Of Wine and Roses

Chapter 2 Counsel Procedures

Aceline woke the next morning to find herself berried in the ground, right up to her neck. As odd as it was, she didn\'t mind. Both D & Kale lie on either side of her, both fighting to stay awake in the dawning light. But Logan was nowhere to be seen. \"Mommy?\" she called softly, and at once both were fully alert. \"My head hurts.\"

\"It will pass,\" eased D, as Kale gently kissed her brow.

\"Why am I in the ground daddy?\"

\"Sometimes we need to be, to recover from weakened states. You\'ll be alright now.\"

\"That man. Is he gona come back?\"

\"God I hope not,\" Kale whispered.

\"No,\" D announced. \"He will not return to us. But we will see him again. Unfortunately. We\'ll worry about that later.\" Carefully the two pulled the dirt off the little girl, and helped her to her feet. Kale took out a change of clothes for her, and the two held their cloaks up around her while she changed.

After a leisurely breakfast of biscuits and tea that Kale had stored in her horse, they were off again, though at a much slower pace. Aceline was very concerned. The pair looked totally exhausted when she woke, and her mother wasn\'t as cheerful as she had been. They had little choice to stop for lunch, for Max, feeling his rider weakening as she rode, refused to go any further. D thought it best they do stop for a while. The day was getting hotter, and the humidity from the wet ground did little to help. Shortly after Kale fell asleep, Logan returned, a few scratches across his face. \"What happened?\" Aceline asked.

\"Sometimes,\" he began, after changing his form, to better nurse his wounds. \"The wolf in me, doesn\'t know when to listen to the man, when he say, leave the cat alone.\" Aceline laughed a bit. For some reason, she couldn\'t picture Logan, in either form, chasing a cat.

\"Daddy, are you ok?\" she asked, as D tilted his hat down, covering his eyes with his hand.

\"Just a little tired,\" he answered quietly. \"We\'ll rest here till evening. We should all get some rest. Max, Nightmare, stand watch.\" The horses bobbed their heads, and though it didn\'t appear so, the pair were quite alert. D leaned against the tree that sheltered them from the sun, nearest to Kale. Aceline curled up between them.

\"I\'ll stand h toh too,\" Logan offered. \"I needn\'t as res rest as you.\"

\"Thank you.\" There was little D could do to ease his senses, but he tried to rest as best he could. He was well aware of what was going on around him, but as he relaxed more and more, sleep soon took over.

He could feel it close by. He knew it wasn\'t D. It was far too strong for him. This was different. He stepped out of the carriage to the starlit field. It was close. Why would a vampire be coming right at him? True he was holding back his powers, so that he wouldn\'t appear intrusive to the vampires that ruled the areas that he passed through, but this one seemed determined to intercept him.

He turned to the trees just as the carriage immerged along the road. The blue haired coachman pulled the horses to a halt, got down and opened the door. The pail man left the coach, pushing the hood from his head, letting his silvery gray hair brush against his shoulders. He took four strides towards him, then bowed on one knee, flinging his cloak behind him. \"Lord Dracula, King of the Night, I ask for a moment of your time.\"

Dracula regarded him. He\'d never formally met this vampire, and he hadn\'t noticed him in Barbarois the previous year. He sensed the man was quite advanced in years. Nearly 1,000 years, if his senses were correct; and they were rarely wrong. \"And you would be?\" he asked.

The man remained on his knee, not being given permission to rise. \"I am Trevor Hailmann, made by Lerix Dryer, Lord of Ann Arbor.\"

\"I was not aware that Lerix had any progeny of any kind.\"

\"I was his last, before he was killed.\"

\"Mmmm. Walk with me.\" As the man fell into step slightly behind Dracula, as he continued. \"What is it that has brought you to me?\"

\"I seek your assistance. A vampire I had made, fathered a child, but he was killed before she was born. For some reason her powers have immerged early, she requires my guidance. But a Dhampire hunter and his woman have taken the child, and have insisted the child is theirs. Rather than risk a battle that may injure the child, I\'ve sought you out. To follow Vampire Law, I ask that you settle this, and give the girl to me, so that she may be raised in the Vampire ways, that is her heritage.\"

\"An interesting dilemma,\" Dracula quipped. \"What are the hunter\'s names?\"

\"I do not know the Dhampire, but his woman\'s name, he said, was Kale.\" Dracula stopped in his tracks. \"You know them?\"

\"Oh yes,\" he sighed sadly, fearing this were so. \"Kale is my daughter-in-law, wife to my oldest son D.\" \'So son, this was the surprise. How unfortunate this would happen.\'

\"I was not aware he had survived this long. Forgive me.\"

\"You still wish to protest the child being with them?\"

\"Yes. Forgive me, but I do not believe they would make suitable overseers to the child\'s up bringing. She\'s better off with me. I trust you also see the wisdom in this?\"

\"No,\" he answered. \"I do not see your point. But I cannot arbitrarily make this decision.\"

\"Then convene a counsel!\"

\"Watch your tone! And don\'t quote law and procedure to me! I made these laws so that infighting like this would not result in all out war among ourselves!\" Dracula turned his gaze to the crescent moon above. \"I sense my son is near. Go. I will summon you to thetineting place, when all is ready. Till then, you are to remain unseen. There are unrelated issues that need to be address first. Go!\"

\"Yes, my lord.\" The man bowed again, and returned to carrcarriage, yelling to his coachman to take him to the nearest village.

\"My son, you should have told me.\"

The final leg of their journey had been made at night, to avoid the increasing daytime heat. Some how they ended up with a farmer\'s dog following them, a rather pretty German Shepard style dog. Logan believed it was because he visited the dog one evening. She was lonely, tied to her little doghouse. It wasn\'t until near dawn that he\'d learned the owner, an old man who lived alone, had passed away only that day. So rather than leave the dog to starve, he chewed through her rope. Sense then, she was on his tail.

Shortly before dusk, D had woken, not that he\'d really slept, to hear a child crying. At first he thought it was Aceline, but she was fast asleep. Together with Logan, in human form, and his shadow, they traveled passed the road and small stand of trees to find a small boy burying something in the ground. \"What has happened?\" Logan asked.

\"My dog died,\" the boy replied. \"He was old, but he was my best friend. Mom and dad can\'t afford another.\"

Logan nodded and took the collar that lay across the grave, and fastened it around the lady dog\'s neck. \"Her name is Pride. She is yours.\"

\"You mean it?!\" the boy asked, whipping his tears.

\"Her owner died, but was very kind to her. If you will be kind to her, she will stay.\"

\"I will! I promise. Thanks mister!\"

They left the boy with his new friend, to find Kale and Aceline standing in the trees. Logan said nothing as he passed, taking Aceline with him. \"Softy,\" she said playfully. His eyes smiled, and quickly kissed her.

\"If he really didn\'t care about the animal,\" he whispered, \"he would not be crying over its death. Besides, what would we do with a dog?\"

\"I didn\'t want to keep her, I just figured she\'d be a nice friend for Logan. Besides, I wasn\'t quite sure what to do with her.\"

\"Right…\" he sighed, as he kissed her. He knew she didn\'t have the heart to part with the animal herself, and she knew the two men would do the right thing.

It was well after midnight when the travelers came upon a clearing where an elegant carriage stood at rest, six white cyber horses grazing near by. \"Is that him?\" Kale asked, as Aceline quickly scrambled down to the ground.

\"That\'s him,\" D answered, watching the child head toward the horses, with Logan trotting behind her. His attention was then drawn to the carriage, as the door opened and a man in black leather pants, boots, and white shirt stepped out.

\"D!\" he said with a smile, but the Dhampire as usual showed no exuberant emotion at seeing his sire. Instead he just dismounted and met him three strides in front of the horses.

Kale tensed at the sight of him. It could be the old blood sucker would just ignore her, sense she had not returned to his house as he had forbade her to do. But still he\'d promised…Kale took one of her arrows and laid it into her formed crossbow, keeping it hidden beneath her cloak. She wouldn\'t use it unless she had not other choice. \"It is good to see you,\" Dracula continued. \"I\'m please you were able to find her.\"

\"It is up to you to ein tin to her, father,\" he said dryly. \"I haven\'t told her anything.\"

\"I understand,\" It wasn\'t something he relished doing, or was he looking forward to. But apologizing to Kale was what she deserved. The way he treated her was unforgivable. But it was what he\'d had to do. The laws for vampires had come a long way, but even they were not infallible. If he had killed her in Barbarois, and then learned the truth, he wasn\'t sure what he\'d do. He stepped away from his son, and towards the silver horse, only to have it back away from him. \"Please Kale. Hear me out.\"

\"Like you did for me in Barbarois!?\" He deserved that. \"I hadn\'t a clue what was going on. You didn\'t even listen! D I can understand, but you!?\"

\"I\'m…sorry, Kale…I was wrong. Even with my far advanced years over all my kind, I still make mistakes…I am not perfect. Just like you are not.\"

\"I went home, Dracula…to where I came from. Do you know what its like, to return to a place you know so well, and yet don\'t dare return for fear of what you\'ll find? Don you know what I saw!? My home, not that I expected it to still be there, was gone! The land was bare, nothing grew, and all that remained of the house, the house I helped build, was a decaying corner of the foundation, and…a family marker. Though my name was on it, I wasn\'t there. My father outlived everyone in my family!!…Accept me.

\"I didn\'t have any place to go Dracula. I didn\'t…I didn\'t even have a home there…only a place to die. And with all your \'I\'m sorrys\', do you honestly think you can take that feeling away!\" Dracula shook his head, \"I didn\'t think\" S\" She got off Max and stood right in front of the old vampire. \"Give me one, just one, good reason, I should forgive you.\"

\"Because…I\'m asking you to try.\"

She wanted to hit him, if only to scar him with her arrow if she\'d used it. But she couldn\'t. She could ignore someone for the rest of her life, never speak to them again, but she couldn\'t be angry forever at them. It just wasn\'t in her, it never was, and she wouldn\'t let it be. Slowly she put her arms around him. \"I won\'t call you dad.\"

\"I wouldn\'t want you to,\" he replied, hugging her back. \"For everyone there is only one who deserves that title. To you, I doubt I\'m even in the same class as he.\"

\"You got that right!\" it was good for him to see her smile. \"I want you to meet someone. Aceline…\"

\"Mommy, look! These are Mr. C\'s white cybers! I saw a picture of them on his wall!\"

The three joined the little girl, where Dracula\'s coachman had put her on the back of one of the whites. \"So you know the man I bought them from, do you little one?\" Dracula asked. The little girl nodded, quite leery of the tall pale man. Though D had managed to help her suppress her powers, she could still feel a coldness whenever she looked at him.

\"Are you my daddy\'s daddy?\"

\"Yes. But there is something I need to discuss with these two, before you say anything more.\" She nodded, and the coachman led the horse to the carriage, Aceline poised perfectly on its back. Her little legs, barely reaching the horse\'s shoulders. \"We have a problem,e coe continued solemnly.

\"Hailmann?\" D asked, as if he didn\'t know.

Dracula nodded. \"He is protesting your custody of Aceline. Regardless of the fact that you are my son, you know what must happen.\"

\"You can\'t have her!\" Kale snapped, flashing her still loaded crossbow at her side.

\"Be still Kale!\" he ordered. \"I must convene a counsel. They are the ones you must convince. Not I. I would dearly love to see you raise that child, but a protest has been lodged, and I must follow the law. If I do not…then who will?\"

\"Wasn\'t there some way we could have avoided this?\" she asked, storing the arrow away.

\"Only one. But D said this was to be a surprise. Had he told me of Aceline when last he contacted me, I would have sealed it then, and the protest would be null and void. But…\"

\"I\'m sorry love.\"

\"Its alright D. I understand. Neither of us expected this creep to crawl out of the woodwork. But I\'ll be damned if he\'ll take her!\"

\"If the counsel is swayed to his side, you will have no choice, human law or not.\"

\"Do you know what he did to her?! Tell him D!!\"

\"I cannot hear it! I am to arbiter this whole mess. I must not hear anything that the counsel does not.\"

\"Then convene your counsel. I\'m ready to fight!\" She picked up Aceline, as she ran towards her. \"A quick lesson for you baby,\" she said glaring at Dracula. \"In nature, never come between a mother and her child. You\'ll only get hurt.\"

\"She may be the one to get hurt, son,\" Dracula said, as she walked away.

\"She\'s a mother. She\'ll do what she has to do. As will I.\"

\"You wouldn\'t defy the law, D!\"

\"I would. For her. Father…Don\'t say it…I\'ve been alone for more than 10,000 years. I found her and I am happy. With the short time we had KD, I never thought I could be happier. Sense KD has been gone, something was missing from us. Though we rarely spoke of it, even with the business of the orphanage. Now that we have Aceline, I\'ll be DAMNED if I\'m gona sit by and let that BASTARD tear us apart.\"

\"You will never be welcome in my home again, you know that. To me you will be dead, and vampire law will never protect you or your family from any transgressions the vampire community commits against you.\"

\"I\'ll live with that! Its them I won\'t live without!\"

\"Keep this kind of passion for the counsel, and you may just win. Come. Let us speak of more pleasant things for a time.\"

\"All right. Where are Edward and Adrian? I thought one, or even both, of them would come with you.\"

\"Oh, Edward wasn\'t kidding when he said he wasn\'t going to fly for 500 years. Besides, Jade won\'t let him out of her sight, and Adrian and Castle are still working things out. They both thought that Kale seeing me again would be enough for one visit. She and Adrian can straighten things out later. To us, my son, time is all we have.\"

It was evening the next day before Kale & Aceline emerged from their makeshift tent of cloaks and blankets. Despite assurances from Dracula that all was well, she would not seek a bunk in the ample coach he\'d brought. D had said much the same and stayed close to his family, both horses and Logan standing guard while they slept. D didn\'t sleep though. He was tired yes, but not enough o sleep. He sat up, Kale\'s head in his lap, stroking herr, Ar, Aceline curled up in Kale\'s arms, both sound asleep.

At the edge of his senses he could feel Aceline\'s powers straining at the binds he\'s put around them, soon even his efforts would be useless. \'Father,\' he called gently, hoping the child would remain asleep. \'Forgive me for waking you.\'

\'D…I was in the middle of the most pleasant of dreams. What is it?\'

\'It\'s about Aceline…I know what you\'re going to say, but she needs your help.\'

\'Oh?\'

\'Her powers are raging out of control. I\'ve done all I can to contain them but…\'

\'Say no more. Bring her to me tonight. I\'ll take care of it. I\'ll learn the why, along with the counsel.\'

\'Thank you.\' Gently he stroked Aceline\'s hair as she fussed in her sleep. Kale pulled her closer, and nudged closer to D. He spread his only remaining blanket over them, as his own cloak was used in the tent\'s construction.

Involuntarily his left hand drifted over the sleeping pair, then to his ear. \"Don\'t let him win!\" said the sym. \"I like these two. Don\'t loose them.\"

\"Stay quiet,\" he grumbled quietly.

\"The kid already sensed me, why not let me talk to her?\"

\"No!\"

\"Alright, all right. Keep them for yourself. Selfish old coot.\"

Finally evening came, and Kale was drawn out by a noxious odor, distinctly that of burning meat. Sure enough, the coachman was violently cursing, in some strange language she was grateful for, while trying to put out a fire that had engulfed his dinner. After managing to rescue what they could, the coachman was off again to hunt down another of the odd looking creatures, leaving the cooking of the dinner-to-be, to someone who was use to doing just that.

\"Where\'s daddy?\" Aceline asked, helping Kale set out a blanket for a picnic dinner.

\"He\'s near. Dracula too, don\'t worry.\"

\"How come I can\'t call him grandpa?\"

\"Well, I won\'t try and hide it, but do you remember that man, who made your head hurt?\"

\"A little.\"

\"Well, he wants to raise you as his little girl. He doesn\'t think that daddy and I would do well as your parents.\" \"I \"I don\'t want to go!\" She threw her arms around Kale\'s legs, nearly in tears. \"'t l't let him take me mommy! Please!\" \"Hey baby, come here. You\'re daddy and I are gona fight him. But Dracula has to talk to others to make sure he makes the right decision. And for them to help him do that, they are going to talk to all of us. And that\'s how we fight. We tell them how much we love you, and how much we want you, and hopefully, they\'ll listen and let you stay with us. Until then, you can\'t call Dracula, grampy. Ok?\"

\"Ok.\"

\"I couldn\'t have explained it better.\" They turned to see D behind them with his father. \"The counsel site is ready. We leave after dinner.\"

\"Rain is coming,\" chimed Logan, stepping from the trees, a bird in his hand and Kale\'s longbow and quiver of arrows in the other. \"It would be best you ride in the carriage.\"

\"Who the hell are you!?\"

\"Watch your language please!\" Kale insisted.

\"I\'m sorry, father. This is Logan, a wolf changeling of the northlands, beyond the wall.\"

\"Ah. Forgive my outburst. I don\'t like sudden surprises.\"

\"It is well. But still. Rain comes. A cold one too. You best ride inside.\"

\"You all will, be sure of that. We\'ll be at Valen\'s home in just a few hours. I\'ll tell you about the counsel members along the way. For now, let us eat. Where is my coachman?\"

The rain had started just as the last of Kale & Aceline\'s tent was packed away. The horses tied on behind the coach, they set off, the coachman inside a shell of rainwear. He could have directed the horses from inside the coach, but he preferred to be outside, though he didn\'t say why.

Logan turned to his wolf form, and curled up on the floor, while Kale & D sat across from Dracula, Aceline between them nearly dozing off. D could feel it was due to Dracula\'s influence. For what they had to discuss, it was probably best. \"For Kale\'s benefit, I will explain what is to happen,\" he said, as the child finally gave in to sleep, curling up across Kale\'s lap.

\"It is a counsel of six, you will face. I am the seventh, and am to only listen, and maintain order. The six are the oldest vampires of the region that could get to the home of the nearest, to us that is, vampire appointed to the counsel. There are three male and three female. They will be asking the questions, I may also from time to time, but it is they you must convince, for I will go by what they decide.

\"The chamber will consist of a semi-circle of tables, risen about two to three feet off the floor. At the center of the room, will be a circle, lighted from above. It is there the three of you must stand, before you speak, and you can only address the counsel from within that circle. The counsel will hear the proposal, the protest, the grievances, and the arguments, in that order. It may all happen tonight and into the day, it may be broken up over a number of nights. It will be up to them. Then they will discuss their findings in chambers and present me with their final decision.

\"Regardless of what they decide, you must abide by my decree. If you go against it, you all risk permanent ostracism from the vampire community. I will not be able to even give you shelter from a cold night. You must put your own wants aside, and think of Aceline. Do you really want to risk community exile for eternity? What if when she\'s older, and no longer under your wings? Who or what will protect her then?\"

The pair exchanged looks knowing he was right, then turned to Aceline. Kale shook her head, hating what she was about to say, knowing what may cost her. \"I\'ll do it. I\'ll…follow…what they decide. But they better leave her with us, or I\'ll be unbearable to live with if they take her away.\"

Dracula nodded, releasing his influence over the tiny Dhampire. \"With that finished. Aceline?\"

The girl sat up, rubbing her eyes. \"Sorry mommy. I fell asleep,\" she yawned.

\"Its ok sweetie.\"

\"Aceline. My son tells me that your head has hurt from time to time, and that you see frightening images.\" She nodded. \"I can make those things go away for a long time, till you are old enough to understand them and control them. Would you let me do that?\" Again she nodded. \"All right. Hold hands with them. This will be scary. I can\'t promise it wont hurt a little, but in will be the last time till you\'re much older than you are now. Are you ready?\" She sat back in her seat, well shielded on ether side by her chosen parents, then nodded. At first it didn\'t seem like Dracula was doing anything, but D knew otherwise. He could feel his father\'s careful progress from where he was seated. Like cold tendril fingers he reached across the cabin and thread his way around and into her tiny mind. Aceline jumped, but froze in place at the same time, her grip on her parents\' hands tightened beyond belief, but they didn\'t let go.

D was right though. Her powers were strong, oddly so for a Dhampire who\'s father was only 200 plus years old. D\'s efforts to contain her powers were admirable indeed, but were proving to be no match for her immerging abilities. \'This may hurt little one.\' he eased, and suddenly a shroud of blackness enveloped her mind. But it quickly retreated, leaving only the light. The blackness had shrunk to a tiny ball, that moved so far away form her conscious thoughts, she couldn\'t find it anymore. \'There little one. I\'ve berried it deep in your mind, only I will be able to find it.\'

\'Thank you.\'

Slowly and carefully he withdrew from her mind. \"You\'re welcome,\" he said. Aceline bac back even further, not quite sure what she was feeling. \"She\'ll be a bit dazed for a while, but she\'ll be fine.\"

\"Thank you Dracula. You ok baby?\"

The little girl nodded and held her close, as Kale picked her up. \"No more bad dreams for a while baby. You\'ll be ok.\"

\"This is only temporary. If Hailmann wins this case, I\'ll have to undo what I blocked. But should you win…\"

\"We will,\" D said, \"Don\'t think otherwise.\"

Slowly the carriage stopped, and the driver appeared at the door. \"We\'re here sire.\"

\"Good. You all wait here, I\'ll send the coachman for you once I\'ve inspected the chambers. Good luck.\"

\"Thanks,\" Kale answered. \"But I\'ve got our luck right here.\"