Disclaimer: You know the drill. Nothing belongs to me including myself. Everyone and everything belongs to someone else, including me. No money is being made from this story. It's just for your enjoyment only.
Warning: Bad language, violence, and sexual content.
Chapter 16
There's a fine line between a dream and what is real. I knew from where I stood that what I was experiencing was real. I looked around to find myself in my great-grandmother's chamber at Les palais des chevaliers de rouge de sang. Her chamber's were done to reseamble the rooms of the ancient Grec/Romans. To my left along the back wall was a queen size bed with canopy. The bed's frame and posts were done in gold with accents of scrollwork and ivy. At the end of the bed sat an oak chest. The floor and walls were made of marble. Across from the door along the farthest wall was a set of glass double doors that went out onto a balcany. To my left there was an armoire with a verdigus finish that covered the entire wall. Towards the back wall on the left there was a fireplace made into the wall. In front of it was a bear skin rug and a couple of antique chairs, with a chess table in between. Beside the fireplace was the bathroom door and along the farthest side of the room was a vanity.
I glanced back to the entrance of the portal of dreams to see Micah and Anita lying me down on the couch. I must of fallen off when I passed out. Cherry ran over and started checking my vital signs. Anita had a worried look on her face, but relaxed when Cherry told her, "She is still breathing and has a pulse." Then she continued with, "She's cold, pale, and tired." She believed it was lack of food. I stood there watching while Cherry finished with her nursing duties. She then placed a blanket over me, trying to bring my temperature up. Everyone left the room at Anita's command and went back into the kitchen. When everyone cleared the room, the portal went black. I was still in my grandmother's chamber, so I began to look around. I was about to go into the bathroom, when I felt a presence enter the room. I turned swiftly to see my great-grandmother standing there in all her glory. She didn't look bad for someone who was born before ancienct civilization began to rise.
She was considered to be a goddess among the ancient Euphrates and Tigris people. She came forth swiftly and pulled me into her arms and I let her. She hugged me and I hugged me back. She must have missed me because normally she would not be this affectionate. She pulled away first and lifted my chin with her left hand, while still holding me with her right.
"You still are not feeding properly?" She asked in her ancient lagange. She was trying to teach me how to speak it, but I've only been able to comprehend some of the language. The language was a mixture of old egyptian, arabic, and atlantean which made it hard for me to understand sometimes.
"I'm trying, but it's hard. Especially when someone else is feeding off you for no reason," I answered.
"What do you mean feeding off of you? Who's been doing that?" She questioned with a hint of anger.
"You've talked to father last night or this morning rather. He didn't tell you?" I replied.
"Yes I spoke to your father, but he didn't mention anything about anyone feeding off of you," She answered.
"Well then let me enlighten you. See apparently dad kept me a secret from Jean-Claude for the last week. Belle called Jean-Claude and told him herself. Well all hell broke loose afterwards between the two masters. Well since that happened Jean-Claude got peeved and demanded retribution from my father for betrayal of trust. He said he had the right according to the law and he wanted me as the main course. So instead of all out war, dad gave into to him. This was done before dad called you," I told her what had happened leaving out the events of the lupanar. I'm pretty sure she already knows about those anyway.
My great-grandmother looked at me for a second, then left the room. Oh boy, did I do it this time. I had to go and open a can of worms. I knew it was going to be awhile before she came back, so I searched her room to find out where she kept a copy of documents from the court meetings. I explored her room from top to bottom for half an hour and came up empty. I didn't realize she had returned until she said, "Did you find what you were looking for, dear?"
I jumped at her voice and turned to see her sitting on the edge of her bed covered in blood. Ah damn, I was so busted. How did she get in without me sensing her. 'Well duh Alexandra, she's the Queen she can do that you know.'
I smiled at her and answered, "Nope, didn't find it."
"May I ask what you were looking for?" She asked with a glint of humor in her eye. She knew what I was looking for, but wanted to see what I would say.
"Oh nothing really, just a book I thought you had," I replied with a grin.
"The book your looking for is no longer here. It's in a safe at The Bank of Paris," she explained with a small laugh.
I couldn't believe it. All that searching for nothing. The worst part about my investigation of her room was she knew I would do it and beat me to it by placing the documents in a safe at the bank. I couldn't do anything about it now, so I changed the subject.
"So who did you torture this time?" I asked.
She grinned wickedly at me and said, "I thought you would never ask."
I gave her my eyebrow look and she continued, "After you told me what happened. I went and talked to Belle. She didn't deny telling Jean-Claude about you. That it served your father right for not telling him in the first place. Well that got me upset and you know how I hate people upsetting me. So I tortured her favorite pet while she watched from the side lines, daring her to give me a reason to punish her. Like a good little vampire she stood there and watched, doing nothing. By the time I was done, her little pet was dead and I felt better. Leaving her to take care of the remains, I came back to my chambers to finish our talk before you left."
I glanced at my great-grandmother and noted to myself, �Don't ever make this woman mad.' She got up and walked towards the bathroom motioning for me to join her. I did as I was told and followed after her. She didn't have a shower, just a gigantic Roman bathtub. Along with the tub there were only a toilet and a wash stand with a mirror above it. She turned on the faucets to let the hot water gush into the tub while she poured in lavendar bubblebath. She asked me to join her and since this was considered to be a dream to most people, I accepted. She climbed in first then I went afterwards. We settled into the hot water across from each other so that we could talk face to face. I wasn't prepared for the conversation that was about to start.
My great-grandmother glanced over at me and said switching from her language to French, "Would you like to know what your father and I discussed over the phone?"
That peeked my interest and I said, "Yes I would."
"All right then. Your father called me to find out what else I've been keeping from him concerning you besides the fact that you were working for the four councils. I told him that you only work for the leaders of those Councils, not the entire Council themselves. You are the only one in this vicinity that they can rely on to get the job done and done right. They don't trust anyone else for security reasons. He accepted this, but still complained about not being told. I told him his concerns would be of little importance to me. At least you were working and trying to go to school instead of being a slave to one of the other Council members. He ceases his argument then only to berrate me on you nearly getting killed. I dismissed his whining as irrelevent. Instead I informed him of your excellent academic status your successful competition in the tournaments, and the miscellaneous activities that didn't involve the Council's, such as going shopping, dinner, and to the theater with friends.Your night life out among the clubs with the local lycanthropes. I assured him that I kept a close eye on you and until the incident with The Black Magic Society you were well taken care of and looked after. No harm came to you until that case came up and if it did I took care of it myself. Then he wanted to know if I did all this, why couldn't I protect you from the people who tried to kill you. I then told him that you were in London at the time. It was for Ritze to take care of you. Then your father started raving about leaving you in the care of one of Draco's people was down right ludicrious. They only cared about themselves and to tell them to do something is like talking to a brick wall. Sometimes I think that father of your forgots who I am...No ONE disobeys my order...not even a Draconian. However I assured him that I realized that after Ritze let them take you, so I made Draco destroy him and put someone else in charge of London. Draco was not happy with the situation, but did what he was told to do. Your father and I had a very long conversation, then we hung up and that was the end of our phone call."
She took a breather and relaxed back into the tub. I took in all that she had said and contemplated on what questions were left unanswered. There was only one that came to mind that hadn't been anwered. "Grand mama."
She glanced over at me and said, "Yes dear."
"Why was it decided for me to be apart of the games instead of a slave for the members of the court? Not that I'm complaining, just curious that's all," I asked.
"Besides Blade, you are the only daywalker known to the Council. If there's anyone else, we don't have records of them or they are well hidden from us. We value you too much to hurt or destroy you; all the tournaments were for your training ground. We were trying to get you trained for the work you do now. Besides you are from two Council members' lines and regardless what Belle does, she still won't let harm come to you. I believe that is her reasoning for telling Jean-Claude. She wanted one of her favorites to take care of you. I admit Jean-Claude went by it the wrong way, but he's not so bad once you get to know him." She confirmed.
I just smirked at that last comment and said to myself 'Only if you like toothpicks hanging from your mouth.' I knew by the smile on my grandmother's face that she picked up on the remark. She glanced around, then held out her arms and said returning to her language, "Come give your grand mama a hug and kiss goodbye. It is time for you to be getting back."
I went to her and gave her what she asked, then retreated from the bath. I found a towel, dried off, and got dressed. Before I took my leave I kissed and hugged her one last time, saying goodbye in the process. She told me, "Don't be a stranger." I had the magic to call her through the mirrors or visit her through dream walking. I replied, " I wouldn't." I made my way back to the portal of dreams and touched it. It flashed from total blackness to Anita's living room in no time. I stepped through and back into my body closing the dream gate as I left it