Kazz had witnessed her father slowly changing. There was a time she had looked up to him as a righteous man that cared about the good of the vampires. Sometimes his actions would be criticised by the others but she knew that her father was always doing it with the interest of the whole settlement in mind.
However, lately she wasn't so sure anymore.
Punishing criminals was one thing. Kazz knew that sometimes the rules had to be bent, especially with a strong enemy on the horizon, yet she couldn't understand how her father could just sacrifice the lives of his fellow vampires without letting them even know about it.
She had seen it, when she had been in that room where the vampires had been working hard to learn the shadow ability. They were doing so, convinced that it was all for the sake of helping the King, to protect their loved ones, yet once they succeeded and attained a certain level of proficiency, Bryce would rob them off everything.
Initially he had told them that it was for the greater good, but as the process repeated she could see him changing. The fact that Kazz was unable to see even a sliver of remorse over what he was doing. Unfortunately, by the time she realised that someone needed to put a stop to her father's deeds, it was too late for her to do anything about it on her own.
Bryce had managed to find supporters in his goal, and with the absolute blood powers of the King, there weren't many that would be a match for him. Eventually, while mulling over her thoughts day by day, and with no one to talk to, a certain person came into her mind, Paul.
During her mission, to stay and look over Quinn and Paul, the former General had taught her many valuable lessons that her father never had. The two of them had discussed many other things and he had made her see certain things in a different way.
If anyone could tell her what the right or wrong thing to do was, she thought it would be Paul, but now sitting opposite him she wasn't sure anymore. She took a sip of the tea he had handed her. The warmth did wonders to calm her down.
'If my father ever found out what I attempted to do, or what I've done, then Paul, no the whole Cursed family will be affected by this as well.' She thought. 'Quinn isn't here and what can Paul actually do on his own?'
Thinking back, she wondered how strong the Vampire Knight before her actually was. From the reports she had heard that he had managed to best Jill, one of the leaders in a one on one fight. Apparently he also hadn't struggled too much in that fight. Still, fighting was not the leader's forte.
However, Bryce had several people around him, even if she tried to gather allies such as Muka and more, there was the risk that one of them would inform the King of her intentions. Even if everything proceeded smoothly and she managed to gather a few of the vampire leaders who weren't involved in this whole mess, what could they do against her father?
All of them together had been unable to stop Cindy, and Bryce had already grown far stronger than the traitorous second family leader, having grown used to the absolute blood powers for a while now.
'There was one…that managed to beat her.' Kazz recalled.
"How about we go for a walk?" Paul suggested, thinking that a change of scenery could loosen her tongue. Finishing the hot beverage, Kazz just nodded. Heading out of the castle, they walked through the tenth area which was more alive than ever.
It was strange for Kazz to see so many vampires living in the inner area. They were mostly Paul's men that were stationed on the outside of each of the gates, the strong reinforced walls and the towers.
They made sure that only those from the tenth family could head inside. The reason why the tenth had more people in the inner area, was because as Quinn had requested they were abolishing the class system treatment, where only a hundred vampires could enter the inner area and learn an ability.
Instead, Quinn treated the Cursed family with great care to help the family as a whole. Including those that were loyal.
"The place is... different from how the other families run things." Kazz mentioned. "I see a vampire whose skills are only good for cooking with no great power living in a mansion."
In the inner areas, outside one of the large mansions, a giant outdoor kitchen had been made, and Zee was currently cooking there with a few helpers.
"That is Zee, it is a pain to just consume blood all the time, and it seems he has great skill adding flavour to the meats we eat. He helps the soldiers from Earth remember what they originally were. He brings joy and is essential for our tenth family's morale. He deserves to have a big house, and as you can see he is more hard working than ever." Paul introduced the cook.
Saying that, she could see that Zee had a huge grin on his face, and was slaving away over the stove. Everyone who went to him seemed to treat the cook with respect.
"Maybe this only works because the tenth family has no ability to give." Kazz commented.
"Do you personally think so or is this just the vampire side of you talking, afraid to change the traditions that you have grown up with? Change is scary for some, and different doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. I know what it's like to just rely on strength and I don't really think it's a bad thing for certain situations. If we didn't have the strength, then humans would have lost the first Dalki war, but I wonder…" Paul paused after that.
A lot of the ideas that had been implemented wasn't his design, but things pushed by Quinn, and Timmy. Lately, he had been seeing more smiles on family members' faces, and he was enjoying that more than anything, it really made him feel as if he belonged to something greater.
At that moment, one of the family members that was running towards him didn't look to have a smiling face on. The one who had rushed over to his side was none other than Xander. When he stood in front of Paul it was clear he had something to report, stopping as he spotted Kazz by the Vampire Knight's side. Probably the worst person that could have been there.
"Knight Paul, I have important information that I need to pass on to you, and you alone." Xander said, still looking at Kazz in the corner of his eyes. He also needed to do his best not to offend, otherwise that could get him into serious trouble since she was the first family's leader, after all.
Paul could tell what Xander was thinking but at the same time, he knew Kazz hadn't just come to him without prior notice for a general talk. So something needed to be done.
"Just give the report, don't worry about who is around." Paul ordered.
"Y-Yes, Sir. There have been reports of the first family people being seen around the tenth area. They haven't gotten too close, but when a group of ours tracked their movements, we could also see them following members of the tenth family who are not living inside the tenth area." Xander reported.
Hearing this, Kazz knew exactly what those people were attempting to do. They were most likely trying to convince them to come and join the King. Picking people that others wouldn't really care about, or seem suspicious if they were to go missing.
There had already been a number of people that had been picked from the other families. Now it looked like they had moved onto the tenth as well.
'Isn't this too risky, even for the King?' She thought. 'He should know that Quinn cares about his people, more than the other leaders…'
"Sir, there is worse news as well. It's not unusual for family members to get killed off, go missing or to even fall in battle, but the tenth family have not suffered from any such things during the time of our takeover. Which is why I find it strange that during this time, that four members in our family have suddenly gone missing." Xander continued.
"Give me information on those who have gone missing. Even if they don't belong to the inner family group in the tenth family, they are still our responsibility. Perhaps one of the other families has gotten bold thinking that we won't do anything to act, but I will personally investigate this matter myself." Paul ordered and started to walk towards the castle, until he felt someone grab him by the wrist.
"Don't Paul, please listen to me….if you want to live, don't go investigating those missing people." Kazz said, her face almost shedding tears.
*****
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