by Desiree Lee
"Thanks. We'll let you know as soon as we have an answer,” Julio said, standing. He extended his hand to Michelle, helping her up. Not that she needed it but it made him feel better to do so. Pierre saw them to the door and they left together, pondering the offer the master vampire had made to them.
"What do you think?” Michelle asked him.
"I was about to ask you the same. You know the people of the House better than I do. What do you think they would want? Do you think they would trust Pierre enough to join his House?"
"I don't know. So many years of fighting are a lot to just put aside so quickly. I'm concerned about that."
"Same here. We'll present the option, like we said we would. If they choose to go, then so be it. If they choose not to, then we'll work something out. I'm in this with you all the way, Michelle. I'm not leaving you to work this out yourself."
"I couldn't do this without you."
"Yes you could. You're stronger than you think."
When they got back to the House, Michelle asked Avra to help gather everybody in to the living room for a meeting.
"We spoke with Pierre tonight,” she began, once everyone was present. “He has offered us truce.” She paused, hearing some sighs of relief. “He has also offered us refuge. If we want, he will accept us, every one of us, in to his House.” She paused again as everyone seemed to speak at once.
Finally Ikram broke through the cacophony. “What are his motives? Why is he willing to cast aside the hatred?"
"He has wanted peace for a long time and I have come to see now that François indeed was guilty of prolonging the war. I hate to admit that but it is true. I miss François too,” Michelle said quickly to assuage those who might say she was defiling his name. “It is a fact. He was not willing to make the concessions that Pierre is."
"There is another option,” Julio interjected. All eyes turned to him. “He will offer us alliance if we maintain this House and elect a new leader. We wouldn't have to merge in to his House then. We'd still have the peace."
"I like that idea better,” Ikram stated. Some others added their assent.
"We promised to offer all the options to you,” Michelle said. “So that is why we are here. I also understand if anybody does not want to stay with the House and wants to strike out on your own. We all know how difficult it is for a rogue, but some do manage to make their way comfortably. I won't begrudge anybody who wants to leave here. This House has been through hell. We can pull it together ourselves, we can let it fall apart or we can blend it in with Pierre's. I only want what is best for all of us. I want this to be a group decision."
"How about voting on it?” Mallory said.
"Fine with me,” Michelle nodded.
"I'll write it up,” Avra offered. “Everyone can just mark their choice and put it in to a box. Nobody has to say how they voted, deal?” Everyone murmured agreement. Avra left the room to find a tablet. She pulled off enough pages for everyone to cast a vote, writing all the choices on each page with a check box. Everyone took a pen and checked off their choice, folded the page and dropped it in to a bowl. Once everyone had cast their vote, Avra took the bowl to Michelle.
Michelle counted off each vote and Avra kept score. The tally was close between merging with Pierre and electing a new leader. Michelle got down to the final paper, pausing for dramatic effect. “Maintain this House under new leadership. What is the count Avra?"
"Maintain this House under new leadership got the most votes. It was close."
"Very well then,” Michelle stated. “We've made our choice. Now we have to elect a new leader. Anybody want to volunteer?” Nobody spoke up. “Anybody?"
"I elect you and Julio to be co-leaders,” Avra said. Many others agreed.
Michelle looked at Julio. He nodded. “We accept, as long as everyone is in agreement."
"I don't think you'll find one person who will speak against you,” Ikram conceded. “I may be older, but I don't think I have the chops to be a leader. You're more sensible than I am, Michelle. I'm glad it was you who found the Keeper."
"I found him, but I lost him,” she chuckled. She almost lost her life for it too. It was hard to believe that so many things had changed in the span of a few short weeks.
"Do you know why François did not want to send you?” Avra said.
"I thought he didn't believe in my ability,” Michelle replied, dumbfounded. There was another reason?
"He didn't want to lose you. He knew if you failed, he would have to kill you. Everyone knows you were his favorite."
"That's not right. Nobody here is expendable. I don't think he sent Ikram, Carmine, Mallory and Zelma because he thought it would be easier to kill them for failure rather than me."
"It's true,” Carmine said. “As Seekers, we all knew the penalty for failure. We also knew that François chose his Seekers specifically. He chose the people he liked the least."
"No, he cared for all of us,” Michelle protested.
"He did, but Avra is right. You were his favorite. He adored you. Why do you think he tried so hard to help you to get over Luke? He hated to see you so broken up. He knew that Luke had gone over to Pierre's side. He made the few of us who did know keep the secret too. He didn't want you to be hurt by Luke's betrayal.” Carmine continued.
"Sorry Michelle, but he's telling the truth,” Mallory agreed. “We hated keeping the secret, but we knew it would devastate you to know the truth."
"Well as your newly-elected co-leader, I'm putting my foot down. No more big secrets like this. You're right. I was devastated to see Luke again, to know he was alive and commiserating with the enemy. If I had been warned though, it would not have been so hard for me to deal with. So if we're going to remain a strong family, we need to keep the communication lines open between us. I'm not saying we have to share every little nuance, but something major like that, no, don't keep that a secret."
"What about money?” Julio wasn't sure who asked the question but he did look at Michelle.
"François has a will. I know where it is. It provides for the distribution of his resources in case of his death. With everything up in the air lately, I wanted things to settle a bit before bringing it out."
"I know where it is too,” Ikram said. “I was a back-up in case something happened to Michelle."
"We'll abide by his wishes. If worse comes to worse, we can ask Pierre for guidance. He has been providing for his House just as long as François has. He can tell us how to structure the resources so that our livelihood is maintained."
"So then it's decided. You and Julio are the new co-leaders and we are allied with Pierre. That sounds so strange, but I think it's best for all of us,” Mallory said. A ripple of agreement passed through the rest. “You'll tell Pierre?"
"Yes, we will,” Julio answered. “I know that I'm the new guy here, but I want to say thank you to everyone. You've all been very kind and helpful to me in this transition as both Keeper and as a new vampire. I was an only child all my life. It's nice to have a big family now.” The women gave him a round of awws. “Thanks for accepting me in to your House and in to your lives. It means a lot to me."
"You're a good man, Julio. It's plain to see. You're a person we want in our family,” Ikram said. “You love Michelle and have made her happier than we've seen her in a long time."
"Happier than I've ever seen her,” Avra added.
"Well you're mortal, dear. You haven't known her as long as we have."
"So I guess you're stuck with me,” Julio laughed.
"Oh, darn,” Avra gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Maybe we should have made this into a reality show. We could vote people out of the House,” Julio snickered. “I vote Avra for being facetious,” he smirked.
"Bite me.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
"You'd like it too much."
"Damn right I would,” she nodded vigorously. Everyone snickered.
"OK, so is there anything else we need to address right now?
” Julio brought the tone back down to a serious level. Everyone shook their heads no. “All right, then Michelle and I will contact Pierre and, well, this is the first night of a new start for all of us."
"Bring on the hootch!” Carmine shouted, bringing peals of laughter from everyone.
Julio stood and walked toward the door, silently leaving the revelry. Michelle followed. He slipped his arm around her waist, heading outside. Staring up at the stars, he asked her, “so, are you ready for this?"
"I think so. We're in it together. That's all that matters to me."
"Carmine hinted at a good idea. We ought to throw a big party soon and invite Pierre's House."
"To celebrate the deaths of François and Luke?” Michelle looked up at him incredulously.
"No, we'll mark the new beginning of our life together as leaders of this House and celebrate our new alliance with Pierre. I think it will help further the relations between the two Houses if we start things off on a fun note."
"You're right. How did you get so smart?"
"I learned from a very wise woman.” He reflected for a moment on his mother. “I really wish you had gotten to know Mom better. She'd be so proud of me now, I think. She too kept the secret from me, trying to protect me. If I had known about this sooner, I wouldn't have been so rebellious toward you at first. I would have accepted my position because I would have been better informed. I am sorry I was such a pain in the ass when you first got here."
"I forgive you. I know I was a hard-ass bitch too. I was trying so hard to prove myself to François. I thought he doubted my ability. I didn't know the real reason he didn't want me to be his Seeker."
"It explains a lot."
"Now that it's out in the open, yes."
"Let's go talk to Pierre."
"OK,” she agreed.
He let go of her, walking to his truck. The drive to Pierre's house was more relaxed this time than it had been earlier. This time, they knew the news was good. Michelle called the house on the way to say they were coming.
Pierre himself met them at the door this time when they arrived. “You have an answer already? That was faster than I expected."
"We took a vote. I have to say the voting was close. A lot of people wanted to merge Houses, but,” Michelle looked at Julio. He squeezed her hand for support. “We have decided to keep our own House. Julio and I will be co-leaders. We would like the alliance with your House. We think that would be best for all of us."
"I understand. I wish you well. If you need any help, call on me."
"I am sure we will. François had a will that we're going to have to deal with, but as far as financial matters go, I think we will benefit from your advice."
"I will be happy to help you, in due time,” Pierre agreed.
"We're also going to have a party soon to celebrate the launch of our new House and our alliance with yours. We'd like to invite everybody in your House. We haven't set the date yet, but we'll let you know as soon as it's decided."
"I can already tell you that we will be pleased to accept."
"In that case, I say let's do it tomorrow night,” Julio said.
"I am agreeable to that,” Pierre nodded.
"I'm down with it too. I know the rest of the House will be. They're already starting to celebrate the changes tonight."
"Tomorrow night it shall be. We will see you then."
* * * *
The following night, Pierre's entire House showed up for the fete. Everybody from both sides seemed genuinely interested in fostering good relations. It was progress in action. Julio was pleased. He stared up at the stars, saying a silent thank you to any of the gods who would listen. It wasn't world peace, but it was a huge leap for the two Arcée Houses.
The revelry continued for hours. The donors were all in prime condition and made themselves available all around. When they weren't feeding vampires, they had long discussions amongst themselves about their duty to the Houses. They discovered that they really weren't that different after all. Even the mortals had something in common.
Julio stood in the center of the back yard, clearing his throat. “Attention please? If I may?” The chatter died down as all eyes turned toward him. “This is a historic night for all of us. For the first time in 250 years, we are truly friends here. Not in a truce, but friends. Thank you all for making this happen. I realize it has taken a lot of sacrifice to get here. The people lost on both sides will not be forgotten. We will honor them in our hearts and memories forever.” A round of applause cut his next sentence off. He waited for the cheers to die down before going on. “There is one more thing that I think needs to be put to rest.” He took an envelope out of his pocket, holding it up for all to see. From the envelope, he removed the tarot card. Now that he was vampire, he too could smell the essence imbued in to the card. He was amazed that Michelle was able to track it from all the way across the country. “I have written to all of the Keeper families and informed them that the war is over. Their duty has ended. There is no more need for this. I want to lay this symbol of the animosity between the Houses to rest once and for all. Count with me. One! Two! Three!” Everybody joined in the count and on three, Julio threw the card in to the fire pit. Murmurs billowed through the crowd as they all watched the flames consume the last vestige of the war. As the breeze carried away bits of ash, Julio was glad to see it go. His reign as Keeper had drawn to a close, flitting away in to the summer night.
The End
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