Aristocrats
Chapter One
Acacia:
"What dress shall I wear, Mama?" I asked as I sat at my vanity.
"The blue one, my daughter. It brings our your eyes." Replied my mother, touching my cheek tenderly.
"How should I wear my hair?" I asked.
"Away from your face, of course, so they may see your beauty." She said, pulling my red hair up with her hands.
"What should I say?" I wondered aloud.
"Nothing. Men are not interested in the words of women, only their company. Words are not nearly as important as actions." She said.
"What shall I do, Mama? I am nervous. This is my first season, out in society. I do not know what is to be expected of me." My hands fidgeted with the laces of my corset.
"Yes you do, child. I've told you over and over again since your childhood. I've explained countless times, the role of women in our society. We are the vessels of life. Our purpose is to produce our brood, birth strong sons and beautiful daughters. That is our only goal. Tonight is your debut to the breeding pool. You will attend tonight's soiree and entrance and entice the young male aristocrats. They in turn, will try to impress you, seduce you. Let them, but you may choose only one tonight. He will be your breeding partner for this cycle. Therefore, you must gain the attentions of the strongest male you can. Only then can you birth the strongest sons and most beautiful daughters. This is the goal of all vampire women, our life's work: to birth magnificent children, who will be greater than the generation before them." She said, her icy eyes glowing with pride. She picked up a powder puff and dusted it across my face, giving my already pale skin a porcelain finish.
Corey:
"Are you ready for your debut, my son?" Mother asked.
"I suppose so." I replied, raking my hand through my dark hair. I finished buttoning my cufflinks and began working on my tie. "I'm afraid I don't totally understand what it is I have to do, other than seduce women."
"Do not make it sound so simple." Said my elder brother, James, who sat in a high backed chair in the corner. "As males of high blood, it is our duty to "stir the blood" so to speak. We must widen the gene pool. There are so few of us, if we did not, our people would be done in by simple inbreeding. That is why it's so important for us to breed with as many females as possible, brother."
"It seems unfair to me." I sighed. Frustrated, I finally gave up on my tie and aloud my mother to do it for me.
"To who?" James scoffed. "Don't tell me that the arrangement does not please you. You get to enjoy all the women you like, and go to fabulous parties, drink only the finest blood. What's there not to like?"
"The women." I answered. "It seems unfair to them, to constantly seek to breed, to be passed from male to male, knowing that we'll move on as soon as the breeding is finished. None of us stay. I'm sorry, but that sounds cruel to me."
Brother let out a groan. "Mother you have spoiled him too much. He's starting to sound like a woman."
Mother laughed at my sulking face. "Cruel as it may be." She began, patting my cheek reassuringly. "The girls know their duty and they've made peace with their fate. It is an honor to breed with strong males and birth their young . I know it was for me."
"You don't wish that things could be different? That you could have settled with just one of our fathers and lived together, raised us all together, instead of all alone?" I asked, ignoring the snicker I heard coming from James' chair.
"You've been spending too much time with the humans, Corey! Now you're spewing nonsense about permanent pairing? How absurd!" James chuckled.
"Maybe so, but I like certain aspects of their culture. They have a ritual called a wedding. They bind themselves to one another and they mate for life. It seems much simpler and less chaotic than what we do and a lot less stressful for the females."
"It is a romantic notion, true, son, but it is impractical for our kind. You see the humans have something that we do not, numbers. They outnumber us a thousand to one. Their bloodlines are diverse. They can afford to mate with one person for life. We cannot." Mother explained, her voice calm and soothing. "Our way of doing things may not be the best, but it works for us. Even though my life has been stressful, I would not change a thing, even if I could." She brushed a lock of my black hair away from my face. "For I have you all, my seven beautiful children. You're my greatest joys."
"Let's go, Corey. We can't be late. We don't want big brother, Charles, to take all the best girls for himself." Said James. He grabbed me by the collar of my coat and practically dragged me from the room.