Chapter One
Quietly I sung to myself as I strummed my guitar. I had been sitting here on my sky blue comforter for two hours, listening to the rain beat down on our dilapidated corner house. Originally, it had been build to be a 4-family apartment back in the 1920's. It had been through so many owners they may as well use pencil on the deed. My brother, Theridan, had owned it for three years, ever since our parents had died. So here we sat, in an old house that outside needed quite a bit more than a fresh coat of paint but inside was still warm and cozy and bright.
"Wow. You could so almost be a star, except for... you know." Theridan stood blocking my doorway; not intentionally, he was just that big.
Yeah, I did know. Our family was the traditional leader of the Vampiric Council. Nothing like royalty, more like a Senator's family really. But that whole "live forever" thing? Yeah, people tend to find really scary. So any job that required excessive time on TV, radio, or gave the general public access to your picture was really out of the question. Can't imagine why, now can you?
So that really limited the potential fans I would be able to have because, surprisingly, vampires in general don't like rock n' roll, Fey only like speed and thrash metal concerts (it has to do with the high number of casualties. Fey like the sight of blood. Think psychic serial killers) and werewolves ...well, I've never met one. Daddy was convinced that all werewolves where too uncontrollable to be trustworthy. I wasn't as sure, from what I could see from a hill overlooking the nearest den, 15 miles away. But since I wasn't allowed out of the city (a human city, by the way) without an escort, I couldn't tell him I'd been sneaking out to watch them. With Theridan looking after me, I hadn't had to worry about it. He'd even gone with me a few times! But now our great-uncle, the head of the family, had summoned us to council.
In all honesty, it was probably nothing but Theridan was all keyed-up about it. So even though he tried to hide it, I could tell he was worried. I was hoping he was just formally presenting both of us to the council, but great-uncle wouldn't have summoned us himself if it were something that trite and I knew it. But, denial always works in the movies, so I gave it a shot.
"Theridan and Mirella Kunglina, children of Rotri Kunglina, 677th dünar. Presented by their great-uncle, Morlan Kunglina, 675th and 678th dünar." As I listened to the Archduke spout off everyone present's pedigrees, mine and Theridan's included. After a while, his words all faded into the background as I began to people watch. Father had brought us to court before, though we were too young to be formally presented, so we already knew quite a bit of the other council-members. After what seemed like hours of presentations, Great-Uncle stood up and finally got down to business.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, I have called this session to formally present my chosen heir, Theridan Kunglina, for your inspection. I find him and his sister, Mirella, to be capable of dealing with the Fey and Werewolf courts and wish to bring them into my custody after the tragic deaths of their parents." Immediately after his announcement, everyone began to argue over which house would have our guardianship while Theridan and I looked at each other in shock. Neither of us realized we were being put on the auction block, so to speak. Theridan, being 18 when mom and dad died, had petioned the human courts and had adopted me so we could stay together. Now, these outdated, stuck-up bureaucrats were going to separate us to advance their careers? I think not!
"Enough!" I shouted over the din. Everyone stared at me in shock, but stopped talking.
"Theridan and I will not be separated and we wish to maintain total control over our properties and holdings. Any objections?" I looked each of them in the eye, and every one of them dropped their gaze in observance of my demands.
"Now, if you so desire, you may resume your...negotiations, but keep in mind the requirements given." People looked around uneasily and there was dead silence for a moment. Then a loud clapping dominated the front of the room.
"Well done, little Mirella. Excellent use of diplomacy and passion to achieve your ends. Now, are there any others intending to dispute their guardianships?" He looked around and appeared disappointed when he had no takers.
"Well then, it's decided. Theridan will be my heir and I will take over their guardianship. Any other business that needs to be addressed?" While two of the council members discussed a territory dispute, Great-Uncle waved us over.
"My brilliant niece, that was well executed. I think you and Theridan will make perfect additions to the council. Now, Theridan, I need you and Mirella both to go back to your suites. I will be there as soon as this session ends and we can hammer out the details of your living with me. Now slip out while they're distracted." We looked at each other and quietly headed out the door.
