Tears of Vampires

Chapter 31: Problems yet to be solved

AN: I know you all are bitching about Mindless Tears but one thing at a time. I've got about four of five chapters left for this story and then I'll get back to Mindless tears. I'm taking down Demon Tears and putting up a new one because I've got nothing better than give you something new then try to keep a dieing story. Well, enjoy.

Time doesn't stop for anyone not even vampires. The council said they would wait for the king to make a decision but only when all the family members were assembled did he have to make a decision. It was a luxury to be given this amount of time but Adom could have beaten Master Drago with a stick for doing this to him. He had asked why and received an answer.

"I grow tired of this mess that has been laid before us. You are a good king but I think it's time you hand it over to someone else for awhile. I need you by my side at the council. We will wait for Tori and Amos before a decision is made but think long and hard. Even if you choose Darres as your heir I would accept it."

Drago's cold voice and tone left Adom feeling unsettled by the statement. Adom knew that he was a good king but good kings only last so long and he was getting bored with the position. In all actuality Darres was a good candidate for the throne. He hadn't named an heir then but now that he was forced into it Darres would be his first choice.

Darres was strong willed and minded even if insanity made him a bit unstable but the hate towards Severus was still unknown even to Severus. There was something there that he couldn't see. He never left his oldest son out even after Severus was born. He treated him like he did with Tori when was born. There must have been something but what he couldn't figure out. What could have brought such a change on the happy child he remembered?

"Brooding over answers with no questions to them is a sign of insanity Adom." A smooth voice from the door said.

Adom looked up to see the king of the Malloy Clan standing there.

"Lucien, I don't have time for your… wait, who let you in?" Adom questioned as the other king came in and sat down with more grace than a cat.

Lucien smiled at him and sighed. "Your wife. She's worried about you and you know for a fact that my lover was one of her servants before he died. She writes to me every once an awhile. Master came to me and told me to put Draco up on the throne. The poor boy isn't even a full first class knight. How is he going to run the kingdom?"

Adom sighed rubbing his temple with his forefingers. It was becoming too much to handle. First him and now Malloy, next the Riddle clan would be coming knocking on his door for advice.

"I can't say anything if I don't even know what I'm going to do." Adom said frustration lacing every word that left his mouth.

Lucien smiled a bit. "Why not name Darres? It's what he wants. Maybe this way he'll come back into the family."

"With no heir I don't think so. Master wants to keep my line on the throne but with Darres not engage to anyone and Tori is only holding off because she can't carry children. Severus is still too young to take the throne but with an heir on the way the council would want me to put him there." Adom said feeling exhausted by the sheer thought of each sentence.

Lucien thought of the problems Adom faced. Sure he had problems with Draco but that could be fixed if a certain vampire wouldn't hold her feelings back. He actually came to talk to Zack. Running into Ivana in the hallway was luck on her part. All the points Adom laid before him were all valid but there is always a loop hole for everything. This was going to kill to him to ask, literally.

"Has Tori and Amos consummated their love?"

Adom's head shot up so quick Lucien thought it would fall off. The glare he received was nothing more than death worthy. Other than the death in those dark eyes there was thought and then the processing started.

"No, they have not. Amos is not comfortable with taking a child to his bed. He loves her very much but her body isn't what attracted him, it was her mind and soul." Adom said sounding remorse.

"Do you regret letting Drago change her at that age?"

Adom didn't answer. The clenching of his fist was the only answer he received.

Lucien remembered when Tori retold of the time when her parents had gone missing for days. The servants took care of her but also set up search parties every night. A week had passed by the time a servant came back with the couple in the middle of the night. They said they were sorry to the eight year old but then went to bed. They stayed locked up there in the daytime. They only came out at night and she was beyond misery at the absence of her parents. One night Tori had wandered into her parents room because they didn't come say goodnight. She opened the door to see a man dress like a king talking with the couple. The man had noticed the little girl and beckoned her forward. Ivana protested but Adom told her it wouldn't help. Tori came upon the man and noticed his beauty was beyond whatever she had thought in her young made what beauty was. It was then he kneeled down and opened his arms. She smiled and hugged him and all went black. That's how Tori remembered her first meeting with Master Drago. It was her parents' punishment for not returning in a few days time.

"I'm no good as a father to any of my children." Adom said sounding more subdued than before.

Lucien looked away trying not to sub come to the emotions he felt in the other vampire.

"Your children couldn't have asked for a better man to be their father than you. You can't blame yourself for Tori's death or the insanities of your eldest son. Fate tends to roll the ball against you. Either deal with it or go bury yourself and die, because that's all you can do to get away from this." Lucien growled out as he stood.

He stopped at the door when he heard Adom spoke.

"You know she never blamed me for it. My son cried asking for release before I decapitated his head. Severus couldn't speak a week after Darres died." Adom had stood up to look at the fireplace he now stood in front of. "My children are stronger than I. My beautiful children cry alone without answers and I hide in my study away from the pain that is etched on their faces. I'm cruel just like Master Drago is."

Lucien put his head against the door as each word made truth of what was really the problem in the Snape family. Adom pained and carried every guilty sin he ever created and passed the sorrow onto his children.

"Darres will most likely be ascending to the throne but he must be here in one week. I got a letter from Tori and Amos; they will be here by the time he comes."

Lucien looked over his shoulder. "Does this solve the problem you have my friend?"

"No."

Lucien scoffed as he left leaving a broken king to his sorrows.

Zack walked over to the tree where Harry always sat. Harry wasn't there since his morning sickness got worse. Severus stayed with him and even tried to alleviate some of the pain but ended up getting sick as well. Now they were both bedridden and Ivana was screaming about idiotic sons and their mates.

Zack sat right next to the spot where Harry usually sat. She leaned against the tree and looked up into the open ceiling. Her thoughts ran from Darres, to Draven, to Harry and Severus, and landing on Draco at last. She loves the young Malloy but she was scared. The toughest and strongest of the Sniper Clan Knights and Captain of the Castle guards was afraid of commitment. Darres would have laugh at her with all his heart right about now.

"He wouldn't laugh, but laugh, point and make you feel stupid." A voice said from the other side of the tree.

"Shiiit." Zack said slowly trying not to feel like her life just ended right then and there.

"Your highness, what a nice surprise."

"Shut it Zack, I'm not here to pussy foot."

"Of course not." Zack said.

Lucien sighed as he leaned against the tree. "Why are you afraid? It's usually the men who are afraid. Then again Draco never becomes afraid of anything that could make him happy."

Zack gave a small laugh before answering. "I guess I'm afraid that I'll lose him like so many of the other people I lost in my life. Mom, dad, my partner Mikal and Darres."

"Darres isn't lost. Just came back to life by some crazy witch. Of course he's going to think the worst." Lucien said critically. "He was going to make it before something went wrong. What that was I don't know but hold out on my cousin. It's a cruel joke you play at and I'm not enjoying the letters of his massive worry of not being good enough for you."

Zack's head shot up and around the tree. Lucien sat there staring at the sky. She tried to find the lies that might have laid in the king's words, but none were showing. The young vampire moved to sit more comfortably next to Lucien. She stared at the sky feeling like she didn't belong to Draco.

"I think it's the other way around my lord."

"Bullshit. My master wants me at his side and I want to give something to Draco that will make him beyond his happiness could hope for right now." Lucien said looking away from the sky to stare at Zack.

Zack shifted and stared back at him. "What is it?"

"A good wife that has a heart of gold and a mind like no other."

"Oh, well, then I guess I can let him go."

A smack on the back of Zack's head made her yelp.

"What the hell was that for, Lucien?"

"For your idiocy and I'm not being nice about it. I wasn't talking about the hookers you think he enjoys so much. I'm talking about you woman. I'm giving you permission to be the next queen of the Malloy Clan, and with the man you love so very much. So take that duty and shove it up someone else's ass because your duty right now is to your fiancé." Lucien said glaring and trying not to laugh at the total shock on Zack's face.

Once Zack was sure Lucien was finished she stood up in a daze and left without another word. Lucien leaned up on the tree thinking at least he solved one problem. Now, all he had to do was figure out what happened to his friend Darres to make him crack so badly.

Darres shot up awake trying to reorient himself. Once the room became clear pain shot from the bass of his neck and into his brain. He screamed out in pain and fell onto the bed trying to hide in the pillows.

Lucius awoke the moment the scream left Darres's throat. He tried to get his lover to tell him what was wrong and not. Blood started to leak for the deep scratches Darres crawled into his head. Lucius and head the younger vampire's wrist in his hand. The screaming stopped and Darres fell dead in Lucius's lap.

If there was anything that could rattle Lucius's bones and soul the scene that played out would stay with him forever. He sighed as he healed the wounds and held the vampire's body to his. He rocked back and forth saying sweet nothings in Darres's ear.

An owl flew into the open window and landed on the headboard. Lucius pulled off the letter not wanting to delay what could be important. It was addressed to Darres so he placed it aside and continued what he was doing.

Darres woke with a groan twenty minutes latter. He sat up slowly with Lucius's help and clutched his head. Once the cobwebs cleared he stared at Lucius.

"What happened?"

"You were in pain. You clutched your head as if it were you were going to rip it off. I healed your wounds on the surface but whatever it was that attacked your brain I can't heal it."

Darres watched Lucius as he spoke. The man seemed shaken by the experience and it actually scared Darres. He seemed to see more clearly and realized that things aren't what he thought. Then there was the feeling of being dead and being pulled from the land of the dead orb his soul rested in. there was something very wrong and it wasn't his fault for once.

"I must see my father." Darres said as he stood and got out of bed.

"Are you crazy? He'll kill you on sight. I can't lose you." Lucius said before he thought about it. He gasped and covered his mouth.

Darres was stopped by the hand on his wrist, but the words stopped him further. He smiled beautifully and leaned into Lucius and gave a chaste kiss to the blonde's lips.

"Thank you Lucius but it's against the law to kill one of the royal family members. Father will take care of me after I have spoken to him."

"What about Voldemort? He'll be angry."

Darres shrugged. "I could care less. I realized that man is a waste of time. You can come with me if you want. I'm still leaving."

Lucius watched Darres dressed as he tried to place the man. It was like looking at the old Darres. The man he secretly fell in love with but couldn't have since he died. He looked down with a sigh and saw the letter.

"Darres."

Darres stopped putting his hair up to see a letter in Lucius's hand. He walked over and opened it. He read it twice and smiled. He kissed Lucius again.

"Come with me. I promise it won't be the end of your or my life." Darres said looking into those lovely blues.

Lucius nodded and then started to get ready.