The council chambers were rife with the typical inane yammering of my fellow councillors as I took my seat amongst them. I pondered the heights of their general stupidity, and the few exceptions were hardly enough to bring up the average intellect to something worthy of note.
I waited expectantly for the magistrate to begin the session, not so much because I was looking forward to the ordeal, but because I wanted it over. Voting for and defending Davidson's bill was the only bright spark of amusement likely in this whole dreary quarterly and he did not have the influence to get his bill in early in the proceedings as I did.
It was not entirely Jamie's departure that was making me gloomy, since I generally felt impatience at the beginning of these meetings. Most eventually had something to look forward to, but this one, apart from Davidson, seemed dismal.
I had already been approached by a number of vampires trying to curry my favour for their bill with opulent promises of future support, and some underhanded bribes as well. I was not interested in the future support, but it really was hard to say no to being given ten humans for a simple affirmative vote.
Still I refused, not only because of my policy to keep my cards close to my chest, but also because I would not vote for their annoying bills in a million years.
Collar regulations? Did I really need the nitpicky council bossing me around on another matter? I thought not.
A limit on the number of owned humans? The fool clearly did not know of my openly recorded collection—not to mention the number I kept under the table to support my rebellion—and I was hardly going to allow myself to be penalized simply because I had the capability of keeping them alive for decades rather than using them up and recklessly discarding them with the trash. I would absolutely be arguing against that bit of nonsense.
Really, if these idiots ever listened or used their brains in even the smallest capacity, they might understand if you do not recklessly kill your humans you have more at the end of the day. Basic mathematical concepts clearly eluded them.
Perhaps I had erred in never turning humans before the wars. I could have sought out useful humans with intelligence and skills, and perhaps even a film director and cameraman or two and turned them, and the world would not be so overwhelmed by boring, indefinite morons.
Simply because I had not liked being forcibly turned against my will and because most other vampires were bores did not mean that I could not have allow a few reasonable humans to become vampires if they wished. I was not going to turn those few odd humans who sought out the condition, but perhaps a reluctant but resolute human could have become a good vampire. It was food for thought.
I was sidetracked from my silent complaints by the sound of the magistrate calling everyone to order. The conversations quieted quickly and I watched as the proceedings began.
The first few bills brought forward were sheer dross and were not worth the minutes that they took to be explained, although I cared little about the outcomes one way or another. I voted against one and for the one that was obviously going to lose, just to make my choices difficult to follow for anyone who might be paying attention to my voting habits.
Then, the collar regulation fool went up and said his spiel about the reasons why we should all have some standard regulated nonsense. The idea was rather annoying since the collars for my humans were carefully designed by talented humans for comfort and my more specific purposes. Besides, they had cost me quite a lot of time, money, and resources and I was not at all pleased with the idea of flushing that down the drain. I was prepared to torpedo the bill, but Ivan went up and made short work of it because he too was apparently happy with the current state of things and had no desire to change. He did not often speak, but when he did, vampires listened and followed his lead. He was one of my most dangerous foes, if only he knew enough to realize it.
It was because of such vampires as he that my plans yet had to remain secret. I was not at all certain that I was prepared enough to beat them all, at least not yet, and when I finally made my move I intended to win.
I had amassed an impressive number of pawns and resources, but there was still so much more that could be done. Keeping them unawares was half the game, and I did love my games.
The thought perked me up a bit, and watching the stupid collar bill go down in flaming ashes made me feel better still.
By the time we took a break, my spirits were much lighter. I left the chambers quickly and made my way to the hall where I discovered I had Enrique on my tail.
"Fancy another trip down to see the humans, Councillor Vienne?"
I considered my options. I did not have a real drive to go down there because there would not be a human as intriguing as one particular one, but at the same time, I could maybe find a couple who would fit my collection nicely. I still had to deal with the little insurgents in my dungeons, but if I found a couple more good ones, why not take the chance?
And though I had no doubt if Jamie made his play against Jack and was caught he would not end up back in the council slave cages, there was still a small chance he might get caught and sent down there again. If he did end up in the cages I would certainly not want some other vampire to get a hold of him.
"You know, excellent idea. I do think I need another delicious human or two."
Enrique chuckled as if I had said something terribly clever. We departed down to check the slave pens without further ado, chatting mildly about how neither of us was putting forward a bill during this quarterly.
Then, the scent of humans hit me, mildly unpleasant in their misuse and decay, but also intriguingly delicious with the scent of life I did not properly possess by my own merit. The guards nodded towards us as we passed.
In spite of the fact one would imagine there would be less humans considering we were well out of the appointed hunting season, the pens were filled with different individual faces, but at the same time, there was nothing that made them particularly stand out from the thousands upon thousands I had seen before. I searched for signs of rebellion in each, humans who had not simply accepted that their fate was to die under the hands of their oppressors, in spite of the fact that they were in the worst of all possible places. I was pleased to see a couple of males who might fit the bill and I resolved to buy them at once.
Enrique, for his part, found many that he liked and I waited patiently and was surprised when he only bought three.
I instructed the guards of my selections and glanced at Enrique. "Don't you usually get more?" I asked him.
He grinned at me. "I decided to take a leaf out of your book and try this whole attention to human maintenance thing, even though your bill did get overturned. Humans are finicky things though, aren't they?"
He had no idea.
"But still, I haven't been going through them so quickly for all that, so it seems you might be onto something, Councillor."
I generously decided not to focus on the fact he was still an imbecile, because even an idiot that would listen to me from time to time was better than the ones who did not. "Indeed. They learn, too, so you might find you get better service if you keep them around longer."
I was quite convinced that the majority of the other vampires' slaves would turn to my side, or at least wish to, when the conflicts finally began. Every human still alive was a potential rebel against their own masters. I smiled widely at him so that he could bask in the warmth of my oft withheld approval. I wished for more of this behaviour, so I would reward it.
If Enrique became my little Pavlov's dog, I would hardly complain. I could always do with another pet, and perhaps if he could indeed learn I would not need to kill him when my plans reached their fruition.
Come to think of it, perhaps a number of the younger and more moderate vampires could be seduced to my side, and that would be a worthy thing indeed. They were no doubt annoying as well, but if they could be retrained to fit into my new world they might be useful forces in the coming conflicts
Surely there were more malcontents amongst the younger, less powerful vampires who were nearly as disenfranchised as the poor humans.
It was a consideration for later, of course.
For now, I turned my attention back to Enrique's babbling. He was talking of some of the more obvious aspects of human maintenance—yes, if you feed humans properly, they do recover their blood faster—but since he seemed to be excited about his discoveries while doing what I wanted him to do I tried harder than usual to hide all traces of my condescension.
I still could not understand how these creatures who had once been human managed to forget how the whole thing worked when even the youngest among the humans had a drive to absorb energy. I supposed it had something to do with vampires' general distaste for recalling their mortal lives. Perhaps it was as I expected and they disliked the reminder that they were once mortal and that they had not entirely escaped the frailties of the state.
We returned to the council chambers and I was in much better spirits than I had been previously. Even a certain loss could not entirely bring me down.
* * * * *
I watched attentively as the other councillors brought forward their bills, but sadly, Davidson was not amongst them. He did get up to contest two bills, and support one, but not on ones that I wish to argue with him, so I bided my time. I spoke strongly against the one that sought to limit the humans in my possession and was relieved when it did not pass, although it was a near miss.
If these fools tried to make me give up my humans, the rebellion would be starting a whole lot earlier than planned. They did not know how close they had come.
I voted strategically on some bills and on whims for others and once I caught Whitmore shaking her head at me. I rather enjoyed the reaction. At one point, Magnus almost came to blows with another councillor, his dull hair flying, fangs bared and eyes slightly flushed red.
It was especially disappointing when several of the vampiric guards were summoned from outside the chamber to pull them apart. I had enjoyed Willow's panic and the way Katter still looked terribly bored in spite of the fact his two closest associates were all worked up. It was a shame I did not get to see even a little bit of Magnus's black blood spilled, but sadly, a girl can't have everything.
I returned to my chambers upon a break to find the humans I had purchased shackled to the wall and I had my guards take care of them so by the time council was done for the night my entryway was almost empty. My apartments were quiet other than the low sound of a couple of humans moving around, and Javier was standing at attention, but looking terribly exhausted after a long night of watch.
"Go to bed, slave," I told him.
He nodded and left quietly. They all well knew to never question my orders out loud when other vampires were around unless someone was making noise to cover it. I did rather use it to my advantage to manage my stubborn humans a bit, but it was for their own good.
I smiled at his back as he did what I told him to do. There was not much point in having human guards when I was present and attentive, but they liked to feel needed so I usually let them, but there was no reason he should not have a good sleep. Staying up throughout the night was terrible for the humans' health.
Wandering around the chambers of my council apartment, I spoke with my humans who were awake while they ate breakfast. It was nice refuge to know I was surrounded by supporters in this hostile place. It was pure insanity that a huge part of me still missed a certain malevolent brown gaze.
* * * * *
After my rest, I fed on Mantis, and then I returned to the council chambers for another delightful night of deliberations. Again, most of the bills were pointless drivel, but I was most pleased when Magnus went up and presented another terrible bill. It did not escape my notice that he did not even attempted to curry my favour this time and I could only wonder if it was because he had actually learned something from previous experiences or if he was busy sulking in his resentment.
No matter. I had written him off as a lost cause long ago. I could practically hear a little angel Leif whispering his disapproving caution in my ear, and a little devil Marcel spurring me on to greater heights of amusing recklessness.
It was difficult because both made good points, but I ignored them and simply sat like a good little vampire and waited for Magnus's dreary speechifying about setting up an institute of human research to come to an end.
Once he finished, the question was whether I should go up and argue against his bill or not. Leif would probably council me to sit still and be silent, but Marcel would probably run up there to have his say if he was in my position.
But what should Vienne do? I decided I would go up, in the interest of blood security as always.
I was surprised to see another of the relatively young councillors go up and make some substandard arguments about why it was a bad bill. I knew I felt just a touch sorry for him as Magnus pounded him into the ground. It seemed the youngling had a good heart, but none of Davidson's argumentative flair.
With my raised hand I volunteered to be the next councillor in line. Magnus's eyes burned into me with a consuming rage, so I smiled at him quite pleasantly as I approached. "Magistrate," I said, nodding towards him. I turned my attention to Magnus. "Councillor," I said politely, and he repeated the greeting with none of my poise.
Was he still smarting over his last defeat? If so he was a fool, for each quarterly brought a new round of play.
"Honourable councillors, you've just listened to some moral reasons that failed to be more than mildly convincing, although I'm certain they would be most heart wrenching, if you happen to be prone to that sort of nonsense."
I listened to my peers titter quietly and imagined I should feel bad for mocking the young councillor, but he should come up with better arguments before opening his mouth. If one swims with sharks, one should expect to get bit.
I waited until they finished containing their laughter, before continuing.
"I, of course, am most in favour of all types scientific discovery, as you might recall from my successful feral branding bill that I brought forward only a half year ago. It is helping us gather useful data on feral migration that we would not otherwise have access to."
Reminding them of my well lauded accomplishments would help the fools recall why they were wise to trust me, even if they were not in truth. I noticed that Magnus's visible anger had toned down a bit, and I wondered if he were so silly as to think that I might actively support his bill.
"However, this bill is far too open ended for me to be able to support it in good conscience. The honourable councillor brings dreams and aspirations, but very little actual detail on what he hopes to achieve with his human research center. Funding and human resources will be required without any clear goal, and I am ever against that.
"We are, as we have been for some time, at a clear crossroads when blood security issues—" Magnus scoffed loudly at me, and I wondered if he was as sick of listening to my excellent and reasonable points as I was of listening to him sound forth inexplicable nonsense, "Are going to press more and more heavily on each vampire among us, and is it not our responsibility as councillors to safeguard the future for those vampires who need blood as much as we do, yet do not have a voice on the council with which to speak their piece?
"And you all just heard this honourable councillor's reaction to the mention of blood security, because he clearly is evermore more concerned with ensuring that his own short-sighted interests and amusements remain central focus of the council. You all know that I have my own preferences, but no single amusement is more important than our greater goals, that is to say our common goal of ensuring that there is an ample supply of blood for all vampires in the future."
I swept my eyes throughout the crowd.
"So, while I applaud Councillor Magnus's interest in gaining new knowledge, I encourage him to next time bring forth more than a vague suggestion that we throw undocumented resources into a pit with no stated purpose. Please join me in voting against this bill in the encouragement of a better one in the future."
Of course, I would find an excuse to vote against that one, too, unless it pleased me not to. I smiled at the crowd and enjoyed another moment of the attention before I nodded to the magistrate and to Magnus and took my leave.
One more councillor went up and made a pitiable defense in favour, and then it went to vote. About two thirds voted against it, and I considered that my counterarguments were a job well done.
There was nothing like a satisfying night's work, and the night was barely half done.