Circle

Vultures. All of them are fucking vultures.

They are all waiting for me to falter so they can gain even more power. 

"I called for a meeting to discuss the treaty we have with the Crimson Pack. Several points need to be readjusted."

My voice is strong and steady, as usual, but inside I am seething. This treaty is a joke and makes us look weak.

"Unfortunately, it’s a little too late to change things, isn’t it? The King has already signed the treaty and sent it back to them. Changing the terms now would only bring anger and confusion."

Everybody can hear the sneer in Mikel’s tone. As Lucius grows weaker, Mikel has grown bolder. His mocking smile is directed at me and I have to use every ounce of my self-control to not smash his head on the marbled floor.

"Mikel is right. The Realm is peaceful at the moment and we need to do everything in our power to let it stay that way." Charles’ tone is firm, showing that he wouldn’t budge on this.

"Indeed, giving a little bit of power to one wolf pack is not a problem. An uprising because we changed the treaty would be." Antonio is once again going with the flow. Avoiding conflict seems to be the sole purpose of his life.

The council is just a joke at this point. They all hold on to their power and are too afraid to move without Lucius to protect them if things go to shit. They forget that even without him, most Realms wouldn’t have the military power to submit us.

However, I can understand where Charles and Antonio are coming from. Even if the Realm is a mess, it’s still peaceful. The last thing we want is to have uprisings or revolts. We can’t afford a bloodbath, all the more when we don’t know the status of our alliances with other realms.

Even if we could afford a bloodbath, we should do everything in our power to avoid one. Our duty as rulers is to protect our subjects. Not to play with their lives carelessly. 

Antonio and Charles know that, but Mikel…

Mikel is drunk on the power he has gained since Effie’s death. He is unpredictable and needs to be dealt with. However, I can’t right now. I need to have a valid reason to put him down.

"Does the King have something to say about it?" I tried to make Lucius react by posing him a direct question. Maybe today is a good day and he will be somewhat here?

He only looks at me with a blank expression and then answer with a firm "No."

So today is a bad day. But not as bad as some where he wouldn’t even utter a word.

Looking at Lucius in this state, I couldn’t be helped but be reminded of the last time I saw my father. He is here without being here. I can talk to him, but I can’t reach him. All our problems are still here. Festering between us. But we will never be able to talk them through or resolve them.

Is this how my eternal life will always be? Will each father figure slowly lose their mind and I have to watch them being alive without really living?

Both my father and Lucius were known for their minds. Both of them lost it. Could their fates be worse?

The only difference is because of my anger I let my father die, but now despite my anger I can’t let Lucius die.

I could have saved my father. I could have turned him. I’m sure that the healer would have found a way to save his mind. Or maybe just realising that I was alive would have brought him back to his senses. Maybe not, but at least he would have still been here.

Maybe if I’d just thought for ten minutes, we would have mended our relationship and Odysseus and my mother would be here today too.

Even if I was mad at my father, I should have put it aside and just turned him. My mother only refused to become a vampire because she didn’t want to outlive my father or Odysseus. How could I just tell her that it was her choice and leave? 

If I had come to my senses only three years earlier, they would still be alive today.

That’s why I won’t give up on Lucius, until I have no choice to. Listening to my anger is not the answer here.

"So, if we’re done with the Crimson Pack, we should talk about…"

I don’t listen to Charles. To be honest I don’t really listen to the rest of the meeting. They will be only talking about trivial things. The Realm is at peace, but it is a mess that nobody wants to take care of. I’m trying, but my hands are tied up until Lucius get better or goes to slumber.

He won’t go to slumber. I know him. He is too stubborn and too arrogant to just give up like that.

The rest of the meeting goes quickly and before I know it, I am at Zyair and Tasha’s. I know that things have been tense for them too because of their responsibilities, but they never vent to me lately. As if they don’t want to burden me anymore. Shit, with all the things Zyair went through I should be the one listening to him, not the reverse.

"With the way you’re frowning I suppose that the council meeting didn’t go as you were hoping it would?" Tasha’s voice always has this little suave undertone even when she is not trying to be sexy.

"What do you mean? He’s always frowning." Thank God Zyair’s voice doesn’t have this problem.

"It’s because I still wonder how you managed to come out that ugly in spite of the fact that your mum is the definition of a Milf."

"Not my mum, bro."

"So Kitoko is okay?"

"Leave my sister alone."

"You know I could have slept with her a long time ago. When we went to see your family last time she came to my room and-"

"Wow, wow, wow! Time out! I don’t want to know. Bro, that’s fucked up! Was the meeting that bad?"

I let out a sigh.

"Sorry, I can’t say that it was really bad as it went as I expected it to go. But I’m still frustrated and pissed."

"Do you want a hug?" Tasha is already up. She didn’t wait for me to answer her and has her arms wide open for me.

"Are you sure you are not the one that wanted one? You seem pretty eager." I chuckle, but I still get up and give her a bear hug.

She is so small that sometimes I feel that I could break her if I hug her a little bit too tight. Her head barely reaches my pecs and her ample breasts are crushed against my stomach. I often wonder how something so small can be so deadly.

"Yeah, you give the best hugs. Maybe you should teach Zyair how to do it?"

"Unfortunately, the secret is in my height. We both know that Zyair is lacking in this department."

We both chuckle while Zyair is rolling his eyes. However, he can’t hide the twitch of his mouth. I know that he wants to laugh too but he is pretending to be offended.

"Instead of picking on me maybe we should go for a drink? We all need to unwind after a shitty day."

  

For Zyair to admit that his day was shitty, it must have been bad.

"Where do you want to go?" Tasha’s voice is muffled as we are still hugging.

"There is this new bar in town that seems nice."

"I don’t really want to go to a bar." I have shit to do.

"It’s been sometime since we just relaxed together and I really need it. Just come this time. Please." Zyair never begs me. His day must have been really bad and he must really want to go.

"Okay, okay. I’m going to get ready. Let’s meet in an hour at the front gate." I release Tasha from my embrace and take a step back.

"Getting ready? Do you plan on finding someone tonight?" I’m still pretty close to Tasha so she has to stretch her neck really far back to look at me in the eyes.

"If I’m going to go out, I should make the most of it."

"That’s my bro!" Zyair fist bump me with a wide smile.

"See you in an hour."

I wave and then quickly make my way out. I really hope that this night will be worth the trouble.