Vampire corps?

The elf bowed and spoke: "Master, there have been a few true vampires that were spotted nearing the Long Street recruitment office. They were taken inside to circumvent the vampires guarding the perimeter and they have expressed their desire to transfer into the Lestoat family."

"Good. Bring them in, I'll process them first. Have somebody fetch me a refill on Invigoration Draught, I don't think I'll get to sleep anytime soon."

A few blinks of an eye later, there were four elderly-looking men in front of Gaude.

"Welcome to my humble abode.", Gaude said in his broken voice. "Sorry about my voice, there was a small accident."

"It is understandable. We would like to have an audience with lady Lestoat."

"Mandy! You have guests!", Gaude shouted out, regretting it immediately, as normal speech was still fine, but anything louder hurt like hell.

The elderly men looked at Gaude with wide eyes – was it really alright to address a clan head in such a familiar manner? What if it ended up angering her and she wouldn't even hear them out?

A while later, Amanda came out of the kitchen, warm slippers on her feet, a large teddy bear in one hand and a chalice of blood in another.

The old men stared at her for a while, suddenly feeling like they had the wrong place. How could a clan head look so undignified?

Amanda yawned widely at them, making a failure of an attempt to conceal it with her chalice. "What do you need so late in the morning?"

"Lady Lestoat, we have come to seek asylum under the Lestoat clan.", one of the old vampires said.

"Alright, fine. Big bro says every subordinate needs to sign a contract.", she told them.

"Big bro, do you have the contracts ready?"

Gaude took out a small stack of parchments. "Here you go. Make sure they read it properly and sign with their own blood, can't have them backing out later."

"Alright. You heard my big bro.", Amanda said, looking bored as she handed the contracts out.

The contract terms this time were simple: no actions that would knowingly let harm come to the Vywin family or Lestoat clan. They were to assist the Vywin family and Lestoat clan in all their endeavors, should their assistance be required. In turn, they would be protected by the Lestoat clan and Vywin family within reason. Of course, technically Amanda was Lestoat-Vywin, but such technicalities didn't matter all too much.

As the old men read the contract, they suddenly started whispering: "The Vywin family? I thought they were all killed by the Spicheli clan after Grant died?"

"Then it must be a different Vywin family, or perhaps a distant branch that had nothing to do with the main family."

In the end, all four signed the contract.

As they were handing the contracts to Amanda, Gaude spoke: "If you have any friends or acquaintances that wish to transfer to the Lestoat family or seek asylum, they're welcome to use the Floo address 'academy reception', however, entry is restricted to twenty people at a time, for security reasons.

Also, it's best to start the Floo connection and then wait for the signal from our side before passing through, that way the reception won't get too crowded if many people decided to come over."

After asking a few questions laced with a healthy dose of Legilimency, Gaude managed to get a good picture of what had happened in the Sanguini clan. He ended up summoning the half of the construction team's elves to start work on building two hundred underground rooms, hoping that they would be enough for the vampires he expected to come flooding into the place.

Meanwhile, as the four were settled in their rooms, one of them took a bat out of his pocket, tied a note around its leg and released it out of a window.

During that day, there were a few reports of a bat flying during daytime. However, as the bat was rather smart for its species, it had caught one train after the other to save its energy and reached the Sanguini castle by nightfall.

Dorne Sanguini's study, the same night

Dorne was having second thoughts about being so vocal in the clan meeting for the umpteenth time. On the first day after becoming the clan head, Lucien hadn't caused any trouble to him or those that were faithful to him, however, on the very next morning he had suddenly barged into his study and thrown a bloody head onto his desk. It was the head of one of the family heads that had pledged their loyalty to him.

"Brother mine, you really shouldn't have conspired against me. Just look at what you've made me do.", Lucien had said.

After the news about the execution spread in the clan, he was given a message signed by four of the family heads saying: 'Lucien has gone mad with power. We must seek asylum as soon as possible or all our lives are at peril. We have decided to see if lady Lestoat's offer holds true. We will inform you once we've arrived there safely.'

Dorne sent a short reply: 'This may be for the best. May the first's blood hide you from harm.'

After that came the waiting. The act of waiting wasn't that bad by itself, he could fill it with studies as usual. The worst part was not knowing. He didn't know if his supporters had even made it to Long Street number 9 safely, and if they did, what became of them after that. Dorne failed to retain most of the information he had read during that day, too worried for the present and future.

Exactly at sunset, Dorne's door was once again rudely thrown open and Lucien marched in, and threw another head towards him.

"I felt like you hadn't learned your lesson yet, so I decided to warn you once more. Do not go against me or I'll be forced to raise my hand against you as well."

Dorne looked at the head. It wasn't one of the four that had signed the message, there was still hope. Just like before, he deemed it unnecessary to respond to Lucien's taunts. He wasn't sure what to feel about Lucien and his actions: anger? Hatred? Sadness? Pity?

An hour later, he heard quiet knocking from the window of his study – for the past three days, Dorne hadn't left the room once, not even to eat.

It was a messenger bat.

Dorne opened the window and allowed the bat to enter, then gently untied the message.

Reading it, he discovered that the four had all arrived safely, and not only that, but the rest also wouldn't have to go to the address that was given on the field of battle. Instead, there was a Floo address, with the instructions to go through only when they get the go-ahead from the other side.

Half an hour later, Dorne finally left his study, made his way to the bat loft and attached a message for each of the families that had pledged their loyalty.

In it were the details of passage. Since each family's residence had at least one Floo, it would be easy for them to pass through.

Back at the Vywin Manor, very early the next morning.

Gaude was awakened by the feeling of an extra presence in the room. He wriggled his way free from his two still overly-zealous 'sisters' and peeked out over Irma's curvy body. The girls had relented a little and were now content with just sleeping in the same bed as him, making the experience more tolerable for Gaude.

An elf was standing in wait.

Gaude used telekinesis to levitate himself out of bed to not disturb the two's sleep. He silently commanded the elf to follow him out of the room, outside the muffling ward.

"Alright, report.", he finally said. His voice had recovered greatly overnight, partially thanks to him gulping down half of the Dragon Egg.

"Master, vampires have been arriving to the academy for the past three hours."

"Have all of them been shown to the temporary quarters?"

"Yes, each group has been put into a holding cell, waiting to be processed."

"Good, take me to the holding area, I'll get right on it."

The 'processing' unfortunately was something only Gaude could do well – he had no faith in Snape's Legilimency abilities, and even if he did, he wouldn't let the man in on his side projects. There was no need for Snape to know that he had come in possession of a small army of vampires. That only left Gaude, since there weren't any good and trustworthy Legilimens in his employ.

Gaude was quickly led to a holding cell with only a single inhabitant in it, a boy that Gaude recognized as Dorne, from the memories of the four that had come on the previous day. Yet, the elf had reported taking two people there. Gaude suspected the other one to have some sort of a concealment ability, which just meant he'd have to be extra careful with opening the door – while the entire cell was warded against even an insect entering or exiting, once the door was opened all that would be for naught.

"What is the meaning of this?", the boy asked. "Is this some sort of a trap?"

"You must be Dorne.", Gaude spoke. "There's no need for traps. If I wanted to harm you or your clan, I would've simply told my men to kill everyone they can. Trust me, they would've been able to wipe out everyone that was there during the battle."

"Then why have I been put into this cell?"

"I would like to consider myself rather up to date on what has been happening in the Sanguini castle these pas few days. It is my understanding that your brother Lucien holds rather hostile intent against me and my family. It would be only natural for him to have a spy among those that swore loyalty to you and for his forces to come through the Floo."

"If you know who I am, why are you still holding me in here?", Dorne asked, feeling indignant.

"It's standard procedure, besides, there's another with you in this cell, and they're rather good at hiding. While I know your motivations, I don't know theirs. Once you've both been cleared and contracted to avoid trouble, you'll be free to settle in."

"Fine. What do you need me to do?"

"Step closer to the door. I'll check you with Legilimency. It's best you don't resist, as there might be some unpleasant side-effects if you do."

Suddenly, Dorne's shadow swirled and a woman in black armor rose from the floor.

"Oh, look, it's mama bear.", Gaude commented while looking at the woman behind Dorne.

She was silent, yet she seemed to dislike the way Gaude had addressed her.

"Yes, I know your name, but that's the way I'll call you until you properly introduce yourself.", Gaude said. "You don't need to worry, no harm will come to your son, this is just a formality in his and your case."

"Do you really think that you'll be able to invade the mind of a vampire unscathed?", she asked.

"I'm pretty confident, yes. I've already worked on the mind of a man well-versed in the mind arts a few times.", Gaude spoke.

Dorne was unusually quiet and still during their conversation. The truth was, his mind was already invaded and all twenty-three years of his memories were being rifled through one after the other, his thoughts and feelings getting an evaluation. Dorne was aware of everything that was happening inside his head, and he was even getting a new perspective on his life so far, Gaude's perspective.

This wasn't supposed to happen, but due to a vampire's natural talent in the mind arts, the connection formed was two-way, allowing Dorne to access Gaude's surface thoughts.

Due to Gaude's input, Dorne's views on some matters changed, understanding that what he had learned so far wasn't the best way to do things. He understood that the vampire society was still stuck in the dark ages while the Sanguini family had been thinking themselves progressive.

"Hm?", Gaude said. "It looks like I'll have to pay more attention to my defenses with your kind. Can't have you accidentally stumbling your way through and putting me under mind control or something similar.

I'm all done with the kid. It's your turn.", Gaude looked at Brigitte.

"When did you?", she asked, puzzled. There was no way a Legilimency scan would take so little time. Gaude had been quiet for barely an instant before he claimed he had finished with it.

Still, she turned Dorne around and saw a contemplative look on his face. "Are you alright?", she asked, worried.

"Yes, mother. I have much to think about. Thank you for always being kind to me even when I didn't deserve it.", Dorne replied while hugging the woman.

Gaude could see tears welling up in the woman's eyes and decided to wait for a while, until they had their moment.

It was only a few minutes later that Brigitte said: "I'm ready. Do it."

Gaude entered her mind and found that she had been treated like a little princess until she had matured. Then, she had been married off to Vincent Sanguini. Her life had instantly changed for the worse – she had been treated like a decoration and a means for her husband to satisfy himself. At first, she had refused and rebelled, but each time, she had been put into a chamber with nothing in it, for months. Over time, she had grown calloused, not caring what happened to her.

As years passed, Vincent had ordered her to bear children for him, and she had complied – she didn't have much choice and by that time, she didn't even care anymore.

However, her feelings were awakened once Lucien was born, and she tried to do her best to protect him from having his mind corrupted with what Vincent thought to be the proper vampire ways. Yet, she was powerless to express her will, and Vincent allowed Lucien to do whatever he wanted.

The same pattern had repeated with the next two, until finally, Dorne was born. He was a rare child, inheriting some of her clan's ability and mixing it with that of the Sanguini clan, giving rise to an improvement.

In scouring her mind, Gaude stumbled upon something rather interesting – the origin story of the fifteen clans.

The First had been a very powerful vampire, with abilities that were many and varied. Yet, as time went on, even he had fallen. Before his demise, however, he had left many offspring, and unto them, his abilities were bestowed.

While the ability of mind magic and transformation into the true vampiric form as well as superhuman strength and agility were inherited by all of the offspring, most others were inherited only by a single one. Each of the offspring had started their own clan, making a total of nine clans.

Yet, as time passed, a few completely new abilities manifested. Sometimes those with the new abilities were forced to produce offspring to the head family, and sometimes they managed to create a clan of their own. Like that, six more clans were formed. However, three thousand years ago, something had happened and no completely new abilities appeared again.

The only way to strengthen a clan became alliances and intermarriages. As the abilities of the vampires became stronger and more varied, some stronger clans had the idea that they should be the ruler over the entirety over the entirety of the vampire kind. An era of strife ensued, with many bloody wars fought over territory and dominance.

In the end, a single family emerged. Their power and control over their abilities were so great that they subjugated all other contenders, killing the entire head family of the clans that resisted their rule. Like that, the Royal Clan had come to be, and they were in power to this day.

After the short history lesson, Gaude continued going through Brigitte's memories.

Since the Sanguini clan didn't know how to control the portion that came from her shadow ability, she had been ordered by Vincent to train Dorne in the control of the abilities that were different from the usual blood mist control.

During the lessons, Brigitte had tried to be a real mother to Dorne, trying to teach him proper manners and etiquette, and while Dorne had been as cold as his father to her, he had still learned. It had even turned out that Dorne was like a sponge towards new knowledge, and spent most of his time in the family library before he was given a study of his own.

The other children treated their mother as if she was a part of the service staff, or even lower than them, since they weren't even allowed to touch her, as if she was carrying some sort of a plague.

Gaude said nothing about what he saw and opened the cell's door. He took out two contracts – instead of complete servitude, they were geared towards Jolly Cooperation and them taking heed of any suggestions given by Gaude and Amanda.

After they had both signed, Gaude spoke: "The elf will take you to the underground area that has been prepared for you and the ones that are found without ulterior motives. There's a diner with a few hundred packs of blood in the fridge if you're hungry."

"Thank you, but do you have any other food available? We don't really need blood all that often, for daily sustenance, human food is just fine. Just how cursory was your scan of our mind?"

"Ah, well, I kind of skipped the parts about food, I just assumed it was all about blood anyway."

Both the vampires rolled their eyes at that. Gaude had no doubt that they were thinking something about humans being prejudiced.

"Hey, it was an honest mistake, ok? Mandy has never asked for anything other than blood."

The woman's eyes widened at that. "Mandy? Lady Lestoat?"

"Yeah, she's still asleep, so you'll have to wait a few hours if you want an audience."

"Rich people these days.", Brigitte muttered. "Of course she's asleep if she has blood for every meal."

One more thing that Gaude had yet to learn was that drinking blood made a vampire's sleep deeper and longer, after a particularly large meal, a vampire might even sleep like the dead, with nothing being able to rouse them.

That was a part of the slumber that any old clan head went into – as they were fed a constant stream of human blood, it became that much harder for them to awaken. A vampire that had entered slumber might awaken weeks or even years after the steady stream of blood stopped, unless they were given the blood of a clan member.

Meanwhile, Amanda was drinking relatively fresh human blood for every meal, as she had been instructed to do so by her father. While she could still resist the sleepiness for half a day, the sleep became irresistible to her for the other half. Her diet, fully provided by Gaude, had also been the reason she had grown much stronger during her training in the Academy, even keeping up with most of the Werewolves when it came to growth rate.

Finding out that the vampires didn't actually need to gorge on blood all day every day lightened Gaude's concerns. It seemed that even if his supply wasn't able to keep up with their demand, he wouldn't end up with hundreds of ravenous vampires.

Next, Gaude went from cell to cell, casting Legilimency on each of the inhabitants and clearing them that way. Once it was proven that they were all clear, they were once again contracted and moved to the temporary habitat – an area that looked like a small underground town, with wide corridors and lighting rune schemes carved into the walls.

Eventually, however, a problem occurred. There was a cell that was filled to the brim with red mist, making it impossible for Gaude to establish a Legilimency link with anyone inside. While the enchantments kept the mist trapped inside, they also made it impossible to clear the air, unless the one responsible sucked it back in, provided they had sufficient control over the ability.

"Laly, gather a hundred knights and have them gear up, then bring them down here.", Gaude spoke to thin air.

A while later, the corridor between the cells was filled with knights.

"Boss, I thought we were on vacation?", one of them complained. All of them still moved a bit stiffly, a sign that their muscles were sore – apparently, restorative potions had no power over the side-effects of Potion No. 5.

"Yeah, well, I'm in need of your presence. You'll all get an extra day of vacation when the rest have to return to training.

Just keep your eyes open and kill anyone who tries to make a move."

Gaude finished drawing a whirlwind charm and as a strong gust of wind started blowing, he opened the door. The red mist was quickly sucked out of the cell, revealing twenty corpses.

"Well, fuck.", was Gaude's only comment. It turned out he was already too late, unable to get any information from whoever had perpetrated the act.

"Good thing I have a security system in place.", Gaude muttered. As he did, a red-robed being, the size of a grow human appeared next to him.

"Show me.", Gaude commanded, and the being lifted the rim of their hat. The usual shifting features were still there, but Gadue didn't care about them too much. He cast Legilimency and went into the being's mind, looking through their memories until he found what he was looking for.

In that cell, one of the prisoners had created a screen of red mist and there had been nothing after that. There hadn't even been any reactions that suggested there was anything wrong with any of them beforehand. Yet, he had ended up with a cell full of corpses.

"Return.", Gaude commanded.

"What just happened?", one of the knights asked with a puzzled face.

"What happened was me and you lot being too late and losing people that could've given me more information. Lets just hope we get to the rest in time."

Fortunately or not, that event didn't repeat and the rest of the vampires seemed to be actually loyal to Dorne.

What surprised Gaude, however, was the fact that all the family heads came to Gaude with a strange request: "We wish to have a plot of land to set down our manors upon. We have taken them with us, as they are the heirloom of our ancestors."

"Wait what?", was the only thing that Gaude managed to reply. However, he was soon shown miniature houses of various shapes and proportions.

"There are wizardkind among our thralls, they shrunk and lightened the buildings so that we could take them along. There is no reason to leave anything to the enemy."

'What are you, snails?', Gaude wanted to retort, seeing the vampires carrying their own homes.

Instead, he said: "Let me have a good look at them. If they fit the general look and feel of my own manor, I'll give you a piece of land aboveground. Otherwise, I'll have a space made underground."

"There's no need to make such considerations. We would be very pleased if an underground space could be made, away from sunlight.", one of the family heads spoke.

And just like that, the construction elves and Runecarvers got another task – to create a small underground world, much larger than the original town-like vampire habitat. This time, spatial extension was cranked up to the maximum, producing a space that was the size of a hundred football fields in a space that was originally barely able to fit half of one.

The vampire families then placed down their houses and had them restored to their original sizes. Lawn and trees were imported and lighting charms were carved into the walls, creating an atmosphere somewhat similar to the one around the head family's castle, with perpetually low lighting – the condition most suitable to a vampire's eyes. The lighting charms were above each of the trees, emitting a vast majority in the spectra most suited for plants, an application of finer control of the carved charms.

Once all the vampires had been settled in, Gaude called for a gathering of the family heads.

Soon enough, nine people were gathered, out of them five family heads and Dorne with his mother – he seemed to have decided that she deserved a spot in making decisions. The were standing in a semi-circle, with Gaude and Amanda facing them, standing beside each other.

"Listen up, all of you. Freeloading won't be tolerated in my house, except for Mandy, because she's just too damn cute. ", Gaude started, and Amanda gave him a bashful glance with a slight smile. It seemed that Amanda had opened up a bit more over the weeks she had spent in Gaude's house, as her face had become more expressive.

"The rest of you are all either old men, or in Dorne's case, a dude, so I even if his mom looks cool in that armor, I won't be making any concessions. That means two things: first of all, you'll turn your living space into a thing of beauty that no noble would shun upon. Second, you'll start training with the rest of my troops.

It is my understanding that Dorne has evolved your clan's head family's ability to the next level. That means I'll personally make sure that by the end of the week, you will all have the same ability. How much control you will have over it will be up to you, however.

According to the contract with Dorne, there will be mutual assistance between the Lestoat-Vywin clan and his portion of the Sanguini clan, but honestly, seeing that Mandy is my little sister, she's agreed to give me majority of control over you lot.

All this means that starting today, you'll be gorging on blood and training just as hard as the rest of my men. There are still many with too much power and too little brains, making a war inevitable. I want the Sanguini clan to be among my strongest allies."

The family heads had looked joyful when Gaude mentioned giving their families abilities similar to Dorne's, yet their faces had turned rather sour when Gaude mentioned putting them through some kind of training as if they belonged to him. Thinking back to the exact wording of the contract, their faces became even more unsightly – only now did they realize that their entire families and everyone affiliated with them had indeed become glorified security guards for Gaude's family.