Cal frowned, he was inclined to agree with Edith. This meeting was designed to rattle all of their cages. Put the traitor on their toes.
"Petty squabbles will get us nowhere." he said stealing a glance at Cambria and Calistos. "We must unite forces behind our King so that the population knows the nobles stand behind him. A united front will test the will of the traitor."
He turned his attention back to the King, hoping that what he said was enough to bring the accusations away from them.
Edith nodded her head in agreement. "You speak wisdom, Marcellus…" she looked to the behemoth male. A charmer by nature, something she'd have to consider in a later time. Her eyes flicked back to the king. "I am at your command, my Lord." She placed her fist to her heart. No matter the schemes she ran, her heart belonged to the crown first and foremost.
"What do you want us to do? We don't know who committed this heinous crime. So what measure, say you, do we take to find out?"
Edith couldn't help but smirk. The opportunity to shed blood was intoxicating.
In the name of the King…
Cambria ignored the rebuff from Cal. It had been decades since they last spoke and she wasn't going to down that road today. Friends and allies once, but no more. She too looked to the King. I will unleash my revenge another time, Marcellus.
The worn male, was still glaring at them, biding his time it seemed. "I should behead you all since you think you can lie to my face."
Cambria froze, Is there no getting through to him? Is he so far gone? She crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, preparing a tiny flame in her left palm should she have to defend herself. Even against the King, she would not go quietly.
"Yet," He continued waving his hand annoyed, as if they were mere children screeching at his feet. "We are presented with an opportunity to catch the traitor."
This time she spoke, "How so, my King? You are so convinced it was one of us wouldn't revealing any plan you have be counterproductive? The traitor would know what to expect." Unless…
The King began to pace the room, stepping behind each of the seated lords and ladies his eyes tracking them with predatory intent. "If it is a war this coward wants, it is a war they shall get. Come face me, traitor. I have you all gathered here for the mourning of my beloved and here you will all stay until the traitor is caught. Tried to kill me once and failed, now I am ready and waiting." He leaned over the table and spat on the stake before them. Cambria looked up at him as he passed her eyes wide. For the first time in her life she was unsure of her future.
He doesn't mean to…no…he wouldn't. Except. He did.
"I accept your challenge, traitor." He said to the room before slamming through the doors and out of the chamber.
Cas looks between the door and the others, a mildly bewildered expression breaking his usually set in stone one.
Cal cleared his throat, breaking the silence in the room. "That was unexpected." he murmured. He then braced his elbows on the table, leaning forward to address the others. "How are we to handle this?" Ever the gladiator, he needed a plan of action. No. No, they all needed a plan of action. If the King continued own this spiral of grief and rage, who knows what he would do next or how unhinged he would get.
Edith looked after the king, watching the doors close behind him. Such a terrible state to be in. Heartbroken and threatened. Hard pressed and forced to carry on or die and lose everything. She set her chin in her hand, shaking her head.
"He won't listen to reason." She stated. "Not anymore. He wants blood." She stood and stalked to the edge of the table. She paused and placed a hand on his seat. "I say we give him what he wants." She looked to the beautifully encrusted throne. "If we don't, he'll take it. From all of us." she cut her ivory eyes to them. "So we find this murderer among us."
“How do we expect to do that?” He asks. Vampires are a dangerous species, they constantly crave blood, “all of us are violent, blood, and power, thirsty monsters.” He raises a single eyebrow, perfectly arched on his stone face, “and no one will readily admit to the murder now”
Hey, is it oky if my friend takes over my character? They have a pretty similar style to me.//
Hey, is it oky if my friend takes over my character? They have a pretty similar style to me.//
(sure! no biggie. just tell them to pop in anytime. we want to keep it all going smoothly.)
"I am in agreement with Edith," Cambria began, carefully tucking her hair behind her ears as she spoke. "Find this traitor. We have a weeks worth of events to commemorate the late Queen. Who's to say that this would be assassin won't make a second attempt on the King's life?"
Dangerous. What she was suggesting was dangerous. But Calistos was also right, there was no way the traitor would step forward after such a public acceptance of the challenge from the King. We cannot simply stand by and watch our monarchy fall to pieces. She was a master at manipulating from the shadows, something she had to learn as the world around her once proud warrior tribe turned more and more modern. She frowned. If all went well perhaps they could avoid any more unnecessary deaths.
Cutting her eyes to the Lady Edith, who still stood beside the great throne looking like a queen herself, she wondered if the mistress of vampiric crime would be interested in an alliance.
Cal, despite their turbulent history, was a honorable gentleman at heart and indeed would accept any proposal she might come forward with.
Calistos….again she frowned. Her father had once said to always avoid him, but this was war.
Cas leans his chair back slightly, almost as if he could hear Cambria’s thoughts, “there will be bloodshed.” He says, matter of factly, “there is no avoiding it, with the current path we’re taking” He shakes his head slightly, “Perhaps the killer wants this,” he stands and glares at all of them individually, “I say that we, in this solitary moment, allow the killer to come forward. No torture, a quick, swift, merciful death” his voice, rough but smooth, falters not one time.
Cal stared between Cambria and Calistos, "You mean to offer the King's life up as bait?" His voice as deadly cold as the anger shining in his now red eyes. This was approaching the very treason that they had just sworn they were innocent of.
“This is a tactful war. It has started and as a ruler I can, and will, strategize. The king will come of no harm. I swear my title, and generations of bloodshed that lead to it, upon that” Calistos glares, “do you find a problem with this?”
"It isn't as if our King has not survived millennia of infighting, Callum." Cambria stated, finally addressing him. "We are vampires. The true children of night, blood, and violence. We were made for war. Besides, if everyone in this room is as innocent as they claim to be, our Lord will have adequate protection from this coward." She flicked an invisible piece of lint off of her sleeve, the picture of arrogance and power. A Vocorix daughter indeed.
"My only issue is that, lovely Lord Calistos wishes to deal with the traitor mercilessly." she spat the word, "Should we not flay him before the court and leave him for the sun? So those who would think they could rise against the monarchy and point fingers at the noble houses, see that we do not offer leniency?!"
“How we deal with this spineless traitor makes not a single difference in the end. For they will be dead by morning come” he stares her in the eyes, “everyone has had their family rebel against the crown, you should know this my lady Cambria”
"On the contrary, Lord Calistos…" Edith's gaze fell upon him, cold and macabre . "How we deal with this maggot means everything. From the amount of time it takes to sniff them out to the execution. It must be swift, impeccable, and spectacular. Everyone will be watching, we are charged with sending a message, and giving the King the show he deserves." She clasped her hands behind her back, her chin held high. "We cannot go about this any old way…. There is a pattern and a fashion we must follow." Her eyes narrowed as her fangs elongated, a smile spreading across those dark, sultry lips. "And it will be bloody."
Whomever disturbed the Crown, disturbed her, would wish they hadn't, that she would ensure.
Cambria glared at Calistos, her fangs elongating and her eyes flashing red, but she chose not to speak. If she had opened her mouth to retort back to his comment she may have just ended up launching herself over the table and ripping out his throat. How dare he bring up my family's past. We have spent centuries regaining the trust that my uncle lost. I will continue to fight for our honor.
Instead she returned her attention to Edith. "Well spoken Lady Edith." she said tilting her head to the side as she studied the other lady. We must show these men that we women are more brutal than them. "I suppose you have a plan in mind?"
Cal admired Cambria's restraint. He was certain that she was going to murder Calistos for a brief moment. He wanted to roll his eyes but remained still. That Vocorix blood was still as hot and tempered as it was two thousand years ago.
"Lady Edith," he began turning to her with a mild mannered look, "My…sources…tell me that you have a number of men sworn to you stationed about the court. Perhaps we could use them to our advantage. Have them spread the King's words and stir the pot if you will. We need to make sure that our assassin becomes unstable enough to make a mistake." He carefully extended a hand and recovered the stake in the middle of the table. He had enough of looking at a weapon that had killed an innocent female. "My own men I would be comfortable bringing in as an extra military force. They aren't so adept at intrigue as you ladies seem to be." He finished with a small smirk at Cambria and Edith. A small play to show them that he was fully aware of their spies lurking about. "What say you Calistos? We must act now."
There was simply no other choice.
We must avenge our Queen
Edith looked unfazed, smiling as she looked to Callum. "You steal the words from my lips, Lord Marcellus." She couldn't care less if he knew of her spies. They would change by the full moon, so his sources would be on the hunt all over again. "Since the king accepted the challenge, they will be forced to act. It is only a matter of time before we get some commotion." She added. She thought it wise to station her best about the king. For more thorough protection.
"Let us make sure we are prepared and not caught unaware."
Verrian watched all this happen with a slight eyebrow raise, they had all forgotten he was here. "Or, we could stop pointing fingers and do this logically." He said coldly, crossing his arms as he watches them trade barely imaginative insults.
Calistos seems to mull over his options, “I believe this is a splendid idea” he nods curtly, “Whomever did this…is sure to pay, with their life. And any peace of mind that they may have about their treacherous actions” he sighs and massages his temple
Cambria nodded, her spies had been deployed into action as soon as she had received the order to come to the castle. There was no way she was going into the lion's den without protection. She pulled a hand through her hair, turning to where the Prince had been lurking in the corner. Silent and watching. "What say you then, Prince Verrian?" she asked, her lips turned down severely. She never had much love for the man. She could never see how he could be the spawn of the woman she had loved so dearly and yet… here they were.
"What do I say?" Verrian gave a harsh laugh looked up to meet Cambria's eyes, they had never liked each other but that wasn't the point of this. "I say that the king needs more security. I say that all of you should be trying to ensure the safety of the king instead of bickering like five-year-olds." He says coldly, tilting his head and waiting for a response.
"We are not bickering, we are coming up with a plan. Which is much more than what you are doing, oh Prince." Edith glared at the prince. "I would think you'd be the most eager of us to get this figured out, since it is your father who just rejected you, boy." She pointed out.
She knew he was young, and this must have been horrible for him, to lose his mother and his father's trust. But, he needed to see things as they were.
"If you do not put forth effort to avenge your mother and protect your father then you are worthless to us and to the Crown. Now, my prince, please…. join the 'bickering.'" She growled, her were sharp and brutal. She flourished a hand toward the table and their assembly.
"Do not call me boy, for I am older than you. And in the time you were talking I have already made sure none of you are getting out, more than half of all of your guards have been sent back to your home." He said he had already planned for this. Unlike both his father and mother, who were always peaceful, he was not. He was cold and calculated. The other vampires already thought him to be young and that wouldn't do, he was over six thousand for star's sake.