Heir to the Eternal Throne

Chapter 14

            Andras kept her head low, walking between the tents as a small escort took her to her tent. One of many set up for Aldrin's party. To her surprise, there were enough for all of his part. With the exception of Aldrin, Karen and Jade. They would be expected to stay in the pavillion. Still, there were no extra tents and not too few either. Either a lucky guess or, he somehow got wind of the size of their company before they got there.

            She was the only one to enter the small section of camp set for Aldrin's party. The others were most likely getting acquainted with their newfound army. She didn't like any of this. The count was enough to make her uneasy about this and Aldrin refused to listen. She had to at least credit herself for this mess. To some degree, she did cause it. Growling, Andras threw open the flaps of her tent. There was little walk space. Just enough to get around without tripping. Just not made for comfort.

            "It would appear, child, that you have a choice to make." Andras spun back towards the flaps of her tent. Just above the dim torch on the entrance poll, a flaming image of the Blood God's face stared back at her.

            "Please! I tried to help him. If a speedy death is what he wants, he is definitely setting himself up for it." Andras growled, turning her back towards the Blood God.

            "And you believe he saw what you tried to do as helping? You already admitted to yourself that part of this might as well be your fault. You did undermine his authority," he reminded her.

            "What of it? He obviously can't hurt me, no matter how hard he might try," Andras said, recalling his last attempt. "Can't even manage to order someone to do it for him either."

            "And that gives you free reign to challenge his authority and disrupt order among his kin?" the Blood God tilted his head. "Honestly, what did you expect to happen?"

            "Hay! You asked me to keep him safe, without bothering to explain why! I am not his servant. I am not sworn to his service. By no means am I bound by the rules of his court." she argued, waving a dismissing hand at the Blood God.

            "You were his honored guest!" the Blood God's voice rose with anger, shaking the very ground she stood upon. Andras felt a chill crawl through her spine; A feeling that not even Aldrin could instill. "Of all the people in this world, I had thought you would be able to comprehend the nature of these creatures." his voice calmed, yet the tension of his anger still lingered. "Have the years you spent in that cage truly driven from you the memories of your children?"

            "No." Andras sighed, looking down as she crossed her arms.

            "I can not even begin to comprehend your anger and grief towards Aldrin for the death of your daughter. But if you allow this to continue to dictate your actions, Aldrin will fail and everything we worked for will be for vain. You must make your peace with Aldrin." he stressed.

            "Oh yes, because that is going to be easy." Andras rolled her eyes, unable to bite back the reply.

            "Andras..." the Blood God spoke her name gravely, like you would to a child about to repeat the same mistake again.

            "Well I am sorry but he is not exactly that great at listening! I tried to respect his status once, at least, and he still dismissed my concerns. How do you expect me to reason with someone that clearly believes he is above everyone else with the only exception being his siblings!" Andras let herself fall back against the middle post of the tent. "You would have better luck trying to reason with my father."

            "You have not noticed that his siblings still bow to his rule?" the Blood God asked, a slight chuckle in his tone. "My dear, they are as beneath him as any other vampire in this campaign. They know it. Everyone knows it. The difference between them and you is that they have built a level of trust and reliance between each other that you are not even trying to establish. He listens to them because he trusts their council.