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Lord Junsu was tall and ivory skinned, his dark eyes tilted at the ends, a sign that one of his ancestors came from Shǎn Diàn, one of their neighboring kingdoms; a land of art, clockwork technology, agriculture and extraordinary military feats. His face was handsome if a little bit too sullen for her taste.

Lord Riyan also showed Shǎn Diàn ancestry with his black eyes and light brown skin, but he was the total opposite of Lord Junsu. His appearance, from his hair to his clothes and the shine on his shoes showed that he was meticulous and immaculate. He had a calmness and unflappable quality to him that always made her feel at ease whenever she was in his presence. Living and working closely with so many men, he was her eye of the storm. Even now the sight of him made her earlier annoyance of having her quiet night alone interrupted slowly dissipate. Unfortunately. 

She was quiet enjoying the slow, building anger; it distracted her from the cold she was feeling as a result of her damp clothes. 

She arched an eyebrow when she reached them but waited until Weatherby bowed and left to speak. “This was supposed to be my night away.”

Junsu rolled his eyes. “Come off it, Kiera, I wager you were holing up in your room with yet another book. Again.”

“Yes, and I was perfectly happy in doing so.”

“My apologies, Kiera.” Riyan fiddled with his cane before realizing what he was doing and stopped. His voice was soft and even as he smiled gently at her. “But you know that we would have no hope of detaching them away from the clutches of Madame Eleonora without you.”

“Did they break anything?”

“We can hear you, you know.” A voice yelled from behind the door. “And no, we did not break anything. Yet.”

Junsu pounded his fist at the door. “Silence. We’re trying to have a conversation about you without you listening in.”

Laughter, both male and female, greeted Junsu’s  not-so playful shout. . 

“Are all of them inside?”

“All except Jaya, Emir, SungJoon and Gregory.”

Kiera sighed at the lack of the more sane members of their pack. “Of course, God forbid that the four of them would help us keep an eye on the others. And why are only two of you here? Where is Lord Brandon?”

Riyan blinked, a sign that he was trying not to get him or anyone else in trouble. “Oh, I think he’s around here. Somewhere.”

It made no difference that both Junsu and Riyan towered over her by inches, or could have easily overpowered her in a fight; they both looked away when she gave them the beady eye.

 Copyright © 2012 by D.F. Jules