Blood Descendants (St. Clair Vampires Book 1) (19 page)

We were escorted back
to the banquet hall and I wondered where Tabitha was. She had
disappeared with Violeta shortly after we arrived and I felt a twinge
of jealousy and betrayal. Trying to put those emotions behind me, I
concentrated on my posture and entered into the now full room. There
was such a difference from the room I was in just an hour ago. It
felt so alive with laughter and conversation. Most of the people had
found their tables even though they were not all yet seated.

We stood at the
entrance and watched the Steward Guard socialize. Dressed in black
tunics and loose fitting pants, with Sunflowers instead of Calla
Lilies. The men and women were happily smiling and laughing amongst
each other. Most of them were more than 6 feet tall and all of them
looked like they were made for the Guard. Even the women were tall
but it didn’t take away from their femininity; although they
had broad shoulders, their tapered waists and full hips made it clear
that there was a woman underneath the uniform.

It was obvious that the
entire Steward Guard was aware of our presence but very few of them
turned to make eye contact. Solomon had said that, even though they
were here to provide protection, these events were supposed to be
void of all violence or threat of violence. The Guard was under
strict orders to appear to be casual and most of them were doing a
great job. A few, on the other hand, scrambled to position themselves
within our line of view and offered extravagant bows in our
direction.

Solomon stepped out of
the crowd, dressed like a Guard but with a Calla Lily icon, and led
us through the room. As we passed the tables where the Lower Caste
Fare were to sit, I noticed the people lowering their eyes and
slightly slouching their shoulders. I was not sure if they were doing
so because they thought themselves unworthy of our presence or if
they simply felt unworthy, period. I looked at all of them and smiled
at the differences; there were red heads with green eyes and
dark-haired brown-eyed as well as blond hair with blue eyes and brown
haired with pale eyes. One common thread that ran through all of them
was the image of health that came from each and every one them.

As the assembled masses
became aware of our presence in the room, a hush came over the crowd.
They whispered as we passed because Efia's newest blood descendant
was the hot topic. One by one people who were sitting stood and
bowed, while others bowed where they stood. I noticed that the Lower
Caste Fare bowed the lowest and held it for the longest and anger
welled up in my throat when I remembered the stories of
discrimination and bullying that Lucinda had to endure as a child.
The pompous and pious High Caste Fare were undoubtedly the cause of
her childhood insecurities and tears. Anger must have been radiating
off of me because Chloe grabbed my elbow and gave me a hard look.

“
You
alright, Chey?”

“
Yeah.
Why?”

“
Because
you are pumping enough rage into the air that even the oldest Vampire
can feel.”

A look around the room
confirmed that everyone was staring at me, including Efia and
Pleasant, who were already at the front of the room near our table.
The stares revealed a variety of different emotions from the
different groups. Efia and Pleasant seemed curious as to what had
angered me, but not the slightest bit surprised that my anger could
quiet such a large room. The Stewards stood at attention as if my
anger was a call to arms. They had taken up posts beside every door
and window in case the situation called for a response. The High
Caste Fare were making sure that their Fare Electus stood up straight
and never broke eye contact with me. My gaze was drawn to the rear of
the room where the Lower Caste Fare stood and the emotion they showed
was pure, unimpeded fear. I knew at that moment that what I was doing
was being seen as a power play by everyone in the room except for
those in my family. Because of my show of power, people were going to
be jockeying for positions within my political circle.

Sickened by appearing
to do just the thing that I was angry about, I took a deep breath and
slowly blew it out. I made sure that I looked at the tables in the
rear of the room where the Lower Caste Fare stood and smiled my most
brilliant smile.

“
Sorry,
everyone. I’ve had a long trip and I'm hungry and tired,”
I explained as I continued forward toward the dais.

The room erupted in
laughs and applause as the air cleared. As we continued our slow,
regal approach to our seats, Lucinda stepped away from the royal
table and greet a boy, who looked like he could be her twin, and four
adults. They eased towards each other and hugged with unabashed
affection. The four adults, I was guessing to be her parents and
grandparents, were proudly smiling at the arrival of their daughter
and her royal Vampire patron. I watched Lucinda walk her family back
to their table in the Lower Caste section. Lucinda, being a St. Clair
Fare, could have chosen to sit up front with us. She chose, instead,
to sit with her family. This was a badge of honor for the Lower
Caste, to have a royal Fare in their midst, and there were smiles all
around.

As they passed between
the tables, the High Caste Fare glared, pointed and laughed at
Lucinda’s family. It continued to ripple through the room. I
knew that etiquette would require me to suppress my anger, but I had
never been one to follow the rules of civility when dealing with
ignorance. Besides, Violeta had said I should practice, so what the
heck.

I let my anger loose in
the direction that Lucinda and her family had walked. I tried to
visualize it as having mass so I could control its speed. In practice
I would used the color silver as a guide, but tonight I used red and
I watched it trail behind Lucinda’s family, making everyone in
their wake struggle for breath. The crowd quieted with a collective
inhalation of breath and turned toward me.

Lucinda and her family
continued on to their table, completely untouched by my barrage of
emotion. They reached their table and turned to find me watching
them. I smiled, looked each of them in the eye and winked. Then I let
my gaze land on some of the other Fare in the room. At first they
held my gaze in an attempt to show strength, but I was stronger. Much
stronger. And one by one each of them lowered their eyes. They were
afraid and I wanted them to be. I wanted them to respect my strength.

Preparing to be
chastised, I squared my shoulders and continued to walk to my seat on
the raised dais. Efia and Pleasant, however, had the most mischievous
smiles on their faces. Apparently I had been set up. It didn’t
matter, though. It felt good to put those Fare in their place.

Finally on the dais, I
took my position between Chloe and Pleasant. I watched Tabitha walk
in with Jordan and head to the Miklos table. Maybe she would join him
there since they were to be married. Watching her sit at Violeta’s
table made me a little jealous. Dominic and Violeta sat in the center
with Zander and Jordan flanking them. It was clear that Dominic had
yet to find a mate since every other person at the table was male.
Even the two clan tables directly in front of their table didn’t
show any sign of a possible bride for him. Out of the 18 Physice
Vampires seated, there were four females; two of them were mother and
infant and the other two were obviously mated with the males seated
with them. I felt sorry for Dominic. He had lost his entire family
and was left with the massive responsibility to rebuild a monarchy.

Everyone waited for
Efia to sit before taking their seats but she was making us wait.
Even with all of her prestige, Efia was reveling in the aftermath of
the power I had just demonstrated. She stood there soaking it in,then
released calming pheromones to counteract my anger. When the
occupants of the room began to relax, Efia smiled and gestured in my
direction.

“
Isn’t
my granddaughter magnificent?”

This time the High
Caste Fare were slower to clap and laugh. They looked around at one
another to see who would break the ranks first. The Lower Caste Fare,
on the other hand, were applauding and whistling wildly. Lucinda and
her family stood with straight backs and chins high. Their day had
clearly been made. Maybe even their year. I was the Vampire version
of Maid Marian.

I looked at the Fare
and Stewards and wondered what they were thinking. Efia’s Fare,
Jeannette, and her family were sitting in the High Caste section. A
woman, who must be Jeannette’s mother, or grandmother for all I
knew, was looking at me with a mixture of respect and curiosity. I
was sure they knew my story by now; how I had run from my new
Vampiric family and fought against my powers. She looked at me for a
few moments and then inclined her head as a sign of reverence.

After Efia sat down,
the rest of the St. Clair clan did the same. Most of the people who
were sitting at the royal table looked familiar but there were some
new faces at the two in front of us. The first person that caught my
eye was a nervous looking girl about my age. She had sand colored
hair and skin and amazing green eyes. Her wide nose and thick lips
made her look like a lighter version of Efia. Her eyes sparkled with
a mixture of anticipation and dread. I gave her a smile of sympathy
because I was feeling the exact same way. The two adults, whom I
assumed were her parents, looked at her when they said the exchange.
Her mother, who was as dark as the night’s sky, took her hand
and squeeze slightly, trying to reassure her. Her father, a blond of
Nordic descent, put his large arm around her and pulled her into a
fatherly hug. I let out a sigh at the sight of that. What I wouldn’t
do for a hug like that right about now.

A few minutes later,
the Steward Guard closed the banquet room doors. Directly in front of
the Royal tables a long trap door opened up in the floor and a podium
rose out of it. The podium was massive but made out of a clear
acrylic so that it would not obstruct the view. Governor Ezekiel made
a show of walking to the front of the room. He shook hands as he
walked forward, smiling and laughing with people as he moved. Even
understanding that he held a position of importance, I thought his
behavior was pretentious and unnecessary.

I turned to Chloe and
said, “The next thing you know he will kiss a baby”.
Chloe nearly choked as she pointed to Governor Ezekiel. I turned my
head just in time to see him plant a big kiss on the top of an
infant’s head.

“
Today,”
Governor Ezekiel began, once he finally made it to the microphone,
“is a glorious day indeed!”

He waved his hands in
the direction of all five royal tables and was so excited that he
almost began jumping up and down.

“
Our
Royal families and clans have arrived in Sanguine Township safe and
sound. I am overjoyed to announce that, for the very first time, the
Ludos Sanguineum and the Ludos Praesidium will be combined!”

He waited for the
ramifications of his announcement to sink in. By the looks on
everyone’s faces, very few in the crowd knew of this
beforehand. I knew from reading that the Ludos were like the Olympic
games except that your family’s honor was directly connected to
your performance. The Ludos Sanguineum, loosely translated to blood
games, was for the Fare to showcase their talents. The Ludos
Praesidium, basically the protection games, was meant for Stewards to
show that they could guard a Vampire family. Since the
responsibilities of each were so vastly different, having them
compete in the same events in a combined games seemed a little cruel
and unusual.

“
You
must all be asking yourselves ‘why?’”, he
continued. “Well, I will tell you why. I have been visited by
the Vampire Council and they have informed me of a real threat to our
people. We must all, Fare, Steward and Vampire alike, be able to do
battle in any arena; be that physical, mental or intellectual!”

At that, I leaned
forward a little bit and looked toward the Miklos table. I
immediately locked eyes with Violeta and I saw something that I
didn’t expect; compassion. She had drilled so much scientific
dribble drabble into my brain for the last two months and I had
thought she just got her kicks from torturing me. Maybe there was
more at stake than just my dislike of Calculus. I blinked once and
the compassion was gone, replaced by the raised eyebrow and the
dangerous smirk.

“
I
want to extend my warmest welcome to all of you as I announce the
opening of this year’s Pro Vita Eligamus!”

The entire room erupted
into applause. I knew that I should have read more on the plane, but
the whole concept of Vampires was still a little new to me and I
honestly believed that I would still wake up in New Mexico and have
to go to school.

“
Pro
Vita Eligamus is loosely translated into choosing for life. It’s
kind of a play on words since we choose our Fare for life and they
give us their life’s blood. You know? So, after the games, we
choose our Fare.”

Chloe still thought
that it was funny to point out to me that I would have to drink blood
to sustain my life after my Embrace. Every time I thought about it I
felt like I would vomit. I shot her a dirty look and returned my
attention to the Governor. He was letting us know that we would be
receiving our catalogs of the Steward and Fare Electus and what we
could expect. I shuddered to think what I was going to see as a group
of Steward youth entered from side doors and distributed the
catalogs. The books were made of expensive paper with a high gloss
finish. The binding was sturdy and I wondered how many Steward and
Fare families kept these as keepsakes when their Electus were chosen
by a prominent family.