The Blood Painted Cage

I stood on the balcony of my room in the Domain, staring absentmindedly at the dark sky. It was colder this evening and my breath was turning into puffy mist as it left my mouth. I sighed heavily creating a huge eruption of cloud to swirl about in front of my face.

The Gathering had pretty much went as I thought it would. The Heads were fewer than last decade though but thankfully a little calmer. We had lost two Clans to the blood depletion which were now human and another three small two generation Clans had been wiped out through killings and spats with Packs and Prides. Blackburn’s Clan would’ve been one of those listed destroyed if it wasn’t for the fact I knew he was alive and sort of well. His sister never turned up to the Gathering which put Vincent in an even fouler mood than the thought of her coming here and had left me to go wonder about the grounds to release some of his anger. I guessed the idea of her being dead was not something that would make him happy, no matter how much he wished to avoid her.

Birth rates had gone down as well as predicted. While the bigger Clans had a nice number being born due to more females, the smaller and weaker clans were having less and less born to them. And the worrying thing was that some of those children were in fact human. The thinning blood was rapidly getting worse and I hadn’t a clue of how to stop it. I was doing a rubbish job at keeping my people safe. I groaned loudly and let my head drop onto the banister in despair.

The sound of a knock at the door grabbed my attention and pushed forced myself to wonder back into the room. I checked on Viorel who had fallen asleep on the sofa quite happily before I reached for the door and pulled it open.

I blinked at first, surprised, before I smiled in welcome at Nuan. Her face remained impassive, an obvious indication that something was weighing heavily on her mind.

“Lady, may I come in?” She asked.

I nodded my head and stood aside, letting her stride into the room, then closed the door firmly shut behind her.

“What’s wrong Nuan?” I asked hesitantly. She was acting strangly for Nuan, far less confident and more uncertain.

She sighed heavily and rubbed her neck, glancing at Viorel. “He asleep?” I nodded. “Then I have something to tell you. I only feel it is right to inform you now since you have completely accepted who and what you are.” She said with a brief smile as she said the latter part alongside a slight slither of pride.

“What is it?”

“It is something vital to do with my own clan, the Kwan, and the Pluvia. Something that should put your mind at ease a little.” She stated. “But you are not to repeat what I say to anyone else. Only the Sinclair’s are meant to be entrusted with this knowledge.”

I sat down slowly and watched her carefully before I agreed.

“What will be said will be only known to me if that was the way of my forefathers.”

Nuan’s smile became a broad grin, something that looked very strange on her normally stoic features. Happily she went on to tell me something very strange indeed; something that did indeed put my mind at ease about my dying race and locked away, agreeing firmly that what she told me was to never be repeated.

*

I was just getting ready to leave and was waiting for Vincent to return to my side from his lengthily stroll beside the main doors when Livia called out to me. I looked up, my face just about visible from my hat and thick scarf, to see her darting towards me with a man trailing behind her.

He was a Blue blood, I could tell by his scent. Not an ounce of human was in him which made him one of the Heads. I sighed a little. I had hoped avoiding the dreaded question of ‘when will you find out what is happening to our people.’ Now that I had the knowledge Nuan had given me, I knew it was only a matter of time before the weakening blood was stopped and healed. I just needed to wait for the right child to be born and protect her by ensuring she was raised in secret. Sadly, Nuan’s secret was known by some older vampires who were keeping a watchful eye out for this specific child to save their own clans from disaster that would only result in this special child’s death.

Noticing that the incoming conversation was something that they needn’t hover around for, Viorel, Dana and Sonia scooted away into the great outdoors, leaving me to wait for the last member of our troup and to speak with this new comer.

Livia came to an abrupt halt in front of me and turned to the tall man who was bowing before me. I instantly recognised him. Nuan favoured him, so much so she spoke to informally and often asked him to visit her in her rooms which was not like her at all. I liked him though from what I had seen of him. He was usually one of the few quite Heads who actually tried to help resolve the situation, not inflame it by throwing blames around and demanding answer from the Elders that they just could not give.

“Lady, this man stayed behind because he is in desperate need of your help. I agreed to let him meet you only because Nuan deemed it acceptable.”

I smiled lightly at her and turned to face the kind but worried man in front of me. “It is a pleasure, Lucius Rain. I don’t think we have actually spoken before.”

Lucius smiled thinly at me and I noticed then how tired he looked. Something was bothering him immensely; enough to prevent him from sleeping.

“We haven’t, Lady Eva, and I wouldn’t have bothered you if the Elder Huan hadn’t demanded I do.” He said apologetically. “She gets needlessly worried about my health sometimes.”

I laughed a little at that idea. Nuan was spouting so many surprises today it seemed.

“Don’t worry, just tell me what I can do to help you.”

Suddenly the nervous air about him grew thick and he glanced about the hall which was still filled, as always, with vampires of all status’. I realised very quickly then that he didn’t want to go into detail.

“Give me an idea of what it is that worries you.”

He gave me an appreciative look but the concern still remained. “I have something in my...possession that I should’ve have. I want to be able to keep it in one place as it keeps getting taken and getting itself damaged.” He said heavily and pushed his loose hair from his face in a sign of frustration. “It was nearly destroyed a couple of months ago and I can’t bear to lose it.”

The object he spoke of I knew was something he cared for deeply and just delving into his mind was enough to know his story was true. And if Nuan wanted me to help this man, then I was going to just have to.

“I take it you can’t bring this object here.” It didn’t surprise me when he shook his head, unintentionally stirring his hair so it fell once again over his eyes. “And I can’t come to you. I may unintentionally bring some unwanted guests to your home. It seems the most logical alternative is for you to come visit me.”

His eyebrows raised in surprise. “Are you sure? Isn’t that asking for a bit much?”

I laughed. “No, it’s not. If I am going to hear your story, it should be somewhere where there are no other vampires and a place I can work in peace. That would be my own home.”

A relieved smile spread over his face and he gave me such a warm look, one filled with appreciation and hope, it made me blush, however my eyes were snatched from Lucius’s kind face when I felt an oppressing aura coming towards us.

I nearly flinched when I saw the thunderous expression on Vincent’s face as he strode towards us. His dark eyes were fixed on Lucius who took the threatening scowl in his stride, welcoming Vincent with a tentative smile and even took one step away from me, letting Vincent close the gap between himself and me. I found it strange how Vincent was reacting to Lucius’s presence and how he hovered close to me protectively; he even let out a low threatening growl.

Lucius suddenly bowed lightly, much like how he had greeted me, and flashed me a smile followed by a wary glance at the hostile man beside me.

“I will take my leave now. Expect to receive a message in the next couple of weeks about when I should arrive. Currently, said object can’t leave its room until the doctor says otherwise.”

I smiled brightly and nodded. “I will wait patiently, Lucius, and help in anyway with your problem.”

Lucius thanked me graciously then left without looking back, not wanting to push his luck with the increasingly irritated Vincent. As soon as he turned down the hallway, I shot Vince an irritated glance which he dutifully ignored as he watched Lucius leave.

“Why did you act like that? Lucius was perfectly civil so you had no reason to act so hostile towards him.” I said disapprovingly.

Vince grunted and let his eyes roam over my face possessively. “That’s what you think.”

I continued to glare, even if my face was now bright pink, and turned to Livia, who had been watching the spectacle with amusement, and announced that we could now leave. Hiding her grin, she flittered away with me trailing after her. Vincent stayed close to my side and remained, quite confusingly, in a foul mood for the rest of the day. I ignored him, mostly because I was annoyed that he was so rude to Lucius but also, a small part of me was annoyed at the reaction he was getting from me.

Whoever knew a man being unnecessarily protective would make my heart flutter with suppressed joy.