Re: City of the Damned

[questor]

He had a feeling it would anger her and she showed how it did. No she was not Serenity not even close. Even though she had shown to some degree she was not like the other lords, she still was so much like them. He had hoped that she would see that she could and should do more. Well he had tried, but he now saw that she would never give up what she had nor would she try to change anything.

He left the bath chamber and crossed through the bedchamber to the living room. "Once I have taken care of Stevens you will not see me again. I plan on locating a secure place for the humans, return here and find them and take them there. With out them the turned vampires will starve and begin feasting on each other and your purebloods will soon feel the effects of not having human blood and perhaps within a decade or so this city will be dead completely." He went out of the penthouse into the corridor beyond. Here he found another room not used by anyone and filled with dust. Pulling away some sheets that covered furneture from the old Shadow unit. He laid down on a couch and tried to relax.

In a short time if what she thought would happen did, then he would be ready to pop up behind them. But he had a feeling that it would not be the vampire lord and Stevens coming. The old boy wanted her dead. He would come in force shooting and trying to take control of the tower and finally have her dragged to him. He knew the type all to well. Also with Stevens giving him advice it was more then likely an assault.

He had told the general what to expect and prepare for it. No sense being caught off guard. Let them come in thinking that they have everything under control then seperate the Lord and his troops. Eliminate the troops, and leave the two alone and trapped in the tower. Elevator control was controled in the security room and could be stopped beween floors. Stairwells controled from above to prevent movement up and once troops were going up have the tower soldiers move in to block retreat. Nick waited and heard the first shots fired as the soldiers of the old vampire lord entered the tower. Of course there were no one in the lower entrance. They were in the sub level waiting to block any retreat. It hat begun.

[questor]

And so the attack had begun. Whisper had ordered Demon hidden away. She needed him alive and unknown to the lord and his assassin. Ger guards fought valiantly, but they were forced to begin their retreat as too many were getting injured and killed. In her apartment, Whisper began to feel their deaths as they were her own and it caused her immense pain in her soul as she felt them slip away. On the good side of that coin, the pain made her seem as though she was still grieving and was weakened by the supposed death of her companion. The general, playing the game Nick stated, began to shout up the retreat and the message was relayed to Nick. "They're going to try and take her, aren't they." One of the guards said to Nick. "They're gonna take her to the lord and break her." He shook his head, "I can't let that happen, Hunter, I won't."....
"That is their plan, but it will not come to that. He gave the signal over the intercom to the sub level. The troops there began moving up into the stairwells and the elevators were shut down trapping the soldiers in them. The one coming up to the penthouse was allowed to do so. "Aow the lord and the one with him to emerge and enter the penthouse. He told the soldiers with him in the room. Whisper did not want war, not to have her people killed. But the old vampire lord didn't care abou who died or how many died in the assault as long as he took the tower. That was something Whisper was not prepared for. Had he not been there to advise and to save demon from death, the assault would have been a total success. Now thought a good portion of his troops wer trapped in the elevators to other levels. Whisper's people were moving in on those in the stairwells, cutting them off at certain levels from above and below. There were four groups of troops trapped in each stairwell by Whisper's people cutting off retreat and attacking from above. Soon those troops realized they were trapped and gave up. The elevator opened and the old vampire emerged with Stevens.
Whisper's main contingent with her general stood guard at her apartment door when the old one and Stevens exitted the elevator. The general prepared for the fight, but then something happened that made him stop. Steven's pulled out a remote and held it up for the general to see. "Call off the dogs." The old one said, "Or I blow the columns."
"Never happen." The general replied sharply, "You wouldn't blow yourselves up, you're too arrogant."
"You think I'd die in the collapse?" The old one asked, then smiled darkly, "I'd be gone from here long before the first cracks give way and I'll still take your precious lady."
At this point, the general backed up slightly and pulled out his basic radio, "Call it off." He said, "Let them go. They've rigged the columns."
"Good dog." the old one said, "Now open the door.".....
Nick shook his head. Oh the old one would not be gone if that happened. The elevator was locked down and here was no way down. Even a fall from the top of the tower would be fatle to a vampire. His heart would explode on impact and his brain would be mush. Whispering into the intercom to the sub level, he got an answer. "Go to my bike and in the saddle bag is a small electronic device. Turn it on and press the scan button. It will scan for the freqency of the signal that will detonate the columns. Once you have that, press the button that says block. There can't be to many electronic signals out there these days. Let me know when you have it. He waited as the old one and graves entered the penthouse. "Got it. Done." came a voice on the other end. Nick grinned and left the room.
The general, though hearing everything, pretended to play along, and backed up to open the door. What was waiting for him on the other side would certainly put a spanner in the works, but he would let Whisper deal with that. Once inside, the general closed the door again and stepped away. "Ok, the old guy is in with Stevens." He said, "You don't wanna miss this, trust me."
In the apartment, everything was in darkness, but being vampires, they could still see what was going on. They saw Whisper sat in a chair with her back to them and she looked frail, just as she wanted them to believe. "I knew you would come." Whisper said quietly as she turned her head slightly towards them.
"Yes you did." The old one replied smuggly, "And now your life is mine, just like that pet dog of yours."
"So you would have me shot from a distance like a coward?" Whisper asked, "Put me down like an animal?"
"Oh no, child." The old one said, "I will do what I should have done the day that whore dropped you from her belly."
Whisper lifted her head up then and got out of her chair. She still looked frail, weak and grief stricken. Outside the door, she heard her gaurds massing to rush in on her order and she heard Nick with them. What she said next though, would stop them all dead, even her general. "As you wish, Father." She said quietly and carefully drew a long blade from her back, "Let us begin.".....
Nick raised a brow as he heard Whisper call him father. He heard Stevens laugh and say, "Oh this is sweet." That is when Nick slipped in. Stevens seen him and held up the detonator. Nick just smiled and shot him in the leg with a UV bullet. It exploded rendering his leg useless. "Go ahead and try to detonate. It won't work." The old one turned towards Nick. "Oh go ahead with what you were doing. I am here for him." he pointed to Stevens.
The old one turned in shock as another emerged in the room and shot his assassin. "How dare you!" He boomed, but then lifted his weapon to Whisper. "One more step towards my creation and I will destroy your cash cow whore!" He said.
At this, Whisper laughed softly and shook her head, "He's here of his own will." She told the old one, "And I haven't paid him a bean. As for being his whore, how sweet of you to think so, Father, but yet again, you are mistaken. My affection for him resides in the respect he is owed." Well, that wasn't strickly true, but she had learned long ago that seeing wasn't always believing and what the old one saw was not the truth... yet....
Stevens tried the device and nothing happened. he cursed and went for his gun but Nick again fired hitting Stevens arm. The UV light made it impossible for him to use that arm, just as it made it impossible for him to use his leg. He was on the ground withering in pain. "Your betrayal of us, the death of all those men and women, especially Serenity. You were a friend and a one of the best of us. How could you betray us and become wone of them."
Stevens grinned and looked to his creator and Whisper before turning his attention back to Nick, "I had a better offer come up." He said honestly, "And the chance to wipe the slate clean with my Sire. All I had to do was give the commanders the wrong info. You were all supposed to die together, especially the Major. She was the key to our success, but she saw us coming and we had to up the game."
To this, Whisper turned her head to Stevens and narrowed her eyes, "The Major did not see you coming." She said, "It was me that let the soldiers into the towers. I ensured the lords did not see you coming."....
"Well we will see how your better offer looks after tonight." Nick said. He looked over at the old vampire. "you were the one we were after. Well after tonight their deaths will not have been in vain. You will be dead as will this piece of shit." he pointed at Stevens with his gun. he could see Stevens was in alot of pain. "Oh you will feel that pain for a long time. Even after your creator is dead." he turned to Whisper's father, "Oh don't mind me. I won't interfer with you quarl with your daughter. So continue on." he waved his free hand at the vampire.
Whisper smiled and 'looked' to her father, "Shall we begin?" She asked. The old one came forward, but as he lifted his blade, he also drew a gun and pointed it at her. Whisper didn't see it, but she knew he had something else in his hand, "Father, you're cheating, that isn't fair." She lunged forward with her blade with an accuracy that really should not have been. The pair began their duel and Stevens watched carefully, one eye on them, the other on Nick. "Of course their deaths were in vain." Stevens said icily, "We had to get rid of that blind bitch and we had to get rid of you." He laughed then almost emptily, "You know, I can see why you didn't take my Sire's offer to kill this blind bitch. No wonder you're drawn to her. I would be too, if it weren't for the bloodlines."....
Nick fired a third time, hitting Stevens in the other leg. He had called Serenity a bitch and that did not settle to well with him. "There is more to Whisper then you think." he told Stevens. "But that is for her to realize." he moved closer to Stevens as he smiled at the pain he was in. He could see why Whisper enjoyed seeing the others squirm, but this was a special case for him. Stevens had caused the death of so many good men and women and then shot a hound just to get to someone. This one he would enjoy seeing suffer. But he knew in the end Stevens was going to die. "Whats the matter old man, can't take on a blind woman without having a gun in hand. You must really feel inferior to her."
And indeed, the fight for the old lord wasn't going at all his way. Whisper moved as though she could see everything, hear everything and anticipate everything. She even managed to dodge several shots before rendering his gun hand useless. On the ground, Stevens began to feel the true effects of the bullets in him now and he laid back to stare at the ceiling. "I tihn I'm beginning to see it." He said quietly, "She's definitely more than I bargained on. I'd hate to think what she would be like with her precious mut still alive. Maybe I should have placed my loyalties elsewhere after all.".......
"To late now. You will suffer and then you will die, this time for real." Nick said as he watched the fight on and off. "Yep old man, you must really feel inferior to your daughter to use a gun. Where is that superior being, that perfect vampire. I would say that you are not perfect, that you need to be destroyed and should never have lived after you were born." he was throwing it up into his face.
The constant barrage from Nick and the complete inability it seemed to pin Whisper down for more than a near miss was beginning to tell on the old vampire. Whisper made no brag about her skills, nor did she gloat like Nick did. She smiled and nodded and she remained utterly polite during the entire fight. However, both knew it had to come to an end and Whisper almost sighed as she turned on her heel and sliced her blade across the old vampire's neck. He stopped and stared in shock as he felt his blood begin to flow. "How?" He stammered, "How can this be possible?"
Whisper lowered her blade and offered her father a sad smile, "I explained it to Nicholas not long ago, Father." She said quietly, "I do not hold any superiority over you, nor any of the lords. Simply, I wait for your own arrogance to do that for me." She stepped back as he began to fall, but he had one more trick up his sleeve. "You still haven't won." he said, staggering to the window. If he was to die, then so would she. He pulled on the curtain heavily, snapping open the rings that protected the room from daylight. The sun would be coming up right about now and he intended to see her burn with him. The curtain dropped and both Stevens and the old one screamed in agony. Whisper did not.....
As the curtins came down Nick was about to jump forward to knock Whisper a corner of the room that was in shadows. But the light did not effect her as it was on the two. They were scraming as their bodies began to burn. Well that was defiantely different. As the old one was dying, Nick moved closer. "Now who is superior. Your daughter can stand the light of the sun! You should have loved her for who she was and accepted her as she was. Once can not tell what their child will become unitl they become who they are." he could not help but gloat. From what he saw, he figured his parents had been vampires. That he was different then them but felt he would not be accepted and therefore had been given up to human parents. They had given him a chance at life. He wondered what had happened to them. As the two burned, he stepped back and watched. The General and the lycan soldiers burst into the room and watched the two burn to death and Whisper standing in the light of day.
Whisper had no intention of letting anyone see her in daylight, but it had happened nonetheless and she stood with herhead high and her blade wet with her father's blood. She listened to Nick gloat and couldn't help but feel it was well placed. As the others stood in shock, she moved to Nick and dropped her blade entirely. "Now you know how it feels." She told him quietly, "Now do you see why I am the way I am? Now do you see me?".....
He shook his head. "A one time thing I can see. But to do it for years may be centuries, no. Once you have proven yourself, it does not make sence to continue. Here at the end of his life, he saw what he could have had. A daughter that was superior to all purebloods, one to be proud of. To gloat over that to him as he was dying was to make him realize that. If he had lived, I would not have continued to remind him of it. He would already know and that would burn in his mind forever. You must learn to now make peace with the others. They already know you are superior and that they will always know even though they say other wise to try and make it look as if they are superior to each other. He looked over at the burnt corpses. "Stevens is dead. The members of Shadow and Serenity have been avenged." He holstered his gun and moved towards the door. "My work here is done."
Whisper had only one question to his statement. "Then why must they persist in testing me?" She asked, "If what you say is true, then why can they not simply let me be." She moved back from him, knowing now he could never truly understand and turned her head away, her eyes closed and a single tear sliding down her cheek. "That is all I have ever asked." She began to move away and the general came forward, still not entirely sure how he was seeing what he was seeing. "Word will be spread about the old one." He said quietly and then looked to Nick, "So where will you go?" He asked, "There's nothing out there for anyone. Why don't you stay here? With us."....
"Why do they persist? Because you do. you keep rubbing their faces in it. Enjoying seeing them squirm. They have sent you offers to make alliances and you have shuned them. In a way I think they are trying to tell you that they see you as an equal at least. But you have been enjoying making them suffer and fear. Have you ever thought of that? Thought that maybe offering them peace and a way out of their prideful ways? Trust. Someone must make the first move."
"Rubbing their faces in it?" She asked, "How? By going after only those that go after me first? Or by sitting back here and letting them get on with their fickle arguments? Why on earth would I want to align myself with such.... such...." She shook her head and swung her blade around her wrist before shaking her head. "They've only offered an alliance with me because of what I did to Lucius and I know why. They know that if they're alligned with me, they're all but untouchable to the other lords. It would never be about being equal with them, it would be about my ability to remove the competition. That is not a partnership, not even an equal friendship. I'd be their tool and nothing more.".....
"Not true came a voice from the door." There stood one of the Vampire Lords. he was unarmed and alone. He looked over at the burnt corpses. I got word of the assault and brought my soldiers to heip yours. I once offered you an alliance, not becasue I wanted to use you but finally realized how stupid I was for not seeing your blindness was more of a gift then an imperfection. But you turned it down. I think the others have come to realize this as well. As for wanting you dead, yes there were those that did. Lucius was one that was formost in it. He hated you so much because of how you humiliated him by making it look as if you cared for him then what you did to make him look like a fool. He paid the price for that."
Whisper turned on her heel to face the voice and knew instantly who it was. "His humiliation was his own, Mathius." She whispered coldly, "My care for him was out of respect, not affection. He presumed to take from me what did not belong to him. And then, to cover his own pride, he tried to have me killed. It was for that, that he paid with his life. What say you to that?"....
"I say he was a fool." Mathius said, "That he got what he deserved. What do you sat to that Whisper?"
Whisper stared over the man's shoulder, "Then I lay credit where it is due." She told him, then reached out her free hand, hoping to find Nick within her grasp. "And what of you, Mathius. What did you think of me before this? What did you see in the blind woman stood before you before you knew her metal? Did you see just another lord, like this hunter did? Selfish and cruel like them?".....
"I saw what centuries of teaching made me see." he told her. "You proved us all wrong. It was hard, hard for me to accept that your blindness was not an imperfection but perhaps a gift or evelution of our kind. I have swollowed my pride and have come here today to help you and again to offer you a truce and alliance. What say you Whisper?' he asked. Nick moved back to Whisper and let her hand find him. Yes what do you say to that? Nick asked, "Forgive and move on? Or continue to hate and make him hate you."
Whisper felt Nick come into her reach and she curled her fingers tightly in his coat, almost afraid to let him go. She then heard her slave arrive and half turned her head to him, "Cover the windows." She said quietly, "Allow our guest to move freely about the room." The slave immediately did as asked and soon, the room was cast into darkness again. Once that was done, Whisper turned her eyes back to Mathius and then Nick. Slowly, she began to nod and she dropped her blade at her bare feet. "You have come to me in genuine honesty." She said to Mathius, "I accept your truce." She began moving between them, but as her hand released Nick's coat, she traced her hand across his chest and then lingered on his shoulder. "Would you leave us, Mathius, please?" The man nodded and left and Whisper lingered further at Nick's shoulder.....
It took one of the lords to make the first move for her to really see. The Vampire Lord had just told her he considered here and equal, had come to her aid with out anything to gain from it. He could see the look on her face and in her voice. He could see the shock and amazement there. "You see what I meant?" he asked her. "Do you think the other lords have not seen what he has. That perhaps if you reach out to them you will find the same."
Whisper closed her eyes and shook her head, "I don't know." She said, admitting something she would rarely, if ever say. "I don't know what they think anymore. All I know is what is past and present. All I know is what I can see and believe me, I fel it isn't much right now, especially when it comes to you.".....
He looked down at her and where her had was. He wondered where she was going with what she was saying. He had been rough with her with his words. Now perhaps she was actually seeing what he had said was true. Could they actually get the city back to being prosperous and united? "What do you mean." he asked.
Whisper closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and staring past him. "Everything I knew has changed." She said quietly, "Everything I thought was true, was not. I thought I knew the other lords and their ways, I thought I knew my father had died honourably in the war and I thought my interference in the war had made it easier for me to be who I was. Then you come along and throw it all from the top floor. I thought I knew what I was dealing with in you, but I was wrong. At every turn, you've gone against what I predicted and it's made me realise just how blind I really was. I've never been so with others, at least, not to this extent."....
Nick was a soldier and a commander. He had to see past what one saw and what one should be seeing. He had to look at the whole picture and not just snap shots of it. The old saying everything is not what it seems, was so true in so many situation. "Well I am a bit hardheaded and hard to understand at times." he told her. "Now what though. What are you going to do." he moved closer to her, taking her hand in his.
Whisper curled her fingers lightly around his, but then let go. Instead, she reached up and began to touch his face lightly. She still stood offset from him and she didn't level her head with his, but it was plain she was seeing him in her own way. "I have no idea what to do next." She told him as she traced her fingers tenderly over his features, "But at least let me see your face. Let me see what so many take for granted."....
He let her hand move over his face. "Well first I think you need to set up a meeting with the others. They are considering you an equal and more then likely one that they will follow now. Like it or not, you are going to become the leader her and you will be making the laws and such. Being left alone to your own designs I don't think is in your future. You going to tell Mathius to contact the others."
Lady Raven Bird: Whisper closed her eyes again as she remembered his features. He was very handsome and his face matched the rest of him. A strong jaw to compliment strong shoulders and a strong will. She could tell he had dark hair by the thickness and rougness of it and she imagined his eyes would be striking, able to hold someone gaze. It made her smile, "Whatever my future holds from this point on, I will simply adapt and overcome as I always have." She whispered, "Though the other lords may have to atune their hearing a little. Like the rest of me, my voice is also small." She smiled then, "That is, unless I can convince someone to help carry my voice further."....
Nick nodded his head. It seemed like Whisper now was understanding what he had been trying to tell her. "I will stay and help where I can." he told her. If he could he would advise her on what needed to be done. If the other lords could be brought to terms, perhaps the city might once again become alive with activity. Push the forests back, begin farming again and the like."
"Thank you." Whisper said and let her hand drop to his chest again. She let it rest there and she listened to his heart. "There is something to be said for the calm one feels when feeling another's heart beat. It is something vampires often neglect to consider in their darkest moments. A reminder perhaps of what was once lost to them. The turned ones, I mean. I've yet to meet one who's heart still beats." She smiled and finally let him go. "Forgive me," She whispered, "I must be making you nervous."....
"Not nervous." he told her. He was calm and had enjoyed the touch of her hand. "But we should not keep your guest waiting."
Whisper looked to the door and nodded, "I suppose not." She said, then finally moved past him. She entered the living room to the shocked faces and pounding hearts of her guards and it distracted her somewhat from the one she needed to speak with.....
The General was there along with the Vampire Lord and a number of soldiers. Mostly Whispers. Two Lycans knelt as she came in and offered her their service. One had been the leader of her father's forces, the other was that of the vampire Lord Mathius.
Whisper half turned her head to the two kneeling lycans and sniffed at them openly. Both looked to each other and wondered just what the hell she thought she was doing. The general snorted some laughter and shook hsi head at the confused pair before coughing and regaining his composure, but he continued to smile. The lycan that had been part of her father's contingent began to growl lightly, not finding this at all dignified and Whisper stood back straight again. She didn't like this one at all. The other, she would pass judgement on later. She then moved around the room, but with care. She could hear the other people in there and it gave a good indication where things were, but with so much noise and distraction, not to mention a hefty amount of damage, she didn't want to stand on something sharp or bump into something that had been moved without ehr knowing.....
The lycan commander of the Vampire Lord looked over to the one that had been with Whisper's father. "Show respect! You came here to kill, if you want to live and be apart of something more grand, show respect that she deserves." At that Nick grinned. Nick moved to where Mathius stood. "If you would act in the behalf of Whisper. Speak to the others and set up a time and date to meet. The old library would be a good neutral place to meet and talk." He smiled and nodded. "I think that can be arranged very soon." he tapped his commander on the shoulder. Her rose and bowed to Whisper, before leaving with Mathius.
The lycan righted himself, but he still didn't like that she had scented him like that. Did she not know simply ow to say hello? He knew her blindness meant she had some quirks, but scenting him so brazenly was just downright rude to him. He couldn't understand how the others tolerated it. With the initial meeting done, Whisper found a seat and sat down carefully. "I would appreciate one thing from you, Mathius." he stopped and looked at her. "I request that you keep to yourself my ability to walk in the day. Too many of my secrets have been found today." She hoped that Nick would back her up in this. It would be bad enough for them to have to admit Whisper as an equal as a vampire, let alone a daywalker....
Mathius smiled and said. "Of Course. One must retain some secrets. Though I find that you can to be even a stronger indication that perhaps we are evolving and is something that witll only strengthen our kind. But as you wish, I will keep silent on it."
Whisper shook her head, "Once they find out, I will never be left in peace." She said, "Every last lord will want a piece of me and I can't allow that. There is but one that can claim this secret and it is not them, nor you, but thank you for your promise." She turned her head away then, letting him leave unhindered. She knew it would get out eventually, but she prayed it would be too late for them.....
Nick smiled. The only ones that knew his secret was the General and Whisper. To the Vampire Loird Mathius and others he was just a human, or perhaps a vampire. What she told Mathius made him look at her. "Now what did you mean by that?" he asked softly.
Whisper smiled briefly, but kept her face turned away from Nick. "The blood of a daywalker is more valuable than any tower, or city, or even the world itself." She told him, "If the other lords knew of my blood, they would fight more than ever to keep me at their side. If taken, they could walk in the day for the whole day and never be burned. And being such, any children I have will also likely have this trait. Do you see?".....
He chuckled, "Oh I see that part but what of the other?" he asked.
"Other..." Whisper said with a distant smile, "The other is the one that I truly belong to. I may hate what I am sometimes, but even I'm confined to the legend of vampire pairings. It is said that a vampire woman will have but one true heart and I have yet to know otherwise. For my mother, it was the monster that you saw burn. For his mother, it was the same and her mother before that. For the men, it is as they want and wish. They can move on without another thought or care. For the woman, once he leaves, she will never have another true love. It's complete mush and bollocks and all that, but it is invariably true."....
He looked at her wondering who she was talking about. "So you are saying that there is only one man/vampire for you?"
Whisper laughed and then nodded, "Indeed there is." She told him, "There is only one that I could ever truly love. Sad really, isn't it."....
He shook his head. "Who pray tell is that vampire?" he asked.
Whisper shook her head, "I have no idea." She said, "All I know is that he will come into my life and I will love him. I don't know his name, or what he will look like, but then, looks have never really mattered to me, have they." She laughed again, "All I do know is that it won't be any of the other lords. For some reason, I just know it won't be any of them."....
Now that was strange indeed. But it was apart of their being he guessed, the true bloods that is. "Well you had better get some rest." he told her. I will see to the clean up and deal with the lycan soldiers of your father. I'll be back later to see how things are going here."
Whisper nodded, but she could tell by his tone that he didnt' quite believe what she had told him. It didn't matter though, she knew deep down that no vampire, pureblood or otherwise would consider her anything more than a bloodbank. Making it back to ehr bed, she laid down, but felt empty. Usually, Demon was there, soothing her to sleep, but not today. He still had a long way to go before his recovery was done. She closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn't come.....
Nick watched her go into the bedroom and then he went out into the corridor. Here the commander of the lycan forces of her father was along with his officers. He looked at them hard and long. "If you want to serve then serve now. Return to the tower and retrun here with every vampire that is there." he knew these would be under the thumb of the old vampire and they would be more trouble then anything. The commander bowed his head in acknowledgement. With in the hour the four purebloods left there had been bought to Whispers tower. He looked at them as they were forced to kneel. "Now what are we going to do with you four?" he asked them. All four looked as if they thought they were going to be executed. One spoke, "We will serve you my lord." and bowed his head. Nick laughed at being called a Lord. "I am not the one you are going to have to convince." Now all four began to shake. He turned to the General, "Take them somewhere and guard them well. Whisper will decide what to do with them. If they can convince her that they will serve fathifully they may keep their heads." he hoped that the statement would make them think things over and truely want to serve.
Whisper heard what went on outside her bedroom. She smiled lightly as he played with them a little and then cast them off like she had been so many times. To say he wasn't one to enjoy watching others suffer, he seemed to have a knack for it. After some time, her male slave came in and crouched beside her bed. "You need me." He said quietly to her and she opened her eyes to look at him so to speak. "Let me comfort you, Lady." he smiled and touched her cheek lightly, but Whisper only smiled and shook her head at him, "That would make you happy." She said, "And I like seeing you happy, but I'm really not in the right frame of mind." Her slave looked almost heartbroken, but he didn't argue the point. He knew and understood how she was and so he left her be. Back in the main room, he nodded to Nick. "To say you hate us so much, you've taken quite a shine to our ways." He offered politely and then smiled, "My lady may not have eyes to see it, but deep down, I believe she sees more than I do in others. You're a good man, Sir, just what she needs.".....
Taking a shine to their ways? He thought of what he had done and yes it looked that way, but he was not doing it because he enjoyed it, it was to help make a point and get a result. It had been done in many missions. Make the target uncomfortable, to make mistakes and create an opening. Or make one so angry they ignored their own protacalls and created an opening. Just tactics but quite close to what the vampire lords did, with the exception of enjoying making them miserable or afraid. "What she needs?" he asked her slave.
The man nodded and smiled, "She's just done something she's never done in all the time I've been here and I think it's because you are here." He said with that same smile. "I love her dearly, don't get me wrong, but I do believe she doesn't need me anymore. I offered to soothe her, to take her away from all this for a time and she refused me."....
Charles Santarelli: He looked at the vampire slave then the bedroom and raised a brow. Well he guessed she needed to have some sort of release and relaxation. He had denied himself those pleasures. Besides there had been no one around he could have had anthing to do with. If he was reading between the lines right, the slave was suggesting that she refused the slaves offer becasuse of him. He sighed and shook his head. "Well I am sure it is just because she is tired." he said try ing to change the subject. "Where is Demon?" he asked the slave.
The slave smiled and shook his head, but when mentioned Demon, the smile brightened further, "He's doing really well." The man said, "Better than we perhaps first thought. He should be up on his paws again and causing havoc in a few days. It will be hard on Whisper though. She can't sleep without him nearby. I'm on my way to see if he can be put back in her rooms so at least she can keep watch over him, but until then, she's on her own."....
Nick nodded. "Go bring him back. Like I said before, he is a fighter and has a very strong heart. I'll keep her company till he is brought back in." He started for the bedroom and then entered and took a seat in a chair by the bed. He leaned back and put his head against the wall and closed his eyes.
The slave nodded and quickly went to do as asked. Whisper heard Nick enter the room and half turned her head on the pillow. She had heard everything said and smiled softly as she caught that familiar scent. Demon was placed on the chaise lounge near the bed and Whisper finally felt able to settle enough. She relaxed right into the pillow and snuggled right down. "You know, the bed is much more comfortable." She whispered to Nick. "And I promise, I'll stick to my side of it."

Nick got up and went over to Demon and squatted down so he could pet him and check him out. "You are doing good boy. Be able to take these things out tommorow probably. He turned when she told him the bed would be more comfortable. "Well I can't gurentee that." he chuckled and then said I will find a couch in the other room."

[LadyRaven]

Whisper smiled and nodded, "As you wish."  She told him and then settled down once more.  "If you truly intend to stay a while, there is another apartment a few floors below that you can have.  Much of the needed furniture is already in it and I can have one of my slaves requested to you to keep things in order."  She took a deep breath and sighed softly as she let it all go.  Knowing that Demon was close and recovering, it didn't take long for her to drift away into a peaceful sleep.

In the holding room on the floor below, the four remaining lords paced the room as they tried to figure out what was happening.  Whisper had had them brought over in broad daylight and that was never a good thing.  It made her even more unpredictable.  "What do you think she will do with us?"  One named Dravin asked.
"I don't know."  Said a second, his name was Brandon.
Lukus and Hector, the third and fourth lords looked at each other, "She's gonna kill us."  Lukus said with fear, "Why else would she drag us out in daylight?  She intends to execute us."
"I don't know about that."  Dravin said to calm his brothers.  "I saw Lord Matthius leaving unharmed.  That, and what Whisper's lover told us.  I told him we would serve him, but it's Whisper that we have to convince.  I think it's time we started thinking along the lines of alliance again."
"Many of us already tried that."  Hector said, "And she refused every last one of us.  We have nothing she wants or needs, remember?"
"Then why stay our execution?  Why not take Lord Damascus' tower and kill everyone?"  Dravin said carefully, "This blind vampire is more than we think, I know it.  Lord Mathius wouldn't have come here otherwise.  I think he sees what we don't."
"Then perhaps caution is advised when we see her."  Brandon offered.  "We can hear her out and make our decision then."
"If we can hear her at all."  Lukus said, "She's called Whisper for a reason."
"Indeed."  Hector said, "A Whisper of Death."  He shuddered slightly, "It's said the last thing her victims ever see is her white eyes and they hear the whisper of her blade.  She's a walking ghost."
"She's also the smartest person in the room."  Dravin said, "And she hears everything."
"She's worse than a lycan."  Brandon interjected, "That's why she's so dangerous.  She's completely unpredictable and she can anticipate anyone.  That's why I advise caution in dealing with her.  She's brazen enough to drag us over here in daylight, she even got into Lucius' tower and killed him during the day."
"Yes well, he was dumb enough to underestimate her."  Hector said.
"So we shouldn't."  Brandon said, making his point.
"I agree."  Dravin said.  "This vampire has a purpose, I'm sure.  Whatever happens, keep that in mind.  I like my head where it is."
"And your cock where it should be."  Lukus said with a shudder.
"Indeed."  The other three said in unison.  Then Dravin went back to his seat and considered their options.

After some time, one of Whisper's guards went into the room with some blood packs for the brothers.  Lukus was first to the bags and drank hungrily while the others took their turn.  Dravin hung back for a moment, deciding to attempt a little fishing.  "Guard?"  He asked.
"What is it?"  The commander asked back.
Dravin held his hands up, "I mean no harm, I promise."  He offered, "I'm just curious."
"About?"
"I was just wondering why Lady Whisper had us brought over here and held."  He said carefully, "Lady Whisper is known for her mercy in the towers and we were brought here so unexpectedly.  I was just wondering what she might intend to do with us.  Do you know at all?"
"The Lady will speak to you anon."  The commander told the vampire, "She is sleeping for now.  She will call for you after dusk."
"What of our master and his consort?"  Dravin asked, "When can we bury them?"
The commander smiled and shook his head, "Burned himself in the daylight."  He said, "After the Lady opened his throat.  He and the assassin are dust."
Dravin looked down and nodded, "Ok."  he said, "Thank you for telling me."  He stepped back again as the door was shut and locked once more and he turned to his brothers.  "The Lady will speak to us anon, he said."  He told them, "She's being a good vampire, it seems, sleeping the day away."
"We should do the same."  Hector offered, "We will need our wits about us for when she begins talking."  The four agreed and once they had taken their rations, they settled down to sleep for the rest of the day......

[questor]

It had been a long night and into the morning. He grabbed about three hours of sleep before his body would not let him sleep any more. He awoke and streatched to get the kinks out of his muscles. He then went to check on the prisoners. The one commander informed him of what the four had been talking about and had asked. Nick smiled and nodded. The four would be ready and willing to do anything to stay alive, just as they had for the former lords of the Tower they had come from. He would speak to Whisper about them. He had a feeling he could use them in certain ways to help get the city back up and running.

He also had a few other ideas that he was kicking around in his head and would bring them out in the meeting that would be taking place. Hopefully it would be soon. He then left the Tower with a contengent of the former lycan guard and some of Whispers' to the Tower that was now vacant. He had the former commander take him floor by floor of the structure to see what was there. Mostly the families of the lycan soldiers, occupying the lower levels. Most of these were frighten and unsure of what was happening. Some of the females prepared to defend their young and this Nick admired.

With the former commander with him, he calmed their fears and they were told their husbands would be returning soon. The commander knew which families had lost their male and he informed them of it. Finally they reached the penthouse and Nick looked around. He found documents, probably from Whisper's fater in the study. It had maps, names of Vampire Lords and the number of troops and such for a number of the major cities the world had before the war. There were also a few smaller cities and two of them were close to Gotham, with in a hundred miles of the city. These he gathered all up and put in a large satchel. Plans would have to be made, just in case.

He turned to the lycan commander of the tower. "Bring your men back and reunite them with their families. You are in charge her until it is decided who will take control of the Tower." The commandeer drew himself up straight his head held high. "As you command Lord." He evidently still did not realize Nick was no Vampire Lord. Though his manner and bearing probably showed him that he was.

Once back on the ground he turned to the General. "You think he can be trusted?"

The General nodded. "Those he served are dead or prisoners. He sees you as the Vampire Lord in charge and will obey your commands." the General smiled. Like it or not Nicholas Night, you have people that you are now responsible for and at your command."

"Yeah." was all he said as he headed back to Whisper's Tower.

The lycans that had went with him to the other Tower now knew he could walk in the light of day. That was not like a Vampire Lord, but they could sense he was not a human as well. It confused them but they accepted the fact that he could. Old myths were talked about, handed down from one generation to the other of Vampire Lords that had once walked in the light of day. Talk now began that perhaps he was one of those Old Ones, one of the First." Only the General and his men knew the truth and they were not saying nothing.

Once back at Whisper's tower he again went up to the Penthouse to check on Demon. He reomoved the IV and blood IV and taped up the leg in that spot. Demon raised his head and licked Nick's face. Nick hugged the big hound and told him to stay put for a while longer. The way he was recovering he would be on his feet in a few hours and able to walk around and perhaps eat some solid food.

[LadyRaven]

Whisper slept peacefully for many hours and when she woke, she found herself alone.  Demon was still resting comfortably and when she went to him, he lifted his head enough to lick at her hands and mouth gently at her fingers.  He was definitely getting better and would soon be up and about again.  This made her incredibly happy.  After some time with her companion, her slave arrived to get her ready for her evening.  It was still light outside, but the windows were blacked out as was protocol.  Not that it mattered anymore to her.  Thanks to the fight, most of her guards now knew her secret.  No doubt things would be changed now they were sure she wouldn't burn up.  She did have suspicions though that they already had an idea of what she could do.  After being dressed in a finer dress than usual, a pure white gown with no back, a deep front and wide strapped shoulders, Whisper made her way downstairs.  She wanted to see the four remaining vampires of her father's tower.  Well, it was her tower now, technically, wasn't it.  Smelling of desert flowers and turning every head in sight, she went to the holding room and nodded for the door to be opened.

The brothers, having fallen into a deep slumber, didn't realise at first the door had opened, but Dravin took a deep breath in and smelled what he could only describe to himself as the most delicious, delicate and beautiful scent he could have imagined.  His eyes snapped open as his brothers also got the waft of scent through the door.  All four were wide awake in seconds.  So much for having their wits!  He turned around slowly, knowing it was her, but not daring to look straight away.  He almost wished he hadn't seen her then as what faced him was something he would never forget.  Brandon, Lukus and Hector also couldn't help but let their jaws drop at the vision before them and they all had to lean against the wall to stop embarrassing themselves badly.  Dravin, finally finding his breath again, stepped forward and bowed to Whisper.  "Lady."  He said with reverence.  The other three copied his move and greeted her formerly, but it wasn't long before they were staring once again.  Dravin moved forward slightly, keeping his head low, but his eyes firmly on the very near absolute perfection.  "We have heard rumours of your beauty, Lady Whisper, but never before have we actually seen it.  You are truly divine."
Whisper lifted an eyebrow as she stepped into the room.  She could hear their hearts pounding, so she knew she was already having a huge effect on them.  However, flattery would only get them so far.  "I wouldn't know."  She returned, "I've never actually seen my reflection."
Behind his brother, Brandon couldn't help but laugh quietly.  This got him a quick cuff from Hector before Dravin shook his head, "Forgive my rude sibling."  He said politely, "He is not perhaps the brightest spark in the box."
"I thought it rather funny."  Whisper told Dravin with a smile. "I actively encourage humour."
"As you wish, Lady."  Dravin said with a smile.  That seemed to have broken the ice and he decided they may very well live after all.
"Shall we go?"  Whisper said, half turning back to the door.  "We shall discuss things in more comfort elsewhere."
"Please."  Dravin said with a smile, "We should like that very much."
"Very good."  Whisper said and went back out of the room.  The brothers followed, staring almost brazenly at Whisper's figure.

On the next floor, Whisper had something of a common room that her lycans used to wind down and discuss carious things.  She led them into the large room, followed by one of her slaves that went about putting out some blood packs for the brothers and some regular food and drinks.  Whisper placed herself comfortably on a long sofa while the brothers sat opposite.  "Lady, I would like to thank you."  Dravin began, "For sparing our lives thus far.  And we would all like to offer our sympathies on the death of your companion, Demon."
Whisper smiled as she was handed a glass of blood, "I wouldn't worry, Sir."  She said to him, "Demon is alive and well and recovering as we speak."
The brothers were shocked at this, believing as the others that the hound had died.  "I um, well, that is good.  I'm glad he's survived."
"As am I."  Whisper said with a smile before drinking the blood and putting the glass down almost perfectly on the table.  "So tell me,"  She said, "What of your position in your master's former tower.  What were you to him?"
Dravin furrowed his brow slightly, but understood the question.  He took up a glass of blood and drank it down before answering.  "We are.. were the master's sons."  He said, "I am Dravin Damascus.  These are my brothers, Hector, Lukus and Brandon."
"His sons?"  Whisper asked, sitting upright and suddenly stiff.  The standing guard made to come forward, ready to strike.
"Yes Lady."  Dravin said with some confusion.  She suddenly looked on edge and nervous.  "Lord Damascus was our father."  He watched as the guard looked from them to Whisper and then back again with wide eyes.
"Well, the old bastard kept that one quiet."  Whisper said with some disdain.  "You are the oldest?"
"Yes Lady."  Dravin said carefully, "I've just reached my second century."  He was thirty years younger than Whisper.
"Definitely kept quiet then."  Whisper snapped.  She held out her hand for a refill of the blood and drank it down quickly.  "And what do you know of me?"
Dravin furrowed his brow, "Only what we have been told, Lady."  He said, "You are the imperfect vampire, the mistake to our race."
"The mistake."  Whisper repeated, "And your father told you this, yes?"
"Yes Lady."  Dravin said, "Though it has been made blatantly clear now that he was very wrong in his assumptions."
"He was wrong a long time before now."  Whisper said almost coldly.  Thoughts of opening their throats came to mind, but she pushed the feeling down and emptied her face of emotion.  "So I assume now, you have become the lord of the tower I now own."
"That would be correct, Lady."  Dravin said with some shame.  "And that being so, I have nothing really that I could offer in alliance with you, except perhaps myself."
"Yourself?"  Whisper asked.
"Well yes, Lady."  Dravin said, "Everything I owned if now yours.  All I have left is myself.  The same could be said about my brothers.  I am now their keeper."
"And how would you have offered yourself?"  Whisper asked.
"I would offer myself in union."  Dravin offered, "Lord Damascus was the oldest and strongest of our race.  His blood comes from a direct line to the originals.  A union would cement you and myself."
"No."  Whisper said flatly, "There will never be a union between you and I, nor any of your brothers, not even the funny one." 
"Lady?"  Dravin asked carefully.
Whisper leaned forward on the sofa and seemed to stared at Dravin directly, "Because such a union would not only be innocuous, but it would also be incest.  Your dear father was paired previously with my mother.  My mother was shamed because she bore an imperfect child."
Dravin's face paled considerably more than possible.  "Sister?"  He asked.
Whisper nodded, "Yes."  She told him, "My full name is Angelina Morgana Solitaire Damascus."  The silence that filled the room then was ice cold and incredibly uncomfortable......

[questor]

Nick left Demon and looked over to see Whisper was gone.  She had needed the rest after everything that had happened.  He wondered where she had gone. In the time that she had slept he had returned returned to his tower across the city and gathered a few things before returning to her tower.  Once he left the bed chamber and was entering the corridor where the elevator was, he was informed that Whisper was awake and had gone to talk to the four brothers.  

He was taken up to the second floor and shown where she had just entered to talk to them more comfortably.  He stood in the doorway leaning on the door frame as she talked to them.  When they mentioned they were the sons of the old vampire, he raised a brow at it.  Their last name was the same as Whisper's.  Oh he knew this would make for some intresting talk.  Though they were not full brothers to her they still were brothers, half brothers, family.

He had a feeling that he could use them if Whisper did not have them killed.  They also must have been trapped in the bunker with their father and Stevens.  He listened to what they were saying and almost laughed when Dravin offered a union between the two.  He knew that she would not have accepted even if Draven was not her half brother.  She was waiting for that one vampire that was special.

"Well now I guess I am interupting a family reunion.'  he sad from the door way.  

Lukus looked over at him, bowing his head slightly.  "May I have your name Lord.  It was not given earlier."

Nick thought a moment.  Many already knew it.  "Nicholas Night."

Lukus' eyes went wide for a moment.  "Pardon Lord, but I am a historian of sorts for our kind.  Your name, your last name, is listed in the history of our kind.  In the tower where my books and research are, tells of your name.  It goes all the way back to the originals.  Those that could walk in the light of the sun and mingle with the humans."  This definately got his attention and he moved into the room.  

"Go on?"  Nick told the vampire.

"Yes Lord.  The name is very familiar to me.  It goes back to the original vampires that ruled over humans and vampires a very long time ago.  Before the Humans turned on them and became the dominate race.  I have most of the blood line written down.  Up untill a couple thousand years ago, when it seems to have disapeared all together."

Nick found this intresting.  He looked over at Whisper.  It seemed both their blood lines went way back.  "So what have you decided on these four?"  he asked Whisper.  "If you allow them to live I think I have a use for them.  But of course their fate rests with you."

[LadyRaven]

Whisper turned her head slightly as she heard Nick enter the common room and his words brought a myriad of sarcastic comments to mind.  Family reunion indeed!  They knew nothing of her and she had known nothing of them.  This was bad news all round for her as she had always prided herself on knowing exactly who was who and where they were.  This had completely blindsided her.  Thankfully, one of the brothers, the one that laughed, spoke up and covered for her lacking knowledge.  What she heard next really did blindside her and she turned her head fully to face Nick.  What did she intend to do with them?  Her mouth moved before she had time to think, "I honestly have no idea.".....
Nick smiled.  "Well evidently they will live for the movment then.  I have use of them for awhile if you will allow it."  He was going to use them to reign in the turned vampires hunting and killing of humans.  Try to get control of them and put them to work repairing the city and clearing the encourching growths.  The one knew of his ancestors and he wanted to learn more about them as well.  "Now as to the tower you now own, I would like to discuss its future.  In private."
Dravin was next to his feet and he bowed his head, "Lukus has told me of the research he did.  Your name really is powerful.  You should take your place among us, Lord Night."  Whisper closed her eyes and shook her head, "Sit down, Brother."  She said quietly, though with command and the vampire instantly sat.  It was clear she was in charge in that moment, though all four brothers could see this power was shared between them.  This also tied in with other aspects of Lukus' research.  "I would be honoured to serve in any way I can."  Lukus said with a smile.  As for Whisper, she nodded to Nick and gracefully got to her feet.  Despite their connected bloodline, Hector and Brandon couldn't help but stare at her again and the way she moved.  Whisper nodded to nick and smiled as she past him through the doorway......
Nick watched her get up and the reaction of two of the brothers.  Oh she looked ravishing, but he did not gawk or make any reaction that she could see.  Like her he controled his emotions and let her pass him.  "You four stay here and relax for now.  I will return and insturct you on your new duties."  he then followed her and moved to her side.
Whisper half turned her head as she walked, "That old bastard couldn't even wait for Mother to be sent away before he took another lover.  The oldest one,Dravin, he's only thirty years younger than me."  She shook her head, "He had no honour at all."  She took a deep breath and relaxed again before turning her eyes to Nick, "So, some big news for you too.  You are a vampire after all, just a different variety, like me."....
"Yes, something I had a feeling I was.  But now it is confirmed."  he told her.  "Now as for what I wish to talk to you about.  The Tower.  With the comming talks with the other Lords, I have a proposal for them and you.  Each of you have contingents of lycans to protect each of you.  Each has their own leader.  I propose that all of the lycans be put under the command of one commander and that the lycans be assigned duties to protect the towers.  They have guarded and protected the pure bloods for centuries.  I think we should honor that loyalty.  The empty tower should be given over to them and the one commander as a show of that honor.   They will continue to guard and protect especiallly if what I found there is true."
Whisper nodded as she listened, "I fine idea."  She replied quietly, "But only for those that choose it to be so."  She continued, holding up a finger, "I know many of my guards would prefer to stay with me, rather than move to another tower.  I feel that perhaps lycans with the other lords might feel the same.  They are so very loyal, well, the vast majority of them, but at the very least, give it to their families."  She then furrowed her brow, "And what have you found, Nicholas?".....
The old plans of conquest your father had made.  I have no idea how successful they were but there are two cities within a hundred miles of us that were in that plan.  I know a hundred miles is a good distance, but what if the pure bloods succeeded there as well and have complete control of them.  If they find Gothom they will want to take it."  He definate was worried about it.
Whisper cleared her face of emotion in less than a second, "Then we need to investigate this thoroughly."  She said quickly, "And quickly.  If I'm supposed to be the leading force in Gotham now, the last thing I want is for some unknown immortals turning up claiming dominion over what is technically mine without warning."  She looked at him squarely, though she didn't know that quite.  "I consider you an equal in all ways, Nicholas, so I know in my heart you will do what you do best and protect me."  She realised then that perhaps she could have worded that better.....
Nick smiled and nodded.  He looked at her realizing what she had meant, or was attempting to mean.  "I have a feeling that I will have to lead a small group to each city to see what is there.  That will be tricky since it means traveling the distance through the forests that have grown up.  I have seen some of the mutated creatures that inhabit them.  They are not something one would like to tangle with alone"  he told her.  "As for the tower I think that is a good idea.  The interaction of all the families will bring the lycan soldiers closer together.  But first we must talk with the others and then get this city back together, human, turned vampires, pure bloods, and lycans.  A city united and working together to keep it safe."
Whisper almost sighed in relief when he didn't pull her up on her choice of words and quickly nodded her agreement, "They can return back to their pack habits."  She said, "That would be good for them.  Like vampires, lycans consider all their kind as family, as a pack and that bond has been weakened over the centuries.  It is time such a bond was restored."  She continued walking a while longer as she considered the exloration of the forest.  "You must take the very best with you."  She told him, "I am where I am because of you and I intend to keep it that way, which means I need and want you healthy and very much alive to help keep me stable."  In other words, she was admitting she couldn't do this without him......
"Oh I intend to stay healthy."  he chuckled.  As they walked a messenger arrived to tell them that the other Lords had agreed to the meeting and would be at the library after sundown if that was a good time for Whisper.  It seemed they were being very civil and not demanding a time but making sure it was good for whisper.  "I think they are learning and have already conceeded on who is going to run things."
Whisper took a deep breath and nodded, "Tell them I will be there an hour after sunset."  She said to the messenger and then turned her head back to Nick.  "Either learning, or planning."  She said, still not entirely confident in her new place with her kin.....
"Well I will be there before sunset to make sure nothing funny is going on and keep an eye on things."  he told her.  He had a feeling though that the Lords wanted peace and wanted to live.  Mathius had already made it clear he was on Whisper's side.  With one Lord already siding with her, that meant alone they were doomed.  Even if they tried to form their own alliances, they mistrusted each other to much to really keep anything together.  It would take Whisper and their fear of her to keep them together, till they learned fully that she was their only hope, especially when he told them about the other two cities.  They would not want any power they had to be taken from them.  At least with Whisper, they retained their power and control over those they ruled even though they ruled under her control.
Whisper nodded, "Thank you Nicholas."  She said quietly and then made for the stairs.  She could hear Demon trying to move about and she wanted to be with him, but they wouldn't have much time.  She could already hear the last bird songs for the day....
He went with her and heard Demon as well.  When they got there he was alreading walking slowly towards the door of the penthouse.  When he saw the two he sat down, wagging his tail and looking at the two of them.
Whisper entered the room and immediately dropped to her knees, holding Demon close.  "Oh, how I have missed you!"  She breathed, burying her face in his thick fur.  Demon responded by licking her shoulder and pawing at her.  His big black eyes stared at Nick with something very close to human gratitude and he gave a small, but audible woof at the man, a thank you for saving his life.  It wasn't needed though, it was clear in Whisper how grateful she was to have her companion back...
Nick squated down and petted Demon's head.  "Now you take it easy.  Nothing to much at first."  he told the hound.  He had to get to the library and get a good place to observe and make sure that nothing funny was going to happen.  "I will see you at the library he told her and left.  The library of course was empty of any life, though it looked as if a lot of books were missing from the shelves.  He had a feeling that this was one place that the humans frequented.  he walked about the interior and found a place behind the counter that had a door in it.  Inside it was a spiral starcase that lead up and down.  It lead up to a small room that over looked the entire main floor of the library.  Here he sat and watched as the first lycans appeared, checking it out.  First one Lords contingent then another untill all of the other lords were represented.  Then the Lords themselves arrived after the sun set.  They looked nervious, except Mathius.  He took a seat at a large table and just seemed relaxed.  The other four paced and looked about.  "Relax."  Mathius told them.  "She is not after your heads.  She is not coming to seek any type of revenge or malice.  She is more then what we ever thought.  She is the one that can lead us and make something of this city.  The one with her, I have no idea who he is but I know he has never been anywhere in our circles I think is a very Powerful Lord.  For him to be there with her, he has had to have impressed her greatly and it seems she has accepted him as an equal.  He will be one that you also must convince of your sincerity."
The other Lords weren't convinced yet and it showed.  "This twosome will be the end of all of us."  Said one.  He shook his head and looked around, "All this for a blind vampire.  I've stooped too low this time."
Mathius was instantly on his feet again and stared the other Lord down, "Either you sit down and listen, or I'm happy to watch your head roll at her blade."  He said sharply, "You know what she did to Lucius.  You all know what she did to the other Lords.  Whisper is not to be fucked with."
"No."  The Lord said back just as sharply, "I'll let the daywalker do that.  I would be caught dead in a bed chambre with the greatest mistake ever born."
"Show some respect!"  Mathius demanded, "She is more than you, I, or any Lord that has ever lived to imagine.  I've seen her true form, gentlemen and let me tell you, this so called mistake has every last one of you on your knees, begging."  His demeanour showed more than he spoke, but the other Lords didn't see that.  Instead, they became silent and took their seats to await Whisper's arrival.
Whisper arrived exactly one hour after dusk with her general and entered the room in a breeze of those desert flowers.  Suddenly, Mathius' words made perfect sense and the Lords stared in awe at the vision in white.  "Gentlemen."  She offered quietly.  All the Lords instantly stood......
Nick smiled as Mathius put them in their place.  Then when Whisper walked in the Lords faces showed how taken they were of her.  Mathius stood and bowed.  "Lady."  he said.  He moved to a chair and pulled it out from the table for her.  "Where is the Lord that was with you in your tower?"
Whisper moved to the chair, seemingly unaware of the throbbing hearts she could hear around the table.  She smiled and sat down and then half turned her head to Mathius.  "Lord Night is around."  She said, knowing exactly where he was and how far.  She then looked up to the balcony overhead, "Would you care to join us, Nicholas?"  Mathius also looked up and suddenly smiled, knowing they had been watched from the beginning.  He nodded with respect and then took his own seat.  Whisper sat comfortably, feeling the heart rate rise further.  "Calm yourselves, my Lords."  She said to them, making their hearts skip even quicker still.  The only one that seemed to remain steady was Nick's.  Whisper wasn't entirely sure how to take that, but for now, there were other more important things to discuss.  "Shall we begin?".....
They were enthalled by her, yet nervious as well.  Seldom was she seen and only at a distance.  Up close they were awed and like the four brothers could not keep their eyes off of her.  Nick decended and came out of the door behind the counter.  He took his seat next to Whisper.  "Yes shall we begin."  he started it off.  He had no idea of what she would want to talk about so he began.  "I will begin the discussion about what is wanted and needed to bring this city back to where it once was.  First and formost, the in fighting for power needs to cease immedeately.  You will retain the power and control you now have and perhaps even get more if you listen and agree to what is proposed."  he could see their eyes light up at the prospect of more power.  He had their attention.  "Whisper shall be the ruling figure in this city.  The five of you will be her captains and subject to her commands and laws.  In return you will be given governship over sections of the city.  But first the control of the turned vampires must be made and then the safety of the humans assured."  He raised his hand to stop anyone from interupting.  "No more hunts, no more killing of the humans by pure bloods or turned vampires.  If you kill them all where are you going to get your blood?  It is better to have them as subjects, helping rebuild the city, donating blood to a blood bank where turned vampire and purebloods can receive blood without turning or killing the humans.  The turned vampires can also help and live a better life in co existance with the humans.  They know no other way at the moment to get blood to survive."  he looked at each of the Lords.  "This is just a part of what will be required.  The main thing his is cooporation and the ceaseing of all hostilities."  He looked over at Whisper.  "There is also what Whisper wants as well."
Whisper listened with intent as Nick began outlying the plan he wanted and for the most part, she agreed completely.  However, she understood the hunt, she'd been there many times herself and knew what it meant for the vampires as much as the lycans.  Eventually, Nick finished his speech, but the whispers around the table from the other Lords confirmed her suspicions.  The hunt was too important to the vampire culture to give up entirely.  As the whispers grew, Whisper lifted her hand in a delicate pose.  "I don't agree entirely with you, Nicholas."  She said honestly, "And neither do they.  Hunting has been a part of vampire culture since its birth and to give up such a tradition and need would result in underground hunting.  I cannot allow that."  The others were now listening intently to Whisper.  She was agreeing with them?  "Since the breakdown of human law in Gotham, criminals of all ilks have been allowed to run free and wild among the people of the city.  What i propose not only suits us, but the human populace also.  I propose that we reintroduce the human legal system.  Obviously not the extent it once was, but to a degree that keeps the worst criminals away from the peole and in turn, on our radar.  A simple trade with the humans as a gesture of good will on our part."  The grumblings started again, but Whisper wasn't put off.  "We will hunt the criminals."  She continued, "Those that the mortals judge guilty of heinous crimes will be sentenced to death.  Sentenced to us.  We will execute them in our hunts.  That way, the humans get rid of the criminal element and provide a deterent to others, and we get to keep our long standing and very much respected tradition and need.  The hunt will keep the turned vampires in line, for they too can be hunted by us if they are judged guilty in the eyes of the human court, and the rest of the pure bloods.  everbody wins.".....
Nick sighed and nodded.  That was only fair.  It was one way to get rid of the criminal element and satify the vampires need to hunt.  "That is very acceptable."  Nick said.  "Continue.  What would you have the Lords here do under your command?"
After some time, and Nick's further input, the other Lords began to nod in agreement.  Whisper felt more confident now and nodded before letting things move on.   What did she want the Lords to do now?  "I want this city cleaned up."  She said, "I rmember as a child, I could walk down any street in my bare feet and not be afraid.  My sense of touch, as you well know, Gentlemen, is highly sensetive.  I feel where I walk with my feet.  As the city is now, it is a danger to myself and to everyone in general.  This city deserves more than you and I have given it thus far.  It is time we restored it to its former glory.  I remember clean streets, washed nightly by the spray trucks that used to be so common, pathways that were smooth and even and doorways that didn't frighten people away with the trash and chemicals left by our negligence."  Oddly enough, many of the Lords began to hum with agreement and she half turned her heads to Nick.  "Are they actually agreeing with me?"  She whispered, "Or are they just playing along?".....
"They are agreeing with you."  he told her and smiled.  "You see gentelmen what a bit of talk can do to resolve things."  He discribed what he wanted to do.  splitting up the city into six wedges emanating from the towers.  Whisper and each Lord would control these areas.  Rounding up the turned vampires and bringing them under control and using their once skills to help get the city runing again.  Then getting the humans to come out by sending captured humans back to the communities that were hidden and letting them know of the changes and that they could come out of hiding and help bring the city back to life.  The Lords liked the idea of being in command of a larger area that included turned vampires and humans.  "But I would not get to greedy or act crule to those under you.  Generousity and caring for those under you will get you more then fear and intimadation.  So gentelmen, what do you say?"
It took several minutes of quiet discussion, that of course, Whisper listened in on every sylable, but eventually, the Lords began to agree one by one.  Whisper smiled, "A wise decision, Gentlemen."  She offered in gratitude.  But then she heard one stand.  Oddly, it was Mathius and Whisper turned her head to him.
"What of you pair?"  He asked, understanding the partnership in some sense, but not all. 
Whisper lifted her chin, "Explain."
Mathius looked at Nick then, "What role does Lord Night have in all this?  Are you a pair, or are you simply a partnership?"
Whisper narrowed her eyes, but said nothing.  Nick was her equal in all things and perhaps, even in such a short space of time, had become her closest confidant.  Beyond that, she wasn't sure anymore.....
"I am a close friend and confidant to Lady Whisper.  He told Mathius.  I have been here in the city for a very long time, but have not been one to seek power and control.   Whisper and I have just recently met, but unlike you have for so long considered her inferior, I found her superior to the old ways.  I accepted the way she was and did not find her in any way less then equal.  i think that is what made her trust me.  Also I was able to save her hound Demon."  He looked around the table at the surprised faces.  "That is right, Demon is alive and well.  That I think gained her trust and friendship more then anything, and I am glad to have her as a friend.  But as for what I am in the grand scheme of things for the city........I am happy to just be an advisor to Whisper and to all of you.  I have no desire for power or control.  I don't like the headachs it creates."  he smiled.
Mathius smiled and nodded in understanding and decided not to speak about what he saw in Whisper when she touched him.  "As you wish, Lord Night."  He said, then grinned, "But I doubt you will escape the headaches and I am sure there will be many during the changes, not least from them."  He ndoded to the other Lords as they began to speak among themselves, carving out their little wedge of Gotham and actually sharing equally.  After some time, he turned his eyes back to Nick and lowered his voice to that of a whisper.  "We both agree that Lady Whisper is far more than meets the eye."  He told the other man, "And you have stated that you are merely a friend to her.  As a friend of a friend then, I'd like to vie for her.  She is a prize worth more than land or gold, my Lord and I'd rather not have her fall to the level of them."  As polite as he was, Mathius was still a little selfish to his own cause....

[questor]

The first year from the night of that meeting was hard. The vampires had to win the trust of the people and the people had to win the trust of the vampires. On several occasions, it had very nearly come to all out war and it had been left to Whisper to step in and do what she did best. The fear of reprisals was at first more than enough to quell any disputes and by the time that began to wear off, opinion was changing. as promised, she kept to her bargain with the other Lords, giving them what she promised in return for their loyalty and it seemed to work. Inevitably, they squabbled, as Lords had always done, but now it was done much quieter and with much more care. Whisper came to the realisation that she needed them as much as they needed her and it didn't take long for the Lords to fully understand that concept. By the end of the second year, things were getting easier. The Coven, as they now became known, began receiving detailed reports of the forest around them, and the humans had started coming out of hiding. By the fifth year, the humans had bartered an uneasy truce with the vampires and Whisper as always, kept her promise. The Lords and herself, including the turned vampires that were now beginning to understand their place, hunted only those that were judged guilty of severe crimes. Murder, rape, molestation. Some fought to have lesser criminals condemned also, but Whisper made sure the line was clear. And it seemed to work. When proof was provided and the guilty sentenced, the vampires hunted. And over time, the deterrant of being hunted by the Lords and especially by Whisper, made for a rather more peaceful co-existance than Whisper had bargained for. By the tenth year, Gotham looked, sounded and felt almost as though it had never changed from the start. New laws came in, old laws were taken out. The Lords worked together and Whisper oversaw them and the Coven became Gotham's protector and keeper. Business began trading again, money began moving around and the people began to live their lives as they should. Also, by the end of that decade, the once uneasy truce became a full treaty, signed, sealed and witnessed by all in Gotham. A specialised bloodbank was created for the vampires, their deterrant having worked so well. Each citizen gave one pint of blood per year that could be tested, treated if necessary and replicated for storage. The hunts still went ahead, but now they did it outside the city. The reports and discoveries led to a new style of hunting. The once predators of the city now became the predators of the wild, removing dangerous creatures that caused panic and problems in Gotham. And then something happened. In the blink of an eye, another twenty years passed. For the humans, it was a lifetime, an entire career, a family. For Whisper and the Coven, it was barely beyond a moment, such was the curse of immortality. She discovered her brothers really were her brothers and they took their place among the Lords to serve and protect that which had been created. The Lycans became one massive army of loyal and devoted guardians, building their pack to such an extent that their tower had to be extended both out and up to acommodate them, but each new generation of Lycans became even more loyal to the Coven and to Gotham. And so it came to be, Whisper had become what Nicholas Night had always said she would become. She finally learned to care and to cherish what wasn't just hers, but what she shared with others. Nick had become her most trusted advisor and friend after only a few years, but thirty years on, she not only trusted him and relied on his advice and counsel, she regarded him very much her companion. Demon, though still loyally by her side had become the pet he should always have been and he liked it that way. Trustw as key and Whisper had finally learned it's true value......
Exploration of the forest beyond the city had to wait awhile. The first and second year he was busy helping binging in the turned vampires to convince them to help the Lords and whisper. Then it was time to find the humans and talk to them. To convince them to come out of hidding and make peace with the vampires. It was not easy and there were alot of trust issues. But a few came forward and talked and then saw that it was not a trick and went back to tell the others.
The years began to pass and he saw the change come about in the city. Old cars were removed from the streets. Some of the humans began cutting them up and was able to get an old smelting plant running and turn the scrap metal into useable metal to be used in building and repair work. Other business began poping up and the humans began flurishing again. The forest growth was cut back to a good distance and a wall was begun to encircle the city to help keep out the predetors that roamed the streets. Soon it was two years, then five years, then ten and then another ten years passed. In those years after things began to come together, Nick and a group of dedicated lycans set out in to the forests to explore them. They found a road that leat north from the city. Slowly they explored and finally came out of the forest onto a grassy plain that the road continued on to the north.The ruins of farm houses could be seen. The Grasy plain and what had been farms now growing wheat and corn and other things, growing wildly gave him ideas. They found a variety of animals in the forest. Cows, sheep, deer, and elk, along with the mutated creatures. Some were harmless but the majority were savage and deadly. When he was not exploring he was back in the city helping Whisper run things. After thirty years the city was a city again with people on the streets, busisnesses opening up and comerce moving again. The turned vampires became the night police force and the lycans the day shift. Not only did they keep the peace but they guarded the boundries of the city until the wall was complete and then still toured the walls to make sure all was well. Since the time of the meeting he had not really did not push the matter. Now that the city was gowing again it seemed time to relax a bit.
Moving in her usual manner, Whisper finished her day with the Coven and returned to her apartment with a sigh of something very close to actual contentment. As always, Demon came with her and took his place on his favourite rug. Only, today, it was taken. Some years previously, her general had come across a deep cavern while out with Nick exploring the roads that led North. In there, they had found a young female hound. She had been badly wounded by a rather nasty mutation of flying lizard and it was waiting outside the cave for her to die so it could have its meal. The general had saved the bitch and brought her back to Whisper and to Demon. It hadn't taken long from that point for the two hellhounds to become a solid pair. And now, during the night, their pups patrolled with the turned vampires along the wall. On this night, Demon found his mate, aptly named Herra for her absolutely unholy sound and temper, curled up on the rug, licking away at a single young pup. Demon, of course, was overjoyed and cuddled up with his mate while Whisper watched on from her usual spot in her chair with a distant smile. The pup must have come earlier that evening, she could smell the staling scent of blood and afterbirth. And she just knew Nick would be love the new pup as well. "Nicholas!" She called, knowing he could hear her anywhere in the entire building. "I think you might want to see this. I think this make nine.".....
Nick came in and laughed. "Yep that makes nine for them." He squated down and petted both of them and told Demon, "Still going storng aren't you." he then looked over at Whisper, "Now what shall we call this one?" He was an adorable pup. Its brothers and sisters were grown and on patrol and now lived with those they patroled with. This one was a male and had a deep gray fur. Nick sighed and said, "Shadow I think would be a good name for him."
"Shadow?" Whisper asked. She curled her feet under her and seemed to cuddle into the seat. "What colour is a shadow? Something dark, I imagine. Shadows are always cooler, so they're darker." Just then, she heard the slight click of the shutters and they began to rise up, letting int he cool evening air now the sun had gone down. Whisper smiled again and turned her face towards the smooth breeze. "You know, you'd think after thirty years, they might have realised that sunlight doesn't bother me." She sighed, "But I still have some secrets from the Coven, even if they are small now by comparison.".....
He smiled, "That is true, but the color of his fir will darken some as he grows. Besides I lkie that as a name for him." The slaves or now were they servents, were closing the curtins. "Well it has become habit for them." The night had been good. He had been out and about the humans. After thirty years they had done wonders in the city. They even opened a factory that made small electric cars to move about the city in. The power plant was restored to full operation and the entire city was lit up. Elictricity, heat and cooling, shops and restraunts. Small farms had been started on cleared lands that were now encirlced by walls to protect them. These supplied food of various sorts for markets and restraunts. The talk on the streets was all good and even the vampires were enjoying the company of humans. They had learned to live with one another.
Whisper nodded as she let her head drop back. "Habits." She mused, "We all have our habits." After some time, she opened her white eyes and stared just past Nick. "You smell different tonight. Did you shower before you came home? Usually, I smell dirt and grease and the saddle soap you use on your jacket." She laughed quietly, "You know, I still remember the day I gave you that coat." Her mind went back to that first quiet talk they had while he was in the bath. That had been the day he'd saved Demon's life. "I remember how you felt in it, the way you moved it when you strapped on those UV guns you had." Whisper rarely remenisced about the past. "do you still remember that day?".....
"Yes, I remember it clearly." It had been the day things had changed. "It has been a long time since then." he had basicly moved into the Tower with the apartment on the floor below. He had moved all his stuff from the tower across town and his arsenal to a secured area in the tower. "Just cleaned up a bit after roaming the city a bit to see how things were going there. It feels so good to have life back in the city. The lights, the laughter and the sounds of people living their lives again." His voice held contentment as he rose and sat on the edge of the Chaise Lounge that held whisper.
Whisper nodded and smiled, "Indeed it does." She said, "It feels and sounds like it used to, before the wars." She felt the movement and knew he had come to sit with her, well, he never actually sat with her, but near her. She figured it was the end arm, he usually sat there when she occupied the actual seat. Shifting across, she leaned against him and put her head to his ribs, listening to his heart. "Would never have happened without you." She whispered. She had never denied his part in the changes, made sure he knew exactly the good he'd done. She closed her eyes and listened to the steady thump beneath his ribs and she sighed in almost contentment again. "You know, it never fails to surprise me how soothing it is to listen to someone's heart." She said quietly as she all but snuggled up to him. He was after all, her most beloved companion....
He move a hand to her face and lightly caressed it. "Well it has taken us both to do it. We could never have done it alone." Even The Lords were happy and content in their new jobs as administrators of the city. They learned to work together to get things going and rebuilding the city. The two of them, Whisper and Nick had come to know each other alot better. They talked often about the past, their lives and so had grown close but never that step farther. He never forgot that moment at the Library either. As he caressed her face his hear beat increased some.
Whisper smiled as she felt his touch on her cheek. Almost from the beginning of their partnership, he had been a balancing force for her, a soothing haven that she coudl rely on and trust, even when they were fighting. And boy, had they had some fights over the years. And yet, they could still do this, forget the arguments and the trials of this city and its politics and just be as they were without assumption or agendas, expectations. And then Nick's heart quickened and Whisper opened her eyes. It had been a long time since that had happened. "Are you alright?" she asked....
"Yes and no." he chuckled. "We have come a long way together He looked at her with her head against him. "I think you know."
Whisper didn't look up, but it was clear in her manner then that she knew exactly what he was talking about. "We never did get around to that conversation, did we." She whispered. She turned her head into him slightly and it moved his coat aside, leaving only the fabric of his shrit between them.....
Moving his hand down to her shoulders he slid down to the seat it self and pulled her a bit closer as she moved his coat and laid her head back against him. "No we never did. Guess we have time now don't we."
Whisper moved as Nick slid down onto the chaise lounge and once sat, she cuddled up to him. "I guess we do." She whispered, "But you understand that when its finished, it changes everything." She closed her eyes again and turned her face right into his chest. She breathed deep his natural scent and let her body relax. "I'm ready. Start talking.".....
He could imagine Mathius laughing as him. He had tried to woo Whisper but had failed. He had not taken it hard as Whisper had thought that day. Nick had warned him and he then knew that Whisper's heart was set on only one and he knew who that one was even if he didn't know himself. "Well now." he began. "I think we both know how we feel about each other. You once told me about the one, well we are both vampires, but I am differnt then that of my parents. Though I have no fangs and do not drink blood, and can walk in sunlight, I still have all the other abilities. As the research on my ancestors showed, I am of vampire decent. So I think that quilafies me as a possible candidate." he chuckled.
Whisper didn't move a muscle as Nick spoke, barely even breathed. When he chuckled, she buried her face into his shirt again before moving back enough to open her eyes. "We are both different to our parents." She said, "And we both can walk in the day. We both come from a long line of vampires, going all the way back to the originals. The only real difference between us is our choice in meat." She meant that she drank blood, though only occasionally now. Slowly, she moved her hair beack from her ears, showing him a small set of diamond teardrops that he had bought her several years previously for her birthday. For some reason, she had chosen to wear them today. "When I first felt your presence around me, I knew there was something about you that I couldn't quite fathom. It had always been my obsession to know everything about those around me, but you were always that lingering mystery. I think I finally figured it out the night we all met in the old library." It had been restored now to its former glory and was often used as a meeting point. "When I stood facing away from you at your shoulder and you held my hand. I think, for the first time in my life, I understood what it felt like to be comfortable not knowing. I could feel your touch on my skin and I knew I didn't care to know anymore. I was simply happy having you there. It didn't matter to me anymore what you looked like, or how you acted, how you seemed to throw my entire world into chaos and see right through me. No-one had ever done that before and I doubted anyone ever could." She lifted up slightly and took his face tenderly in her hands. She smiled as she imagined his features at her fingertips. He had grown his hair out somewhat, or it felt like it and apart from his day's stubble, his face hadn't changed at all. "Nicholas?" She asked, still touching his face as she tilted her head to one side, "What do you see when you look at me?"....
"I see a beautiful and wonderful woman. A woman with a good heart that has come into her own. I see a woman that I can love and live with for what ever time we have on this world." He bent down and kissed the top of her head.
Whisper smiled and lifted her head just a little higher, making him kiss her forehead instead. And then, she turned her head to the side, as though rubbing her upper cheek and temple across his lower jaw. "I can honestly say that I can't see a thing about you." She laughed, "But I know what I can feel. And I can feel a man that has been strong and kind with me, has understood me for who I am, not what I have, or don't have. I feel my companion, my best friend." She lifted her head higher still until she was on her knees on the chaise lounge. She leaned over, using her touch to guide her and she kissed him softly. "I feel a man I could let go with and love as he loves me.".....
He put his arms about her and drew her to him and kissed her deeply, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms. It had taken thrity years but what was thirty years to them. He then drew her across his lap so she sat there with his arms about her, holding her close. On the floor both Demon and Herra looked up as if to say "About time."

[LadyRaven]

Whisper felt robbed of breath as she felt Nick's lips press onto her own.  Her heart leapt into her throat and then down to the puts of her stomach before turning over.  The hairs on the back of her neck stood right up and every inch of her skin tingled.  She closed her eyes and relaxed her jaw as she parted her lips.  Her tongue brushed over his lips and then his tongue and she let out a soft, but audible sigh.  As she had predicted, the conversation had changed everything.  Sliding her hands around to the back of his head, she buried her fingers in his hair and almost laughed as he pulled her over his lap and she felt herself tilted slightly as her ass rested neatly in the space between his thighs. 

She remembered being held like this before by him, but certainly not for the same reason.  Many times over the years, she had fallen asleep, utterly exhausted and Nick had lifted her and carried her to bed.  She had always known it was him, for she had cuddled into him and now she understood why it had always disturbed her when he'd put her down again and left her.  Breaking the kiss only briefly, she opened her eyes again and stared up at him.  She traced a delicate finger over his stubble covered jaw and chin before she smiled and kissed him once more.  This time, she threw her arm right around the back of his neck, the other pushed up the back of his coat and she grabbed at the shirt he had on.  She wasn't letting him put her down this time. 

If only the moment had lasted longer.  No sooner had Whisper made herself utterly comfortable across Nick's lap, she heard feet coming to the door and then hear Demon gruff slightly.  They were about to be disturbed.  The knock was slight, but it was enough for Whisper to pull back from the kiss and open her eyes again.  The door opened and the general peered in, hoping he hadn't disturbed anything.  When he realised he had, he lowered his head with a small smile and nodded.  He retreated silently and closed the door.  He went quickly to his commander and leaned over the security desk.  "Have the Coven informed, Lady Damascus and Lord Night will not be attending the meeting tonight with them."
"Right away, Sir."  The commander replied and picked up the phone.  "They will want to know why.  Lady Whisper isn't known for being absent, neither is Nick."
The general smiled and patted the commander roughly on his shoulder, "They will understand."  The general said, "Trust me."
The commander nodded and dialled the number as the general smiled again and walked away.  It rang a few times before Mathius himself picked up.  "Lord Mathius."  The commander said, "This is the commander."
"Good evening Commander."  Mathius replied smoothly, "How are you?"
"I am well, thank you my Lord."  The commander said, "I'm calling to inform you that Lady Damascus and Lord Night won't be attending the meeting tonight.  They send their apologies."
"That is fine."  Mathius said, his voice oddly happy about the absence.  "Thank you Commander, I shall inform the others."  He then put the phone down and smiled brightly.  "Finally."

[questor]

As the door opened he could feel her tense up some and he looked over at the door and saw her General peer in and then suddenly close the door. "Well I guess there is no keep it a secret now." he chuckled and continued where they had left off. He kissed her again and moved a hand to the back of her head. Her hand on his back sent a tingling sensation up and down his spine. When he broke the kiss he whispered. "What do you think the others are going to think when we don't show up?"
Ohotherwise, she made no motion to move, but she did feel tension about it. This was a private isper lowered her chin as the general interrupted, but moment and he had disturbed it. Soon enough though, he had gone again and she turned her chin back up. She looked at what she thought was his eyes and offered a small sigh before he kissed her again. She didn't want it to end, but he just had to say it, didn't he. With a sigh, Whisper relaxed against Nick and shook her head. "Somewhere between why now and why him, I should think." She replied softly.....
He smiled, "Well let them think. I have a feeling they have known all along that the two of us would finally realize what we wanted in each other." he pulled her to him more enjoying feeling her in his arms. He knew there would be no more interuptions unless it was a matter of life or death. "Now where were we?"
Whisper smiled and lifted her chin once more. She put her cheek to his and then turned her head slightly, running her smooth skin along the roughness of his stubble, "I think Mathius will know." She whispered, "The others, even after thirty years, aren't much smarter than they were before." Using the shape of his jaw on her cheek, she moved across his face until she felt his lips again and kissed him tenderly, "I do believe,we were just about here." She said against his lips....
"I think you are right." He kissed her deeply once more and just held her. He had not felt this way for such a long time and it felt good. Oh how he hoped he was not draming. He wondered if they should take it slow and easy and work their way through things. He did not want anything to go wrong.
Whisper melted into his embrace and kissed him back with longing and passion. Thirty years of frustration, unknowing and uncertainty had gone. Though, in truth, it was much longer for her. Of all the lovers she had taken over the years, nothing had ever felt quite like this. She just hoped that if she was dreaming, she didn't wake up too soon. "Don't ever wake me up from this?" She pleaded, "If this is a dream, I don't ever want to leave it."....
Nick was sure that it was not a dream. If it was he to didn't want to wake up. His heart rate was up, his breathing began to come more rapitd. They were alone in the bed chamber except the hounds. From where he was and sitting, he could see the bed, but was not sure if they should take it that far just yet.
Nick's heart wasn't the only one pounding now and Whisper could barely contain herself. She wasn't sure about this, but it felt right and so she continued. She was keenly aware of where they were and how they were and she was nervous of it, but at the same time, she felt she had kept him waiting far too long for this. Breaking the kiss, she rubbed her cheek along his again. "All those times you put me to bed and left me there alone." She whispered, "I'm beginning to wish you had simply crawled in there with me and held me.".....
Nick sighed, "Oh I thought of it but was not sure. Not sure if I should let myself get involved. But now I see how foolish I was." He stood up with her in his arms. He crossed the room to the bed and lowered her to it then removed his coat and shoulder holster and moved on to the bed.
Whisper offered a small smile as he set her down on the bed and she shuffled up as she heard him remove his coat and guns. "I always felt lost when you left me." She told him, "You'd find me asleep somewhere and hold me as you did just now and I'd cuddle into you as you brought me to bed. But then you always let go of me and left me there alone. I felt lost when you did that." She reached out for him and then knelt up on the bed, pulling him to her. "I know now I should have said something, begged you not to leave me. But I've always been blind when it comes to you, haven't I."...
"You could see more then I could. I was the blind one." He kissed her again and eased her down to the bed. He moved from her lips to her neck and shoulders, as he moved a hand down her side and back up again.
Whisper couldn't help but sigh as he kissed her and laid her down on the bed. His touch continued to make her skin tingle and she shivvered with delight at it. As his lips moved down to her neck and then her shoulder, she pressed her head back into the plush pillows and pushed her fingers down the back of his collar. His skin was heated and she dragged her nails carefully back up to the back of his neck. "Sight isn't everything." She murmured....
Bringing his hand up to her shoulder, he slipped the left strap of her dress down over her shoulder and kissed his way down some to her chest then to the top of her breasts.
Whisper sighed again and lifted her chest up somewhat as she felt his lips move down her neck towards her breasts. Oh, how she had waited and dreamt of this! Siding one hand again down under his collar, she buried her other into his hair and gasped deeply.....
Slowly he moved her dress down over her breasts freeing them as he kissed them and flicked his toung over their nipples. His hand moved to one and squeezed it as he began to suckle on it and gently pull on its nipple with his teeth.
Whisper gasped again deeply at his actions and arched her back deeply as she grabbed at his hair. Under his collar, she dug her nails into the nape of his neck. It was clear how much she loved this and how much she wanted him. The folds of her silken gown moved as she lifted her knees at his hips....
The silken gown slowly seemed to fall away from her body as she arched her back. Squeezing her lovely breasts with one hand his other moved over her smooth bare skin. After a few minutes he moved to his knees and pulled his shirt off and then went back to enjoying her lucious breats..
Whisper felt her gown falling away and when he removed his shirt, her eager fingers traced the line of his body. He soon came back to her and she gasped again as he resumed his teasing at her breasts. "Oh my beloved!" She sighed as she dragged her nails up and across his shoulders and neck and gripped his hips with her knees....
What she said next made his heart leap. Two simple words and they were the most powerful ones every. Moving up he again kissed her deeply, pressing his body to her naked one.
Whisper almost cried as Nick's lips returned to her and she kissed him with a deep passion. As she did this, she reached back with one hand and pulled a brided chord hanging over the headboard. The bed curtains dropped, the voile shading them from any that would intrude. At once, her hand returned to his hair and she pushed up until she sat with him. She then got to her knees, shedding her gown entirely and letting it fall from the bed. She kissed him again passionately before moving her lips to his throat and then down to his shoulder.....
Now it was her turn to kiss him. Her lips felt good on his naked skin. His hands moved over her back and down to her ass cheeks, squeezing them, then back up to her breasts. Taking one in each hand he squeezed them. He moved his hands from her breasts to his pants and undid them, and pushed them down. Pulling her down on top of him he kicked them off so he was completely naked as she was.
Whisper moved as he did and when he was finally bare skinned as she was, she wasted no time in learning every cell of it. Though, she had already spent years so close to him, she had never felt him like this and it was made clear very soon that she was learning his form in this new way. Sitting across his hips, Whisper moved her lips down, kissing and nipping at his heated skin until she reached just below his ribs....
As she moved her way down his body, he felt her move over old scars that he had from the many wars he had been in. Scars from bullets and a couple from knives. He remembered each one as she moved down him and felt her lips on them. His hands were in her hair as she moved down, waiting to see what she did next.
Whisper felt the pain of his old injuries as she felt them and she kissed the old scars with tenderness and love. As he put his hands into her hair, she gave out a low moan and moved further down until she reached his navel. There, she stopped for a moment, feeling his manhood press against her throat. Arching her back slightly, she slid back up, tracking his entire front with her own until she was level with him again....
He laid there enjoying every second of it. To think they could have been doing this years ago. Ahhhhhh but it was definately worth the wait. As she moved up again his hands moved down her back down to her ass cheeks again. He kissed her neck and shoulders again and finally found her sweet lips and again kissed her deeply. This was something he could defiantely get use to.
Whisper shifted her hips up as he took hold of her ass and she moved to sit more comfortably on him. She could feel her heat against his thighs and she could feel his against her front. With yet more soft sighs, she kissed him back with furver and need. She pulled back enough that she helped him sit and she wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her hands trail down his back before returning to his hair. "I love you Nicholas." She whispered, speaking the words she knew now she had so longed to say.....
"And I you." he told her. He thought he would never say those words again but it had been something that he had been wanting to tell her and had almost done so a number of times but, there had been things going on that needed their attention and denied him the right moment to say anything. That was all past them now. He now sat with his back against the back board and her strading his lap. He smiled as his hands roamed over her body and back up to her breasts to squeeze them then moved a hand down and guided his hard cock up to her pussy.
Whisper lifted up slightly as she felt him shift and get comfortable. She also felt his hand between her thighs as he positioned himself. Her nerves returned briefly as it had been a long time since she had felt a man inside her. In fact, she remembered exactly the last time it happened. The very day that Nick had arrived into her life. Her poor bedslave had been denied ever since. Moving carefully, Whisper eased him into her folds. He was large and strong, she tight and hot. It took a few seconds for Whisper to sheath him within her and she held her breath as she carefully sat down again....
Oh it had been a long time. As she eased her self down on his hard cock he took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Oh it felt good, and she was hot and wet, ready for what was to come. He squeezed her breasts some more, kissing her neck. She was tight and he slowly began to move his hiup up and down to move himself inside her.
Every nerve ending in Whisper's entire body fired all at once with pleasure and for just a moment or two, it felt as though she had climaxed already. Her breath was quick and shallow, and her heart thudded loudly against her ribs. Everything else was drowned out by Nick and she let herself fall into the pleasure and passion of him. As he moved, so too did she, rolling her hips gently as he lifted his hips to her. Had she the ability to cry out, she would have as she sighed and moved with him. She kept her hands at his head and in his hair, as though to anchor herself to him and she kissed him lovingly as she moved....
He was now breathing harder and a thin film of sweat began to form on his skin. His heart was beating fast and he was sure she could hear it. As she began moving her hips he pressed his back against the head board of the bed. His head went back and he closed his eyes.
Whisper could not only hear his heart, she could feel it as she pressed her chest to his when he let his head drop back and she let her forehead drop to his chin. Sweat began to form on her skin too, forming small jewels on her skin and falling in thin lines down the lines of her body. The heat became more intense as she felt her climax rush up to meet her, making her gasp hard....
He felt her body shaking and knew that she was about ready to climax. He began moving his hips up harder as she came down on him to try and move deeper into her. Soon he felt himself getting ready to fill her with his hot seed.
Whisper felt her entire body tense up as she came and she came hard. She shuddered as she battled to breathe. If she could, she would have screamed through this, letting him hear the sheer passion in her, but all she could manage was a deep sigh. Her innards rippled around his cock, massaging it almost and she tightened her knees at his hips....
As he felt her body tense and then felt the flood of her climax he rammed his hard cock up inside her and held it as he himself had his release, as he pumped his hot seed up inside her. He held her to him tightly his face burried in her neckand shoulder. He then gently kissed her neck and sholders and her face.
As Nick reached his own climax, Whisper felt another release not only hit her, but completely knock her back. Never before had she felt anything so powerful and she clung to him as her body milked him dry. She clung to his head as he kissed and breathed heavily at her shoulder and let her own head drop slightly to rest on his. Her breath was rapid and shallow and she shuddered all over with passion. And just then, as she began to calm, she felt sometihng slide down her cheek. A single tear snaked its way down her cheek....
Nick felt the tear as it touched his skin and he moved his hands to her head moving it slightly and kissing her cheek. He then slowely lowered her to the bed and laid next to her pulling her close to him. It was warm in the room so there was no need to pull a blanket up over them.

At the meeting in the Library as all the meetings now took place, humans and vampires had cleaned it up returned books and came to read and study, as many wanted to learn more and help with keeping the city with power, getting the Web back up for the all of the city instead of just a couple people. Mathius was the first to arrive and informed the others that Nick and Whisper would not be there for it. The quizal look on their faces made him laugh. "The two have finally realized what each has meant to each other." Then the realization hit them and they all laughed. "About damn time. I was wondering when this day would come."

[LadyRaven]

Whisper turned her cheek in as Nick kissed it and offered yet another quiet sigh, but this one was more contentment than lust or passion.  He slowly moved from her and laid down in the bed and she went with him.  As he cuddled her close, she tucked her head into his shoulder and under his chin, wrapped her leg over his and let her arm drape over his thick chest.  She felt sated, satisfied and thoroughly loved.  For the first time in more than a century, she let her mind drift completely, relying on Nick to let her know if anything or anyone disturbed them, and she slept.

In the Library, the meeting went ahead and many things were discussed.  A building had been flooded from a burst pipe and was being fixed as they spoke, a young Lycan pup had been lost in the city park and the police were looking for him, for example.  Many of the topics were menial, but all agreed that the lost pup needed to be found before it ventured near the city walls.  The last thing on the set agenda was the retirement of one of the Lords, Zackary.  His son, Anthony had come of age and was making a name for himself in the political circles of the Coven.  Zackary named his son as the new Lord and Anthony was welcomed with respect.

As the meeting began to wind down and Anthony had taken his father's place, Mathius held up his hand, "One more thing, my Lords."  He said, "Lady Damascus and Lord Night."  The others sat down again and nodded.  Though none had any doubt this new pairing would impede on Whisper's ability to lead them, it had to be taken into consideration the consequences of them coming together.  As in any true pairing, Whisper was expected to give up her name to Nick, so the title would now be moved onto her next sibling in line.  This would be Dravin and Whisper would become Lady Night.  "And we will also need a back-up plan for if and when she retires briefly from public life."  Mathius stated, "We shall assume for now that Lord Night will take her place, but we should prepare for any unexpected alterations later down the line."  The others nodded, "And as tradition states, the new Lady Night should be celebrated.  Each Tower will send their congratulations in whichever way they see fit."  The meeting was then concluded and the Lords left.

Several hours later and nearing dawn, Whisper had barely moved and laid peacefully still cuddled up to Nick.  Various servants came and went, preparing for the day, and during that time, gifts and notes of celebration arrived for them.  The whole Tower was buzzing with the news of the new couple, but they were left as undisturbed as possible as the gifts and notes were delivered in silence.  It was only as the curtains were being drawn that Whisper stirred.  She turned her face on Nick's shoulder and took a deep breath in.  Her senses were hit with the smell of exotic and expensive flowers, fine decanters of fresh warm blood, chocolates and scented boxes.  She knew instantly where and when they had all arrived.  "The Coven has been in touch."  She whispered, "I can smell all the flowers and scented boxes.".....

[questor]

Nick awoke at the stirring of Whisper. Even he could smell the flowers, as he heard the servants moving about. He kissed her gently on the lips and smiled. "It seems so." He did not know much a bout the vampire rituals. It had not been a habit of his to learn them. But it appeared that the coming together of the two of them had been part of something of their culture.

He could hear the servants outside the bed curtins, some were whispering about the two of the. Wondering if Nick was going to move his things up from the apartment below. "Of course he will silly." one said, There was some giggling and more conversation before they left to let the two of them get up and dressed. Then they would change the bedding and finish up in the bedroom.

"Guess this is our cue to get up." he said even though he didn't want to. He laid there a bit more to see what whisper did. But in the outer room the General was pacing. He didn't want to disturb them, yet he had some important information for him. His men had captured a human, but not one from Gothom. He was in a military style green camofluge uniform and had been carrying an assortment of weapons. He had been caught on the road leading north from the city, that had also been cleared for a distance from the city of the abandoned cars and trucks.

[LadyRaven]

Whisper gave a small grunt of disdain as Nick said it was time to get up.  "Five more minutes."  She whispered.  She was far too comfortable right now and hadn't slept so well in years.  In fact, she had slept so soundly, she hadn't heard the deliveries.  However, she did hear the giggling servants and growled in her throat as their voices disturbed her further.  With a deep breath and a deeper sigh, she shifted her small weight off Nick and turned over.  The heat from the curtains told her it was well into the afternoon already and Whisper realised they had been in bed more than 18 hours!  She still smiled about it though, the time certainly hadn't been wasted.  Eventually, Whisper yawned, bearing her unique fangs and stretched in the bed.  "Ok, ok."  She said with another yawn, "I'm up, I'm up."

As Whisper moved again to sit up and slide off the bed, the general couldn't wait any longer.  He had been listening to the servants, so he knew the couple were awake and when they came out, he went in.  He bowed his head low and then looked across at Whisper as she stood up and stretched again.  In his time, he'd seen her naked many times, but unlike most, it didn't bother him.  He preferred his women with a little, no, a lot more meat on their bones.  Such a small female like Whisper wouldn't even leave a mention on his mind.  After watching her cross the room, he turned his head back to Nick and nodded, "Forgive the intrusion."  He offered in apology, "But this couldn't wait any longer.  The patrol on the North Road discovered a human.  He is not one local to Gotham, my Lord and he was dressed in military combats.  The patrol captured him and disarmed him quickly.  I had him brought back and held in the cells downstairs.  Once again, I beg your pardon for disturbing you, but as you can imagine, this seemed rather more important.".....

[questor]

Nick looked at the General and smiled as he began aplogiszing. Then when he related the report the smile left his face. He had been expecting something like it for thirty years. It seemed that perhaps finally some one had found them. "Good work General. We will be there in a bit to talk to him."
The general nodded, "As you wish, my Lord." He said with a smile and a nod before he looked to Whisper again. He knew she had heard everything, but as yet, she hadn't reacted. He found that somewhat odd for the moment, but then history kicked in. She was archiving the information for later use. He smiled again, "By the way." He said with that same smile, "Congratulations are in order, I believe."....
Nick nodded and looked over at Whisper. He had heard the servents talking and imagined everyone else was as well. "Thank you Gneeral." he said and move up behind Whisper wraping his arms around her.
The general nodded again and made his exit politely. Whisper, as predicted, was storing away what had been said in her mind. When Nick came to her and wrapped his arms about her, she closed her eyes and smiled. "So much for a peaceful beginning." She said quietly, "But worth it ten fold." She turned slowly in the circle of his arms and looked up, casting her eyes just over his left shoulder. "This soldier." She shook her head, "From the North. Could this other fabled city be brancing out?".....
"Exploring and seeking out places to conqure. If it is run by a number of vampire lords he might just be a soldier of one of them and not to much to worry about. But if it is ruled by a single Vampire Lord then we might have a problem. It has been fourty years since the end of the war." he pulled her to him, pressing her against him. "We may have to send a few of our own all the way north to the other city there."
Whisper nodded, but she was cautious. It showed in her jawline. "Either way, I strongly suggest caution." She replied, "Gotham would be ready for an attack, but the people might not be and our armies are only as strong as our weakest soldier. I take it we will have to inform the Coven?"....
'They probably already have been informed. The General is a good military leader and knows when to inform the right people of important matters." He kissed her lips gently, "I suppose we had best get our selves cleaned up and dressed."
Whisper nodded and sighed, "I suppose so." She replied smoothly and turned about in his arms again. A small click behind them let her know a servant had arrived and seconds later, she heard water running. "A nice hot bath." She mused and began to pull him towards the large tub....
He did not resist. He went with her to the sunken tub and as they entered the servant left to give them privacy. Oh many things would be changing and he hoped most would be for the best. They knew each others habits, quirks and the like by now. He followed her into the hot tub of water and felt the warmth of the water.
WHisper smiled and sighed as she dipped down into the tub and then smiled at where she felt Nick was. Witht he steam of the water and the smells of the soaps and cleansers, his scent was distorted and diluted. She began to feel around in the water, but to anyone else, it would look as though she was merely moving the water over her arms. However, Whisper knew that Nick understood differently. After thirty years, he knew everything possible about Whisper, including her weaknesses and fears. Finally finding him, she moved across the large space and smiled. "I love bathing with you." She said, "I always have, but this time, it's so much better."....
"Indeed it is." he chuckled a bit and again took her into his arms. Before he would stay on his side of the tub and she on hers as they bathed. Reaching over he got a wash cloth and some scented soap and was soon moving it gently over her back and arms. He had felt the stuble on his face and knew he would have to shave. But that would be a bit later.
Whisper gave a deep sigh as she felt Nick wash the long night and day's sleep away. She moved the muscle in her shoulders and neck as he rinsed the soap away and then turned around. He hadn't cleaned all of her, but she didn't mind. "My turn." She said softly and reached over his shoulder. She kissed his cheek softly as she picked up a cut-throat razor and a pot of cream.....
He watched her pick up the razor and shaving cream. She had shaved his beard before and with quite the skill. "I think you like shaving my beard." he told her. andd chuckled. He moved against the side of the tub to make sure he did not move in the water and let her begin.
Whisper smiled as she set the pot down again in a better position and picked up the brush. "I love it." She told him honestly, "And I think you do too. You trust me not to cut your throat and I trust you not to move a muscle." She laughed and soaped up his lower face and neck. She opened the razor, checked it and then dipped it in the water. "Do you remember the last time I did this?" She asked as she carefully felt at his throat and then pulled the razor up to the left of hid apple. "I got a little too close to you."....
"Yes, not bad though." he told her as she began to shave him. Her hand was steady and sure, She knew his features well so it looked as if she actuall could see what she was doing. As she shaved him he was thinking of what he wanted to know from their prisoner. He had only seen the lycans and humans so far and no vampires. They were still in their darkened rooms sleeping.
Whisper laughed and shook her head as she dipped the razor again to clean it and then moved around his throat carefully. As the deadly blade skipped off his chin and she dipped it again, she turned her head slightly to the left. She then started on his cheek. "I remember that you nearly turned to stone on me." She giggled. "And how you shot out of the tub again after I was done. I remember my female servant sqawking with laughter at seeing you run butt naked through the bedroom with your hands over your groin." She moved the razor carefully around the underside of his nose and down his top lip. "Knowing what I know now, I would say you had a real stiff problem." She laughed again and cleaned the razor once more....
He smiled. "Well what do you expect." he said as she dipped the razor in the water. "It was a show for your servent though." he laughed and let her continue until she had shaved his face and neck. He then washed the excess soap off and felt his smooth face. "Now I would not let anyone else get that close with a razor."
Whisper rinsed off the blade again and carefully closed it as Nick rinsed his face of any lingering cream. Putting it back on the side, "I would love to have seen it." She said with mirth, but then smiled more genuinely. "I wouldn't let anyone else get that close to you either." She said with some firmness, "With or without a razor." She turned her head slightly and kissed his cheek before she moved back and turned her back to him again. Picking up her huge mass of hair, she dipped her head back and reached for where she thought the shampoo was.....
Nick took the shampoo and poured some into his hands and began working it into her hai, working it and scrubbing her sclap almost like a massage. Soon the tub was full of soap from the shampoo, making bubbles everywhere.
Whisper sighed again softly and let her neck relax as he massaged the soap into her hair. It was getting now to the point it was longer than she was taller. She began to laugh quietly as the bubbles popped against her skin and then ducked her head right under to rinse it all out again. Coming back up, she let her head drop back and blew the water from her lips. "I suppose I should consider cutting it soon." She said quietly, "Moira is complaining about ho it is starting to drag behind me."....
"Perhaps a little. But not to short." he told her. He liked the long hair, but could see where it needed to be cut some. He had himself let his hair grow some but not to much. He had always kept it short, but of late had let it grow some. "I might have to have mine cut some myself."
Whisper snapped her head around quickly, "Don't you dare." She told him firmly, but then softened again and went to him, "Please, my love." She said more softly as she curled her fingers into it. "I like your hair longer. You know I like to play with it." And she did love it so, especially when they had found a quiet moment, or when she had fallen asleep on him, curling her fingers into it and holding on. Yet more signs she had missed in their time together....
He laughed, "Ok, I will not cut it but got to get the shaggyness cleaned up. " As the water began to cool, "Ah time to get dressed and meet our day head on again." But this time it would be vastly differnt, he was already looking forward to the time they retired.
Whisper nodded and backed off from him again. "I'll be out in a second." She told him as she reached for a bottle of conditioner. She had felt a little catch in her hair when she had rinsed the soap out. After a few minutes, she did just that and stepped from the tub, but lingered at the edge to wring out the water from the mass of hair. After that, the servants came in and Whisper stood as she always did for them to dry her down and complete her usual routine.....
Nick could not come to have servents dry him. He was use to doing it himself as well as dressing himself. But he watched them dry her hair and body. Once he was dried he found fresh clothes for him, from his apartment below. Servents had went there and brought some up. He dressed not afraid to be seen naked with them there. Once dressed he waited for the servants to dress her and for her to join him.
Whisper stood patiently as her servants finished their work. She had trusted them with this because it was one of few things she just couldn't do for herself. How could she know which way her dress sat, or if she had dried the entire mass of hair. She turned her head slightly as she felt Nick's eyes on her and she knew why. With a small sigh, she turned as directed and lifted her arms. "Don't look at me like that." She said to her beloved. "There's many things I can do that most can't, but there are also things I cannot do that others take for granted. Even if I could manage to dress myself without any problems, I'd still need help to know which end was which."....
Nick chuckled. "I was not looking at you because of that." he told her."It never ceases to amaze me how they take such care of you." He moved forward to her as they finished getting her dressed and took her into his arms. "Magnificent." he whispered in her ear. "You look stunning."
Whisper smiled and kissed his cheek, "Liar." She whispered with a small laugh, "But thank you anyway. So, my beloved, what colour have they put me in today?" The dress was an old one, one that Nick hadn't seen since they first met, the amethyst with the low cut jewelled shouders and back.....
He let her know what dress they had dressed her in. "Not lieing." he told her, 'it is the truth." Putting a hand on the small of her back he guided her out and to the elevator. "Now to see what our guest looks like and has to say."
Whisper nodded and smiled, pleased with her servants' choice. "Yes." She said, "I'd like to see him properly, so make sure his bonds are firm." She began to laugh quietly then, "I wonder what he will think of being touched by a blind vampire." She mused as they walked, "Especially if his masters are like those of old Gotham. What a shock he's about to have." She laughed some more and then sighed, still revelling, if only a little, in that old discomfort she had created in her old foes.....

[LadyRaven]

The elevator came to a stop and Nick got out bringing Whisper with him.  He woundered what the reaction would be when the prisoner saw her.  The guards opened the door to wbhat was now called the interegation room, hwere the prisoner sat his hands manacled and his feet as weel but to the floor.  He looked up at the two, his face a blank of emotion.  Even his eyes did not show fear or the slightest reaction to having a vampire in the room.  That told him he knew of them and probably was a soldier of one.   "Ladies First he told Whisper and pulled out a chair for her.
Whisper moved into the room carefully, this room being a rare occasion for her.  She followed the line of Nick's arm until she felt the back of the chair and she slowly sat down on it.  The soldier across the table lifted an eyebrow at her, wondering just what the hell was going on, but he pulled back sharply when she opened her eyes across the table.  "Hello."  Whisper offered quietly and smiled, "My name is Whisper.  What is your name?".....
The man stared at Whisper not changing his bvreathing or anything except raising his brow.  He could see that she was blind but that did not bother him at all either.  "Johnson, Terrance T, Sergeant, 55598."  he called out and then was silent.  Nick knew he had just given Whisper his name, rank and serial number.  The normal response for a prisoner of war.
Whisper nodded and smiled again, "Thank you, Terrance."  She said softly and slowly rose to her feet.  She half turned her head to Nick, "His bonds are firm, yes?"  She asked....
Nick nodded to her question.  What was she planning on doing.  He wondered how she was going to put fear into this one.
Whisper moved slowly around the table, keeping her soft smile the entire time.  She moved within reach of him and carefully reached out her hands.  At this point, the soldier became nervous and started to lean his head back and away from her.  "What the hell?"  He asked quickly.  WHisper kept her smile and tenderly touched his face.  "Stay still for me?"  She asked politely, "I promise, I won't hurt you.  I just want to see your face."  The soldier looked at Nick and continued to pull his head back from Whisper's touch.  Whisper sighed, "Nicholas, please tell this man, I won't hurt him?"  She asked....
"She only wants to find out what you look like."  Nick told the man and smiled.  As Whisper continued, "Now what is your mission here?  Who sent you?"  Nick asked.  he knew that he had probably been a part of a larger group, probably the Point Man for the squad or team that was sent to explore.
The soldier continued to look and act more nervous as Whisper tenderly began touching his face.  "Strong, defined."  She mused with that same smile, "High forehead."  As Whisper did this, she kept acareful track of his heart rate and blood pressure.  Both were rising quickly, as was his temperature.  Her fingers began to feel the faint wetness of sweat coming up through the pores of his skin.  "Black hair, but straight.  Native to the states."  Now the soldier really was getting nervous.  How could she know such things without seeing it?  At the same time, Nick was firing his questions, but he was determined not to answer.  Meanwhile, Whisper continued her imaging.  She felt several old breaks along his jawline and cheekbones on both sides, also an old injury that had broken his eye socket at the top.  Broken nose that was reset and broken again.  None of these injuries would have been known simply to look at.  "He is a fighter."  She said, "He's bean beaten consistently for years and recovered."  The soldier snapped his eyes back to Whisper and started shaking his head, "Get the fuck off me!"  He yelled, definitely unnerved now about this blind woman that he assumed was human, seeing as there was no such thing as a blind Vampire.  Plus, the fact that her touch was warm, so she couldn't possibly be a Vampire.  Obviously, she was an interrogator or a pet of the ruling Vampire Lord.  "I'll only speak to the guy in charge!"  Terrance snapped, "Not his fucking whore!"  Whisper snapped her hands away quickly and turned her blind eyes to Nick....

[LadyRaven]

Nick at the name he called her balled his fist and hit the man hard across the face, almost knocking him out of the chair.  "You never talk to her like that, Never"  his voice was filled with anger.  Then he thought of something that would frighten the man even further.  Turning to Whisper, "Perhaps a deeper reading.  I know it is frowned upon but in this case perhaps it would be necessary.  His mental state after that would not matter, as long as we got what we want from him."  He hoped that Whisper would play along with him.  The man already thought shge was a mind reader ofr something.  Putting the fear of reading his mind and damaging his brain might be enough to make him tell what he knew.

Whisper smiled and nodded and then cast her empty gaze down at the man on the floor.  She could hear the terror in his pulse and she smiled as she knelt down now.  The soldier tried to laugh through his fear, "So she's your pet then."  He laughed and shook his head, "Your little blind mouse can go digging all she likes, Vampire Lord, she won't find anything.  The one that sent me made sure nothing could break me."  Whisper lifted an eyebrow and then stood up, quite to the soldier's shock.  "Now where is your leader, Vampire Lord?  My message is for him alone."  Whisper turned her head to Nick, wondering if she should let the cat out of the bag yet, or play with him some more.....

Nick looked down at the man as if he was a Vampire Lord.  In a sence he was but he was not what one would call a vampire.  "Made sure you would not break?  Look at yourself.  Sweating, heart racing, nervous, frightened."  Nick chuckled.  "No I don't think he prepared you  for this."  he nodded to Whisper, "Begin the probe.  Perhaps this time he won't become a mindless, drooly, vegtable."

Whisper smiled and knelt back down, ready to do her 'probing'.  "He is a strong one, Sire."  She said, playing the dutiful pet to the hilt.  The soldier, whether by proxy or by genuine belief, began to throw himself around in pain in a bid to get away from the blind freakish woman.....

"Hold still, and it will not hurt as much."  Nick continued.  "Or you can tell us volentarily.  Then you might not have your mind scrambled."  The man looked up at Nick and then at Whisper,  "Alright, Alright.  Get her off of men."

Whisper instantly released the man and stood back up.  Outside the room, she could hear her Lycan's laughing, some hysterical at the show put on for the prisoner.  It hadn't been the first time she had done that by any means and the general remembered a time or two when she had even dressed up her male slave and had him play Lord.  Whisper had a knack for playing people to their fears and making them believe anything she wanted them to.  "Pray tell then, Terrance."  She asked politely, "Who sent you and why to Gotham?"  The soldier looked at her and then at Nick.....

Looking back and forth at the two, Nick plled the chair up to its upright position   "Lord Bloodthorne sent me.  According to old maps and plans this city was one that was to be taken over by his kind.  He wants to know what defense you have if any."

Whisper cocked her head to one side and then turned her gaze away slightly towards the edge of the table.  "Lord Bloodthorne."  She repeated, "Is he an Immortal, Vampire, Lycan?"  The man nodded, but obviously, Whisper couldn't see this.  "Well?"
"I just told you."  The soldier said.
Whisper sighed and shook her head, "Terrance,"  She said politely, "Either your memory has completely failed you, or are are as blind as I am."  More laughter from outside the door and it was beginning to drift.  "I need verbal answers in order to continue the questioning.  Now, Lord Bloodthorne.  What is he?"
"Pure blood."  Terrance replied, "Vampire, like your master."
Whisper smiled and nodded and then stood up, but as she turned, the smile widenned somewhat, "Nicholas is not my master."  She said quietly.  She could sense the confusion and tenderly traced her hand down Nick's arm.  She had played the game long enough and she had what she needed.  Anything else he could get out of the soldier would be a bonus.....

Looking at his uniform he saw a unit patch, with told Nick he was a part of a larger unit and if they needed to have patches to denote units that there were more units.  "I would say this Bloodthorne has an army of well trained troops.  For this one to be here, I would say it is made up of humans and not lycans."  At the mention of lycans, he saw the man's eyes widened.  "They are all dead,  The last stinking one died many years ago."  The soldier spat."

At this, Whisper smiled, "Really?"  She asked, "So you're sure every last Lycan is dead?"  She moved to the door with a smile, knowing that three very large Lycans were ready to shift form and enter at her request.  "Your leader needs some serious reeducation, Terrance."  She opened the door and the general with two of his commanders bristled their fur and growled in their throats.  "I'd like you to meet three of my best friends."
The soldier scrambled in his chair again as his eyes shot from Whisper to the Lycans and then back again, "You're no pet!"  He yelped.  Whisper's smile widenned enough to show her unique fangs, "You're...."
"A blind vampire."  She said, finishing his sentence, "And you're right, I am no pet to a Master Vampire."  She came back to the table and carefully placed her hands upon the steel top.  "I am the Master Vampire."  Now what would he make of that, she wondered.....

The mans shock was something to see.  "No it can not be.  We killed all the trators.  They rose up against the Lord and we wiped them out."  Evidently it was thought that the lycans there were the only ones that had survived.  "Not quite."  Nick said.  "Put him back in a cell and guard him well."  he then took Whisper by the arm and lead her out.  "There is still the rest of his team.  He is probably beyond the time he was to check in.  We must assume they will be close by.  We must capture them."

Whisper nodded and turned her head to her general, "I already have people looking."  He said to them both, "I'll send word to remain in their human forms."  Whisper nodded again, but then lowered her head as the soldier was dragged past them.  "Have a look through the archive, would you General?"  She asked, "See if you can find anything on this Bloodthorne, and where he came from?"  The general nodded quickly, "Right away, Lady."  He replied and Whisper turned her head back to Nick.  "Well,"  She sighed, "That was interesting."  She laughed quietly, "Was his face as shocked as his voice?".....

"Oh yes.  The look was very precious to see.  You had him scared out of his wits, and that was just from your touch."  he chuckled.  As they walked the report came in sooner then even the general had thought.  "Post nine on the wall reports movement of five individuals."  The wall looked undisturbed but with in the upper tier was a number of posts built in so that guards could watch and not have to expose themselves.  Protection from the flying lizards and being spotted by anyone or anything else.  "Keep an eye on them and send a squad out from the north west gate to get around behind them.  We will open the north gate and engage them to keep them busy."  He nodded to Whisper and headed to his bike.

Whisper nodded, "I will call the Coven and inform them of everything."  She said, "See what plans or communication we can come up with while you're distracting the soldiers."  She turned on her heel and as the doors to the lift opened, Demon arrived and gruffed to Whisper and to Nick and the General.  Whisper smiled and rubbed the hound behind his ears.  "I will take Demon with me."  She said and got into the elevator.  A few minutes later, she arrived in the Library and the other Lords arrived looking confused and worried.  She began to explain the situation.  When she mentioned Bloodthorne, Mathius lifted his head, "I know that name."  All eyes were on him.  "He was one of the original Elders, long before the war.  It was your father, Whisper, that usurped him and took power.  He boasted that he'd killed the old vampire."
"Yet more lies from my dear Dad."  Whisper said emptily, "Well now, he's looking to take Gotham.  The Sergeant said he'd been sent to test the defenses and see what armies if any we had.  He'll be expected to report back soon, I imagine.  We need a plan."....

Nick made his way to the North gate where a contengent of lycan soldiers and some human ones waited.  He took an automatic rifle from one of the lycans and took a position near the gate.  As it opened the guard at the top gave the locations and thse came upon fire as soon as the gate was opened.  This pinned the soldiers outside down as the lycans moved in behind and up towards them.  When he saw the lycans he had his soldiers cease fire.  Before they knew it the human soldiers outside were beset with a number of hairy lycans that picked them up and threw them against each other or trees.  Before long the five individuals were disarmed and being dragged to the gate, then back to the towers.

Whisper, Mathius and the others got down to hard talking as they hashed out plan after plan, only for them to be unravelled at the slighest hurdle.  They needed something solid.  Eventually, it was down to Whisper, as usual, to come up with something decent.  "We meet on neutral ground."  She said, "No one closer to their city than the other.  We find out what he wants and what he is willing to do to get it."
"You propose an alliance?"  Mathius asked.
Whisper shook her head, "Not on your life!"  She told her friend firmly, "I propose we study this man in person, up close, judge him for what he really is.  If he wants war, then we show him how futile his cause will be.  I learned from the soldier that they have no Lycans.  His forces are primarily human.  That gives us the advantage from the get-go.  Plus, we can fight around the clock.  His humans won't be able to do that.  But, if he wants an alliance, or trade, then we should consider it.  There hasnt been trade with another city for more than a century, not since the war in fact."
"Then it is settled."  Mathius said.  Just then, word came in about the troupe caught at he North Gate.  Mathius nodded and leaned over to touch Whisper's arm and let her know.
"I heard."  She said the second she felt his touch.  She nodded, then smiled, "Oh, an before I forget, thank you for the gifts and congratulations.  The apartment now smells like a florist's shop."  The others laughed before they left and Whisper followed Mathius out.  They all went towards Whisper's Tower, Central.  All the Lords entered, but remained behind Whisper.  She was still their leader, at least until Nick entered the room.  As they did enter the holding area, all the Lords bowed to Nick and Whisper was all but forgotten for the moment.  Mathius was the first to step forward and he nodded his head, rather than bowed.  "You've been successful, my Lord."  He said with respect, "Have they said anything yet?".....

"Not yet."  he chuckled.  "They need to wake up first.  They didn't expect the strong arms of lycans."  The general ginned at that.  Thirty years he had become a very close friend of Nick's.  The five soldiers, three men and two women were drug into the tower and placed in cells.  Lukus came with books some looking very old.  "Bloodthorne.  Indeed he was an elder before the war.  One of the archetecs of the rise of the Vampires.  Our father was his second in command but it looked like he wanted power and took control, forcing Bloodthorne to go into hiding.  Evidently when the war went bad, he may have resurfaced and took power in the city to the north."  Lukus was scribbling things down to update the history and lienage of the older vampires.

Whisper listened from the back wall at everything being said and she nodded in understanding.  It made sense her father's sharp rise to power and the turmoil that it had caused.  "What else do we know about him?"  Mathius asked, genuinely surious now.  He'd known a few things, but not much more than what he'd already stated.  Lukus went through more pages before nodding quickly to his brothers who came in with their own generals.  Dravin nodded his head to Whisper and kissed the back of her hand tenderly before he came forward.  "I've doubled the guard all around the wall, Sire."  He said to Nick, "And I'll keep the shift of Lycans when the vampires come on duty to shore up any patches and we could really use Demon, Sire.  His nose is second to none, well, except my sister.".....

"That you will have to take uip with her.  What about demons offspring.  They have the same sence of smell as Demon?"  Lukus then rad back some more.  "He was an elder in when the pureblood vampires ere scattered and hidden.  He sparked the intrest in creating an army of vampires and lycans to take control of the humans and rule over them.  Any that stood in his way he had eliminated.  After your father took control he vanished.  He was a real hard ass back then and I imagine is the same today."

Dravin looked to Whisper, who simply smiled and nodded back.  Dravin smiled also, "She consents."  He said, "Though technically, it's up to you now.  As her husband, she gives up her rights to you, Sire, didn't you know that?"  Once again, Whisper simply smiled and dropped her head slightly to one side.  She would happily step aside if he wanted her to and one day, she would have to anyway.  As Lukus was reading, Mathius began to nod in understanding, "That's right."  He said, "I remember the fight.  Bloodthorne very nearly won over Damascus, but he failed somehow.  I'm not quite sure, it was all rather hush hush at the time.  No doubt he will learn soon that the name continues and will want revenge on his bloodline."  Whisper's face cleared of emotion then, believing that she would have to pick up a blade for more than just shaving Nick's chin.....

He looked over at Whisper and her smile.  He raised a brow when he was told he now was the Supreme Lord, First Lord or what ever they wanted to call him.  She had known that all along.  He shook his head.  Well for thirty years she had lead and now it was his turn.  He gave his concent to use Demon and then asked what plans had been made.  He listened and shook his head.  "This one sounds as if it is all or nothing.  He would not want an truce or alliance.  If he could not take Gotham by force he would reduce ti to nothing if he could.  I doubt that the prisoners will give up details of their defenses or how strong their forces are.  We will have to inturn do what they did, but with a bit mor stealth."

Mathius nodded, "Whisper did have a fine idea though, Sire."  He said, "She suggested we meet him on neutral ground, judge him up close and personal to see what he's really made of.  To hash out a few finer details, you could place the Lycans at strategic points in the firest to block any escape if he decides to welch, and some in the vampire ranks if he decides to attack?"....

Whisper came forward then and lifted her head somewhat, "As far as we know, my love."  She chimed in, "Bloodthorne has no Lycans, hasn't had for some years.  The soldier, when I opened the door was truly terrified to see them, wasn't he.  It could be prudent to think Bloodthorne could have the same reaction if he was to learn the truth if he attacked.  It is doubtful any of his army will have seen one alive during their servitude and I've already discovered from the first soldier how badly he had been beaten for years.  We could play our kindness to an advantage.  Even perhaps turn his own people against him?"....

"Turn them against him will not be hard.  The soldiers will be harder.  Only the strong survive in his army.  Also I bet he has them all brainwashed on the idea of being turned if they are good boys and girls.  Immortality is a powerful incentive.  We should keep the knowledge of our lyans a secret.  It will give us the uper hand I think if the time comes.  But we must prepare for an attack, just in case."

All the Lords nodded, "And I'd like if possible, to keep all our handlers up front with the hounds."  Dravin said, "Demon most of all.  If you do meet him on open ground, I want you all protected."  Whisper nodded in agreement, "A show of force without actually showing them anything."  She offered softly, "Let the man have a sense of security.  He will be more likely to show his hand then if he thinks our armies are backed up by hellhounds alone.  As for the soldiers, the hounds will perhaps give them a little pause for thought?  Even more so perhaps if Whisper is willing to play a little game with the Lord?"  Dravin said.

"What game is that Dravin?"  Nick asked.  There were many things she could do and play parts for.  She had done well earlier and she could do it again if necessary.

Dravin smiled, but it was sly and almost dangerous, a look that Whisper had held many times over the years.  "It wasn't that long ago, that the general belief was that an imperfect vampire was useless, worthless, barely worth a mention, yes?"  At her brother's side, Whisper narrowed her eyes somewhat, but she understood where he was going with it.  "And she had every last one of us on our knees because we couldn't see the truth.  Bloodthorne comes from that very same generation of ignorant fuckers."  Whisper lifted her brow in shock at her brother's comment, but Dravin carried on regardless.  "So why don't we use what she did for so long?"  Clearly, the shrewd and dangerous mind was genetic, or Dravin had been taking careful notes over the years.  Whisper smiled, "Of course."  She said, "Offer me up as the sacrifice of the Damascus line.  He'd see me as the last of the line and his thinking would be what a worthless girl his ignorance would demand.  My dear brother, you are positively cruel."  She grinned.....

"Could work.  He won't know who he is dealing with."  he smiled at Whisper.  Play the poor helpless, blind vampire.  He would be in for one big surprise.  He knew what she was capable of and if she could do what she had to her father, well then things would really get interesting.  "so first see what he had for an army.  If he comes here we make our play."

The Lords nodded again and Whisper went back to the back wall to listen.  "We can't send the soldier back that Whisper has spoken to."  The general said quickly, "But the others haven't seen her yet.  Send them back to give their report, but let them find the other one's body somewhere, torn up.  Those flying lizards are partial to human, we all know that.".....

He knew of no other way, so he gave his permission to do so.  But a pack of his best trackers and lycans would be folliwing them to find out what they could.  "Release them in the morning with a message the message that we wish to talk, directly to their Lord and arrange a meeting."

The general nodded before nodding to his comanders.  They instantly left to do as bid and the general returned his attentions to Nick and Whisper, "I trust you know what you are doing, Lady Night."  The Lycan said carefully.  Whisper nodded, "I do."  She replied smoothly.  The general turned his eyes back to Nick again and he shook his head, dropping his voice right down, though it was rather pointless, "One hair on her head."  He promised, "I swear Sire, one hair gets hurt..."  Ever the fierce and loyal friend he had been since his sudden promotion those years back....

"You will have to beat me to it old friend."  he told the general and patted him on the shoulder.  He was a loyal soldier to both him and Whisper.  Nick then placed an arm around Whisper and took her back to the elevator."What if he doesn't take the bait?"  he asked her.

"Then we adjust."  Whisper replied smoothly as she felt down the line of buttons and pressed the right one.....

He turned her to him in the elevator and kissed her.  "Into the lions den."  he said and held her close.  "This should prove interesting."

Whisper put her head to his chest and smiled at his beating heart, "And out the devil's arse."  She said, "And most certainly interesting."....

The prisoners were released and the first one taken had been taken out and let loose close to a nest of the flying lizards.  It was not long before his screams were heard.  Also they made sure that the others would have to pass by the spot on their way back home.  The story they were given when they had came to was that they had been attacked by wild beasts and had been rescued by the soldiers of the city.  Even though they had come to spy on them they were letting them go and given the message.  Mean while Nick was enjoying his time with Whisper in the penthouse.

Whisper listened from her balcony as the flying lizards took theit time in killing the soldier.  It was unfortunate, but necessary so she didn't dwell on it.  After that, she went back into the penthouse and smiled as she began turning ehr head slightly, picking up on Nick's heartbeat.  Having shared the bath, he smelled very similar still to her and all the flowers and scented boxes were distracting, so she relied on her ears.  Eventually, she found him lounging on the long chair and siddled up to him.  "As much as I like flowers, I think I may have to leave them elsewhere."  She said, "I can barely smell anything in here.".....

He laughed.  "Yes they are a bit overpowering.  To many of them."  Drawing her to him he kissed her neck and shoulders.  "Perhaps send them downstairs to my appartment.  It seemed the servents had already brought up all his clothing and personale effects.  "I think everyone has already decided I am moving in here for good.'  he chuckled.

Whisper laughed and then sighed softly as he kissed at her neck and shoulders and then laughed again as he mentioned his moving upstairs with her.  "I should hope so."  She told him as she kissed at his temple, "After thirty years of pussy-footing around, do you honestly think I'd keep you living downstairs?"....

Yes that would have been kind of dumb to do.  But with a simple call to a servent the flowers began dissapearng and the air was more clear.  Food was brought up as well as blood for Whisper.  To the south old farms had been found and fortified.  People lived out there and farmed the land with guards about to protect them from creatures.  Some animals were brought in to be bred and raised.  The city had fresh vegetables and meat.  Thing were looking up for the city and Nick meant to keep it that way.

Whisper settled down with Nick as the flowers were taken away and fresh food and drink was brought to them.  Also included was a warm decanter for Whisper and she went to that first.  She poured out a glass of it and drank it down quickly so it wouldn't linger in front of Nick.  He didn't drink blood, he didn't need to for some reason.  Whisper did, but only rarely, but she still didn't like having to do it in front of him.  She finished the decanter quickly and then plated up some food and a glass of his favourite liquor.  Along with everything else her people had found in his old home, they had come across several crates of the Jim Beam that he loved.  It was now in proper storage in the basement.  She came back to him with the glass and platter and sat down with him.  She smiled as she handed him the glass.....

Sipping the drink a bit he slelected pieces of the food on the plate and began eating.  All was delicious and the knowledge it was from their own farms was even more satisfactory.  He felt relaxed and now with Whisper at his side contented.  If not for the knowledge of the other city with a Vampire Lord that wanted to rule their city, everything would have been perfect.  Leaning over with his drink in hand he kissed her lips.

Whisper smiled and kissed him back before snatching his drink and she took a sip of it before handing it back.  She then plucked a strawberry from the platter, felt it to make sure and then popped it into her mouth, severing the stalk.  "Mmm."  She sighed, "This year's crop is even better than last years.  Mmmm, so good."....

"They are now expert farmers.  They have mastered their methods of growing things.  If we ever do get a real trade going, we will have some products that will be in high demand."  Yes he was proud of the people, all of them. The had come al long way in thrity years.  Most of the old generation was gone and a younger one was out there, but they took over from their parents and everything was gooing good.  "It would will be a while before the lycans return with their report.  Time to relax a bit and enjoy life."

"Let's hope so."  She said as she plucked up another strawberry and turned to face Nick.  She felt around his chin and jaw for his mouth and carefully put the strawberry to his lips.  Her own lips moved as though she was tasting it with him and in some sense, she was.  The sheer aroma of it was making her mouth water.  "One thing though."  She offered and let her head drop to one side, "I realise I may have put you on the spot earlier, or rather, my darling brother did it for me."....

[questor]

He chuckled, "You could have warned me about that before it happened." He had not really wanted to be the Lord of the city. But it looked as if there was no way out of it now. The others seemed to accept it all and with good cheer. He had a feeling that they saw how difficult it was to maintain order and keep on good terms with everyone. He didn't think they had thought of that before and now saw that what they were doing suited them just fine. They had power and control and most importantly, the respect of those under them. That was something they really didn't have before, not the genuine respect. They eat it up and it made them feel even better about their positions.

"So Lady Night, how does it feel to have the weight of the world lifted from your shoulders."

Below the general was preparing the team that would follow the other soldiers back to their city. Each had a motorcycle that had been reclaimed from those that were usable in the the city. They would follow at a discrete distance where the motors would not be heard. It was soon seen that the soldiers had left simalar bikes a good distance from Gotham themselves and were soon weaving their way through the abandoned cars till the road was empty of them or nearly empty of them.

[LadyRaven]

Whisper smiled as she stared just over his shoulder and carefully reached up and traced her thumb over his jaw to his earlobe.  "Yes, I should have warned you."  She admitted, "Though, in my defence, after thirty years of vampire culture, I imagined that you might have had an idea of it already.  It doesn't excuse what I did though and I'm sorry."  She smiled then and nodded, "It feels good to hand the power over."  She told him, "I never wanted it to begin with, Nicholas.  It was a compromise on my part for the peace that we ended up having.  I am proud of what we achieved, but this kind of thing was never mine to have."  She had said the very same thing thirty years previously.  "I have always preferred being behind the scenes, you know this."  Her smile widened somewhat and she leaned up to kiss his cheek, "Besides, you always were the one in charge.  It was always you that dictated my decisions, one way or another.  I just used my wiles to make it happen."  In other words, she was telling him that they had always been a team and she was happy to give up the lead to him.  "Besides, I would have to give up public life at some point anyway, as any pureblood woman would once connected with her mate.  So you'd be taking up the mantel eventually anyway."  She kissed his cheek softly and then reached back again for more food.....

[questor]

He could not but chuckle at her explanation. But it was indeed true, he had been the ones giving the ideas and she made sure they got done. Now he would be the one getting things done. "Well I am not letting you just sit on the side lines. You are going to be right there helping me." he told her. "Like you said we are a team and we work well like that." He was hoping there would be more days and nights like it.

In Mathus' Tower the other lords and Whisper's brothers relaxed and talked. All were laughing at the surprise look on Nick's face when Darius had blurted out the news. "Well what he told me thirty years ago showed he had no idea of what would happen. So strange he didn't know that. He must have lived an isolated life before he made his presence known."

Darius shook his head. "Well it was a good thing that he did come forward. If not we all might not be here." there were murmurs of agreement from the other lords.

In what was now called the Command Center on the third floor, the General and a select few monitored radio frequencies of the guards in the wall about the city, police, and those of the team. Extra guards had been posted and the farms to the south had been reinforced. He sat back in a high back office chair and looked up at the ceiling, a smile on his lips. "One day, hopefully soon there will be a little Lord running around." he mumbled.

[LadyRaven]

Whisper smiled and nodded, "As you wish, my Lord."  She said coyly.  She scooted away a little and then pulled him down the chair somewhat by the loops on his belt.  She then sidled back up and sat astride his lap.  She leaned over and kissed him lovingly as she made herself comfortable there, "I hope we'll remain a good team."  She told him, "But I'm no fool to think it will be like this always.  There will be times when we might both regret coming together, but I hope those moments are fleeting, for I do love you, and I believe I have for the last thirty years."

In Mathius' tower, he and Dravin continued to talk.  Dravin nodded and laughed, "I believe so."  He said, "Though from the conversations Whisper and I have had about him, it wasn't always so.  When my father sent him to kill her, he was all for it.  He hated vampires for killing his then lover.  But, from what she told me, he had the clearest chance she could give him, but he couldn't do it."
"He did?"  Lukus asked.
Dravin nodded, "In the old hunting grounds.  He had a clear shot and she even put her arms out to let him, but he missed."
"Nicholas Night never misses his target."  Mathius said firmly, "That was what made him so dangerous."
Dravin nodded, "Indeed, but this time, he did.  I asked him about it once and he confirmed it.  He just couldn't kill her."
"And that's why he never had a clue what hit him."  Mathius said with a laugh, "Though, when it comes to Whisper, one rarely sees her coming either.  It hit her just as hard, I think."
"Harder."  Lukus said.  "I remember she was so focused on what she needed to do, she really was blind when it came to him.  I thought they'd never see each other at one point."
"Well."  Mathius said, "They have now, so we need to make sure Nick is made as welcome as ever and a contingent in place for when Whisper needs him."
All the Lords nodded, "Do you think it will take long?"  Hector asked.
Lukus shook his head, "No, I don't think it will take long."  He replied.
"But there are other things that need tending to first."  Mathius said carefully, "Whisper's plan is to meet Bloodthorne on open ground and be offered as the sacrifice for the Damascus bloodline.  I know Whisper and I know Nick.  Neither would put their unborn child in danger like that, especially Nick.  The very second he suspects she's pregnant, he won't allow the plan to go ahead."
"Then it's up to Whisper not to let it happen beforehand."  Dravin said, "But just in case, what do we have as a plan b?"

In the command centre, the general's second commander entered the office and grinned, "You look whistful, General."  He said, noting the relaxed manner his senior was emitting. 
"Just wondering."  The general said with that same smile on his lips.
The commander laughed and shook his head, "Wondering what?"
"Nothing."  The general said, righting himself in the chair.  "What can I do for you, Commander."
The commander grinned, "Your wife is on her way over.  She said it was important."
The general furrowed his brow, "Oh?"
The commander shrugged his shoulders, "She wouldn't tell me, only you."
The general nodded, "Ok, thanks."  He said and got out of his chair.

A few minutes later, the general's wife arrived in the lobby of the building and was sent up to her husband's office.  He smiled to her as she entered the office and sat on his desk.  "Now, what is so important you needed to come all the way over here?"  He asked.
"I have some news, Husband."  The female told him with a smile and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
The general's eyes went wide and he caught his breath in his throat.  "You're sure?"  He asked and then looked at her with pride.  Along with the females in the den that would be pupping this year, his wife would be among them.  This year was turning out to be an incredible one for all......

[LadyRaven]

Nick let her move him in to reclining position and straddle him.  He ran his hands up and down her body as she sat there.  They didn't know what was going on below but it was still all over everywhere else.  The general could not have looked prouder and happier.  Many were the slaps on the back and congradulations.  The news soon reached the penthouse floor and the servents there.  There was alot of giggling and laughter as they talked about it.  Of course the subject of Whisper and her getting pregnant was also brought up.

Whisper smiled and curled her fingers into his hair as she sighed at his touch.  "You always make my skin tingle when you do that."  She told him softly and then turned her head towards the door.  She heard the giggling and soft speaking and she smiled again, turning her head back to Nick, "I do believe the general's mate will be joining the pupping this year."  She told him.  What was said about her didn't go unnoticed either, but she kept that part quiet.  They had things to do first....

Nick chuckled and nodded.  "Well that will be good."  he said and thought about Whisper.  Pure bloods could have children and there were only a few pureblood females left in the city.  His mind went back thirty years when he was killing them instead of trying to save them.  He was one of them even though he was differnt.  He came back and looked up at Whisper.  Would they have a child or more then one.  What of the other city?  If they were to grow and reamin a steading force they had to have children.  "What else are they saying?"  he asked her.

Whisper leaned forward again and leaned her forehead on his shoulder tenderly.  She knew he would find out either way, so was honest with him, "They are talking about me."  She said, "About us and when you will have me expecting too."  She sat back up a little and put her cheek to his before kissing it softly....

He kissed her back and grinned.  "Well  now when it happens it happens I guess.  I don't think we can control that.  Though they still had things to do before they could seriously think about that.  But if it happened it happened.   "I bet that is the talk of the entire coven."  he chuckled and kissed her again.

Whisper chuckled back and nodded as he kissed her, "Indeed it is."  She told him, "They will be planning for it, but we have much to do before we can start thinking towards children."  She smiled softly, "But I have no doubt at all you will be the talk of Gotham when it happens.  After what the Coven did when they learned we had come together, I fully expect them to treat you like a God, if they don't already.".....

He shook his head.  "Now that I don't want to happen."    He would lead but to be considered above them, that was not what he would want or have.  He wrapped his arms around her and drew her down to him and kissed her deeply.

Whisper kissed him back and moved as he wanted her.  "It will happen regardless."  She told him between kisses.  "You are the High Lord of Gotham now and you have claimed the Lady that would never be tamed.  You have done what they could not and for that, they will give you the respect it demands."  She moved her hips just a little as she felt herself beginning to slide down his legs...

He sighed and knew she had a point.  "Well I am not going to let it go to their head, and not going to let it go to mine."  Again he chuckled, "Being unpredictable has always been something that has been my best skill.  Confused you and now look what it has brought me."  As she moved down he looked at her, "Mmmmm I think you have something on your mind."

Whisper laughed and nodded, "Indeed."  She told him, "And what a merry dance it has led us on so far."  She moved her hips again and then smiled, "For you, there will always be something on my mind."  She said coyly, "But next time I sit in your lap, I should lift my skirts over first.  Sitting on them, I'm sliding around."  That being so, she lifted up slightly and pulled the mass of silk from under her and let it drop down around instead.  It left her exposed to him, but she didn't care.  She knew how much he loved it.....

As she moved her dress from under her he moved a hand down and under the dress a to her hips.nd slid his hand up her bare leg to her hips.  "Mmmmm now that is better"  he told her.  He moved it over her skin and felt the warmth.

Whisper sighed softly as she felt his hands slide up her legs to her bare hips and she smiled lovingly at him.  She could feel his manhood beginning to press against the confines of his trousers and she smiled at him, "I think you should take me to bed again."  She whispered in his ear, "Before you start to ache.".....

He laughed and sat up and swung his legs to the side and stood up, placing his hands on her ass to hold her and began walking towards the bed, "My thoughts exactly."

Whisper locked her fingers behind Nick's neck and smiled as he lifted her up and carried her towards the bed.  She also locked her ankles behind his hips so she was anchored firmly.  Once at the bed, she unlocked her ankles and dropped from him.  She backed up a step and carefully removed her dress.  It dropped to the floor around her feet and she backed up further until she felt the bed behind her.  She could hear Nick's heart beginning to thud loudly again as her own did and she carefully hitched herself up the bed and beckoned to him.....

As she let her dress fall and backed up to the bed, he was already removing his clothes and soon joined her naked, on the bed.  "You know we are tempting fate here."  he told her.  From what they had just been discussing, he knew that the more they enjoyed each other the more chance there was for her to be with child.

Whisper nodded as he came to her and she laid back into the bed under him.  "Yes we are."  She admitted, though they were more than just tempting fate, but there was no way she could deny him.  Even before they had come together, she could never deny him anything.  But nothing Whisper did ever happened without a plan in mind.  She knew where she was in her menses, so knew she wasn't at her most fertile just yet and the chances were that news would arrive from the general soon and their plan would be put into action.  She would be away from him then, so it looked slightly doubtful that she would conceive right away.  Besides, she knew Nick would never allow the plan to go ahead if he even suspected such.....

[LadyRaven]

Nick moved on to the bed and crawled up to her side and gently caress her bdoy with his hands.  He knelt and kissed her stomach and moved down instead of up.  He moved a hand between her legs and rubbed her pussy and clit.

Whisper closed her eyes and pushed her head back into the pillow as she felt his kisses move down and parted her legs willingly to his teasing.  As his fingers brushed over her sensitive bud, she sucked in her breath and gripped at the sheets at her sides.  Her back arched outward and she lifted her knee higher.....

Grinning he moved between her legs and parted the lips of her pussy and began flicking his toung over the tender, wet flesh beneath them.  He felt her body move and seen her clench at the sheets.  He knew she wanted it and he was determined to give her what she wanted.

Whisper's head pressed further into the pillow and her back arched deeper at the teasing touch of his tongue.  Her mouth opened wide as she battled to take in breath.  Her nails dug in deep into the sheets and she gathered up handsfulls of it in tight fists, "Oh, my love!"  She gasped.....

He raised his head a moment, "You like that?"  he asked her then went back to it.  After a few minutes he slowly kissed his way up her body to her tits and squeezed them as he suckled on them.

Whisper couldn't do anything but gasp her pleasure.  Oh, she definitely enjoyed it, especially the way he had done it.  Her core began to ache as he continued, but then stopped and started kissing his way up her form.  Already, her body was covered in a sheen of sweat and her heart was thudding louder than ever.  As he moved further up her, kissing and suckling at her breasts, she locked her fingers into his hair and pulled him the rest of the way up her, lifting her knees and hips to meet his manhood with urgent need.  She kissed him passionately.....

She pulled him up and his hard cock was throbing and he was definately wanting to feel her around it.  Moving a hand down , he guided it up to her pussy and eased it in, then thrust himsefl all the way up inside her.

Once again, Nick had robbed her of breath and she clung to him as she arched her back once more and lifted her hips to meet his thrust, taking him straight to her core.....

He felt her raise her hips to meet him and then he slowy began to move his hips to move in and out of her.  Slowly he moved, enjoying the feeling of her around his hard cock.  "Now that feels good."

Whisper couldn't answer him, she had no breath to do so.  As he began his pace, she matched him, gasping in as he thrust and she hung onto him.  He felt so good inside her and she felt him touch and then press right against her core a number of times, bringing her to claimax quickly more than once.  Each time, she tried to scream and cry out, but all she could manage were soft, but sharp sighs, but her body told him plenty....

A little at a time he began to increase his rythem, thrusting up inside her now and then to bury himself deeper and deeper.  He felt her climax again and again.   He was beathing hard and the sheen of sweat now covered his body.  He continued on until he felt himself ready and rammed himself up hard inside her and held himself there as he unloaded his seed in her.

Whisper let go of the sheets to dig her nails into his slick flesh as his pace increased and she lifted her knees higher to his ribs as he pushed deeper and harder into her.  Each thrust brought a small cry and she clung to him as she felt him push harder against her core.  She could feel his heart thudding berhind his ribs, same as hers and she felt the heat rise in her before it exploded again in a very powerful climax just as he seeded her.  Arching her hips just that little bit higher, she felt him press hard against her core and she felt the sting of the pressure and the heat of his seed.  "Oh, my love!"  She cried again as she pressed her knees to his ribs, holding him in a vice like grip....

[LadyRaven]

Finding her lips he kissed her deeplay as she clung to him and locked her legs about him.  Breaking the kiss and catching his breath, "Making up for lost time."

Whisper kissed him back breathlessly and then nodded, "Thirty years worth."  She told him as she lifted her hips that one last time, "I think you are too."....

He nodded his head and chuckled.  "Yes I think that is very true."   They did have alot to make up and more then just sex.

Whisper leaned her head up and kissed him lovingly as she relaxed her body and let his full weight press her into the bed, "I could stay like this forever with you."  She said softly, "Just to feel you on me like this." She traced her fingers down his neck and then around to his shoulder and back again....

He didn't want to move or get up either.  They had alot of time yet.  Nothing to do for several hours and then just routine stuff.  Stuff that could wait if they wanted.  But he did move off of her and pulled her close to him, letting one hand move over her body.  And stay like that for a few hours they did.  Just enjoying each other's closeness and again enjoying each other.
Those hours after were spent in absolute bliss for Whisper.  She felt utterly lost in him as they enjoyed each other both passionately and tenderly.  Although, she did close the curtains around her bed after one of the servants had come in and inadvertantly saw far more than she should have.  No doubt that would get the gossip going again full swing, but Whisper didn't care about that.  All she could hear, feel, smell and taste was Nick and that was all she wanted to.  The final time, thoroughly exhausted then, Whisper finally fell asleep on her beloved and the silence from both inside and out only enhanced the bliss Whisper was in.....

The team reported in when they reached the other city.  It was not a walled city, but the forest had been pushed back quite a bit and farms had been built around the city.  It was not in the same shape as Gotham but work was being done.  It was reported that it looked like Blackthorne had just gotten control.  The team stayed away and used binoculars to observe.  They could not get a good look at the interior of the city, nor what the exact strength of the army was.  They saw that the people in the fields looked to be enslaved and forced to do the labor.  It was probably true in the city as well.  They made a camp and kept watch.  Three to four weeks later ws the first indication that some form of response was being made.  A company of soldiers was formed up and placed into trucks and a large Vampire lord entered a vehicle that was completely blacked out.  This they reported back to the command center.  Meanwhile at Gotham the little hellhound pup shadow was up and about and following Nick everywhere.  It seemed like he had taken a likeing to him and didn't want to be away from him except for feeding time.

Before Whisper could blink, it seemed, weeks had passed and things had progressed incredibly well.  Shadow, the new pup was up and about, following his new master everywhere.  Yes, Shadow had made himself Nick's companion.  Regular reports had com in about the other city and soon enough, word was reaching back about the layout, the style and the people of the place.  During the afternoon, while Whisper was tending to Herra and Demon, word arrived about an approaching convoy from the North.  A commander came up to the penthouse level and bowed his head to Nick before scowling at Shadow, who promptly cocked his lega nd peed up the commander's boot.  The Lycan was not impressed.  "Sire, I have news from the North."  He said as he shook his boot free of the piddle.  Inside, Whisper picked up a brush to offer Herra a little grooming time when suddenly, her stomach turned over.  Feeling the bile rise sharply, she dropped everything and stumbled into the bathroom.  Herra and Demon quickly followed her, guiding her to the toilet and Whisper threw up violently.....

Nick sighed as Shadow peed on the Commander's boots.  He squated down and took the pups head in his hands and looked at the hell hound.  "No!"  he said.  "You don't do that."  Shadow cocked his head to one side and looked at him as if asking "Why."  Nick shook his head and hugged the hellhound pup.  "Because I said not to."  He then saw Whisper rushe to the bathroom and heard her throwing up.  Again he shook his head.  He knew what that meant.  He had seen it in others in the thrity years.  Oh and the servents also noticed, their eyes going wide and running to see if they could be of any help, all the while looking at each other with knowing looks.
The commander shook his boot again and returned his attention back to Nick, "Sire, there's a convoy moving down from the North.  Initial reports say that it's Blackthorne."  He said carefully and then turned his head towards the door as he heard Whisper in the bathroom.  "Sire?".....

"Not a word about that."  he told the commander.  He would have to have a word with the servent girls as well about it.  "Could be that she had something that did not agree with her, so lets not get every one excited."  he told the commander, even though he was himself.  "Let them come on and put our plan into operation. "  They would let the convoy come and the troops dismount.  They had built bunkers in the forest to protect troops from the animals but to also house soldiers for the plan.  They would be behind the other troops and Nick would have others in front of them and up on the walls.

The commander nodded, but as he left, he peered around the door again just to make sure.  After several attempt to wretch, Whisper was finally done and she returned fromt he bathroom looking a little better and feeling better also.  She swilled her mouth with water and then drank the rest before she returned to grooming Herra.  Because of the noise she had made and the suddeness of it, she hadn't heard what had been said and so didn't react to what was going on.  The servants that were floating around the room also gave looks of concern and suspicion and one actually left to have a private word with Nick.  "Sire."  She whispered, "I don't mean to alarm you, but Ma'am has just been quite sick.  As far as I know, there has been nothing abnormal about any food she's taken recently."....

Nick smiled and said, "Well lets not start spreading rumors.  Tell everyone not to say anything."  He looked sternly at her and she could see he meant every word and  that there would be consequences if his orders were not obeyed.  She nodded and went back to the others to tel them and there was no more talk about it.  But Nick moved over to where Whisper was, shadow following behind him, and asked her.  "Are you alright?"

Whisper steadied her her hand withe brush as it began to shake and she coughed in her throat as Nick came to her.  She heard his voice, but for some reason, it sounded far away.  "Yes."  She lied, "Some bad blood or something."  She shook her head again and continued to brush Herra's fur thoroughly.  She still felt a little dizzy and dazed, but otherwise, she looked better than she did.  Behind her, Demon lifted his head a little higher and nudged at Nick.  he knew she was lying.....

Nick petted Demons head and nodded.  He had a feeling she was not telling him the truth.  He smiled though and pretended to belive her.  "Well it looks as if Blackthorne is almost here with a company of troops.  We will be putting the plan into effect as soon as he gets here.  Probably by nightfall."

Whisper nodded and carefully stood up.  Her balance was off and it showed as she turned.  She half walked, half felt her way towards Nick and handed him the brush, "Then I'd best get myself ready."  She told him quietly....

He placed a hand on her shoulder and asked her again.   "You sure you are alright?"

Whisper faltered further and visibly clung to Nick.  She really couldn't hide it any longer and shook her head, "No Nicholas, I'm not."  She finally admitted.  "I feel dizzy and disorientated and the floor feels uneven."  She shook her head again, "I really hope it passes.  We can't afford to change the plan at such short notice."  She remained close to him, her hands gripping his shirt tightly and she felt sick again.  Something in the room smelled incredibly foul.  "What is that stink?"  She asked....

He put his arms around her to steady her.  When asked what smelled. he looked down at Shadow and then back at where he peed on the commander's boots.  "Shadow was a bad boy, a bit earlier and peed on the commander's boots."  There was something for what she had but he didn't quite know what if was.   Perhaps one of the servents might.  "First we need to find something to easy that stomach of yours."

Whisper nodded and shut her eyes tight, "Yes please."  She asked quietly, but the smell seemed to get worse for her and she soon felt her stomach turning over a third time, "Oh God!"  She cried and turned away from Nick.  Thankfully, she still had sense enough to know which way she was facing and raced for the bathroom again.  Perhaps if she got it all up, she would feel better.  After a few minutes, one of the servants arrived with some stomach salts and some fresh blood for Whisper and she looked to Nick with worry, "Sire, I've never seen ma'am look so bad.  Are you sure she's ok?"  She asked as she handed over the blood and salts.....

"Well it might be what we think.  I have never seen what a pure blood goes through when they are with child, so I am not sure.  Also I figure none of you have seen it either.  Might be differnt then what a human or lycan goes through.  But still nothing is said about it outside these rooms, under stand?"

The servant nodded and turned to leave as Whisper came back out of the bathroom again and leaned heavily against the door frame.  Once again, she looked better for emptying the nastiness, but her balance was still very much off.  Demon went to her, but as soon as she let go of the doorframe, she nearly fell and demon had to get out of the way to stop being trampled on.  On the other side of Nick, another servant stared at Whisper with worry.  "No wonder they only have one child, if that's what they have to go through all the time."  She said without thinking.  At this, Whisper lifted her head sharply and shook it.  "I can't be."  She said quickly, "We have too much to do and I've bled already."  And she had, but it had been unusually light.....

[questor]

Nick Put an arm about her shoulders. "Can't be and Is, well now, I believe that no mater what we think, or do, if something is going to happen it will. Turning her slowly to face him he kissed her fore head. "If it is what we think and feel it is." He pulled her close to him. He took a deep breath and let it out. "You are going to be a mother and I am going to be a very proud father."

The servants were smiling and whispering. Even Demon seemed to know what was happening and seemed to be grinning as he sat watching everything, even shadow sat by Nick and looked up at Whisper wagging his tail. "But this I think is going to change things with Blackthorne. Oh he knew she was going to argue the matter and he knew he would probably lose the arguement, so he didn't say the whole thing was out the door, but had to be changed some.

Are you going to be able to make it down to greet our guest?" he asked her. It would not look good if she began throwing up around every one. He didn't want her looking bad infront of the others and especially Blackthorne.

[LadyRaven]

Whisper nodded and took some deep breaths before taking the water and salts from the servant.  She drank it down slowly and instantly felt better for doing so.  She looked better also.  "I'll be fine."  She told him and this time, it looked likely she was right.  "However, I'm not about to be thrown from the plan for such a small problem, so don't even think about it.  The plan goes ahead." 

She finished the salts and handed the glass back before standing independently.  She was a little wobbly still, but at least she had some balance back.  "Until it's all confirmed, we need to keep to what we've decided."  She turned her head to the servant and tried to smile.  "Please will you find me some fitting clothing?  I need to look the part."
"Yes Lady, right away."  The servant said and quickly disappeared into the dressing room to find something...

(sorry it's short, couldn't think)

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