Drake woke up with a terrible headache and the radiant sun blazing through his window right into his eyes didn't help in the least bit. He laid back down with a grunt as he hit the bed hard. However he sat back up almost immediately hissing in pain. He whipped his head around and dug through the white sheets with his hands, searching for whatever he had just impaled his back. Then he found it. He rolled his eyes. It was a gilded spherical music box with four pegs for legs. He didn't open it, but it made him smile nonetheless. He had completely forgotten about the trinket and how its pretty song put Damien into hysterics. He titled it with his head to read the writing etched on the side of it, "Lyra." His mother, the woman naive and stupid enough to have had a child with Damien White. Yet, he didn't hate her. He was indifferent, not actually knowing her after all.

There was a knock on his door sending his eyes shooting up immediately as the door cracked open and Dane's head poked in, "Damien's back."

Drake frowned, knowing what that meant, "All right, I'm coming. You'll fetch Jade?"

Dane nodded, "It won't take long. All right?"

Drake looked away in a harsh way. He knew that he was trembling. He was terrified of being with Damien again. He could feel the agonizing pain as if his arm were being broken all over again. He tried to stop his hands from shaking so hard, but they only seemed to flutter more.

Dane began to walk into the room with a condolent sigh, but Drake stopped him in his tracks, "Stay the hell away, Dane." He flashed his eyes at him. "I don't need your sympathy. Unlike you I can stand up for myself."

Narrowing his eyes, Dane glanced at Drake's bare feet on the stone floor, "But you can't really can you?" He wasn't being sarcastic or cruel, just honest and it sent shivers down Drake's spine. Raising his eyes back up to Drake he muttered, "Like he said you're his dog."

That forced Drake to reach out and slap his uncle hard across the cheek, "Do you want to say that again?"

"Drake," Dane spoke calmly, irritating him even more, "calm down. You're as white as a ghost and you are shaking like hell."

"It's all right," Drake tried to settle his nerves, "I'm all right."

"Okay," Dane smiled at him weakly, "I'll see you down there."

And so after Dane had left, Drake sighed and left his room to walk down the stoned cascading stairs. His shoes, clicking on the hard surface echoed throughout the entire house. From the bottom of the stairs he took a left and then turned into a hallway as his heart raced. Passing the library, he knew that there were only about ten steps between himself and the dinning room, where Damien would be. Now it was five. He took a deep breath and walked in wearing a mastered smile.

As always Damien was sitting at the head of the table, with a cigar hanging loosely from his mouth like he had suddenly become bored with it but was too lazy to take it from his lips. He was leaning back into his chair wearing a frown, not even noticing Drake, who had sat down to his right one seat away from him. Amon was sitting across from Drake, leaving an empty space for Dane to sit by Damien. Everyone was awkwardly silent until, Damien sighed deeply and parted his cigar from his lips. There were dark, heavy circles under his eyes, but he seemed wide awake. Drake bit his lip, uncomfortably as Damien continued to lean back in his chair at an angle so that his head was not on the back board of the chair but staring up mindlessly into the ceiling. Then Dane appeared with Jade, making Damien tilt his pupils downwards to the corner of his eyes to glare at the two of them and with another sigh he sat up straight and placed his cigar on a plate beside him. Dane sat by his brother, wearing a smile. Drake frowned a fake smile and then rolled his eyes. Why was his uncle playing pretend when Damien could see straight through the disguise?

Jade sat between Damien and Drake. He had been pushing her annoying thoughts out of his mind for as long as he could, but now with her so close he was forced to listen to them.

What are we doing?

Damien, when he's here must have everyone eat together, for God knows why.

A parade of servants filtered into the room, bringing warm trays of breakfast foods of which none were new to Drake it was the same sort of feast that they'd have for breakfast whenever Damien was home. Enough food to feed a small village and they would hardly eat any.

As it was being laid out, Dane glanced at Damien, "Are you all right?"

So he noticed the darkness under Damien's eyes as well, "Yes," Damien muttered weakly, "it's just bad right now."

Drake pursed his lips as Dane reminded his younger brother, "Then don't drink coffee or alcohol."

"It's worse than that!" Damien flashed his eyes at Dane like a weapon.

Amon pursed his eyebrows together, "Then maybe you should sleep it off. You look like you could fall asleep at any moment as it is."

"That's the point," Damien snapped viciously, "I don't sleep, I haven't eaten in days I'm weaker, but still somehow I'm wide awake and full of energy," he looked away, "I couldn't sleep even if I wanted to."

He proceeded to pluck three raspberries from a plate overflowing with fruit in front of him and plopped each into his mouth, licking his painted fingers afterwards. Drake watched some of the color flush back into his face as he sighed in relief.

I don't understand Jade thought to him simply.

Damien's power waxes and wanes like anyone's Drake thought to her, not because he wanted to feed her curiosity but because it was what was safest right now I think its at it's fullest. When it is everything that he says to a person that could be taken as a command will be. He has to be extremely careful. In order to keep it so that he can stop a person from following his command he can't be . . . he can't be so strong, I guess you could put it. So he starves himself of food and sleep, but in my opinion it doesn't do a thing.

Jade frowned at his thoughts, but did she understand it enough? Jade you can't tempt his anger, whatever you do.

She nodded, but he still got the vague feeling that his words were dong nothing to explain the amount of destruction his temper could induce. What more could he say though?

Why is no one eating? He looked up out of his thoughts at her words. Of course no one was eating. Didn't he just explain it to her?

He's starving himself Drake snapped at her other people eating around him will irritate him. I mean it's not as if he doesn't want us to eat. It's merely a thing we must do.

I'm hungry she thought to him angrily. It worried him. She did what she wanted without listening to others.

As am I, Jade he frowned as his stomach grumbled.

So then why does he have us sit here in from of all of this food if no one is allowed to eat? He could tell that she was about to stand up and leave, but he lashed out quickly placing a hand on her shoulder.

Stop this he almost begged her you don't understand at all do you?

She sighed, but nodded her head and leaned back into her chair, defeated, letting Damien have his way to Drake's surprise.

"I should be going soon," Damien sighed, glancing towards the hallway. It was strange to hear the exhaustion in his voice from his failing body, but to also hear the running excitement from his racing heart.

"No," Dane said solidly, as impassive as a boulder. Drake rolled his eyes. Well, this argument had been going on since before he could remember.

How do I get that necklace? Jade was thinking to herself.

Drake smiled thinly You can't.

No, not with Dane's attention glued to him like that.

Well, if he distracted Dane and Amon what would she do? He laughed softly, finding it too interesting to resist.

"This is boring!" Drake snapped, standing up, "And I'm half starved. If I can't eat here, I'm going somewhere else."

"Drake sit down," Dane began to implore him, just as he had expected. His dear uncle looked frightened half to death by his outburst.

"That is unless you want us all to be killed," Amon laughed bitterly, nodding his head with his words angrily.

Drake smiled. He couldn't help it as Damien's head hit the table with a soft thud. Jade glanced up at him. He could feel it, but he couldn't look back. His eyes needed to be glued to his uncles.

"I'm sick of it and frankly so should you all," he went on, throwing his hands in the air dramatically as Jade reached over the table to untie the cord sitting on the nape of Damien's neck. Now Dane was standing and now Jade had untied the last knot. Drake was impressed to say the least. However as she tried to catch the descending string from slipping down his shirt it escaped her finger's pinch and the key slid through Damien's shirt and hit the floor with a loud clatter. Luckily Jade pulled back in time to not be suspected even in the most paranoid eyes.

Damien sat up slowly, glancing around lazily. His body was overtaking his mind to Drake's surprise though he didn't seem to notice what had happened. He was going to leave that damn key on the floor for her to pick up once he left! Drake couldn't believe it. It was simply to good to be true. And so it turned out to be, "Damien," Dane said cooly, directing his brother with his eyes to where the key lay on the floor beneath him.

With a frown Damien leaned over the edge of his chair to pick it up and tied it back around his neck.

Why are his nails painted? Jade thought to Drake.

He glanced at the man's long faded blue nails. I'm pretty sure its part of the uniform for working under the king.

Drake listened as Damien tapped them on the table top impatiently. Tap, tap, tap. What was the hell his problem? He glanced at him angrily to find Damien glaring up at him with a raised eyebrow. Loosing all anger, he immediately sat back down, wincing as if it hurt. Dane frowned, making Drake bite his lip. He probably should have put up more of a fight since he had been so argumentative with his uncles. Now he looked suspicious. Great! He thought to himself.

"Why do you want this?" Damien asked Drake almost as if confused. Drake stared back at him for a moment before realizing what was going through Damien's head. Wait! No, no absolutely not, he thought. He wasn't not trying to get into Jade's locked room at night. He didn't even want the damned key!

"Are you an idiot?" Drake snapped at Damien hastily, his heart beating too fast for his mind to consider the words flying from his lips. "Why would I . . . that's disgusting, her?"

Damien narrowed his eyes at Drake watching as his mouth was forced to answer his uncontrollable command, which had obviously been an accident because the man cursed under his breath as Drake responded, "I don't want it. I didn't touch it."

"Then w-" Damien began but, quickly placed a hand over his mouth, blue nails tearing deeply into the flesh of his face under the pressure. Blood began to drain down his cheeks like tears. Then he stood up, not removing the hand and stormed out of the room.

"So then," Drake smiled, gently picking up a fork, now that that was over with, "shall we eat?"