It was like being the chubby kid during a team pick on the playground; everyone seemed to be chosen but you. Even the kid with the broken arm and the one who ate paste were selected for the team before you were. At least, that’s how Aria felt. Her Master once again had Embraced a newer bloodslave, leaving her on the sidelines. Aria wondered what kept Master Skye from making her his childe. She had been serving him for over fifty years; not a very long time in an immortal’s life, but certainly longer than any of the bloodslaves that had become Coterie in the past twenty years. The newest of Skye’s childer, Rosebud of all names, had been introduced to the Master seventeen years before, and was changed into a bloodslave twelve months later. Then sixteen years passed, and Rosebud was blessed with an Embrace. Why was she turned into a vampyre before Aria? It was true that the female on Lord Skye Winthorpe’s arm had to be young and beautiful but, although she was more than seventy years of age, Aria looked no older than Rosebud, who was changed when she was eighteen. She remembered when the younger bloodslave was first introduced to the household. Rosebud had no idea what had been happening to her when she was first bonded with the Master. She thought she had just landed herself a good-looking New York socialite who had had a weird blood fetish. When she finally did understand what had been happening to her, all she had been concerned with was if her fellow bloodslaves were certain that she was going to stay beautiful. “Beautiful,” Aria muttered, taking out a clean feather duster, “and as dumb as bricks.”
The bloodslave made a face as she walked into the newly furnished living room. Roses were etched into every piece of furniture, as well as on the walls and the Oriental rug. Roses seemed to be the focal point of every room in the townhouse, as if the new wife were marking her territory. “Just like the bitch she is,” Aria muttered, not at all in the mood to do the daily chores. But, it was her Master’s wish, and she had to obey. Master Skye had to be happy. * * * The Master’s happiness seemed to be the fuel that spurred the young looking lord to do the things he did. This was not the first time he had taken an immortal wife. His bloodslaves had recalled at least seven of them. This excess was because one of the vampyre lord’s biggest flaws was his short attention span. After five, maybe six years, Master Skye would send his wife on a shopping excursion, then changed all of the locks, put a new ward on the townhouse, and went on a trip across the seas. He would then wait a decade, and start the hunt for a wife again. Rosebud was his latest catch, and his bloodslaves had taken bets on how long she would last. “I give them two years,” Brock, the butler, said, “The longest the Master has ever been interested in one was nine, and how interesting can these shallow waters be?” “I say four,” Nattie, the cook, argued, “It’ll take him two years just to show her off at all of his vacation spots, while keeping her hidden from the Regent.” She shook her head, “How he’s kept all of his illegal childer secret all of these decades, I’ll never know.” “What’ll happen to Rosebud once she’s abandoned?” Iliana asked. She was the newest of the bloodslaves, and had yet to experience one of the Master’s short-lived marriages.
“Probably the same thing that happens to all of the flighty ones,” Brock answered, “He’ll send her off into the real world, with only knowledge of villas and pretty clothes, and she’ll wander into either a pack of vampyre hunters or werewolves and… well, we all know how friendly they can be.” It happened pretty much the way Brock predicted except, instead of bumping into vampyre hunters or werewolves, Rosebud made the stupid mistake of flirting with the known plaything of a Coterie gang leader. Needless to say, her immortal life was literally cut short. Ironically, the roses seemed to disappear from the townhouse around the same time… * * * Around a decade later, to Aria’s delight, the Master finally started showing interest in her. He asked for her opinions and brought her to shows. He took her to meetings of the Coterie as his valet, and to kine society balls as his escort. He even bonded another mortal as a bloodslave to lighten Aria’s household chore load. The most open display of his attentions was when he asked her to sit at his side at dinner. She knew that she was very close to being Embraced. One night, she paid a visit to the butler’s room. Brock, having been a bloodslave for more than a century, knew almost everything about the life of a vampyre. “Will you please teach me the laws and life of the Coterie?” she asked when he opened the door to his chambers, “I want to be prepared for the day the Master grows tired of me.” Brock smiled, “A wise decision, my girl. It looks like you should be embraced any day now.” Once again, the butler was partially right. An Embrace did occur, but it wasn’t with Aria. The Master had found a young Broadway singer, with flashing eyes and a beautiful voice and,
without a moment’s thought about Aria, made her his childe, this time with the Regent’s blessing. The woman’s name was Lara, and she was the Master’s new wife. Although spontaneous, Lord Skye Winthorpe was not without a conscience. He visited Aria’s room the day after Lara was presented to Coterie society to explain his actions in what he deemed to be a soothing way. He sat down on the edge of her bed and clasped her hands in his. “It’s for the best,” he told her, “How would it look if I Embraced a maid instead of a member of New York’s elite?” “I understand.” That wasn’t what Aria wanted to say. She wanted to yell at him, to throw things. But she couldn’t. He was her Master, and she had to obey. “Good girl,” Lord Skye smiled, patting her head. “What about the life of a vampyre?” she finally managed to say, “and all the laws and Edicts of the Regent?” Edicts were rules laid down by Regents past and present. What made them more important than the basic laws of a Regency was the fact that they were approved and enforced by all of the Regents in the Coterie world, and could not be revoked unless all of the Regents approved it. At the time Lara was Embraced, not a single one of the Edicts had ever been revoked. “Those are things she will learn in time,” the Lord Skye answered, “Now be a good servant and get the chambers ready for your new Mistress.” Aria walked away. He was, after all, her Master. She had to obey… * * *
Within days, the problems with the new wife began to surface. Lara craved blood. The first time she fed on a bloodslave, she nearly drained him dry. The Master had to forcibly pull her away before the bloodslave died. The Master, knowing how difficult it was to find good help, would not order any of the apprehensive servants to let her feed off them. Finally, out of desperation, he took her to the streets where she, time and time again, infringed on the Edicts. It happened so often, it caught the attention of the Regent, who sent a warning to Lord Winthorpe to control his wife, otherwise the Regent would take matters into her own hands. Aria was almost beyond thought. She knew she loved the Master with all of her heart; she should have been in Lara’s place. She would have appreciated him for the lord that he was and made sure that others gave him the respect that he deserved. The servants would have the townhouse spotless under her direction, and her lord and sire would either come home every night to a five course meal or (when there wasn’t company) some unsuspecting mortals with sweet, warm blood coursing through their veins. She would have cherished the years she was his wife; she would not have made him the laughing stock of the Coterie. Rumor had it that the Regent was near frenzy, and Lara was on her last chance. “If she encroaches on the Edicts one more time,” Nattie informed Aria, “the Regent will call a Hunt on them both.” A Hunt occurs when a member of the Coterie has broken the Edicts and/or angered the Regent in a dishonorable way. It is a final death warrant, when the purpose of all Coterie becomes finding the object of the Hunt and destroying him. Before they kill, the Coterie have to make sure to pull out the victim’s canines and present them to the Regent as proof of destruction. The Hunt could go on indefinitely, unless the Regent called it off. Of course, even
if the Regent decided to end the Hunt, there was always a chance that some Coterie living on the edge of the city might not hear of this and try to get back into the Regent’s graces. If that happened, well, that wasn’t really the Regent’s concern… * * * The Hunt was officially declared one week later, when Lara created her own childer. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, if she first received the Regent’s permission. In this case, she hadn’t. In fact, this Regent had created the Edict dealing with the age of those embraced. They had to be strong and mature enough to handle the pressures of Coterie life. Lara’s childer were nine and ten. The Hunt had begun. Aria thought that Skye would be furious: that he would kick Lara and her childer out of his home and cut all ties with them, selecting a new wife. Instead, Lord Winthorpe met with the Regent to defend his bride. “Do not bother, Skye Winthorpe,” Regent Sharinell said as the vampyre lord walked into the crowded room, “your childe has crossed me for the last time. The Hunt has been called.” “You said a Hunt would be called if Lara broke the laws of the Coterie again,” Skye seethed, standing next to her chair, “This hasn’t happened.” “She didn’t ask my permission and the childer are too young. She has broken an Edict.” Skye leaned down and whispered, “An Edict you would not be able to enforce if you had been left in Central Park with a stake through your heart.” He then turned around and spoke for the entertainment of the others in the room, “The Edict does not state the precise age at which one can Embrace a mortal. It says that the kine has to be mature enough to handle Coterie life.” “I, of all people here, know the Edicts of the Coterie,” the Regent replied darkly.
Lord Winthorpe shrugged. “Well then, who’s to say Lara’s childer aren’t at the level of maturity needed?” “I have never seen mortals under the age of eighteen that could even be considered mature. No kine that young could handle the pressures of the undead world. For creating them and putting them in such a horrific situation, their sire must be destroyed.” “And what of the ones she’s sired?” Skye continued, knowing that this was all for show. “They are innocents. If a Hunt is called, they will be killed along with Lara.” “That is something she should have thought of before embracing them.” Skye shook his head, “You do have an interesting double standard, my liege.” “Explain yourself before I kill you.” “Well, you have an age Edict to protect the immature kine from being Embraced. However, you don’t seem to care that your Hunt could destroy two newly sired Coterie.” If the fight hadn’t already been won, that last comment would have pushed it in Skye’s favor. Begrudgingly, the Regent called the Hunt off. * * * Aria was furious. Not only was Lara allowed to disobey their Regent without punishment, but Skye seemed more and more interested in his wife as the days passed. The normal signs of indifference that the vampyre lord usually showed after such a long period of time weren’t seen when it came to Lara. Signs such as leaving her alone in a deserted section of the Bronx, asking her to watch the sky and tell him when the sun rose, or challenging her to steal the cross off of the alter at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The worst was that Skye was acting like a family man: taking the young ones to the theater, having the toy store stay open late so that they
could go on a shopping spree, having them call him ‘Father’… It was obvious that this was a lifestyle that Lord Winthorpe enjoyed, and that Lara was going to be staying a long time. The bloodslave half-heartedly dusted the shelves in the library, the feathers of the duster barely touching the leather bound tomes. She hadn’t seen Skye in his favorite room for weeks, and she noticed that even the books in the mythology section, the Lord’s reading preference, were covered in a fine layer of dust. This particular section took up an entire wall in the large room and had many first editions in it. Many Coterie believed that these were acquired when Skye had fed on one of the original Greek philosophers whose name had never made it into the history books. Aria had always wondered what was so interesting about the books that lined the walls. Knowing that there was no possibility of Skye entering the room, (he was out watching the latest Disney flick with the ‘family’), she decided to look through one of the older manuscripts. Ironically, or subconsciously, her hand stopped over an ancient copy of Euripedes’ famous tragedy. She sat in one of the overstuffed chairs that filled the room, curled her legs under her, and began to read. A strange feeling came over her as she read the one act after another, and she smiled as she closed the book. Her eyes shined as she wrapped her hands around the book and ran up to her room, where pages of notes from her sessions with Brock covered her bed. Pushing them aside, she sat on her bed, and began to plan… * * * Aria walked alone down an alley on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The area seemed deserted, but she knew that they were nearby. “Come out! I know you’re there!" she turned slowly, "I know you’re watching me!”
“What of it?” a voice from the shadows asked, “Do you think that knowing we’re here is going to save your ass? In this case, knowing is not half the battle.” “I know that you’ve had a grievance against Lord Winthorpe since he weaseled out of the Hunt, and would do anything to get back at him.” A shadow pulled away from the alley and stepped into the light. Aria recognized the leader of the Brotherhood gang, Vadyr. She noticed the interest and recognition in his red eyes. “You’re Winthorpe’s bitch.” “No, Lara is Skye’s bitch. I’m just his faithful bloodslave.” “So faithful that you’re sneaking into my territory to find allies against him?” “Not him, just his bitch.” “Vadyr rubbed his chin, “This could be interesting.” He mused, beckoning her, “step into my parlor…” * * * Skye was gone from the townhouse; the gang leader had contacted the vampyre lord about rumors to kill his undead family. Aria made certain that she was nowhere to be found when Lord Winthorpe summoned her as his escort. Angered, he finally took Ilana with him, leaving Brock and Nattie to watch his wife and her childer. Of course, he couldn’t have known that the bodies of his older bloodslaves had been drained and left in the storage room to add to the dust. He might have sensed it if he hadn’t been so distracted by the stack and stacks of binders filled with wallpaper samples for the childer’s room. But, as was the norm, the childer came first.
Aria walked down the hallway towards Lara’s chambers. With each step she took her visage faded, leaving her invisible by the time she opened the double doors. Lara, too interested in her own image, didn’t notice the doors’ movement. As she twirled in front of the full-length mirror, she didn’t hear the footsteps on the wooden floor. She was so engrossed in her reflection that she didn’t notice the metal pipe until it was embedded in her back. Turning in surprise, she left herself open for the second blow, a wooden stake in the stomach. Aria knew Skye had had the mystical Coterie move his wife’s heart. Immobilized, the lady of the house fell ungracefully to the floor. Aria carried the limp body to the patio, where she kicked open the tinted doors and dropped Lara unceremoniously in a heap. She knew Skye was not going to be home in time to save her; the Brotherhood’s red herrings would keep him out so long, he would have to find solace underground before the sun rose. By the time he made it back home, Lara would be a pile of ashes. The childer were next. Skye’s loyal bloodslave walked quietly up the stairs to their room on the topmost floor. The immortal youths sat in front of the huge television using their supernatural reflexes to beat yet another video game. Aria hesitated. They weren’t at fault. They were young, innocent…and had both Skye’s and Lara’s blood flowing through their veins. If they heard her footsteps on the marble floor, they didn’t turn around. She also assumed that they didn’t hear, or just ignored, the sound of the large battle-ax being pulled from the far wall. With one quick swing, the two young heads fell bouncing across the floor. She silently reached for them, not turning to watch as she threw the heads into the cheerily burning fireplace. The bodies were still trying to defeat the game as if nothing happened…
* * * Skye was enraged. His bloodslave… his trustworthy, obedient bloodslave… had sent him on a wild goose chase and then killed his wife and her childer. If that wasn’t enough, she had the backing of the Brotherhood, who had dominated Ilana away from him and most probably were responsible for the deaths of his butler and cook. It was obvious, though, that Lara was not killed by someone outside the household. Only Aria knew where Lara’s heart was; only Aria had access to the upper levels of the townhouse; only Aria had a reason to hate Lara so much. With those thoughts in mind, Skye went to the Regnant. * * * Sharinell looked at the newest member of the Brotherhood. “Explain yourself.” “There ain’t much to explain,” Vadyr answered before his childe could, “Lara was a disgrace to the Coterie and her embracing children was making a mockery out of Your Edicts. Lord Winthorpe kept the Hunt at bay by double talking you and making excuses. That might work in politics, but on the street, we don’t deal with that kind of bullshit. Her blatant disregard for our Edicts could have screwed us all. We don’t like being threatened, especially by fellow Coterie. The bitch got what she deserved, and the brats were just at the wrong place at the wrong time.” The Regent was silent for a moment, than nodded. “Agreed. You are free to go.” “B-b-but, she’s my bloodslave,” stammered Skye. “Not anymore,” replied the Regent, looking at the Brotherhood’s colors draped across Aria’s shoulders. “Maybe this will help you to think before you take another wife.”
Aria walked past Lord Skye Winthorpe with the rest of the Brotherhood. The former bloodslave was finally content. She was where she belonged. She found her team at the playground.
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