38 Bonds VIII : Plans

How do I solve this. I might not have been thinking straight when I invited every vampire that wished to be close to me here. They came in droves and seemed endless like a ancient river, at first it was just single vampires, then pairs, then families, then whole communities. Hundreds of vampires had now taken up residence around the vicinity of my tower throwing their lives into my hands. Shit.

I needed a plan, and a definite way to approach all this. But with all this people here, it made me worry less about my personal problems. Which of course stems to the fact that the two women I'm bonded with, were currently in my ugly carved out tower.

It was not that I was afraid of talking to them both at the same time, but there was no way such a situation would not turn out to be awkward. And so far I've been getting nothing from the bond, a little mouse had told me that Asha was teaching Xaseah how to close herself off from the bond. That way she won't be so affected by my own emotions.I so badly wanted to charge into that tower and confront them both, if only such an action did not have suicide written all over it.

But back to the problem at hand, the vampires right in from of me, were those incapable of taking care of themselves. Pregnant mothers, young children, the injured and the lost, many of them who had chosen to give up on life.There was no such thing as elderly or old as far as the vampire race was concerned, for a vampire, the older you were the stronger you are. But the main source of problem for me now, was that a lot if not all of this vampires were hungry, I needed to find a way to feed them all. And when I was so stuck in my worries Asare showed up, but to a lot of displeasure from other vampires as they snarled at him due to his guard uniform. Then he shocked them.

Every step he took towards me, Asare striped off the guard uniform, and by the time he was close to me, his upper body was bare. Then he got down on his knees and bowed his head, right there, tattooed on his back in a beautiful display of colors was the family crest of house Cor. A Lion surrounded by four dragons of different colors.

"My lord Kael, your servant would like to resume his duties as butler and retainer to the Cor family. I ask that you grant me this wish."

My eyes were twitching, what the hell was wrong with this idiot, did he have to make a scene. All eyes were on the both of us, the vampire were surprised, and I could hear the conversations between them at the sudden display of fealty from Asare.

"Mommy that human guard is bowing to Lord Kael."

"Yes sweetie, but that's because he's a servant of the lord."

"You're right Mrs. Q, come to think of it, that guard has been here for less than a year."

"That's true, he must have followed Lord Kael here when he was sentenced."

"Wow such loyalty from a human is really rare. He followed his lord all the way to this desolate place to serve him."

"He's a true man."

" This just goes to show how great and amazing a person lord Kael is."

This people already worshipped me, I talk a big game, but I was not strong enough to back up my words. But I was still a smooth talker, and they ate up anything I say like it was a passage from a holy book. Now it might look like I was superficial, and I was manipulative...…well so what. I was good person, at least I like to think so, but as far as leadership is concerned, being manipulative was an important criteria to have.

"Please Asare get the fuck up, you're embarrassing me." I whispered to him as I dragged him back up to a standing position.

"Where have you been anyway?" I asked him as he pulled a shirt out of thin air?

"I had a meeting with your other retainers. They brought news from the outside world."

He said as he nonchalantly pulled out a huge gun from thin air and slung it over his back.

I looked at him, completely shocked at his constant conjuration of clothes and big ass gun, that had glowing yellow lines running along its sleek silver frame. Then he looked at me and asked.

"What?"

"But you...there's a.....how did.....just forget it." I couldn't fathom how he was doing this, and it was shocking to me, yet the dense idiot acted like he had no idea what was going on. This was a different side to Asare that I've never seen in the time that I've known him. It was weird, but at least he was not brooding.

"So what News do you have for me?" I asked if not for nothing else but to change how awkward I felt, with my mouth hanging open from Asare's constant stream of miracles.

"The Cor family assets are under attack from the other nobles. Without you there to oversee everything, they're getting bolder. But until your twenty third birthday when you have to claim your inheritance, they can't do anything substantial but chip away at your fortune little by little. But a little stream can eventually make a valley, so the dangers they pose is still quite real. Lady Rhea is now the defacto head of the family due to your incarceration. She's doing a good job keeping everything going and in place, but she's surrounded by a pack of wolves, but she's only ten years old. We need to get you out of here Lord Kael, before it's too late."

At the very thought of Rhea my heart ached. I only had one memory of her, and even then her face was not really clear to me. I cared for that little girl, and the fact that she was paying for my mistakes and inability to protect the people I loved bothered me. But I didn't know what I could do to help her, the pit was filled with it's own trouble, and surviving here was already hard enough as it is. But to leave and go back to the outside world, a domain that's much more bigger than the dancing caves of Noxis Nyx, would be difficult if not outright impossible with my current strength. I hate to admit, but Rhea has to hang on for a few years. No matter what happens, I just have to leave this place before three years were up.

"I understand how difficult it must be for all of you. But there's no way I can leave without bringing the wrath of the entire council of light upon us. The only thing we can do for now is endure, and grow stronger. It's the only viable option now."

Asare sighed as his shoulders dropped a bit. He seemed so tired, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his back. I felt sorry for him, I had no idea how close of a relationship we both had before I lost my memories, but with how much help he has been giving me, I suspect we were really close friends. Which was all the same because I really needed friends at the moment.

"I understand my lord, and I know you're right. Getting stronger is the only thing we can do.So is there anything you would have me do my lord."

Asare said with a very determined and focused gaze.

I liked how decisive Asare has always seemed from the moment I met him. He was always so sure of his decisions, it was as if he was incapable of failing, no matter the task put in front of him.

"As a matter of fact Asare, there's something I need help with...…..blood, I need lots of it."

Asare looked startled for a second, wondering why I would need such an colossal amount of blood. But one look around the vampires that were still staring at us, and he got his answer.

"That might not be as easy as it sounds my lord. The guard tower delivers rations, based on the amount of ore obtained by the miners. The distribution of blood is very regulated here, it's how they control much of the vampire population here. Having control over their food, gives them enough power to decide how their lives could go. And I doubt the guard tower would be in a negotiating mood with you after all the trouble and embarrassment you put them through."

This was turning out to be more problematic than I thought. Feeding hundreds of vampires is turning out to be harder than I expected, urgh!...…me and my big mouth. I just had to go ahead and invite them. 'come on over every one, let's have a big picnic.'

"Is there any other way to get the blood we need. Though to be honest I would rather prefer if we can get a permanent solution." I said to Asare.

Asare cocked his head to one side as he put his hand under his jaw, trying to think about a way through this. His eye's lit up as an ides came to him.

"The only other option is to enter into some sort of partnership with a gang. They're the only ones with the resources, and connections to deliver or own that much blood."

As soon as he spoke my eye's shifted to the side of my tower where a simple head stone was erected. Memories of the man I killed threatened to bubble up to the surface, clawing their way out from the hole I buried them in. I shook my head vigorously, as if to throw them out. This was not the time, eventually I have to face those memories, but for now they have to remain locked up in deepest part of my mind. Asare looked at me with concern for a bit, but a nod from me prompted him to continue.

"As for a permanent solution, you would have to raise livestock. And in a place like the pit, that's hard enough as it is, with hungry vampires around, it becomes increasingly harder and harder to keep your pets safe, much less live stock. You would need a vampire tight facility for that, and even then, those animals would have to be smuggled from the outside. It will cost a lot, and the chance of failure is over 60%"

The odds just keep stacking up. But whoever said life was easy and that good things come to those who wait.....bullshit. I believed if you wanted something bad enough, you go after it, but I had a line I wouldn't cross, it wouldn't do to be a man without principles or morals. I needed my conscience and my honor intact.

"Asare I will need you to take care of a few things for me."

Then I looked at the crowd of vampires and noticed Nisi playing around with the other kids. We were still keeping Teluna a secret, with this much people around, it would be easy enough for someone to let it slip that there was an unsealed vampire child around. The consequences for that, would be dire.

"I made a deal with the head of the Night wraith gang, Lukas. It's a business deal, and I need you to go over and harsh over the details. Also take Nisi with you, and have her create as many of those earthen flasks she made to contain the Dasenite as she can. Then tell Lukas the name I chose is Nirvana.

Then you have full authority to negotiate the acquisition of blood that can sustain this much people for at least a month. Money is not a problem as you well know. And as for the life stock, send for them. In three days I should have a viable option available to keep them safe."

Asare nodded his head, before asking.

"Is there anything else my lord."

"At the moment.....nothing we need to take this one step at a time, so we should first figure out our food problem, before tackling any other troubles our growing community might experience. But be careful, I have this nagging feeling we're being watched."

"Understood my lord, by your leave."

Then he bowed and turned to go complete the tasks I had given him. I saw him talking to Nisi, and watched her turn to me.

I put my hands together as if to say please, then she raised her little fist at me as if to say she would get me back for sticking her with Asare. Then they marched into the blue gloom, going to find food for the vampires around. I needed to take care and arrange every body here. In essence I had to get a system up and running as fast as I could, when the place becomes self sufficient, then I will have all the time in the world to train my weaving abilities. Because no matter what, I had to get this blasted seal off my wrist.