The proceedings of a traditional IVC gathering seemed to be a modeled after an odd mix of things normally observed in a church, court, and/or a gathering of lawmakers. As Grand Duchess, she was Speaker of the House, Prime Minister, judge, jury, and sometimes the executioner, all in one. She, alone, represented all three branches of government for vampires – Legislative, Judiciary, and Executive. The only check against her unbalanced power was the unspoken understanding that, should someone ever see fit, she could be formally challenged and killed in a duel (and thus replaced) by any one of the leading IVC members at any given time.
Of course, that one clause was itself restrained by the limitations of what weapon(s) may be used in a duel and, of course, the fact that no one apparently believed themselves to be proficient enough to defeat her in hand-to-hand combat. It was not that she was such a great warrior that she could not be defeated; instead, they were comfortable to enjoy their own similar powers over those that were beneath them. It was this fact that explained some of the expressions and emotional sentiments that she faced then, just as in every occasion before then. They weren’t happy to have her as their leader, but they weren’t willing to take action to change the situation, either.
Raina used that momentary pause to place the Bluetooth device upon her ear and switch it on as everyone re-seated themselves. She then withdrew the now rumpled, wrinkled, and dog-eared pages of her speech notes from the inner pocket of her blazer and smoothed them out upon the lectern. When she spoke, the amplified volume of her own voice momentarily surprised her.
“Good evening.”
She stalled for a moment by pretending to clear her throat softly. A glance to the balcony area above the main congregational seating area showed Simon quickly adjusting the volume and tone of the PA system before turning toward her and giving a thumbs-up. This was it. This was where she had to really put on the “queen” persona, the diplomatic and overly well-spoken act that was expected of her to placate those of both sides of the aisle. This was where Raina was most grateful for Olivia’s wise coaching, as she was able to at least appear to be far more educated and eloquent than she was in truth. She was getting better at faking it, and more or less practicing this style of speaking through her journal writings made it feel a bit less awkward. Still, it felt every bit as starchy and uncomfortably formal as some of the outfits she sometimes found herself wearing, again at Olivia’s insistence.
“Good evening, everyone,” she said again with a slight nod, her eyes scanning the audience from side to side. “As always, I appreciate your attendance here tonight in our great Hall. I am especially grateful tonight for your patience in awaiting my arrival. I understand that some of you are not particularly excited to be here, given the nature of this gathering, but I truly appreciate your cooperation. It is my sincere hope that tonight, in the face of many recent events, we may come together and act for the greater good of our people … not only those of a single race, but for all those of the vampire species as a whole.”
Raina paused for a moment before continuing, not only for effect but to swallow back the lump in her throat that threatened to choke her voice. “As you know, an attempt was made upon my life tonight. Obviously, they failed. However, the House of Fallamhain has suffered yet another loss of life, as Ethan Fallamhain was killed in the attack. Others were wounded, but their recovery will be swift. Had it not been for the actions of my servants … my friends … I would not be standing here at this time. And that, of course, is exactly why I chose to be here tonight, in spite of what has happened … and looking like this.”
“Allow me to be bluntly honest for a moment,” Raina continued as she grasped both sides of the lectern. “I don’t know the names of those that attacked me. I’ll leave that up to Scotland Yard to figure out from what’s left of the dead bodies that I left in the street. I do know for a fact that all three of the men I killed were human, very well-equipped, very heavily armed, and obviously very well-funded. I feel it is probably safe to say that they were not acting alone. And while I honestly do not know who paid these men to engage in such a shameless, terrible act of terrorism, I am certain that these men were not hired by other humans. Given the timing of this attack and how it was carried out, I do believe these men were sent by another vampire. I would even go so far as to say that whoever was behind this is probably amongst us in this very hall.”
Those words drew a few soft gasps of shock and many mumbles and hushed comments from the IVC. Honestly annoyed that so many of these people had the audacity to pretend to be so surprised by her accusation, Raina scowled as she held up both of her hands to silence them.
“Let’s not mince words here, people. If these men had succeeded in killing me tonight … really, how many among you would have truly been sad to see me go? Seriously? How many of you really would have missed me?” she demanded, daring to speak a bit more plainly. Surprisingly, a few individuals actually raised their hands.
She acknowledged them with a silent nod before saying, “I am not standing before you tonight as an elected official. I am your Grand Duchess. I came into my position only as a result of the death of my predecessor. I am probably stating the obvious, but there are more than a few of you here that would like nothing more than to see me dead for one reason or another. And given the fact that many of you have heard all kinds of rumors about my intentions for tonight’s summit, I think it would be terribly naïve for anyone to assume that tonight’s attack was anything less than a blatant attempt to shut me up. Whoever did this wanted to kill me before I could conceivably do any more damage to this fine Council than some of you may feel I have already done. And even if we were to suppose that my would-be assassin is not sitting here tonight, there are those of you who surely had at least some foreknowledge of tonight’s attack. If that’s the case, then withholding that knowledge would make you just as guilty as the person who actually ordered the attack.”
Raising her hand to quell a number of hands that were suddenly raised with enthusiasm, she went on: “I will not turn this event into a witch hunt. Because human laws were broken tonight, and because humans were killed, Scotland Yard will conduct their own investigation and will presumably apprehend those responsible. The House of Fallamhain will also conduct its own investigation into this attack. If we happen upon them before the human government does, I will personally deliver them to the authorities. If we are ever going to convince humanity that we are a civilized race and not just a bunch of savage monsters, we all must lead by example.”
“I object, your grace!” a male spouted as he stood up from a pew located near the front of the right-hand side.
“State your name, please,” Raina said as she narrowed her eyes at the protester.
“Your grace, I am Lorenzo of the House of Ricci, Fourth Elder of the Council, Duke of Vatican, Italy,” he declared proudly, his deep, natural voice carrying easily across the Hall and surprisingly accented only lightly.
Duke Lorenzo was one of the highest-profile members of the IVC that Raina saw as a political opponent. He had been the most outspoken of her detractors, right from the very first gathering of the IVC over which Raina had presided as Grand Duchess. It came as little surprise to Raina that he would be the first to want to throw in his two cents, although it annoyed her that he wished to do so before she had even completed her initial speech.
“What is your objection, Duke Lorenzo?”
“The example which you wish for us to follow is that of a weak, submissive race that does not respond when it is attacked,” he declared. “This is not a policy which the race of the High Court can be asked to follow. Our survival depends upon the exhibition of our power, our courage! As Grand Duchess, your example would lead other races to see us as an unworthy opponent. If you do not respond to this attack with one of your own, then it will be seen as a sign of weakness that will only invite more attacks … perhaps upon other Houses of the High Court!”
Raina shook her head at him and gestured for him to
be seated again. “Your objection has been noted, Duke Lorenzo. However, my opinion on this will not be swayed. In fact, I must thank you for further reinforcing one of the reasons I had for calling together this summit.”
Duke Lorenzo adjusted his red silk tie with a deeply furrowed brow before sitting down again between his two extremely beautiful consorts. It was the most diplomatic way Raina could have otherwise said, Sit down, shut up, and let me finish.
“For centuries, we have lived as a race of beings confined to the shadows,” Raina explained. “We have lived in such secrecy that our very existence was never publicly acknowledged until only in recent history. Many of our people were accustomed to feeding upon the unwilling. It was an accepted practice for a vampire to kill or maim their donor in order to feed, and it was believed that only blood could sustain a vampire. Of course, advances in modern science and medicine have allowed us to put those brutal and uncivilized ways behind us.”
“My predecessor, Duvessa, believed that we are the next level of human evolution, as do many of you. Quite honestly, I find this hard to believe when I see and hear some of the hypocrisy exhibited by our own people. It’s no wonder that humans still see us as monsters. This culture of instilling fear in others is so deeply engrained within our people that we practice it not only upon humans but upon one another. Murder, torture, rape and sexual humiliation, forced marriages, slavery … some of the worst atrocities of humanity make up some of our official traditions. We glorify these crimes that we commit against one another, and against others, as acts of honor. The Code states…”
“I object, your grace!” a female declared from the left side of the aisle, standing so abruptly that she actually wobbled awkwardly for a moment in her extreme high heels and brilliantly glittering, silver sequined dress.
Not bothering to disguise her frustration, and already knowing who the protester was, Raina sighed, “State your name, please.”
“Camille of the House of Richard, Third Elder of the Council, Duchess of Paris, France,” she declared, rudely and deliberately omitting a bit of formality in her reply.
Like many of the others in the IVC, she had an extensive English vocabulary and excellent grammar, but the accent of her native tongue was unmistakable. Her voice was quite mature, and while she was not ugly, her mouth was too wide, her nose too long, and her dark blue eyes too inherently sad-looking for her to rightly be called pretty.
Raina let the minor offense slide. “What is your objection, Duchess Cam—…”
“You are blaspheming against the Code and disrespecting its author. You ridicule the High Court as a bunch of common criminals!” she declared with much angry hand-gesturing that caused the platinum bracelets upon her wrists to jingle against one another. “I should not need to remind you, your grace, we are proud to be vampires. The pleasures of the flesh are not simply traditions. They are our religion! Who are you to tell us that we should be ashamed of what we are and what we believe?”
“What I am … Duchess Camille,” Raina shot back with undisguised anger, “is the Grand Duchess of this Council! I should not need to remind you that rudeness and interruption are unbecoming of your status as an Elder. I respect your experience and I value your opinion, Duchess, but I will not tolerate insolence and disrespect in this Hall. Do I make myself clear?”
The Duchess stood in silence with a tense, angry expression contorting her face as she balled her fists up at her sides.
“Do … I … make … myself … clear?” Raina nearly shouted, slapping a palm down loudly upon the lectern with the last word. The impact echoed throughout the Hall for several seconds, and it visibly made the French High Court jump. She blinked a few times, literally swallowing back her pride, and then finally nodded.
“Oui … your grace.”
“Then be seated!” she commanded her, and the Duchess obeyed, folding her arms under the deep cleavage of her breasts formed by the pearlescent white Victorian corset she wore over her sequined dress.
This was quickly becoming one of the most intense and trying appearances she had made before any gathering of the IVC. It was certainly the most emotion that Raina had allowed herself to exhibit in front of these people. Olivia, she could see, was nevertheless approving of her performance thus far. As Grand Duchess, anger was an acceptable emotion to display before the Council. Duvessa had no doubt exhibited her rage on many occasions. It would have been an entirely different matter if Raina had instead broken down into tears over the guilt and worry she felt over Svetlana’s serious wounds, something about which she was trying not to think in that moment.
“People of the Council,” Raina declared, “I did not summon you tonight to give certain individuals an opportunity to engage in political showboating or chest-thumping. This is not a time for gaining points with your peers by making rude and irrelevant protests. I have gathered you all here to inform you of the changes that I intend to make to the policies of this Council. I have not yet even begun to explain those changes. And yet, there are some of you that feel the need to object before you even know what it is to which you’re objecting!”
“First and foremost, I am not going to overhaul the Code,” Raina announced, drawing a few more gasps and a lot of hushed conversation between people. Angrily, she slammed a fist down upon the lectern even more loudly than during her exchange with Duchess Camille. “Silence!”
She felt a bit stupid in using that haughty, theatrically cheesy command, but the IVC nevertheless immediately fell silent again. Hey, if it worked, perhaps a bit of theatrical cheese wasn’t all bad.
“I will not overhaul the Code,” she stated again, “and, in fact, I will be leaving it largely untouched. I will not be proposing any changes to the Code tonight. I will, however, ask that we review the Code together at a later date, and consider agreeing to changes that we all could find mutually satisfying. I realize that the Code has remained in place for this long because, at least on some levels, it does work. It is an imperfect system, and I do feel that it needs to be updated and refined. But for now, I wish for it to remain intact.”
Raina held up one hand immediately, heading off any immediate questions. “However … there are changes in our general policy that I believe must be made immediately. As I have said, we must lead by example. The Code is the established law for all vampires. By and large, the other races are expected to adhere to the Code. They are also expected to act within the limits of the human governments’ laws. The High Court race also adheres to the Code, but as a whole, they regard it as being the only set of laws that they must follow. The High Court has essentially told the other races, ‘Do as I say, not as I do’. This is hypocrisy, and I find this to be unacceptable.”
As expected, there were protests – three of them, in fact, simultaneously. Duke Lorenzo and Duchess Camille, of course, stood immediately, accompanied as well by a rather surprising third, which Raina authorized to speak first by acknowledging her by name.
“Adela of the House of Prochazka, Duchess of Prague, Czech Republic,” Raina addressed her, already quite familiar with the Elder from several prior conversations and events. “Please state your protest.”
“Your grace,” she began with a grateful nod, speaking with far less anger than the prior two Elders, “I must respectfully disagree. It was established long ago that the High Court is superior to all other races of vampire. It is the reason why all other races of vampire look to us as their leaders. It would be an insult to our people to demand that we lower ourselves to the standards of Commoners.”
“Lower ourselves?” Raina echoed with a raised eyebrow. “I find it hard to believe that we can call ourselves a ‘superior’ race when we act with more brutality and cruelty than any other race in existence … human, vampire, or whatever. To kill, maim, rape, rob, and pillage, and then claim these things are justified by the Code … we don’t look like a superior race at all. We look more like a terrorist organization.”
“And you would say this to us now, covere
d in the blood of your enemies?” Duchess Adela countered with a calm gesture. There were nods and murmured sounds of agreement from several others. “Would you speak of our hypocrisy when you, yourself, are just as guilty?”
Loki surprised her by standing and turning slightly toward Duchess Adela, though still looking to Raina. “Your grace, if I may…?”
“Marco of the House of Fallamhain, Duke of Finland,” Raina addressed him formally. “You may speak.”
He nodded and turned toward Duchess Adela directly. “The Grand Duchess has done nothing illegal tonight. Those men attacked her. She was defending herself and her people. She did not break any laws when she killed them. The police questioned her and released her. They even let her keep her sword. It was just self-defense.”
“And what of Countess Wilhelmina of the House of von Reichenbach?” Duchess Adela retorted. “What of our Grand Duchess Duvessa of the House of Fallamhain? How can your Maker condemn us for committing acts of violence when she has killed so many, herself?”
“Your grace, may I add to your consort’s words?” asked another voice as yet another individual stood.
Raina nodded, saying, “Connor of the House of Wright, Duke of England, you may speak.”
“I believe what Duke Marco is trying to say,” Duke Connor elaborated politely, “is that it is unfair of you to accuse the Grand Duchess of hypocrisy when she has, in fact, acted consistently within the limits of all laws. In each occasion where she has killed, she has done so only out of necessity. I am quite sure that if she had, in fact, broken any laws set forth by the human governments, they would have done everything within their power to prosecute her. Our Grand Duchess is not asking us to do anything that she has not already proven herself willing and able to do, herself.” He turned to face Loki. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
The Darkest Colors- Exsanguinations Page 13