Chapter Two

"Noria, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"No, Rheda, I'm not sure about anything right now." Noria replied tensely.

"Who is this person anyway?"

"At one time he was a trusted friend. We had a falling out some time ago."

"More then a falling out though!" Lenési hissed in my mind. "He was the one who commanded Noria to bring me before the Vampire Lords when the madness overcame me."

"Um, Noria? Lenési just told me that-"

"Yes, I can imagine what she just told you. Lord Drazan did bring the attention of the other Vampire Lords down on us thirty years ago. I trusted him before that though, and we need his help now."

"What if he turns us in?"

"He won't." Noria replied in a cold voice. "I won't let him."

I cast a sideways glance at Noria. I'm not sure I like this idea at all…

"Nor do I, Rheda. She is correct though, we need his help."

Our destination was a risky one. Seeking the aid of the member of the Lord's Council was dangerous, one normally tried to avoid attracting their attention at all. Vampire Lords in general were wealthy, powerful, dangerous, as well as arrogant, and tended to be power hungry.

We'd taken the transport to reach the entrance to this Vampire Lord's estate, and we were now approaching the iron gates leading to his home. As if expecting us, the heavy iron gates opened as we neared. The flagstone path to the main entrance meandered through a formal flower garden. Though the blooms were out of season, in the spring and summer it must have been an impressive sight. The manor house was quite large, but not overly ostentatious. It spoke of one who had wealth but didn't need to flaunt it. Roughly rectangular and three stories in height, it probably had more then enough room for many friends, family, and other guests. I found myself wondering what kinds of gatherings were held in places like this. I shivered at that thought. It was not something to delve too deeply into.

We were greeted at the door, and quickly ushered into the stately house by an older gentleman. Escorted into a den, we were told that the master would meet with us in a few moments. Though there was nothing overtly sinister about the room, my skin crawled as I gazed around. I feel like I'm in an old vampire movie… When Lord Drazan finally entered the room, I almost laughed despite my nerves. This man has seen way to many vampire movies! A black cape with red lining? All that's missing is the clichéd accent! He had black hair streaked through with white, a weathered face, and a black mustache. His eyes were deeply blue and surprisingly not at all unfriendly. When he smiled it was warm, genuine, and unthreatening.

"Noria," he began in a mild tone, "I've been expecting you."

Noria sat on the edge of her chair, hands folded in her lap. "Indeed, and why would that be?"

"Her of course," he replied, pointing to me. "So this is you new fledgling."

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. His eyes were locked on mine, and I found myself unable to break eye contact.

Finally, he blinked and shifted his gaze back to Noria. "Close, but no fledgling."

Noria eyebrows quirked upward, "What do you mean?"

"Oh come now, Noria! I didn't just get my teeth yesterday! She may look and behave like a fledgling, but when I just attempted to urge this young lady to sleep, she resisted me. No fledgling can do that. So, who is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Noria replied coolly.

"Oh yes you do, and you'll not have my help if you don't tell me who she really is."

Noria sighed in resignation, and replied, "She's…an old friend."

Drazan glanced at me for a moment. "Unbound Warrior, you don't have many old friends. Perhaps you could be a little more specific?"

Drazan, if you use anything I'm about to tell you against her or I, you will live to regret it."

He raised any eyebrow and asked in amusement, "Is that a threat, Noria?"

Noria's voice became low and dangerous. "Yes, and it's also a promise. I know you've been curious about my unusual abilities for a long time. If you betray me now, you will get a very personal demonstration of what I can do."

Drazan smiled faintly and sat back in his chair. "Noria, I've long ago stopped worrying about threats to my personal safety. Oh, I have no doubt that you have the ability to make my life come to an abrupt and uncomfortable end. I no longer worry about death though. I've been dead for far longer then you've been alive. What's left now? A hollow shell perhaps? A ghost of the man I once was; certainly a pale reflection of the vampire I once was. At one time I could have commanded you to reveal all of your secrets, but that time is long past." He shook his head and continued, "Noria, before we even continue, I must tell you that I am no longer a member of the Lords Council. They are a pitiful lot now. They have been for nearly a century."

Noria stared at him, though she tried to conceal it, a look of astonishment flickered across her face. "You were expelled?"

Drazan answered with a quirky grin, "I prefer to think of it as a voluntary retirement."

"Why?"

"It seems I do not mesh with their 'modern' thinking. To many young ambitious minds fill their ranks. They quarrel over perceived slights, for imagined gains, and there are not but a few real thinkers among them anymore. Even the Chairman and the other senior Lords have forgotten the true purpose of the Council. The Chairman is old and feeble - a weak puppet for the other Lords to control. I was of no use among a group of petty bickering fools."

"Don't trust him! He's still one of them!" Lenési warned in my mind.

I murmured, "Noria, are you really certain you want to tell him who we are?"

A slow smile spread across Drazan's face. "We?"

"Rheda, may I take over?" Lenési asked.

Of course. I replied with no small amount of apprehension.

"Drazan you old bastard," Lenési began after gaining control of my body. "For what you did to Noria, I aught to carve you up like a roast!"

Drazan's eyebrows shot upward. "That voice…no, it's not her voice, but the tone…"

Lenési slowly got to her feet. "There was no reason to notify the Lords Council. You could have spared her thirty years of isolation!"

The old man shook his head in wonder. "Noria you have trained this woman well. She even sounds like Lenési."

"I haven't trained her at all." Noria quietly replied.

"Fool!" Lenési spat. "Has you brain turned to goo after so many years? Have you no capacity to understand that death sometimes is only temporary?"

"Well, that certainly isn't a fledgling!" he chuckled. "It's also not possible that the person in front of me is Lenési. We are back to the beginning. Who is she?"

"Noria, we shouldn't have come here. He lacks the ability to think anymore. Why we ever called him friend, I will never know. At least his mate had more sense. I suppose she really was the brains between them. I'm not surprised she left him for a woman," Lenési sneered.

"There is only one person that ever spoke to me this way and lived to tell about it, and that was only when she was young and foolish." Drazan noted with no small amount of amusement.

Lenési laughed at him, "Young and brave more like. I never told Noria about it either."

Noria frowned. "Nési, what are you talking about?"

"Drazan tried to seduce me after my Mistress died. I, as a very young vampire, had the audacity to refuse a Vampire Lord in front of about a dozen of his friends. I believe a made a few remarks about his parentage, manhood, sexual habits, and so on."

Drazan laughed on nodded. "If I remember, you also accused me of biting myself and feeding on vermin as well."

"So you believe that I am really Lenési?"

His eyes studied Lenési face, but he looked away after only a few seconds. "Lenési died. I know that for certain. What I'm not certain of is what happened after that. I will accept for the moment that you are who you say you are. Do you know how you were able to survive your own death?"

"When I died, I was able to join my spirit with Noria, and when I found a suitable host, I put myself in this woman's body."

Drazan tilted his head to one side for a moment, as if considering that explanation. Finally he replied, "No, that is not possible. At least, it was not possible for Lenési."

Lenési ginned. "Well, I'm here. How do you explain it?"

He focused on Noria. "I have a theory that I've been keeping to myself for about…oh…sixty odd years."

Noria responded quietly, "You've known all this time?"

"No, actually I haven't known. I've wondered though. You just gave me confirmation. Almost four centuries ago, I began watching you. Under behest of the Lord's Council, I set out to determine if you were a threat, and if you did indeed possess some abilities that vampirism couldn't account for. We were very interested in learning how you slew your master - that was where I began. Through the following centuries I've seen you do a number of things that are not quite in the realm of vampirism alone. You've handled the mystery surrounding you quite skillfully, using it to your best advantage without actually ever doing much out of the ordinary. You wanted to be left alone, and that's what the Lord's Council decided to do. I on the other hand, wasn't satisfied. I wanted to understand your abilities, their origin and scope. I watched you, and tried to understand. I researched your ancestry, and learned much about your family."

Noria came out of her chair and demanded, "So all this time, our three centuries of friendship, our trust, it was all a ruse?"

Drazan's eyes flashed in anger. "Don't be a fool! Of course it wasn't! You became one of my closest friends! After my wife left me, you became my confidant. That doesn't mean I wasn't still intrigued by your uniqueness. Do you really think I was doing all of that just to satisfy my curiosity?"

"You just said you were doing this for the Lord's Council though!"

"I was at first. I gave the results of my research to them four years after I'd started. After that the others only seemed to express a passing interest in you."

"Now wait a minute," Lenési began, "Are you saying that I didn't do any of this? That is was all Noria?"

"Yes," Drazan replied, "Only she has powers of this kind. Oh, I'm sure you played a role, Lenési, but Noria is the one with the real power."

Noria sat heavily, "I don't…or I didn't ever imagine I had that kind of power. I didn't try to do it. It just happened. I didn't even know it happened. I don't even know where this power comes from."

"I do." Drazan stated confidently. "You have been touched by the power of a Goddess."

"A Goddess gave me these powers? How did you come to that conclusion?" Noria demanded weakly.

"Not you, one of you're ancestors - probably a very, very distant one. I was able to trace your linage back a long way. You're family was Greek, did you know that?"

Noria scowled. "No, they're Irish. They've lived in Ireland for at least six or seven centuries."

"You're quite correct, they have lived in Ireland for quite some time. They arrived in the 15th century probably around 1459 or so. They fled Athens in 1458, the year that the Ottoman Empire took the city."

"1458? You traced my ancestry back to 1458?" Noria shook her head in disbelief.

"Actually a bit farther back then that. Except for a few noteworthy incidents after 1459 you're family is fairly unremarkable. Before 1458 though, it was anything but ordinary."

Lenési interjected, "How did you gather this kind of information about Noria's family?"

"The Lords Council has a rather extensive historical library. They ordered the library constructed in the 9th century BC. Though they weren't known as the Lords Council then, they served a similar function."

9th Century BC! Is that real? I asked Lenési within our own mind.

"Yes, it's real. I saw it once. I do not know how extensive it is though." Aloud Lenési continued, "It has information on specific families?"

"It has an almost unbelievable volume of information. Too much in fact." Drazan revealed with a sigh. "It far surpasses anything that human mortals have. I suspect that elves have something greater, but I have never heard more than rumors about it. I had to assemble the history of Noria's family by searching through thousands of sources, and it took me most of a century to complete. I admit it became something of a hobby of mine. As I said, her family history back to 1458 is unremarkable. Before that, I found what I'd been looking for though. I have one reference that speaks of a cadre of Athenian priestesses escaping the city just before it was captured in 1458. They immigrated to western Europe and Ireland."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"One of your distant grandmothers was one of those priestesses."

"So? As much as I find Greek mythology somewhat interesting, it's just mythology. They didn't have any real powers."

Drazan smiled slyly. "Are you certain of that?"

"You speak as if they did have some sort of magic. Humans don't have magic though."

"What if they weren't human?"

"Elf then? But I'm no elf!" Noria protested.

"Actually, you have a small amount of elf blood. Okay, a very, very small amount. The priestesses certainly did have magic though. Perhaps you've forgotten that I was there? Well, not specifically in Greece in the 15th century, but I had been over Europe, and had been in Greece prior to that. Though even then the climate was growing increasingly hostile to elves, there were still some of us openly using magic, and even then I had suspicions that a few humans could work magic as well. I wasn't all that interested in it then. That came later. I always assumed that humans that possessed some magical ability were products of elf-human marriages. I've since learned that I may have been incorrect in that assumption."

"Okay, I'll accept this as possible," Noria replied slowly. "When elf blood is diluted they lose all of their magic though."

"No, actually they don't. The biggest part of learning to use magic is first believing, really believing, that you have the ability at all. You'd be surprised at the number of humans that have at least a small potential to work magic. They will never be able to though, mostly because they don't believe they can. Even Elves suffer from this problem; there should be a lot more Fairy Elves than there are. That's another topic though. Even though I learned you had some distant elf blood, I still couldn't account for your abilities - even a full-blooded Fairy Elf couldn't do the things I've seen you do."

"So why do I have these powers?"

"I'm getting to that. About sixty years ago I took a trip to Athens. My visit was quite unrelated to my research. While there I learned of a group of priestesses that hadn't left in the 15th century. In fact their descendants were still in Athens, and still worshiping an unnamed goddess. I sought out their temple, and after several months, I found it, and what I found was interesting indeed. There were elves and humans together. Humans with magic, and that had no trace of elf ancestry at all. Those priestesses claimed a goddess had touched them - or as they said 'we've been blessed by the glory of The Goddess.' They would not tell me her name though. I witnessed healing magic from these priestesses. Yes, elf priestesses can sometimes heal, but I also saw humans that had that ability. Their story about being touched by a goddess began to make sense. They were using magic beyond mortal power. Only a higher being - a goddess, could grant such power. Unfortunately even our great library is barren on real hard information about goddesses and the nature of their abilities. I am certain that at least the Fairy Elf Goddess can grant special abilities - I've seen specific examples of her doing that. I firmly believe that the other goddess can grant special abilities as well, but I have no information about it. In the end, I believe your powers to be Goddess given. Likely they were given by the Fairy Elf Goddess to your distant ancestor and passed down to you."

"This is all conjecture though. You really don't have any proof?"

"Yes, my evidence is circumstantial." Drazan acknowledged. "I'm convinced though. I suppose you could make a pilgrimage to the Fairy Elf Goddess's temple and ask Her. Who knows, she might even answer you."

I unconsciously shivered at his suggestion. An Elf Goddess's temple is the last place I want to go!

Noria didn't reply before Drazan continued, "Noria, I now understand why you are here. Someone, probably Callamad or Ventra, demanded that you present your 'new fledgling' to their court. They may even have some vague suspicions that your fledgling is something other then what she seems."

"I see you still have sources among your old friends." Noria remarked icily.

Drazan snorted, "I haven't had a friend among them in two or three centuries. Of course I still have contacts, but there is not one that I really trust anymore. That said, I didn't hear about your new fledgling from them. I have a few…other sources of information."

Noria raised an eyebrow, "Indeed? Anyone I know?"

Drazan smiled broadly and spoke a short phrase in a language I'd never heard before. Within a few moments seven shorthaired cats ambled into the room.

"Cats? You use cats to gather information?"

"These are my familiars. Call me old school, but I've found that animal companions tend to be more trustworthy then humans or elves. I find their thoughts soothing, unclouded by pride, arrogance, or deceit. They also make fine spies. They hunt as well, so I've always had in affinity for them."

A slinky black long-tailed cat rubbed against my leg. I looked down into liquid yellow eyes, and offered my hand for a sniff. A rough pink tongue followed a nose. Apparently finding me unthreatening, she lifted her head to receive a scratch under the chin.

"I don't like cats." Lenési confided to me.

Why not? What's not to like?

"Well for one, some Fairy Elves and vampires can tune in on their senses. Some are able to see through their eyes and hear through their eyes. You never know who might be looking out at you through the innocent eyes of a cat."

I jerked my hand away and glared at Drazan. He seemed not to notice.

"Noria, what exactly do you wish of me?" Drazan asked gently.

"We're not going to go before the Lords Council." she replied simply.

Drazan scowled. "I know you hate them, and they are probably just doing this out of petty spite, but it really is a simple procedure. Why would you refuse?"

Lenési spoke for me, "Ori and I promised Rheda that she'd never have to experience feeding. That was a condition of our joining."

"You promised what?" Drazan bellowed, scattering the cats.

"We promised she'd never have to feed."

Drazan shook his head in anger. "You had no right to make that promise! You turned her, and then promised she'd not be a vampire? What where the two of you thinking? I can't believe you both would be so reckless and foolish! You both should have known that you could never keep that kind of promise!"

Noria flinched at his rebuke, but held her ground. "We're trying to keep our promise - that's why we're here."

Drazan ignored her and instead focused on me. "Rheda, can you hear me? Are you conscious of what's going on?"

"Answer how you feel, Rheda. He can sense deception, so be careful with what you say."

I cleared my throat, "I can always hear what going on around me. Lenési and I share my body, she even lets me be in control more then she is."

"Did you give your consent to become a vampire?"

"Umm…kind of… I did, but Lenési promised I'd be asleep when she needed to feed."

Drazan took a deep breath. "Noria, do you realize that you and Lenési violated about a dozen of our laws by doing this?"

Noria frowned, "Why should I care about that? This is between Lenési, Rheda and I."

"Maybe you don't care, but a lot of others will when they find out what you did."

Noria's eyes narrowed, "And you are going to tell them like you did last time?"

"No, I'm not going to turn you in, and you already knew that before you came here. They will find out though. They have spies everywhere, and resources like you can't imagine."

"Will you help us?" I blurted out.

Drazan's expression softened. "You poor child. It must seem like your world has become a nightmare."

I laughed nervously, "Right now it does, but sometimes it's also wonderful beyond anything I could have imagined before."

"I still don't know what you want me to do," he revealed fixing me with questioning gaze.

I glanced at Noria. Did they want me to ask him? His eyes were still upon me, and I felt compelled to answer, "We need someplace where we'll be safe, and help getting there."

"That's all?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

I cleared my throat, "Isn't that enough?" I squeaked.

He shook his head and sighed, "You want me to risk my life to spirit you away to some safe haven? Noria after thirty years of silence, you have the chutzpa to come into my home and ask me this?"

Noria met his gaze and grinned tightly, "I didn't ask… Rheda did."

Drazan leaned back in his chair and laughed deeply. "Pawn takes knight… and that's checkmate. You always were a crafty one, Noria. Nicely played."

I frowned. What was that all about?

Drazan winked at me, "Confused again, Young One? Let me tell you a little story. When I became a vampire in the year 244, the one thing that bound us together was honor. Even above personal survival, we acted with honor and selflessness to each other. Vampires would not have survived those dark times, had we behaved like so many vampires do today. It has been a thousand years since honor played such a role in vampire society. I'm old enough to remember as well that we once cherished our fledglings. Cherished and protected them, and not just our own fledglings, but also everyone else's as well. That way of thinking certainly doesn't exist anymore either."

I was still confused. "Does that mean you're going to help us?"

"By most definitions you are a newly turned vampire - a fledgling, whether you wanted to be one or not. You asked me for help, and because I still believe in the old ways, I am honor bound to do what I can to protect you." He turned his gaze toward Noria, "You knew all of this, of course. You knew if she asked me for help, I'd give it."

You mean all I had to do was ask him for help? Lenési, why didn't you tell me that?!

"I couldn't, nor could Noria. Drazan, while not an Ancient, has considerable power. He has an irritating ability to sense motive in people. He would have known if your request had been scripted by us."

Noria made a vague attempt to hide her smile, "Yes, I knew that."

"That wasn't very sporting of you," he replied lightly.

"No, it wasn't. I had no choice though. We're not exactly on the best terms right now."

"No, and the blame for that is mine exclusively. Lenési was quite correct, I could have saved you thirty years of isolation. I also should have worked to mend our friendship many years ago. Noria, though we haven't spoken in three decades, you are just about the only person that I still trust and would call a friend," he murmured. "I would have helped you, regardless of who was doing the asking."

Noria sighed, "I blamed you for a lot things that weren't your doing. Perhaps later we can talk about some of it, but right now we need a plan of action. You are familiar with their network of informers, and the regions that they have the most influence. Is there anyplace we can go where we will be safe from them?"

"Safe so that you may live without fear that they will find you?" he queried.

Noria nodded. "Yes. We just want to live in peace."

"Noria, there is no such a place. The only way that you will be safe is to ally yourself with someone who can protect you. I wish that I could be that protector, but I lack the influence as well as the abilities. A thousand years ago, perhaps I could have defended you two, but not now."

"What about finding one of the Ancients?" Noria wondered.

Drazan became thoughtful. "Perhaps… One of them could protect you, but convincing them to do so would be difficult at best. Remember, they isolated themselves from the rest of society for a reason. They won't welcome your intrusion into their domain."

Ancients? You mentioned that before… Lenési, what are they talking about?

"The Ancients are Fairy Elf vampires of extreme age - they were around before recorded history on Earth. They call themselves true vampires - whatever that means. They are highly reclusive, and very, very dangerous."

Have you ever met one?

"No. The last record of one appearing was about four centuries ago. The Ancient that appeared that time killed seven powerful Vampire lords - supposedly without giving any explanation. We all fear them."

"Do we really have any other choices?" Noria asked softly.

"To remain free you must have protection, and I know of none other then an Ancient that can provide that protection. Unfortunately you may be in greater risk from the Ancient ones just by intruding on one of them."

"Do you know where we can find one?"

Drazan slowly rose and walked over to the fireplace. Slowly and carefully he retrieved a small object from the mantle and returned to his chair. Resting in his palm was a dagger that had its blade broken off near the hilt.

Drazan spoke in a low voice, "The only time I met an Ancient was four centuries ago. She strode into our Lords Council meeting and began laying waste to the room, and it's occupants. With magic and sword she slew seven Lords by sealing the room, and cutting them down. Those Fairy Elves present tried to stop her…but our spells were useless against her terrible power. She killed all but four, the three youngest - all humans, and myself. I was the only Fairy Elf she spared, but she gave me a parting gift to remember her by. She stabbed me in the shoulder with this dagger. Why she didn't kill me, I do not know. She could have easily done so. She told us four to remember this lesson, but what she meant by that, I can't even guess. It was very fortunate that the whole Council wasn't meeting at the time. She may have destroyed us all."

"You know where she lives, don't you?"

He sighed heavily and nodded. "Yes, and she is the only one that I know how to find. She lives in the Harrower Mountains - unfortunately on the other side of the planet."

"Can you give us directions?"

"I could do that, however-"

Noria interrupted, "How do we get there? Teleport? I don't have that power, and even Lenési only ever had the ability to do line-of-site teleporting."

What?! Lenési, you were a Fairy Elf…not just an elf?

"Yes. I thought you knew that?"

I closed me eyes. No, you never mentioned it.

"Well…I was. Too bad I don't still have my magic."

I winced. Whatever power controls my destiny, they must be laughing at me.

Drazan continued again as both he and Noria were unaware of mine and Lenési's conversation. "The entire region around her home is shielded against long distance teleporting, and I suspect it's at least a five day walk to get to her lair from the edge of her anti-teleportation ward."

"You've been there?"

"No, but I've been to the edge of the defensive wards around her home."

"How difficult a journey will this be?"

"Very difficult I would imagine, and I'm not the young buck I once was either."

"You needn't come with us. You could show us on a map, or-"

Drazan interrupted, "You'll need my help. If the Council learns of your destination, they will try very hard to stop you. Noria, you do possess some very unique abilities, but you don't know the power that they wield. Have you ever heard of the forbidden disciplines? Or forbidden magic?"

Lenési spoke up for us, "I have. I learned something about forbidden magic years ago when I was in The Academy at the old Stronghold before I was a vampire. There was a rumor that some students had acquired texts containing the necessary incantations for spells of great power. I was just a plebe so I never heard what really happened. Quite a few students disappeared and the instructors were very closed mouth about the whole affair. It was rumored that the Fairy Elf Goddess herself eliminated them. After that just the mention of these so-called forbidden spells was banned."

"Eliminated them? You mean she killed them?" Noria asked.

"I don't know," Lenési admitted. "I suppose she could have done that. It doesn't quite fit with her benevolence though."

"Benevolence?" Drazan snorted. "I could tell you things…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Those are stories for another time. The Goddess is benevolent now, but she is very capable of destruction on a scale that you can't even comprehend. It's very likely that she either killed those students or put them someplace where they would do no harm. Regardless of that, those students weren't the only ones to 'discover' that kind of magic. Fairy Elf Vampire Lords acquired those spells long ago. Their use was very, very rare out of concern the Elf Goddess would be alerted, however that concern has waned of late. They are more open in using these forbidden powers, and more apt to use them as a means to gain more control. If the Lords know you're seeking an Ancient, they WILL come after you, and they will use whatever means necessary to stop you. They fear the Ancients, and they certainly would wish to stop anyone from allying with them."

"Why?" I asked. "I admit I'm new to the whole vampire culture, but I still don't understand why they hate us so much. Aren't we all just…vampires? Why don't they just leave us alone?"

Drazan smiled kindly at me, "You want a dissertation on the vampire politics? You'd have to throw in a heavy dose of elf and human/elf prejudices and politics as well. Young One, I'm afraid we don't have that kind of time. Simply put, they are weary of Noria, and if they learn she is seeking powerful allies they will see her as a real threat. If you do not follow their orders to appear before them, they will investigate, and quickly learn of Lenési. They almost certainly know that you've come to my home, and in that they will know something is afoot. They will be watching Noria as well as you even more closely now. If you truly intend to seek out an Ancient, we need to leave now. You cannot return to your home, cannot return to town, cannot contact anyone, speak to anyone, or be seen by anyone locally. You need to vanish, and quickly. When you step out of my home, consider your lives to be in danger, regardless of what you decide to do."

I swallowed hard and bowed my head. I'm putting Noria and Lenési in horrible danger just because I won't feed… Do I really have a right to do that? Is feeding truly the crime I think it is? I clenched my eyes shut. None of this would be happening if I'd just…

Drazan spoke softly, "Rheda, I know what you're thinking. Young One, life, even an immortals life, is merely an endless series of choices. You made a choice, and it was the right choice for you. You need to have courage and stand by that choice."

I looked up, first at Noria and then at Drazan. My voice was barely above a whisper, "What if I made the wrong choice through? Noria, Lenési, you…we all could die."

"Yes, we could. We would die because you chose to be free, rather then submit yourself to another's will."

"I…sort of agreed to it…" I replied weakly.

"No, Rheda, you didn't. You are a vampire that never agreed to feed…hence you never gave your full consent."

"If I agreed to feed now, would they leave us alone?"

"Rheda," Noria said quickly, "Lenési and I support your decision. You shouldn't be forced to feed."

"Answer me!" I demanded, ignoring Noria. "Drazan, would they leave us alone?"

"Possibly," he admitted. "For a time. Eventually they would learn about Lenési. It may not be next week, or next month, but eventually they will learn the truth.

"And when they do learn the truth?" I prodded.

"They would order Lenési's elimination, and they would make certain that order was carried out. You would not be able to run at that point. You can run now, because they probably do not suspect anything unusual about you - they think you really are just a fledgling vampire. If they knew the truth, you would already be in their custody. Rheda, if you want to stay alive, you must not be captured."

"I understand… What do we do now though?"

Noria leaned forward in her chair. "Drazan, we need a way to get out of here without being seen. Can you teleport us?"

Drazan slowly shook his head. "No. They have detection wards set up all over the place, including around my home. If I teleport us, they will know where we went, and their suspicions would increase exponentially."

"We can't just walk out though." Noria growled.

"Yes, actually that's just what we are going to do. We need to pretend for a few hours more that you do intend to follow their demands, and that you came here merely to get reacquainted with an old friend and introduce me to your new fledgling. We need to act like you intend to present Rheda to them in two days."

"You have a plan?"

Drazan grinned, "Yes… We're going hunting."

Noria shook her head, "But Rheda can't hunt…"

"Trust me," he replied.


Continued...

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