Claws of Eternity ✔️

Chapter 14: Raw

GISELLE

"I don't understand." Giselle said as Alacaris and Jelena began talking about the Monarchy amongst themselves. Octavia disappeared somewhere and the three of them were left in the room, getting ready for a get-together. Drinking wine and blood, that is.

"You don't know anything, do you?" Alacaris asked and Giselle shook her head. She could feel the wine kicking in, especially since she had never drunk anything in her life.

"Alright, quick history lesson, though I'm sure Dracul will make you read a lot of books on the subject." Alacaris poured some blood in her wine cup and leaned onto the pillows behind her. "Vampires are a society, half-functional, but a society. They call themselves Night-Children which is presumptuous and stuck-up, if you ask me."

"But nobody's asking us," Jelena jumped in, "because we're not members of one of the ten Houses." Giselle eyed them both, confusion in her growing bigger.

"The Monarchy is run by a King, or a Queen. He or she has to be elected by the Houses, receiving a majority vote." Alacaris said.

"That's not very monarchical." Giselle commented.

"Oh, well, what would you have the immortal creatures do? Rule until they die?" Alacaris waved with her wine cup.

"And the Monarchy did emerge in Athens." Jelena added.

"Alright, what are these Houses?" Giselle asked.

"Like royalty, they were there when the Monarchy became a thing, so now they have a say in whatever happens in the vampire world." Alacaris explained. Giselle simply stared at them waiting for them to name the Houses.

"Current Queen, Aksana Egorova, jurisdiction over Prague. House Bryce, London." Alacaris began.

"House Draculesti." Jelena gestured towards the ceiling of the castle they were in.

"De Noves, Cardona, which is Catalonia and Kingdom of Aragon. House Adamov, jurisdiction over Moscow..." Alacaris continued.

"Wait, wait, Adamov? My very much human husband's name is Adam Adamov." Giselle interrupted, her heart racing its beating a bit. Both Alacaris and Jelena laughed out loud.

"That's amazing, considering his very much vampire mother, Svetlana Adamova, ruled the Monarchy for a hundred years. Adam has every right to run for the throne." Alacaris said through the laughter.

"Wasn't there a rumour that he didn't want to be made because he wanted an heir?" Jelena asked and then added, looking at Giselle, "his mother supposedly had trouble conceiving him."

Giselle stared in awe as girls talked about House Adamov rumours. Adam was of vampire heritage and he didn't accept this right because he wanted an heir. And Giselle drank mercury for two years.

"Anyway," Alacaris interrupted Giselle's thoughts, "it's a good thing you escaped from that family. Overprotective mother, dead father and the brother he's not talking to."

"His younger brother, Maks Adamov, went rogue. Joined the 'other' vampires." Jelena added and Giselle simply looked at her, question marks all over her face.

"Monarchy has a few rules, one of them is that we aren't allowed to kill people we feed on. If we kill them all, we have nothing to eat so it's just safer to forbid it. Rogue vampires are those that weren't able to control their thirst, or those that committed some other crimes. For example, when Bryce was king, they threw almost everyone out, for minor crimes, usually just because Bryce didn't like them. We call them rogue vampires." Alacaris kept on talking and Giselle thought about what kind of a world she entered.