddamn it!" Majandra snapped at him, and it was followed by the unmistakable sound of a slap.

Did she just hit him?!

My fingers twitched and my head jerked towards the sound.

"Careful, you might pull her back too soon due to your actions against me," Viggo warned with the unmistakable sound of a threat in his tone.

"Indeed," Majandra sneered. "Seventeen, Little Flea. Even a Master would not be able to do what you attempted. Your soul will require a transfer of Light to heal and recover accordingly, and your Qi needs to be recharged... But that is not why you cut your hair," she said. "The ends no longer hum with power so that means it was done before this little debacle."

"You are correct when it pertains to my hair, though this I would not consider a little debacle."

"It is never small or slight when this troublesome girl is involved," she agreed. "It is always world-altering in your eyes."

Viggo snorted. "Again, overly romanticizing that in which you have been warned not to speak of. My hair was cut en route to Vancouver because of a warning from a dream and a request that I bring to you now. I know you have Mother's hair, even if you refuse to admit to such, and I need it to have you make a totem of Protection from Light for me," Viggo said.

Majandra growled under her breath in frustration. "That is not something one openly asks in mixed company," she warned in return. "The crown you are saddled with, that you hate to no end, you use at whim to get what you want. You truly are like your brother at times."

"I am nothing like him, I am merely asking for assistance," he said in a level tone that warned her not to press it. "And you know the source of the dream and the warning it carried," he warned, his voice raising before he growled in irritation over her defiance.

Softly I moaned; I loved it when he growled like that.

"Humph, someone is getting a little turned on despite being completely separated from their soul at the moment," Majandra said, sounding amused.

I will kick her ass the first chance I get!

"Propriety," Viggo reminded her, but I heard the embarrassment in his tone.

"I apologize, that was rude of me. Once your company's soul and wounds are dealt with, I will be healing yours next, Little Flea," she warned. "Regardless of your crown, you do not have a say in this matter. Seventeen. You need to remember that you are seventeen and not a Master, otherwise, you will end up dead. Do you understand?"

"Naí," he said with much reluctance in an unfamiliar language.

"I will make what she is requesting I make you, but it will take time and blessings and invocations from more than those of House Thanos to properly protect you if the threat is truly viable," Majandra said. "Two generations is not enough for what she is asking."

Viggo swallowed hard. "Is it not possible then?"

Majandra chuckled. "Of course, it is possible, and she knows it," she said. "I will simply have to call in a few favors and use a little blackmail to get what I need, but it shall be done. Once it is completed, it will be delivered by means you can trust. Until then, do not be foolish and remember your age, Little Flea."

"Thank you," he said. "I also need you to do a blood-tie request to have Anima Prehenderat pulled from House Thanos' vault-"

"No!" Majandra snapped at him. "Your hands are much too large to wield... You cannot be serious," she scoffed.

"I am," Viggo said, undeterred. "It is what she wants, she told me it is so, and I agree. Put in the request and have it delivered with extreme haste because these truly are troubling times, and no place is safe for either of us."

Majandra groaned. "You are as annoying as Althea sometimes."

"I take that as a great compliment even if it was not intended in such a way," he agreed.

"Do not start, Little Flea," she warned. "Natalya made dinner, be a gentleman and help her set the table and enjoy the girls' companionship while I see to your guest. My girls have all been anxiously waiting to meet you."

"I appreciate your offer to honor her request for protection," Viggo humbly said. "However, as you pointed out, I am not feeling sociable," he said under his breath.

Who is this female that can make Viggo go from one extreme to the next so fast that even I'm getting whiplash?!

Did he like domineering females?

He didn't sound too receptive about being slapped by one.

"That is a trait you got from Charlot. However, you are in my domain now, Young Man, thus you will do as I say," Majandra reminded him. "When your guest wakes, she will be disorientated and naked, two things that you will not be very helpful with, again."

Crap, where in the hell am I?

"I am adult enough to admit when you are correct," Viggo said. "Notify me once Ariadne is awake and please refrain from causing drama and mayhem out of boredom with your loose lips and constantly wagging tongue. As you have deduced, I do not have it in my soul to deal with you and your theatrics this evening. Do you understand?"

Majandra chuckled. "Spoken like a true Prince," she mused.

"Only when needed," he reminded her, and it wasfollowed by the unmistakable sound of a kiss before the closing of adoor.