Clan gathering

There were fifteen extremely pale, somewhat gaunt-faced men of various ages sitting around a table. At the head of the table, there was a man with an imposing aura and blood-red robes adorned with golden embroidery. At the other end was a young woman in a purple dress.

"I know that none of you enjoy being here any more than I do, and it's still my castle, so let the meeting begin. Start with any outstanding issues."

One of the men, seated near the other end of the table, took the chance and spoke up: "The Surbiape clan's thralls have been encroaching on my territory, even going as far as claiming that it wasn't marked so they didn't know.

I've tried to punish them for their actions, but none of those I've sent to deal with the issue have returned, even true vampires. This is obvious and blatant disrespect towards the Sanguini clan!"

The one at the head of the table, Vincent Sanguini, replied: "I'm afraid it's far from being disrespect towards the clan. The way I see it, it's them disrespecting your family. You shouldn't use the fact that three generations ago your family produced a vampire with pure enough blood to become a clan head to hold on to your fief and instead give it up to us. You would even be given sufficient rations of blood in return for a few simple tasks every now and then."

The man felt wronged – he just wanted to protect what had belonged to his family since time immemorial, yet now, the new clan head who had been on his position no more than sixty years wanted to take it from him? He felt as if he had swallowed a mouthful of pig's blood, unpleasant, extremely unpleasant. In his heart, he wished that a calamity would strike the head's family, so Vincent would understand how he feels.

Another spoke up, this one seated only a few positions away from the head. "Some of you may have already heard of it, but my very own flesh and blood, Bryan has been slaughtered in his own home. This is an outrage! How long will it be before a member of the head family will be attacked at that rate? We must find the culprit and make an example out of them!"

"Ardo is right.", Vincent spoke. "A death in one of the core families cannot be left unpunished! The one responsible has to be found and dealt with! My subordinates have been able to identify the blood of two attackers, they're Wizardkind. A small sample will be given to each of you and you are to scour the country in search of them.

Ardo, did your son at least manage to get the marriage contract with the Lestoat heir?"

"I'm afraid not, brother. The contract was torn by the heir after being signed, it was annulled. I fear that little bitch had hired hitwizards for security, but I think she's no longer protected, since anybody that good would've cost her the remainder of her family's fortune."

"Good, good, good. Those that will be looking for the two hitwizards, should also be on the lookout for the bitch. We will get that quota by any means. No matter if it's turned or true vampires, we will need more to compete with the other families. It's even better if I can sire one more like Dorne.

Hm, I suppose I should hand her over to him, it's about time he got some experience in handling a woman."

The clan head was quite keen on giving the best opportunities to his youngest son, Dorne. After all, Dorne was a genius of the clan, he had inherited the ability of both clans, the Sanguini's Blood Mist and the Tenebrel's Shadow Manipulation, giving rise to a new ability, Blood Mist Manipulation.

The purple dressed woman's face had a glimpse of a displeasured expression that remained unnoticed by those around the table, as they didn't consider her worth their time to gaze upon.

The woman was the wife of the clan head, only attending the meeting to know how to better manage the staff, as commanding them was her responsibility. If she were to speak up during the meeting of men, she would end up earning herself a month, or possibly even longer in solitary confinement to reflect upon her faults.

It was Vincent's hope that Dorne would take the Sanguini family to new heights and create a new ruling bloodline that would one day bring them to the heights of the Royal Family. In his mind, it was paramount that he had practice with a discardable woman before choosing a wife of his own.

Next to speak was a man thinner and taller than most around the table. He wasn't sitting too close nor too far from the head. He said: "My daughter has caught the eye of the Tenebrel head family's second in line. It seems to be going rather well."

"Yes, excellent. Let's hope there isn't anybody from another family catching his eye and Yamofey's seat will be yours. With my wife included, we'll have two bonds with the Tenebrels. Perhaps, we might even be able to establish a bit deeper cooperation between our two families, as our abilities complement each other rather well."

Many other matters, minor and major were discussed, among them the allocation of the distant branch families – they were the source of the service staff, faded into mediocrity due to their blood being thin or their innate control over the family's ability being weak.

As Bryan and all his dependents had been killed, the quota belonging to them was also redistributed, with those seated closer to the clan head getting more, with the exception of Yamofey.

Not too soon, the meeting came to an end and all who had attended left through the Floo – it was much faster than flying and allowed them to avoid the fools that fancied themselves Vampire Hunters, even if it was unlawful to kill their kind without a particularly good justification.

Meanwhile, Vincent visited Dorne's study.

"Son, you've been diligent in your studies and training. I think it's about time I gave you a reward of sorts. It seems that Bryan has been unable to get our clan the quota assigned to the Lestoats, but the little bitch still lives. I think she should be suitable for you to play with, as she is unsullied."

"Thank you, father. That is wonderful news. I have had a strange feeling in my body as of late, especially around the maids."

Vincent looked towards Dorne with sharp eyes. "What have I told you about laying your hands on the help?"

"I know father. I've been holding myself back. I haven't touched any of them."

"Good. My choice truly hasn't been wrong. Of my three sons, you're the only one that hasn't been ruined by your mother."

"Yes, father. I will do my best."

Meanwhile, in a different room of the castle.

Davi, the clan head's third child, the second of the sons spoke: "Go on, take off your stockings. Show me your legs, or don't you want this?"

David took out a blood pack and dangled it in air in front of his face. There was one of the maids in front of him that looked barely past fifteen.

"Fine! But no licking, and definitely no biting! I've heard about how you can get." Celie had been singled out by David and ordered to stay in his room when the rest of the cleaning staff had left. She was already aware of Davi's 'hobby'.

She slowly took off her shoes and then rolled down her stockings.

"Go slower!", Davi, now unblinkingly staring at her actions, spoke.

A while later, she had removed her stockings.

"Give the stockings to me. I want something to remember this moment by.", he said while closing the distance between them.

A moment later, he had already pushed Celie onto the floor, inspecting and caressing her right leg.

"Wonderful! Simply exquisite! The softness of your skin, the unblemished appearance. It really makes want to appreciate it properly!"

"Hey! I said no licking!"

"Come now, don't go spoiling my fun! You'll get an extra pack for that!"

While Celie wanted to refuse, she didn't have the will to – her father had died in a conflict with the Surbiape family and her mother had been severely wounded, leaving her as the only one that could bring food to the table and the pay in the head family's castle wasn't enough for her mother to heal.

Celie didn't dare to go out hunting, as she was no good with compulsions and her physical strength was meagre. There were also vampire hunters on every corner that would attack the moment they saw a vampire, or so she had been warned by the core families. She had no choice but to earn her living through menial labor. Now, however, she had stumbled upon an opportunity to get enough blood for her. All she had to do was let herself be humiliated a little and she would get more than she would earn in a month.

"Fine, but give the blood to me first."

Davi handed over the reward – he wasn't an unreasonable man, at least that's how he saw himself.

A few moments later, Davi was done with appreciating Celie's right leg and moved on to the left. "Such tender flesh, it looks so appetizing! It makes me want to just-"

"No, that's enough. I should leave now.", Celie said. She was desperate, but not that desperate. If Davi bit her, who knows, she might end up losing more blood than she earns, and bearing the marks of his fangs would make her an outcast even among the staff. Some of them thought that those marked by fangs had actually enjoyed the process too much.

"Fine, you sourpuss. Come back anytime!", Davi shouted from behind her.

Celie had no intention to do that. She would rather work day and night than do that again.

As she rushed out of the room, she failed to notice a tall young man with curly black hair. Suddenly, the blood packs in her arms were slit and spilled their contents onto the floor.

A moment later, a voice could be heard: "Bwahahaha! Hey, Mary, did you see the look on her face? It was priceless! I should hang around brother Davi's room more often!"

"Brother Lucien, look at the mess you've made. You should make her clean it up.", an equally amused female voice sounded.

Understanding that nothing could be done, Celie was about to go and fetch a small container to save what could still be saved, but a merciless female voice said: "No, I want you to lick the floor clean. Go on, get started."

With tears in her eyes and a bitter heart, Celie did as she was ordered – going against her orders would only incur a punishment, and with the young masters of the head family, it was bound to be an unreasonable one.

"Ah, she's so obedient. Here I was, hoping to see the look on her face when I cut her. I really like the face they make when I cut up their chest.", Mary said with cruel joy.

"Hey, Mary, what do you think Dorne is doing?"

"Something boring probably, studying or something like that. He's no fun at all, doing everything that dear old dad tells him to.

Do you have any turned you're bored with? I really want to cut someone up right now, but mine are already all gone, and dad won't allow me to turn more until next month!"

"Not really. Maybe you should ask Davi? He gets bored of them quickly when he finds someone with a pair of legs he likes more. Who knows, he might even give you one of his blood slaves if you ask really nicely."

Meanwhile, in every house belonging to the Sanguini clan

Teams were formed of vampires, each of them was to gather their own thralls and start scouring the cities for the scent of blood that matched what could be found in one of the three small phials each of the family heads had in their possession.

The blood in those phials belonged to Amanda, Linda and Gaude, respectively, but to the vampires, it was more of a 'beast half-breed, pure wizardkind and Lestoat vampire.

"Remember your orders: bring the Lestoat back alive. If she resists, you can use force to subdue her. Kill the other two, or if you can, bring them back alive. A core family has put a bounty on their heads one way or the other."