(Northern Region- Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)
(Castle Eden- Throne Room)
Camilla sat on her throne with a bored expression on her face. She watched as more and more vampires entered the grand hall.
There was a distinct lack of familiar faces.
Many of the representatives in the room were individuals who had been converted while she had been asleep, so she did not recognise them.
As for their predecessors…
Immortality did not mean invulnerability.
The beautiful female vampire scowled slightly as she remembered some unpleasant memories.
Fortunately, her bad mood passed fairly quickly as she stole a glance at the knight standing patiently behind her.
Mary had remained frozen in place with her hand on her sword for at least an hour now and had not moved once.
The white armour that she wore was covered with horrific red runes drawn on its metallic surface.
She did not smell like a human.
Camilla had made sure that the runes on her armour amplified the scent of her blood. To the vampires in the hall… Mary was one of their own.
Light conversations continued throughout the open space and Camilla made no attempt to get down from her throne and mingle with the crowd.
Vampire society was extremely stratified and usually only those with similar ranks or strength were permitted to start a conversation.
Therefore, there were only three vampires in the room capable of approaching Camilla to talk.
They were the representatives of the three princes.
Clan Sundry, House Mornt and Clan Vermont.
Camilla took another small sip from the goblet in her hand as her crimson eyes swept up and down the length of the room.
She wasn't sure who the princes would send to represent them. It had been quite some time since she had last attended a social gathering.
Was it seven hundred years ago? Or maybe it was one thousand?
Time worked a bit differently for vampires as old as herself.
An extremely thin vampire who looked no older than fifteen walked confidently through the crowd and stopped at the bottom of the raised platform.
He wore a bright red robe, and the symbol of a skeletal crow was painted across the back of his outfit.
"Greetings Lady Camilla," the youthful vampire respectfully spoke.
"I am here on the behalf of princess Esme of House Mornt. She was unable to attend tonight but wishes to privately meet with you on a later date."
"Tell your mistress that I am currently busy," Camilla smirked rudely and waved her hand to dismiss the vampire.
The confident smile on the youthful vampire's face cracked slightly but he still collected himself and bowed politely before leaving.
This incident had drawn the attention of the other vampires in the room, and most were shocked at Camilla's flippant attitude.
They did not understand that Camilla had been playing this game longer than before most of them had been alive.
Princess Esme was a dangerous schemer. There was no doubt a trap hidden in that so-called 'private meeting'.
A few hours passed quite uneventfully as no one else dared to approach the vampire sitting down on the throne.
"Are you alright?" Camilla quietly whispered under her breath as she addressed Mary who had not moved a single muscle.
"I am fine mistress," Mary replied with a slightly muffled voice.
Truthfully her legs were hurting a little bit but her training and the sunlight energy flowing through her body made the pain bearable.
Camilla nodded and then made a mental note to herself to end this banquet as soon as possible.
Well… it wasn't exactly a banquet since there was no food available. This was a fact that the guests had already picked up.
It was not hard for Camilla to use her enhanced hearing to listen in to the complaints floating around the room from the disgruntled vampires.
"I say… are we not going to be served any fresh blood?"
"Have you seen any other clan members of House Volantis? Where are they hiding?"
"I was invited to a gathering by Prince Antonio and there were dozens of humans available for the guests to enjoy."
"I sincerely hope that she does not host another one of these meetings… I'm starving… at this point I might have to go hunting in the woods outside."
A wicked smirk surfaced on Camilla's face that added an evil charm to her otherworldly beauty.
She thoroughly enjoyed making these stuck-up vampires suffer.
Everyone here was nothing more than a parasite.
Smiling faces and cordial grins to hide the knives hidden inside their words. Vampire society had not changed for thousands of years.
The strong devoured the weak.
An endless cycle of violence and competition that left them vulnerable to humanity's attacks.
The only reason why the war had reached a stalemate was because humans were similarly divided between the different countries.
Camilla glanced upwards at the glass ceiling and noticed that the dawn was not too far away. It would be a couple of hours and then the sun would peek out from the horizon.
She didn't want any of the vampires in the hall to be forced to spend the following day in her castle, so it was time for her ending speech.
"Attention please," Camilla's soft voice echoed through the large hall and cut through all the conversations in the room.
There was an immediate silence as a heavy pressure descended on the vampires that was so strong that some collapsed on the ground.
"I thank you all for attending my gathering today… the purpose of this meeting is to announce the rebirth of Clan Volantis," Camilla calmly spoke.
"I will continue to lead my clan into this new era, and I hope that tonight I will have made allies and not enemies."
"Because those who are my enemies… will not survive."
Camilla' crimson eyes darkened, and hundreds of blood spears erupted from the ground and stopped mere inches away from the vampires' throats.
It was a terrifying display of blood magic.
If she wanted to Camilla could have killed every single person in the room with a single attack.
This fact was not lost on the vampires who did not even dare to mutter any words of protest.
Camilla muttered a few incomprehensible words under her breath and crimson spears turned back into a liquid which melted away into the floor.
The golden floor of the banquet hall briefly flashed red as several large blood magic runes could be seen just below its surface before finally vanishing.
"Now it appears that dawn will be approaching soon… I bid you all a safe flight," Camilla gently spoke as if she had not just threatened the lives of everyone in the room.
She gestured with her hand and the doors to the back of the banquet hall swung open. The vampires in the hall began to trickle out of the room with quick steps.
The ending to this gathering had been quite shocking and many were eager to get back to their clans and report the news.
The blood witch was still as strong as ever.
This fact alone had massive implications for the current political situation.
Some were also wary that they had not seen any of Lady Camilla's clan members except for one.
They did not believe that Lady Camilla only had one member of her clan and most assumed that the rest were hidden in order to conceal their true numbers.
Tonight, was going to be a restless night for many powerful figures in vampire society.
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