Chapter 14
When Lucien had taken Kathryn from Godric he had taken her to the Black Mansion in Italy. It was protected by its own magic and the magic of the druids preventing it from being detected should any of the family need to flee to safety. Kathryn had not had much practice in the powers she had acquired from her Black heritage having been raised in a druid order. Lucien had overseen her training personally and she had improved greatly and was just as powerful as her brothers. She no longer needed a channel for her telekinesis and could move things by merely thinking about them. He would have had to take her away from Godric at some point to train her for her own protection but he was sad about the circumstances which had brought about her training. It would never have been an option for Godric to come with her. Vampires were not allowed in the Mansion or its grounds and he would make that exception for no one not even Godric. It was clear to Lucien that she missed Godric but she seemed resigned to the fact that she had to stay at the Mansion. She had also made a full recovery from Erics little escapade.
Lucien had explained to Kathryn about the Black heritage during her stay with him. She already knew that their blood had the power to kill a vampire or give them the power to walk in the sun. She also knew that all the Black family possessed the gift of telekenesis, but she had not learnt when vampires were killed using the family's blood. Yes she had killed for Godric and for Eric in exceptional circumstances but what determined when their power he still wanted to explain to her. This was a question her Grandfather Lucifer had struggled with. What gave the family the right to play God? Lucifer had discovered his gift by accident but he did not seek our vampires and kill them. He left them in peace to live in their own way. Over the centuries he had only stepped in and killed them when they had endangered human existence. This had happened rarely and since the Great Revelation there had been little need for the family. In light of their lack of use Lucifer had embedded his family in various lines of work across the world. So if the time came and an uprising against humanity was imminent his family were strategically placed to fight. Lucien had kept abreast of current affairs and Kathryn's position in Godric's nest had told him a lot about the AVL and the fight for vampire rights. Along with those who fought for equal rights there were the radicals. Those who believed the vampires were the superior beings and humans had no rights at all. Then there were radicals like the FOTS who believed that vampires were an abomination.
Lucien's second oldest son Thomas had been embedded in the FOTS and preached anti vampire sermons. He had come to his father with disturbing news. The FOTS had been approached by a group of vampires known as the nest of purity and had formed an alliance with them. This nest believed that pure human blood only should be drunk and were against all types of synthetic equivalents. They had agreed with the FOTS that they would fight against their fellow vampires alongside the FOTS and wipe out all other vampires. In return they would be allowed to live in seclusion in an undecided location and feed on those humans who were in prison or who consorted with vampires. Where the FOTS had got the ability to promise this Thomas didn't know. But radicals can walk many paths, including those in government and law enforcement.
Lucien and Lucifer spoke about Thomas's discovery. Both agreed that this attack could not be allowed to happen. A certain balance must prevail in the world. Lucifer decided if the attack could be concentrated in one area then it could be easily crushed. "Kathryn's Godric once offered himself to the fellowship did he not?" Lucien nodded and Lucifer continued "If Thomas proved he was alive and living in Louisiana they may be persuaded to concentrate their attack there. It would be the ideal revenge for them taking out the one who escaped them". "If Godric agreed to be bait you would have to see that he came to no harm for Kathryn's sake" Lucien responded "I will explain the situation to him and if they both survive they can be together again" Lucifer replied. Lucifer visited Godric in Shreveport and told him of the potentially explosive situation. Godric readily agreed to be bait and also offered his former underlings as allies although Lucifer refused his offer saying that it would not be necessary. Neither Lucifer nor Godric wanted the humans even if they were FOTS harmed. If they could separate them from their vampire allies it would just leave them to deal with the nest of purity which between some of the oldest vampires and the Black Dynasty could be easily taken out. Lucifer and Lucien held many councils of war over the coming weeks. Thomas returned to the FOTS and gave away Godric's location. It had been easy to persuade them to use Fangtasia as the location of their first attack. Godric had spoken to Eric of the danger and he had not been so happy about Godric wanting to be bait. He could not understand why his maker had been so keen on the idea. He was not aware of Lucifer's promise to his maker to return Kathryn to him. It had been decided that on the night of the attack the Blacks would split themselves among the vampires. Each would protect the other. Thomas discovered the date of the attack but had fortunately not been asked to be part of the attack meaning he could fight against the FOTS. During the week before the scheduled attack the Black family would move into Shreveport discretely travelling under aliases. It had been said before the Black numbers weren't large. Lucifer had one son Lucien who had 4 sons (Vincent, Thomas, Thomas and Peter) and 2 daughters (Felicity and Kathryn). They totalled eight. The boys all had children who were too young too fight. The two girls had yet to bear children. Lucien admitted that if they came out of this battle then the girls must start a family.
Lucien decided that now would be a good time to raise the whole child bearing subject with his oldest daughter. He found her one day walking in the grounds. He caught up with her and walked beside her. "Kathryn I must ask you to do something for me that you are not going to like". "That sounds ominous" she smiled back at him. "Kathryn I want you to start a family." "Papa you know Godric cannot give me a child" "Then don't start a family with him, find someone else " he replied. She shouted back at him. "I can't and won't do that to Godric. Its not fair. We have been separated at your request and he has been waiting for me all this time and he promised not to meet the sun and you promised me that I could go back to him. But now you expect me to go back pregnant or with a small child. With someone else's child. How hurt do you think he would be? You cannot change the rules now. We have done as you have asked" He will understand" Lucien replied "Besides you can always leave the child here where it will be looked after if you want to go back to him alone" Kathryn glared at her father. "I am not you or Renee. I would like to have a part in raising my own child. When I go back I will speak to Godric and see if he will accept me carrying someone else's child". Lucien took her by the shoulders "Kathryn you must have a child, you must preserve the blood line. There must always be a defence for humanity". "Not without talking to Godric first and besides its not like I am your only child the boys all have litte ones". "Kathryn I am not asking you to have a child I am insisting that you have one. I appreciate the information that you gathered in Godric's nest but you must fulfil your duties to me now. Your loyalty him is touching but family comes first". "Family you didn't even know I existed until I was five and even then I saw you rarely and Renee even less and you call us a family." Kathryn shouted. This was not the way he wanted this conversation to go and he admitted to himself he had not handled it correctly. He sighed realising he was asking a lot of her for a daughter he had seen rarely until she was in her high teens he was expecting her just to comply with a dynasty she had not been raised in and he would need to give her time to adjust. "I can suggest many men who would be more than happy to give you a child. I will give you some time to think about it " he said. Kathryn didn't like what her father was suggesting, she hadn't really thought about children. She had guessed she would have them at some point but hadn't really thought about a time.
Kathryn needed an external opinion so she sought out her step father for advice. What she really wanted was to speak to Godric but they had decided in the beginning that just speaking had been too hard. "Kathryn you have come to visit me at long last". David welcomed her into his home. She smiled "I wish it was a social call but I have come to ask your advice" "Why do you not ask your own father little one?" he asked her gently. She looked troubled "Because he is the one dishing out the orders and you were more of a father to me growing up than he ever was." David put his arm round her. "You must not speak of him like that he loves you dearly" "Does he? He separated Godric and me because of his blood line and now he wants me to have a child" she retorted. "Well don't you. Black women never age once they reach child bearing age it is thought so they can breed. You and Felicity are the first girls so he is unsure how long you will stay young." David spoke gently to his step daughter, he knew she was angry. "I understand the importance David truly I do but Godric can't give me a child. He is in effect dead. How can I do that to him? How can I sleep with another man just to bear a child. I would break his heart and then there is the fact do I want to do it with another man and do I want a child raised near vampires."she said sadly. David looked at his stepdaughter he had loved her like his own. In the past years she had gone through so much and all he wanted to do was make it a little less painful. He took her arm. "Walk with me". She took his hand and walked with him into the woods that she had played in as a child.
"There is a way for Godric to give you a child"he started. "How?" she asked. "Well" he started "The Druids have never sought to fight or destroy vampires because we believe that they are part of the balance of the earth just like the Black family are. However, centuries ago the druids tried to remove the vampires thirst for human blood. This was done by sealing the vampire inside a sacred circle and casting a spell. This spell caused the vampires heart to beat and for them to become human again albeit only briefly. It was an attempt to restore their humanity. It was not very successful, nor was it permanent." Kathryn looked pensive. David continued. " If Godric agreed to go through the same process he would be able to give you a child as he would be human again if only for a short time". "So would it hurt Godric if he did it?." she asked. "It would not cause him physical pain but his heart beating again would be a strange sensation for him its not beaten in two millenia and he would have to learn to breath again. His body would warm up so he would feel like he was burning up, having been cold for so long" David replied. " But it wouldn't hurt him?" Kathryn asked. "No but Kathryn it is not a pleasant sensation. It would be similar to when he was turned but that process is much more painful I understand. The process aside if you two remained in the sealed sacred circle over a solstice summer or winter. He would remain human for a day and a night and the energy from the solstice would help with conception when the two of you lay together. There would be no guarantee that you would conceive or that the child would survive but doing it on the solstice would raise the chances" he explained. "Would the child be a vampire then?" she asked. "No Godric would be in effect human when it was conceived so the child would be human and carry your blood line as the toxicity in your blood would dominate over Godric's human blood. Kathryn, you have to consider that Godric may not want a child" he said gently. "I know but I can give him the choice to be a father and if he doesn't want to be he will have to accept that I have to have a child." "Kathryn, what ever your father wants, the choice to have a child is yours and Godric's. Its your choice to make." Kathryn had felt better after speaking to David at least she could at least offer to involve Godric in her father's plans when she returned to him.
Kathryn returned to the Mansion to find that she had to leave almost immediately for Shreveport. Her father had explained that FOTS and some vampire nest were attacking Fangtasia and they were going to help Godric and Eric. She was surprised that her father was rushing to help Godric in light of the whole baby situation, but she was excited about seeing him again. It had been so long since they had been together they had not even spoken on the phone. It had been hard but they had mutually decided it was probably for the best". Her father had known she was with the druids and was not angry with her for her absence from the Mansion. In the decade her and Godric had been apart they had never once tried to see each other. They had obeyed his rules and respected what he had asked of them. He could ask for nothing more.