Quiet Laughter

Hunter and Alexys returned to the hotel to find everyone had disappeared from the formal party and went down the hall into the conference room to discuss business. The necromancer silently moved into a corner near her master, leaving Hunter standing awkwardly at the door just as his father announced the next petition before the gathered council.

“Next order of business, we have in our esteemed presence a member who wishes to join the ranks of the council.”

As Karnik rose from his seat and approached the podium murmurs of displeasure filled the room.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” He said, making a grand sweeping gesture to the room, “I have come to claim my Seat.”

The room exploded into angry noise, sweet music to Karnik’s ears. “Now now, don't all congratulate me at once.”

“The sheer outrage!” exclaimed one woman, her bosom quivering where it was nestled in her silk gown. “Who thinks we'd let a--a common thug like you join our ranks? Preposterous.”

“You just can't create a seat for yourself!”

“You'd ruin our reputation!”

“You are not a pure blood!” a final voice rang out and approving murmurs immediately followed.

Karnik made a note of those who spoke out against him. They would pay. Those who remained silent, or just raised eyebrows... Maybe.

“Silence!” The order rang out. Hunter’s father, the head of the Troy family sat back down in his chair. “Now, explain yourself. Karnik.”

Karnik grinned. “If one has territory and power, which I do, one can join the council.”

“Only if you are approved.”

Karnik snorted. “Only if you are proven to be powerful enough to worry the other council members. And for that, I have trump card.” He beckoned, and his slaves pulled forward his surprise. “Meet the Crown Prince of the Unseelie.”

A small boy wrapped in smoldering chains of iron stood before the gathered vampires. Flowing hair once the color of the skies at midnight was now a brittle bleached white. Splendid clothes of sable velvet and indigo silk meant for a prince were the filthy rags of a slave.

“What manner of evil have you done!” Hunter shouted. As all eyes turned to him, Alexys smiled ominously.

"Evil?" Karnik snorted. "He was given to me, and the ungrateful wretch keeps trying to run. He has no honor for his race or himself."

"Honor!" Hunter spat. "Surely the dishonor is on yourself for keeping your acquisitions in such a manner!"

Karnik’s smile went thin. "In my own holdings, I will do what I will."

“Ah, but these grounds are not your holdings.” Hunter replied with a smile of his own. “They belong to the Troy family, my family. ”

"The Troy family is rotting. I believe one of the heirs apparent ran off with a human." Karnik let his face match the sneer in his tone. "If what remains is even half as strong, it will be no small matter to win a challenge."

Hunter stalked up to Karnik, pulling off his silk gloves. He slapped the gloves into Karnik’s face, then threw them at his feet. "If you question my honor, I will defend it!"

Karnik leaned in and inhaled. "At least you're not sleeping with a human."

“I have no idea what you speak of sir but if you desire a challenge.” Hunter pointed to the gauntlet he had thrown. “There it is.”

Quiet murmurs rose from the gathered council members. The fallen Fae child lifted his head minutely, pain haunting his endlessly sable colored eyes as Hunter’s father rose from his seat.

“Hunter.” The man snapped. His son cut his eyes away from Karnik and acknowledged his father.

“If you continue your childish behavior, I will have to insist you be removed from these proceedings. Now pick up your gloves.”

With no little amount of disgust, Hunter knelt down and retrieved his gloves. As he bent down, he saw Karnik smile.

Karnik let his eyes follow Hunter, consuming the sight of him. This one, he would keep. He didn't bother to take the smile from his face, let them take from it what they will.

“Yes, take it back child.”

Hunter slowly rose to his full six foot height, fury igniting his sea green eyes.

“I refuse.”

“Hunter!” his father snapped not a second later. “I will not tolerate any disobedience from anyone, whether a member of this council or my own son.”

As murmurs of discontent echoed around the generous room, Alexys Le Strange whispered something in Hunter’s father’s ear and the man nodded.

“I motion we conclude our meeting today and table the matter of Karnik’s inclusion in the council until tomorrow. Do I have a second?”

“I second the motion.” Hunter’s uncle called out from the opposite end of the table.

“Motioned passed.”
**********************************

"Hey Meggy, what you riding?” Tighe shouted. “A snail?”

Meghann Eris Troy, heiress of the esteemed Troyes family, glared at the Fae riding behind his sister on her cousin’s bike and gave him the finger as she shot ahead of them.

In response, Tighe transformed into a tiny kitten, climbed over his sister to perch himself in between the handlebars and mewed at her to go faster. Royal leaned down lower on the motorcycle and gave it more gas, sending her feline brother sliding into her body¾just like she knew he would.

The trio raced their bikes along the tracks that circled the Troy estate. Dodging low hanging limbs, and jumping fallen logs, each racing against the other to reach the prize: hot exotic tea with a tray of cookies.

A carriage bearing the crest of the Troyes family pulled into the estate the moment the two motorcycles tore past, spattering the coach with mud and dead leaves. The horses danced away from the loud machines, rocking the carriage and the sounds of sputtering and fury filled the air but beneath it all, there came the sound of Hunter’s laughter.

“Damn that child!” Hunter’s uncle growled climbing from the carriage moments later. His brother followed behind him and offered Alexys his hand to assist her in stepping down.

“First she decides disgrace the Troy name by coloring her hair that frightful shade and now she tries to run me down with that horrible machine.”

“Dis-moi qui dans l'enfer est responsable de cela?!” Hunter’s father demanded as Hunter climbed from the carriage.

From the steps of the mansion, Meghann calmly sipped her tea and laughed at her father and uncle’s blustering. Royal waved at Hunter where she lounged next to a small black and white kitten hungrily attacking a tray of cookies larger than him.

“Welcome home, how was the meeting?” Meghann inquired. Her father threw up his hands and rushed into the mansion with a stream of swears in French.

Alexys chuckled as she watched the kitten growl as he pigged out on cookies. Royal saw where the necromancer’s attention lay and placed a protective hand on top of the feline.

“If you were curious, then you should have stayed instead of destroying the grounds with your raucous little plaything.” her uncle answered and marched into the manor without another word.

“Perhaps if you were there, your cousin would not have made such a fool of himself.” Alexys told her. She smiled as she slinked by her and up the steps paused.

“You tend to take attention away from him with your own foolishness.”

The kitten reared back and hissed at the necromancer, his cute little paw swiping at the woman as she slithered past. She ignored the tiny creature and followed her employer inside.

“So.” Royal said daintily pulling a cookie from the pile. The kitten scampered back to the food and began munching once more.

“Party didn’t go well?”

“Met your Master. He insulted my family and myself so I challenged him to a duel.” Hunter replied with a sigh. The kitten fell over in a dead faint.

Royal nonchalantly reached over and placed the unconscious feline in her lap. Both vampires could still hear its heartbeat so no one was too concerned about it.

“Bad move.” she replied. “Master Karnik is not someone you should confront like that. You’ll either piss him off or something far worse.”

“Oh?” Hunter inquired curious as to what was far worse than angering the darkly handsome man.

Royal scratched the kitten under his chin and rubbed his sides, her Fae senses reaching out to him involuntarily. Deep, deep inside, her brother was freaking out and trying to avoid the world at large. She sent him comforting images.

“You don’t want to draw attention to yourself.” Royal told him. “You’ll get him interested. And an interested Master Karnik is never a good thing.”

“I get the impression you and your brother know this quite well.” Hunter responded and Royal shrugged.

“I’ve served Master Karnik for over two hundred years and I know him well enough to be familiar with what goes on inside his mind. It’s not a pretty place. My master is dangerous.”

“So I should have allowed him to insult my family?”

“Do you want to have a family?” Royal inquired as the kitten in her lap began to rouse. He looked up at her and mewed then climbed up to her shoulder, careful to not cut her with his tiny nails.

“Yes.” Hunter replied. “And speaking of family, where is your brother?”

“Yeah, where did your purple mold go?” Meghann asked. “Last I saw he was on the back of the bike with you while we were racing.”

Royal and the kitten exchanged looks.

“He’s around.” she said with a tiny grin.

“We should find him.” Hunter responded. “In the mood my father and uncle are in, if they find him, he going to be in a load of trouble.”

“So the meeting went really bad.” Meghann remarked as her and Royal stood up. The kitten on the Fae’s shoulder seemed to pout.

“Just typical bullshit.” her cousin replied. “The pure bloods are pissed that they’re not the big players anymore.”

“First it was the houses fighting amongst themselves in the homelands. Next the older houses in Europe began fighting with the houses in America.” Meghann said and rolled her eyes. They walked into the manor as she continued speaking.

“Then there was that nasty war between the States not long ago. Everyone got in on that one. Northern born vampires against Southern created vampires. Witches from the North against necromancers of the South. Werewolves caught in the middle.”

“The Court had a similar problem.” Royal remarked as the kitten leapt from her shoulder and slunk away. “It was called the Tuatha War and it all just came down to deciding who was going to rule. Seelie born Danu or her Unseelie brother Mongan. Fight lasted eons, many died, the elven people got caught in the middle and the land suffered.”

Royal continued the history lesson while her brother went to transform into human form and duck into some location for everyone to find.

“Then as the stories say, Tuatha Eire called out to its people and screamed at them to share. So the Courts was born. The Seelie would rule and the world would be brought life and warm days. Then the Unseelie would rule and the world would be brought death and days of cold.”

“After balance was established, both agreed upon a Grand Law and rules of conduct for their Court so that the stability of our world would never be threatened again.” she told them as they walked.

Hunter stuck his head into the study and found his father and uncle deep in conversation with one another. So that he did not anger them further he quickly and quietly left and closed the door behind him.

“The Grand Law states: Fae shall not kill Fae.” Royal said as Meghann checked the kitchen. “It was used as my defense when I went on trial for killing the bandits who murdered my parents and went after Tighe. I refused to have my family killed by my own inaction and since my mother had my father to protect her, I’d protect Tighe.”

“But it didn’t work out that way.” Meghann responded. Royal shook her head, replying with a smirk.

“Nothing ever works out the way you want.”