Disclaimer – I do not own anything of Onimusha or LOK, Mioko, Meg, Azrael and Raziel's lieutenants are mine x
R/R – Tom – Thank you, they're probably two of my favs as well x
Piers – Yay! It's so nice of you to review even though you don't know Onimusha. It is greatly appreciated x
Gryps incendio – Yes Kain, you are going to suffer a ninja attack…and when you least expected it mwah ha ha…and WHERE you least expect it!...mental note stop dropping plot hints. x
Lecter – Once this ban expires I will be updating quite frequently. Thank you for your review! And welcome x
A/N – This story holds no chronological accuracy with any of my other stories, so Mioko is still a child even though she should be approaching sixty. Also, in terms of Onimusha I've set it at the end of the first game so Gogandantess can appear later. Happy days, please review x
Chapter 2
Kain and the brethren closed together to form an almost tight circle in the centre of the throne room. They stood almost shoulder to shoulder, the gaze of every vampire in the hall upon them as they stood as silent spectators. The music had stopped when Kain had risen from the throne and the brethren, instinctively knowing what this meant joined him as he stepped into the centre of the room.
All eyes were upon Kain as he raised his glass goblet, filled with the finest blood high into the air. His voice rang clearly through the hall, "To the empire," he proclaimed his toast. The brethren raised their glasses and repeated the line followed by a mass of applause and cheering from the vampire filled hall.
The atmosphere that followed was truly spectacular. The very air around them was ecstatic. The closest within the brethren embraced warmly, congratulating each other on tasks well done, battles well fought. Raziel and Dumah were engaged in a hearty discussion about which of them performed more commendable in the wars. Turel and Zephon were congratulating each other's spy units, for without them, the vampires would not have had the upper hand in many of the past battles. Melchiah was praising his kin who had attended the celebration, while Rahab moved along the crowds, joining in random conversation and accepting compliments where they were due. Kain, however had retreated to his throne and even though he had sat in it many times before, only now did he truly feel like he the Emperor of Nosgoth. The satisfaction of sitting upon the throne, surrounded by his loyal and devoted subjects, without a care in the world, was enough even to make the mighty Kain smile in public.
And he had every right to smile. The empire was finally secure. After over a century of fighting the humans had been subdued, either by diplomacy or by force…the majority by the latter. But some had accepted vampiric dominion almost as soon as it was imposed, which had proved to be most useful. Many of the defeated cities had been destroyed by weapons forged in human cities, the vampires had fed on small sacrifices sent by those towns, they had surrendered, knowing that it would be in their future interests to do so. The last of the human rebels had been destroyed leaving vampires free to claim the world for their own, which of course they were only too happy to do. All threats had been eliminated leaving Kain the undisputed king of Nosgoth, now all he had to do was rule it.
The thought that he was finally secure was immensely satisfying and Kain could only feel relief as he nestled himself against the throne. It wasn't especially comfortable, it had been designed to signify absolute power, making it hard and sometimes painful to sit upon, but Kain wouldn't have traded it for the world.
"Comfy?" a voice asked, from his left. Kain looked across to see his daughter Megara join him, "You should be," she assured him without waiting for a reply, "You're going to be spending a lot of time there now. You do realise that the next few weeks are going to be filled with vampires and humans alike seeking an audience with you just to congratulate you."
Kain rolled his eyes, "And so it begins," he groaned.
Meg laughed, "You'll love it," she said. She moved to the front of the throne and knelt before her sire, "Lord Kain," she addressed him, formally, "As your first born, may I be the first to congratulate you on the establishment of your empire…at last," the relief sounded in her voice, the fighting that had finally ended had been a welcome reprieve to many of the warriors within the empire.
Kain nodded as Meg rose again and kissed her sire on the cheek, "Excuse me." She bowed herself away and went to dance with her favourite brother, Raziel. Rahab was the next to offer his humble congratulations, only to be cut short as Dumah, unable to find a female dance partner, decided he may as well follow Meg's example and dance with one of his brothers. Rahab, always good for a laugh, proved to be an obvious choice.
Kain joined in the laughter as the amused gathering watched the two brothers danced, standing out against the background of male/female dancers. It wasn't long, though before Kain was interrupted by another well wisher. This one was most welcome.
Little Mioko, Raziel's human daughter scrambled up onto the throne without notification or any sense of propriety and sat on Kain's lap. "Hello Uncie Kain," she said, happily as if they had encountered each other purely by chance.
"Hello my dear," he said, quite glad of her company. "What brings you up here?"
"Is Uncie Dumah dancing with Uncie Rahab?" she asked, suddenly distracted. Kain looked up to see the two brothers now dancing quite vigorously with each other,
"Yes dear, yes they are…for some reason."
Mioko shrugged, "Adults do strange things," then she turned back to the overlord and smiled, throwing her arms around his neck and making herself comfortable lying across him, "Uncie Kain?" she asked, in her philosophical tone of voice, "Why is everyone so happy, is it because the humans aren't going to fight us anymore?"
"That's right," Kain replied, almost laughing at how he must look; the overlord of all Nosgoth with a seven year old child stretched across his lap, twirling a lock of his hair in her fingers.
"So does that mean daddy isn't going off to war anymore?" she asked, normally she would have sounded hopeful at the thought of her father actually being able to play with her without one of Kain's messengers deploying him to the other side of Nosgoth to a battle he may not live through, but this time she sounded, slightly crestfallen. Kain nodded and she sighed, "Does that mean you're not going to baby-sit me anymore?"
"Mioko," Kain announced, realising where the child was going, "You can come here whenever you want. You can stay here whenever you want for as long as you want and if I don't hear from you at least once a month you can guarantee that I will be coming to find out why, and Meg will probably insist on coming too," he added as an after thought. Mioko squealed and jumped up,
"I won't write at all then!" she cried, happily before running off to her father.
Kain laughed as he watched her go, she didn't stay with Raziel long, though. Dumah saw her and decided that it would look less conspicuous if he was dancing with her rather than Rahab. When Dumah took Mioko to the floor, Raziel retreated to join his sire. He bowed at his feet and took his place at the right side of the throne.
"Congratulations, my lord," Raziel said, over the sound of the music, "Your efforts have finally paid off."
"Our efforts," Kain corrected him, immediately, "I will not forget the struggle you and your brothers presented…you especially." He saw what looked like a blush flush the cheeks of his firstborn, "You lived up to your role as first born and surpassed it," Kain told him, "You did my bidding without a moment's hesitation even when it took you away from your own business," his eyes rested on Mioko for a moment, "and I am grateful." Raziel bowed and accepted his master's praise.
There was something not quite right, though. Raziel could sense it and it was clear that after Kain had commended his firstborn he could sense it as well. They both looked up, a vampire had entered the hall. Not one of the celebrators, that much was clear. He was a messenger, one of Raziel's no less, his clothes were far from grand as was expected for this celebration, in fact they looked weathered and he looked exhausted. He was looking up at his master as if he had been willing him to make eye contact for some time. He had gone unnoticed within the hall despite being barely concealed within the shadows of the corner of the hall.
Raziel moved towards him, as soon as Kain gave the signal. The messenger bowed to his master, apologetically and handed Raziel a small scrap of paper, some kind of report hastily scrawled upon it.
Raziel's eyes skimmed over the writing and what colour was left in his already pale skin vanished already. This couldn't be right, he thought furiously, a new threat and on the very day the last human threat had fallen. He dismissed the messenger and inconspicuously moved back to his master, showing him the report. Kain read it, but didn't seem to take it as seriously as his son had. Folding the paper and putting it aside neatly he looked around at the carefree vampires around them, blissfully ignorant of the events that had transpired while they had been celebrating their own security.
Kain looked up at Raziel, "It will wait until the morning."
TBC