SINGER: Chris LeDoux
SONG TITLE: 'Five Dollar Fine'
LYRICS: "And if it ain't on your mind to have a good time/Y'all come back and see us again"
A/N: A rather ridiculous installment. Why? Because of the angst to come!
When Vancha March, vampire Prince, is in residence in the Mountain, every fifth day is party day. Well, not quite. More like every fifth day is get-outrageously-drunk-and-have-a-good-time day. No heartbreaks or grudges allowed, at least, not in the Hall of Khledon Lurt. And every vampire present knows not to disobey the order.
Or at least, they should. Some tend to "forget" this ruling when they slip into the doldrums. Vancha's tolerance for such behaviour is terribly limited when the Drinking Rule is in force. He's seen enough, been through enough, that the occasion to lighten the mood around the Mountain is one which he takes most seriously.
One night, shortly after Council and before the bulk of the guest vampires leave the Mountain, Vanche overhears an assistant grumbling over the rule. "We should be allowed to drink over what we want to drink over and not be forced to have a good time," the naïve young vampire, sitting not too far from where Vancha is enjoying a drink with Kurda.
That is the last straw. Vancha finishes his barrel of ale, wipes the back of his mouth and unlooses two shurikens at the assistant. One buries itself in his arm, the other biting into his thigh. "Don't ever let me hear such nonsense again," he snarls, lip curling back, "or this one," and he slips the sharpest shuriken off his belt, "will be rammed down your throat. Understood?"
And from that night on, no vampire dared criticise the Drinking Rule. Or at least, not within earshot of the green-haired Prince.