Tudor Rose [BoyxBoy]

Chapter 17 - Royal

Michael rolled his eyes as he despised this silly hunting game that served no other purpose than to embarrass the students who had not yet earned their fangs. He felt it was an antiquated tradition with no educational merit.

"This time, each house will elect a member to represent them as a whole. That means there will be six Hunters this time. When we did this the last time, there were no guidelines, it was simply a game of numbers. For this round, I want each of the Hunters to exclusively rely on your abilities as a pureblood in catching your prey. That means there should be no use of your superhuman strength or speed. Additionally, Hunted, feel free to fight back. Being captured is not a death sentence. Imagine yourselves in a crowded area, you have not fed in days and you cannot reveal yourself as a vampire. Your only hope is to use the most discrete and humble means available to you. Take a Borgia for example. If I were at a ball, I could not physically overpower a woman whose blood I craved for risk of her screaming or someone bearing witness to my power. I would instead use the Borgia venom to poison her drink, so that she would slip into a deep slumber, and I could unsuspiciously bring her to a room of the house and quietly have a meal. Of course, the forest will be your arena for this game, but it is the concept. This is an exercise in stealth."

Michael eyed Peter Cercel across the room, the only other Dracula there.

Do you want to play the game? Michael communicated to him telepathically.

No, was Peter's response.

Michael sighed in exasperation. He would have been more persistent but he did not like the idea of Peter playing the Hunter when Henri had no choice but to play the Hunted, though he could not imagine Peter really putting any effort into meeting their grandfather's request.

The class met outside of the academy on the edge of the forest. Michael kept his eyes on Henri the entire time, watching him stick close to Andrea Salviati.

"Has every house chosen it's champion?" asked the Professor. Michael glared at the Borgia for using that term in the context of this game. "Please step forward if you will represent your house."

Portia Strozzi stepped forward for the Medici to no one's surprise. She was the granddaughter of Francesco I de' Medici, the current head of the family, currently one of the closest to the main bloodline at Tudor Rose. She had golden brown wavy hair and fierce golden eyes made more intense by the heavy eyebrows and square, masculine jaw. The Medici ability to become mist would likely be the most valuable in this game, after his own.

Adali stepped forward for the Hohenzollern, being the daughter of the current head, she was one of the most royal students at Tudor Rose. Though many students were closely related to royalty, it was customary for purebloods only to use their titles amongst each other if they either were a reigning monarch or directly related to one. With her brother as king of Germany, this made Adali a princess, a status that meant she was above the other Hohenzollerns whether they were more skilled at hunting or not. The ability to fly would certainly override the limit on using vampiric strength and speed, giving her a slight advantage.

Prince Leopold, the son of the reigning Queen of England, Victoria, stepped forward for House Tudor. Since Elizabeth I had no children, her bloodline had been diluted. Though she remained the head of the family, the Stuarts had taken control of the British government after her reign, and then Victoria's branch, the House of Hanover, had taken power after Queen Anne died without an heir, though she was very much alive unbeknownst to the human world. Prince Leopold was the youngest of Victoria's sons and had no chance of inheriting the throne, but he was still ranked higher than the rest of the first year Tudors. Michael could only imagine what he might do with his ability to transform into a swarm of bats. Though looking closely at his blue eyes, red-gold hair, and thin frame, he did not seem threatening at all. Michael did not feel the houses were choosing wisely so much as relying on rank, though he favored this method to choosing the most vicious members of each House.

Though they did not flaunt their status so much as the other royals at Tudor Rose, Xenia and Dmitri Romanov were the Grand Duke and Duchess of Russia, meaning they were the children of the reigning Tsar. With three elder brothers, Dmitri had no hope of inheriting the throne, but he still deserved more respect than he commanded. Xenia stepped forth to represent the Romanovs, being the bolder of the twins.

The alliance between the Romanovs, Draculas, and Hohenzollerns had brought Michael together with the twins and Adali, though he was nothing more than the grandson of the head of the Draculas whereas they were royals. With Vlad Tepes as King of the vampires, that elevated his status to that of a royal prince, whereas his mother, the daughter of the King, was equal to a monarch or the head of any pureblood family. The tyranny and aggression with which the Draculas commanded power encouraged only fear, not love for their family.

Finally, the Borgia's chose Peitro Borgia, for his large build and ferocity, not for any reasons related to rank. The Borgias had gone the way of the Catholic Church rather than the Spanish monarchy, and lost the battle to the Vatican's Order of the Dragon, a group of vampire hunters more elite than the Hellsing organization. Their family was still headed by its progenitor, Dominigo, but they held considerably less power over the human world than the other families, evidenced by their professor's inclination to take a job at the academy. Luckily, Michael knew there would not be many ways for him to use his ability in the forest.

"We will give the Hunted a ten-minute head start, just as we did last time," said the Professor. "Disperse," he said. Michael watched Henri run with the rest of them, slightly disturbed that he could feel him having fun with the game he found detestable.

"Watch closely," said the Professor, addressing the vampires who would not be hunting. "You should be able to see everything that goes on in the forest if you concentrate on your sight. We will wait here for the students who are captured."

Michael had almost had enough of this, but he was controlling his temper to the best of his ability. When the ten minutes were up, the Hunters were forced to run at a human pace into the forest. Peitro had seemingly forgot the rules and run as a vampire before the Professor had caught him by the throat and thrown him back across the field like a cricket ball.

In the forest, it would have been easy for Michael to close his eyes and search the minds of the Hunted, drawing them to him one after the other. Human minds were child's play, but to control a vampire, even one who had not come into his or her birthright, would take individual effort. However, Michael had no intention of playing this game to win. He wanted only to be the first to find Henri to get him out of the forest. He thought that should be easy enough, possibly even fun for the both of them.

That was until he felt it, the intense hunger, the darkness. There was something evil lurking in the trees.