The coppery tang of blood wafted through her nose. She wanted to drink it! She was losing control and started to get up from her place to chase the servant.

Dmitri was aghast at her reaction to the cut on the servant's hand. He shouted at her through their mental bond. "Adri!"

​​

Adrianna's reverie broke and she gasped. Her gaze flitted between Dmitri and Cora and she felt ashamed of her actions. She bit her lip and lied back on bed.

Cora left the room saying that she would get something else prepared. Dmitri came and sat next to her. Adrianna was looking at the ceiling, at the lights emitting from the chandelier. He picked her hand and said, "What was that Adri…?"

"I don't know," she replied unsure of what just happened. "I think it was just a passing thought."

Dmitri narrowed his eyes at her but she avoided his questions in the gaze.

---

A week later Ziu traveled to the Human Realm and the first thing he did was to contact Niiya.

Niiya was pleasantly surprised to see Ziu.

"How come you are here?" he asked on a glass of whiskey.

Ziu looked out the window and watched the lights of town coming to life as the sun set in horizon. The street lamps outside Niiya's plush residence were burning with bright yellow incandescent lights. He took a sip and said, "Niiya, I had gone to the Serpent Kingdom after you had left."

"Yes, I saw that. Sorry, I was edgy that day," said Niiya remembering how he had avoided Ziu while coming out of the meeting chambers. "The King is being extremely unreasonable. The ocean has a vast surface and all we are demanding is just a few miles and that too far from his kingdom. If he can grant us that much, it would be a great favor. That would be more than enough for the next hundred years.

Ziu nodded. "I agree…" he said, still looking at the night lamps.

He continued, "There is a conference coming round the corner in which I have to send this proposal to the humans gathering there. These people have very strong connections and are looking for a way to get my position. I don't care who gets this position. All I care for is that we get some space below!" he pressed his lips in a thin line. There was silence in the room.

On an after-thought, Niiya tilted his head and asked, "But what were you doing there?"

Ziu knew this question would come and he was well prepared for that. He paused, took another sip and shifted his gaze to Niiya.

"Niiya, my problem is that I am not happy working under Adrianna." Being well aware of Niiya's and Adrianna's previous history, he had to be very careful.

Niiya's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? She is a fantastic queen."

"I know, I know. She is a good queen. But I am not attacking her personality as a queen. What I am saying is that I don't feel I can do well in the Wizard Kingdom knowing all the powers I have. I feel I can do more. I feel that there is so much energy in me that I would explode with it."

"So what else do you want to do?" Niiya understood what he wanted to say.

Ziu pursed his lips and then sighed. "If I become the King of the Serpent Kingdom, I can easily help you with the underwater land that you are talking about."

Niiya was shocked. "You are confusing me!"

Ziu licked his upper lip after gulping down the remaining whiskey in his glass. He looked at the empty glass and said, "Niiya, the King of Serpents is my father." Ziu looked up to see Niiya.

Niiya appeared to be stunned. His eyes bulged and he leaned his hand on the table next to him as if seeking support to absorb the information he had just heard.

"And you are the first person who knows about it."

Niiya's mouth dropped. He steadied, sat down on the sofa opposite Ziu. He cocked his head and asked, "Why are you telling this to me?"

Ziu kept his foot over his knee and rested on the back of the sofa. He loosed a breath. "My father has been asking me to take reins of the Serpent Kingdom for a long time. However, I am unable to do that because I am in the ministry of the Wizard Kingdom. Now I want to go back and help my father."

He chuckled inside when he remembered what he had told his father. This was a perfect opportunity for him and he had to grab it.

"So what's your plan?" asked Niiya, picking his glass again. He couldn't think of a better solution than getting Ziu to the throne of the Serpent's Kingdom, so he pushed him.

Ziu shook his head. "My plan is very complicated. If you want to listen to it, you can't go back. This means that we only move ahead."

"And what do you mean by that? Because all I can think is that you are planning some kind of a major unrest," Niiya laughed and held the glass in the air to joke about what Ziu had said.

Ziu bit his inner cheek. "If you are interested, let me know. But I can guarantee you this that if you help me achieve my goals, you will get the land you want so desperately." He rose and started to leave.

When he was turning the doorknob, Niiya said, "Wait."

Ziu smiled. He closed the door, which was half opened and turned to look back at Niiya.

"What's your plan?"

Ziu ambled back to the sofa on which Niiya was sitting. He sat there leisurely and opened his mouth. "I want to rule the Wizard Kingdom. If you will help me with getting that using all your powers, then you will have limitless land beneath the ocean to dump that waste."

---

For the next few days, Adrianna was vomiting out everything. She was becoming frailer by the day and Dmitri had become worried. He was increasingly becoming aware of her lust for blood and that in turn worried him about the child that was in her womb.