Chapter 8: A Bitter Homecoming

Oksana

Oksana stepped down out of her family’s raptor-drawn carriage and shook her long white hair out, as she took in the grandeur of her clan’s house seat.

Clan Khvostov was so old and powerful that the house seat was closer to a castle than it was to a mansion. Darkstone walls were studded with stone turrets, where guards constantly patrolled ensuring the safety of those inside. The walls encased the entirety of the beautiful crafted main mansion, with a large gate made out of precious gems leading to the front steps. While this was the home of her direct family, it also housed a number of other families that made up her clan.

The surrounding grounds held numerous sculptures adorned with gems and other precious metals. Though greenery was rare in the blood lands, her clan was rich enough to have mages on retainer, whose sole job it was to keep the plants growing healthily in the darker skies of the blood lands. This had allowed for an impressive array of trees, flowers, and vines that were all meticulously groomed and cared for. A large fountain in the shape of a large bat in flight was the centerpiece of the garden. Oksana took it all in with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

It was good being back, she thought to herself as she waved away the servants that came rushing up to attend her. She was in no need of their help and instead just wanted to get inside and report back to her parents. While she had no doubts about the success of her mission, she was eager to boast to her parents that she had successfully forced clan Tereshenko to sign the trade agreement.

“It is good to be back, is it not my lady?” Yuri asked as he dismounted from his raptor and bowed respectfully to her.

“Hmm. Yes, Yuri, I must say it is a nice change to be back in our seat of power.”

“Ahh, my lady, I trust your trip was enjoyable?”

Oksana frowned at the newcomer’s voice. Pavel, her current paramour had stepped out of the carriage behind her and had walked up to her side while bowing his head respectfully. Oksana knew what he had been alluding to. She had taken him for a brief tumble on the last leg of the journey while riding in the carriage and he still had the disheveled appearance of their recent affair.

“Mind your tone, Pavel! Do not let my current arrangement with you give you a sense of familiarity we do not have!

Immediately cowed, Pavel bowed his head as a sign of submission. Oksana sniffed in satisfaction at the display of deference. Though she was currently enjoying him in her bed, he was just a passing fling nothing more. Just something to keep her entertained. If he kept up with his current behavior, he would find himself kicked out of her bed much sooner than not.

Dismissing her presumptuous consort from her mind, she turned back to the retinue of servants that were filing out of the front gate leading into the mansion. She also saw that members of her family, as well as other house clan members, came out to greet her. Oddly enough she didn’t see her parents, but she just assumed that they were attending certain house affairs.

“So the mighty heiress returns I see!” A slightly mocking voice called out to her as she approached the group of people.

Oksana knew that voice. It was that of her young brother, Keshov. He was the only brother that she had and they had never gotten along well. She had always been her parent's favorite and Keshov had always resented that fact.

Oksana had never gone out of her way to get any closer to him. In her world, advancing her power and prestige came before anything else. If her brother chose to be a spoiled jealous ingrate, she had no interest in associating with him.

“Yes Keshov, and I see you are still the self-entitled child you always were and always will be. This is the reason our parents chose me to lead this diplomatic mission and not you,” Oksana’s voice dripped with sarcasm and scorn, as she returned his angry gaze, “Now, be a good little boy and get out of my sight.”

Not sparing another look at her brother, she turned to her sister, Yulia. Oksana was actually happy to see her sister again. Though she had no love for her useless brother, Oksana cared for and loved her younger sister. The two shared the same ambition to increase their positions in the clan. While Oksana had been made heir, her sister would have made a competent politician as well and would have been capable of taking over the clan too.

“Sister, it is good to see you again,” Yulia said as she and Oksana embraced. “I trust you succeeded in your endeavor?”

Oksana bared her teeth in a smile and laughed lightly while saying, “Of course Yulia, have you ever known me to fail at anything I set my mind to? I had those Tereshenko’s eating out of the palm of my hand by the time I left. They have signed the trade agreement. Once I report to our parents, we will work on arranging all the new assignments and trade routes we will need to establish, along with the workers to assign.”

Yulia smiled in satisfaction and said, “I never once doubted you, sister! Congratulations on successfully forcing a high vampire clan to practically swear allegiance to our clan! You will have to tell me all about it after you speak with mama and papa.”

“Ah yes, speaking of them, where are they? I would have assumed they would have come to greet me upon my return.”

Yulia frowned slightly and with a glance back to the house said, “They have not left their rooms yet, according to the guard shift that took over this morning. I have no idea what they are doing for so long in their rooms. They never stay inside this long.”

“Oh, I am sure papa is simply showing mother a….good time! You know as well as I do that despite his age, he is as lusty as a young bull!”

Yulia laughed at that and said, “Perhaps you are right sister! I know that Uncle Dimitri said he would go to their rooms himself personally to inform them again of your arrival!”

Oksana smirked at that thought. If there was anyone in the clan that could brazenly barge into her parents’ personal quarters, especially while they were enjoying each other’s bodies, it was Uncle Dimitri. He was her father’s brother, who despite being older than her father, had never wanted to lead the clan himself. Instead, he had been content to let her father run the clan. This was unusual in vampiric society, but Dimitri was an extremely adept politician as well as a warrior. He had made himself useful to the clan and family in other ways.

Oksana spent a bit of time giving the customary greetings to those outside of her family but a part of her clan. It was a sign of respect from them, to show up and bid her welcome. While polite, Oksana held herself with a self-assured and confident air. These were her underlings, eager courtiers who wanted to worm their way into her favor. She would never give them the idea that they were anything more than allies and tools to be used in the advancement of her family’s power.

Eventually, she was able to extricate herself from the attentions of all the courtiers and made her way into the mansion, followed closely by Yulia. She strode down an elegant hall adorned with all manners of artwork. Ranging from paintings to elaborate tapestries, depicting defining moments of her clan’s history. She had grown up here within these walls. Once her parents passed power onto her, she would be in total command of all within her clan.

Though she was young, even compared to the short lifespan of humans, having just celebrated her twenty-seventh birthday, she had already risen through the ranks of her clan faster than any in its long history. She had struggled and pushed herself to her absolute limits, to accomplish all the trials and tasks her parents had thrown at her. She had conquered them all and now rightly stood as heir to her parents long-held seat of power. Still, she wondered what she had missed along the way. She didn’t have any friends to speak of. She never allowed anyone to get that close to her. It came with too many risks, too many opportunities for failure.

“You look like you have something on your mind Oksana. Is something bothering you, sister?”

Oksana hadn’t realized she had stopped walking in the center of the hallway. She chided herself for becoming so distracted by such meaningless meanderings. She was Oksana, heir to her clan seat and an extremely powerful sanguine vampire. She needed no friends or any such thing. Power was her goal and power she would have!

She scoffed and said, “Nothing is bothering me. I am just glad to be home amongst a proper vampire clan. Not the upstart high vampires who seek to emulate our Sanguine traditions and prestige.”

Yulia smirked and asked, “Come now sister, was it really all that bad? I’ve heard that Clan Tereshenko has beautiful obsidian artwork adorning their house seat.”

Oksana frowned slightly. The decorations had been impressive but she’d be damned if she admitted that out loud.

“Humph, they were acceptable.”

Yulia laughed, “Sister mine, you are the epitome of Sanguine arrogance and pride!”

“Nonsense! It is not arrogance to simply state the truth. Clan Tereshenko has hundreds, if not thousands of years to go before they can come anywhere near the might and spender of Khvostov! In fact I-”

She never got to finish what she was going to say, as her sensitive ears picked up running from the end of the hallway. Yulia heard it as well and they both turned to look towards the sound. To Oksana’s surprise, Uncle Dimitri was running down the grand staircase. He was moving extremely fast. Oksana was curious and slightly apprehensive of what had him in such a rush.

She saw as Dimitri’s eyes locked onto her. She watched as he sprinted at breakneck speed directly towards her.

“What is the matter with him?” Yulia asked, as she too stared at their uncle.

Dimitri reached them before Oksana could reply. He stopped and gasped for air as he tried to speak.

“Uncle, what has you in such a state? Why are you sprinting through these halls as if you were told someone had stolen your mistresses? You haven’t even greeted me properly yet.”

Dimitri didn’t smile at the joke and instead straighten up. He beckoned Oksana to come closer. Perplexed Oksana leaned in and his next words made her already cold blood seem to freeze.

In a whisper so low even her sensitive ears had to strain to hear, he gasped “Oksana, your parents……your parents are dead!”