Looking for the Manor

She shrugged and took a careful sip of her coffee. It was hot and she felt comforted by the warmt of the liquid, sure it wasn't as filling as good blood, but that was another thing, she didn't drink it to fill her unger, she drinked it because she felt like it.

"Its alright, I didn't take a shine to it the first time I tried it either." She said.

She thought about what to answer to what he had said. After all, she didn't do anything about the whole lot of young vampires and fledgelings roaming around in what was her territory, but she had a plan to get them all under her wing in one way or another. She wasn't keen on killing them, though she might do an exception for that young vampire named Percy.

"Misunderstandings would not do well for either of us." She agreed. "You probably could have roamed around without retribution on your part if you were proven not to have known the rules surounding such actions, but I can see that it is not the case."

She put her cup on the table and looked at him.

"Most vampires around here are young, fledgelings at best, most have grown up as humans and have been abandoned by their sires, I can't very well make them responsible for not knowing what real vampire life is like, Heck, I saw a seven year old turned vampire..." She told.

The thought of such a young child beingturned was distressing, usually they waited for adulthood because children had more trouble understanding consequences of being a vampire. Born vampires were different, they at least were born with the instincts, not just turned out of the blue...

"Most older vampires come to see me though, well, there are allways the loners... but thats another thing alltogether." Rayana told, she had been thinking about percy in that last sentence.

He was 400, he should have known, but since she had established that little coven of hers not that long ago, she could understand some of it. It didn't mean she was happy with it though... Far from it. Some of those young vampires lacked respect.

She gave a gaze to the younger vampire, the question had taken her by surprise. The elder hadn't actually really thought about it.

''Well, its an interresting question.'' She replied. ''I have never been asked before.''

Never before had anybody even asked her questions, she must have seemed too intimidating to them. There was only one person that could order her around and get away with it. But said person was amnesiac and didn't remember at all.

''Loners have chosen not to live by normal vampire standards, they denied themselves the heritage that come with our blood.'' She said. ''They have chosen not to respect the already existing social structures.''

Twirling the cup of coffee in her hands, she considered the question.

''For that, they upset every rule I live by, they do not respect those who have been there longer than they have. If the vampire society is still thriving, it must not be that bad.''

Kieran had asked reasonable questions, most people would not have asked. It seems he was one of the few to actually think about it. She didn’t resent him for it, intelligence was to be nurtured, not be put down like many did to kill revolution in its earliest state. After all, if one thinks than one can see that there is a better situation than the one he or she is living in.

She had been one of those who had seen the dangers of letting the people think for themselves but had acted on it differently than most would have. Instead of killing resistance, she had freed them and thus they had loved her for that. Indeed, they had not thought of rebelling against her as they would have rightfully done so had she chosen to continue on the slavery.

It wasn’t for nothing that each and every time that she came back to Gimrôdal for a little while once she left them; they would create massive woman hunts for her. They so ‘loved’ her that they would stop at nothing to have her back as their queen, but an old vampire was hard to track or confine. Indeed, she had escaped them well enough.

‘’Well, I would not really mind that type of loners, they are less bothersome than most carrying the same label.’’ She replied taking a sip of her coffee.

Indeed, at least those knew to respect the rights and obligations of other vampires. She had met a loner once that gated on her nerves a lot. He had not been educated in the traditions and customs of vampires and was preaching the ways of loners as in he was saying that loners were free and he had started a religion based on the hate of vampires seeking the protection and family a coven offered.

No religion was good when it involved the hating of others having different views. Vampires tended to regulate their population by themselves; they didn’t need another religious war to deplete their ranks. That vampire ‘priest’ was killed the day after it was found out what he preached.

''Those are worth more in my opinion than mere loners. I just haven’t found a good name for their ‘group’ yet.'' She continued.

Rayana might have sounded like she believed what she said, it was not for nothing. It was some words she lived by, she always took a situation case by case, not wanting to make some horrid mistake over a vampire or human or whatever. She didn’t pay much attention to the younger vampire, not because he was not watched, she simply only left an ear out for him, nothing more, nothing less.

‘’You wear such a title Kieran?’’ She asked with a voice that told she didn’t care that much about it until he proved he was part of the second category.

She could tolerate the second category of loners well enough. If he was part of the first, she’d probably just chuck him in the training room and practice on him for a few hours. And if the loner were to hope she would eventually tire, they have another thing coming. She can last a good few hours in battle, practice is nothing compared to that.

Indeed, getting boiled would be a very ungraceful way to go, but the water the young vampire was threading carefully on the shore of was neither cold nor boiling. It was a treacherous neutral temperature. After all, the most dangerous water is the calm looking one.

‘’You indeed gave me such an impression, but in less degrees than most I have encountered.’’

In fact, except for his palpable distaste for his own kind, the vampires, he seemed like an all around good fellow. He would probably not like to be in a coven, but he could be trusted to obey most of the vampire laws in place where he was currently at.

Indeed, a beast was lurking beneath the calm facade the elder wore upon her face. But the anger Kieran would have wanted to see rather than this ambivalence was not as present as one would have thought. It was certainly there, remnants of her renowned cold rages, but it hadn’t taken her yet. This beast was all the negative feelings that she felt from time to time, they created more than a simple vampire if they ever were let out.

It seems she was oblivious to the turmoil she was creating in the other vampire; she hadn’t noticed the uneasiness in which he was speaking. Sometimes she was insensitive to other persons. But that was only in some occurrences.

"You have a strange philosophy, but I suppose you must have your reasons." She replied. "I do not wish to know them, to each their own I suppose."

It was not a clear dismissal of his ideas; it simply meant she had no wish to pry in his personal life. He could keep his dirty little secrets if he wanted, heck she had some too. Having finished her morning coffee, the elder stood up and looked at him.

"I believe that if we both don't have anything more to say to each other this meeting could be brought to a close." She said simply. "It was a pleasure talking to you."

That was a clear but polite dismissal, it was said with genuine politeness, not any of the sarcasm as she was known to use. Standing up, she decided to lead him to the door. Her strides were leisurely, calm and without rush but still being fast enough not to annoy somebody who would be following, in this case, Kieran.

"My door will be open if you need a place to stay until you have your own." She said while opening the door.

Her butler was at the other end of the house and if he had been there he would have chastised her once the younger vampire had left about how it was his job, but he was not there so she took this opportunity to do normal things. Protocols and etiquette were very important things in her domestic's mind.