"War spares not the brave, but the cowardly" - Anacreon

The chilly air of late autumn in Styria permeated the castle as Lenore stared apprehensively at the door to Isaac's throne room. She had her plan. She had already conferred with Hector, Isaac, and the soon-to-arrive Striga. Yet it was still a grim plan nonetheless.

Hector stood nervously beside her. "You're sure about this, Lenore?" he asked.

Lenore looked at Hector, down at the ground, and then back at Hector again as she struggled with her doubts. "I'm sure... enough," she hesitantly said.

One of Isaac's creatures let them into the room. They found Isaac sitting on his throne, brooding over the current state of affairs. Abel and FlysEyes flanked him, having escaped Graz with him. Lenore had to admit, there was definitely something beyond supernatural puppetry that kept them at his side.

"Your Highness," the red-haired vampire said with a deferential curtsy. Hector bowed.

"You don't have to call me that bullshit anymore," muttered Styria's supposed king. Bloody bandages still covered his shoulder. He then asked, "Are you ready?"

Lenore momentarily found herself disoriented. She knew Isaac the king. Isaac the forgemaster. Isaac the bastard who killed her sister and threw her into the tower to rot. She had never gotten to know Isaac the man. Was the person she saw now what had always lain behind his stoic exterior? Or was this an aberration produced by recent events? She would never know.

"Yes, I'm ready."

Soon after, Ministers Codintero and Burginus arrived. "You summoned us, Your –?"

"Don't bother. Just Isaac. I'm sick of this," Isaac cut them off. "I want to inform you that I have authorized Lady Lenore to reach out to the enemy for peace negotiations."

"Peace negotiations?" said Burginus. "You mean –?"

Lenore chimed in for herself. "Yes. Conditional surrender."

The room fell silent for a moment. Surrender. Even with everything that had happened, the fall of Graz, the encirclement of Isaac's army and the demoralized state of Hector's, the soft words exiting the vampire's lips had the impact of a thunderclap.

"L-listen." Codintero said. "I know the situation is grim, but if we are going to press for peace, we may want to at least hold out until the first snows, when we can better leverage our defensive position, no?"

"No." Lenore shot back. "We need to conclude this while there can still be safe passage out of Styria. My kin are not safe here anymore, and the sooner we get out, the better. Your kind is welcome to fight on, but mine must seek safer lands. The enemy's terms include our expulsion or death. Better now when those of us sheltering in the keep can still shape what comes next, than later when we are encircled, and execution replaces expulsion as Austria's demand."

Codintero raised his voice. "Flight? Now!? To abandon your King and your land when the enemy can still strike?" He had thought more about Styria's situation, gathering his bearings and solidifying his opinions. Turning to Isaac, he said, "What Lady Lenore proposes would effectively strip you of your remaining leverage and leave you at the empire's mercy. Far better to use your remaining flying creatures to reinforce those left in Graz's citadel until the bitter end, put everyone to work enhancing the keep's fortifications, and negotiate as winter wears down the enemy's resolve. Your advisor's idea is contrary to her own race's prideful nature!"

Lenore barely suppressed a hiss. "Pride helped bring vampires to this situation, and I will not let it destroy those of us who remain. This is about our survival!"

Isaac's expression suddenly darkened. "Oh, so now you turn on me, Lenore? I should've known the gratitude my mercy would receive."

Catching herself, Lenore took a moment and looked at her human king. "Isaac, we both know that this was an alliance of convenience, but fear not." Underneath her veil. a flash of determination glimmered in Lenore's crimson eyes. "I can make this work so that it will spare your life and liberty, Isaac," she said. Glancing almost dismissively at Codintero and especially Burginus, she added, "and the two of you, too."

Hector stepped forward. "Perhaps I'm a biased party, but I can attest firsthand that in the immediate moment of negotiation, Lenore can get almost anyone to say 'yes'."

Isaac sighed. The vampire's lack of true allegiance to him was now bared for all to see. Yet, in the end, she still held the most viable path forward. "Very well. FlysEyes?"

The insectoid night creature turned. "Yes… my lord?"

"Retrieve one of the distance mirrors from their storage room."

"As… you wish." FlysEyes departed. Sometime later, he returned with a mirror and set its box down before Lenore.

Knowing that Isaac's personal mirror still must be in Graz, Lenore clapped twice and said, "Whoever stands before the mirror that belonged to Isaac." To her slight surprise, it worked perfectly. The shards arose and formed an image. She saw vampires and night creatures running to and fro, rushing between defensive positions, doing what they must to withstand the onslaught of the vastly numerically superior humans.

"Excuse me, you there!" she called out to the nearest vampire, who turned around in surprise as the shards of Isaac's abandoned mirror showed one of his former queens.

"Quee- Lady Lenore?"

"Summon the ranking officer over. We must speak with him." The Styrian soldier on the other end hesitated and then came back with a senior captain. When he was there, Lenore said, "I need you to bring this mirror under a white flag to the enemy camp at once,"

The vampire's face on the other end turned incredulous. "Wai – What? Have you gone -?"

"That's an order!" Lenore bared her fangs.

Isaac stepped in too. "As your king, I command you. If you do not, my night creatures will see it done by force!" Right on que, one of his larger night creatures still in the citadel stepped behind the Styrian officer, who looked back and gulped.

"Very well," he muttered. On the other side, Lenore and the court watched as the vampiric officer left the frame. The image in the distance mirror suddenly jerked as if its box was being moved, and then it went blank. Everyone in the room waited with growing impatience. Finally, after who knows how long, an image reappeared. It showed a man in his sixties, seated awkwardly on a makeshift throne. Atop his head sat an ornate crown. his wrinkled hands clutched a gilded scepter.

"Frederick III of the House of Habsburg, Holy Roman Emperor, Archduke of Austria, King of Germany, Duke of Carniola," Lenore declared.

The man on the other side seemed taken aback for a moment, not so much by Lenore rather than by the fact that she was talking to him through a levitating mirror. He blinked several times, incredulously, and then his expression turned dismissive. "Lenore the vampire," he simply said.

Lenore took the snub in stride. "My lord authorizes me to discuss an armistice. Your armies have made your point quite clear, and we see that the time has come to settle."

The man on the other side scoffed. "You wish to talk? Now that you and your infernal hellspawn are backed against the wall, after centuries of violence and wickedness? Bah! The points of the ultimatum were clear. There was no middle ground then, and there certainly is not now. Death awaits you."

"Not even if we accept all the terms of the ultimatum now, and compensate you for your troubles?" Lenore asked innocently. "Styria could be yours, and us your vassals."

"No. You and all the others thought me indecisive and weak, this empire a farce. For years I've tried to show them how wrong they were. This year, I will prove it to all, with you as my example!" The Habsburg ruler slammed his fist on the armrest of his makeshift throne.

Lenore looked intently at her counterpart in the mirror, probing his uncompromising front for any cracks. She saw in him a latent frustration and instantly figured out her gameplan. "I actually thought you smarter than this, your Imperial Majesty… Do you remember Charles the Bold?"

Lenore's seeming non-sequitur took the Holy Roman Emperor off guard. "Yes, the late duke of Burgundy. What does he have to do with this?"

"Quite a lot," Lenore said. "An ambitious, powerful man, wanted to be a king in his own right. He asked you to crown him such, but in 1473 you backed out at the last moment when you realized his destabilizing potential for the empire." Lenore guessed that Austria's regret and plans to renege on its truce with Styria's vampires the subsequent year played a role too, but chose not to bring that up.

Frederick III appeared irked. "This is of no relation!"

Lenore ignored him. "Some called you indecisive for this decision, but in the end, it proved the wise choice. Within three years, Charles' overreach in his plans of conquest turned his allies and neighbors against him, and he met his end at the Battle of Nancy, just before Dracula's attack. Your decision not to give him your legitimacy was for the best."

"Enough with your silver-tongued flattery!" said the emperor, clutching his mace. "What is your point?"

"My point?" Lenore said firmly. "My point is this. You must have worked hard to marshal forces from all the empire to bring us to this point. I know how insolent and unruly those princes of yours can be. But now winter is coming, and total victory still eludes you." Lenore paused for effect. "You could press forth, crush our vampires and creatures inside Graz's citadel in some final, costly, all-out assault, and then bear down on Styria Keep itself until it falls and all of us are dead or in chains… But that will require a siege. In the winter. Even if you find local support, you'll undoubtedly need to go back to those princes of yours for resupply. Spring will bring no promise of quick victory either, and every day the siege goes on, those princes will chafe a little more from the demands of your war effort." Lenore could practically see her counterpart's triumphant confidence waver. Leaning towards the mirror, Lenore asked, "What will they think if they hear that you had the option to receive Styria's surrender, and rejected it?"

The man on the other side hesitated and responded, "Anything less than victory is unacceptable now."

"Indeed, you have victory. What we offer you though, is victory without the corresponding peril it eventually brought Charles." Lenore concluded, "My proposal is that the second ultimatum shall be fulfilled. The vampires expelled to the east, but unmolested. My lord, King Isaac the 1st, shall become your vassal for real, and Styria your domain. With these conditions, we will lay down arms." Out of the corner of her eye, Lenore saw Isaac open his mouth to protest, but nothing came out, and he grudgingly nodded to himself.

"What of the vampires and creatures in the citadel? I'm not going to let them just roam freely to regroup with all of you in the east," asked the Archduke.

Lenore took a moment to compose herself. All eyes in the room were on her, but she knew that so too would be Striga's. She had to get this right. "You know of Venice's war with the Ottomans, right? How is it going for your Christian counterpart to the south?"

"Poorly, I've heard."

"Then let those in the citadel assist their cause. Escort them to the coast and load them onto boats bound for Ottoman territory."

The emperor bit his lip. The notion of allowing such satanic beings to live, let alone putting them to use, felt wrong on a gut level. "What would the Church think of this plan?"

"The Church exhorted Venice to its war in the first place, no? Really, it's only fitting. Let the Ottoman infidels reap Hell's rewards." Lenore raised an eyebrow. "Venice poses no threat to your realm, while the Ottomans do. You wouldn't thus deny this fellow Christian nation aid in its hour of need?"

Against his better judgement, Frederick III nodded. "If their Doge accepts."

"He will," said Lenore with a knowing smile. She clasped her gloved hands and hoped against hopes that this would be the end of the discussion. "I think that covers everything. I will draft up the accords and send them for your ratification."

Frederick III suddenly scowled. "No, Lenore the vampire, it does not. There is one more thing. You. The Holy See has demanded your handover."

The vampire diplomat sighed with exaggerated but genuine melancholy. She hesitated, looked at those in the room, and slowly said, "for the sake of my brethren, the Vatican will have its prize. When your men come to Styria Keep, I – and a large indemnity for all your troubles – will be there." Behind her, Hector's face drained of color, but she shot him a look not to interrupt.

The man on the other side stroked his chin. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I know that for my people to live, I must die."

Frederick III finally nodded. "Very well. We have a deal. Does your king approve?"

"I do," Isaac reluctantly said in the background.

"Then it is done. Draft up the accords, send them to me, and this land will know peace."

"Excellent," Lenore said, finding for once herself unable to feign happiness. She gazed downward, at the floor of the castle she would soon never see again. "That concludes our talk for now. Have your men surrounding the citadel stand down, and let my vampires return this mirror so we may command those inside to do likewise. The terms shall arrive within days, after which this land…" her voice choked, "…is yours."

"This will be a day Christendom shall celebrate," the triumphant emperor said with satisfaction as the vampire's image disappeared and the mirror shards fell back into the box. He returned it to the vampire who brought it to him before promptly ejecting the foul being from his presence, making a mental note to take this magical mirror later as his own trophy and espionage tool. A few minutes later, Lenore again contacted the vampiric captain. She informed him of the deal, of the final order to stand down once the humans outside the citadel have ceased their attacks, and most importantly, to destroy the distance mirror afterwards.

Watching as the shards of the distance mirror fell back into their case one last time. Lenore closed her eyes. Every word of that conversation with the Holy Roman Emperor was painful like no diplomatic exchange before. The sting of defeat throbbed like an open wound. But beneath the pain, beneath the sorrow, Lenore also knew that this was one of the best possible outcomes, given the situation. Dare she say it… a success. Looking at those in the room, all the faces she saw had a look of resigned satisfaction.

Except one. Hector went up to Lenore's side. "Sweetie…" he said with apprehension, "You don't really plan on… turning yourself over to them?"

Lenore looked straight into her partner's cerulean eyes. "Absolutely not," she quietly replied.

The last days in Styria Keep were ones of nonstop preparation. Lenore and Elansa drafted the surrender accords, capitulation in exchange for little more than Isaac's life and retention of some position under the new regime, and the "safe passage" of the vampires, at least those within the citadel and keep. The accords were soon finished and sent out, and while they waited for word of their acceptance, they began packing. Elansa gathered the papers of her's, still hoping to publish some sort of history on these events. Other vampires gradually followed suite as word spread. Lenore gathered her remaining wealth from its safe stashes. It was enough to cover a handful of bribes and then perhaps help start a new, much more modest existence for herself and several others. She pawned off a number of pieces of jewelry to Minister Burginus. For each item, he offered a fraction of their actual worth, knowing she had little choice.

"Is this highway robbery what you call fairness?" Lenore snorted at his final appraisal.

"Considering your predicament, yes," Burginus answered with self-satisfaction. "Take it or leave it."

Lenore resisted the urge to smash the tiara in her hand and drive its shards into the pudgy burgher's face. Instead, she hesitated, glared, and acquiesced. It wasn't like Isaac was going to buy them in the face of a likely indemnity. "I hope one day, all of humanity is ruled by men like you," she quietly cursed.

Burginus thought about those indolent, sword-swaggering blue-bloods he often had to deal with, and smiled to himself. That would be a fairer world, he mused.

That night, as Lenore and Hector prepared to turn in for bed, she heard the shards of her distance mirror arise in her study. She got up, saw who it was, and ran over. "Striga! Are you outside?"

"Yes, I am… Wait a minute." The Slavic vampire noticed Lenore was in her bedclothes and cringed at its implications. "You're sleeping on a human schedule!? How –?"

"Look, it doesn't matter right now. I'm coming down. Give me a few minutes."

Striga relented. "I'm waiting in front." The transmission ended.

As the mirror shards fell back into their box, Lenore turned around to her lover. "Hector?"

"Yes?"

"Striga's here. I'm meeting her outside. You… can come if you want."

"I'll pass for now," dryly responded Hector. His partner nodded and turned around to depart. For the first time in months, Hector saw Lenore run at her full speed, disappearing in a flash.

Outside, Striga heard the castle door open, and turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw one of her sisters for the first time in months.

"Striga!"

"Lenore!" When Lenore reached Striga, the two of them embraced. For the briefest of moments, everything felt whole again for Lenore.

And then the moment passed. Pulling back, Lenore asked "Where were you all this time?"

"We thought you were dead!"

"Did you bother checking your mirror?" Indignation built up in Lenore's unbeating heart.

"Well, we saw a giant explosion rip through the castle and sensed Carmilla's death," Striga replied with exasperation. "Forgive us for the obvious assumptions. At least we weren't serving her killer."

Lenore almost let out a hiss, but caught herself at the last moment and calmed herself down. "We'll talk about it later," she muttered before asking, "Come in. I think one of Isaac's human ministers has taken your quarters, but my old bodyservant's bed is available." As they walked inside, Lenore then asked, "What happened with Morana?"

Striga clenched her fist as they walked. "We were traveling as mercenaries when the enemy ambushed us. Morana hid in her trunk, while I dealt with them, but… When I came back to the camp…" Lenore could practically feel her anger burn into a fiery rage as her line of thought coiled in on itself. "I'll find them, and I'll fucking kill them!"

"Striga" Lenore implored, "I get it. At times I almost wished I could take her place… But right now we have new problems. For now, come rest. You must be exhausted." Striga snorted, but nonetheless acquiesced. The two of them reached Lenore's quarters. Hector was there to greet them.

"We meet again, Striga," warily said Hector. When Lenore had told him that Striga initially just wanted to kill him, he believed her.

Striga's eyes darted between the human and her fellow vampire before settling contemptuously on the latter. She also noted that the human man's ring finger was missing. And yet they were still together. There was only one, all too predictable conclusion. "Of course," Striga muttered not too quietly.

"He's the reason I'm alive at all, after the attack and everything," Lenore stated defensively.

"And for the record, we're equals now too," Hector added.

Before Striga could pass any further judgement on this taboo relationship, her eyes fell upon the small urn sitting in Lenore's chambers. Her mood suddenly changed. "Is – Is that?"

"Yes, it is." Lenore somberly said. "I cremated what I could in the sun, and this is what is left of her."

The giant vampiress beckoned for the container, which Lenore brought. She cradled it in her arms. "Morana…" Striga softly said. "My wife…" Bloody tears welled up in her eyes. Lenore allowed her some time to simply be with what remained of Striga's lover, still grieving enough to know how much worse it was for Striga.

When the time was right, the small vampiric diplomat put her hand on the Slavic giantess' shoulder. "Hector and I must sleep now – I have to be awake on a human court's schedule. For now, you can stay up longer in my bodyservant's room… Tomorrow will have enough challenges on its own."

Striga simply nodded.

The next morning, a courier delivered a message for Lenore. She opened it up and saw that Frederick III had ratified the terms she presented, but however reiterated that vampires who could not or would not leave Styria would be killed. The Archduke would arrive in two days' time to secure his prize, and he expected to have Lenore there, dead or alive. On this condition hinged everything else regarding the other vampires.

It was that final point that troubled Lenore the most. Not because she lacked for a plan, but because it raised the stakes for its failure. She decided that she would need a better alibi. She had previously planned on using Hector, who knew her predicament and plan out of it, but now the situation called for a better accomplice. A vampire. And it was for this reason that she roused Striga.

"Wake up."

"What – It's daytime!" Striga groaned as she saw the small amount of light that filtered through the room's heavy curtains.

"Indeed it is," Lenore said, already fully veiled and suited up for daytime exposure. "But I need you to come with me. Put on your day armor or something for the light."

Striga rolled her eyes at her smaller sister. "Why now?"

Lenore explained the situation and what she had in mind, and the stakes involved. "So to be blunt, both my life and the lives of the vampiric soldiers caught in the citadel depend on me having you meet King Isaac, our self-proclaimed monarch."

Striga snorted. However great her own misgivings were of Carmilla's plans in the end, she harbored no warm feelings for this man who killed her and then cowed Lenore into his service, still, she assented. "Fine."

Before they could depart the door to Lenore's chambers suddenly burst open. "I'm finally here!" Elansa said, panting. "I'm so sorry I'm late Len-!" The diminutive black-haired vampire looked up at Lenore's guest, staring down at her. "Quee- Lad – Queen Striga?" she fumbled.

Before Striga could say anything, Lenore stepped forward. "Oh, this Elansa, my assistant… Don't mind her. Let's go." Lenore led Striga. Before leaving, she turned to Elansa and said, "It's fine. Continue the preparations. Striga and I have business we must attend to with Isaac."

When the two of them reached Isaac's chamber, Lenore requested an audience and promptly received one. Striga remained behind. "Isaac," she asked, remembering not to use any honorifics anymore, "The Holy Roman Emperor has ratified the treaty," she presented the message to her king, who looked it over. Her skin itched, even more so than usual when she went out in her protective garb and veil.

"I see that all the sections regarding vampires are contingent on your death or live handover?"

Lenore stared down at the ground. "Yes. This is my fate. For this reason," Lenore looked up, "I brought with me the vampire who will actually guide my kind to safety. Pardon me for a moment." The veiled vampire briefly exited. Isaac waited a few minutes, somewhat confused, when suddenly Lenore returned with a hulking being clad head-to-toe in heavy plate armor, stylized vaguely like a bird. Its head had an almost opaque yellow visor but through it, Isaac could vaguely make out the pale face of a vampiric woman glaring at him. "I present to you Striga. A fellow former queen of Styria, and the vampire who will lead our kin to safety."

"Well… met," cautiously said Isaac. FlysEyes had informed him that Striga was returning and in communication with Lenore, and he had seen her in action in a distance mirror, but only now did he appreciate how formidable she truly was. How long had she known about Styria's present predicament? Why didn't she come in its of hour of need? The questions began to gnaw at him.

"Indeed." Striga seethed, staring at the man who killed one sister and reduced another to a servile lieutenant. The tension in the room soared, and then boiled over. "Why did you kill Carmilla? Why did you do this to us? To Styria?" she suddenly snapped.

"Where were you when Styria was actually under attack now? You can't speak if you abandoned your land!"

"That's rich coming from a forgemaster who somehow couldn't hold off –!"

"Stop!" shouted Lenore, dropping all court etiquette. She tugged at her larger sister's arm. "Please. This isn't the time!" she quietly said.

"You aren't my boss!" Striga spat back in a hushed tone.

"Morana wouldn't want us to waste what precious time remains," Lenore quietly implored. "Please."

Silence. Striga closed her eyes and clenched her fist. Isaac's night creature Abel took a step forward, ready to intervene. Then Striga exhaled and visibly untensed. Lenore looked up at her human lord, and said with a sigh, "I suppose this wraps up our meeting. Striga and I must attend to business before Austria comes."

"You may take your leave, both of you," responded Isaac with the slightest caution in his voice. He looked at the two vampires, knowing this may be perhaps the last time he would see either. "Lady Lenore, your loyalty to my reign, however hollow and artificial, is to be commended… And as for you, Striga, do what you must, and get out of my sight."

The last night before the arrival of Frederick III soon descended upon Styria. Lenore and Hector surveyed their old home one last time. Everything they'd need and could carry was packed up. Every drop of blood bottled up for the long journey ahead. Isaac had directed Abel and FlysEyes to fly off, and seek whatever shelter this world had to offer them. Should he be forced to see his creatures slaughtered, at least those two would live. Meanwhile, most of the vampires gathered in the group were already waiting outside, having sheltered from the sun by whatever means possible throughout the day. Ostensibly Striga was set to depart within hours.

There were just two things left to do. Lenore quietly descended down towards the dungeon. In her hands was a key she had pilfered the day before. Reaching the lowest level, she found it unattended, and then made her way to a specific cell.

"Captain Barlis?" she said quietly.

The now-disheveled vampire looked up at the queen who betrayed him. "It's you again."

"Listen. Tomorrow, this castle will… no longer belong to King Isaac," Lenore said somberly. For a moment, the old captain's eyes lit up before Lenore continued, "It will fall to the Austrian house of Habsburg."

"You mean… Christians?" Barlis asked.

"Yes. The vampires in or around the castle have the opportunity to flee tonight. Others are being sent off to Venice, likely to then be shipped off to fight their war against their human enemies the Ottomans. Those who remain will be slaughtered."

The old captain's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "So this is it? You are telling me that you'll leave me here to die? I should've let you die all those years ago."

"No," Lenore calmly replied. "I'm instead advising you to, ahem, escape." She unlocked the cell door. "The main group is stationed just east of the castle and will head out tonight. Perhaps they will see you there."

Before Barlis could seek clarification, Lenore had already turned her back and transformed into a cloud of mist.

Later, Lenore commandeered a fireplace. She took several pieces of firewood and a number of books best left away from human eyes, and burned them until everything was reduced to a fine ash. Gathering that into a manageable pile, she then removed her beloved silver earpiece and hurled into the still smoldering pile. Staring at the silver-topped cinder, Lenore felt that something was missing. Even a human unfamiliar with vampires could have reasons to doubt its veracity. There was one more thing she needed. She walked up to a mirror and hesitated. She briefly thought of ordering Elansa or someone else to do this, but shot the idea down. Opening her mouth, she grabbed her right fang, and with a violent yank she tore it from her mouth. Pain ripped through her jaw as half-congealed blood oozed out of the hole it left behind. Bearing through the pain, she wiped the fang clean, scorched it slightly with a candle, and added it to the heap. That was better.

Hector walked in. "Is it ready, dear?"

"Yes, it is." She kissed her partner on the cheek and said "I'll see you on the other side," before dematerializing into a cloud of mist that snaked its way out the door.

Re-materializing near the door out of the castle, Lenore looked around before preparing to exit. Satisfied, she pushed the door open and prepared to transform into a swarm of bats, when suddenly Codintero rounded the corner.

The two of them locked eyes. Silence. Finally, Lenore said, "Not a word, minister, understood? Everything is taken care of."

The human man of arms nodded. "Understood. Farewell." He watched as Lenore's eyes suddenly glowed, and she transformed into a swarm of bats, flying off in the direction of the other vampires. Part of him still second guessed the moral wisdom of his staying silent. He knew when coming to Styria that he would have encounters with the unhuman and unholy, the demons and the damned. But he did not expect his time here to make him reevaluate his own spiritual allegiance, and the church that demanded it for the sake of his salvation. Although he was a mere layperson, Codintero thought on this matter. In the end, Lenore and the vampires would still one day have to stand before God and account for their actions, however long it took. But so too would he, as would the clergy he still turned to with periodic reservations. All of them, after all, were at best fallen.

"He who is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her," muttered Codintero as he resumed his night walk.

Isaac stayed up late on the last night of his kingship. He stared out the window of his sleeping chambers at the moonlit landscape. He came to Styria as a conqueror, and as it turned out a hero, arriving just in time to slay the vampire who planned to use Hector to launch a foolish attempt at world domination. This was to be his place where he could forge a haven from Christian or vampiric domination alike, where people, human or otherwise, could have some role in its service.

Instead, he was just going to be another minor prince. The forgemaster scowled. He'd have to swear fealty to another human. Not one of the acceptable ones like the captain he encountered sailing to Genoa, but the type who led him to misanthropy in the first place. Perhaps the Habsburgs would coerce him to marry some foul inbred damsel from their extended family. Perhaps they'd force him to convert to that stupid religion of theirs and give up forging on pains of death. His skin crawled.

If he so much as suspected they would ask for the distance mirrors, he swore, he'd break them before they could cause mischief.

Still, it was better than some of the alternatives. Death, either on the field, in a collapsing castle, or with his head atop the executioner's block. For this, he had to thank Lenore the vampire. His thoughts turned to her. However lacking in loyalty at heart – that atrophied, motionless vampiric heart of hers – she had proven her use. Actually, far from lacking loyalty, she was now poised to submit herself to a fate worse than death. To hand herself over to the tender care of the Church for her former subjects' survival. Isaac mused that the years of suffering he endured before meeting Dracula might seem gentle next to what lay ahead for Lenore. Unless –

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Isaac said.

In came Hector, holding a bowl full of ash. His face appeared long with sadness. "Isaac," he said, "Lenore killed herself."

Isaac stared at the vessel's contents as Hector set it down. Ash, a scorched fang, and that silver earpiece Lenore always wore was all that remained. He looked up at Hector. "When did this happen? This evening before the sun set?"

"I believe so," sighed Hector. "I walked out to do something, and when came back this is what I found. I don't know if she staked herself or took off her veil and went into the fading sunlight, but it doesn't really matter. She's gone. That's all." Hector turned around and prepared to leave, "I'm still going to go join the vampires now. I guess you'll present this as proof of her demise to the war's victors?"

"Indeed," said Isaac, somewhat puzzled. Why was he leaving if his lover no longer tethered him to her fellow vampires? Why was he so composed to begin with? He re-examined the remains. "Hey wait a minute –"

Hector turned around and winked at him. Taking a moment to put the puzzle pieces together, Isaac couldn't help but smile slightly at the craftiness of Hector's partner. "Understood," Isaac said, nodding.

With that, the forgemasters parted ways. Grabbing a cloak and the last of his belongings, Hector walked out into the cold Styrian night towards the dark mass in the distance that he knew to be the vampires. It included Elansa and her friend Dryson, Barlis and the physician, Stark the cartographer, and several dozen others. A motley group of civilians and half-equipped veterans, far off from the armies Styria once sent forth. Once there, he reunited with Lenore, who was calming any last voices of dissent about their action or destination while Striga stood silently, clutching the urn holding her lovers remains. As Lenore turned around and hugged Hector, the giant vampire warrior couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy.

Regardless, all of them took one last moment to look back at Styria Keep. The country's banner atop the castle would soon be replaced with the imperial double-eagle. And yet, so long as they could stick together and see this journey through, Styria would live on in the senses that mattered most. Neither strength nor power, but the memories, the legacies, the people they leave behind.

The motley group departed.

This is my longest chapter to date! Whew! Frederick III and Charles the Bold were both real life figures, and I played with their changing historical assessments over time. However, despite the length of the story, one character who I feel still needs more attention is Striga. I will probably do a Blood and Cinder story to do her justice.