The Tale of a Vampiress

Part Two

Chapter Four:

I am on my way back to the Hall of Princes now, I have to deliver the special tonic which Larten has brewed, it is to help Prince Mika to maintain an erection because he's had erectile dysfunction recently, and it has not been a fun time for him at all. This tonic will work but it is very strong so he only needs to drink a tiny amount, maybe three drops at the most Larten said, but two is usually sufficient, it also means that depending upon how often Prince Mika mates this bottle of tonic should last a good few weeks before he'll need more, although we hope that the problem will resolve itself by then.

I've just bumped into Prince Mika in the tunnel that leads to the Hall of Princes, I'll give the bottle of tonic to him now seeing as he's standing infront of me.

"Here, this is for you from Larten, it is the medicine we discussed, take two or three drops, but no more, and see how you get on, do not take any more drops after taking the initial three drops until forty eight hours have passed, this is strong stuff, and it can be dangerous when too much is taken, it can mess with your heart rhythm if you overdose, and we don't exactly have heart monitors or resuscitation equipment here either, please be careful with it," I say. "I hope it works out for you, and that your issue will be solved. It did wonders for Seba apparently, it has got a high success rate when used properly."

"Thank you Anna, we shall have to test it out together," he suggests. "By the way the second vote is tomorrow, hopefully then the case will be solved, and Jacques will be released, but nothing is guaranteed, it all depends upon what the Generals say to the new evidence that you will be presenting."

"I'm presenting it? Nobody told me that, I thought if I gave you the papers then you would present it to the Generals, and my role in this would be complete," I'm a bit surprised by this news, to hear that I am the one who is expected to present the evidence is not what I had in mind, but if that is my job then I will do it. "I have never presented evidence before in any capacity, do I have to wear my Generals' uniform or my blue dress?"

"Either is acceptible, but as you will be on duty as a General I would wear your Generals' Robes. What you have to do is simple Anna, I will ask you if you have any new information relating to the case before we take a vote, that is when you will stand up, and explain what you have found out about the false alibi, afterwards you will call in your witnesses who are those who gave the false alibi, you shall then present their new sworn statements as evidence by passing them to Prince Arrow or to myself, we will question those involved, you will sit down, and finally the vote will be taken," Prince Mika explains clearly to me as we're walking. "It should not take longer than an hour or so, the voting is pretty quick in these cases as most will have already decided upon which way they are voting, you may not vote upon this case because you are involved in it by gathering the new evidence, however you may vote in the other cases we will be hearing if you so wish."

"I always vote when I am permitted to do so Mika, I mean Sire," I've just called Prince Mika by his first name in public, although as I'm on duty technically I am not supposed to. "My bad, I apologise."

"No worries, it is just us here so you did no wrong by calling me by my name, you did not bow to me when we met in the tunnel earlier either, but I was not expecting you to," Prince Mika points out as we're walking into the Hall of Khledon Lurt, it is packed. "As my mate you are exempt from certain rules of etiquette, you do not need to bow to me, and you may use my first name if you wish to, but not when I am on duty. As for tomorrow at the second vote do not fret, you will do just fine."

"I hope so Sire, I really do." we've taken our seats at the Princes' High Table, Alicia is here also, I haven't spoken to her in ages, as such we need to catch up. I still feel odd about calling Prince Mika by the term Sire, when we're alone I call him my Dark Prince or I just use his name, but whilst we're in public, and during official duties there are no distinctions made between the mates of Princes, and the general population. When we are off duty we use each other's names, but I often forget, and call him Sire out of habit.

"Alicia, long time, no see, how are you?" I ask her as we're tucking into our meals.

"Very well and I'm loving every minute of being Vancha's mate, like who'd have thought it? When we met at the Cirque Du Freak I was a shy person with not a thing to my name, but you changed all that for me, I'm eternally grateful to you for everything you did for me," she says between mouthfuls of soup and bread. "I have been given a new Coronet by the way, Prince Vancha likes me to have a choice so I don't get bored with wearing the same one all the time."

"That was very kind of him, most mates get one, and it has to last them for the duration of their mateship term, I'm not entitled to one unfortunately because I am not Prince Mika's official mate, I'm only his mistress for want of a better word," I reply before scraping my soup bowl clean. "I have my diamond tiara though, its the one I wore at my Blessed Mateship ceremony so I wear that on special occasions instead."

"Seriously? I thought every mate of a Prince got a Coronet, it is meant to signify the mystical union between themself and their chosen Prince, I was given mine within a week of becoming Madam March, Prince Vancha insisted upon it," Alicia states as she drinks from her goblet. "I think you need one, we all have one, even Madam Shan has hers now, it is a beautiful gold one with rubies set into it, have you met her?"

"No, I haven't. I did not even know that Prince Darren had taken a mate, what's she like?" I'm curious to find out about our newest Clan member.

"She's shy and quiet, her name's Debbie I think, yes, Debbie Hemlock, you'll recognise her easily because she is dark skinned, we've never had a dark skinned vampiress join us before, but it doesn't matter obviously, it is just unique," she explains whilst holding her goblet up to have it refilled. "You'll like her, she's around your age, she's smart and she's already learning how to duel, I've been teaching her in the same way that you taught me Anna."

"Good stuff, nothing better than a vampiress who knows how to duel, Arra would have been proud," I never had the chance to meet Arra, but from what I hear about her she, and I would have been either deadly rivals or the best of friends. "Larten still talks about her from time to time, and Malora too."

"Malora? Don't know her." Alicia looks puzzled.

"You wouldn't, she died a long time ago, we were not even born when she died. Malora was one of Larten's mates, but I do not know a lot about her, I don't like to ask because Larten gets upset if I mention his past," I remark. "He feels emotions like we all do, he just does not show them publicly because we are not meant to, it is not the vampire way to be emotional, and therefore weak."

"I noticed at the funeral how not one Clan member cried or anything, everyone was really controlled, and almost cold, not sure how else to put it," she has a point. "I struggled, but I kept it together for Prince Vancha's sake, it would not do well for the mate of a Prince to break down in tears, it makes her look weak in the eyes of the Clan, we must be mentally strong and supportive of our mates, not weak and emotional like humans are."

My memories of the battle, and what happened afterwards...

During the last major battle Alicia had done exceptionally well, she'd faught alongside me, and many Vampaneze had been slain by her blades, since that time we had not seen much of each other, she'd been in mourning for Gavner which was understandable, we had all mourned his loss for many months because he'd been a well liked Clan member, he'd had lots of friends, and he was a great strategist when it came to battles, in fact he'd stuck to me like glue on the battlefield, and he wouldn't leave my side for a second, he knew that my lack of experience could have cost me dearly, had I left myself open or been surrounded I would have been dead meat, even on horseback I was still targeted by the Vampaneze because I was leading the forces into battle, they saw me as a key player, and wanted me to be taken out, however that didn't happen, and we absolutely annihilated them.

The best thing was seeing the Vampanets revealing themselves, and fighting for us on our side, the Vampaneze had not expected for up to a third of their total force to be on our side, but they were, and we all faught together as equals, afterwards a lot of the Vampanets had settled in and around the mountain, they had their own camps, and we often met each other whilst out hunting or exercising our wolves, sometimes we'd share meals and camp stories with each other, I even gave one camp my recipe for a traditional venison stew, in return they'd given me their recipe for a sheep milk dessert which was set with beef gelatine, it was really tasty and not too sweet either...

The time for the second vote has arrived, and I'm quite nervous because I have to present the new evidence I've found, standing up infront of the Princes is bad enough, but to know that a man's life being spared depends upon my new evidence makes it even more scary. I only hope that the evidence I have gathered is enough to make the Generals vote for Jacques being innocent, if he is found innocent then he'll be released from death row because he did not commit the crime he was convicted of, and therefore he must go free.

The following events happened two hours ago...

I walked into the Hall of Generals, and took my place, I had my evidence ready to present to the Princes when they called for it, it had taken a lot of work for me to get it all together, I'd questioned the individuals who'd provided the alibi, and found it to be totally false, it was created out of fear, and not true facts, this leant weight to Jacques and his defence of witnessing the crime, but not being the one who did it. It was looking pretty positive to be honest, but nothing was guaranteed.

Jacques was led into the room, he was inside a cage that had wheels on the bottom, and he was still chained up, but he did at least look clean, and he had a shirt on that wasn't ripped, it made a change from the last time I'd seen him on death row, back then his shirt had been ripped and filthy, it was more like rags to be honest, but this one looked new, and his trousers looked new too. I wasn't allowed to speak to Jacques, but I wanted to let him know that everything was going to be alright, he looked absolutely terrified, but that was understandable.

"Order, order we will now begin the session of review for Jacques Marnier, he stands accused of murdering a vampire General, what say you?" Prince Arrow looked at him directly as he spoke.

"Sire, I am innocent of this charge, and I intend to prove it," Jacques replied weakly. "New evidence has been found, and it will prove my claims of innocence, for I was only a witness to the crime, and not the one who carried it out."

"Where is the evidence? Bring it forth." Prince Mika stated, that was my cue to present the statements I had.

"I present to you evidence that the initial alibi which was given to the General known as Morden was in fact false, and Morden was indeed witnessed by Jacques carrying out this most heinous crime, Jacques is no more than a witness, he is not the guilty party, I have sworn statements from the individuals who gave Morden his false alibi because he'd threatened them, if they did not give him an alibi he said to these individuals, and I quote; I shall slit your throats whilst you sleep if you tell anybody this, as far as you know I was with you for the whole evening in question, and we played cards together. Sires, I present to you my case, Morden committed the murder, Jacques witnessed the murder, and he came forward, however as he was only a half blooded assistant at the time of the crime he was not believed, the individuals who gave the false alibi to Morden were in fear for their lives so they never came forward, but now that Morden is long dead they have no reason not to admit their mistakes, and in doing so prove Morden's guilt which also proves Jacques to be innocent." I explained clearly before handing the sworn statements over to the Princes.

"We shall read these statements, declare to you their contents, and then call for a vote, you are voting upon whether you believe Jacques to be innocent or guilty of this crime, you vote must be based upon all of the evidence which has been presented to us, and to yourselves," Prince Vancha announced. "If you are found to be innocent Jacques you shall be released immediately, and if you are found to be guilty for a second time you will be returned to death row, there you shall wait for your appointed execution to be carried out."

"Yes Sire, I understand." Jacques acknowledged weakly, he clearly wasn't well at all, in fact he looked as though he was about to faint.

"Sire, excuse me, but I do not think that the prisoner is very well, shall I call for a Medic?" I asked. "He looks like he hasn't eaten in a while either."

Prince Vancha walked over to the cage to get a closer look at Jacques, he was so weak that he could barely hold up his head.

"Can you hear me?" Prisoner, can you hear me?" Prince Vancha queried, but Jacques did not respond. "Fetch a Medic, he's unconscious, I can't even hear him breathing now either."

"We'd better wheel him in the cage straight to the Medical Wing, but it may already be too late." I suggested. "If he's not breathing we need to do something urgently to help him or he'll die, that's if he is not already dead."

"Get him to the Medical Wing, this case is being postponed on the grounds of a medical emergency," Prince Mika announced. "Be quick or he will die, when somebody stops breathing it is a bad sign usually."

I helped by pushing the cage to the Medical Wing, it was heavy and hard to move along the uneven stone floor, but we managed it. I didn't even know if Jacques was still alive or not, but I was going to help him if I could.

"Medic, come quick, we've got a Clan member who is unresponsive, and not breathing over here," I called out when we arrived in the Medical Wing. Two of the Medical Assistance wolves appeared, they were trying to get to Jacques, but he was still locked inside the cage. "We need him out of the cage or he can't be treated. Unlock the door and let the wolves do their jobs."

"As if a dumb animal knows what to do," one of the Guards who'd come with us laughed. "Let him die I say, he's a dead man anyway."

Upon hearing this the wolves stood in front of the cage door and snarled at the Guards, they were obviously a lot smarter than the Guards had given them credit for, when one of the Guards attempted to get near the cage one of the wolves lunged at him, and knocked him to the floor in a single move.

"Take that to be a warning, these wolves will tear you apart if they think you are a threat to their patients," I remarked. "Now get that cage open and let the wolves do what they've been trained for."

"Key is on my belt, I'm not going near that cage again," the Guard replied. "I can't move anyway, I'm pinned to the floor by a wolf."

"Serves you right for insulting them." I had no sympathy for the Guard whatsoever, but I got the cage unlocked, the wolves dragged Jacques out of the cage, and I lifted him into a Medical Bay hammock, one wolf put its ear on Jacques's chest, and the other one fetched a blanket, after that one of the wolves started to pound its paws on Jacques's chest in a rhythmic fashion whilst the other one got a water bottle, and placed it on the side near to the hammock, there was a tiny shelf in each bay for water bottles, every patient was given one, and encouraged to drink regularly. The wolf was still pounding on Jacques's chest, and then it all made sense, the wolf was performing CPR to get Jacques breathing again. I stood back, and watched in amazement as the wolves worked to save Jacques's life, he was clearly in a bad way, and not one Guard or General had realised how sick he was, or if they had known they didn't care.

After about ten minutes of waiting Jacques opened his eyes, and the wolf stopped pounding on his chest, it had worked, the wolf had gotten him to breathe again which was incredible.

"What, where am I?" Jacques was confused and weak.

"You are alright, you collapsed in the cage and stopped breathing so we brought you to the Medical Wing, these wolves have been working to save your life since you arrived," I explained. "You are very weak, probably from a lack of food, blood or both, however you are safe, and the case has been postponed until you are well again."

"Just..need...sleep." he muttered before he closed his eyes again. The wolves stayed with him, he was clearly too ill to be left alone so they kept watch around the clock. There was little more I could do, I left Jacques in the care of the Medical Assistance wolves, and returned to the Hall of Khledon Lurt.

Upon my arrival there was quite a scuffle going on, the Generals and the Guards were fighting each other, I did not know why, but it looked like they were challenging each other to one on one fights, and things were getting quite intense. I didn't know if this fighting was a challenge, or if there was an actual issue which the Generals were trying to fix.

I stood back and watched, it wasn't uncommon for the Generals to receive challenges from the Guards and vice versa, but I had not seen this kind of challenge before. It was as though every General was involved, and so were all the Guards, there were fists flying and swords clashing, I saw Guards on the floor injured, it looked like the Generals were gaining the upper hand because there were far more of them, and they were all battle hardened warriors, on the other hand the Guards mainly stood by the entrances of the mountain and they did not do a lot, the only Guards who had a proper job were those who worked in the dungeon, they spent most of their time patrolling, and making sure that the prisoners couldn't escape.

The fighting went on for a while, but eventually the Guards threw up their hands in surrender, the Generals had won, that's if you can call it winning, it looked to me like a bunch of drunk idiots who were playing with swords, and spears.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"We were sparring, it was no big deal. We like to challenge each other, and prove our strength," one of the Generals explained, "The Guards think they are better fighters than us, so we proved them wromng by challenging them to single combat, as you can see we won, the Generals are the winners."

"Makes sense. Glad we won," I cheered.

"You did not take part, why not?" the General asked.

"Nobody challenged me to fight, and I have no weapons on me either," I never carried a weapon unless I was on official business or going hunting, I had no need to. "I was not even told that a fight was taking place, nobody told me. Is everybody alright? No-one is injured too badly I hope."

"No, we all have a few scratches, but nothing serious. We did not set out to kill each other, but rather to knock our opponents to the ground, the group with the most members on their feet at the end are the winners," the General explained. "As you can see most of the Guards are on the floor, the rule is that once you've been knocked to the ground you cannot stand up again until the challenge is over."

"Oh I see, it all makes sense now." I had heard of these challenges before, but I'd never walked in on one that was in full swing. "Is it over?"

"Yes, we're all done. There won't be any more fighting or challenges being made tonight, of course that doesn't apply to the Halls of Sport, they have matches on all the time, but they're more for entertainment," the General answered as he offered his hand, and pulled a Guard back up onto his feet. "I enjoyed that, it got some of my frustration, and urges to fight out of my system."

I watched as the Guards got to their feet, retrieved their spears and shook hands with the Generals, it looked like everybody was friends again, not that they'd ever been enemies to start with, in fact the Guards, and Generals had faught side by side when we defeated the Lord of the Vampaneze, the Guards had formed a spear wall to block the Vampaneze from advancing, it had given the Generals time to form ranks, and organise themselves.

When they'd first arrived on the battlefield the Generals had appeared in waves, or groups, but they had not been in any kind of formation, however they soon arranged themselves into one, I watched the Generals attack with determination, and they were a deadly force to come up against, plus a lot of them had their own wolves who also went into battle, they really helped to even up the numbers because the Vampaneze had a huge force, however hardly any of them had been trained to fight so a lot of them chose to flit, this was instead of staying around to be ripped apart by our wolves, and I didn't blame them either...

Two nights later...

I've gone to check on Jacques, he's still in the Medical Wing because he's got a nasty chest infection, and he's severely underweight, it turns out that the death row prisoners have not been fed at all, the Guards take the food that is meant for them, and eat it themselves infront of the cages, it is a form of torture to eat food infront of those who are literally starving, the Guards who were responsible for this have all been sacked or demoted, and the Captain of the Guards who let it happen has been severely repremanded, I think he has even lost his title of Captain as well, and the job has been reassigned to somebody who will follow the rules, and treat the prisoners with dignity.

"Hi Jacques, how're you feeling?" I ask as I sit down on the visitors* chair in his bay, not that he'll get many visits, he hasn't got a single friend in the Clan or any living relatives to speak of, not that his relatives would be able to come here anyway.

"I am feeling better, the food here is really helping me to heal. Before I came here I had not been given anything to eat or drink for at least a week," he sat up in his hammock, and reached for his water bottle, but he couldn't reach it so a wolf passed it to him. "Thank you Asher."

"These wolves are still monitoring you I see, you must have been extremely sick because wolves are usually on a 1:3 ratio, that means that there is one wolf for every three patients unless the patient is a Prince, the mate of a Prince or in critical condition," I remarked. "When you stopped breathing the wolves worked on you until you came around, they were really clever, also when one of the Guards insulted them, one of the wolves lunged forward, knocked him down, and pinned him to the floor, they were not going to let anything happen to you. They stood in front of the cage, and snarled until the Guards backed off, they knew you were dangerously sick, and needed help immediately."

"I was very ill, yes. I have an infection, I'm underweight, and I've got sores on my body from sleeping on mouldy straw, at least in here I get fed, my wounds are tended to, plus my hammock is clean, dry and comfortable. I don't know when I'll be released, but I won't be well or back to full strength for a while," Jacques answers. "Could you do me one favour?"

"What is it?" I am not used to being asked for favours.

"Can you please bring me some clean clothing? I have none of my own," he requests. "I want to have a wash and get changed."

"I can ask Seba for some on your behalf, he's the Quartermaster here, he is in control of distributing essential items," I was provided with the things I needed when I first arrived. "I'll bring you some shirts, trousers, a jumper and a cloak because it is freezing. I always wear a cloak over my robes, after all not all of the rooms have fireplaces."

"That would be helpful, thanks Anna."

"It is Madam Crepsley to you," I point out. "Only my close friends call me by my name. How do you know my name anyway?"

"I overheard the Chief Medic talking to you, and he used your name," Jacques takes a sip out of his water bottle, and coughs, he's too weak to drink without help. "I did not know what to call you so I just used your name, I am out of practice with talking to people and stuff, after all I was in a cage by myself for the best part of six decades, luckily I am fully blooded so I haven't aged much in that time. I'm eighty two years old, but I look like I'm thirty."

"Yeah you do. I'm nearly fifty, but I look like I'm twenty seven or there abouts. I was half blooded when I was in my early twenties, and I was fully blooded a few years ago, it was just before I had my Blessed Mateship ceremony," I explain. "I lose track of time, and I don't count most of my birthdays because I only age one year for ten that passes. I've been nearly fifty for a while now."

"I get that. Lots of vampires don't even celebrate their birthdays, to them it is just another night." he's right.

"Larten and I celebrated his two hundreth birthday because it was a milestone, but before that he never really bothered," I say. "Larten never has been a fan of celebrations. Anyway I'd better go, and get you some clothing, plus I've got jobs to do tonight."

"I understand, well thanks for coming to see me. I appreciate it." Jacques is smiling weakly.

"I'll be back later on with some clothing for you, I promise," I get up and brush the wolf hairs off of my robes, Asher has been resting her head on my lap, and that is where the hairs have come from. "I'm covered in wolf hairs, oh well, I'll change into some fresh robes, I have three sets of them."

"They like a bit of fuss, but it is on their terms usually, especially when they're working," he replies. "Goodbye, please feel free to visit whenever you like, I don't mind, I'll be here for a while yet."

"I'll keep that in mind." I've brushed the last of the wolf hairs off of my robes, and left the Medical Wing...

Seeing as Jacques is ill the vote for him won't take place until he is better, however the Princes have decided to move forward with some of the executions for those who are guilty beyond all doubt, we're dealing with nasty individuals who've been convicted of crimes such as aiding and abetting the Lord of the Vampaneze, attempted murder of a Prince and conspiracy to commit a mass murder. These are serious crimes, and the punishment for them is death, we used to execute all of our prisoners by putting them into a cage, and dropping them into a pit of stakes until they die, but now we behead them over running water instead, we only use the cage for traitors, and dishonourable executions where the prisoners are not allowed to face their deaths.

"Are you going to the execution tomorrow?" Prince Mika asks as we're sitting at the Princes' High Table.

"As a General I feel as though I must attend, I believe it is the right thing to do," I answer. "I will do my duty."

"How does Larten feel about being the executioner?" he queries.

"He does not like doing it, but he does his duty like we all do, having said that he does visit the prisoner who he must kill, and he makes his peace with them beforehand, they play cards or share an ale, just small gestures," I explain whilst filling up a goblet with fresh milk. "It makes him feel not so guilty about taking a life, although he does agree that these murderers and traitors deserve to die."

"I heard about that. There is no law against it, and it is no different then giving the condemned their last requests, they usually ask for their favoured foods or for an ale," Prince Mika states. "We grant most requests to be fair."

"Have you ever declined a request?" I ask.

"Yes, lots of times, but they were ones like being freed for twenty four hours or being allowed to duel on the Bars, the risk of escape was too high so we said no. Every request comes to us, and we either accept it or decline it," he remarks as he tucks into his food. "Most are accepted, especially the ones for their last meals, we do our best anyway."

"I wonder what this prisoner will choose for his last meal, when I thought I was going to be executed after I failed my fourth Trial I had peaches roasted in honey, Champagne, soup and something else, everyone gathered around my Medical Bay because I had broken my leg, and couldn't walk, we had a right old knees up, and nobody wanted to see me die either, by the end of it I was pretty smashed and not really with it, I was drugged up to the neck on Cocaine based painkillers, and some form of body numbing agent, I could not feel a damn thing, and Larten wanted it to be that way, he had no intention of allowing me to suffer when I got dropped on the stakes so he made sure that I was totally numb, and out of it. I was seeing all kinds of stuff, but I was still able to speak and use the crutches I had, he did not want anybody to know that I was drugged up," I admit to Prince Mika. "It wore off pretty quickly, and it left me with no lasting effects."

"You were drugged?" Prince Mika asks, shocked.

"Yep, I was totally out of it Mika, I would not have felt a thing thankfully." I acknowledge as we are finishing our food.

"Why does that not surprise me? I know Larten has skills with mixing up herbs and making medicine, but to make a formula like that is crazy," he states. "He probably did it because he loves you, and he was doing you a favour, after all most people want a painless death, right?"

"Yes, I'd say so Mika."

The following events happened a couple of hours ago...

Larten's P.O.V

Earlier on I left the quarters which I share with Anna, and I headed towards the dungeon, I went to visit the prisoner on death row that I am due to execute tomorrow, as it is customary I visit with the individual on death row, and make my peace with them. It lets the prisoner know that in their final hours they have someone to talk with, and be counselled by, these prisoners on death row are almost never visited by anyone, they've just spent the last however many decades in a cage whilst waiting to die, and it must drive them stir crazy.

"I am here to see Lorenzo, he is soon to be executed and I wish to visit with him before the time comes," I stated to the Guard who was guarding the entrance of the dungeons. "I have ale to share."

"Open the gates." the Guard ordered. The gates lifted upwards, and I entered the dungeons, I saw before me rows of cages with prisoners inside them, some of the cages had two or three prisoners in, whilst others were solitary, and only held one prisoner.

"I thought I'd see you tonight Larten, you're here to see Lorenzo right?" the new Captain of the Guards asked.

"I am indeed. I bring ale, playing cards, and a listening ear," I replied. "Where is he?"

"He's over there in a solitary cage, he is a murderer after all," the Captain of the Guards pointed out a cage in the corner. "I'll give you a chair to sit on."

"I would appreciate that, thank you Captain." I followed him to where the cage was located, the Captain of the Guards placed the chair beside the cage, and I sat down.

"Lorenzo, you have a visitor. Larten has come to see you." the Captain of the Guards shook the cage gently and Lorenzo looked up at me.

"Really? I have a visitor? Never thought it'd happen, I haven't ever received a visitor before, and I've been here for almost half a century," Lorenzo said. "Thanks for coming, but I die tomorrow so our friendship will be a short one."

"Better short than never at all."

"That is true Larten," he agreed. "I am not in any fit shape to be seen, I apologise. We are not exactly given the chance to wash or anything."

"No matter. The Guards will allow you to clean yourself up tomorrow, and you will get clean clothing, at least they always used to do that in the olden times. Have you had your last meal yet?"

"I was not offered one Larten, I have not been fed for a week. Why waste food on dead men, right?" he looked very thin and weak, almost pitiful.

"I have brought you some ale, and a deck of cards if you are inclined to play a hand or two," I passed the hipflask of ale I had through the bars, a tankard was too wide to go through the spaces between the bars, and they would not open the cage door for anybody. "Big night tomorrow, but it will be fine."

"How do you know?" he queried. "You're not the one who is having your head cut off, I am."

"I have witnessed these new executions, they are very quick and clean, the executioner never makes a mistake either," as I was the executioner I knew this to be the case. "You will not suffer."

"I hope not, the thought of suffering during the act terrifies me more than the thought of the act itself, having it performed by a Clan member who is not up to the job, and not dying quickly enough," Lorenzo swigged some of the ale, and dealt the cards. "Do you know who the executioner is?"

"No, I do not. Only the Princes know of his identity, it is a closely guarded secret."

"I see Larten, well whoever he is I hope he'll sleep well knowing that he's taken the life of someone who deserves to die, I am guilty and I have to pay the price, although I will tell you this, I regret my actions deeply, and if I could go back in time to change them I would,"

"Most prisoners feel like that, what you feel is only natural Lorenzo, however after tomorrow you will not feel anything, and your troubled soul will find its way into the next life," I added. "I do not believe that you will go into the Lake of Souls, I think the Gods of the Vampires forgive those who are legitmately repentant, and sorry for their actions. I think there is a place in Paradise waiting for you."

"No, I do not believe so. I murdered four Clan members in cold blood because I was in league with the Vampaneze, I deserve to spend eternity wondering the Earth as a lost soul," Lorenzo stated as we played Poker. "Call."

"Full house." I showed my hand to him.

"Royal flush." he showed his hand to me.

"Well played. Very well done. I did not see it coming." I replied.

"Too bad we are not playing for money or anything, I would have just made a killing," he looked pleased with his hand even though it was worth nothing. "How much is a royal flush worth these days?"

"Depends on how high the stakes are, but usually a hundred thousand or more," I answered. "I won a fortune playing Poker in my youth."

"I heard about that Larten, you are quite the card player. Nobody wants to play you because they can't afford to," Lorenzo grinned as he took another sip from the hipflask. "I have nothing to lose, I'm a dead man breathing."

"It is true that my games are high stakes, but it makes the thrill more exciting," I replied. "When somebody wins it changes their life."

"Yes, I can imagine that it would. My life is forfeit so there's no point in changing it now, is there?" he asked. "Making me rich when I have nowhere to enjoy the benefits of it is not worth doing. I shall languish in this cage until I die."

"More ale?" I offered. "One flaskful is never enough."

"Oh yes, please," he passed his flask back through the bars, and I refilled it for him before handing it back. "Thanks."

"No problem. Do you want to play another hand of Poker or shall we play something different?" I was open to suggestions.

"Poker is fine, besides I don't know how to play any other games except for Solitaire, but that is only for one player, and not two Larten." Lorenzo dealt the next hand and I focused. My hand was shockingly bad, but I did not want him to know that fact.

We played Poker for a couple of hours, and then the ale ran out, but at least Lorenzo had enjoyed himself, I counselled him, and prayed to the Gods of the Vampires on his behalf, I asked them to admit him into Paradise, personally I did not believe in any of it, but he did, and that was what mattered, I was not there to debate the existence or non-existence of the Vampire Gods with him, I was there to make his last few hours alive worth living before I took his life from him, not that he knew I was going to be responsible for his death, and it had to stay that way...

Twenty four hours later...

The following events happened an hour ago...

Larten's P.O.V

I was in the Hall of Death preparing for the execution, I had set up the executioners' block, and the straw that Lorenzo would be kneeling on when I did the deed, there was a channel of water which constantly flowed in front of the block, this was to wash the blood away, and to add fear, vampires believed that if you died inside or around running water your soul was trapped in it forever, I did not believe it to be true, however if the Princes wanted executions to happen over running water then that is what took place. I hid the sword from view and I placed a blindfold next to the block, it was up to Lorenzo if he wished to use it or not, but most vampires didn't, it was seen as a sign of weakness if you did not see the shadow of your own death, it was the sword's shadow on the wall which was in front of the block, that was what most executed vampires saw in the moments before they died, I took the head off with a single, vampiric speed filled stroke that almost no-one saw, all they saw was a blur, and the prisoner was dead before he even knew that the sword was coming, it was the most humane way of executing an individual, and I never messed it up either, I couldn't do that, it was not in my nature to be cruel or to cause unecessary pain where there did not need to be any.

I had to change out of my usual clothing, instead I wore a black shirt and trousers with a mask which completely obscured my identity, I even wore gloves because they gave me a better grip on the sword's handle, I did want it to slip or for anything to happen which could hinder the swing when I performed the act of execution.

I absolutely loathed executing prisoners, but at least if I did it then the job would be done properly, cleanly and without any additional suffering or pain for the prisoner, it was a bit like when I claimed a new, female Clan member's purity, I took the same care with doing that as I did with these executions.

"Is everything ready?" Prince Arrow asked, he was overseeing the execution officially.

"Yes Sire, it is. every detail has been seen to, and I am prepared," I replied. "I do not like doing it, but somebody must."

"The execution is being witnessed by a small number of Generals, and myself, afterwards the body will be cremated, but there will be no service or funeral, that is a privilege we save for those who die honourably," the Vampire Prince remarked. "Murderers and traitors do not deserve any privileges."

"I would hardly call a funeral a privilege Sire, but it is not as though there will be any mourners for the prisoner either, he has no friends, assistants or allies, not a single one," I had been his only visitor in over half a century. "I could not imagine dying and having nobody to mourn my passing, faking my death was bad enough for all concerned."

"He is lucky that he will receive a clean death, that is enough of a privilege in my book," the Vampire Prince scoffed. "You are too sentimental sometimes Larten, in fact you are almost human in your ways."

"Maybe so, but I would rather that than being a cold blooded, twisted, unfeeling monster who kills at will, and without pity or remorse, for those are the traits of the Vampaneze Sire, and I am no Vampaneze," I adjusted my gloves, and made sure that my mask completely covered my face. "Let us get this over with, there is no point in delaying the execution any further."

"I agree," the Vampire Prince concluded. "Do your duty Larten."

"I will tell the Guards, and the Generals who are witnessing the execution that we are ready, I will indeed do my duty Sire, it will be done with a clean strike, and no mistakes." I guaranteed because always I did my job well.

A few minutes later the Generals who were witnessing the execution filed into the room, I saw Anna amongst them, she took her place in the witnessing box, when the Generals were in position Lorenzo was led into the room in chains, and shackles, he was led onto the platform by four Guards and placed behind the block where he stood in silence, he looked like a bag of skin, and bones.

It was customary to allow the prisoner to say a few words, and ask to be forgiven by the Prince who was presiding over the execution, Lorenzo turned to face the Generals before he spoke.

"I have come here to atone for my crimes, in life I was a scoundral, a killer and a traitor, but now with my death I shall pay my debt. I regret my actions prefusely, if I could change them I would, but alas I cannot. I am prepared and willing to accept my punishment, for I deserve nothing less than death, in fact my death is the only acceptible way to be punished for my actions, and criminal behaviour. I humbly ask to be forgiven for my crimes against the Clan from you Sire, I request that you pray for my troubled soul so that the Vampire Gods may not judge me so harshly, and I forgive the executioner for taking my life, I hold no grudge against you, and nor will I either in this life or the next, you are after all only doing your duty which is what we all must do. Now I shall position myself in preparation for death, may it be quick and clean by the grace of the Vampire Gods," Lorenzo declared, he then knelt down, and placed his head on the block ready for me to strike.

"To the Gods of the Vampires I send my troubled soul, oh Vampire Gods please accept and receive my soul into Paradise." he ignored the blindfold, and looked at the wall, this was my signal to strike, before he knew what was happening I swung the sword cleanly through his neck, and it was done, he had died instantly without any pain or fear, it was a good death as executions went.

Afterwards some Guardians of the Blood came, and collected his body, they took it away to be cremated. I had done all I could to make the death of Lorenzo free from suffering, and additional stress, I also did as he requested, and said additional vampiric prayers after he had died on his behalf, just in case the Vampire Gods were indeed real, and watching us I wanted to give them a good account of myself...

Anna's P.O.V

The following events happened an hour ago...

I went to Lorenzo's execution as a witness, at every execution there were a few Generals who witnessed it, and I had been selected at random to witness his, although I was there to see Lorenzo die I was also there to emotionally support Larten from a distance, I knew how much he struggled with being the executioner, but he had done a marvellous job of it, and Lorenzo did not suffer at all which was a relief to see, after all when executions went wrong they were abominations to watch.

After it was all done, and everything had either been cleared away or cleaned up I spoke with Larten in the back room, it was off to the right hand side of the Hall of Death, traditionally it was where the sword was kept, and where the executioner prepared himself to do his task, it was where Larten had gotten changed back into his regular clothing, and packed the other stuff away in a bag ready for laundering.

"You did a good job tonight, Lorenzo is at peace now," I said. "I am sure that the Vampire Gods will not punish him too harshly."

"Do you seriously believe in them? Larten asked, surprised.

"I do, yes. It was the only thing which got me through the two years when we were apart, I knew you were watching over me from Paradise, or I believed you were before I found out that you'd never actually died," I admitted. "I'd like to think that there is a place beyond the stars where the souls of vampires go when they die, especially if they've lived a good, honourable life like we have done, and are doing."

"I am skeptical, but I do believe in the Gods of the Vampires to an extent, and I also believe that Paradise is a place for us to rest in peace for eternity, I think Arra is there, and she waits for me to rejoin her, Gavner is waiting too," Larten replied. "I am not a follower of Vampirism as a religion in its own right, I just respect the combined beliefs of our Clan as a whole."

"I understand that Larten, I'm going to take the wolves out for a run, and then I'm heading to the hot springs so I can wash myself, and decompress, I just witnessed a Clan member die, it is still a hard thing to watch depite how fast, and clean it was," I stated. "I hope I will not have to witness too many more executions."

"I will join you, I think I need to soak in the hot springs, and relax too. I just took a life, and that has had an impact on me, I did my duty, but I loathed doing it," he looked very affected by the whole scenario. "Despite what Prince Arrow says I will go to the cremation, I feel as though I should, especially after what Lorenzo said about me in his final statement, if I do not go then I will not feel at peace with the whole thing."

"Yes, I agree Larten. It would be good for you, and you are right, after all Lorenzo did not have to forgive you or anything, but he did, he wanted it on record that he forgave you, and that is important, the least you can do for his soul now is to attend the cremation, and scatter his ashes, murderer or not he should be put to rest properly."

"I think so too, it would help me come to terms with the whole thing, you know as well as I do that I am no cold hearted killer, and executing Clan members on death row is my least favourite role, but I would rather see a good, clean job done than having it messed up or botched," he had a point. "I saw an execution botched once. It was horrific to say the least."