Chapter 10:

For Hazel!

She kept true to her word, Amelie did, when she promised that she would not allow Myrnin or Oliver to even see the books. No, when she took them home as the meeting ended, she ensured that they were both out before slipping into her library and sliding the books onto the shelf.

Then she went to bed as if nothing had happened.

The next morning, she found herself being awoken at the earliest even she had been roused from sleep by Myrnin. He was incessantly banging at the door and she had an inkling that if she did not answer soon, he would be bounding into her room in order to wake her to reveal what she learnt last night. Before she had left – long before she left – she had seen the pair of vampires she spent her entire vampiric life with (after creating them, of course) arguing to such an extent that they managed to agree that they should take the argument elsewhere for fear of discovery.

"Yes, Myrnin?" she answered in her most crabbit of voices, her eyes snapping open as she spoke. As soon as these words were uttered, the knocking ceased and she heard the leaning of Myrnin's body onto the thick, wooden door.

"I, and Oliver, simply desire to know what occurred last night," he spoke in a carefully neutral voice, barely able to contain the excitement which lingered simply upon the edge.

She smiled slightly and got up out of bed, moving to ensure the curtains were safely secured shut. "I shall be out shortly, Myrnin, to inform you of everything I learnt," she answered, her tone carefully nonchalant as to ensure he did not feel the pressing need to enter her bedroom without her permission.

"Fine," he responded, a slightly sulky undertone running through the simple one word sentence that made Amelie roll her eyes. He is such a child, she thought wryly before dressing rapidly.

~X~

Within fifteen minutes, she was dressed and seated in her office, the room adjacent to the library containing the secret books. Both Oliver and Myrnin were sat before her, waiting for the explanation of what they could have heard, if they had not deigned to spend the entire time they were present arguing about the most menial of things.

"So…?" Oliver began, growing impatient as Amelie continued to stare at a small patch of mud upon the floor without speaking. Slowly, her focused grey eyes rose from the floor and locked with his, a spark running through the air that was tangible even to Myrnin. Yet she ignored this, as did Myrnin who also pouted, and then began to think through what she was going to say – which took a further minute or so.

"I learnt a deal about the structure, as well as various other information in regards to the vampires who are within the Council," she said, her voice distant as she continued to run through everything.

"We heard something about books," Myrnin butted in, finding himself unable to stop the words streaming from his mouth. "Definitely something about books…as in you and Bishop."

"Must you listen to what suits you?" Amelie focused on him, her tone angry and annoyed, a sharpness ringing through with extraordinary clarity. "I was about to come to that, yet you simply destroyed the progression by which I would have explained it. Therefore, I have a selection of books, that you cannot set eyes on!" she decided to play a small trick upon the more than slightly annoying companion she had, to see how far he would believe her.

She glanced at Oliver to see him smirking; he had worked through the idea that she was simply playing with Myrnin and would have a plan to ensure she did not break her sincere promise. However, Myrnin wasn't quite as perceptive.

"Are you trying to inform me, Amelie, that you do not desire the pair of us with you any longer?" he sniffed, failing to hide the hurt tone to his voice. "If that is the case, I shall pack up and leave this instant!" melodramatic to the last syllable, he stood up and began to flounce out of the room, until Amelie called him back with a dry and lazy, "Myrnin."

He turned back to see her frowning slightly and motioning for him to take a seat once again.

"I said you cannot see, Myrnin, not that you could not know the content – I was very careful to ensure that I did not specify you would not learn a single detail from the books," she said, her tone slightly more patient to ensure that he fully comprehended. "Does that make sense to you?" she continued when he continued to be silent, his face furrowed into an expression she always named "his thinking face".

"Yes…" he murmured the simple word and looked back up at her, his face creasing into a smile. "Do continue, dear Amelie, for I am more than slightly interested in what you have to say."

She rolled her eyes at the blatant flattery, yet smiled in spite of herself, before standing up. "The pair of you must remain here," she ordered them, her tone steely as her eyes flashed to show she meant every word.

"Yes, Amelie," they muttered in unison, watching her innocently as she walked backwards out of the office and into the library.

And then, she began to relay the contents of the books

~X~

Bishop's POV:

Anger did not even begin to cover the emotions he was feeling. There was a difference between working with his daughter and then learning the facts she would have known for many a month after someone so much younger and less able than him. after all, it was him whose actions ensured that they were invited to the meeting much earlier than they would have been if she had continued at her snail's pace of murdering three Elders in the time period between meetings!

He paced furiously along his office, throwing anything that came into reach at the stone wall, so hard that he was creating a dint in it. If he applied any pressure from his hand, he knew he could destroy it – but then where would he be? He would have an office rendered unusable for the sunlight that would stream in would be harmful to his delicate skin.

I shall kill double the amount she kills, he made this decision randomly, plucking it out of the hundreds of theories and possibilities in his brain, of which included actually killing his own daughter. After all, he knew that once their deal ran sour for her, she would once again be aiming to kill him. So why could he not remove her from the equation.

Yet he needed her to store the knowledge, to make the rather more cunning plans; he could still remember that she would beat him in every game of chess they played. As a small child, he found her simply endearing; perhaps this was proof that females did have brains at such a small age. However, as her skill began to increase as she aged, he grew more and more stressed that he could be beaten – and in fewer moves each time – by his daughter, something which evidently meant she was perhaps even more cunning than he was.

No, he needed her alive, to both remove English vampires – perhaps having herself killed in the process - and for her to instate herself in the positions of power, second only to him.

Then he would see what she was capable of. Only then, would he.

And he relished the opportunity.

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Vicky xx