"And did he say anything before you shot him?" Farnsworth asked, staring into the fire as was his wont.

"He only gave his name," LaCroix replied curtly.

"That's all?"

LaCroix shrugged. "And some wash about how all of us shall burn in Hell."

Farnsworth chuckled. Something he rarely did. "Yes, yes, they're always like that, aren't they."

LaCroix rose from his chair. "There was…" he began as he slowly walked to the painting on the wall opposite the fireplace. It depicted a Greek warrior being attacked by a boar. The warrior had lost his weapons and had his hands up in a pleading gesture, but the boar appeared to be charging nonetheless. "…one thing I noticed though."

Farnsworth turned his head. "Oh?"

LaCroix kept his back turned and continued to gaze at the painting.

"Sebastian."

When LaCroix still didn't move or answer, Farnsworth rose from his chair and raised his voice. "Sebastian! I asked you a question!"

At length Sebastian LaCroix turned around. "He was strangely confident… sloppy almost."

Farnsowrth waved his words away irritably. "They're always like that. They think their Lord will protect them how ever foolish they may act." He made to sit again.

"Someone this sloppy could never outwit Okamba."

Farnsworth didn't sit. "Okamba? Let's not overestimate her. Even though she became one of us, she was still a savage. And despite her newly-Kindred nature, she still believed her powers were the result not of her Blood, but of some savage power's blessing."

"Quite a disrespectful way to speak of your newly-deceased Childe…" LaCroix said with a sneer. "…even for a Tremere," he added cynically.

Farnsworth's eyes narrowed. "Don't use that tone with me, Neonate! Okamba was a Childe with great potential, I never disputed that!"

"My point exactly," Sebastian said with a smirk, which promptly vanished again. "She would never have let herself get so easily be slaughtered by such an arrogant hunter. Uless, of course…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless the hunter had help, somehow."

"Farnsworth's eyes narrowed again. "What do you mean?"

"No hunter is so arrogant," LaCroix explained, "unless he knows his quarry will be unable to resist."

"Possible." Farnsworth thought for a while. "Get to the bottom of this, Sebastian. I'm trusting you to find the culprit. If we have a traitor among us, he must be put to the flame." Farnsworth took his coat from the back of his chair and threw it around his shoulders. "I'll show you out."

"No need, Farnsworth. Stay where you are."

Farnsworth's mouth fell open. "I beg your pardon!"

"When I rode home yesterday, I suddenly realized that it was a strange thing for a mentor to give such a powerful artifact to an apprentice when his own life is clearly in danger. Wasn't it you who taught me to look out for yourself first?"

"Well, yes, but I have plenty of other protections so I d - "

"And I found it quite strange," LaCroix interrupted, "that I was unable to Dominate any of my servants while that amulet was around my neck, or in my pocket even."

"Ha! Are you going to lecture me about magical items? Sometimes artifacts have unexpected effects on some powers! Of course, a Neonate like you doesn't know this!"

"I don't believe that this effect was entirely unexpected."

"What?"

LaCroix remained silent. Suddenly Farnsworth pointed at LaCroix threateningly and growled, "How dare you! If your Sire were here instead of in comfortable Europe, he'd burn some respect into you! If you're suggesting th- "

"I'm not suggesting anything, Farnsworth." LaCroix said calmly. "I'm saying it straight out. You were the one who told the hunters the location of my villa. You were the one who gave out a disrupting necklace, first to Okamba and then to me. You sent that Hunter after us, knowing that the amulet would undo our powers." He took a large revolver out of his jacket. "Am I right? That's why Okamba let herself get slaughtered. She relied on her powers to alert and defend her."

Farnsworth laughed nervously. "Ridiculous! If I hadn't sworn an oath to your Sire and if you weren't my apprentice, I'd- "

"You'd what, Farnsworth?" LaCroix shouted, cocking the hammer. "There are no hunters to do your work for you now!"

"You are a fool, Sebastian! Yes, I sacrificed my pawns to keep the King safe! Yes I betrayed you to the hunters so they wouldn't realize that I'm a Vampire! But that knowledge will do you no good, Neonate! You've forgotten whom you're dealing with! You may have discovered my treason, but you've been the arrogant fool you've always been to confront me openly with it! Your little revolver is useless against me! The shots will be nothing but child's shoves for me! You've signed your own death warrant, fool! I'll obliterate you without even breaking a sweat!" Farnsworth raised his hands and his form was a black shade surrounded with the outline of the fire in the fireplace. He shouted a power word and threw his hands forward, but nothing happened. Startled, he looked at the palms of his hands as if the answers were written there.

LaCroix laughed. "You might wish to inquire as to my reasons of having such a long conversation with you if I was already certain of your guilt."

Farnsworth ignored the question and attempted to cast another spell, but the effect was the same.

"Speechless, Lord Farnsworth?" Allow me to explain. I was simply waiting for you to don your coat, as I knew you would, you with your sad human habits."

"What? Why, what- "

"Oh, it wasn't the coat itself that mattered. What I slipped into one of the pockets was far more important."

Suddenly Farnsworth's eyes widened in understanding, but too late. Sebastian LaCroix pulled the trigger of his heavy revolver again and again. A series of deafening blasts sounded when the shots went off, striking Farnsworth in the chest. Every shot blew a fist-sized hole in his coat and robe and sent him staggering one step backwards. The last shot caused him to stumble against the fireplace. The ends of his silken robe promptly caught fire and the flames greedily pounced, whooshing up along Farnsworth's clothes and turning him into a shrieking, flailing pillar of flame. The burning Farnsworth screeched hysterically, and his fiery limbs set fire to the carpet, curtains, paintings and furniture. His screams eventually turned into a bubbling gurgle as his charred body crashed to the burning ground. Sebastian LaCroix hadn't stayed to watch the spectacle.

From his vantage point on the hill, Sebastian LaCroix watched the villa of Lord Denholm Charlton Farnsworth burn. And as he watched the villa collapse in an inferno of burning beams and fiery walls, he learned a lesson most Kindred never did: Underestimate no one, not even your own apprentice.

He returned to his coach, and as he rode to his villa, he wondered what would would happen now. Farnsworth had a few apprentices left, but none had the desire, the wit or the mettle to take charge. So that duty fell on his shoulders and he would take it on without complaint or reluctance. With Farnsworth gone, the colony had the opportunity for a strong, and most importantly, an intelligent leader. Since he had proven himself to be capable of outwitting his very mentor, it was only fitting that he donned the cloak of leadership.

And his first act as a leader would be to provide the colony with a protector and him, with an enforcer. One of the slaves, a true giant of a man, would fit this role nicely. But he wouldn't be Ventrue material. Sévigny the Gangrel would be glad to assist him though. Yes, Gangrel would be perfect.