Alexandra sank to her knees, and Mikael rushed toward her, then knelt down to her level.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed, and she asked again and again, more to herself than to the prince, "What have I done?"
Mikael extracted a handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her, saying, "It isn't your fault. If anything, this happened because of us."
This wasn't just a statement to calm her down, but an actual fact.
In an attempt to teach Alexandra's body to resist the influence of bloodlust, the brothers compelled her daily to curb her primal instincts. But due to the very busy day the group had all had, the daily compulsion had been skipped.
And now the backlash came in full force.
Mikael looked at the young man. He had turned extremely pale, completely drained of color.
"Forgot to leave a bit for me, I see," he joked.
Alexandra stopped wiping her tears and looked at him incredulously. "How could you take this so lightly?" she asked. "Does the fact that I have killed a man not trouble you at all?"
"It is, granted the location, quite problematic, but no, it does not perturb me in the least," Mikael replied truthfully.
She stared at him, not sure what to feel. He continued, "Listen. It was our fault that it happened today and now, but it was going to happen anyway. You have just been born, and control is far from you. Until we can properly teach you how to naturally curb your violent predisposition, all there is to do is stall it."
He lifted her up. "Our life is one of death and bloodshed. We may not wish it upon ourselves, but we have no choice. That is the curse we bear, and the price we pay for our immortality and power."
Alexandra said, "You don't seem to see it that way for yourself and your family."
He smiled wryly. "My brothers and I have walked the earth for over two hundred years, and with each passing birthday, even as we celebrate, all we truly want to do is die. But we do not. We cannot. None of us enjoys what we do, but we must if we are to live. Quite the contradiction, eh? Desiring death but doing one's best to survive?"
By then, Alexandra had calmed down. She asked, "If it brings you that much displeasure, then why did Nikolas turn me? He is familiar with the pain, so why did he subject me to it?"
Mikael sighed, then gestured toward the body. "We must get rid of that before someone else finds it."
He lifted the body and said to the girl, "You should feel a pleasant sensation, like electricity flowing in your veins. That's the feeling you get while you feed, but it is currently heightened because we deprived you of a full course meal ever since you turned. Come with me."
The two of them left faster than the eye could track.
...
"Odd for you to come asking me for assistance, considering your age," Ariel commented.
He had left the balcony and walked into the study, where he now sat on a luxurious chair.
Blackwater opened the window blinds, staring outside, and he said, "Naturally. But it is the duty of a King to defend the interests of his subjects, is it not?"
He went over to a table and poured out two glasses of whiskey, one of which he gave to Ariel.
The prince replied after taking a sip, "Only if they align with his own. And I am King no longer."
"I assure you, our interests align," Blackwater said, taking a seat opposite the younger vampire.
"You see, lord, there are those who would like to take advantage of the fact that I possess no army of vampires to protect my lands and have decided that a hostile takeover would be ideal."
Ariel swirled the whiskey in the glass. "Then sire new vampires," he said as though he was instructing a child.
"My earldom has one of the highest numbers of conscripted soldiers who fought in the Great War," Blackwater explained, referring to the World War, "and that is accompanied by the highest number of casualties. My people are in the process of recovery and repopulation. If I were to sire an army I would drastically reduce the chances of any recovery occurring. No just through halving the human population but having them find sustenance on the remainder."
"You would also have the trouble of compelling each individual to keep the existence of vampires and your own status a secret, something that is nigh impossible if you were to perform a mass turning, which is exactly what imminent war requires," Ariel noted.
"Exactly." Lord Blackwater drained his glass. "But it is not just the land they will come for. Of course, I fight for my centuries old possession and my reputation, but also for my people. You may not know this, considering the seven years in isolation, but the vampires are returning to the old order."
Vampires thrived in a hierarchical system where the strongest ruled, and as creatures driven by bloodlust and powered by immortality, they craved war and conquest. Especially among themselves, simply for reputation and the feeling of power.
Of the fifty six significant noble houses, twenty seven of them were vampiric. And each of them wanted to be recognized as the superior.
"When you came here, your family forcefully united the 27 vampire lordships into one, and it worked, because you four were the strongest. How about now, since the Asgeirssons are divided? Who controls them now?" Blackwater asked.
Ariel replied, "What they fear is our name, so use it and get..."
"What they fear is the four of you together," Blackwater interjected. "Before you there was no such thing as a King of the Vampires, and only your strength prevented dissolution. I'm up against one house now, but if we dally the others will hear of it and come for me as well."
Ariel placed his glass on the table and leaned forward.
"What does my family gain from this? Vampire politics is no longer our prerogative."
"You gain my unequivocal and unending allegiance. I will be your liegeman, you will have my wisdom, my strength, my network, and my men. All I ask of you is that you help me. I may be older than you but I cannot fight a clan with the paltry guard I have."
Ariel rose from his seat, and Blackwater went on one knee before him.
"You do not lie?" he asked. "On my immortality, I do not."
Ariel said, "Then I will help you." He bent over to the table and took his empty glass, then bit into his hand. He let his blood flow into the glass, then once it reached the required amount, he allowed his wound to heal.
He gave the glass to Blackwater, who took it and said, "I, Roland Lumieré, Earl of Blackwater, swear my allegiance to Nikolas, Lucas, Mikael, and Ariel Asgeirsson. My life is yours as yours is mine, and I will serve you till my immortal life ends."
Blackwater raised the glass to his lips and drank the contents, then his eyes uncontrollably glowed green, as did Ariel's.
Mikael, who had just finished disposing of Alexandra's kill, felt a subtle change, and his eyes began to glow also.
Lucas, who was conversing with one of the servants in Asgeirsson Manor, felt it too, and smiled as he saw the reflection of his green eyes in those of the servant...
.... and in a mahogany coffin, carried by the current of the Atlantic Ocean, Nik's body twitched, causing his eyelids to open slightly.
A faint green glow illuminated the wood above his face, then it dimmed just as it appeared.
"Rise, Roland," Ariel ordered, and Blackwater complied.
"Now," he comtinued with a smile, "let's put that wisdom you promised to use. Should I simply slaughter them all as the party ends, or do you have a better idea?"
...
"Interesting," Mikael commented as his eyes returned to their sky blue color. He looked at Alexandra, who looked around dazedly as her eyes adjusted to the familiar settings.
When Blackwater had taken his oath, Mikael had just finished showing Alexandra a little peek of the Asgeirsson Family's history.
A few minutes earlier...
The duo stood at the fence behind Alderman House, having crossed the vast property land. Here, Mikael threw the corpse over and watched it land in the darkness of the trees.
Alexandra noted the ease in his movements; swift, efficient and without hesitation. She spoke, "You have yet to answer my earlier question, lord."
"I know." Mikael replied, then gestured back to the mansion. "Walk with me."
Suddenly, he shivered ever so slightly, and his eyes glowed uncontrollably for a short while. He wondered what had happened, but he knew for certain it had something to do with one of his brothers.
They traversed for the first three minutes in silence. Finally, the prince decided to speak.
"We are social creatures, Alexandra. Immortality demands it if we aren't to grow mad over the centuries. Unlike the other vampire clans that have at the very least four hundred men, the Asgeirssons are just four. It was bearable at first because we were surrounded by people for most of our lives, but the Argent Revolution undid us all. None more than Nikolas."
He let that sink in for a few seconds, then he continued, "Stripped of power and subjected to horrors I can't even imagine to inflict on another, my brother desperately needed someone to lean on. There is only so much we could do. And then he met you."
Mikael halted in his steps and made Alexandra face him.
"He met you by chance in a park and realized he was relieved when he spoke to you. In his words, you had a way of making a devil forget himself in your company." Mikael smiled. "At first he would compel you to forget after each meeting, but in the end, he wanted you by his side, always. So he turned you, and here we are. Are you answered?"
"I am, but I have another question now. Why is it I don't remember any of that?" she asked.
"Our compulsion runs deep."
They walked the rest of the way in silence, then a familiar voice called out to them.
"You seem to forget that not all of us have supernatural speed, Lord Prince," Valeria complained with a small frown on her pretty face.
Mikael scratched the back of his head and replied, "I am accustomed to being around those like me, I apologize." To Alexandra he instructed, "Go clean the blood off your hands."
"Pardon me? Blood?" Valeria asked, and was about to continue with her barrage when Mikael motioned for her to be silent.
When the girl was gone, Valeria looked at Mikael, demanding an explanation.
"She killed one of the young noblemen under the influence of her bloodlust. I hope she will have the sense to avoid the gentry till she cleans up."
Valeria commented, "You seem awfully calm." Mikael smiled. "She said the same thing. I want you to stay with her and prepare to leave. I'll go fetch Ariel and begin what we came here to do." He walked with her to the entrance of the mansion, then excused himself and made his way upstairs.
He listened to the voices and went into the study, where his brother and Lord Blackwater sat across each other, a bottle of Scotch whiskey between them on a masterfully crafted table.
There were four glasses, two half filled, one empty, and the other with traces of blood in it.
The two fell into silence as Mikael approached the door, and both turned to look at him as he entered.
"I must say, I was expecting this room to be much less neat when I got in," Mikael said, and Ariel smiled at him.
"If it did happen the way you envisioned, brother, we would not have Roland on our side," he said.
Mikael's expression showed slight confusion, then he recalled the sudden feeling he had earlier experienced, and he froze.
Blackwater answered the silent question. "Yes, lord, I have sworn an oath of allegiance to you and your family."
"Roland and I were just discussing how to deal with a certain threat to his lands, which, you should know, are crucial for our impending war in the north. If you wish, join us, and I will fill you in on the fun."
Mikael drew another sofa and seated himself, then Blackwater poured him a glass.
The brothers locked gazes, and their eyes shimmered green as Ariel showed Mikael his memories of what had happened.
When the process was complete, Ariel smiled and said, "Now that we are all on the same page, let us discuss how we are to bring these cretins to their knees."
...
Elton Theater, Western Quarter, City of Caldera
People filed out of the building, discussing the film they had just watched. A young man made his way through the crowd and got inside.
Most of the seats were empty except for a few in the very front. A group of ten people were huddled there in deep discussion.
"We are the only coven in Caldera without Elders, and so are the most vulnerable, not to mention we're the weakest now," a man in his early twenties said. "We need to find a way to become Elders ourselves."
"Even if we did, there's no way we'll be able to stand up to the other covens if they decide to assimilate us into their own," a girl of similar age said. She turned to a woman who seemed to be in her thirties.
The woman said, "Neither of you is wrong, but if we do attempt to become Elders, our laws state that we'll be a complete coven. The ancestors won't let them go against us, at least not openly. We can use that hesitation to build our strength."
The others murmured assent. She continued, "The ten of us are the strongest witches we have, so we will be the ones to ascend. But I must ask, are each of you prepared for what we have to do?"
The first girl asked, "Don't we have to absorb the power of the last Elders?"
The woman replied, " We do. And that's the problem, because the Elders were killed by the Asgeirssons and their bodies were unconsecrated. We'll have to find them and do that for us to get their power but we don't even know if the bodies are here. They could have been thrown into the river and gone downstream for all we know. But there's an alternative, and I tell you it's not pretty."
The young man asked her, "What do we have to do, Amelia?"
Amelia replied, "Sacrificial magic."
In the end, they dispersed with an agreement to meet again with the final decision.
The first girl to have spoken, Riley, sat in silence, deep in thought.
She was interrupted by a voice that said, "I admire how deeply you are contemplating this decision, child. It shows you have a conscience."
She turned sharply and looked up to see a handsome young man sitting ten rows up, to the left of where she sat.
Lucas smiled at her and asked, "Do you know who I am?"
His demeanor and presence spoke volumes, and she nodded, a chill going down her spine.
"Calm down, I'm not going to harm you," he assured her.
"What do you want?" Riley asked him, and he replied, "I am in need of assistance. You see, there's a trinket I'm searching for, but it's whereabouts baffle me, and I need to find it quickly. In addition, I need a witch to activate it."
Riley asked him, "And why do you think I'd help you after what you did to my coven?"
Lucas got up and walked down the steps, coming towards her. "If we are to be perfectly honest with each other, it is your coven that came after my family and tried to kill my brother. Whatever harm befell your Elders, they asked for it. Haven't you ever heard about what happens when you go up against an Asgeirsson?"
He sat down beside her. "You must understand, I am not the villain here."
Riley scoffed, "Then what are you, a man of peace?"
Lucas smiled. "Precisely. Now, will you help me?"
She asked, "What happens if I refuse?" "I will not touch you, but I doubt you'll live to see tomorrow's dawn," Lucas replied.
"And if I say yes?" she inquired again.
"Then I'll give you what you need to become an Elder, without the need for sacrifices."
Riley's eyes widened, and so did Lucas' smile. "How?" she finally asked.
"Simple. I buried the bones."