So, I slowed down a little on my writing but I do still have a basic outline for this. I'm going to try to stick to every two weeks! (We'll see how long it lasts.) But, as with all of my stories, even if I'm not working on it, I will not abandon it unless I explicitly say so (and even then I might get back to it eventually...). Aha! Back to the story! I do so hope you enjoy ;)
Dwayne stared, his eyes never moving from the trio on the couch. He took in every detail, intensely focused on any minute changes. At one point David had started noticeably pouring energy into Sam and then Daniel's magic was whirling about the room washing over himself and Marko several times, presumably, ascertaining their hostility. It was probably a good thing Michael had left earlier, even if he had found Paul in a rare introspective mood, because while they were pack Daniel hadn't known Michael like he'd known the original Lost Boys. There was no telling what the newly turned (again) halfling's magic would have done.
Still none of them had woken, hadn't even moved a millimeter, even after Daniel's magic had settled. It was… worrying.
Man, I remember the days we just went out and played games. This is bullshit, Marko sighed, thumping his head on the ground repeatedly.
Watch it, Dwayne snapped.
See, that. That right there! I miss the little dude too, okay? But we've turned into a bunch of melodramatic pussies. Even Paul is falling back into old habits and we worked hard to get him out of that.
And what exactly do you suggest we do? Go out and play?
YES! Something! Anything! Even the hunt for Daniel was more lively than this! Fuck, this tension is killing me!
Dwayne sighed from his nose and painfully tore his eyes away from his brothers. He had just earlier been thinking he was neglecting bonds. Marko had a point no matter how vexed it made him to hear. It was surprising considering he wasn't normally as intuitive unless it came to animals.
Hey!
Don't even deny it Marky babyyy, Paul sniggered halfheartedly, You're sort of people dumb most times.
I read that Grange girl just fine, didn't I?
Lucky guess, Michael threw in lazily.
Marko scoffed, I'll show you lucky you-
Quiet! Dwayne growled, stunning them all into silence.
His dark eyes had caught movement and he turned back to the couch. David was twitching, his mouth pulling into a soft frown before his eyes reluctantly opened.
Thanks for the chatter boys. Best cure for a migraine. The words were practically snarled and dripping in sarcasm but it immediately lifted the somber air.
"What happened," Dwayne asked, just as Sam groaned and forced his eyes open muttering about the light offending him.
"A lot." David shifted carefully, putting his chin on Sam's shoulder and moving his hands to caress Daniel's cheeks. The boy's eyelids fluttered and Dwayne sucked in an unnecessary breath.
He had forgotten how green his little brother's eyes were.
There seemed to be an emptiness in his gaze for a moment, and Dwayne's stomach clenched uncomfortably at the dull blank stare, before life seemed to pool into them slowly as Daniel glanced around blearily, stopping on David and Dwayne the longest before moving on, taking in the scenery.
Sam had slumped back into his Sire, posture exhausted, and his mumbling had stopped but he was still staring wearily down at the head of black locks in his lap, hands starting to stroke through the messy hair.
Shit! Is he awake!?
And then Paul was hurrying, Michael right behind him, both stumbling into the room only seconds later. Marko was sitting up now, as well, a giant cheshire grin on his face. Everyone's elation was bubbling between their bond strong enough that Sam started giggling drunkenly a moment later.
"Little man!"
Paul skipped forward until he was hanging over the couch, blue eyes glittering happily, and teeth gleaming in a wide smile.
Daniel jerked his head up at the endearment looking at Paul as if he were foreign for a moment. Then recognition dawned and Daniel opened his mouth.
Hearing him speak, Dwayne felt his unbeating heart drop straight into his stomach.
Something was wrong.
Seven grey thrones, hewn from granite and decorated upon their high backs with seven gleaming rubies representing the Kings, sat on a raised obsidian dais surrounded by multiple balconies upon which hung the somber colored banisters of the many Vampiric lords they represented. A long red carpet ran the walkway from the thrones to the large steel doors; a vibrant color in an otherwise drab meeting room. Torches lined the walls, above and below, setting the macabre atmosphere with flickering orange light.
Every time he entered this room, Sanguini couldn't help but roll his eyes. Honestly, a nice cave or stone room didn't always have to be so… so boring. It's like the conclaves strove to live up to their stereotypes. Unfortunately it wasn't even that interesting, they were just old codgers that couldn't stand the thought of change most of the time. Which made this meeting with them, once again, superfluous.
It wasn't even a full assembly, with only two Kings and a handful of local lords and their entourages, because these summonings weren't about anything too important (Well, perhaps if they knew Harry Potter was the Vampire he was helping to track they might take more interest but he'd like them to keep they're overly long noses out of his business). The court just wanted to enforce their power over him by calling upon him at the most inopportune times. And it was starting to grate upon his patience.
Sanguini had quite a bit of forbearance -which was the unfortunate reason he was the hapless victim sent to chat with Eldred Worple about his very mistaken book… and fix most of it which ended up working in his favor but, still- even then, his tolerance only lasted for so long. Normally, it wouldn't be much of an issue -he did have centuries of dealing with this world's politics, after all- but he also had an entire coven roosting in his territory. He was quite fond of them and enjoyed their company when he was there but having them unsupervised in his lair was like an ever present itch prickling under his skin.
So, he was quite irritated to once again be summoned for this pointless charade. Not only that, they had been dragging out their parody of a court session for three days before finally getting to the point of calling him in front of the Kings. He had quite a bit of research to get back to, Daniel of the Lost Boys was still not waking, and he was terrified of the monster that could possibly be pulling the strings of who knows how much of the world right now. If he was any other vampire, he might have snapped already and given the 'court' exactly what they were after; more power over him by forcing submission when he showed 'defiance'.
He couldn't allow that. Sanguini was a High Lord of the Vampire Court only through his hard work and rare ability. He had many enemies, jealous and self-created, and not nearly enough allies as he'd like, although, enough to keep him where he was. He wasn't about to lose his position because a bit of a temper snap. He'd stake himself first.
Dear, oh dear, those boys certainly brought him the most excitement he'd had in centuries, though. Perhaps it was getting to his head a little… Or mayhap he was just seeing a different way of doing things that worked well enough? They weren't quite the same subspecies, but muggle classes were superior to them in their own special way (Pack hunting had certainly seemed to keep more of them alive than the Nosferatu -or Lich's as they were so grossly referred to in this day and age- over the centuries). And they didn't have nearly as much politics to wade through to get anything done. Hm. Maybe their own government was too steeped in tradition and they needed to trust their instincts more. Food for thought.
The world is always changing and even the unchanging had to adapt or they would be left ashes in the sun. He should look into statistics on top of his other research to see if his thoughts had any merits. It would take much more proof and backing before he would even think of presenting even an idea of changes like he was ruminating.
Oh well. If nothing else, Sanguini would live and the dusty has-beens would survive or die. Hopefully, die.
With those cheerful thoughts, and a slight smirk that could not be seen with his bowed head, Sanguini gracefully rose from his kneeling position to finally greet the Kings. After they'd made him kneel there for close to five minutes. They were truly trying to push him into something. He couldn't help but wonder what exactly it was they were trying to get from him.
"Sanguini, love, a pleasure as always," King Elizabeth Bathory purred. Her fangs flashed hungrily at him and the Vampire Lord made sure not to move at all; he refused to be her prey.
Bathory was the youngest of the Kings, having killed the last one in a Challenge. She was also a well known historical figure that killed and tortured and bathed in the blood of her maids. And her appetite had yet to be sated. Once she set her eye on you it was best to get ready for the mindgames of the century… and possibly being drained so she could bathe in your blood if you were pretty enough. Thankfully, while Sanguini could certainly be called handsome, he wasn't quite near her standards of beauty requirements. He'd been told by several people already 'blessed with her time' that it was quite unpleasant and left you starving for days no matter how much you gorged.
He smiled with no teeth, always careful not to offend, as he responded, "My King Havardr, King Elizabeth, what an honor to be seeing you again so soon."
Elizabeth tittered at his carefully moderated tone, shifting slightly to lean forward and slowly fan herself with her hand. Her kirtle was beautifully hand crafted, a navy blue that cinched at her waist to show her plump curves and puffy sleeves with artfully crafted cuffs in a silver blue with embroidered small white dragons. An overcoat in a rich berry purple, was draped over her arms falling in sinuous lines to spread around her bare feet perched delicately on the cold stone. Her slight movement brought more attention to the tops of her breasts which Sanguini respectfully refused to look at. Despite Vampires being pleasure driven beings he had never been one to follow the more baser desires, and even if he had he most certainly wouldn't do it with the ruthless King.
King Havardr Kirkson hummed, opening his beryl eyes, finally deigning to give Sanguini a response after an awkward minute of King Elizabeth practically panting at him like a bitch in heat (well, the much more conservative form of it anyway).
"Sanguini. The court has requested yet another update," he growled, disgruntled.
Havardr, it seemed, was tiring of this just as much as Sanguini himself. As Kings, they hold immense amounts of power in their circles, but the courts could request their own meetings and summonings as long as one King agreed and was in attendance. With Elizabeth having been in England and having a riot of a time pissing off Havardr, of course she would say yes. As the reigning King of the United Kingdom's Conclave, he wouldn't let her sit court alone and try to supersede him so he was dragged along. Perhaps it was getting to the point Havardr would chase Elizabeth back to her own country?
"Of course, my King," he agreed, tone much more affable. He much preferred Havardr and the King had seemed to take a slight liking to the High Vampire after he'd gotten to and held onto his position at such a young age.
The King nodded his head briefly, settling back into his throne. His beryl eyes were still dark with irritation but his attention was focused on Sanguini now and it didn't seem quite as severe. Focusing his attention right back on his King was a much better distraction than just trying to ignore the haughty eyes staring down at him from above.
As he started weaving a slightly altered story of events (Leaving out Daniel's original name and a few other key factors), Sanguini took in Harvardr's appearance, from the thickly built chest and arms to the high brow. The man was truly aesthetically pleasing. His dirty blonde hair was tied back in a thick plaited braid that hung over his shoulder to his chest, the sides were shaved bare to show two nordic ravens tattooed upon his skin. His beard was neatly trimmed only an inch from the skin -that was new, it used to be much longer- and it highlighted his high cut thick cheekbones rather nicely. His clothes were nothing new, the Vampire King wasn't very ostentatious -though it rankled a few Lords the man did not seem to care- preferring to stick to simpler garb. Still, the plain cotton shirt hung in just the right way to show his broad shoulders and with the sleeves rolled up to the biceps it was quite easy to see the muscle shifting restlessly in his forearms as his fingers tapped upon throne's arms. His pants were a brown leather, no doubt buttery soft from constant usage, that hung low on hips. A hint of skin could be seen peeking out from under the shirt every now and then as Havardr moved about in irritation.
"So, those boys are going to leave soon?" Elizabeth pouted, her gorgeous and voluminous chestnut locks spilling over her shoulders as she leaned forward even more. A pendant slipped from her kirtle, gleaming gold in the firelight. "I didn't even get a chance to meet them."
Mutters picked up around the room about finally having the vermin removed. Honestly, Vampires got so tiring sometimes. Very unoriginal. He knew they knew he could hear them but he most certainly wasn't going to do anything about it in front of the Kings.
"Perhaps, King Elizabeth. I did offer my hospitality to them as long as they need it."
"With their final member reunited there should be no need for them to hang about like ruffians and bums," she giggled.
Sanguini twitched. He still needed... "Actually, My King, I would like to seek a personal audience with you about this matter."
This time the mutters were much louder and worst of all Havardr didn't look too particularly interested.
"The Lost Boys," there were a few hostile snorts that he ignored, "as you know, are Unholy and had to tread into magical territory to find their brother. If it becomes an issue, they would like to have the Court's backing in fighting the Wizards over their coven member."
At the mention of getting one over on the Wizarding World, Havardr looked much more interested, thankfully. "Very well, your audience is granted in one week's time. You will bring yourself and, at least, the Head of your little lost muggle coven."
"What? You get to meet those tasty boys, but I don't? Nonsense. You'll meet us both," King Elizabeth declared brightly. "After all, two Kings is better than one, hm? Don't be late!"
Ah. How unfortunate.
Havardr also looked extremely disgruntled that King Elizabeth had once again inserted herself in his ruling but did not dispute her command.
"It would be an absolute honor," Sanguini drawled barely able to keep an even tone this time. He really didn't want her to be nosing around in this no matter how much more political clout two Kings had over just one.
Damn her.
After being released from the Throne Room, he made his way quickly through the halls of the Royal Estate. Sitting under the remains of Minsden chapel -ironic really- the building was literally a castle that was constructed underground. It was connected to the sprawling network of caves and hand carved tunnels used by many night crawling or underground faring creatures. An extremely convenient way to avoid most wizards really. Only Friends to magical creatures and Beings or the dregs of society ever made their way down far enough to find this place and to muggles it was practically nonexistent with all the wards that had been added over the centuries.
He needed to get to those tunnels quickly before any of the other vampires caught up to him. Carmilla had been in attendance and she was one of his strongest allies but the others were either neutral or hostile. Hopefully, she'd be able to hold them all back long enough for him to escape.
But, of course, the universe would not be quite so kind to him. Already standing by the small side door (much preferable to the larger entryway that garnered more foot traffic) was Lord Faust Sitwell. He was a dour man that envied very easily and resented Sanguini his quick climb in the ranks. Not someone he would like to talk to at any venture. Unfortunately, he was positioned in such a way that he could not rush by without any pleasantries.
The vampire sneered when Sanguini stopped, a half smile formed on his closed lips. "Lord Sitwell. How are you this fine evening?"
"As I ever am, High Lord. You seem to be in quite a hurry but perhaps," he paused drawing the moment out longer than it needed to be, "you could spare a moment for a friendly request."
"Oh, for another Lord of high standing, I would be more than happy too."
Sitwell's sneer widened at the slight but he let it pass. "Wonderful. I am in need of a Hunter. Discreet, you see, and they are difficult to obtain. I hear those little rats you have, might have a keen nose amongst them."
Now where exactly had he heard that from? It wasn't exactly a secret the talent the boys had but it wasn't very well known either. He wasn't even sure the Kings knew. Was Sitwell actually fraternising with Americans now? How very interesting. Also, what need has he of a Hunter without going through official channels? That was highly suspicious but… it would be a huge boon if he could use it to gain an alliance out of this.
"My little," his smile faded a bit, voice dropping, "rats, as you say, have quite a few talents. The question being why they should assist you."
He could, of course, leave the decision of his pack members doing anything up to David, like he probably should but it would make him seem weak to the Lord in front of him, as accepting someone's hospitality without giving anything in return was seen as putting yourself into that person's service. Though, it was quite useful if you are the host, it was an inconvenient tradition for the guests. For the length that he had hosted the Lost Boys they had accrued quite a large 'debt' so it would be easy to use that. That didn't mean that Sanguini exactly wanted to use his favors this way. He very much liked the good relationship he had curried with them so far.
Sitwell watched him silently a few moments before responding quietly, as if what he was speaking of was a secret of great import, "There have been many signs, Sanguini. Very bad omens not seen in millenia. There is something I must find and I need a Hunter to obtain it as it is always on the move. For this you will have my backing in future endeavors."
The High Lord blinked in shock. It must be extremely bad if Sitwell was being so very straightforward about this. What ever could-
Though he had not felt cold since his turning, Sanguini felt a prickling chill run up his spine at the sudden epiphany. If this had anything to do with that…
"My Lord Sitwell, it seems we have many more things to discuss than I thought. Please, join me and be welcome in my home while we discuss this."
Dark brows rose on the man's grey face but he inclined his head, even dropping the sneer enough to seem slightly pleasant.
AN: So! What did you think? Point out a favorite part? Throw theories my way? Leave a comment (even a short one!) to tell me. :)