Chapter 10

Markus questioned where Kore could have gone before the ball. She had all but disappeared from the school grounds within an instant and then reappeared again. But she was back and dressed for the ball.

She looked lovely as ever as she finished the dance with Silas, quickly being approached by a Lock House boy who was trying to flirt. She smiled slyly, bringing him on with small flirty movements.

Markus saw that, coming over as an almost possessive instinct coming over him. He had to shake it off. Vampires only became possessive of two things, Beloveds and blood bags, referring to their loved ones or humans they preyed on. She was neither.

The Lock House boy quickly scurried off as soon as Markus sent him a dark look. Kore only laughed at that and sipped at her flute of juice.

"Markus," she nodded in greeting as soon as he was within range.

"May I have this dance, Princess Greylight?" he asked, a calm smile on his lips as he bowed only an inch and let out a hand.

She grasped her hand with an affirmative nod. "Of course, Master Alastair. Viennese Waltz?"

"Yes." He led her towards the dance floor, other members of the Key House partnering up with the Lock House before they all began to dance.

As the two royals danced, it was as smooth as breathing.

Within the floor of different shades of dresses, gowns and suits, they stood out like moonlight did on a dark night, somehow looking like they were meant to stand out and yet no one blinked an eye when they passed without a sound.

"You're stronger," Markus mentioned. "Magically speaking."

Kore just grinned a smile too sharp to be human. "You shouldn't have allowed Davina to come back."

"Why?"

"I killed her less than an hour ago," Kore said as if she was speaking of the weather. He tightened her grip on her, bringing her a little closer as they danced. "I bet you want an explanation for my actions."

"I do," he stated. "But I would also think you wouldn't have done it without a reason."

"She thought she could lie to me and get me to give my blood over without consequence," Kore giggled, her laugh sounding more like a muffled shadow coming over her than a tinkling bell. Almost like a warning to any who heard her. "She fed on me, and I took her Magic and killed her for her lies."

"She lied to you and so you killed her?"

"Eh. I killed her because she lied to me to get my blood without giving me anything in exchange," Kore swayed with him when it was needed, continuing the dance with a daring smile worthy of a predator like the one in front of her. "A deal is a deal. Trying to break a deal that dealt with blood was like trying to break one with the devil. Consequences ensured."

Her dress pooled and swung around her like liquid light, almost like Magic was enhancing them and making them move like physics didn't apply. The dress swayed in tune with the beats of their footfalls and heartbeats. With each new turn and twirl, Kore was beginning to become dizzy but she held on as he led.

"Not long now," he reassured her, "There will be a pause so you can centre yourself."

Everyone paused soon enough like clockwork, the ladies together in packs of four as they took in breaths while the gentlemen stood two by two. It looked like it was all practised but none of it was.

A touch of Magic helped.

"Doing well, Evette," Kore said as she caught her breath, taking in the baby pink dress Laurent had chosen for Evette to wear.

"Thank you," Evette smiled. "Here we go again."

They were off again.

Kore returned to his embrace.

Fluid movements went into the gentlemen dipping the ladies slightly before a few more movements stopped the full-on dancing and they twirled around and around and around until they were dizzy and finally allowed them to bow at the end with heavy chests as the physical fitness and coordination needed was vast.

There were very few pairs who weren't exhausted by the end of the dance. The main one was the two royals. Both of them had been feasting on the Magic and energy around them and each other, gaining a sort of power from it that made exhaustion something they didn't feel.

He led her over to the doors, grabbing flutes of water and handing her one as they exited the large hall and into the gardens nearby. They paced out there, getting away from most of the school as only a few people loitered out there. Those people soon abandoned the area, getting back inside and leaving them to speak alone.

"What will happen now?" he asked.

"Not much. Her body is gone," she said. "I just realised I've just damned myself."

"You consumed her blood?"

She nodded. "I absorbed it through my skin after putting my hand through her chest. A lovely way to go out, truly. But I needed to have all of my blood back."

"I sense that Ruel Michaelis is still alive,"

Kore turned cold. "He will remain alive. He is mine now."

"He fits your personality," he sipped his water. "I suppose you want him in the Key House with you?"

She inclined her head in agreement, smiling slyly at him.

"I doubt the Chamber will be happy but they have no say," he nodded. "He will be able to attend to you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The sudden appearance of a little grey fox startled them, letting the tense atmosphere break as they jumped and then laughed. Tsar jumped onto Markus' chest, forcing him to hold him for pets for a second before jumping to his mistress' shoulders where he could rub at her skin.

)()()(

Ruel was moved into the Key Dorm by Sunday morning, becoming the first non-Arcane human to attend the class. Both Orion and the Chamber didn't like the fact he was attending but they couldn't do anything, not when Markus and Dante Iscariot showed favour of Ruel attending.

Before Kore attended Iscariot Institute, she was used to being followed around constantly. Be it by bodyguards, friends or other Witches, she was surrounded by people constantly and was never alone as she grew up in the courts. Even if her mother kept her away as much as possible, it was also her duty as Heir to be involved with the courts from an appropriate age.

Dresses, balls and masks were part of her life since she was thirteen, old enough to attend banquets and meetings of smaller importance with her mother. She had to know how to deal with court life since she was going to take over when her mother retired or handed down the title of Crown.

After all of that, it just made her resent the supposed rules she had to follow when talking to a court member.

Right now, she sat at a secluded table with half a dozen Witches in front of her as Ruel was next to her. The chosen restaurant was lowly lit with candles and some hanging lights.

Even with the fancy tone of the decorations and food, she didn't give a shit about being proper and wearing a fancy dress to just discuss some of the paper she had finished and sent over. With an oversized hoodie over a pair of dark leggings and a pair of matching trainers, she didn't dress to impress. Her hair wasn't even done, only pulled out of her face with the use of a claw hair clip.

Even Ruel wasn't dressed up, he wore dark jeans and a grey shirt under a long black jacket.

The Witches in front of her were advisors, two from her clan, and two from each Blackwood and Whitestone Clans. They were dressed in suits, clean-cut and tailored. These people were advisors, low-ranked enough to not need guards or helpers, and their disappearance from the court wouldn't be straight away seen.

A lot of the lower lords and council members and almost all of the common folk didn't get to meet her as a leader, only as a shadow of her mother as Kore trailed behind the woman. But they all saw how she watched everything with hawk-level accuracy and matching no-nonsense expressions like her mother.

"Why have you asked for this meeting?" she asked. "I got a call that said you'd be coming and that was it. I'd like more now if you don't mind."

"Straight to business then," the man on the left said, a blue broach on the lapel of his suit jacket. "There's been talk of some of the royal clans taking sides, the ones outside of the Crown Clans such as your father's clan, Dunner, and your grandmother's clan, Sallow."

"Taking sides? How many from the outside and how many from within?" she asked.

"Fifteen families from within, and twenty-three from outside, though some of them have been mixed."

"Sallow, Synde, Loyd, Blight, Kemp, and Divicee are on your side,'' an advisor from her clan said. "They wouldn't go against you as rightful Heir and Crown."

"More because they want an audience with me later if I become Crown than me being rightful Heir and Crown," Kore sighed. "And from outside?"

"You have all of the Clan of Dunner because of your father,"

"The French branch of Synde are with you, as is the Italian branch of Divicee, but the American branches of Blight and Loyd are staying out of it and the Dutch Kemp are keeping to the other side,"

"So I've lost the Dutch Kemps and American Blight and Loyd," she muttered to herself. "That's like twenty, twenty-five people? That's okay."

"Isn't that a lot of people?" Ruel asked quietly, leaning over to her.

She shrugged. "Kemp is only like ten strong, and they're all in their forties and fifties now. Blight and Loyd have a couple of members between them, only counting those Active Witches. If we're counting those with Non-Active Magic, there's seven Non-Active and four Active in Blight, and five Non and eleven active in Loyd. Twenty-seven in those two Clans alone."

"That's thirty-seven people alone,"

"Not necessarily," she shook her head. "Sallow, Synde, Loyd, Blight, Kemp, and Divicee have between five to thirty people each, that's over a hundred alone. My dad's clan has fourteen members already, three bio uncles and three kids between 'em. Divicee has plenty of members marrying in."

"Is loyalty strong in Witches?"

"Not always but we've got loyalty to Magic and our highest Magic is Crowns." she said to him. "Crowns have the purest Magic in their bodies, like Vampires are for Arcanes. Anyone from a direct Crown is considered divine, much like a child of a Vampire, even if they are not a Vampire themselves, is higher than even an Arcane who is pure-born," She turned back to the six Witches in front of her. "Why are they taking sides? I thought the Challenge was going to decide."

One of the Blackwood advisors looked hesitantly at the others, nodding to them before speaking. "There's someone from an outside clan claiming to be a Redwater."

She looked surprised for a moment, before bursting into an unbelievable laugh.

"All of the Redwaters were killed off in the sixteen hundreds," She didn't mention the fact that she was a Redwater by blood because of a grandmother a couple of dozen generations ago. "The Clans killed the Redwaters off, anyone with the ability was slaughtered like swine and destroyed. A random Witch outside of England would not be able to claim Redwater as their Clan. They're gone."

"But the other Crowns are playing along with it, trying to see if they could actually be a Redwater," a Whitestone member leaned forward. "Princess, the Clans are starting the Trials for this supposed Redwater as soon as the Summer Solstice comes."

"Seventy-eight days from now?" she gapped. "Does that mean I have to attend?"

They nodded.

)()()(

"I didn't plan to come back to England until at least October, but it seems plans have changed," she mused as Ruel and she started to walk down the bridge that led to the Key House. They would have lessons in a couple of hours.

"Do you plan to finish school here?" he asked.

Kore shrugged. "I'll stay until early June, I think, before heading back to England. That's about two months to finish up shit around here before leaving this place."

He gave her a side-eye glance, curious. "Will I be joining you?"

"If you want but I won't force you,"

"Then I will be coming with you," Ruel nodded. "Is there anything I should know?"

"I'll give you a rundown of court life within the Order of Witches later on." she said, "First, I want to sort my situation out."

"What situation?"

She glanced at him, "I killed a Vampire and I doubt I'll get away with it without some sort of intervention from the Chamber and Orion."

"Yes, that," He muttered. "You're a Redwater, aren't you?"

"I'm a Blood Witch because of the Redwater blood in me," she said. "I want to see if this person who claims to be a Redwater has the ability or not, if they don't, the Crowns will kill them or make them a breeder. It's a horrible fate but that's what they'd have to do. The Crowns wouldn't even be able to stop it, they are enforced by laws older than all of us. Blood Magic is a valuable gift."

"Would they really do that?"

"Or force them to have a transfer of Magic to several people so they can expand the amount of Magic."

"Is that why you haven't told anyone you're one?"

"Besides you and Markus, no one knows. And I'd like to keep it that way for now."

He nodded. "Of course. And the situation with Markus?"

"What situation?"

"Vampires are possessive of two things, food and family,"

She made a face, "I'm sure as hell not food nor family so I have no clue what you're talking about."

Ruel almost laughed at that, "Vampires only care for three things; food, such as humans and sometimes other Arcanes, family members and lovers."

"And?"

"Do Witches have a type of sacred marriage? Vampires mate, humans marry..."

"Witches Bond. Soul to soul, Magic to Magic."

"Have there ever been instances of Witches and Arcanes Bonding?"

"A couple here and there but it's really rare, and sometimes discouraged depending on the clan,"

)()()(

"How did the meeting go?" Markus asked after he found Kore in her room before class.

"It went well," she said. "Besides the fact that the clans and families have started to take sides, and someone is trying to claim they're a Redwater, it went well."

"How would the Crowns find out if this person is telling the truth?"

"When the Summer Solstice begins, the Trials will start for the person. I haven't found out who it is yet, but I've contacted the other Crowns. They should get back to me within the day or so," Kore crossed her arms, making a face which displayed her dislike of the uncertainty of the situation.

"Is there a chance this person is telling the truth?"

"Magic is unpredictable and there have been countless generations since the Redwaters were killed. It could be from a Redwater marrying out of the clan and into a new one, gaining that claim instead of the previous one. Couple grandkids and their descendants could inherit their gift." Kore tilted her head side to side for a second. "I hope they don't have the gift and are in fact lying."

"Why?"

"If they do have the gift, they will be pressured into marriage straight away and into having children quickly," Kore clicked her stiff neck. "Crowns and Heirs are excluded from this, so I wouldn't be pressured into having children if I didn't want to. My title would go to my oldest uncle's firstborn child. So Cera, my cousin, would get the title if I died. f I die in the Trials, the Redwater blood dies with me. An active gift only surfaces after another active gift, my mother had the gift as did her father and his mother. Every Crowned Greylight and direct Heir has had the gift. Fuckity fuck fuck."

Kore stormed out of her room, not wanting to say another word in this conversation as Tsar followed diligently after her, only after giving Markus a look and a flick of the tail that said to follow too.

Getting to the kitchen, he found Kore kneeling on the counter, trying to reach her favourite cup to make herself a coffee before class.

"Will people stop putting my cup on top of the cabinet instead of inside of it?" Kore swore, getting her cup and quickly hopping off of the counter. "I swear I will kill Silas the next time he does it."

"Why didn't you use Magic to get it down?"

She glared. "Why order an Arcane to do something when you can ask?"

"You seem stressed." It was more of a statement than a question.

She laughed without humour as she made her coffee. "I've got seventy-eight days before the Summer Solstice, seventy-ish days left in this school before I need to go back to England to start the Trials for the claimed Redwater."

"Why do you have to go?"

"Trials aren't much different to Challenges, but the latter is a lot more strict and dangerous. Most of the royal families will be attending the Trials, including the Clans."

"What is the difference between Clans and families?"

"Clans are communities with several different families within them. Only a Crown and direct Heir can have the Greylight name, or Blackwood, or Whitestone names, but anyone can have the name as their Clan name. I'm Kore Greylight of the Greylight Clan, while my cousins are whatever Sallow of the Greylight Clan."

"And the royal families?"

"Royal does not mean ruling. Three ruling families, Whitestone, Greylight, Blackwood, and seven royal families. The Divicee are from Italy, Alas from Lithuania, Baciu from Romania, Nilsson from Sweden."

"That's five clans,"

"Greylight, Whitestone and Blackwood are royal clans too but they are classed as ruling Clans,"

"You plan to go back to England in June?"

"Yes,"

"Is that advised?" he said cautiously, leaning against the counter as Kore finished making her coffee and started to sip at it next to him. "Wouldn't the other Crowns try something to get you to side with them?"

"I'm going to be siding with them for these upcoming Trials for the supposed Redwater, but they won't try anything until the Winter Solstice when I am nineteen,"

"What would siding with them entail in these Trials for the person claiming to be a Redwater?"

Kore looked unfocused and almost dazed as she drank her coffee, bringing the cup close to her face and keeping it there within reach of her mouth. "They'll be tested. There are manuscripts from when the Redwaters were still alive, tests that would tell us if they are actually a Redwater and have the gift or they somehow just have the gift."

"And you?

"What about me?"

"Will the Blackwood and Whitestone Crowns try and get you to take part in the Trials?"

"They can't claim I'm a Blood Witch. I have to do that myself for me to get put into the Trials too."

"Does anyone know you're a Blood Witch?"

"Besides you, Ruel and th other Crowns, no," She shook her head.

He hummed. "Do you plan to expose yourself to the Order?"

"Gods no," Kore looked at him like he said something utterly ridiculous. "Unless I have to out myself, no one is going to find out."

"Plans never tend to go the same way as you would want," he said. "For your sake, I hope it goes well."

She sighed, "So do I."