Marienne's life was completely undone when her village went up in flames. Badly burned and her eyesight lost, she awakes in a strange place, with no knowledge of how she arrived there. Her savior was the enigmatic and alluring Victor, the Lord of Az...
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Six of the most powerful vampires in the world stared down from their thrones, all dressed in darker clothing and prepared to pass their judgement on the man whom I loved with all my heart. The trial had been set to take place in the Great Hall, for the space to house the staff who naturally had come to watch their benefactor's trial, as their own fates may have been in the balance as well, and for the convenient fact of the rise in the floor at the front of the hall that allowed them to peer down at all of us.
I hadn't been allowed to sit next to Victor at the front of the room. I had been told quite unceremoniously that there would be no need for it, as I myself wasn't on trial. I stood with my head high in front of the castle staff, Amelia at my side so I could clutch her for support. She did her best to make it seem as if I was the one comforting her and not the other way around. She leaned into me, sniffling and clutching her kerchief, eyes red and weepy. It was only half an act, I feared. Victor was very well-liked among his staff. I looked over my shoulder at Marthe, whose face was a pasty shade of white I didn't like to see. Our eyes met, and she nodded her acceptance. I smiled in return, trying to promise that everything would be alright.
I knew the staff needed me. They needed someone to lead them, someone tempered in their own emotional strife to guide them in such uncertain times. I just wanted to be with Victor, sitting just close enough to catch his cinnamon scent. I wanted only the reminder that he was still here, and would always be here with me. An aching feeling in my gut told me it might not always be so.
To make matters worse, an emergency Council member had been asked to attend, but he had yet to arrive. He had somehow been delayed by more than a day, and the other members hadn't wanted to wait for him. So, they had agreed to allow Valentina to sit in as a tiebreaker, if necessary. I wasn't sure how she'd weaseled her way into their good graces, but I couldn't stand the smug look on her face as she looked down upon us from her own chair, albeit a much lower position and a less grander one than the Council currently held.
The tall man with straight black hair and skin so pale it gleamed in the torchlight rose from his chair in the left of center of the arch the six formed together. He cleared his throat and began speaking, his voice ringing clearly off the stone wall of the Great Hall. "Today we have come together here to pass judgement on Victor Sforza, Lord of Azyron. Lord Sforza stands accused of violating Vampiric Law 18-21."
He paused for a moment, stooping down to grab a yellowed piece of parchment paper and read it aloud. "The law reads as follows; no accepted member of vampire society, whether through aiding and abetting or direct action is allowed the creation of new vampires, as defined here. New vampires are those that have fed on the host blood of a Striga Primus, then upon the blood of a human victim, allowing the covenant first created through the Vampire's Curse to be completed. This law also prohibits the formation of a vampiric force, with the clear intent of inciting violence and insurrection against the Council, or Vampiric Law."
I swallowed hard against the silence that filled the room. I heard the uneasy murmurs coming from within the collected staff. "IsVictor really capable of such a thing?" Someone whispered harshly.
