“How are you handling your
hunger?” the woman asked after a long, breaking the long pause.
Exhaustion weighed heavy on me
and I wished we could skip to what I wanted to discuss. “I’m handling it well, though
the lack of fresh air around here isn’t helping anything.”
“Elaborate.”
Speaking with my hands, I did my
best to simplify what wasn’t so simple. “My element finds nutrients in
energy—mostly sounds, people’s thoughts, emotions, so on—and my vampire is sated
by those nutrients.”
“How, though?” the presiding
vampire asked, sitting forward on his elbows.
Shrugging, I admitted, “It’s
really complicated, and I only understand the basics of it aside from it
works.”
“Interesting.” After a moment,
he sat back again. “We cannot leave you in Mr. Valmoritim’s custody, as he has
disregarded Council rulings and has proven himself a poor role model. Instead,
we would like to place you in the temporary custody of Councilmember Emaline
Walters until another vampire has been found to raise you,” he said in a way
that made it clear he didn’t see my opinion of the option as mattering. It did;
he just didn’t know it yet.
“May I offer another option?” I asked,
holding his eyes steadily, despite my exhaustion.
Leaning forward, he amusedly
inquired, “What would this other
option be?”
“The way I understand things,” I
said, “personal dealings with an elemental are against your rulings because it
will interfere or alter our destinies. Am I correct in this understanding?”
“Yes,” he said slowly.
“So then, by that logic, if I’m
still able to accomplish what I’m destined for, none of this should be a
problem. Is this an accurate assumption?”
The seven vampires below him
glanced up, intrigued and concerned. Whatever he said now would become law. “In
a large part, yes.”
“Then I propose you suspend any
rulings on these events for three years, allowing me to do what I’m supposed to
do,” I said, looking at all eight of them in turn, ending with the presiding
vampire. “If, at the end of that time, there has been significant advancement
in the direction my movement is supposed to go in, all charges are dropped. If,
however, I fail, or have been unable to make significant progress, then you can
press any and all charges. How does that sound?”
He was pensive at first; he
didn’t look at me, though several of the others did between watching him, trying
to guess at his reaction. “We shall confer and when you return with the others,
you shall hear our verdict.”
“Very well, then.” It was better
than no.
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