A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.
This might be a couple of chapters longer than the last. I hope no one minds.
Does anyone else want me to put a pregnancy in this fic?
Chapter 4: Quickly and Privately
Vlad leaned against what remained of his throne. He wished he hadn't turned it to more than charred remains. He needed something to sit on; it would help show his authority.
He looked at Ingrid, she seemed nervous even though she stood tall. Vlad was glad that Ingrid was his number two; she managed to provide support in his corner when he needed it the most. He was in charge of the Council, they advised him but they could pass things quietly without his knowledge. It helped to have someone else who could keep an eye on them.
Suddenly three figures sped into the room, nothing more than blurs until they stopped directly in front of Vlad.
They didn't wait for him to speak before protesting at Vlad's summons. They had wanted to remain as far out of this as possible. They were content with the power that had been given to them before and wielded it without a care until this whole business. The betrayal of three of their members had shaken them to the core.
"You have no business summoning us!" Atilla shouted angrily at Vlad. "We have better things to do than be here with the former…"
Vlad stepped forwards menacingly, cutting them off. His face set in a displeased expression. He didn't care that they didn't want to be here, he wanted them here and that was the end to it.
"I'll summon you when I want to." Vlad snapped angrily. They couldn't question him without consequences.
"You have no authority…"
"*This*," Vlad grabbed the crown and placed it on his head, he hated the sight of it after what it had done (or almost done) to Erin. "Gives me the authority."
Augustus let out an audible gasp. "You have the crown."
Ingrid answered him, a smirk crossing her lips. "Vlad took it from Olga, she never wore it. Vlad is the rightful Grand High Vampire of our kind."
The remaining three members of the Council all looked at Vlad in surprise they hadn't thought him capable of taking the crown back by force, they bowed down in front of him showing him the respect he commanded once again.
Atilla narrowed her eyes at her grandson, he was looking down slightly, "If you've taken it back there must be a consequence." Taking something from another vampire never was ignored; there was always some form of retaliation.
Vlad stepped down from the small staged area coming to face them, "A vampire war has been started, Olga declared it."
There were a few moments silence. "You accepted it?" Elyan wanted to know why Vlad had accepted it.
"She attacked my mate and it's the only way she'll give up her claim." Vlad knew deep down that Olga would only give up her claim when she became dust but after what she'd done to Erin that wasn't bothering him so much anymore.
"There hasn't been a vampire war in two hundred years!" Atilla cried furiously, no one knew how to fight. She couldn't believe Vlad could have been so stupid as to accept one.
Vlad knew that there hadn't been one for a couple of centuries, so did Ingrid, Bertrand had told them, he'd fought in the last vampire wars. Fighting to survive and look after his brothers and sisters.
"Its either war and we lose half of our kind or she keeps control and destroys all of our kind. I had to act. She knows nothing of leading our kind, she only looks at what's in it for her." Vlad snapped at them all. "I don't ant a war but there's no other way. Its done now."
The decision had been made it couldn't be revoked. If Vlad tried to surrender he would be executed immediately for treason as she was considered the 'rightful heir' at the moment.
"Vlad's right. It's the only way." Elyan whispered, this war wasn't over riches or land like all the wars before, it was over the future of their kind.
Vlad gave him a nod of thanks for the support, at least there was one member of the Council that seemed to be on his side but he wouldn't drop his guard in case it was a façade. He wouldn't be burned that way. "We need to find out what support I have." There was no we about this, it came down to who supported Vlad alone. The Council had made enemies in the past; Vlad had made some but nowhere near as many.
Ingrid nodded, "We need to see which resources are available to us at the moment," Vlad gave her a strange look; she'd sounded almost like Bertrand then when she'd spoken. Ingrid ignored it. "We need to assess everything before we can make any plans. Olga won't wait around for us to move first."
Ingrid was mainly speaking to Vlad; after all he wouldn't have the Council for much longer if he got his way.
"I say give her the throne." Augustus had always been a coward and Vlad had expecting nothing more from him.
"If Olga won't wear the crown she can't be Grand High Vampire, she can't have the throne." Atilla hissed at Augustus. Atilla wasn't going to see Olga on the throne. The Chosen One was the Grand High Vampire no one else.
There had been whisperings and many had seen with their own eyes that Olga refused to wear the crown publicly unlike Vlad, the crown was the symbol of authority without it Olga was a normal vampire.
"Do you mean that or is it because your grandson has lost this power?" An argument was about to start so Vlad decided to pt an end to it before it had even begun. He lazily lifted his arm, forcing a low yield fireball to erupt and illuminate the ceiling. Immediately all thoughts of arguing were forgotten.
Vlad looked between them, almost like he was watching a tennis match, his eyes never lingering on either of them for too long. He couldn't deal with the Council for much longer if he was going to have to put up with these arguments in a time of crisis. They would distract him and cause things to go completely wrong.
So he broached the main topic he'd brought them here for.
"Now I'm Grand High Vampire there's something I need to be settled. I want Erin crowned quickly and quietly." The quicker Erin was crowned the quicker he could deal with everything without having to worry about what the council was and wasn't sanctioning behind his back.
"You want Erin to be crowned privately?" Augustus questioned, disbelievingly. He couldn't understand the nerve of the young vampire. The Council looked between each other, Vlad knew exactly what they were thinking. He hated the fact he had to get their approval on this small matter. Eventually Augustus spoke once more, "Never."
Vlad hadn't expected anything else.
"Erin is my wife, she will be my Queen. I made that decision and you agreed to it." They couldn't dispute Vlad's decision, the only thing they could argue against was the fact it needed to be done publicly – in fact it was written into their laws that a coronation was a public act. Vlad couldn't change this law on his own at the moment; he needed supporters if he was going to win this vampire war.
"A crowning is performed publicly not privately." In three thousand years that had never changed.
"If we do this publicly I don't know who I can trust. We'll all be at risk." Vlad argued back, it was safer for a private ceremony. At a public one Vlad wouldn't know who was on his side and who was on Olga's. It was just too risky.
Augustus scratched his chin; "A new date has to be set as the original date of her coronation has passed…" They were stalling on purpose.
"And considering it was two members of the Council who made sure of that, I want one set immediately. I say within the next two days."
Elyan looked at Vlad, he was the quietest Council member. "How was your wife attacked?"
Vlad turned his gaze to Elyan; he would answer the sensible question. "Olga forced the crown onto her head. Luckily it didn't hurt her permanently…" That certainly got their attention.
The Council shared a look, cutting Vlad off completely. "Are you saying that the crown accepted Erin as your *equal*?" 'Equal' was spat out with complete disgust. No vampire male had an equal amongst the women no matter which laws Vlad had amended and removed.
"It did." Vlad wasn't going to mention any of the side effects.
There was no denying that Erin was supposed to be Vlad's Queen now, clearly the crown had accepted that fact.
"If the crown accepted your mate without turning her to dust, then that means every Grand High Vampire must have an equal that the crown will accept without harming…" Augustus began slowly, an idea creeping into his mind.
YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL
Vlad looked positively disgusted with himself when they left the throne room, he couldn't believe what had just happened in there. Everything had been going, albeit with some difficulty, in the direction he wanted – at least until Augustus' idea was suggested and passed. He had no say on the matter – something he couldn't understand at all.
Ingrid had anger bubbling up inside her. She clenched her fists at her side to prevent herself from lashing out at him.
"How could you do that?" Ingrid finally let go of the control she was holding over her emotions. "How could you just agree to it?"
Vlad hadn't agreed to anything, he didn't have a choice at the moment. "I didn't make the decision…"
Ingrid clearly wasn't finished. "How do you think Erin will react when she finds out?"
Vlad winced; Erin's fury wasn't an easy thing to bear. He'd been on the receiving end of it only a few times since knowing her and he really wasn't eager to go through it again. Not sleeping in the same coffin as her would be the lightest punishment compared to what she'd do to him when she found out what he'd allowed to be passed.
Vlad opened his mouth to speak, although he already knew the answer. Ingrid spotted what he was doing and cut in quickly with a firm answer, "I'm not telling Erin, you are."
"I'll undo it Ingrid." Vlad bit back snarkily; he didn't really want to tell Erin how much of a mess he'd made of things before he absolutely had to. He'd hoped he'd be able to sort it out before her coronation, if not he had a few years at least.
He rubbed a hand across his face; either way Erin would still kill him when she found out.
"Before Erin's crowned?" Ingrid asked angrily. It was finalised already, Vlad needed a good enough reason to undo what he'd just done and at the moment there wasn't one good enough in the eyes of the remaining three members of the Council.
"I'll fix it." Vlad whispered vehemently, there was no way he would ever let what the Council had demanded and put into motion happen.
Renfield was just leaving Erin when they entered the mated couple's coffin room. Vlad was slightly surprised that Renfield was still there but he had lost track of the time, Renfield was checking on Erin regularly. Vlad had moved Erin, as she would probably recover more quickly in the privacy of their room.
Erin looked at them she'd heard their argument down the corridor. "What's happened?" She didn't hear Vlad and Ingrid fight very often about Council meetings although she supposed she'd have to learn about them soon enough if she was going to be crowned.
Ingrid looked at Vlad before hitting him hard around the back of the head. Vlad's head snapped forwards and he silently mouthed 'ow'. His hand came up to rub the sore spot that Ingrid had just created.
Erin knew it must be serious from the guilt written all across Vlad's face and the fact he hadn't responded to Ingrid's assault.
"Just wait until you hear what your idiot of a vampire husband has done…"
TBC
A/N: What do you think?
Does anyone else want me to put a pregnancy in this fic?
Thanks for reading.