Conclave (Hypernaturals 3)

The Grand Ballroom

The grand ballroom of the Resort is large. Largish. Bigger than I expected by looking at the building from the front. From the outside front-drive, one has no idea how far back the place goes, nor about the wings, or the big side building with the pool, nor about the cabins.

Whoever first built the place did not spare a cent. I am moderately certain for example that the timbers were ancient when the place was new. You cannot find anything that large anymore. The old polished wood is everywhere, and the ballroom echoed all the themes of the rest of the resort, blown up to ballroom size.

The walls are similar to the outside: Rough-hewn limestone that looked like it was hand pieced in a tight-fitting way that used very little mortar. The limestone relieved from being stark by elaborately framed old maps, massive baseboards and matching molding where the wall met the roof. Every eighteen or twenty feet along the wall there is a huge support column at least two feet wide.

To offset all the hard materials there are carpet runners and cushy chairs. Dotted along the walls are fabric hangings such as Navajo weavings. Never mind the Navajo were never in this part of the country. Central Texas was a meeting ground for several tribes, but mostly the Tonkawa and the Wichita tribes as I understand it. The out of place weavings fit the room anyway somehow.

All the fabric dampens the sound of the place, and it works to a degree. For humans, it might be effective. For me, the room is very acoustically 'bright'. Matching the armor in the lobby there are coats of arms hung here and there, framed in tartan fabrics. I assumed that meant that at one point whoever owned this place was a Scot. In the Pre-Texas country or statehood days, Scot's came through due to monetary incitements to settle in the area that were offered in Europe, and also in part due to events in their homeland that drove out some clans.

A modern downtown hotel will have Grand Ballrooms that dwarf this one. It is hard to imagine one with more Texas Hill Country flair. There are no black metal Texas stars hanging about. The rustic Lone Star is usually a cheap and easy way for a decorator to try to add Texana to a room, and the designer of this room wisely resisted the easy way. Natural materials native to the area spoke for themselves, other than the wood beams trussing the roof.

The ballroom is full of Vampires. The lines of chairs filled with women. The wide perimeters and aisles clogged with more women milling about, looking for a place to sit or perhaps looking for a friend. Women all shapes, hues, and ethnicities. Few as tall as Rachel or Jessica. The languages I heard from everywhere.

A commonality other than their gender is their apparent physical age. It looks like a bunch of recent college graduates decided to get together for a convention.

A bit out of place in the earth-toned room is a rich blue velvety drape that covers the center of a limestone wall, opposite the main doors. In front of that wall hanging is a stage with a long table and chairs.

Seated in chairs on the stage are the hosts of this shindig: The North American Vampire Council. I am surprised to realize how well acquainted I am with the women up there. I know almost half of them pretty well though I am aware that is only to the degree any youngster like me can know such ancient women. There are over ten thousand years of collective experience sitting up on the stage. I have less than thirty.

Other than Helen and Rachel, I also know Nova, and Becky since they had been judges during my probation. Like everything else about my Vampire life, I did the probation thing differently. My three Vampiress subcommittee ultimately contained four members since Helen was replaced by Rachel.

In the center chair is Victoria, the current head of the council. She and I talk frequently about Sirens.

I wonder how many of the boys of my kind ever held a Council meeting at their house. Given our low status, I doubt it is many. The NorthAm Council dropped in at Casa de Gato because of Melissa. They wanted to be there when she was released from Siren captivity to me. I did not really think about what that meant at the time.