Keep

By the time Cain returned to the castle that housed most members of the Solveig clan, it was nearing daybreak again. Battered, exhausted, and still very much feeling the effects of the tainted blood, Cain was ready to curl up in his room and ignore the world for a few days. He would gladly take a few months, even, but he didn't think he'd be able to escape notice for that long. In fact, there was no guarantee he'd even make it to his room before the sun rose again. As much as he wanted to retreat to his chambers and get some half-decent sleep on a real bed (and not a pile of rocks), he had matters to attend to first.

It was a simple matter to pass the wall that surrounded the castle. There were two major gates and two smaller entrances. There were also a few secret entrances that only a few people - himself included - knew anything about. Since he was approaching from the west, he decided to pass through the west gate. It required nothing more than a quick nod to the thralls who stood at attention near the large gates. Like many of the higher-ranking vampires of the Solveig clan, nearly all of the thralls who managed the castle knew him very well. This was quite convenient when it came to navigating the castle. The only downside this presented was the fact that most thralls who could identify a high-ranking vampire tended to cower in the vampire's presence. Some of them even quaked dramatically (though, in truth, he suspected a fair amount of the shudders were done merely for effect, as he didn't particularly put much effort into intimidating the staff. He didn't see the point) as he passed them by, so he had no obstacles keeping him from proceeding through the west gate and into the open bailey of the castle.

Upon entry, he quickly made his way to the central fortress of the castle, the Lord's keep. There, he would be able to give an accounting of his actions (and prolonged absence) to the Solveig's sire. Then, with that onerous task completed, he'd finally be able to retreat to his room and get some much-needed rest.

Once he'd reached the keep, though, security grew tighter. Unlike the thralls at the main gates, Cain knew that the thralls entrusted with the keep's gatehouse duty were less easily intimidated. They had received their position specifically because they could not be easily bullied or bought. Still, this didn't particularly bother Cain, as he had no real reason to bother or bribe the thralls there. They all belonged to his sire, much like he did. He felt a bit of empathy for them, because they all knew what it was like to live under the boot of the Solveig clan, but otherwise he paid them little heed.

This night, he noted with mild irritation, the gatehouse doors were tightly shut. That didn't bode well for his chances of reporting back to his sire without issue. Groaning internally at how likely it was that things were about to get annoying, Cain drew up short at the heavy wrought-iron doors. Glancing at the gatehouse's tiny room beside the doors, he noted that the thrall on duty this night was another vampire. One of the young ones, who had clearly been handed to the Solveig sire in an attempt to earn favor. As if bribery would work on one who was a powerful and ancient leader of one of the big three vampire clans. Cain couldn't imagine the naievete required to commit to a belief so foolish.

"Ev," he greeted, nodding to the slight figure who was intentionally staring at the doors instead of bothering to actually greet the person approaching the keep. "Everything all right?"

Evan Baker's eyes lit up as she turned her head to actually look at the person standing by the gate she was meant to be guarding. "Cain!" she said excitedly.

Cain gave her a sharp look.

Immediately cowed, Evan plucked at her garishly pink longcoat, sinking into herself as she ducked her head and muttered, "I mean. Good evening, Sir Einhardt." She slunk her way out of the tiny guardhouse room, shuffling over in her pink boots.

The 'sir' was a new addition. Cain wasn't sure he qualified for that title. Usually Ev called him 'mister', so he wasn't sure why she'd decided the title upgrade was essential. "Is something wrong?" he asked, because Ev was acting strangely, and whenever Ev was bothered by something it made him feel jumpy.

"It's just Crowe being his usual self," Ev complained, sighing dramatically and draping herself against the sealed doors of the keep, as if the structure was the only thing keeping her on her feet. "He told me to keep it locked until he finished his meeting, and it's been hours," she complained. "I've had to turn away quite a few annoyed residents." She lifted her head away from the doors slightly. "Are you annoyed, too?"

Cain was a resident, and he was annoyed, but not at Ev. "I'm not going to blame you for Gerry's self-importance," he answered.

Ev snickered. "I can't believe you call him that," she whispered.

Most Solveig vampires wouldn't dare use a diminutive nickname for Gerald Crowe, the security manager of the castle. But Cain wasn't under his authority, since he answered only to the sire. That put him at an almost equal rank with Crowe. It irked the man to no end, and it pleased Cain to occasionally twist the knife. Cain didn't care about his position in the clan, except insofar as it protected him from being killed. Crowe, on the other hand, cared far too much about his position and how people saw him. It made him very easy to annoy, and even easier to mock behind his back.

"I don't call him that to his face," Cain said drily. "I have worse things to call him on those unhappy occasions."

Ev pressed her lips together to contain a snort that had likely begun as an aborted laugh. "You'll have to teach me some," she hummed, and then frowned a little, glancing between Cain and the doors. "I am sorry I can't let you in," she said.

"What exactly were your orders?" Cain asked, considering the current obstacle that stood between him and reporting back to his sire and then, finally, a comfortable bed.

"Not to let anyone through the doors," Ev said.

"Was that his exact wording? Not through the doors?" Cain pressed.

Ev nodded slowly. "Yes…? Why?"

Cain flexed his hands preparatively. "Then I'll go up and over," he pointed up to the windows that looked out over the guardhouse.

Ev frowned a little. "Up and over?" she turned to eye the wall of the keep. "You can climb that?"

Cain shrugged. "I can try," he said, and took a few steps back. He figured he had a better chance of making it if he took a running start at it.

Ev was giving him a look of shocked disbelief. Slowly, she moved over to one side of the guardhouse, leaving Cain plenty of room to take a flying leap at the side of the building. "Personally, I think you've gone blood-crazy," Ev informed him. "But good luck, I guess."

Cain nodded once, and prepared to scale the keep.