"How true it is that talent is difficult to find!" - Confucius
As an overcast sky scattered the light of the setting sun, the returning diplomatic mission reached Styria Keep. The convoy stopped. It had with it both Baron Bakonyi's pigs and as well as his Hussite prisoners originally slated for execution. Lenore and Hector exited their carriage and waited. They had already sent an attendant ahead to request an audience with King Isaac. Through her veil, the vampire diplomat looked up and exhaled in relief. Finally, clouds. Even with her protective headwear, her face still itched after repeatedly needing to step out into direct sunlight for minutes on end during the return trip, especially with those damnable villagers. Letting her focus lapse, she gently scratched her cheek. A thin ashen residue flaked off. The veil could not keep her alive in direct sunlight after all. It merely prolonged the process of dying.
The return of her courier drew Lenore's attention back to the immediate situation. The king had not only granted her an audience, but in fact insisted on one. A feeling of apprehension suddenly descended on Lenore. Somehow, Isaac must have learned already of the human prisoners, perhaps through a scout. She had hoped to be the first to bear the news, controlling how it was framed. Exchanging a worried glance with Hector, Lenore instructed the swine herders to temporarily bring the pigs to a holding pen and instructed the convoy's guards to watch the captives. Then she beckoned to Hector to come with her as she went to present herself, clutching in her hand the copy of the First Ultimatum that Elansa had provided her.
Walking besides Lenore, Hector couldn't help but wonder if his partner brought him along for political support, for pure companionship, as a safeguard, or all of the above. But he did not ask yet.
The two of them reached Isaac's chamber. A guard let them in. The king was waiting for them inside.
"Lady Lenore… And Hector too," he greeted both of them.
"At your service, Your Highness," said Lenore with a suitable show of deference. "My mission was successful. I have our pigs, and more than that." Hector remained silent, all too happy let the more politically inclined vampire do the talking.
"Yes. 'More than that,' indeed," said Isaac sardonically. "My scout says that you brought back humans too. I asked you to obtain pigs, not people. Why then is there a contingent of chained prisoners standing outside the castle?" His deliberate tone barely masked is irritation.
"Oh, the men?" Lenore asked with affected sheepishness. "Forgive me, Your Highness. While I was in Hungary, it turned out that the baron I was dealing with also planned to execute several dozen prisoners of his, and I convinced him to let me take them off his hands."
"This is your first task after I released you from house arrest, and you already deal behind my back? You test my patience, Lenore."
Lenore stood firm this time. "My people need blood, human blood. Animal blood alone won't keep us alive forever, and it certainly won't stave off unrest from your still numerous vampire subjects. The sooner the crisis is resolved, the better it is for your reign. Moreover, I didn't spend a single one of your coins on the humans. It came out of my own purse."
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "What do you plan on doing with our new guests then?" he asked challengingly. "Slit their throats for less than the amount of blood Styria once consumed in a day?"
"It depends, Your Majesty. I gave them a choice. They could die like the baron intended, or they can live here with basic accommodations in exchange for regular blood 'rent.' It will not be enough feed the entire country, but it should help buy more time with the nobles, garrison commanders, and castle staff." The truth was that Lenore had not exactly worked out what would happen to the captives. That sort of thing used to be Morana's job, whatever happened to her. Nor could she without knowing how many would choose to live or die.
"Oh, so not only are you asking me to feed and clothe a group of random foreigners, but you are also asking me to violate the accord I signed with our greatest threats abroad? We still aren't ready for a fight."
Hector noticed Lenore's eyes light up, as if she had been waiting for those words. "Your Highness," she said sweetly, "I looked over their ultimatum repeatedly, and it only talks about blood taxes." She pulled out her copy of the document and handed it to the king. "It says nothing about the use of blood as a voluntary payment, means of exchange, or anything of that sort… and not 'rent' either. As far as I'm concerned, any of these captives would be paying rent, like a tenant does to the landlord." As Isaac re-read the ultimatum, Lenore asked, "You did have someone with diplomatic or legal experience review this, right? I can't help but notice that a blood tax replacement has yet to come forward."
After a minute, Isaac handed the paper back. His tone changed slightly. "Right now, you need to figure out what is going on with those prisoners you brought along. In two days, I am set to meet with my financial and military advisors about the blood situation, and I want you there. You may take your leave."
As Lenore turned to exit, she saw Hector looking at her expectantly, as if she had forgotten something. She immediately knew what he had in mind and decided it would be for the best. "Pardon me, but one thing," Lenore suddenly added. She chose her words carefully. "Just to forewarn you, Your Highness, there was a little incident on the way back involving a small group of human farmers who, well, misunderstood the situation. We talked most of them down, but a few had to be forcibly dispersed. I compensated the villagers with my own funds."
"Well then, I hope you learned your lesson about these stunts," said Isaac, not sympathetic but not furious either. It was good enough. With that, Lenore bowed her head deferentially and departed with Hector.
As they walked, Hector leaned in towards Lenore. "That's a very tame way of describing a night creature mauling someone"
"Shush."
By the time Lenore and Hector returned outside, the sun had almost set. Lenore went up to the Hussite captives and asked for their final choices on her offer. Of the forty prisoners, ten chose to die rather than become "your fucking livestock," while the rest took her up. Dispassionately dividing the two groups, Lenore sent those who refused her offer to the dungeon, with instructions for them to be executed and drained of blood in the morning. She placed the remainder in one of the barracks that used to house members of the palace guard. They too would be bled, but using standard blood-drawing tools, not a beheading axe. Satisfied and also exhausted from their travels, the pair returned to Lenore's chambers. Lenore used a wash basin to remove the rest of the ash that used to be her face's outermost layer of skin, and then they went to bed. For the first time since her forced diurnal transition, she did not struggle with insomnia.
The next day was a flurry of mundane activity, the daily drudgeries of a minor court official in a palace far larger than needed. Reluctantly, Lenore forced herself to finish rearranging the furniture in her former body-servant's room into a study. For a duchess turned deposed vampire queen who almost never worked with her hands, it was harder than it should've been. She then checked on the thirty Hungarian prisoners who had chosen to live, making sure that someone remembered to feed them non-rotten food. Once they were fed and clothed in something other than rags, the first bleeding could begin. Afterwards, she then made her way down into the dungeon again to confirm that their more obstinate compatriots had been dealt with and harvested as instructed. All had gone as planned. All that would be left would be allot the new blood to key parties of interest.
As Lenore gazed at the headless corpses, bled white, the words "like a vampire" flashed into her head again. No. Please no. Not while things were going so well. Trying to deflect this new incursion of intrusive thoughts, she found a cup, filled it with the newly collected blood, and wordlessly slipped it through the bars of a certain Captain Barlis' prison cell. Now perhaps it could be his problem.
Her last errand took her once again to the library. Accompanied by Hector now, she once again entered its damaged halls. It was going to take a while to repair this section. Lenore instinctively looked towards the librarian's desk, but at it sat an unfamiliar human. Searching around, she found the person she was looking for seated at a table, veiled in the same fabric she was, scribbling away as always on her doomsday manuscript.
"Elansa?" Lenore asked.
Elansa looked up and saw her new employer. "What can I do for you?"
"Good morning. First, it's time I introduced you to Hector, my partner," Lenore said in a matter-of-fact tone. Hector stepped forward. So this was the other vampire Lenore kept talking to. A scrawny, greyish little being of the night, she was somehow even smaller than Lenore, his partner.
Elansa looked back at him and got up. "Oh, I've seen you. You're the forgemaster that Lenore seduced and –" The socially awkward vampire abruptly stopped when she noticed her employer's icy glare, cold enough to have frozen over the Adriatic Sea. "How nice to meet… Mister, uh, Hector." Elansa meekly fumbled. For all her ego, it took very little to put her in her place.
Hector chuckled. "Well, it is not that different from how she recruited you."
"Anyway," Lenore said, eager to change the topic, "Your new workspace is ready. You'll still likely need to come to the library for documents, but we need a space for us to talk away from others." The two vampire women and Hector departed the library. They passed an eclectic mix of humans, night creatures, and by now the occasional other vampire, distinguishable to an experienced eye by their complete lack of exposed skin. Isaac must have tired of holding useful professionals prisoner just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When they reached Lenore's chambers, the deposed queen ushered them in, closed the door, and led Elansa to the new study. As usual, all the windows were drawn shut for the day "This is going to be your workspace," said Lenore, taking the opportunity to remove her veil.
"Do I have to sleep here?" Elansa asked, pointing at the bed shoved in a corner. She too removed her veil and savored not having to worry about catching fire for once.
"Only if absolutely necessary," Lenore answered. "This used to be my body-servant's room. I haven't seen her since the invasion." Hector watched as Elansa without any hesitation plopped her book bag onto the deceased's bed and made it into a makeshift shelf for her stuff. She was a little strange, to say the least.
The rest of the day came down to tasks in preparation for Lenore's first real cabinet meeting, or at least the first meeting she had actually been invited to. Hopefully all went well.
"You're sure that it is okay for you to bring me along?" Hector asked as he walked with Lenore. It was a beautiful, sunny morning in Styria, just the type Lenore and every vampire forced onto a diurnal schedule hated.
"Yes, I'm sure," Lenore nodded as she circled around a patch of direct sunlight streaming in through a window. Just because her veil could allow her to briefly survive it didn't make the sensation enjoyable. "Isaac seemed fine with it before, and would he really say no to you?"
"He has in the past." Something odd then occurred to Hector. "Lenore, you've lately wanted me around for all your big political events, why?"
"I like your company!" Lenore said cheerily.
Hector looked incredulously at Lenore. He knew her well enough to know that wasn't how she worked.
After some hesitation, Lenore admitted, "Also, you are a good… counterweight." She declined to elaborate.
"Well, you know my opinion," Hector said. "You're a good short term political tactician, but you don't spend enough time cultivating long term trust."
"Ah trust. Trusting others has gotten us both so far in life, hasn't it?"
"You don't have to trust to be trustworthy. The less there is to go around, the more people will value it."
"Perhaps." They reached the meeting room. To her dismay, she was the last to arrive. She found King Isaac seated at the head of the table, flanked by FlysEyes as well as a winged, bluish night creature apparently named Abel, according to Hector. Farther down sat a rough but well-dressed man in his 40s with a sheathed sword by his side, and opposite him an even better dressed man of similar age whose clothing appeared an unintentional parody of a true noble's attire. Both of them looked nervous. Lenore had a pretty good feeling why.
"Your Highness," said Lenore with a curtsy. Hector likewise acknowledged the sovereign.
"Lady Lenore. And Hector," sighed Isaac, as if he too was getting tired of the formalities. The novelty of kingship was wearing off quickly. He motioned for them to sit. "These are Ministers Giovani Codintero, my chief military advisor, and Thomas Burginus, my minister on matters of coin." Burginus nodded politely, while the faintest frown appeared on Codintero's face when he noted Lenore's pointed ears underneath her dark veil. The feeling was mutual. Lenore couldn't fathom why Isaac saw fit to include him in this meeting.
When all three of Isaac's non-night creature subordinates, two humans and a vampire, were seated, the king spoke to the humans. "Ministers Codintero and Burginus, do you have any updates on the blood situation?"
"No, Your Highness," said Codintero. "With all due respect, we're in the same place that we were when you summoned us yesterday."
"We can get animal blood, my king," Burginus chimed in. He sounded less sure of himself. "But there is simply no way around the church's ultimatum unless you want war – No state blood collection. I'm sorry."
Isaac narrowed his eyes. "Have you read the text?"
"Of course we have, Your Highness."
"Carefully?"
The two ministers looked at each other. "Forgive our insolence, but could you clarify?" said Codintero.
"The fact that these fools need clarification is why I must bring in Lenore in the first place!" fumed Isaac to himself. "Lady Lenore, could you tell us your ideas regarding the situation?"
Lenore responded in an unassuming tone, "You Highness, I beg to differ with the two gentlemen. I reviewed the First Ultimatum during my mission to Hungary, and found some points of interest." She pulled out a copy of the actual document, something no one else had in front of them. "It prohibits the collection of blood as any form of mandatory tax, levy, or tribute required from Styria's general human population. It does not discuss blood as a voluntary payment, a means exchange, rent, or anything of that sort. Nor does it talk about the drawing of blood as a punishment."
"Lady Lenore," said Codintero incredulously, "You think Styria's humans will freely donate blood for you people?"
Lenore looked at her questioner. He clearly had some court experience, but hopefully enough. "With the right policies, perhaps." She maintained a pleasant tone even as she prepared to throw down the proverbial gauntlet. Lenore turned towards Isaac. "Your Highness, off the top of my head, you could pay humans for their blood and offset the cost with additional 'conventional' taxation. We could mandate and expand the use of blood extraction as a punishment for crimes. I'm not the best person to work out the details, but depending how vigorously and creatively you and Minister Burginus pursue this, we might need hardly any animal blood supplements! If you need a vampire to consult, I or my assistant are available."
As she finished and Hector inwardly cringed, knowing where things were heading, Lenore realized she misstepped even indirectly alluding to Elansa. Thankfully, before anyone could ask or even Burginus himself could react, her veiled snub succeeded in setting Codintero off. "King Isaac," he declared, "What this vampire proposes both goes against the spirit of your agreement with the Vatican and your own self-interest. Your power base is in Styria's humans. These policies will turn them against you, while the vampires will always hold a grudge against you anyway. Let your internal enemies make do on pigs."
"Captain Codintero, I disagree –" Lenore started gently.
"That's Minister Codintero." he growled with indignation. By this point, Burginus had fallen silent, not inclined to stick his neck out. Isaac shook his head in frustration. Not this sort of scene again.
"I'm sorry, Minister Codintero," apologized Lenore with feigned remorse before resuming as if nothing happened. "My people may dislike change, but they are even less fond of starvation. We don't bite the hand that feeds us." She then whispered, "only the neck," just loud enough for their half of the table to hear but not Isaac.
Noticing a rosary tucked under her adversary's sleeve, Lenore had another idea and reached as far back as she could to the distant memories of her own human upbringing in the faith. "By the way, how do you know that this wasn't what the Holy See intended? Maybe this sort of arrangement was exactly what they had in mind. I thought Christ allowed us whatever food we want. Surely His vicar in Rome would permit a vampire her primary sustenance, as long as everyone lives." She felt Hector jab her underneath the table. Her only reaction was a slight devilish smile.
Codintero narrowed his eyes. "We are in no place to presuppose such a thing, especially not one regarded by so many as contrary to Nature's laws!" He turned towards Isaac, whose fist visibly shook with frustration. "Your Highness, I trust that Lady Lenore has told you about her little incident in the village of Feldbach? I learned of it from the guards, and it might illustrate my point."
For a moment Lenore's confidence almost gave way to inward panic, after a quick glance towards Isaac she regained her bearings. "Actually, I have," Lenore said without a hint of distress. She then added innocently, "If drinking blood is so unnatural, why do Catholics attending mass pretend to gorge themselves on the messiah's flesh and fluids?"
"Blasphemy one more time, and –!"
"Enough of this nonsense!" declared Isaac. "Giovani Codintero, hold your tongue if it doesn't have anything productive to add. Minister Burginus, resume work on a blood tax replacement using the insights Lady Lenore has provided. Consult her if needed. Lady Lenore, congratulations on becoming my new advisor on foreign matters. Don't let your games force me to reconsider it. Hector, you and your…" he paused, unsure what to say.
"Wife" Hector interjected.
"… May go now. I need a word with the other two," Isaac finished. As usual, Hector gave a stiff, awkward half-bow while Lenore curtsied, never seeming to tire of these inane rituals of human monarchy. As Isaac kept his two other nervous advisors back, the vampire-human couple closed the door and left.
"Peacemaker, my ass," muttered Hector.
Lenore smiled coyly. "I couldn't have done it without you, sweetie. You were the one who reminded me to bring up the villager incident in advance. Had it been news to Isaac, that could have gone very differently."
Neither this chapter nor the one before it existed in my initial outline. In my experience, even the most thoroughly planned writings take on lives of their own as they come into being.