Chapter 1
I was sitting on my throne in the Hall of Princes, newt to two of my fellow Vampire Princes. The three of us were looking to the hundreds of vampires entering the hall. All of them glimpsing to us, sitting on our thrones, while entering, but focusing on the one in the middle, me, looking at me with a curious look in their eyes, wondering what the youngest vampire prince had to announce, that was so important to invite all the vampires to the Hall of Princes. From the corners of my eyes I noticed the same curious looks from the other two princes. The fourth throne was empty. Vancha March had set to wandering around the world again. It was a rule that not all vampire princes could be in the same room together, in case something happened. Vancha liked wildlife more than sitting on a throne anyway. He probably would be discovering the world too if that rule hadn't existed.
Vampires kept entering. It had been a long time that this many of our kind had attended Council. I couldn't help thinking about the first time I attended Council, together with Mr Crepsley. Mr Crepsley, I thought, my good old fellow. I knew he was doing well though, in Paradise. I had seen him there when I caught a glimpse of it, together with Gavner Purl, another old friend, making jokes about each other. I smiled, but at the same time felt a tear running down my cheek. I swept it away with the back of my right hand and banned the thoughts. There was no point in crying, for it wouldn't bring them back. So I concentrated on the last vampires entering the hall, talking excitedly like all the others. The guards closed the doors and immediately every single vampire in the hall became silent. I felt the looks of the vampires staring at me, excitedly and curious to know whatever it was that I had to say. It made me feel powerful, like I could decide over what destiny had in mind for them. However, it was more accurate to say that, when I would speak the words, I somehow decided over my own destiny: live or die?
One of the us serving vampires came walking towards the stairs leading to our thrones. He walked up on it, stopped on the third step, so he was standing higher than the other vampires, but lower than us, and turned round so he faced the others. "Master Shan is going to speak," he announced, then disappeared in the mass, while I stood up.
I'd decided not to give an entire speech, as was the habit. They were boring, annoying and awful to listen to. No, just the plain message would have to do. I had practised the message very often, but while I spoke, nothing of what I had practised came out. The words, the phrases lived their own lives and formed spontaneously. "I do not agree with my destiny." Immediately after I had spoken the words, I saw puzzled looks everywhere around me. I did not let them deceive me and just went on. "I mean I do not agree with what destiny has brought me in the past." There were less puzzled looks around me now, but I could see no one really understood what I meant. "Years ago, I had to prove to all of you that I was a worthy vampire by fulfilling the Trials of Initiation. I failed, yet received a place on this throne as Vampire Prince. In the meanwhile I have become a full vampire, yet I still haven't proven to you that I am worth to be called a vampire. That's why I will take the Trials again." All the vampires gasped together, as if they were one. I heard a voice from behind me. "Darren, you don't have to do this." It was the warm, comforting voice from Mika Ver Leth. "You have proven to us more than once that you are a worthy vampire and a worthy Prince."
I turned to face him. "But not by succeeding in the Trials of Initiation," I rejected.
"Which you don't have to do anymore now," spoke Rossan Lunt, the other Prince, who had been appointed after the death of the oldest Vampire Prince Paris Skyle.
"Not for you, maybe. But I do have to do this for myself. It has been bothering me for a while now that I still have not proven myself in the way I had to do that the very first time I came here."
"But Darren, if you fail, you will…"
"I will die. I know that. And believe me, I will not run away again."
"You had better not," mumbled one of the vampires behind me. I ignored those words and waited for someone else to say something.
"We won't be able to change your mind, will we?" Mika said.
"No indeed, you won't. Whether it is with or without your approval, I will do those damn Trials."
"You are a stubborn one, Master Shan, but if this is your will, than so be it."
I nodded. "Thank you," I said dryly. And with these words, I sat down again.
The vampires in the hall had been silent, listening to the conversation between me and the other Princes, with great interest. Now this conversation was over, they burst into enthusiastic talking, glad they had come to Council this time, because exciting things like this rarely happened here. I could see some of them placing bets already on how long I would last. I smiled. This was what they lived for: excitement, adventure and danger, and I had brought them exactly those three things. I saw the same man, who had announced that I was going to speak, mounting the first three steps of the stairs leading towards our thrones again. "Master Ver Leth is going to speak," he yelled over the noise of the talking mass, then disappeared again. The hall became silent when Mika stood up.
"Master Shan has decided to take the Trials. I accept this quite reluctantly, but it is his will. Exactly seventy-two hours from now, he will pull his first Trial." Mika sat down again.
Soon the Hall was empty. I was staring in front of me, not looking at something specifically.
"So you really are planning on taking the Trials." It wasn't a question. I turned my head towards Rossan and nodded. "What do you think I have been doing for the last couple of months, when I wasn't present here?"
"What were you doing?"
"Practicing of course. Every single one of them."
"On your own?"
"No, Vanez helped me."
"Just like he did the first time you took them," Mika said.
"Indeed. He did a good job then."
"You failed," Rossan said sharply.
"That wasn't his mistake. Just mere bad luck with the order of the Trials."
"If you say so."
"We all know that you think I'm not a worthy Prince."
"Darren, do not say such things."
"I do say them, because it is true, Mika." I could see by the look on Rossan 's face that I indeed was right. "I hope you will think better of me when I complete the Trials successfully."
"If you complete the Trials successfully would be a better way to speak."
"Please. Let's not behave this way. We have to give the good example to our tribe. You can merely call this the good example. Darren is absolutely a worthy Prince. If you are not convinced, I am sure he will prove it to you now."
"Thank you, Mika," I said. The discussion was over, but I could not ban it from my head. Rossan 's words kept coming back to my memories, giving me a very uncomfortable feeling. What if I did fail? After all, the Trials were dangerous and I had failed in fulfilling them before. No! I banished the thought about failing from my mind. It had been, like Mika had said, mere bad luck in the order of the Trials. And I had been very young at that time. Also I had been a half-vampire, not a full one like I was now. I could have succeeded at that time, so why wouldn't I be able to do that now? I glimpsed to Rossan, who was staring in front of him looking angry and clearly as far away in his thoughts as I was. Asshole! I couldn't help thinking the word. I hadn't been very glad when he was chosen to become a Prince, but everyone else had been, so I couldn't do anything but accept it, unless I wanted to turn the entire clan against me.
Through the course of my training for the Trials, I had learned from Vanez, that most vampires had turned against Rossan in the meanwhile. He really wasn't such a gifted Prince. He had looked promising when he was chosen, but if there was one prince, who hadn't proven himself yet, it definitely was him.
"Can I leave for a while?" I asked to no-one in particular.
"What are you going to do?"
"I want to prepare some more for my Trails," I said. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't complete truth either. I just wanted to talk to Vanez.
"Of course," Mika said, smiling at me.
"Have I scared you?" Rossan asked slyly.
"No you haven't," I barked. "I just want to learn doing them with one hand tied to my back." Take that, I thought. I could see he didn't have an answer to that and I definitely could swear I had heard Mika coughing to hide his laughter. "I'll see you in a while." And with these words I stood up, left the Hall of Princes and went looking for Vanez Blane.
Vanez was sitting in the dinner hall, talking with some old friends of his, laughing out loud. I didn't want to disturb him chatting with his friends. So I turned round, not knowing what I should do now. Returning to the Hall of Princes would make Rossan feel victorious, and I didn't want that to happen. Instead I decided to take a walk through the many tunnels of Vampire Mountain, one of my favourite occupations.
I didn't pay attention to where I was going. I just let my feet drag me wherever they wanted to go. Quite a tricky thing to do, 'cause one could get easily lost in the many tunnels of Vampire Mountain, but I knew that wherever my feet brought me, I would find the way back to the Halls. I had wandered through these tunnels so many times already, trying to discover new places all the time, and not once, I had failed to return. It wouldn't happen now either. I just let my thoughts wander through my head, the same way I was wandering through the tunnels. Just let them lead their own life, as I let my feet live their own. The most ridiculous plans to get rid of Rossan popped into my head. None of them good enough, but it was fun just thinking about them, seeing Rossan suffer each one of them in my head. I couldn't help smiling.
A deafening noise made me wake up from my thoughts. I looked around and it took me a while to realize where my feet had brought me: The Game Halls. Dozens of vampires were challenging each other to fight in different kinds of games. Some were seriously wounded, but didn't care and just went on with another challenge. I knew Vanez would be around here, but I couldn't spot him. He must have been in one of the other two game halls. I spent some time watching the vampires fight each other. One almost lost an eye and I could here the watchers yell in disappointment that he didn't really lost it. In the end, he left with a serious cut in his arm and some bruises. But some time later, I saw him in another game, so whatever he had, it wasn't serious.
Someone tapped on my right shoulder. At first I thought it was someone who wanted to challenge me, but I was lucky. It was Vanez.
"Master Shan, what a surprise to see you here. Are you up for a game?"
"Vanez." I greeted. "No, I was just walking about and I ended up here."
Vanez laughed out loud.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
"Nothing." But I could see that there was something funny. "Shouldn't you be with your fellow princes?"
"Nah, I needed a break."
"A break?"
"Well, actually I just couldn't stand sitting next to Rossan for an extra minute anymore."
"You really don't like him, do you?"
"Really," I said sarcastically. "I bet he's meeting up with some of his friends right now, betting against me."
"Why would he?"
"Because he hopes I will fail."
"He's a fellow prince. Why would he want you to fail?"
"Because that would prove him right. That I'm not a worthy prince."
Vanez laughed again. "He's the right one to think stuff like that. He's the only incapable prince. The only one we've ever had, actually. Well mate, I'll make sure you won't fail… again."
He waited some time before he said that last word. I smiled. "Are you sure you don't want to try one?" He pointed towards one of the games.
"No, I'd better not. Better be fit for my Trials. By the way, what will happen if I draw a Trial I had to do last time?"
"You'll just take it again."
I nodded. "That would be positive, right?"
"Of course it would be. You know them already, so they should be more easy than the other ones."
"Keep your fingers crossed then."
"I definitely will. I have to go now. Unlike you I am going to try one." I smiled again. Vanez turned round and went to the first vampire he spotted to challenge him for a game. I saw them taking off, looking for something they could do.
I started to walk to the doors of the hall. I'd better returned to the Hall of Princes. I had been away for a while already. I looked back once more, to see whether Vanez had found a game. I saw him hanging high up on a rope, trying to make the other vampire fall from the rope he was hanging on. I remembered the game. I had tried it once before, on my first Council. Then I left, returning to my fellow Princes, hoping silently that Rossan had dropped that in the meanwhile.
He hadn't. When I entered the Hall, I saw him sitting on his throne, proudly. Crap! I thought. Why did my fantasies never come true? Mika smiled when he saw me. I walked up to my throne and sat down again. I looked straight forward, so I wouldn't have to see Rossan.
"You've been gone for a while," Mika stated.
"I know. I lost track of time."
"That happens. So, how is you're 'I-will-do-the-trials-with-one-hand-tied-to-my-back-thing' going?"
I smiled and saw from the corner of my eye how Rossan at once got interested in our chat. "Very well," I said. "I'm actually thinking of adding a blindfold too."
Mika laughed out loud and I couldn't help smiling myself too. Rossan didn't seem all that happy with us mocking him though. He sniffed disapprovingly. "You'll stop joking when you fail one of the tasks," he murmured under his breath, not meaning to be heard.
"I heard that," I said angrily, throwing an angry look at him.
"Unfortunately you did," he answered.
I looked away. "Mika, doesn't there happen to be a task named 'kill your fellow prince'?"
He chuckled. "Not that I know off, but since you're a Prince, it's always open as an option for a new task." He winked. "We can always use some new ones, since there are some which can't be done anymore."
"Good, I put this one in as an option."
"Very funny," grumbled Rossan.
"You're doing this yourself, you know. If you wouldn't keep saying that I will surely fail, I don't have to say such stuff."
"What else can I do."
"What!" I screamed. "You could support me for example, like every other vampires does, so it can't be that hard."
"Why would I support you when I'm sure that's useless because you will fail."
"What makes you so sure about the fact that I will fail."
He didn't know what to say now. "Just… I just know it."
"Tss," I hissed.
"Guys please, be a little bit nice to each other," Mika said in the moment of silence between us. "We have to give the good example."
"No one can see us here," Rossan said.
"That doesn't mean we don't have to be a little bit nice to each other. Darren is perfectly well capable of fulfilling the Trials and Darren, don't let him make you angry. That's exactly what he wants."
I silently agreed with his words, yet wanted to leave again. I didn't want to spend more time next to the bastard named Rossan who was sitting next to me. But it would be a sign of defeat if I'd leave now, so I reluctantly stayed where I was, trying to ignore Rossan and holding on a forced conversation with Mika about how Council was going. Rossan didn't take part in the conversation, which was fine enough for me. The less I had to talk to him, the better.