Alain was already annoyed by the time he and his friends made it to the Senate chambers and took their seats. His frustration must have been downright palpable, because Sable leaned in to speak to him in a hushed tone.

  "Hey," she said. "You alright?"

  "Fine," Alain lied.

  "Are you sure? Because even I can tell you're currently barely holding it together."

  "Alright, so then I guess I'm not fine," he growled out. Sable stared at him, and he let out a tired sigh. "Sorry… just irritated, is all. There's shit going on in this town, my mother is still missing and apparently leaving cryptic messages behind like a trail of breadcrumbs for us to follow, the world's steadily going to hell in a handbasket, and yet our duly-elected Congressmen still want to play games and keep us here."

  "That's a fair summation," Colonel Stone noted from behind him. "But you still need to relax."

  Alain bristled at that. "Colonel-"

  "I mean it, Smith. You'll be doing yourself and your friends and allies no favors if you start going off on Congress like an unhinged lunatic." Colonel Stone leveled a glare at him. "You need to calm down. We'll get through all of this soon enough. And until we do, my men and the Tribunal will continue to search the city for your mother. With any luck, they'll find her before we need to start looking for her ourselves once more."

  Next to him, Az brought a hand up to his chin in thought. "I just realized something…" he ventured.

  "What is it?" Sable questioned.

  "Does it not seem the slightest bit suspicious to anyone else that the detective approached Alain with the kind of information he wanted, and that upon investigating the lead, Cleo made herself known?"

  "What are you saying?" Alain asked. "You think he's in league with Cleo?"

  "I'm saying it's certainly possible," Az offered. "Frankly, we should have realized it sooner, but with all the excitement of the past day or so, I suppose some things got a bit lost between the cracks, so to speak."

  "Look, we can point fingers and blame ourselves for not thinking of this earlier at a later point in time," Colonel Stone said, impatient. "For now, it looks like the hearing is about to resume."

  Alain turned back towards the front of the room. Sure enough, Congressman Harding and Congressman Davis were taking their seats, the other Senators having already joined them. Once they were all seated, Congressman Davis motioned for them all to quiet down.

  "Let us resume," he said. "Miss Sable, if you would kindly approach the bench?"

  Sable blinked, surprised at having been called upon again, but did as she was told, and stood up from her seat. She approached the stand, allowed Congress to swear her in again, and then did her best to relax as they began to question her once more.

  "Explain something to us," Congressman Harding began. "You and Mister Smith… what is the true nature of your relationship?"

  Sable bristled at the question, her eyes narrowing. "We are master and apprentice."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Positive."

  "Really?" She nodded, and Harding leaned forwards. "I ask, of course, because like many young men, I started life as an apprentice – in this case, to a craftsman. I spent my formative years as a leatherworker before deciding to try for a spot serving my country."

  "A compelling story," Sable said dryly. "Was there a question in there for me somewhere?"

  Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

  "Indeed, I was getting to that," Senator Harding said. "See, it's a curious thing, the relationship between a master and their apprentice – it is the master's duty to pass on the knowledge of his craft to the apprentice, and it is the apprentice's duty to absorb that knowledge, improve upon what they are taught, and eventually pass it on to their own apprentice in turn."

  "Respectfully, sir, I am still not hearing a-"

  "I'm simply wondering why, then, you and Mister Smith seem so especially close?" Harding questioned.

  "That should be obvious, sir. He is my apprentice, yes, but we are also friends."

  "That's funny, because I was friends with my master, too, and yet I never would have stuck my neck out for him the same way the two of you seem to have consistently done for each other. I mean, it's one thing to put your student to work, but to do what you both have done and go into business together, in an extremely dangerous profession, at that?" He shook his head. "Pardon my bluntness, but it defies explanation."

  "I just told you. Alain is my friend."

  "I understand that. See, the thing is, I've never had any friends who would put their life on the line for me the way you two seem content for each other. And I've got lots of friends."

  "I don't," Sable answered. She motioned over to where Alain and the others were sitting. "Everyone I personally care about is seated in this room, right over there. Perhaps that is the difference between us, Senator – friendships are a valuable and rare commodity to me, and therefore I treasure the few I have more than some others might."

  "Maybe so," he conceded. "Maybe so. Of course, that leads us to my next question… care to elaborate on what, exactly, you plan to teach Mister Smith?"

  "Why does it matter?" Sable asked.

  "Humor me. I'm simply curious. I know you've mentioned magic before-"

  "I have, and yes, that is what I will be teaching him," she confirmed. "On a certain level, it's what he's already learned. Granted, he hasn't learned much, but certainly more than most other humans."

  "And why is that? You make it sound like it isn't normal for a vampire to take on a human apprentice."

  Sable hesitated. "...It isn't," she confessed. "But Alain impressed me-"

  "Oh, so that's all it takes, then? He just needed to impress you?"

  'Yes, that tends to help-"

  "Do the other members of your race present in this room agree with that?" Congressman Harding asked, looking over at Thorne and Lawrence, seated a short ways away from Alain's group. Both Tribunal members stared back at him with narrowed eyes, neither one answering.

  After a few seconds, Sable shook her head. "Why does it matter?" she asked. "Ultimately, I get to choose who my apprentice will be."

  "It just doesn't make sense, that's all," Senator Harding said to her. "I mean, there have to be countless other vampires you could choose to pass your knowledge onto. That seems to be the pragmatic thing to do. And yet, you choose someone with a lifespan a fraction of yours, knowing that he will likely only ever succeed in attaining what amounts to a puddle of magic from the ocean of potential you have to offer him, all due to the unforgiving passage of time catching up to him."

  Sable bristled once more. "Is there a point to this line of questioning?"

  "I'm simply trying to ascertain the true nature of your relationship with Mister Smith," Senator Harding told her. "See, it's most curious… even with your assertion that you don't have many friends, you still have a few others you could have selected, and yet you went with Mister Smith instead. Why is that?"

  Again, Sable hesitated. "I figured Az had no need for that kind of magic-"

  "Did you, now? And yet, earlier by your own admission, you had no idea that Az was a greater demon until San Antonio. And even then, what of Miss Silvera? Was she not worthy?"

  "It has nothing to do with being worthy," Sable hissed.

  "That's not what you said a few minutes ago," Harding pointed out. "You asserted that Mister Smith was given the role as your apprentice because he impressed you, and yet from the way things have been described to us so far, Miss Silvera was equally as impressive as he was."

  "You're getting your timelines mixed up," Sable said, a faint dusting of red crossing her face. As Alain watched, she actually swallowed nervously; it was something that didn't go unnoticed, either by him or by the Senator.

  "See, I don't believe that," Harding said. "And the reason is simple – you were very quick to offer him that position, which again, by your own admission earlier in these hearings, is a deeply personal thing to confer unto someone. So why him?"

  "Because-"

  "Don't answer that; it was a rhetorical question, because I think I already know the truth. The truth is, you fancy him, isn't it?"

  In that moment, Alain stood up, slamming his hands on the table in front of him. All eyes in the room turned towards him as he leveled a glare at Senator Harding.

  "That's enough," he growled. "She's done with this line of questioning."

  "I'll be the judge of that, Mister Smith," Harding declared.

  "Then you might want to get to the fucking point, already. Because I fail to see how this is relevant. From where I'm sitting, all you're doing is harassing Sable, poking and prodding at her for no reason."

  "Everything is relevant here, Mister Smith."

  "Oh, is that so? Well then, I suppose I ought to warn you… it's a bad idea to poke at a dragon, and an even worse idea to poke at a vampire."

  "Is that a threat?"

  "Not at all, Senator. All I'm saying is that you're being awfully bold for someone who's currently at the very bottom of the food chain. Make of that what you will."

  "Alain," Sable suddenly said. "That's enough. I will handle this."

  Alain stared at her, but gave her a small nod, then sat back down. As he did so, Sable sucked in a breath, then exhaled as he turned her crimson-eyed gaze back towards Senator Harding.

  "The truth, then," she said. "Yes, you are correct – I suppose I do fancy him. Enough to offer him a spot as my apprentice, even. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

  "I just wanted confirmation that there was more between you than we initially thought," he answered.

  "And why is that? Was it purely to try and embarrass us for your own amusement?"

  "Knowing that particular answer helps to re-contextualize other information-"

  Sable rolled her eyes. "Spare me, Senator – you're better than that. Be honest – your goal was to get me flustered more than anything, in which case, you succeeded. I was successfully knocked off-kilter for a few seconds. Bravo, I suppose. Now, was there anything else you intend to ask me?"

  "Actually-"

  At that moment, the door to the Senate chambers opened up. All eyes turned towards the doorway to see who was stepping foot inside, though it proved unnecessary.

  Her voice gave her away easily enough.

  "You must forgive my dearest sister, sir," Cleo announced as she strode into the room, her cape billowing behind her. "She is known to bite back in anger, but this was excessive even for her. One must presume her pet human is making her bolder than usual… though, given her recent admission, I suppose it's wrong of me to refer to him as merely her pet, isn't it?"

  Sable instantly rounded on her sister, while Alain and the rest of his friends stood up. None of them had any weapons on them, but that didn't matter.

  If Cleo tried anything, they were going to fight her, even if she killed them all in the process.