Of Wine and Roses

Chapter 3 The Counsel

It seemed like hours they had been waiting, but the quiet was welcome. D enjoyed just holding his family, who knew he\'d be able to do it again. Then he felt it. That same sensation he felt nights before. \"What is it D?\" Kale asked, feeling his body tense.

\"He\'s here.\"

\"Hailmann?\"

\"I don\'t feel anything daddy.\"

\"You wouldn\'t now Aceline,\" he said. \"My father has locked your powers inside you. You wouldn\'t have that ability till he releases them.\"

\"But why is he here daddy?\"

\"For the same reason we are baby,\" said Kale, holding her closer. They turned as someone knocked on the carriager. Dr. D opened it.

\"Lord Dracula has sent me,\" stated the coachman. \"This way.\" As the three stepped out, the coachman threw his rain cover up in the air, and it stayed there to Kale\'s amazement, hovering over them, like a turning disk, shielding them from the rain.

\"I see you\'ve kept my young charge close at hand.\" Kale spun around, shaking her mind free of her momentary admiration, and turned vicious eyes to the visitor. The man\'s own coachman followed him with a regular umbrella, himself standing out in the pouring rain.

\"Take one step Hailmann,\" she warned, \"and you\'re dust!\"

\"Kale, this isn\'t the way.\" D eased. \"We\'ll settle this before the counsel.\" \"Mommy?\"

\"How dare you insist she continue to call you that!\"

\"She calls us what she wishes, Hailmann. No one forces her,\" Kale said.

\"Hmff. Child, you will learn in these proceedings exactly who should be your guardian, and I will enjoy watching these two learn just who really rules our kind.\"

Aceline held close to the pair as the man walked away. \"What did he mean by that Daddy?\"

\"I don\'t know.\"

The doors to the converted family room opened to reveal the panel they were to face. Around them sat seven Vampire Lords and Ladies. His father was in the middle, and would mediate the proceedings. Three vampires sat on either side of him and all didn\'t look too pleased that the hunter stood before them once more. D eyed each of them very carefully. Three he remembered very well. They immerged from their long hibernation with he and his father. Within 500 years he stood before this kind of counsel begging them to rein in their creations before they destroyed the world, before it had a chance to even recover. They\'d refused. His father, having to abide by their majority decision, then secretly asked his son to hunt down the ones who were out of control, that\'s when his REAL battle began.

Slowly the three approached, and stood in the circle in the middle of the room. D then bowed slightly, but didn\'t avert his gaze from his father. \"I am D, the hunter. Son of Dracula, King of Vampires,\" he began properly. \"I come before you with a claim. Seven years ago, a Vampire by the name of Torrance, raped and killed dozens of men and women across the Far Shore and Eastern Frontier. Then to escape me, he fled here, to the western world. I followed. Before I caught up to him a year later, he killed another seven women and twelve men. I found him at his shelter, and killed him. Recently I became aware that Torrance\'s seventh female victim did not die. Instead, she\'d been found by her husband and recovered, with his care. She\'d given bit to a girl later the following year, but neither she, nor her husband, were sure who the father really was.

\"They treated her appallingly! For any child!! She later met both my wife and myself, but when she was alone, after the death of her oldest brother, the only one who loved her, she was exiled from her family\'s home. She was later, by the man who was supposed to be her father, beaten, and…\" D clenched his jaw. Even the thought of it sickened him, and left a foul taste in his mouth. \"…raped her…\" Those words also brought appalled gasps of disbelief from the panel. Never before had a Dhampire child been wounded in such a way. But then again, Dhampire children were usually raised by their vampire parent, haven been abandoned by their human mothers. D and Adrian however were the exception. Their mothers knew full well what Dracula was, long before they were with child by him. Thus both parents raised them lovingly. But this…this was unheard of.

\"In her fright…\" D continued. \"Aceline pulled her heritage to the surface. She used her vampire powers to call out. But she did not just explode with a call for anyone to help her. She concentrated and focused her thoughts, and called out to me, and my wife through me. She claimed US! Before Kale even knew what she was. Now I make that claim before you.

\"As the hunter who slew Torrance. I claim his child, as my own.\"

The Vampires of the panel nodded their acknowledgement, and glanced to Dracula \"Are there any challengers to this claim?\" Dracula asked. A formality really, but he already knew that answer.

\"I do,\" declared the distant voice. Aceline ran to D\'s side, hiding herself in his cloak. Kale turned and pulled an arrow across her small bow, her hand over her dagger ready to be drawn. \"Is it customary for the challenger to be threatened in such a way?\" the vampire asked, calmly stepping up next to the center circle, the traditional position for these proceedings. At least for the last 7,000 years it had been.

\"Kale Tepes. You are out of order!\" Dracula announced. \"Being married to D, you are also required to follow our laws and traditions.\"

\"He wants my child!!\" she shouted. \"Not till the counsel decides!\" Dracula announced.

\"Kale,\" said D\'s soft voice. \"You\'ll have your chance to defend her. Please put it away.\"

\"D!…\"

\"Please Kale. I\'ve every confidence that Aceline will be ours. Put it away.\"

Eyeing the man viciously she lowered her bow. \"I trust you D. But if he so much as looks sideways at my child before this is over, he\'ll wish he never made his challenge.\" She place herself between the challenging, Vampire and D, Aceline remained hidden in the folds of her father\'s cloak, her tiny arms wrapped around his left leg.

\"Honored counsel, my first grievance is with the mediator. I mean no disrespect Lord Dracula, but you must admit some kind of biasness where the Dhampire you see before you is your won son! I move therefore, for a change of mediator.\"

Dracula stood, never taking his eyes from the lone challenger. \"I will abide by the ruling of these six lords, Hailmann. My personal involvement with these two is outside that decision. However, if the counsel does not agree, I will step aside. But I will ask that I be permitted to select my replacement. A Vampire I\'ve heard of, but not had the opportunity to meet properly, has a domain North of here. I\'m sure she would be most appreciative of this opportunity.\"

The members all whispered among themselves, then one from each side stood. The one to Dracula\'s left spoke first. \"Lord Dracula. We were all fortunate to be witnesses to a trail in Barbarois, where it was your younger son Alucard who was on trial. Your justice was swift, and without restraint, even with him.\"

\"Therefore…\" continued the one on the right. \"We feel more than confident that your personal involvement will not interfere with your duty here. The counsel rejects the move for a change of mediator.\" The other five members all nodded. Dracula nodded and retook his seat.

\"Next grievance?\" asked the Vampire to Dracula\'s left.

\"My next two should be quite obvious. One, the woman who is to be the child\'s mother is human, thus she is prone to human frailties, such as illnesses that kill, growing old, and dieing. A Dhampire child needs guidance, and security in knowing that both their parents will be there for as long as they live. Just as your sons depend on you, now that their mothers are gone. If Mrs. Tepes dies, what will become of the child? How will one person support her needs, when he is off gallivanting around the world, killing his own father\'s kind?\"

\"Are you suggesting,\" began the vampire to the far right. \"That Lord Dracula, failed his sons\' upbringing by not making their mothers immortal?\"

\"Be careful with your answer,\" said the one in the middle on the left. \"For what you say to this, will not protect you, should Lord Dracula choose to retaliate. It is not he who we are discussing, but the three to your left.\"

\"My statement is this. If Dracula had made his sons\' mothers immortal, like us. Then the two Dhampires would not be hunting us. They would have been raised in the Vampire ways, and the question of their blood lines would not be so distasteful as it is among many of our kind.\"

\"Including yourself?\" asked far left.

Hailmann gritted his teeth. \"Yes. But only when I think of their occupation! Not themselves. I want the child. For leaving her with them, would only bring about another Dhampire hunter, and we don\'t need another in this world.\"

\"Are you questioning what the child will be taught?\" asked middle right.

\"Yes. Who better to teach the child of her Vampire half, than a vampire?!\"

\"Is that all?\" asked closest right.

\"Yes.\"

\"Very well,\" stated nearest left. \"Your grievances are recorded. This debate shall be broken up to address each one individually. We shall hear from all concerned at length. Then render our decision. We shall reconvene one hour after sunset tomorrow, to continue. The floor will also be changed accordingly. Until these proceedings are concluded, the child will remain with a neutral party.\"

\"NO!!\" shouted Kale.

\"You will hold your tongue!\" said Dracula. \"The child will be close by, perfectly safd wed well cared for. This is to alleviate any concerns of coercion to the child. I call upon Logan, wolf of the North!\" The chamber doors opened, and the lone wolf strode in. Changing from wolf to human as he trod. \"You will become guardian to the child. Since her placement does not directly affect you, I trust this will be acceptable to the panel and the challenger?\" They all nodded. \"Very well.\" Dracula raised his hand, and Aceline was pulled from her hiding place and placed next to Logan.

\"MOMMY!!! DADDY!!!\"

\"Not yet they aren\'t!\" snapped Hailmann, grabbing the child\'s outstretched hand.

\"Don\'t\' you touch her!\" D shouted, pushing the man away. \"Lord Dracula, a moment please?\"

\"A moment. That is all.\"

The strange power held the little girl still, almost three feet off the floor, as D and Kale held her to them. \"I don\'t want to go!\" she cried.

\"I know baby, ssssshhhhh. It\'ll be alright.\"

\"Mommy…\"

\"Aceline, listen to me please,\" D consoled, gently turning her head with his hand just under her chin. \"This is part of Vampire law. You would have been taught all this by now, had your true father lived and knew about you. There is much you need to learn, but for now, you must trust us. Go with Logan. He\'ll look after you, and we\'ll always be close by. Be strong. Be brave. Mind what Logan says, and try to stay out of the sun. Alright?\"

\"Daddy…\"

\"Sssssshhhhhhh, be brave. All right? You\'ll see us each night. Don\'t worry.\"

\"Alright. Don\'t go without me…please daddy!\"

\"We aren\'t going anywhere without you,\" Kale whispered, holding back her own tears. \"Daddy\'s right though. This is how it has to be for now. But you\'ll see us every night, right here. Here, do you know what this means?\" Kale pointed to her chest, then crossed her arms over her heart, then pointed to the little girl. Aceline shook her head. \"Its very old. It means,\" and she repeated the movements. \"I…love…you. And don\'t you forget it.\" Aceline shook her head, tossing her long black ponytail from side to side. \"Ok. Go with Logan, go on.\" Aceline kissed them both, as her feet touched the floor.

Logan kneeled down and pulled the little girl into his arms. \"You have my word Dark One,\" he said. \"I will take good care of her.\"

\"If she has a bad dream,\" Kale began, straightening the little girls\' hair over her back. \"She likes to hear me sing. Sing to her if she has nightmares, ok.\" He nodded.

\"If she can\'t sleep at night, try telling her a story. I have a feeling you know many stories. Old legends and the like.\" The man nodded again, the slowly turned and walked away.

Kale watched as she disappeared behind the closing door, a great fear settling over her heart. \"I have a question, before this counsel departs. Do I have the right to ask it?\"

Dracula faced each of the seated members, who nodded, and retook their seats. \"You may ask,\" he said.

Kale stepped back into the circle where D directed her. \"What you\'ll hear through these proceedings is all relevant to maybe your own concerns. But I ask you this. At the end, before you render your decision, ask Aceline what she wants. For ultimately she is the one who has to live with what you decide. Think of her and what she wants. You\e sue surprised how children can plainly see what will make them happy. Will you do that?\"

The members all nodded.

It was a moderately sized room. The bed was about a queen size, & the room had an adjoining lav. The curtains were long heavy blue, brining out the rooms blue accented patterns, and accented with white sheer. There was a small card table a few chairs, a dresser with mirror; \'Rather pointless with Vampires,\' she thought; and a small book case with a variety of books.

Kale left her cloak and weapons on the bed and went to the window. The room faced the back yard, where through he rain sheeted window she could make out a modest vegetable and flower garden, and a large barn with its doors being closed now. She could see into the barn for only a few moments, and got a glimpse of one of the cyber whites in a stall.

D placed his hat, cloak, and sword with hers and joined her at the window. \"I know,\" he said. \"I\'d like to think of anything else other than what is happening now.\"

\"She looked so frightened D. She\'s only a baby. Why can\'t they just leave her to us? She chose us after all. Doesn\'t that count for anything?\"

He gently kissed her behind her left ear. \"They\'ll hear everything. Don\'t worry. But what we need to hope for is their decision to let her stay with us.\" They turned at a gentle knock on the door. D left her to her musings and went to answer. \"Yes?\"

\"By tradition of these proceedings,\" said the well dressed, but burly mutant at the door, his purple fur standing out from the sides of his head. \"I have come to collect all weapons, and means of which to do Vampires harm. They will be stored away, and later returned at the conclusion of these proceedings.\"

\"Very well.\" D let the mutant in, rather surprised, though he didn\'t show it, that his broad shoulders actually let him pass through the door normally, like everyone else. He gathered the weapons off the bed, and D handed over all their daggers and arrows, holly water, and garlic, both bulb and juice. Kale was only permitted to keep her cross for technically it was not a weapon. Once the mutant had gone he returned to the window, standing in worried silence with his love.

\"You what!? Surely you cannot be serious!\" Hailmann was outraged. How dare this purple mutant even try to take what weapons he\'d brought.

\"My apologies, Lord Hailmann, but it is the tradition of further proceedings that all weapons of both parties be confiscated. If you refuse, summary judgment will be passed in favor of those who did not refuse to disarm.\"

\"And I suppose you\'ve already been to see the hunter and his bitch?\"

\"I cannot say sir. Please. I will ask again for all your weapons.\"

\"My lord,\" insisted the coachman. \"Please. If you\'ve any sure hope of winning, it will be with the counsel. I\'ll get our ons.ons.\"

\"Yes…do that,\" huffed Hailmann, \"But be sure to know that I do this under protest.\"

\"Yes, Lord Hailmann. I shall inform the counsel.\"

\"Lord Dracula must be joking!\" whispered one of the vampires. \"We cannot judge against his son!\"

\"We must follow his law,\" insisted another. \"Lord Dracula has made them upon his reawakening. I should know! I was there. And to this day! He\'s never once put his family above the laws he put forth. Nor had he himself circumvented the law to suite his own purposes. And we all know he\'d do it if he really wanted to. And who would stop him? No one. Thus to ensure to uphold the law, he himself must abide by them, or there\'d be anarchy and ciaos.\"

\"Lord Darius is right,\" said one of the younger vampires. \"Besides we are to decide the fate of a child, not his son, or his whore.\"

\"Don\'t let Dracula hear you say that,\" warned Darius.

\"Whatever. Listen. A child follows in the footsteps of the parents, more or less. From what I hear of D, he is a merciless hunter, who kills for money. AND HE KILLS US!!! Now. If this Dhampire c rem remains with him and his woman, she will one day likely take up the same trade. Do we really want another Dhampire Hunter in the world?! There are already seven that I know of. D\'s younger brother, Alucard, being of one of them. Do you want to make it a family tradition? Put the girl with Hailmann. Be done with it!\"

\"You cannot arbitrarily decide that Ados,\" said the youngest of them all. \"You must hear their reasoning first.\" At only 150 years old, he seemed to command the largest presence, other than D and Dracula. He was a bit quiet, like D, and he didn\'t have the wide flamboyant movements like many of the others. He didn\'t rule over a region per say, but rather lived within one. He was the punisher, the executioner. If someone in the surrounding area broke the human laws, they were sent to him for punishment.

It was his home, actually, that had been chosen for the sight of the counsel hearings. The house had been expanded slowly over the last 100 years, from the modest 5-room cottage, to the immaculate mansion. The room where the counsel would sit was in fact the remains of the bedroom, family room, bathroom, and some of the dinning room of the original structure. The kitchen had been expanded to take up its original space, and the majority of the dinning room. This made it much easier for his twin purple mutant servants to move about as they prepared their meals. The house had been built by the work of the humans that were sent to him. Rarely had any of them been bitten. That was reserved for the adulterers and murderers. Not that there were many once they\'d return home with the two punctures as a brand from their punishment. No one seemed to want to risk that punishment.

\"I for one,\" he continued, \"would like to learn more. Why do the hunters want the child? Why does the child want so desperately to remain with them? And what, pray tell, does Hailmann want a Dhampire child for anyway? From what I\'ve heard of Hailmann, and it has been quite a lot, he hates Dhampires with a ferocious passion. Why does he suddenly wish to become guardian to one?\"

\"What difference does it make!?\" Ados warned. \"The Dhampire married a whore and dresser her up as a hunter. Now they want to bring another into the hunter\'s circle. No! I will not allow it!\"

\"Wait a minute,\" chimed one of the lady vampires. \"Why are we discussing the way this child will be? We don\'t know what these two intend to teach her. Thanks to Lord Dracula, her powers are contained, and she is human once more. These two want the child as their own. They didn\'t say they\'d raise her this way or that, so why are we assuming otherwise?\"

\"I agree with Ados,\" said a second woman, the third nodding in agreement. \"Hunters beget hunters, Dhampire or otherwise. I for one would like to see another century before I die.\"

\"Well then. Isn\'t this a fine mess,\" observed the third male Vampire. \"Three undecided, and three summary judgments. Let us hope we all learn something over the next few nights.\"

\"Excuse me, Lords, Ladies. The report of the evening.\" They all turned to the purple furred mutants that entered the chamber.

\"Yes Regal?\"

\"The hunters relinquished their weapons without comment or protest.\"

\"But the Vampire, Lord Hailmann, has reluctantly done so under protest, and then only at the encouragement of his servant coachman.\"

\"Very good, thank you.\"

\"Also, Lord Teargoss, you have three visitors form the village.\"

\"Very well, excuse me.\"

\"My Lord?\"

\"Mmm? Yes Targon? What is it?\"

\"Forgive my intrusion Lord, but Lord Teargoss would like to see you for a moment.\"

\"Very well, show her in.\"

\"Him, sir.\"

\"What?\"

\"Teargoss is a man sire.\"

\"Oh. I hate these counsel gatherings. Very well, show HIM in.\"

\"Yes sir.\"

Dracula turned back to the fire. The grand living room had been hastily converted to a large bedroom. The seating furniture gathered at the forward end near the window, with two wing chairs facing the fire place, while a bed with heavy thick curtains hung from the ceiling around it, that once drawn, secured the occupant safely from the sun. \"Lord Dracula?\"

\"Lord Teargoss. I heard a lady try to scream a moment ago. I trust all is well?\"

\"A woman tried to cheat the town of its money. I\'m not entirely clear of all the details. The town counsel, once found guilty, sent her to me for punishment. For the kind of money she tried to steel I had to bite her, but she smelled exceptionally…\"

\"Delightful?\"

\"Distasteful. The woman has a blood disease, so I gave her the memory of being bitten. Though she believes it true, and with two marks on her neck, she many change her ways, or not. I don\'t really care. It is for this the town actually protects me from harm, and hides me from time to time from the hunters sights. But that is not why I have come sire. May I ask you something, about the participants?\"

\"Go on…\"

\"Am I permitted to observe them, outside the counsel room?\"

\"For what purpose?\"

\"To better understand them, and why they wish to take the girl as their own. Such a desire may be difficult for some to articulate. Perhaps I can watch them and see for myself what it is they cannot say.\"

\"You will find my son is quite straight forward, and comes to the point. My daughter is the same way. Though with her you may find her to be a bit callous, and brutally honest. If you have someone\'s blood, for instance, smeared across your nose, she will come right out and tell you. She won\'t sugar coat it as they use to say. But then again, she won\'t lie about it either. But if you watch them, you must watch all. I will shield you form them all when you do so.\"

\"Thank you my Lord. I will leave you.\"

\"Just be sure to share your observations with the other counsel members.\" The man nodded then bowed and left. \"Good rest Teargos. Good rest.\"

He drew the curtains across the window and blew out two of the twelve candles around the room. Then he looked to the little figure still sitting up in bed. Sense he could change his shape and find comfort practically anywhere on any surface, he didn\'t need a bed, so the smaller of the rooms on the top of the three-story structure with a twin size bed was just perfect. \"You should try and get some rest little Dark One,\" he said, helping her get into bed. Some how the luggage cover on the coach had been torn and all Aceline\'s clothes, and most everything else the hunters had, was soaked. So he loaned her his undershirt for a nightdress, quite large for her tiny form, but it would do in a pinch.

\"I don\'t want to go with him,\" she wined. \"Can\'t me, mommy, and daddy just run away?\"

\"Where would you go where they would not find you?\" he asked. \"Your chosen parents do this, not just because of law, but to protect you from people like the Darkest one who hurt you, and do not try to take you away without breaking laws they are held to.\"

\"But I want mommy and daddy, not him. Can\'t I just tell them?\"

He shook his head. \"Things are hard to understand now, because you are so young. As you get older you will see that one decision does not just affect you, but many, even if you do not see them. They must look at all, and decide what is best for all not just one.\"

\"Logan? I liked it better when you said things I could understand.\"

He chuckled slightly as he blew out another candle. \"Good night little Dark One. The wolf in me will guard you this night.\"