1 01: The Werewolf who won the world

"Good morning, your majesty!" Sunlight beamed into Ivailo's bedroom.

"Good morning to you too, Cyran," Ivailo replied, blinking as his eyes tried to adjust to the sunlight. The vampire, who was now laying out a set of clothes on a chair, had apparently decided that opening the heavy curtains was the only way to wake him up. "What is on the agenda?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well, your majesty, the nobility of the High Council wish to see you when you have had your breakfast." Ivailo held his arms out as Cyran helped the werewolf pull on the wine coloured waistcoat.

"I am going to assume that they want to see me about the Willow girl?" Ivailo questioned, and his man-servant gave a somber nod in response. "Very well then, I have to give them results at some point or other," The Werewolf breathed as he sat down at the small table in the room's corner as Cyran laid out a tray of meat and fruit. Ivailo, not caring that someone was watching, tore at the meat with a vigour unmatched by any hungry vampire before chewing his way through the fruit.

Having finished his rather substantial breakfast, Ivailo left the simply decorated bedroom and entered a cavernous hallway, heavily decorated with large tapestries and large paintings depicting some of the most famous battles in Acad, both fictional and real. He stopped at one that was seemingly just one of the many paintings, the one of the battle he remembered the best of all. The Werewolf Who Won The World, he thought. Such a fittingly simple name for the simple painting and her simple subject. But War is never simple, especially when trying to overthrow a monarchy that had abused him when he was a child.

After many twists and turns, Ivailo entered the grand throne room, the largest room in all of Craester Castle.

"Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen!" Ivailo said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster as he took his seat at the head of the table. He had never particularly liked high council meetings. He felt as if all the bureaucracy was unnecessary and slowed him down from achieving all the goals he had for his empire. Recently, the high council meetings had become even more tedious, being centered almost completely around the destruction of the last of the former Emperor's children, born long after Ivailo had killed him.

"Good morning, your majesty!" The rest of the council responded in unison, bowing and taking their seats.

"So, how goes the search for the Willow girl?" Ivailo wanted nothing more than to find her, if only to stop being called to high council meetings every morning.

"Okay, your majesty. We have tracked her down to a village three days' ride from here, but we will need more time to find out her movements," Brass Errol, Lord of Spies replied, taking a sip of water from his goblet, his hands gnarled with years of scrubbing floors.

"Good. The sooner we find her and extinguish the last of the Willow clan, the sooner we can move on to better projects."

"You still want to go to war with the Oblivion Kappa?" Kafei, Lady of war and one of Ivailo's two sisters, asked.

"Yes, dear sister, I do still want to give the Oblivion Kappa a good lashing after what they did to our mother," Ivailo pounded his fist on the wooden table so hard it shook.

"Very well, your majesty, if you can bring the girl's dead body back to the council, then you can have as much as money you need for your war against the Oblivion Kappa," Arhein Wyett, Lord of finances said.

"Thank you, Lord Wyett, for your vote of confidence in my ability to kill a single vampire," Ivailo said dryly, as if the comments made by Lord Wyett were a joke made in poor taste. Lord Wyett just scowled.

"If you are to kill someone, your majesty," Lyra, Lady of Laws started. "You would do well to do it yourself, and in a private room. You, your majesty, are the only person who is truly exempt from any legal repercussions, however if you do it in public then you are more susceptible to acts of revenge, even if legally you are in the right."

"Thank you for your concern and wise council, older sister. I will take your wise words into consideration when it comes time to aim the killing blow." Ivailo smiled at his older sister. "If there is nothing else, then this council meeting is finished." The entire room stood as Ivailo left, back down the same cavernous hallway to the same cavernous bedroom decked in red drapery and wood furnishings.

"Good meeting, your highness?" Cyran asked, helping Ivailo to take off his coat.

"The same as always, Cyran. Nobles wanting the Willow girl dead, promising to withhold my revenge on the Oblivion Kappa if I do not eliminate her." Ivailo said in a bored tone as he sat down at his desk. "Right, now to run the kingdom!"