Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for my OC Everything else belongs to Darren Shan the true master of horror.

Chapter 2

SLAP!

Vancha couldn't believe what had just happened. He had just been slapped! And to make things worse it slightly hurt. He had his hand pressed against his cheek as he watched his assistant as she ran down the hall.

"You should have stopped her," said a voice from behind. Turning, Vancha saw Larten as he walked up.

"No, she was right. I did promise her. I deserved what I got, but you know that."

"Do I now?" Larten said innocently

"Yeah, you were standing there the whole time."

Larten grinned slightly "You are right that I was here," he lost the grin, "But she is also right when she says that she has been here for too long. It is fine that she has trained here and learned a lot, but she needs to be out of the mountain to really test herself."

"You know, you sound more like a prince than I do." Vancha pouted.

"I think that the other princes only agreed with you because that is what you wanted to hear, but not what was best for her." Larten said ignoring the comment.

"You might be right about this. But how do you know so much about her?"

"She has to talk to someone when you are not around for her. She talks to Arra and I all the time. She made us promise that we would not tell you, but this is something that you need to know."

They started to walk from the others. They made their way to the hall of Khledon Lurt.

"I want to be there for her more than I am, but I'm in a difficult position right now."

"I know that you are. You are a prince, and therefore must put the needs of the clan before your own. But you are also a mentor and must think of your assistant. You need to do what you think is best not only for the clan, but for her too. She needs you more than the clan right now."

They entered the hall and saw that it was empty. They sat at a table in the far corner.

Vancha considered Larten's words carefully and sighed, "I guess that being here for too long is bad for the both of us. But I really don't want her to go with me right now."

"Why? What has disturbed you so much? You do not really get troubled by much." Larten asked.

Vancha sighed again. "I got news of a group of humans that have terrorized many towns and killed hundreds. They've killed at least 5 vampires also."

"But what does this have to do with you? They are just humans."

"They might just be humans, but they are the ones that killed Amber's family."

"If that is true, do you not think that she would want to go with you? It would be better. Think of how she would feel if she found out that you killed the people that took her family from her. She would hate you instead."

"Why would she do that?" Vancha asked

"Because you took the one thing that she wanted. Vengeance. She has probably been hoping to leave the mountain and look for those who have wronged her."

"I'm not worried about that." Vancha answered.

"Then what are you really afraid of?" Larten asked.

"I'm afraid that she'll lose control and continue to kill, regardless of what anyone says to her. That she'll be filled with so much hatred that she'll continue to kill the humans and will lead us to a war with them. We can't have that. Not now, not ever."

"She is not like that."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I have seen her train. And so has Arra. She has be in situations that looked like she was going to kill someone and she stopped right when someone said something to her. She is not the type to just kill like that."

Vancha said nothing. He was deep in thought.

"You should at least tell her where you are going. Let her decide whether she wants to go with you. That way she knows what you are doing and will not worry about you."

"She won't worry about me." Vancha said quietly.

"Then you do not know how she truly feels about you. The first test she passed, she looked for you, but you were not there. When she discovered that, her passing meant nothing to her, even though everyone was congratulating her. And she said that you never said anything to her."

"I wanted to say something to her. I really did. But I couldn't get away from the Hall."

"She could be praised by the Gods themselves, and she would not notice unless you were there to see it. You are the only one she wants to see how much she has grown. She wants you to see that she is not a child anymore. That might be the only reason she trains as hard as she does."

"Every assistant wants to please their master. It's a common thing for us."

"But not every assistant is with their master for as long she has been with you. You have said that the two of you have been together since she was a little child. She wants you to see that she is not the child you rescued from death, but as a vampire that can do anything that she puts her mind to and that she can protect herself now," Larten explained.

"If she really feels that strongly, then why has she stayed for as long as she has? She could have left at any time."

"She wants you to see how much she has changed, but that is hard to do if you are still here and she is not."

Vancha sat quietly for some time thinking. He didn't know what to do and he was fighting conflicting feelings and thoughts. He was trying to think of anything when Larten said, "Why do you not take her outside for a while? That way you can see if you really want her to come with you for your mission. That way, if she cannot do what she thinks she can, she can always come back here."

"That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of it?"

"It must have been to complex for your brain to handle," Larten smirked.

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that. But I want you to come with us."

"Why? Do you think that there will be that much trouble?"

"There might be that much trouble with Amber. I think that even if she comes with she'll be mad at me for a while and won't talk. Besides, she really trusts you, seeing that you were the first vampire that she talked to when we came here."

"I was not the first. You met with the other princes before you talked to me."

"I talked to the princes. She wouldn't. You were the first that she openly talked to. Amber didn't even talk to Seba until after she talked to you."

"Vary well. I will accompany you. If things do not work I could always take her to the Cirque for a while, while you go off. She may find some friends there that are her own age."

Vancha nodded and the two vampires got up and left the hall. As they started to walk toward the sleeping chambers, Vancha was filled with a feeling for dread. Like something wasn't right. When they got to Amber's room, they entered and saw that the room had been stripped clean of cloths and personal things that had been picked up on the multiple journeys.

To be continued

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