"Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the universe, or we are not. Both are equally terrifying."
Arthur C. Clark
The whispers escalated and grew in volume and excitement as the guests had congregated. They had moved from the well-lit, elegant Victorian salon through the maze of corridors and into a hall more ancient than Gothic. She could see hints of Byzantine and Romanesque in the style of architecture- but they felt not so much as influenced by those very styles but something which may have influenced those styles instead. It was that ancient, she marvelled.
When they had arrived, after the situation had been explained to them and they met with the other witnesses she had seen during the confrontation on New Year's Eve, Tanya and her family had been given a tour of almost the entire fortress and city complex. It had had seemed like a journey through time, from a pre-historic past which pre-dated writing, to the future in the space age, simply going through all the corridors, halls and rooms around this place. Eleazar had agreed, his eyes wide and eager, drinking in those details, as their coven beheld everything in awe. If only Sasha and Irina are here to see this. They would've loved to see it. While some like the elegant Victorian salon and parlours seemed closer to to their age, others seemed more ancient the further you went into the older parts of the castle. Yet others still looked so modern they were even futuristic. The vampires had eagerly taken modern technology and advanced it to even beyond what humans- the non-magical kind- were capable of. She remembered seeing with astonishment the plexiglass mirror in the awaiting chamber and the control panels operated by the Death Dealers watching over the crypt. They had taken magic from these witches and wizards too and somehow blended them. Their family had been entertained, along with the various other covens of their species, by members of different species to interact and play the parts of hosts and guests. Only had they been interrogated and questioned by the few Death Dealers, including an enviably striking brunette named Selene in a very sexy black leather catsuit.
Castle Corvinus was beyond ancient, built into what humans would consider to be the wrong side of the mountain, as it shielded vampires from sunlight. Most unique and interesting to know was the revelation that this had been the birthplace of vampire-kind. Markus, the first vampire, had been transformed somewhere in these mountains and had sheltered here while searching for his twin brother, the one who became the world's first werewolf. He had later brought his sorceress wife, here to be transformed. Every vampire in the world, no matter the species and how distant the generations and millennia were to the progenitors, carried a piece of the couple's DNA, enabling their species, later evolved, to tap into magical abilities within their own DNA, according to the Vila scientist who was also a witch. For the first two vampires and their species, it had given them powers of unprecedented belief.
The very castle fortress had been carved into the mountains using magic and pre-modern engineering. They had expanded inwards into the mountain, down into its very depths, outwards building on its surface, and upwards constructing towers, all from the original cave. The structures not within the actual mountain like the gatehouse, the walls and the towers, were later additions, but they still kept on building even today. New features in the most recently-emerged styles, rooms, halls, corridors and so forth, had been added, made quicker by the use of magic.
"This is the place." Their guide showed them.
They stopped before the narrow gap.
"It's a sacred place for all vampires, so everything is guarded solely by magic. The technology we developed from what was initially the mundane humans' - we just passed that a few miles ago," she explained. "Everything here is unspeakably ancient, and maybe without magic, nature would have altered this cave, but it's been kept and preserved the way it was over six thousand years ago."
Garrett whistled, awed despite himself.
"Can we go in?" Tanya asked, eagerly. Their guide, named Luka, stepped aside to allow Tanya to bend through the crack. It wasn't easy. She pulled back so she could turn around and look sceptically at the lady. "How do you even manage to fit in?"
Luka looked both amused and sheepish. "I apologise, I hadn't known that none of your species can fit yourselves through." Before Tanya could blink at that statement, Luka's body seemingly dissolved, like it had been projected out of light, absorbing itself into the crack in the natural stone wall of the cavern.
"Just a moment," they heard her call back.
Then the walls started to shift. Tanya swallowed a hiss of fright as they seemingly parted, the crack widening into a doorway wide enough for them to step through.
"Please, mind your step," Luka called.
Gingerly, Tanya was the first to go. Eleazar followed, as did Kate and Carmen, Garrett bringing up the rear.
It was dark, and maybe the fortress, as fascinating as it was, held areas that were considered gloomy by human standards, but for vampires even those were well-lit. That wasn't to say that there were no open areas and well-illuminated rooms, like the Victorian salon.
It was just that this place seemed to be best-suited for vampires, it seemed to call to them. The very different styles of the various sections never seemed to match one another, yet called to them all the same. It felt like home, singing to the very venom and the depths of their DNA. Not just because the different styles reflected and matched the various eras each vampire came from, but because it seemed to take them, everything about them, their biology, their psychology, their powers and instincts, into consideration. Their strengths and weaknesses. Everything. For every vampire of every species, no less.
Kate and Carmen asked if the other covens were like this. It had been a shock to them to discover that to older species like theirs, a coven wasn't a family unit, or a group of vampires. It was a community, large enough to be a city.
When they reached an open doorway, Tanya stepped forwards to see the cave where it had all began.
It was smaller than she had imagined. Barely the size of a peasant hovel or a shack in the middle ages. But it wasn't cramped. Still, it looked like any other cave, it must have been a barely-visible crack on the face of the mountainside.
"The bats are gone, in case you're wondering," Luka said. "Was he bitten by a bat?" Kate was confused. "I heard that was the story. But we also heard about a hundred different versions of how this happened."
Luka shrugged. "Some claim that at one point, the brothers Markus and William- though we also have to keep in mind that while they are called these now, those were not their original names- were riding through the Carpathians when a wolf attacked them. William killed it, but not before it bit him on the wrist. The wound became infected. Nowadays, we believe that the rabies virus reacted to the Corvinus strain which he had inherited from his father, Alexander, the first of the immortals. Again, that wasn't his real name, but the actual names of the family, with the exception of Lady Laima, have been lost to time."
"They never told anyone their names?" Garrett raised an eyebrow. Luka looked thoughtful as she frowned, shaking her head.
"Not that I am aware of. In any case..." she sighed. "It happened so long ago, and they've gone by Markus and Alexander for even longer. And William too, though that name was not chosen by himself."
"William, as he is now known, became feverish. Before the eyes of his brother who desperately fought to save his life, he transformed into a giant wolf-like being. Part man-like, standing on two legs, but huge and hulking. His skin grew fur and his features grew more lupine. Then he snarled and broke free, running into the night with only the full moon illuminating his path.
Tanya could envision it, same as the others, including Luka whose eyes were so far away.
"Markus rushed after his brother until he saw William's rampage. The sounds of a nearby settlement being ravaged. Humans screaming as this giant wolf-like monster ravaged them. Werewolves are carnivorous- and uncontrollable. William raged and destroyed the entire place, snapping aside desperate men with weapons like they were twigs, tossing children into the air, throwing them aside and crushing them or ripping them in half with his fangs, before silencing their screaming mothers and gorging himself upon their remains." She shuddered. Carmen looked sickened, as did Eleazar, who may have seen a Child of the Moon at one point, a true one. He could very well imagine it, but this William, if all the facts given by the Vila-witch scientist were any indication, might be more powerful than any of them, just as Markus was believed to be for all vampires.
"But unlike the werewolves we know of later generations and species, William could not transform back into a man." Luka explained. Eleazar, Carmen, Kate and Garrett's head snapped towards her in shock. "His carnage could not be ended. He could not be stopped. Could not be contained. While the full moon seemed to make him even more powerful, it was the same for every night and day. He raged and he hungered for human flesh and for destruction. Everyone he bit or scratched, even a mild wound, was immediately infected. But the virus was so powerful, so invasive and prevalent, that it didn't stop there. According to those who have seen the carnage first-hand, including Markus, even the corpses of those who were killed by him, but were not consumed and eaten entirely, were re-animated." Eleazar's eyes widened and someone gasped. Tanya didn't know whether it was her, Carmen or Kate.
"It was a dark and terrible time. Even worse, according to the Lady Laima, the non-magical humans had already began feeling and acting hostile towards those with magical ability, due to envy, resentment, greed and paranoia. So her people segregated themselves from the mundane humans. However, William's rampage made things worse. While Markus tracked his brother, a few of the mundane humans pointed fingers towards the witches and wizards, and soon it grew into an outcry. Although the war between magical and non-magical have yet to reach its peak- a war largely forgotten and erased by history, even those who are aware of the existence of magic- the effects of William's rampage, increasingly horrific and devastating, proved to be fuel for the fire towards not only them, but all manner of supernatural creatures. While Markus searched for his brother, hoping desperately to halt his destruction, his wife and her people hid themselves. Yet Markus, upon tracking him back through these same mountains, at one point came close to death when he attempted to stop some humans from killing his brother. While William managed to escape, Markus was attacked since he had tried to stop them. Most of the party he had brought with him were dead, and he was separated and alone from anyone who would not prove hostile. He started to track William up through these mountains, although he had gone a distance away from here, Markus thought to get a better vantage point."
Luka paused in her story as she gazed around this cave. This very same cave where... it had all started.
"He thought to take shelter for the night, especially since there was a storm. But the storm disturbed the bats up ahead and at least one, or two, flew down. He was scratched or bitten, but he thought nothing of it. He decided to get some rest before commencing on the morrow.
"Only he could not rest. There was something very wrong happening to him, something unnatural. In horror, Markus belatedly remembered his brother being bitten before transforming and realised that the same thing was now happening to him. Only, instead of a wolf, they were bats.
"The agony was intense, as was the horror and grief, the fear that he would become a mindless beast, endangering all, including those he knew and loved. He often claimed that he prayed to whoever would answer, that he would see his wife again, and that he would returned as promised if he did not die, but without harming her as he feared.
"When the pain stopped, something had changed. He was different. The night was as bright as the day in his eyes. He was different; he was changed."
"The first ever vampire," Eleazar breathed. Everyone's eyes were far away and distant, awed in the cases of their family, while Luka seemed... melancholy.
Was she a human? Tanya wondered, instead of a pure-born like that vampire-prince? Was she turned recently? She knew what Luka must be thinking of: it jolted any feelings of awe and morbid fascination upon hearing that story and she remembered her own transformation. In Tanya's case, she had Sasha there to guide and restrain her whenever she threatened to go wild. But in Markus'...
There had been no one. And he did not have the slightest clue of what had happened to him.
Nor, did Tanya suspect with an awful, sinking feeling, and a strong measure of pity, could he have restrained himself from feeding from humans, unless they were less inclined to be like sharks around human scent.
"Meanwhile, as Markus searched for his brother, his wife's mother, a powerful sorceress of unequaled power, had disappeared. The mages needed a successor, but war had spilled into their community as well. The mages were being attacked by the mundane humans. They were outnumbered, despite their magic and wisdom, and as such there were many deaths. The mages, enraged at the unprovoked attack, retaliated using magic. Plagues, blood-curses, violent deaths all to continue the ongoing cycle of revenge. During one such attack which nearly left the Lady dead, Markus spirited her away..." Luka's eyes were distant.
"He brought her to this cave. Her injuries were extensive and she was almost dead, so he transformed her in order to save her life."
"But she was a witch, yes," Carmen breathed, spellbound as the rest of them. "Drinking her blood..."
"Yes," Luka agreed. "And he had been feeding her doses of his blood before either of them transformed, for fear of losing her the way his father had lost his beloved wife. In truth, mages are long-lived compared to mundane mortals, yet they were not immortal. We still do not know whether that method had succeeded in turning her immortal before she transformed, but drinking each other's blood changed Markus and gave him powers by the likes of which he had never imagined, as well as a link or a bond between them by the likes of which no one had ever imagined.
"And it had all started in this very cave."
Silence permeated the rest of the family. It a was a while before any of them spoke.
Eleazar finally spoke. "What a perilous time to be alive." He said quietly. "No mortal would have had a clue what was happening to them."
"They said Markus was already immortal by the time he changed," his wife reminded him.
"Still," Eleazar mused. "He must have had no idea of what was happening to him so long ago, when there was no one who came before him."
"No," Luka said quietly. "He didn't." She sighed. "But she stayed with him all the same. Even before he transformed her, she was aware of what he was, or at least she had witnessed it, even if she had never seen anything like him before. She did not fear or hate him. Love was too strong to be extinguished. It must have been, to have endured centuries within that tower."
They all gave Luka bewildered glances. "She's been in that tower for centuries?" Kate sounded disbelieving. "All this time?" They stared at Luka.
Luka winced. "It was all to maintain the balance of power between the three High Elders." She explained patiently. "Even before the Chain began, there were fears that she and Markus would create a dynasty, set themselves as the rulers of all."
"Well then, why didn't they?" Garrett was puzzled. It was precisely the sort of thing Aro had done, and the Romanians before him.
"They could have, they would have enough support. I always wondered why they didn't, why the Lady always took a step back when she could have been a queen in name and deed, as well as in spirit." Luka confessed. "But her gift of foresight was too powerful. I suspect even then there would have been immediate consequences, even before she saw the English Civil War, the American and French revolutions, and then the Russian one, and the various overthrow of so many a monarchy. Besides, she has never sought power." Luka shrugged. "Markus had transformed Viktor and Amelia in order to gain support to stop his brother, William. The army they had both changed and the power and support they had acquired were considerable but not enough." She sighed.
"When the High Elders decided to divide eternity between the three of them, this was done to prevent any civil wars amongst our kind," Luka explained "even while considering that there was still only one species during this time. Furthermore, the blood of the two progenitors and their venom too... the ones they transformed directly were stronger, more powerful than those transformed by the others." She shook her head. "Therefore, most of the ones doing the transforming were at least the ones who had been bitten by either of the Progenitors, the other two High Elders or those leaders who answered to them, the lesser Elders who ran the various covens like this one." This statement took the Denali family aback when they absorbed this new information: more vampire cities or settlements like this one... how many were there?
But before Tanya or the others could ask, Luka continued. "Yet despite the official triumvirate between the High Elders Viktor, Markus and Amelia, there were still threats of chaos, uprisings and conflict between the supporters of the three High Elders; for example a large majority tended to support and revere Lord Markus as our creator, along with his wife, and they had great political and military success- not to mention, the lady progenitor's powers have saved and aided them many a time, particularly Lord Markus in his rise to power over the centuries and millennia. Yet there was also considerable support for Viktor and Amelia respectively, and they felt threatened by this. Not to mention, Lord Markus and Lady Laima had already agreed to a triumvirate between the three, and Lady Laima herself did not seek power. Furthermore, the High Elders had already fought for many centuries alongside each other, and it took the combined efforts of the three of them and their forces to bring William Corvinus down alongside his creations who were ravaging the continent."
"Whatever happened to him?" Garrett wondered. "Where is he now?" Even though the werewolves were endangered, they weren't extinct, and judging by how they were all affected by Lady Laima's momentary burn during the Volturi's trial, Garrett and the others suspected that if William the first werewolf and brother of Markus the first vampire had been killed they all surely would have gone extinct. Right?
Luka shrugged. "I do not know. But I know he must still be alive... imprisoned somewhere, where he cannot be found nor ever released."
A sickening silence descended upon the cave. Eleazar and Carmen shot the sisters and Garrett uneasy looks.
"Great." Garrett mumbled.
"In any case, that was why they agreed to the Chain. However, despite choosing not to take a leading role, Lady Laima was still important and very much revered. Her power and the reverence and awe those of our kind had for her was a cause for concern, particularly for Lord Viktor." Luka sighed. "She might not have sought power, but the reverence and worship or near-worship others had for her could potentially threaten the balance of power, tipping it further towards Lord Markus."
"And let me guess, the other two weren't easy about that?" Garrett asked, dryly. Luka shook her head. "Not in the slightest. So the agreement was that whenever Markus had gone under the earth, and it was either Viktor and Amelia's turns to reign, she would remain in that tower. That way, peace was assured and no harm could be done to her. As while Markus remained safe under the earth, his DNA and those of his wife's were still so powerful they no longer turned anyone themselves directly, except in the most extreme of circumstances." Luka sighed.
"It was not long, before the Chain was established in fact, when that witch Esther, mother of the Mikaelson offspring, stole some of Lady Laima's blood to transform her children, her husband and herself into a new breed of vampires. After that, there had been widespread panic. Lord Viktor wanted to exterminate them and their ilk, but the lady progenitor pleaded to give them a chance at the very least. The Mikaelson siblings were fleeing from their tyrannical father Mikael, and both Lady Amelia and Lord Markus were curious and felt that it would be injustice to destroy them for something they could not control and promised them sanctuary from their hated father in exchange for them complying with their will. Lord Viktor then wanted to bring them directly under his command, but this was after the second stage of the vampire-lycan war and there wasn't much support for that. The Lady Progenitor warned him that if he tried to rein in the Mikaelsons and the new species of vampires they had created, this would only be the beginning of countless wars and uprisings aplenty, including outright civil war within the vampires which the High Elders would themselves be powerless to stop. And the fact that Lady Laima had warned against the creation of these new werewolves, these lycans and that Lord Viktor had ignored her advice and went through with his plans, only for it to cause such chaos... No one wished to question or ignore the Lady Progenitor after this. And Lord Viktor's credibility had been... questioned as such." Luka admitted. "Few were willing to go blindly along with his decisions, at least during that point in time, unless they were his supporters. The Vampire Confederation and the High Council was Lady Laima's idea, although Lord Viktor has never forgiven the fact that she ensured that every species would be considered equals and that neither he nor even Markus and Amelia would ever rule the others."
Garrett couldn't suppress a smirk. This Viktor sounded too much like Caius. He admitted that his respect for the Vampire Queen had only risen.
It was anathema to Garrett to have any respect for a monarch or their family, considering his background. But unlike the others, she had earned it. And it seemed that she ensured everyone was treated fairly. He could respect that. And sticking it to the Volturi or anyone like them never hurt him, either. But there was something that bothered him.
"Was that the only reason that Viktor got discredited?" He questioned. "I highly doubt that it was just that. I don't know how much different things are between you and them, but many human monarchs lose wars but not always a great deal of credit and public support. Did something else happen? Something worse?" Luka cast a glance back from where they had come from, in case anyone could be listening. Her voice lowered when she answered him.
"The lycans used to be slaves, you see. We kept kennels of William's creations to see whether they could be cured or exterminated in other ways, a shameful truth, but one day they heard the cries of a newborn babe within these kennels. No pure-born vampire, certainly, for no child of ours were permitted to go down there." Tanya forcibly extinguished the jealousy she had at the mention of babies being born to them. "And no human child either. But one of the female werewolves, ones that cannot change back, had given birth to a human-looking infant."
Carmen gasped. Tanya as well. Kate and Garrett's eyes had widened, and Eleazar looked both disbelieving and sceptical. "It's true." Luka nodded. "The three Elders and Lady Laima went down to see for themselves. There was a female werewolf, issuing a warning growl with her hackles raised, crouching above the infant like a mother defending her young. There was a placenta too, an afterbirth as we called it then. She snarled and looked ready to attack in case the vampires threatened her son, and Lord Viktor would have killed her had the Lady Progenitor not stayed his arm and calmed the she-wolf using her magic. She then either saw into the werewolf's mind or used her gift of Sight to peer into the past and discovered that the woman- before she was bitten by one of William's ilk- had already conceived the babe."
Eleazar's eyes widened, and Tanya and the others felt their breaths hitch in their throats. "I see." Eleazar murmured. Luka nodded grimly.
"Lord Markus felt... extreme guilt and pain when his wife revealed the baby's origins. It was hard for anyone not to feel pity, according to those who had witnessed the scene and heard Lady Laima's tale." Luka admitted. "She was simply a human woman, a peasant living as a farmer who became a new bride filled with hope for the life ahead of them when the werewolves attacked. It was the same for many of us, no matter how rarely we thought about our human past back then. The few pure-borns we had were still children back then, not grown to maturity. The babe looked like any other newborn, even though his skin had been licked clean by his mother's wolfen tongue. Lord Viktor considered exterminating the creature there and then, but there were those among us who were reluctant. Lord Markus, for one, felt responsible, even though he was not to blame for the woman and her baby's plight and the life they were born into. Yet William Corvinus was his brother and the two had been together when that wolf attacked. Lord Markus felt the heavy weight of regret as he had not been able to prevent his brother's plight and the destruction it had caused. Lord Viktor then decided not to kill the infant and allowed him to live. The boy was named Lucian. He became the first of his kind, the first werewolf or lycanthrope, also known as lycans, to largely remain in human form, although the full moon forced him to transform into a wolf." Luka finished.
"Why is that?" Eleazar wondered. Luka shrugged. "I am not a scientist, including a magical one. Maybe the Vila-witch Gabrielle Delacour might have an explanation."
Something niggled at the back of Tanya's head: a suspicion. "If Lucian was born in the kennels," she felt a strong surge of pity for the pregnant woman and her baby, "why were there so many werewolves- the ones that do transform during the full moon, centuries before? I mean, they're mostly eradicated now, but..."
Luka winced. "Although the Lady Amelia treated him fairly and Lord Markus and Lady Laima took the boy aside and treated him better, overseeing his upbringing, Lord Viktor... he had ideas. Back then, vampires had not yet developed defences as to how to prevent burning into a crisp in sunlight and although William had been captured, there was still many of his creations that threatened us and the humans on our lands. Viktor's idea was to create guard dogs. Daylight guardians or..." Luka sighed. She gave them a look. "Slaves."
Ah, Tanya thought. That would not have been out of character back then. Least of all not if this Viktor sounded much like Caius. Or Aro.
"It was a shameful thing," Luka confessed. "Viktor saw and tested Lucian's prowess, overseeing his training. He and his wife the Lady Ilona had conceived one of the first pure-born vampires in the history of our species: Sonja. He wanted Lucian to protect and guard his daughter. Perhaps if he permitted, the boy would be his daughter's pet or plaything." Luka winced, as did the rest of them. Carmen looked horrified and pitying. Garrett was appalled. Tanya, Kate and Eleazar were disturbed. Even though werewolves, the Children of the Moon, had been their enemies since time immemorial, and they themselves came from different eras where similar things had happened, even among humans, they couldn't help but feel horrified and disgusted at this approach on behalf of the werewolf child.
"And suddenly, he made the decision that Lucian would be able to infect others to become like him. They would have daylight guardians and guard dogs, or slaves to watch over them." Luka looked ashamed. Tanya very well understood.
"When Lady Laima had discovered this, it was too late. Lord Markus and Lady Amelia was under the earth and Lord Viktor had begun the Chain. He had Lucian kept aside, not fed in hours leading to the full moon and when he transformed, Lord Viktor ordered any restraints on Lucian to be freed, including the silver collar he wore to keep from transforming."
Garrett blinked and the rest of them looked at one another. The Children of the Moon they knew or had heard of were not harmed by silver. Did they evolve to develop a natural defence against that, the same as the vampires, particularly their species, had against sunlight? Were they a different species that evolved from Lucian's and William's original two species?
"Despite the Lady Progenitor's protests, Lord Viktor continued this. None of the High Elders, it had been decreed, could undo and reverse the orders and edicts of the others, so even when Markus and Amelia rose from the earth to reign, it was already too late. There was a class of slave workers and soldiers, werewolves now known as lycans. Although the other two High Elders listened to the Lady Progenitor's warnings, Viktor was most... insistent."
"I can imagine." Eleazar mumbled. Garrett agreed.
And then Lucian escaped, one day during Viktor's reign. Lady Ilona had died a few years before, and the Lady Sonja, Viktor's only child, disappeared." Luka said gravely. "No one knew what happened to her. But this was the start of the second stage of the war between vampires and werewolves."
"A war which then spilled onto our species." Eleazar pointed. Luka agreed. "Along with all the others." She stated. "They have long since learned to attack vampires and the rest of our kind, them."
"Caius was almost killed by a werewolf," Garrett remarked. "That's what I heard."
"So this was why the High Elder Viktor lost some... credibility?" Eleazar questioned. Luka winced. "Yes. He tried to cover this up in our histories and prevent this from being recorded within the Book of Erebus, our great and ancient Book of Secrets, history and magical power."
"But it didn't work, did it?" Garrett snorted. "His propaganda?" Luka shook her head. "At first no one said a thing and the scribes and historians did as he told, or rather they were already at work before he could officially issue the decree to change the official records. So he thought nothing of it, believing that the scribes already had the idea to please him." Garrett smirked. Tanya recognised the scheme. She wondered if the Vampire Queen had been behind it. "But after he was buried and Lady Amelia Awakened, Lady Laima informed first Lady Amelia and then Lord Markus of the truth. Amelia and Markus prevented our historians and scribes from erasing or twisting the truth and from suffering any reprisals or punishments from Viktor and his supporters. As it was already instilled into coven law that no High Elder can reverse or block another High Elder's decrees and edicts and Lord Viktor had not thought to issue orders otherwise, well this was not a moment he remembers fondly, even without his grief."
"How did his daughter just disappear?" Carmen questioned. "I highly doubt someone of such importance..." she trailed off. This Sonja must have been the the vampire equivalent of a princess
When Luka spoke her voice was so soft that only vampires could hear in her near-vicinity. "No one knows." She confessed. "Even to this day. But Lady Laima, although untouchable, has remained in her tower. Lord Viktor cannot move against her, even without Lord Markus, especially due to her Sight, other powers and influence. Yet to prevent conflict, and because of what happened to the Mikaelsons and how they were created and the fact that their species and family were not only permitted to continue existing but were considered equals within the High Council and Confederation, which was established on her advice, Lady Laima agreed to imprisonment, although no one can prevent her from being released once her husband has risen from the earth to reign, even though she returns to imprisonment once Viktor's time comes."
"Wow." Kate said flatly. "What a jerk." Carmen and Eleazar both hissed at her in alarm and warning, and Luka looked ready to faint in shock. "What? You know it's true! It wasn't even her fault, he created a new breed of werewolves to become his slaves and they escaped and started a war, despite her warning him not to. And he tried to erase history, but she prevents that and in turn gets locked up in a tower for every two centuries for millennia?" She snorted.
Tanya couldn't help but agree, and Garrett without a trace of a doubt, agreed wholeheartedly. "Regardless, it is still rude." Luka nodded. "Lord Viktor is an extremely dangerous enemy to make, far more dangerous and deadly than your Caius and Aro," she warned fearfully "I cannot state that enough. Even as a human, he had a reputation... No one has survived him once they crossed his wrath. With the one exception of the Lady Progenitor, for even he does not dare. Although he will not be Awakened for another century, he still has many supporters, fanatically loyal and dangerous." She shuddered. "Please."
"Besides," Carmen interjected. "We're guests." Eleazar agreed. "It would be... untoward and disrespectful, at least while we are here." Luka nodded fervently, pleadingly. It was clear that this Viktor and his followers had instilled fear within her- along with everyone else within this coven. Whenever they questioned these vampires on the nature of their society and the three High Elders, the tales that they'd heard were... chilling to say the least. This Viktor could be very terrifying, even to vampires. The stories about him, often from first-hand sources, made Caius look like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum and breaking toys.
Actually, it was Aro who, upon seeing the Quileute Wolves, wanted guard dogs. This Viktor sounded like Aro and Caius both magnified.
Tanya felt a bit of regret that the two former leaders would soon be facing the swift mercy of justice, as opposed to being led in potential conflict with this Viktor, should they wait another century. She only hoped that these vampires had medieval executions lined up in store for the both of them.
They proceeded around the place. Guests had suites of rooms in the various wings and other towers, although Lady Laima had an entire tower dedicated personally to her. Personally, Tanya thought that was a luxury she personally could do without. She didn't know how Sulpicia and Athenodora managed it for all these centuries. If it were her or her sisters, she would go wild. As it so happened, she didn't know how Eleazar managed it before meeting and falling in love with Carmen.
There were not only tunnels but entire caverns carved by magic, nature and engineering from all ages underground. Entire halls and chambers which took their breaths away within the fortress above. There were rooms, the most ancient, that looked the most foreboding and gloomy, yet magnificent. Yet the further one goes, especially outwards from the oldest sections of the castle, and downwards, the more wonderous things they saw. One ballroom, set aside for special occasions and gatherings (so long as they were booked) was inlaid with rare blue obsidian and magical mirrors with stars continuously throughout, framed with gold and with floating crystal chandeliers. Tanya and her family were shown entire chambers and halls inlaid and encrusted with real gemstones, both precious and semi-precious, crystal and glass, gold and silver. Some had Baroque and Rococo influences but were entirely unique, combining what she had seen in human palaces or mundane royals with the magical and unearthly. It was like being in a jewellery box or a treasure chest. Their guide Luka led them safely through a labyrinth full of magical and dangerous booby traps, curses and wards, protecting rooms of different shapes closer to the inside, carpeted with rich and lush Persian rugs, with oriental and medieval cushions strewn about the floors., glittering with the light of hundreds of candles in floating candelabras, or crystal chandeliers filled with magic light. Mosaics made of precious gems (even on the floors!), ceilings panelled with precious woods like cedar and citron, walls of silver, amber, and crystal tiled in fantastic shapes, embossed or etched in geometric patterns, glass windows and skylights opening to breathtaking open areas, which reminded her of the promenade in Caesar's Palace. There were frescoes and murals as well as paintings in the open hall-like walkways which look like they had been constructed around the Renaissance as well as the Baroque and Rococo eras. And then Luka showed them underground to see a cavern.
Everyone had gasped upon seeing it, they couldn't help themselves. All the buildings were upside down like stalactites, made in a completely futuristic style with details that had Gothic influences. The buildings in this section of the city were constructed out of some crystalline substance which glittered and sparkled and were seemingly transparent or translucent. It felt like seeing a closeup of a snowflake- or being inside of one. It was connected to the outer fortress via tunnels (that could act as slides) and elevators, as well as what looked like a palace similar in shape to a Gothic cathedral that hung upside down. There were artificial pools, ponds and streams illuminated and filled with magical fish as well as natural underground lakes, even and indoor or underground gardens filled with magical plants that were bioluminescent and glowed in the dark in all colours, shapes and textures. Subterranean trees that looked both natural and magical and took their breaths away, many of them glowing in the dark. While they could recognise some trees, like white birch, poplar and sycamore, they looked magically altered or enhanced, and some were entirely alien to the family. There were mosaic-like arrangements of multi-coloured and luminous mushrooms, and even arrangements of jewels and crystals. Some mirrors and crystals dangled, hanging from trees. Others hung with fruit. All this was connected to open areas like parks and nature reserves of the above-ground, including entire hills made of gold, silver and gems.
Tanya felt as if she and her family had stepped into wonderland. She saw evidence of both magic and technology, sometimes both combined which was unexpected, but not as weird as it sounded. Oranges hung on trees only to burst open and allow flocks of birds to fly past.
She wished with all her heart that Irina and Sasha were here to see this.
Tonight there was an air of celebration, due to the once-a-century Awakening, and the once-in-every-three-centuries fact that it was Markus, the first vampire, who had been Awoken. As the family breezed through the city, Tanya could very well understand why they wanted to be a part of this world, to have something like this, even for their species, something of their own. To be safe, without being forced to feed on unsavoury animal blood or trying to pose as humans, or trying to lure people for food who would not be discovered or searched for, and painstakingly dispose of their bodies hoping against all hope, and the ongoing march of human advancement, including in technology, while moving from place to place, trying to remain undiscovered and hoping that the trail of bodies and mortal surveillance would not lead human security forces to their doorstep. And while they might have otherwise paid the price of safety, peace and comfort with their freedom, the Vampire High Council ensured that every member-species would be treated as equals- largely because Lady Laima, a founding member, had made it so and somehow negotiated with it while forcing Viktor to accept the terms. Even Amelia had been wary and reluctant, admitted Luka, not certain if this would encourage other vampires of their own species to rise against their authority.
But that had never happened, the Vampire Queen had made sure of that, by ensuring that every term and agreement was fair for everyone, including the first species. After hearing the story from Luka, Tanya had felt relieved that at least they were honest about the nature and potential threat of Viktor, especially if he tried to bring their species to heel, and either exterminate or force them to live under his thumb, as well as the true origins of the vampire-werewolf conflict. And she decided that Lady Laima seemed honourable and fair, even if Viktor wasn't. She was sure that even if Markus, the first vampire, wasn't, then he was at least wise enough to listen to his wife, same as the High Elder Amelia.
Tanya, Kate, Garrett, Carmen and Eleazar did wonder how Viktor had been forced to agree with the terms of the Vampire High Council and the Confederation. If only we could speak to Carlisle and the other people we know, hear what they think about all of this, including this Viktor and the secret history of our kind!
Tanya had observed the Awakening Ceremony, and now she stood in the Great Hall, one of the darker and more gloomy and most ancient parts of the fortress, closer to the surface. But it didn't seem so bad tonight: beeswax candles glowed from hanging copper lamps, casting flickering shadows on the rich tapestries adorning the walls with thread-of-gold, in incredible detail like in Hampton Court and other Medieval or Renaissance palaces and castles, only more vibrant and well-preserved by magic. A roaring fire blazed within the hearth. Colored tiles, bearing what she had been told was the Corvinus coat of arms, decorated the floor.
This was Markus' Great Hall, where he would greet the coven and the representatives of other covens along with dignitaries and emissaries from the other species, wizards and other peoples whom vampires had at least cordial diplomatic relationships with. The other High Elders had their own specially-assigned halls. Tanya spotted 'goblins' strange and twisted as they were, among other creatures. But mostly, this was dominated by vampires chattering excitedly amongst themselves.
"He'll have recovered by now," Luka said wistfully. She was a lovely, willowy blonde, taller than Erika.
"He recovers quicker than the other High Elders... could this be due to himself or the Lady Progenitor?" Erika asked.
Luka shrugged. "I can't say." Fortunately, at that moment, the richly embossed doors opened and someone strode through with noticeable charisma and authority, one which completely hushed the crowd. They parted like the Red Sea to allow the party in.
Tanya spotted Lady Laima, but the one who commanded the most respect, by his bearing and poise, was a tall man with red hair that bore a coppery sheen. Blue eyes seemed to pierce into everyone's souls, and his skin was fair. His face was striking, even by vampire standards, while the charisma, authority and power he radiated was awe-inspiring.
Many vampires bowed and curtsied before Markus, but he gestured at them to rise. Lady Laima was beside him. Her eyes shining, no doubt because she was finally reunited with her husband after two centuries, and from the fact that she was free from that tower she had been forced to agree to be imprisoned in.
Markus greeted many individuals while making his way towards the end of the hall. Many of them were hushed and awed, yet many seemed to press closer, Tanya observed. He acted not so much like a god or a medieval monarch, high and confident in his standing as well as aloof from the crowd, but seemed to be polite, at the very least. Involved and welcoming. A dark-haired, distinguished-looking politician was standing next to Markus and addressed him.
"My lord, the newly-turned members of our species, some have grown out of the fledgling phase of course. But these are the new additions to the coven in the centuries during which you have been interred." He gestured to a group of people.
Some of them hid their nerves, Tanya observed. Or tried to in any rate. She couldn't blame them. They tried to conduct themselves with poise, but it was obvious that they were nervous and tried to make a good impression.
"This is Katya," the official gestured. The dark-haired girl bowed her head. "Turned last century during the Russian Revolution."
Markus' gaze turned pitying. "Katya." He said. His voice was as charismatic as he was. "Amelia remembered your turning and gave her permission along with that of your brother, Dmitri." He looked to the blond-haired youth by Katya's side. "My condolences for the loss of your family to those Bolsheviks."
Dmitri winced. Katya flinched a little, but bowed her head. "Thank you, my lord."
"This is Natalia from Serbia, turned during the nineteenth century." The man continued. "And this is Imre from Hungary, who has joined the Death Dealers." Markus bowed his head. "From the Hungarian Uprising against Soviet rule, Amelia showed." He remarked. "You fought bravely and well as a human. And she was rather impressed by your prowess as a Death Dealer, understandably so."
The man bowed his head. "Thank you, my lord."
"Who is your creator?" Markus asked the next person, a blonde girl.
"Kraven, my liege, though he sent me to this coven." Markus tilted his head to one side.
"The governing regent of Ördögház in Hungary? When were you turned?" He questioned.
"Less than thirty years ago." came the answer. Markus turned towards the official.
"Did the Lady Amelia give her permission for this?" He questioned.
The man hesitated. "No matter." Markus decided, before things became awkward. "I bid you welcome nonetheless." Once he had moved on, Markus leaned sideways to whisper something in the man's ear. No doubt this Kraven, whoever he was, would have words handed to him from Markus as well as greater scrutiny. If not something worse.
Tanya remembered that not every mortal survived the virus of their species. And with their species not only considerably older but capable of producing vampires who were born, Tanya supposed they had to keep control of the population in case their people became unmanageable.
They went through the list of newly-turned vampires of the past two centuries. Tanya noted that there were around about a dozen. Not as many as there had been in the previous two hundred years for their species, especially in regards to the Southern Wars, but enough to fill this one city and beyond, she thought.
"Husband, now comes the introduction of the pure-born children born whilst you were under the earth." Lady Laima spoke.
The crowd parted. A group of people entered, ushering small children. Tanya leaned closer, suppressing a gasp when she beheld them. She could feel Carmen and Kate doing the same. Their whole family peered in interest and awe as the children stepped forwards.
They were every bit as breathtakingly beautiful as she remembered Vasilii and Renesmee to be, though some were more beautiful and others slightly less so, Tanya observed. Yet they were so beautiful, so charming and breathtaking, she was certain the Renaissance masters would weep to behold them. There was a little girl with blonde curls framing a cherubic face with dimples and- surprising to see, she wasn't sure if she would ever get used to seeing this on a vampire- rosy cheeks. Her eyes were blue like a midsummer day's skywide with awe and intimidation as she looked upon the face of the first vampire. She looked no more than three years of age, dressed in a pretty green dress which matched her eyes. The boy next to her also had blonde curls but eyes of emerald-green. He seemed to be five and clung to the hand of a woman who had the same curls and eyes as him. His mother, Tanya noted with a pang to her heart. There was a man next to her that could only have been the boy's father. The little girl also clung to the hands of both parents who could be identified, even if they weren't holding hands, by their shared features. A girl with waving red hair, pale skin and emerald-green eyes that shone also came forwards, looking around the age of six. A boy with light brown curls, who looked frightened but determined, and appeared to be around nine years of age.
Tanya could see the other members of her species and some non-vampires eyeing the children with interest, including the wizards like that man with the untidy black hair, round glasses and green eyes.
"This is Máté," Lady Laima introduced the brown-haired boy. The boy straightened. "Born thirty years ago."
Tanya and Kate's jaws dropped. Eleazar's eyes widened in astonishment, as did Carmen. Garrett looked bewildered.
The boy bowed his head. "My lord." He barely managed to speak. "It is an honour to be introduced to you." His voice, clear and musical, not yet deepened by puberty, quavered.
Markus gave a reassuring smile. "And yet it is an even greater blessing to have your presence." The boy flushed crimson, much to Tanya's astonishment. "Your parents have been trying for at least a couple of centuries, as your father has told me. I am extremely glad for them." Behind them, the boy's father beamed. His mother smiled.
"Tatiana," Lady Laima introduced. "Almost twenty." She smiled at the red-haired girl who blushed like a rose.
Markus knelt down to look the girl in the eye, and no doubt appear less intimidating. "Lovely as a rose and an even greater blessing." Markus proclaimed softly, gazing at the little girl. She gave a tentative smile.
"Giselle, aged eight, the youngest and most recently-born." Lady Laima smiled at the blonde-haired girl. She blushed prettily. Tanya thought she was the most cherubic and sweetest child she had ever seen. Michelangelo and Botticelli would have sold their souls to paint her, she thought wistfully. She was incredibly adorable and sweet.
Markus smiled warmly at the small child. Tanya belatedly realised in surprise, that pure-born vampire children grew much slower than humans.
"And this is Ferenc who was born twelve years ago." Lady Laima finished. Markus smiled wistfully at the young boy.
"Four great blessings," he murmured. "Greater than any of you can ever imagine. Do you know why?" He asked the children.
Slowly, they all shook their heads. "Because you are," Markus whispered. "Just as you are. You are the future of our species, but also a great blessing upon your parents. Many can go centuries without receiving such blessings, even millennia. Never underestimate your value and the love they have for you."
He kissed each child on their heads. They were all still in awe.
Tanya felt a sharper pang than what she had previously experienced, observing the children and their happy, proud, beaming parents. What I wouldn't give to be one of them. She thought. Tanya could see not only Kate and Carmen thinking the exact same thing, but many others, male and female, of their species.
Tanya's eyes fell onto the Cullens. Rosalie looked pained as she observed the children, like she could be in tears, Tanya thought. Esme also looked wistful, along with Carlisle, but at least they had a grandchild of their own now. Emmett and Jasper surprised her- they also looked wistful and longing. Even Alice seemed awed and envious of the parents, and she was far from the only one. Only Bella blinked, no doubt comparing the children's features with those of her daughter in her mind.
Tanya wondered if Bella knew just how lucky she was. How many people envied her and Edward for their daughter alone. Despite the perilous description of Bella's pregnancy- and Nahuel's mother Pire's- Tanya felt nothing short of profound grief and longing for something she would never have. It didn't help that these children were much more beautiful than any mortal child. It wasn't fair.
Tanya suddenly understood why Sasha created Vasilii. She didn't approve or condone of what she did, especially after knowing what she knew now: what the transformation had done to Jane and Alec. But she could understand why their mother had been so powerfully drawn. She remembered Renesmee; it was a longing, a feeling of wholeness and the truest love one could ever have, shared with one's loving spouse and eternal soulmate. How wonderful it must be, Tanya thought feeling the pangs even keener and sharper than before, to have an eternal mate and to conceive a child that came from both of you!
How complete and wonderful they must feel. The two spouses and their baby. How profoundly fulfilling, how wondrously amazing, how beautiful and awe-inspiring, how moving it would be! Tanya felt both saddened and pained, and she could feel both Kate and Carmen feeling the exact same thing. But in Tanya's case, unlike Kate and Carmen, she did not have a mate.
Her sad progress was cut short when Markus stood, frowning. "These are the children born during the last century," he stated calmly. "Yet Amelia and Viktor's memories are surprisingly... sporadic upon revealing the truth of what had happened to those born the century prior, after I had entered the earth."
His wife sighed. They looked at each other. Unspoken communication was passed between them.
"My wife has relayed to me that those children have died," Markus stated calmly. "Yet I went into the earth, assured and fully expecting at least one to be born and to greet this person when I rise, only to find that the pure-born children of the nineteenth century have... mysteriously expired." He gave a dangerous pause. "Is there no explanation for this?"
No one dared speak. A few shuffled, uneasily. Tanya and were family were mystified. What happened during the nineteenth century? What happened to their children?
Markus narrowed his eyes. A few glanced uneasily at each other, officials judging by the looks of things.
"Even my wife's Sight did not convey to me the entire truth when I was still within the earth." He remarked. The unease was... almost unbearable. "Meaning someone of great power has attempted to shield the truth behind the disappearances- or rather, to be precise, deaths- of the children born to us during the nineteenth century."
The dark-haired man swallowed nervously before speaking. "It was a period of great tumult, my lord."
"Yes, I saw- from my wife's and Viktor and Amelia's points of view. Vlad Dracula." Markus' eyebrow rose. Almost everyone shuffled uneasily. The name dropped like a thunderbolt. "Really, Coloman?"
Dracula?! Tanya was even more bewildered. Wasn't that the name of a fictitious vampire from a nineteenth century Victorian Gothic literature, named after a real-life ruler of the Romanian region of Wallachia in the Middle Ages?
Coloman, the official in front, winced. Markus, however, didn't seem too upset, apart from the mention that the children born during the nineteenth century had all passed. Tanya was both bewildered and horrified. How did that happen?!
"However, I am most interested in hearing this from everyone who may have been involved. Markus strode casually towards the dais. An empty throne carved of polished ebony and inlaid with peridots and emeralds on the armrests, stood on a marble dais. The Corvinus coat-of-arms was etched upon its high back, but apart from the stones, there were little adornments.
Tanya noticed that Lady Laima was wearing a pendant with the Corvinus crest dangling proudly from a chain. Corvinus, or Corvin in Hungarian or Magyar, which derived from the Latin Corvus or Raven, was a name assigned by Romanians to those who have become warlords, nobles or even kings of Hungary at times. The first 'Corvin' was John Hunyadi, Voivode or warlord of Transylvania and regent-governor of the kingdom of Hungary. Based on what she knew, from her own experiences and learning, and from Sasha, there was a powerful clan who called themselves Corvinus, who were rumoured to have been vampires and werewolves. Tanya didn't know whether this was true, but she had seen the members of that family from a distance- she, Sasha, Kate and Irina had certainly been interested. Perhaps the Volturi had been as well, although she certainly didn't know why none of their kind had ever bumped into their species before, including Markus Corvinus and his wife. However, the only members they had seen of Clan Corvinus had been human. Perhaps they disguised themselves using magic, Tanya reflected.
Sasha certainly hadn't known if the rumours about Clan Corvinus were real, and neither did Tanya or her sisters, or Carmen and Eleazar. Eleazar for his part, suspected that this may have been a similar situation to Luca, the Maltese vampire of their species who had worked since ancient times to preserve his family's line and to ensure that they thrived. Luca often bestowed immortality to those members he had deemed worthy, while also ensuring the family's continued survival and wealth. Luca had created Renata, who had joined the Volturi (although the Denali family were now unsure of whether this was voluntary and done out of free will). Another member of their family created by Luca, Mackenna, had chosen to go her own way when she found her mate, Charles. Tanya wondered if the Corvinus family were something similar. According to Eleazar, the humans of that family claimed descent from Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, a Roman general and tribune who owned vast swathes of land on the Pannonian-Dacian frontiers, the future countries of Hungary and Romania. The Hungarian, Wallachian and Transylvanian royals claimed direct descent from him, and there was even a story about how the he derived his name: when a raven had swooped down and attacked an enemy who was attacking the general, only to be blinded and therefore took the raven as a sigil. The most well-known member of that family had been Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary during the Renaissance. Perhaps Markus and his wife, perhaps his father and brother, had worked behind the scenes, same as Luca to ensure their family's continuous survival and power? If so, being underground and imprisoned in a tower every two centuries did not ensure consistent success.
Tanya was mystified. Why had our species not even glimpsed or interacted with them before? Perhaps there had been a few who did, but had never told anyone.
The Volturi would certainly have been interested in interacting with members of that family, but when faced with the sheer power of this species... Tanya doubted they would have risen very high. Even Eleazar felt the same way.
They made the Volturi guard and armies look like toddlers, and their takeover of their world from the Romanians, the Southern Wars and the conflict caused by the Plague of the Immortal Children sound like kindergarten fights. From what she and her family had seen once browsing in the libraries and archives, having spoken to historians, the conflicts fought by the Death Dealers and Clan Corvinus did make the Volturi's struggles and hard-won triumphs sound... trivial and childish by comparison.
Tanya's musings were cut short when Markus reached the throne and turned to face the crowd. "Would you care to explain how the pure-born children of the nineteenth century were all slain and how in the world did Vlad Dracula manage to establish himself as a king over members of this species and those of the others?" He sat.
An uneasy silence had settled within the crowd. "Establishing himself as a king among vampires within our very doorstep, no less? Or perhaps someone would offer a better explanation as to how the vampiress Carmilla had managed to do the same in her 'kingdom' in Styria? At the very doorstep of the Habsburgs during the nineteenth century no less? Quite an abysmally foolish thing to do. And how, oh how was it possible that stories about their individual escapades were written and published by human authors?"
Markus produced two books. Tanya's eyes widened as she glimpsed the titles, editions of Bram Stoker's Dracula and Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla.
"Well, someone has some explaining to do," Kate muttered, before Carmen hurriedly shushed her.
"Yes." Markus said rather pleasantly, inclining his head in Kate's direction. Kate's eyes bugged. "Precisely my thoughts." Eleazar slapped a hand to his forehead and Carmen looked mortified. But before any of them could say anything Markus tossed the books into the air. Instead of falling to the ground, they floated in mid-air, hovering for the crowd to see.
"They have both been imprisoned, my liege," the official, Coloman, managed to speak. "I am aware of that," Markus said icily.
Tanya exchanged shocked glances with Eleazar and Carmen. Garrett and Kate stood both stunned and fascinated. Dracula and Carmilla from the two novels were real? Well, Dracula was one thing, but Bram Stoker had hardly been accurate in his research when using the historical character as his character's backstory; he had mistaken Dracula for John Hunyadi, quite ironically a member of the Corvinus Clan, in the passage when Van Helsing had explained the character's past to the party going after him.
"I suppose Viktor's... closeness and prior sympathies- or empathy- and admiration for Vlad Dracula may have influenced his decision to keep him alive, imprisoning rather than executing him as he normally would have done, but Carmilla? And how in the world did either of them manage to establish such a power-base, break away from the Confederation and the High Council, one right at our very doorstep and the other within the very heart of the Habsburg Empire?" Markus asked, dangerously. "And how in the world did our children, guarded as they are, managed to lose their very lives?" He pressed.
Everyone looked nervous. Many of the vampires had turned paler than they normally would. "Would you care to explain such... degradation and outright incompetence?" the first of the vampires, who may even be considered a king, asked in a dangerous yet quiet voice.
It was a long while before anyone spoke. "It was a tragedy," Coloman managed.
"Quite," Markus agreed acidly. "Pure-born children are rare enough. The fact that a mere four had been born during the previous century in this coven alone is proof enough. How is it that the entire species' children born during the nineteenth century have not survived?"
Whispers broke throughout the crowd. A woman stepped forwards.
"Orsova," Markus acknowledged. The lady gave a curtsy. "Perhaps you can offer a better explanation?"
The lady, Orsova, had silvery hair bound up in a bun. A black satin corset-bodice cinched her waist, her elegant gown of black satin and silk gauze, intricately adorned with tiny diamonds casting flickering points of light, flowed past her feet. A diamond choker encircled her swan-like neck, while her jeweled bracelets were fashioned in the shape of glittering cobwebs. A dainty diamond headpiece adorned her hair.
"My lord," she began. "During the nineteenth century, it was true that there were a number of births. Lord Viktor..." she hesitated. "Our High Elder decided to expand our territories and establish new covens, including those in the regions of Styria in Austria, and a second coven here in Transylvania, on the other side of the Carpathians, located within and below the castle. Two members had gained significant influence, and Lord Viktor had agreed to the appointment of Carmilla as governing Elder of the Styrian Coven and Prince Vlad Dracula for the second Transylvanian one." Markus' lips twitched dangerously.
"There were those of us, Coloman and I among them, who warned against this," Orsova continued. "We did not trust Prince Dracula, nor Carmilla who was never... very subtle."
"I can imagine," Markus stated dryly.
"We also felt- forgive me, my lord- that neither you nor the Lady Amelia would appreciate such... individuals being put in power."
"Viktor may have liked Vlad Dracula," Markus said calmly "and the two certainly shared a kinship of spirit among other things. But I never believed for a moment that he was not wary of him, his power and influence, even as a mortal."
Lady Laima looked at her husband. Markus regarded her in silence. It was clear that some unspoken communication, most likely telepathic if the stories Tanya and her family had heard were true. But it lasted only for a moment, before Markus turned his head towards the audience.
"Tell me," he began quietly. "Viktor sought to cloud my wife's visions and limit her astral-presence. Yet this appears to have gone rather badly for Viktor considering that during the nineteenth century we have had... numerous uprisings and splinters. I see that both Carmilla and Vlad Dracula not only broke free, they refused to recognise but even challenged not merely the authority of the High Elders, but that of the overall High Council and the Confederation. Even worse, neither they nor their followers sought to abstain from human blood, stealing innocent lives, abusing the laws of hospitality and those against trespass, although they at least did not outright break them, as well as endangering our kind by threatening exposure to seek expansion on their own terms?" Markus finished quietly.
"Pray, tell me, how were they ever allowed such power in the first place?" Markus asked quietly. "And how was it, instead of suffering the ultimate punishment, the High Council and the courts permitted both to live?"
Orsova and Coloman gave each other confused glances. "Alas, my lord even we were... bewildered by this turn of events." Coloman admitted.
"A shame as well that Viktor sought to cover this up from Amelia and I," Markus remarked "along with my wife. Yet the results are such that the conflict has claimed the lives of the entire century's vampire children." His voice rose and his hands gripped the armrests. The aura in the room changed swiftly to that of fear. His piercing blue eyes narrowed dangerously.
"How is this possible?"
For a moment, no one spoke. Coloman sighed, his shoulders slumped. "Some were taken by Vlad Dracula," he confessed. "Others by Carmilla, to be raised as members of their covens. Vlad Dracula... began a new species. He altered himself and them along with his followers. We fought, my lord, yet the cost was great. They also targeted our remaining children, the ones who were not altered by... dark sorcery." Markus' eyes narrowed. Lady Laima looked grim. The atmosphere was beyond grave.
"Some of the children were moved to a safer location, the ones in northern covens, only to be kidnapped, and forcibly altered." Everyone winced. "To change their species. Alas, it did not work and the children did not survive the... agonising and grotesque mutations."
Markus' eyes narrowed. Everyone paled, looking either horrified, if this was news to them, or haunted. Orsova closed her eyes. "Others were... besieged in their covens. Entire covens became targets for housing our children. Whereas some were mistaken for formerly human children transformed by our kind, by other species and were promptly and tragically killed during such circumstances of misunderstanding."
The silence echoed louder than thunder. Tanya shivered, feeling ill. The descriptions which caused images in her mind of children being put through torturous scientific experiments or dark magical rituals and dying in intense pain made her feel horrified and nauseous. It was the same for the other members of her family, and the members of her species whom she had spotted. But another, equally horrifying thought occurred to her- and to the rest of them, she suspected: could some of these pure-born vampire children have been mistaken for Immortal Children by the Volturi or others of their species? The way Irina had mistaken Renesmee for one? Their beloved sister had not dared to take a closer look for fear that the Cullens and the Wolf would attack and kill or prevent her from leaving, the way many an allied coven, considered close friends and family to one another in fact, had been torn apart, fighting each other to the death to prevent their Immortal Children from being taken or destroyed.
The Volturi certainly wouldn't have hesitated, Tanya thought. But surely they must have realised that these children were different? From not only the Immortal Children but the vampires of their species? If they still had blood flowing through their veins...
How was it that our species never encountered a vampire of different species before?
Surely, if it had happened, word would have spread? Right? But then again, Nahuel and his sisters were hidden far from the eyes of vampires, with the exception of perhaps the Amazon coven, and later Jasper and Alice.
Markus' grip tightened against the arms of his throne. Before anyone knew it they crumbled. Lady Laima bowed her head. The audience flinched.
"It seems our species have been lax in the protection of its children." Markus said softly, but dangerously. He didn't need to shout, Tanya thought, to be frightening.
Even disregarding the fact that he was the first and most powerful vampire, Tanya thought that he would still be able to intimidate both the Romanians and the Volturi, as well as every coven she had ever heard of. Although that wasn't much to boast about, considering that the Volturi were, as Edward had claimed, like all bullies, cowards beneath the swagger.
She caught Eleazar's eye, as well as Garrett's. They were all thinking the same thing: how did we not encounter any vampire from different species before? How could we have been so isolated from the entire world of the supernatural it seemed? And was it possible that some of their species had mistaken these pure-born children, these young vampires that were born but grew, albeit much slower than humans, and killed them, believing them to be Immortal Children, just as Irina had?
Tanya prayed, if God or any other deity, would ever listen to her, that nothing like that had ever happened. Her insides shook and she felt close to throwing up. But if what Luka and the other historians had said was true, as well as Eleazar, Garrett, Kate and her own deductions, that the war between vampires and werewolves, while having started with the first species had spilled into theirs, even without them being aware of the existence of a much wider supernatural world, could this mean that such horrific incidents, caused by misunderstanding, had happened? The Plague of the Immortal Children had happened centuries ago and since then such creations were forbidden, punishable by death not only by the Volturi, but many a member of their species who would themselves, haunted by the scars of the past, take matters into their own hands...
Tanya felt like she'd been swallowed up by ice. Please, God no. Beside her Carmen was clearly praying for the same thing, and Kate looked utterly sickened at the prospect, as did Garrett, the two of them clutching one another. Eleazar was ashen at the horrific notion, utterly appalled that an entire century's worth of children, even if they were few, were completely eradicated.
"New measures will be undertaken for the safety and protection of pure-born children," Markus stated calmly. He looked at his wife. More unspoken communication passed between them, and Lady Laima nodded gracefully. "Do not expect this to be the end of the inquiry." He warned dangerously.
Everyone looked sickened. Many turned their faces away. Tanya could see the terrible seriousness of this situation. She exchanged shocked and alarmed looks with Siobhan and Maggie. Even Liam looked horrified at the notion. She did the same with Amun, Kebi, Benjamin and Tia- along with everyone she knew, including a horrified-looking Carlisle and Esme. Rosalie stood frozen, violet-blue eyes massive as she grasped a sickened-looking Emmett's hand and Jasper's face was pinched. Even Alice stared, distracted from the circumstances that surrounded her family, particularly her brother Edward. Even Bella stared, aghast rather than appearing empty and hollow, as she had been lately, too much to care.
Surely it couldn't have happened...
But in her heart, Tanya knew that it was possible.
"The Lady Amelia has already implemented such protoccols." Orsova began.
"Well, then I shall review them," Markus explained simply "and add to and improve them if necessary." Orsova and Coloman bowed their heads and retreated.
"Vlad Dracula and Carmilla are interred here?" He questioned. Tanya felt a jolt of shock and awe as well as apprehension that the world's most famous fictitious vampire not only existed but was imprisoned where she stood. Somewhat.
"Yes my lord." Another person answered. "I shall see them soon enough," Markus said again in a dangerous voice. "Although I doubt it I certainly hope there is a good explanation for this."
Lady Laima nodded. The silver-white gown she was wearing glistened and she seemed to radiate an unearthly glow, reflecting the light of the very candles.
"Please let us proceed into the Baroque banquet hall." She issued. "A feast awaits."
Cheers and claps resounded. Markus stood. The pieces of the broken armrests fell to the ground, only to fly back upwards and mend themselves into seamless wholes. While everyone made a wide berth for the two progenitors to walk through, Tanya's eyes fell upon the copper-haired persona of the Vampire Prince.
"He's their son. The progenitors." Erika's whisper had stunned Tanya to the core, as it had with her family members. But she could now see the resemblance between both parents. Unfortunately, Radu did not make eye contact and proceeded to where his parents and the crowd had gone.
Yet when he left, leaving Tanya somewhat stunned, it took a while to remember where she was. But everything jolted unpleasantly back to earth when she caught sight of Bella's silent and blank expression. There was something in her eyes, Tanya thought. Something moving, something growing in size, but she didn't know what it was.
Tanya had assumed that it was worry, stress and fear for her husband's life, and it likely still was, but there was something else there. The Bella she remembered, first meeting her at her and Edward's wedding as a human, and later with her daughter in the lead-up that led to Irina losing her life during the confrontation with the Volturi... That Bella had held herself differently, trying to shrink backwards, always pressing herself as close as Edward as possible, trying to be inconspicuous, pressing her daughter to her. This Bella looked like she was used to being a solitary figure and couldn't care less about whether she was invisible. She stood straight. Her eyes were grim, but more focused and determined. Even as a mother and a bride or a wife, Bella had seemed like a teenage girl, very young, Tanya reflected. Now...
Tanya wondered what could have changed in the short amount of time between the New Year and this day.
A lengthy chapter, but here we are. We finally get a look at what the Cullens have been too preoccupied to notice and with Tanya and her family.
James Birdsong: Thank you.