omg...what was totally intended to be like a month hiatus became more than a year and a half long break! I am super greatful for all the people who reviewed and added me to their favourites when I was stuck in a mental rut. I hope that you still enjoy my story and that i'll be able to update it much more frequently (but really, ANYTHING is better than a 18 month wait). i promise you won't have to wair 18 more months for my next update!
If there are any discrepancies in the story, i'm sorry. It's been a long time since i've worked on it, that i may have forgotten some of my original details.
Thanks again to everyone...keep the reviews coming! - Julianne
Elaina shuffled through the stack of papers that lay on the small table situated between her brother and herself. As Heir-to-the-Heir of the League of Nichelle, and being presumed dead for so many years, there was a great deal that she'd have to learn before she could come close to fulfilling her duties to her family and the League. So she sat across from her brother, Jordan, in a cushy seat on one of the Nichelle private planes, going over the paperwork for the Child Contract she and Jordan had just negotiated, en route to Cordalla at last.
They had been in Haljhir for two weeks, attempting to hammer out a complete and proper Child Contract between Elaina and Lawrence Neskab. In the beginning, it had gone far from smoothly. Alison Reich was furious that Elaina had decided she wanted Lawrence for her Child Contract. She'd done basically everything in her power to undermine the negotiations of the contract, at one point threatening war against the Nichelle family. However, with Jordan's smooth peacemaking skills, he was able to come up with a solution to placate the enraged Neskab matriarch.
The usual rules of a Child Contract were such that the resulting baby goes into the father's custody after they've been Awoken. However, should the mother be of a higher rank than the father, she retains custody. The unfortunate situation resulting from a Contract between Elaina and Lawrence was that they were of nearly equivalent rank. Elaina was the Second Heir of the League of Nichelle, but Lawrence was the Heir to the Neskab family. This equated to approximately the same thing. Therefore a problem arose, as it was unclear of who would claim the child.
Alison Reich was adamant that the child be given to Lawrence after their Awakening. Jordan was insistent that Elaina should keep the child. Both were seeing it as a scheme to keep the other family on a tight leash. Lawrence however, after two days of argument, pulled Elaina aside and told her, "What sort of man would I be to take your first born child? I offer you custody of the child, provided I am still permitted to see them." Elaina agreed in an instant.
Alison did also not like that part of the arrangement. Not only was she cheated for choosing a father, but she didn't even get control over the resulting child. In times of dispute between the families, the arranged parents, should they agree, got to determine guardianship of their unborn offspring. Alison got very little say, and she loathed her son even more for that.
In order to appease the leaders of the Neskab family, there were two more Child Contracts drafted. One was nearly certain to be carried through though. Jordan was to enter a Contract with Marissa Neskab, the Second Heir to the Neskab family, and their resulting offspring would remain in the Neskab's care. The date was set for sometime in the next New Year. The second Child Contract, a more tentative deal, was set between one of Jordan's daughters, and another of Mathew Neskab's sons. However the Times of Virility and Fertility were such that they may not align and a child could not be conceived. There was speculation of Mathew Neskab entering into a Contract with a Nichelle female, but Alison quickly put a stop to it.
As Elaina was looking over the documents that she and Lawrence had signed two days previous, she grew a notch more apprehensive about the entire affair. Although she was certainly no virgin, the entire thing seemed so daunting. She'd spent some time with Lawrence, and had discovered just how old he truly was. It wasn't even just his age, but his experiences and his mannerisms. He was hundreds of years older than her mere nineteen years. He'd had hundreds of years of sexual experiences, and Elaina had had just over four years. She was suddenly afraid of embarrassing herself, or not being able to 'perform' to his expectations.
"What's wrong?" Jordan asked gently. "You've been chewing your lip for the last five minutes, at least. If that's not an indication that something is bothering you, then I don't know what is."
Elaina looked at her brother over the top of her page. "It's nothing," she assured him. "I'm just being silly, worrying about stupid things."
Jordan smiled kindly. He dropped his stack of papers on the table and reached across the gap to take his sister's hand. "To worry is to be considering a situation with some level of intelligence," Jordan assured her. "Tell me what is worrying you."
Elaina smiled in return. "That's very sweet Jordan," she said, "but really, it's just the vain mind of a teenager considering whether her pride will be hurt or not. Merely the self-conscious musings of a teenage girl," she laughed lightly. "I'm alright. Really," she assured him, squeezing his hand gently before letting it fall. She turned her attention back to her papers, before casually asking, "So what will happen after the baby is born?"
Jordan sat back in his seat, linking his fingers together. "Well, that really depends on how you choose to raise the child," he began. "If you wish the child to grow up in as safe of an environment as possible, then the best option would be to send them into hiding while they're still an infant. We could possibly orchestrate a switch, much like the one Father and your Mother did, but there are various complications that arise from such things. You may also choose to send the child to one of the family nurseries. They are hidden places with carefully selected staff and tutors, where Pure Blood, and some Half Blood, children can grow up among their own kind. In addition to those options, you could also go into seclusion with the child, until you've grown tired of parenting and you send them to a nursery. This last option isn't entirely appropriate for you though."
"Why not?" Elaina asked, confused. She seemed to think the third option was the least clinical of them all.
Jordan sighed. "You are the long lost daughter of Zachariah Nichelle," he explained, "and there is a lifetime of knowledge that you have not had imparted. We don't have the time to waste as you hide away with your child, as attractive as that may sound to you. We cannot afford to not have you introduced to your duties any later than necessary. As my Heir, you need to be ready to fill my shoes in the event that I am unable to fulfill my duties." In response to watching Elaina's face fall, he added, "you will be permitted to see the child often. We simply cannot have all your time monopolized by them, is the case. Do you understand?"
Elaina nodded, a little crestfallen. "I get it," she replied. "This is one of those do your duty for your family things. It's much like what I had to do before. It was the Organization before your own personal needs." She shrugged in defeat.
"What's this about the Organization?" Lawrence Neskab asked, as he slid into the seat next to Elaina.
"Nothing," Elaina replied. "It's not important." She turned in her seat to face Lawrence, before asking, "How long do you intend to stay in Cordalla?"
Jordan chuckled. "Lawrence here is an enigma," Jordan explained. "He actually stays with the woman of his Contract until well after the child is born."
Elaina was shocked. "That's unusual?" she asked, flabbergasted.
Both Jordan and Lawrence burst out laughing at the young woman's expression. At that, Jordan excused himself, and headed into one of the tiny offices located further back in the plane, chuckling as he walked.
Once he'd calmed himself, Lawrence explained, "Quite often, the father arrives within three weeks of the Contract being carried out. Once the deed is done, he, more often than not, will leave within a few days." He slung his arm around Elaina's shoulders and added, "You won't be rid of me that easily though." He laughed jovially again, rocking them from side to side. "I stay until the baby is born," he told her, bouncing into the seat across from her, so they could better speak to each other, "I also don't like knowing the gender or being decided on a name before the child is born either, but I'm just old fashioned." He shrugged, and genially added, "If you really want to know the gender and choose a name, that's fine, but I reserve the right to veto any horrid names you come up with."
Elaina became mockingly indignant at the last comment. "Horrid names?" she repeated in false offence. "I assure you, our child will only be named Quinnethwren, regardless of whether it's a boy or a girl. And if you don't like that, you can suck it!"
Lawrence threw his head back and roared with laughter. Elaina's facade of severity cracked as she too collapsed giggled. Between gasped breaths, Lawrence managed to ask, "Do you actually know someone named Quinnethwren? Male or female?"
Elaina, through her laughter said, "No, and if I did, they'd better be orphans, because I'd kill my parents if they stuck me with Quinnethwren for a name!"
Lawrence laughed harder at that. Once the pair had finally settled down, Lawrence brushed the tears that had formed in the corner of his eye away and said, "I think we'll get along just fine, Miss Nichelle. You seem to at least have a moderate sense of humour, so at least the conversation will be interesting." He smirked wickedly, widening it into a grin when Elaina stuck her tongue out at him. His brow furrowed slightly and he became serious when he went on to ask, "What were you saying about the Organization earlier?"
"Oh," Elaina said, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. She hadn't told him that she had been Agent Jaden Korr before coming to the attention of the Nichelle family. She'd let him assume that, yes she'd lived among humans, but it was in more of a foster family that was under the control of the League of Nichelle. By Jordan's advice, she was keeping her true past a secret, in order to prevent distrust among her peers. "Uh, it was nothing important, I was just mentioning it in passing," she said lamely.
Lawrence raised an eyebrow and smirked slightly, "I know that it was more than that, Elaina," he said good-humouredly. He however shrugged it off and said, "I'd like to know, but I understand if you want to keep certain things to yourself. We're business partners, not a couple. We don't need to divulge everything about ourselves."
Elaina smiled gratefully, "Thank you Lawrence," she said sincerely. "There are some things I'd like to keep private, because it's better if they stay that way."
He shrugged again and made a non-committal noise that sounded like "meh," before swooping up some of the paper work that Jordan and Elaina had been studying. "Did you realize," he asked with a smile, "that you haven't signed your name the same way twice in any of these documents?" He tilted the page that he was looking at so that Elaina could see it better. It was one that she'd signed about half a dozen times, and he was exactly right. She hadn't signed her name the same way for any of them.
She grinned helplessly and said, "I've known I was Elaina Nichelle for all of three weeks. That was essentially the first time I've had to write my name. I wasn't even really sure of how it was spelt."
Lawrence laughed again. Elaina liked his laugh. It was buoyant and infectious. The way a laugh should be. But it also had a seductive undertone, one that added to his rather sexual aura. From what she'd learned of Lawrence Neskab, he was a playboy with a heart of gold. He'd been with many, many, many women; some for Contracts, some for purely carnal reasons. However, none of his affairs overlapped, and none of the ones Elaina inquired about had ended badly. She was incredibly relieved that he was an option for a Child Contract, that he was available, and that he'd so willingly offered himself for it.
He did admit earlier in the week though that he was doing it partly for selfish reasons. He told her that he had two selfish reasons. He first wanted to deprive his mother of as much of her power as he possibly could, the easiest way to do so would be to enter a high ranking Child Contract and deny her control over the child. The second reason, he told her with a jokingly sultry look, was that he loved hearing women scream his name in the throes of passion, and they were constantly in throes of passion during their Time of Fertility. Elaina was only half sure he was joking about the second reason; there had been many, many, many women after all.
Lawrence was just recovering his composure when Maggie strolled over. "Hey," she said, pausing next to Lawrence's seat. "Uncle says that if you aren't needing these documents, he'll take them now so that they're all together when we land."
"That sounds fine," Elaina said, leaning forward to help Maggie arrange the scattered mess of papers into an orderly pile. "When will we be landing?" she asked once they'd organized the mess, with Lawrence's added help. "I realize I sound like a child saying "are we there yet," but really...are we there yet?"
Lawrence snorted and Maggie grinned. "I think," Maggie said kindly, "we're about half an hour away. Would you like something to drink to hold you over?"
"Umm..." Elaina said hesitantly. She was still rather unpractised at drinking blood in a semi-public setting, and usually moved to a more private area to drink to avoid embarrassment. However, she was enjoying Lawrence's company rather thoroughly, and didn't want to remove herself from their current seating arrangement.
Lawrence, with his heart of gold, sensed Elaina's dilemma and asked politely and quietly, "Would you like to move our conversation elsewhere?" Elaina's relief and gratitude must have shown quite obviously on her face because he grinned widely at her as he got to his feet, extending his arm to her as he led her to a private room towards the tail of the plane. He even held the door open for her when they reached the room, and discretely waved Maggie off, before closing the door behind himself.
The room was larger than Jordan's temporary office, across the narrow hall from them. It was technically a conference room, but only about five people could have comfortably sat around the table squashed into the small room. In one corner was a small refrigerator, where a small blood supply was kept for entertainment purposes. It allowed business to be conducted in complete private, without needing to send out for sustenance. The walls were panelled with polished wood, stained the same colour as the table, and the carpet was a deep maroon. The eight, or so, chairs that were set up around the table were well cushioned leather seats that were bolted to the floor, like the table, so that there were no mishaps during the flight.
As Elaina slid into one of the seats as Lawrence surveyed the blood supply in the refrigerator. After some internal deliberation, he selected a bottle and two glasses, bringing it over to the table. He placed the glasses and the bottle before Elaina, and perched on the edge of the table next to her. As he filled their glasses, he observed Elaina's fangs jut out from below her upper lip, and asked, "How long has it been since you were Awoken, Elaina?" Elaina's eyes were fixed hungrily on the glasses, and Lawrence had to repeat her name twice to get her attention. Once she'd torn her eyes away from the blood, he observed, "You're only a few months old, aren't you?"
Elaina swallowed hard, her eyes closing briefly, as she attempted to regain some self-control. It had been a few days since she'd had anything, and close to a week since she'd fed. People kept forgetting that she didn't know how to properly hunt, and that she was still young enough to be susceptible to blood lust induced Blood Rage. After regaining some composure, Elaina nodded. "I was Awoken on Halloween. With this being the second week of February, I'm about three and a half months old."
"Jesus Christ," Lawrence swore, shaking his head. "You're family is sure taking a risk having you away from your father so long." Elaina frowned in askance. Lawrence passed her a glass of blood, instructing, "drink this slowly. I know you want to drain it, but drink slowly." The instant his hand moved to the glass, Elaina's attention snapped back to the blood. He kept one hand on the cup, tilting it so that she couldn't drink too quickly. She still drank too quickly and wildly for his liking. When he pulled the glass from her limp fingers, her eyes were squeezed shut and her chest was heaving.
He silently cursed the Nichelles who had been put in charge of watching over her. At three months, a Pure Blood was volatile and dangerous when not given enough to drink, easily lapsing into Blood Rage when overly stimulated. He was surprised that she hadn't yet. The young woman had an immense amount of self control, undoubtedly. If she hadn't possessed that control, however, she could have caused irreparable damage and unknown casualties. Young Turned vampires needed to drink at least once every two days, and feed a few times a week in their first six months or so. Newly Awoken Pure Bloods typically needed to drink about once a day and feed, in the very least, once every three days or so. This occasion, however, was the first time he'd seen the young woman consume any blood, and her reaction suggested that she hadn't drunk in days. Her level of control was astounding for any age; and his respect for her increased tenfold.
"Elaina," he said gently, kneeling down beside her, swivelling her chair so that she faced him. Her eyes snapped open instantly. Red was bleeding into her irises as she began losing her battle with blood lust. "Alright Elaina," Lawrence said carefully, "I can tell you're thirsty, but I need you to stay calm, alright? Can you do that?" The girl's only response was clenching her jaw momentarily. "I'm going to give you a little more, but I need you to be calm, can you do that?" He asked, his eyes never leaving her. She didn't answer him, she only proceeded to hyperventilate further, her lips parting to reveal fully extended fangs as she panted hungrily, her eyes roving from his face to his throat and back. The brown in her eyes was gone, replaced with hungry, demonic crimson. However, the pupils remained, so she was merely suffering blood lust, and not Rage. That was something to be grateful for. Not even Jordan's blood could placate her if she fell into Rage, and Lawrence didn't know where the supply of Zachariah's blood was located in the plane.
Without breaking eye contact, Lawrence poured half of the second glass of blood into the first, and moved the full bottle out of Elaina's reach. As soon as the glass entered Elaina's peripheral vision, she snapped all attention to it and attempted to snatch it from Lawrence's hand. He jerked it out of reach, and she snarled angrily at him. "Woah," he said soothingly, "take it easy. You can have it; you just have to be nice about it, okay?" Elaina made no attempt at a response beyond growling softly. Lawrence kept both hands on the glass, and put more effort this time into making her drink it slowly. It took her twice as long to finish it, with his help. He was, unfortunately, becoming intoxicated by her blood lust, and he was beginning to feel its effects on himself. So when he drained the remaining half full glass of blood, faster than he would have liked, he was gasping when he brought the empty glass away from his lips. It was in this inebriated state that he remained for a moment, facing Elaina, panting at a rate similar to her own.
"More. Please," Elaina begged breathlessly. She was leaning forward, invading Lawrence's personal space. He suddenly realized his error in kneeling practically between her legs, as she was appealing to all his senses currently, and not all his body was focused on blood lust. "Please," she whispered again, a scant inch from his face, her eyes sliding shut. Lawrence attempted to keep as close to her as possible, his eyes never leaving her face as he fumbled to fill a glass for her. He was so enraptured that he didn't attempt to keep it away from her, or to slow her as she threw the glass back, some of the crimson liquid spilling out the corner of her mouth.
Acting entirely without though, Lawrence surged forward the rest of the distance between them, his tongue running from her collarbone to the corner of her lips, following the trail of blood that ran down her chin. He forcefully pressed his mouth to hers, relishing at the moan he elicited from her. Instantly, Elaina's fingers wove themselves into his dark curls, and Lawrence's arms slipped around her waist, pulling her closer to the edge of the chair. Closer to him.
Lawrence's head was spinning and he was losing all control of himself. The blood he tasted on Elaina's tongue drove him mad, as did the fresh blood that flowed when his was sliced open on someone's, he wasn't sure whose, fangs. Instinctively, he rocked his hips against hers, causing Elaina to break their kiss with a loud gasp, her eyes flying open to stare into his.
Lawrence was certain that his eyes were as red as hers. He'd been stupid and had not fed properly in around a week, probably more. As a result, he was spiralling out of control with the young Nichelle, his head reeling as he attempted to regain some level of composure. Elaina had other plans though, as she crushed her lips against his once more, rolling her hips to meet his, extracting a grunt from him.
As Lawrence was becoming more and more aroused, a tiny part of his brain was screaming at him to stop. He had to stop. The state of affairs between the Neskabs and Nichelles were too delicate to damage in a haze of blood lust. He knew that all too well. The last thing he could afford was angering the Nichelles by fucking the Heir-of-the-Heir because he was too inebriated by blood lust to keep himself from taking advantage of the very situation he was in. Thus that tiny voice became louder.
"Elaina," Lawrence gasped, more breathlessly than he'd intended, because the woman had found a particularly sensitive part on his neck and she had wrapped her legs around him, planting her feet between his knees. Lawrence had to stop. He roughly seized her hips to still them and growled, "Elaina. Stop." Elaina laughed seductively in his ear and attempted to kiss him again, but he brought his hand up between their faces. "Please stop," he said, calmer than he was truly feeling. With that, he jerked himself free from her grip and moved to the chair behind him.
The hurt showed in her eyes at that, and it was enough to sap the red from them, returning them to their normal dark, chocolate hue. Her features crumbled from seductive to embarrassment and distress. She looked at the floor, her lower lip quivering slightly. "Why am I becoming like this?" she asked, most likely a rhetorical question, as she seemed to be addressing her feet. She looked up at Lawrence, and her eyes were over bright. "I never used to be this way," she exclaimed mournfully. "You must think I'm so easy and stupid," she muttered, rubbing her eyes with frustration. "No wonder James was able to get me to sleep with him. I've become such a whore!" She hid her face in her hands and her shoulders shook slightly.
"Hey, don't be that way," Lawrence said kindly, moving once more to kneel before her. He managed to worm his hand between hers and pulled lightly on her chin, forcing her to drop her hands and look at him. "If you recall, I was the one who started all that," he reminded her, with a gentle smile. Her own returning grimace was watery and miserable. "Elaina," he said sympathetically, "You're so incredibly hormonally unbalanced right now that I was incredibly foolish to even think of trying that. It was I who took advantage of the situation, and was attempting to use you for my own self-gratification. Understand?"
Elaina made a disbelieving face. "I just can't seem to control myself anymore," she said tearfully. "I feel like I'm spiralling out of control, and there is no way to tell which way is up and which is down. I'm so," she paused, squeezing her eyes tightly shut before she continued; "I'm so thirsty, all the time. And that scares me." She opened her eyes again, "I don't want to be some sort of monster, but I seem completely incapable of not becoming one."
"Elaina," Lawrence pressed gently, "When was the last time you drank?" When she hesitated, Lawrence pressed harder, "When did you last drink?"
Elaina thought for a moment. "The day that your mother and sister were yelling at each other," she said after a little deliberation.
"What?" Lawrence cried, surging to his feet. "That was four days ago!" he exclaimed. "My god, when was the last time you actually fed, from a breathing, kicking body?" he demanded.
"Um," Elaina thought for another moment. "I guess it was Tuesday," she decided after thinking it through.
"'Tuesday', as in two days ago?" Lawrence asked, attempting on keeping the anger from his voice, "Or 'Tuesday', as in more than a week ago?" When she hesitated again, he snapped, "Elaina, are you telling me you haven't fed for more than a week?"
"I guess," Elaina whispered cowering into her seat as Lawrence gazed furiously down at her.
Lawrence swore and viciously stabbed at the intercom button in the middle of the table, calming himself enough to sound polite when he said, "My lord, would you please join us in the conference room," after Jordan answered his phone. Jordan was striding in the door seconds later, his expression becoming rather bemused when he observed the rather rumpled state of the other occupants of the room.
However, Jordan's amusement disappeared when he noticed Lawrence's thunderous expression. "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice becoming steely.
"My lord," Lawrence said, as evenly as he could, "Was there anyone assigned to watch young Elaina here? Was there anyone whose duty it was to be certain she was taken properly care of?" Though he tried, his voice sounded a bit more than accusatory.
Jordan's frown deepened, "Yes," he replied coldly. "Maggie and some of the other younger Nichelles were charged with overseeing my sister. Why?" His eyes darted to Elaina. "Elaina, what is going on?" he demanded.
"It would seem," Lawrence said heatedly, "that no one has been made aware of the fact that, as a Pure Blood less than four months from Awakening, your sister needs to be drinking blood on more than a semi-weekly basis. She hasn't properly fed in nine days!" Lawrence had dropped all pretence of decorum and was gesturing wildly by the time he'd said four months. The look Jordan was levelling on him caused him to drop his hands and instantly sober up. "Sir," he said, much more calmly, "your sister isn't being properly attended to, in my opinion."
"You do have a part of that right," Jordan said coldly, "however: there is some blame to be placed in my dear sister as well." He turned his face back to Elaina, who'd shrunk as small as she could into her seat. "You, my dear," he said slowly, "are hardly voicing any complaints, when it comes to your level of thirst." Elaina flinched a little and mumbled something, which enraged Jordan more. "I have yet to see you ask for blood," Jordan snapped, "you only drink when someone asks you if you want any. Am I right?" Elaina nodded ever so slightly. "Why," he asked forcefully, "are you gambling with all of our lives in such a reckless manner?"
Elaina looked up at him, confused. "I don't understand," she said in a small voice.
"By allowing yourself to become as thirsty as you are, you risk us all," Jordan explained furiously. "You are young enough that blood lust can be seconds away from translating into Blood Rage, which is incredibly dangerous to counteract, especially when you are so far from Father. You risk exposing the Pure Bloods because you may not be capable of controlling yourself in a crisis or when it is crucial that you act either like a human or like a regular, Turned vampire. If anything were to happen to me," he continued, "people would be looking to you for leadership, and you'd be too interested in your next meal to be of assistance. You could very easily have turned on a Faithful, breaking the Faithful Code, which would result in a severe political and physical backlash. It is your responsibility, not only as a vampire, but as the Second Heir of Lord Nichelle, that you maintain full control of yourself, regardless of your age or feelings on the matter. Furthermore," Jordan lectured, "you risk embarrassment and damage to your reputation if you continue acting in the manner I was privy to hearing a few moments ago." As he said this, his eye flicked momentarily to Lawrence. By the look in them, he'd be receiving a tongue lashing later. Jordan however turned his hardened gaze back to his thoroughly cowed sister. "When we reach Cordalla," Jordan continued, "I will not have the time to baby-sit you to the extent that it appears you require. I will be informing Maggie that I will be holding her personally responsible if I ever hear of a situation like this again, do you understand?"
Elaina was trembling by this point, "Please don't blame the others," she begged weakly, "this was my fault. I wasn't telling anybody anything. Please don't punish them for my mistakes."
Jordan and Elaina stared at each other for a few moments. Elaina's gaze was imploring and desperate; Jordan's gaze was livid and cold. "We will speak no more of this," Jordan decreed quietly, his voice even and calm. "Come," he said, gripping his sister by the elbow, leading her to the door, "we'll be landing in a few minutes."
