I hid my annoyance with Magnus behind my usual polite guise. He often lacked boundaries and reservations, but this was beyond the pale. How dare he trespass on my property so brazenly? We both knew, if it came down to a conflict, my great age gave me the upper hand.
Of course, the majority of the vampire council frowned upon on us killing each other, some nonsense about civility, as if vampires abided by such dictates.
How far would Magnus have taken his tormenting of Jamie if I had not come by? I had heard his and Enrique's voices from far away in the corridors and ignored it, but then I heard Jamie's voice so I hurried to see what was occurring around my human.
The sight of Magnus stalking around him wrought a surprising fury inside me. I suddenly hoped he and his companions voted against my bill so that I could smash his down afterwards.
The thought of interfering with him in revenge sounded wonderful, but I would not go back on our deal. If I went back on my word, others would be reluctant to deal with me later. If I supported Magnus's frivolous bill or not would all depend on what the three of them decided to do.
"We should really get going," Enrique said. I wondered if he had observed my irritation and had tried to break the strain, but he simply looked like he was concerned about lateness.
I nodded and favoured him with a friendly smile. "Indeed, that was actually where I was heading when I came upon you." Came upon Magnus bothering my human. I pushed down my irrational ire again.
We strode through the halls, until we reached the wide arched council chamber doors. I smiled to myself and took my seat and made myself comfortable as a few more stragglers came into the room. My bill was set to be presented second, giving both Magnus and Enrique a chance to consider voting for my proposal before I had to vote on theirs.
My anger at Magnus was beginning to fade in light of my growing anticipation. This night was going to be so fun.
I watched as the seats filled one by one. Whitmore sat down at the desk beside me with a polite nod, her hair pulled back into a severe bun like the moderate I had her pegged as. She typically resisted the extremes, so I could not always count on her vote, but she generally could be counted on if the issue could help with either maintaining the natural environment or with increased blood security. I believed she would vote with me.
Once all the councillors had finally assembled and ceased their incessant babbling, Councillor Patrick stood up and presented his bill. He was fairly young and had the ability to go on and on so repetitively that most other councillors probably voted for whatever he said simply to get him to shut up. Sometimes I did, even mildly against my own interest, unless I actually had a strong disagreement with him.
Other times I did not. Voting for something one time and against it the next lent itself to an unpredictability I enjoyed nourishing. Every time they thought they had me figured out I reversed course simply to mess with them. I wanted to grin, but instead I stared absently at Patrick as if I cared what he was reiterating for the sixteenth time.
Perhaps I would head down to the slave pens and see if there were not some interesting feeders to shake up the other councillors' expectations of me. Perhaps I could buy another feisty female or two and have a few seasons of The Bachelorette: Human Slave Edition in my home.
Patrick was still yammering on about some minor point I could barely keep my focus on. How had he managed to get in front of me in line? The magistrate usually did what I wanted since we went so far back unless he had a good reason not to. Perhaps he owed Patrick a favour. I could not think of a better reason since my bill was clearly much more important than his, in my opinion, which was very nearly fact.
At the very least it would be far more controversial and therefore more entertaining than this tedious bit of drudgery.
Finally, Patrick mercifully closed his mouth. The page and the magistrate had their quiet little conference and the page dismissed us for a short recess.
As I walked out, I conversed with other councillors along the way, all the while wondering how Patrick had managed to get in front of me in line. Perhaps the magistrate had put in Patrick there while we were fresh so no one would fall into unconsciousness while he talked.
Vampires never slept at night unless something was seriously wrong, but Patrick's droning could probably knock one or two of the younger ones out if he tried.
Sadly and happily, the recess ended. We were invited to debate Patrick's bill and to my dismay, almost everyone seemed to have something to say about the insignificant piece of legislature. It was frustrating. I just wanted to quickly have the vote and move on to mine.
Yet another councillor went up to offer his two cents and only my desire to maintain my respectable persona kept me from dramatically leaning back and hanging my head over the back of my chair as if I had lost my senses. Instead, I watched him stand up and repeat the exact same arguments that Patrick had previously made. Hearing them as warmed over leftovers did not make the ordeal any more enjoyable.
Finally it came time to vote. I could argue for or against it, but I just did not care, so I voted against the measure if only to punish Patrick for daring to go before me and boring me so dreadfully.
The bill was defeated by only five votes. Patrick's stiff demeanor clearly showed that he was not pleased with the result. I kept my amusement firmly locked inside. I bet he now wished he had gone later and spent more time making deals for votes with the other councillors.
And then, it was my moment. The magistrate gave me the floor.
I sauntered up to the front of the room, all eyes on me.
I waited to give them a long moment to anticipate my mystery bill. What was it going to be? A human tracking program? A breeding program? Some other delightful bit of oppressive government mandate to keep the source of red life down and in line?
With a pleasant smile affixed on my face, I began. "Honourable councillors, as always, my passion is upon maintaining blood security for the future for all vampirekind and the bill I present before you today, Bill 472BvI is no different."
I could tell they were on the edge of their seats, wondering what I was about to do, which caused me great joy. I considered dragging it out longer, but the allure of their reactions when they discovered the contents was far too much to resist.
"Bill 472BvI maintains my ever consistent goal, and to further that end, I wish to propose regulations on vampire masters to ensure that their feeders have their basic nutritional needs met."
There was the briefest pause and then the sound of about eighty or ninety vampires sounded out, all talking at once. I paused, as if waiting out the clamor, but mostly I looked around the room, watching the reactions on the faces of my peers.
As so often before, they did not know what to make of me, which pleased me greatly. Revelling in their shock, I could almost taste their surprise and it was as delicious as the taste of metallic life sliding down my throat. The proposal had been a risk, but it had been worth it even just for this sweet moment.
I drank in the reactions. Magnus looked furious, Willow looked conflicted, but Katter looked merely faintly bored by the proceedings as always. Ivan, one of my more ancient peers, looked as put out as Magnus. I clearly would not be getting his vote. Whitmore looked as if she were deep in contemplation, and Davidson and Naomi were talking to each other furiously, probably trying to figure out what my game might be.
Oh, it was too good. Their attention, their confusion, their vexation, it was pure delight.
"Order, order," the magistrate shouted over the raised voices.
I waited expectantly as the clamor died down and the last whispers finally faded into silence. I resumed my presentation.
"Honorable councillors, I understand that on the surface this bill appears to be something of a departure from my usual tendencies, but if you will listen to my arguments you will find that it is not. I understand that the relationship between vampire and slave is deeply personal, but at the same time, it is short sighted not to focus on proper human nutrition for our slaves."
Davidson was frowning as he stared at me, his mind clearly furiously working. I kept my serious mask firmly pasted on my face.
"Well tended humans produce blood more quickly and of a higher quality than sick and starving humans. You've all observed the condition of some used slaves, skin and bones, barely anything left for the less fortunate vampires among us."
They could not argue with that, even those who did not practically drain their slaves dry before casting them back to the block had seen the results, wretched humans who any of my guards could break with their pinkies. It was such a dreadful waste.
I continued, "The human population is finite—"
"Humans breed like rats," a vampire named Owen interrupted, completely out of order of the proceedings. His stupidity was exceeded only by his keen interest in torturing any human that fell into his grasp.
I did not let my disdain for the fool show in either my mannerisms or tone. "Well, I would not say that is a perfect comparison, because as you should no doubt be aware, the life cycle of a human takes much longer to reach sexual maturity than does a rat's, but what I of course meant was that the population is finite at any given point in time. With the vampire population expanding, we would be wise to look to the future before we reach the point where concerns become problems. We do not want to use them into extinction. We all know the perils of blood starvation."
No one further questioned me as I strutted across the room. "To further my point, it does not take much to keep humans well nourished. Human food is far cheaper and easier to come by than blood, so a small investment up front will return impressive dividends in the long term. And, since we all intend to be here for the long term, it would be wise to plan for the future and not just the temporary enjoyment of the moment."
"An ancient human economist once said, 'In the long run, we're all dead.' However, like most humans, he was absolutely wrong. We vampires will not be dead in the long run, so we need to care for the needs of our future selves and indeed the future vampires yet to be turned and ensure that we do not foolishly consume everything in the present."
My speech was far more hilarious than anyone in the room could perceive. I stood before a group of some of the most powerful vampires in existence, lecturing them about focusing on the future while I proposed a bill that was, in part, for my own temporary amusement. I played the hypocrite so well likely not even one of them noticed, which only added to my amusement.
I seldom loved my work so much as I did when all eyes were trained upon me, but even then I kept my deep satisfaction hidden under my guise of the serious councillor.
"Now, I truly do understand that some among us will have reservations about the idea of the council interfering in the treatment of their property and I also understand that this will require perhaps a touch more effort from each of us on our records, but it is a small price to pay for the greater good of the future.
"Because, I ask you, for what was this council created, other than to ensure the future prosperity of all vampirekind?"
I paused to give them time to appreciate the genius of my arguments. I was pleased to see some of the councillors nodding along, although I could only assume these were most likely the ones that already kept up proper maintenance on their feeders.
There were still clearly many sticklers with reservations.
My eyes brushed over Davidson and he looked so conflicted my overwhelming surge of delight would probably have stopped my heart had I still been mortal.
Fortunately, I was not, so I simply continued. "You all know me well and are aware that I have my own personal predilections, so I truly understand concerns that this measure might instead rally the humans so that they feel they can get out of line.
"But I have continued to conduct proper maintenance on my humans for years and I can attest that this is generally not the case. Keeping my slaves in excellent health only improves their usefulness to me."
I turned to the magistrate. "Might I conduct a small demonstration?"
"Yes, please do."
His attention was mine too. Excellent.
I clapped my hands. Marcel had desperately wanted to be chosen when I had looked for volunteers, but unfortunately his control on his emotions was far too tentative for the task. Once I pointed to the way he kept snapping at Jamie, he reluctantly agreed not to push the issue.
I would have loved to have Jamie here, but while I was sure he could maintain his stoic facade if he wanted, I was not sure that he would not snap and try to stake the council singlehandedly with a pencil.
He could probably take out one or two before they stopped him, but I did not want to risk him getting hurt. Besides, I did not want to give the others a chance to notice his delightful fearlessness. The human was mine and I would not share.
At my summons, Javier came walking out from the hall, his face relaxed and calm as if he was not walking into a room with almost a hundred predators who could easily drain him to death. I was proud of his courage. He reached my side and stood by silently, waiting for more directives. I could tell he was nervous by the quick pounding of his heart and it was in truth a very reasonable response. A human would have a better chance dropped into a pack of starving rabid wolves than with this number of vampires if they should turn on him.
Even I could not overcome the entire vampire council alone, which was a shame, because everything would be so much simpler if I could.
"No doubt you can all see that I have brought before you a human. Fifty-one thousand, six hundred and sixty-two, uncollared for the point of this demonstration. He was captured breaking into a storage facility with a number of other feral human and has been with me for eight years, next month. As you can clearly see, he is in far better health than the average feral human or human slave, yet his obedience is without question.
"He has been waiting for hours, completely unsupervised, no collar, with no influence on his mind, waiting for my summons in the event I would choose to have him come inside and stand before a hundred vampires to act as an example. Do you believe that this is what a human might wish to do of his own accord? Absolutely not, but still he does it, merely because I ordered it.
"His perfect obedience is not due to the quality of his health one way or another, it is the quality of his training. I have developed methods over the years to ensure perfect human compliance whether or not the subject is weak or strong. His good health merely makes him better able to serve my desires more efficiently."
Patrick was watching my human with interest. Apparently he was not holding my vote against him personally. "I'd like to see him more closely."
"Absolutely," I agreed and motioned to Javier. He walked straight towards the predator.
I fixed the councillor with a stern gaze. "But, please remember that I don't like to share my food, nor do I like it when others break my toys." I swept my gaze over the rest of the councillors for good measure, reminding them where power resided.
I pasted an indulgent smile on my face as I watched the other vampires fawn over my excellent human. I was irritated, but none of them did anything that forced me to react. The threat had been enough, as I had thought it would be.
Finally, I decided it was enough. "Slave, come." I called him.
"Yes, Mistress," he responded immediately. He kept his strides long and calm, although he would be relieved to return to the security of my side.
"Now, return to my chambers and put on your collar."
"Yes, Mistress." He made a respectful bow and quickly followed my commands.
I smiled at the other councillors, but the expression was all for Javier. He was good, he was very good. Not many humans could have pulled it off like he had. My ability to choose humans was unparalleled.
"Do any of you doubt that I will return to my chambers to find my feeder waiting, fully collared?"
No one objected. Perhaps this bill would be easier to pass than I had suspected.
"I also anticipate that some of you have concerns that adequate nutrition could make your humans happier than you would prefer, so let me reassure you. Healthy sustenance can be prepared in such a way that only desperation would prompt most humans to eat it. If you so choose, you can have your humans both healthy but as downtrodden as ever and all for the good of all."
I turned to the magistrate and nodded to him. "As I previously mentioned, I would like to allow members several days for deliberations."
"Absolutely, Councillor Vienne. We will debate Bill 472BvI at that time."
"Thank you, Magistrate." I nodded my head in an indication of my respect for him.
He answered my nod with his own and I left to take my seat in anticipation of several delightfully contentious days.
Much would be happening, both in the council and in the central processing archives, and I could not be happier.