I paused my brilliant narration for a moment to allow my humans to take in the wisdom of my words. While I waited, I looked out at my crowd of humans and I was hit with one resounding realization.
I should definitely do more demonstrations and call more assemblies. This was most pleasant.
There was something invigorating about having all their eyes on me while I demonstrated what I was truly capable of, and I was certain that it was not entirely because of one particular pair of rich dark brown eyes fixed on me which I only allowed myself to meet for the briefest second.
This was the same rush as when I twisted the council into knots. I could live off of this high alone for days. My life was wonderful. So much attention, so many opportunities and questions and games and puzzles spreading out indefinitely into the future. I smiled and continued talking.
"If ever a vampire attempts to take what belongs to me, you have my orders to protect yourself. Though the odds are against you, you are not without hope, humans. Your best chance is to work in cooperation with others. Your best chance is to use your surroundings to your benefit. Your best chance is to use the way vampires underestimate you to take them by surprise. Your best chance is knowledge of your enemy while they believe that you are beneath their notice."
I did not want to ultimately leave my humans feeling helpless. They certainly were, against me, but they stood a fighting chance against many others.
"So dedicate yourselves to your training. The future is full of possibilities and none of us can fully predict what will come next."
They believed my words. I smiled fondly.
"And don't worry, I'm sure whatever comes, it will be most entertaining."
I looked towards Raoul and nodded. "All right, everyone. That's it for tonight, you're all dismissed. Get your rest, most of you will resume training tomorrow."
As a whole, they began to file away. I met Jamie's perplexed expression and I motioned for him to come to me. I was pleased when he did as I bid while his wariness amused me. He was so much calmer around me than he had once been, but some things never changed.
I glanced at Raoul and Leif behind him. Both were waiting for my instructions. "Thank you, both," I said. "This was actually rather amusing. Perhaps I will join smaller training sessions from time to time to help each human get a feel for dealing with one of my kind. Perhaps one evening a week? Schedule it for me, and rotate the humans so they all get a turn."
They both nodded and left with a respectful responses of "Mistress."
Jamie was standing at the ready like any of my other guards, except with more wariness than they generally bore. He was calm and tense, and I let my eyes linger on the muscles I could see hinted through the simple shirt he wore for training. Recalling the stupid brand marring his delightful chest, I wondered if he still hated me for the pain.
"What?" he asked, with just enough resentment to make me inhale sharply with delight.
I glanced behind him. The training field was cleared, every other human I owned gone as I had commanded of them. "Fight me, Jamie."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Practice for lucky number thirteen?" I offered and I winked at him. "It's an opportunity to learn that you won't soon get again. Vampires aren't all cookie cutters, Jamie—" It belatedly occurred to me that the feral humans were likely not baking too many adorably shaped cookies while running for their freedom and their lives from the monsters of the night.
The slight crinkle between his eyes showed I was correct so I amended my words. "In that we are not all exactly the same, since the humans that we once were were not all the same. But there are patterns you can look for if you learn to see. Fight me."
He moved towards me warily. "Is that really how you would come at me if you wanted to kill me, Little Human? Unarmed and so slowly so that I can kill you at my leisure?" I glanced towards the pile of practice weapons.
His brow was furrowed in indecision. I mocked him with my smile. "Perhaps you no longer have the will to fulfill your promise? Fear not, there's nothing you can do to me with those toys that could permanently harm me. Only the sun can finish the job, and we have all night before I should have to worry about that."
He strode over to the pile and pulled out a practice dagger. I smiled; he was going for up close and personal. The moment of hesitation was over, and he hurtled himself towards me. I could have sworn he was ready to destroy me by the look in his eyes.
He was fast, for a human, but I was still faster. I let him get close enough to have hope before I twisted out of the way. I shoved him forward, increasing his own momentum and he barely stopped himself from falling to the ground.
If I had truly wanted to hurt him, I could have gone for his back while he was off balance and finished him off easily enough. "You're dead, Little Human."
He righted himself and turned towards me, completely unconcerned. "We'll see about that, Leech."
I held in my delighted smile at the return of the insult.
He moved and made another pass towards me, fast but cautious. At least he was learning. He was trying to get behind me.
"How did you destroy the other vampires, Jamie? I could not discover all your kills, but there are seven destructions linked to one suspected serial killer. They're calling him—that is, you—the Vampire Slayer. Imagine my surprise that the council could get even more unimaginative than I had previously dreamt possible." I rolled my eyes at their utter lack of creative flair. It was one thing when I cleverly repurposed bits of old media or ideas for my own use and another entirely when they took half the title of a popular television show of the late 1900's and executed it so unforgivably poorly.
For a moment it seemed he might not answer, but then he did. "I already told you my first was pure luck. It taught me that bloodsuckers could be killed. Then, I wandered around the wilderness for about a year before I started training. After a few years of preparation, I travelled around, listening to the accounts of other humans about the vampires they had seen. When one matched the description, I would find out as much as I could, get in close, watch, and then when the moment came, I would strike.
"Three of them I took out while they were unaware during the day. Out of the three, only one had human slaves that even tried to stop me with any determination, the others turned a blind eye. Once it was dead, the more dedicated humans scattered as quickly as the others.
"Five, I used myself as bait. They thought they were hunting me, when I was hunting them. I stabbed them or broke their necks while they were still gloating over their easy victories.
"And the other three, I stole clothing from their own slaves to cover my scent and I waited for them to pass. And then," he began, moving closer to me. I let him circle around me and snake his arm around my chest. He held my right arm up and out of the way and the other bringing the wooden dagger towards my heart. "I stabbed them in the heart and dragged their bodies out into the sun. With two of them, their human slaves tried to stop me half-heartedly; one, they looked the other way; and the other two they cheered at the deaths of their masters."
I could feel the soft pressure of the dagger against my chest and I waited to see what he would do. I was in no danger, the practice weapons would bruise at most, and I was in no hurry to see this moment of excitement end. I supposed he could break my neck if it pleased him, but with the sun so long away I would be well recovered in time to get out of the deadly brightness.
"What would your slaves do if I do fulfill my promise?" he asked, near my ear. I could feel his breath on me and my skin prickled at the sensation.
I turned my face so that he could see my confident smile.
"They would kill you in a heartbeat, and it would not be half-hearted in the slightest."
"Why? How did you gain their loyalty?"
I brushed away the dagger and turned so that I could face him. I was too close for his comfort, and I was most uncomfortable as well in a wonderful way. I looked at him, so full of frustration and confusion, brave and foolhardy, handsome and strong but oh so terribly mortal, and a deep yearning to just lay all my cards on the table and be done with my lies and my games filled me. I could not buy his loyalty, but I could likely sweep away that underlying hostility and properly experience what might lie underneath.
But what if that final gambit failed? What if I played my last and best wild card, and yet he still wanted no part of me and my interests? It had never happened before, but Jamie was different. I could not entirely predict his behaviour and the thought strangely chilled me—I who was so long accustomed to the constant cold. I bit my lip until I tasted the tang of iron and I looked deep into those brown eyes I was coming to adore more than I wanted to admit even to myself.
And I lied again.
"They admire my cleverness and my creativity. They appreciate that they are relatively safe and trust that under my rule they will remain as such. They covet their positions. It is a deal of practicality, a matter of the business of survival, a bargain that they make to live some pale shadow of a life of freedom. I give them just enough of what they want to keep them by my side."
There was anger in his eyes and I revelled in it, perhaps because it stood between me and the terrors of vulnerability.
My laugh was harsh and I did not truly feel it. "You judge them, but is it wrong to make compromises to gain a few more precious years in such a hard world, Little Human?"
A tightly clenched jaw was his only response to my question. He dropped the dagger and it hit the ground with a sound that seemed to echo throughout my domain.
He walked away.
I did not move to stop him. I simply watched him until he entered the tall doors adjacent to the training yard and disappeared inside.
I still felt unusually cold.
* * * * *
I haunted the halls of my home that night with a strange restlessness. My guards were dutiful at their tasks, but the building felt very much as if I were the only being present.
Standing on my eastern balcony, I watched as the sun rose and hid the other stars from my sight. The distant sounds of movement returning to the building as the humans all began to rise from their slumber met my ears.
The kitchen staff would already be starting the humans' breakfasts, the guards would be switching, and most of the other humans would be rising to go about their morning tasks.
I was the unchanging star to their rising and falling suns. Distant and untouchable.
Leaving the balcony, I tried to shake off this dreadful and unfamiliar melancholy by immersing myself amongst my humans.
They greeted me as I passed, and I inclined my head to accept their acknowledgment and I smiled to maintain the pretense of my normal self-satisfaction.
I nodded to Mantis as he walked by with an easy, "Morning, Mistress," and then the next two humans as they passed. Leif was already in his office, talking to Wyatt, and the murmurs of other conversations flowed out towards me from different directions.
And amongst them all was an odd choked sound, almost like a whimper. I turned my head towards the furious whispers. Curiosity piqued, I followed the noises down the hall. Turning the corner, I spotted Lucas, talking quietly with his mouth up against the ear of the cute brunette female he fancied.
I walked closer and said, "Good morning, Lucas, Rene."
They both jumped as if they had been doing something wrong. I narrowed my eyes slightly and observed them. "What is the matter?" In retrospect, Lucas had been acting a bit off for some time now, but I had been so focused on Jamie that I had paid him scant attention.
But he had my notice now, as I waited for his response.
"Well, Mistress," he began, swallowing hard. He looked at me with eyes that seemed to be pleading and roused my suspicions even more. I glanced at the female who was wearing rather baggy clothes, and understanding hit me, followed by anger.
"Is she pregnant?" I asked him coldly.
He stiffened and she whimpered, which was more than confirmation enough for me. We all knew there was no time to apply for a permit, and even if we tried most were rejected by the imbeciles appointed to the task.
I inhaled and exhaled slowly and uselessly. I narrowed my eyes at this one of my favoured humans and tried to keep my growing fury under wraps. It was impossible, because he knew better. I allowed them freedom to do what they would, if only they did not cause me difficulty, and this was difficulty indeed. I needed Lucas with me, and now I was going to lose him...
Finally, he responded, "She is. We are."
I could not hold in my snarl, and they both flinched. Perhaps, they should have remembered who the true predator was before they made such a stupid, irreversible mistake.
"And are you certain it's yours?" I asked Lucas, boring my eyes into his and willing him to deny it and let her bear the punishment alone so I did not have to get rid of him as well.
Lucas squared his shoulders. "I am," he said, and sealed his fate.