The Vampire's Crimson Kiss (Editing)

Chapter 18/The vicious valentine

A week later I found my self invited down to a new part of the black keep near it's base. Mary lead the way she had recovered after her anniversary and even Cub had re-appeared.

"Why are we going down stairs for breakfast don't tell me there has been a Starbucks in the basement all this time but you've only just got around to telling me" I said  as we went  down.

Mary led me downstairs through the cold crypts. The air was cold enough to make your breath turn to the white vapor of winter.  We walked through the graveyard of demons. The room was large open and full of sarcophagi as far as the eye could see. Around each sarcophagus was a small group of familiars each kneeling, heads bowed waiting for their masters to emerge. We walked towards a mausoleum inside the room.

Mary spoke quietly "You have to be careful when they first get up. Don't move quickly if he is very hungry he might feed on you before he realizes. Also, don't eat the sweet breads, they say they are human flesh free but I've been in the kitchen and I've seen the cooks get lazy, they hope that burnt flesh is burnt flesh and no one will notice. Stick to the fish if you're worried about it."

"You're joking right?" I said as we arrived outside the hall. Mary touched up the polish on my red lips. 

"Yes," said Mary realizing she was scaring me "....it was just a joke to lighten the mood."

Mary led me to a doorway to a mausoleum which was guarded by two massive stone sculptures of wolf head soldiers. When we entered the heavy stone lid had been pushed aside. Most of the familiars were standing up fetching and carrying, Sadismann was finishing getting dressed and greeted me with delight.

"Princess glad you could make it. Please  would you give me the honor of accompanying me to my rooms" said Sadismann holding out his hands. We followed him as he left to go  to his rooms. I had been there before but in secret, it was so secret I couldn't even use the Elevator. This time it was public, something was up. 

"Sire" I  said with a curtsy.

When I wasn't in mine he came to my rooms as much as he could. Ever since the ball he had been more open about me. He was quite clear he wouldn't touch me. His abstinence with me, it was torturing his coven.

I had told him I was alright about sleeping with him I wasn't sure, perhaps my farther's treaty was an excuse. I wasn't clear what he was afraid of. If I consented and lied about Sadismann not touching me there was no way, short of getting pregnant, my parents could  find out he had broken his vow.

Even pregnancy wasn't likely, after it had been mentioned in one book Mary had explained. As they were dead there was practically no way a Vampire could make a human pregnant. Vampire to Vampire was even less common, 'purebloods' where so rare that over her life time of vampiric sex Sadismann's mother had three children in 400 years and that wasn't for lack of trying.

This explained the rich law on children and all the magic and charms regarding things like the metacrine . Every minor coven girl had the dream of bearing children for the Vampyre. The instant elevation in status would be like winning the lottery and then winning the lottery again.

I had later come across the odd insult in the black tounge 'half born'. Mary had explained to me that at birth the child of a vampire and a human might be vampire or human. If human the vampires would wait until the child grew to decent age and then sire them. This is what had happened to Sadismann.

We left the crypt for his rooms. Sadismann had insisted that I walk with him and Electra had to walk behind us. This early 'morning' getting up was heavily regulatedd with centuries of ritual behind it. We walked along and I could feel Electra trying to burn holes in my back with the fury in her eyes.