“That would be wonderful, I’m tired of the show.” Amber half-growled as her blood began to feverishly pump in her veins. “I don’t really want to do anything drastic, so while I still have the ability…” Amber leaned back into Jessica who then pced her hands on Amber’s shoulders, “...to listen…tell me what’s going on.” She looked past Abel, “Arthur? Can you tell me?”

  “I wish I could Amber but this isn’t remotely any decision of our council.” Arthur stopped when Orion punched him in the chest, causing the younger vampire to take a few steps back, “Ow, that was unnecessary.”

  “You are only here as a witness, nothing more.” Orion snarled, “If you and this council had done your job then we wouldn’t be here.” Orion pointed at the bonfires. “Unless you wish to become part of the fmes.”

  “Friends, Friends.” Abel regained control of the conversation. “We are all friends here. At least for the moment.” He gred at Orion, “Calm down, Miss Lane did address him.” He turned back to Amber and looked down at the first page. “Alright. Listen well.” Abel gave everyone a chance to settle down, “Good we are all in agreement.” He cleared his throat. "The Sanguine Grandiloquent Convocation has been established. Over the course of five years of endless debate, the decision to remove all vampire activity for the sum of no less than seventy years is decreed. The following directives are enforced by local sanguine and world sanguine support." Abel looked around for confirmation that everyone understood. “Good, thank you for your attention. Allow me to continue.” He flipped a few pages and began to list off the directives.

  “One. Any and all operations of an influential manner are hereby terminated. Two. Any and all groups the size of three or more are terminated. Three. Any and all political ties, official or unofficial must be relinquished. Four. Hunting is limited to cities with a popution of one-hundred thousand or more to disguise potential accidents. Five. Our term ‘The Veil’ is too well known by humanity and henceforth is renamed to ‘The Shroud.’ Six. ‘The Shroud’ consists of the following, A- vampires maintain secrecy at all times. B- constantly work against the reality of the supernatural. This includes human supernatural ability. A threat to one is a threat to us all. C- no exposure of our true nature if at all possible. We are aware that accidents do happen and will be investigated individually. D-Z intentionally left for adaptation. Seven. Given their expansive knowledge, all thralls will be either turned or destroyed. Eight. No vampire under the age of ten is permitted to create progeny due to votility.-”

  “Excuse me?!” Amber blurted out and interrupted Abel then received a harsh gre from the others when she did so. “I don’t think so. You seriously just said that I can’t have progeny and all wards have to die or be turned. We are supposed to protect them as they protect us, hence the name wards. There’s no way Jessica dies. You six are out of your damned minds.” Whereas moments before the list of demands started Amber had calcuted the ways to destroy the entire field of vampires, a sudden calm feeling came over her like being wrapped in a warm bnket on a cold winter day. She knew she was beyond angry, yet she was clear to think and act should she want to. “Come on Jessica, we are leaving right now.”

  Slowly shaking his head, Orion took a step forward. “Youngling.” He politely sneered, “If you leave now? I get to hunt you down. Put you in a padded cell. So do me the favor and run, I’ll chase you and Jessica for the next seventy years if need be.”

  Solemnly Arthur raised his hands and spoke coolly, “Amber. Orion is serious. I am not a fan of this any more than you are.” He frowned at the two world delegates. “You were supposed to be contacted before this…” he waved his hand in the air. “We were supposed to gather at the council.” She shook his head, “They came along and steamrolled..well me. Since you few made me the spokesperson.”

  Undeterred, Abel ignored the quick outburst and finished reading the decration. “Nine. Human interaction is limited to feeding only. Numbers ten through one-hundred are reserved for future needs. All legistion enforcement derived from the convocation and upon evidence of acts deemed against the will of the convocation or the Shroud will be met accordingly.”

  Folding the documents into a neat little square, Abel walked up to Amber and grinned. “This is your copy. I will…now…” He ughed, “...happily answer any questions you might have.”

  “You can’t hunt if you’re dead, Orion.” Amber fshed her fangs. “I am not killing Jessica.” She slightly turned her head, “We can just stay on the move. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Dumpling. We can’t.” Jessica sighed and kissed the back of Amber’s neck. “Don’t forget what’s back home.” She bit her lip and her brown eyes sparkled. “What is to stop these six or more to…” She purposely paused, “...to kill the town because we ran?”

  Laughing with a certain amount of glee, Abel and Orion simply nodded. “Ah, you are a brilliant one, Miss Saunders. Not many thralls can think the way you do.” Abel offered without a hint of sympathy. “It’s not the best means of handling the situation, but it is effective. I mean since we are all going deep for seventy-plus years, the Convocation didn’t see any reason to hold back right now, if necessary.”

  “Crap.” Amber sighed and waited for a relief that never came, pursing her lips Amber shook her head. “There’s no way I’m letting you hurt Jessica, nor am I going to kill her over some…” She tossed the papers she was given to the ground. “...pointless cim over that fool down there.” Amber half pointed to Cassian. “Why are the rest of us responsible for what they did in Ohio?” Amber offered in an attempt to dey Orion.

  “Ah.” Abel put his hand on Orion’s chest. “Now we have a question.” He stood up to his full towering form and motioned to the folded pamphlet on the ground. “Follow along if you’d like, Miss Lane. I have them memorized.” Extending two of his cws, Abel reached down and jammed them in the back of Cassian’s neck and hauled the half-vampire into the air. “If it were just this fool, then that would be one thing. He was at least careful enough not to expose the veil to every human in Ohio, yet.” He turned Cassian to face him. “All you had to do was stay exiled for another twenty years.” Abel ughed and continued, “There have been breaches all over the world, my young huntress.”

  “That began with that friend of yours.” Orion spat. “The Raven. Her reappearance after two hundred years triggered a volley of shit.” He tapped his own chest. “I lost my brother because of that blue-eyed monster.”

  “Actually…” A familiar light French voice rang out softly from the right side. “...It is my supposition and assessment that Issac got himself killed.” Almost as if the corn bowed to her and id out a queen’s path, Vivienne Moreau stepped clearly into view. Sparkling blue eyes that were over three millennia old and radiated with the turbulence of an ice blue storm preceded her lovely hourgss form and long silk-den bck hair. While her appearance was certainly one of ‘The Raven’ there were subtle differences in her look that had evolved. Her suit, while navy-blue, was no longer a simple cotton garment. Clear yers of bloodstained mesh covered her body tightly and made her look like a beautiful dark angel from the future. Hallmark bck feathers adorned the shoulders and unlike her legendary image, she wore a finely plumed matching Venetian mask. “I fail to see the reason as to why all of my confrontations tely have been in corn fields.” Vivienne flicked one of the stalks that lightly caressed her shoulder. “What was that book, Mon Amore?” Vivienne gracefully breezed her way between the mass of vampires. “Children of the Corn? Yes, that’s the one.” Vivienne paused, “Stephen King. Mon Amore, just call me Vivienne of the corn.”

  “Still not funny.” Faye with her pink-bck short hair and almond-shaped green eyes appeared behind her wife. “Though you are getting a tiny bit better. At least you have learned the references.” Dressed much like Vivienne, Faye’s mesh suit was orange with tiger stripes. Making her way over to Jessica, she gave the former blood-bunny a hug. “I wanted to make Tigerlily a reality.” She waved her hand over her body suit. “Hey Amber.”

  With Vivienne’s grand entrance, Amber finally felt that wave of relief she’d wanted moments before. “Hey Faye, Viv. I am so gd you are here.” She turned and kissed Jessica. “Back up huh?”

  “Yep.” Jessica giggled and draped herself over Amber. “Dr. Moreau, these others were about to tell all of the issues that brought us and you to this pce.”