The Vampire Xia

Awendela stared at the Xia, her eyes wide. She had heard of this method of communication between vampires but normally this connect was between mates, lovers or donors and she was neither.

"How long is this going to last?" she asked softly.

~What was that?~ he asked.

She gritted her teeth, thought How long is this going to last?

He arched an eyebrow expectedly.

"I thought something," she muttered to him.

~Sense me, push the thought to me~ he said to her and she could sense his amusement.

Awendela realized just how personal this thought to thought thing could be and cringed internally. She felt a bubble of laughter from the Xia as he felt her annoyance.

"This is an invasion of privacy!! Will you always know what I think and feel?"

~Yes and no. You will learned to block me as I can block you. You haven't felt my emotions unless I have been directing them to you. You will always sense my presence at the edge of your mind when we are within communication range but you will learn to ignore it and will adapt to it.~

Awendela was doubtful but closed her eyes and imagined the glass orb filled with the charcoal smoke and blue lightning. She visualized a thread, gold, stretching from herself and touching the orb, peircing the orb without letting anything out. Awendela flinched as the Xia's presence increased, power threatening to overcome her. She pulled back, feeling relief then tried again, touching it lightly.

~How long is this going to last?~

She watched a smirk spread across his lips, ~See you can do it. It will only last a week or so, we will have mix our blood again, however the more we do it, the longer the connection will last each time. Soon this will be second nature to you and you won't need to close your eyes to connect to me. Also unless we are within ten feet of each other we won't be able to connect. Again, the more we do it, the stronger the connect will be and the more distance we will gain. I suggest we do this again every other day to make the connection stronger, and easier for you to protect me even at longer distances. Are you in agreement?~

She saw the logic in it but she didn't like the idea, she cursed realizing she was still connected with him, and pushed his presence away but knew it was too late.

"Agreed."

~You need to practice~ he told her.

~I know but it is...~ she pushed her emotions on him so he could understand what she couldn't say in words.

He nodded to her and pulled away, which she sighed in relief. Awendela squared her shoulder, trying to straighten her hair and clothing but the Xia moved forward in a flash jerking her forward by the wrist.

"Oh no, I want them to see you ruffled and that you have been disciplined for your actions."

"I am not your subject," she hissed at him.

"No Awendela, but you are a guest in my home, under my protection from other vampires."

"Ok, ok just let me go, I can walk and I can most definitely act pissed off."

The Xia scoffed, "not much acting involved."

She gave him a saucy smile, "as long as you know."

They went up the stairwell in silence the Xia slightly ahead but she slipped in front him, opening the door to ensure there was no ambush before letting him walk past her and into the mansion. She entered behind him, the guards had obviously tried to disperse the vampires but they loitered around wanting to see the end result.

Awendela noticed some of the disappointment expression and she wondered if they had hope he would kill her. Others looked amused, while one look rather angry. She made note of this vampire and to find out who he was.

The Xia smiled at his subjects, "you must be tired, please feel free to return to your quarters and rest."

His subjects bowed or curtsy to him before shuffling off with their servants and guards. Awendela watched them leave.

~WHO IS THE VAMPIRE IN THE SUIT AND PURPLE SUNGLASSES?~

Awendela grinned at his slightly shocked and pained expression.

~That was a little loud. Ease up a bit. That is the Duke Ivan Von Aroski~

One of the vampire guards moved towards her, hand outstretch, distracting her from her thoughts to the Xia, "I am Shemar, head of the Xia's security here at the castle. That silent guy behind you is head of the Xia's personal guards, Hiro, however, that is your position now, he is your number one though. Don't be surprise if he hates you."

Awendela blinked and turned her head towards the guy, who winked at her, grinning flashing his sharp canines, which made it hard to tell if Shemar was joking or not.

"Pleasure, I am Awendela Shemihaza but you can call me Awen or Wende" she said adding a thought to the Xia, ~Ah, Ok.~

"Likewise," the Hiro said before turning to the last two guards, "Alice, Chance, why don't you escort the Xia to his quarters while we get the new girl settled in."

~Why?~ the Xia asked.

"Yes, sir," they replied in unison.

She tried to keep track of the conversation, feeling a little overwhelmed.

~Just curious. I will need to know everyone that is living here, how many servants and guards they have, the staff, etc, etc.~

~Just ask Shemar or Hiro~ he replied as he walked away with his two guards.

~Wait, shouldn't I go with you?~

~Not this time, get settled in. We'll figure it out. I should be safe enough, right now we are on high alert and they will know that, so the chances of attack are low~

~Agreed~

Awendela turned her attention to the two guards who grinned at her knowingly, Shemar indicating she should follow them and they set off down the hallway, "confusing at first isn't it?"

She blushed, "that obvious?"

"Don't worry you will get use to it."

"You two?"

"Yes, as well as Alice and Chance, we are the only four he fully trusts and he wanted us to inform you of the connection so yo know that you can trust us. Normally you would be connect to us as well but the Xia feels that may be too much for you."

"You are all interconnected?"

"Yes, it makes for faster response time between us," Hiro said, applying pressure to the word 'us' obviously believing she would only be a hinderance to them.

There was definitely going to be issues between her and Hiro, he would be testing her every step of the way and probably try to undermine her.

She continued to study their surrounding, memorizing everything when they stopped had a huge metal door with a state of the art palm scanner pin pad door lock.

"Wow!" she said studying it, it was something similar to what the had at HQ for certain area except they had a blood panel too.

Shemar put his hand on the scanner and typed in a number which allowed them access, they entered the huge room filled with screens showing the entire property and interior. The room was filled with guards milling about, chatting, drinking coffee, some eating, others working on paperwork.

"This is the brain," he said, "everyone has their own unique access code which changes every month.

Awendela look around for a moment, studying the people and the equipment, "nice."

She spun on her heel, hooking her thumbs on her pant loops, ignoring the looks as the other vampires studied her dishevel looked, and eyed the blood on her shirt.

"So hope you two don't mind but I am just going to dive right in. I need a full blueprint of the estate, lands included, plus any hideaway regardless of how secret they are suppose to be. I need to know what security is like, the routine, the number of guards on duty at a time. How is the wall secured. We need to reassess the security at the main entrance. I need to review the security of any other entrances, secret or otherwise. How many personal bodyguards does the Xia have with him at any given time. If it is only the three of you, as I assuming Shemar is busy with his other duties, then we need to figure out how we can have two people with the Xia at all time without exhausting anyone. I need a list of everyone living at Court along with their servants and guards, I need position information and anything relevant to their relationship to the Xia. I need a list of the staff at the castle and of course the guards. We need to have a plan for visiting vampires and vampires leaving. No one needs to be coming and going as they please. Hmm...I think that the first things I want to do."

The two vampires stared at her, but Shemar had started to smirk by the end of her monologue and Hiro looked mildly impressed.

"I think all that can be arranged," Shemar replied, "however, today you rest, the Xia has a ball planned in your honor later this evening."

"I am not here as a guest," Awendela replied tartly.

"You are still a person of importance and the Court will want to meet you."

She sighed, "damn and double damn."

"I will give you a quick tour of the main areas, there is too much to try to cover today, then I will take you to your living quarters. Hiro will have everything you requested by sun up."

Awendela looked at Hiro who grumbled and stalked away. She knew her position would rub some of the other guards the wrong way but she hopes he could put his emotions aside and focus on his King. Otherwise she would kick his ass.

"This way Awen," Shemar said pulling her attention back.

She gave him an apologetic smile before following him out where he proceeded to give her a quick tour of the castle.

"You know, I am rather surprised by you," Shemar said as he showed her where the ball was to be, vampires shuffled about getting prepared.

"Why is that?" she asked blinking when one of the kitchen staff offered her a snack from her tray she had been taking to the ballroom.

She took the little sandwich thingy and popped it into her mouth, cucumber bursting with freshness in her mouth.

"I have heard a lot about you however you are not what I thought you would be like."

Awendela looked side as the tall, dark and handsome vampire, "And what was that?"

"A very cold heart bitch, who hated the sight of vampires, arrogant because of her birth right, aloof, thinking she was better then us."

"What did you find instead?"

He stopped turning to look at her fully, they were away from the ballroom now, in a smaller hallway, it was dark and quiet.

"I found a young woman with many life experiences, who puts her own emotions aside and focuses on the task on hand. While she does not necessarily like vampires as a whole, she judges each person she meets on their own merit. She is down to earth, strong, yet there is a fragility she doesn't wish exposed. She might be a little hot head at times but she thinks on her feet."

Awendela felt her cheeks burn, the man had only spent roughly half an hour with her yet she felt the truth in his words.

"And someone who I think will find her true self within these walls."

She blinked at these words but he moved before she could say anything.

"These are your rooms," Shemar said, pressing a code on the pad which unlocked the beautiful adorned wooden door.

"You can change the code to anything you like by pressing the reset button here on the inside of the door, punch in the old code it will beep three times, put the new code in, it will beep twice, push the new code in again then it will beep once to indicate its changed and active. The current code is 1234. The code can be a little as four number or as long as eight number."

She nodded distracted by the sitting room, there with a fireplace surrounded by a very soft looking sofa with two matching arm chairs, a soft honey colored coffee table with dark stones in its center. A large desk sat on the other wall surrounded by bookshelves most empty but two shelves were filled with vampire history and culture books. Awendela took the silent hint to study up. It was simple but spacious, the colors were light with darker accents, there was two other doors, a simple plain wooden door very nondescript and one with similar designs as the main door leading to the hallway.

Behind the carved door was the bedroom, a large bed in a matching honey color wood frame, the bedding was soft blues and grays, this room also had a fireplace much to her surprise, there was a matching night stand and dresser. Another door lead to a huge walk-in closet, it was more of a room then a closet, her suitcases sat empty on a shelf, her clothing and things already arranged in the closet. There was a sitting area, mirror and vanity, drawers for jewelry and accessories, shelves for shoes. Definitely more then what she had back at home. The last room was her bathroom which was all grey marble with soft golds, a huge rain shower, a large soak spa tub, a full length mirror, a linen closet and a large vanity.

She entered the sitting room where Shemar waited for her, holding up a large black dress bag and two woman stood on either side of him, each carry boxes and bags of things.

"The Xia requested you wear gown this evening, there are shoes and accessories to go with it. Let me introduce you to your servants, Mara and Bridgette."

"But I don't need servants."

"The Xia insists upon it. You are not just an employee, you are the heir to the Night Watch."

Awendela studied the vampire and had a feeling she was going to lose this argument.

Shemar smirked, "Well then I will leave you to get ready. I will be your escort tonight. I will pick you up in about five hours. Take a nap, a long soak then get ready. Your servants living quarters are inside that plain door, you noticed the pull ropes? Those will summon them to you when you need day or night. Ah, you will be needing this."

Shemar wrapped a braided ribbon of red and black to her wrist, "this bind your servants to you, they cannot cause you harm, spill you secrets or allow anyone access to your rooms without your permission. They have their own door to the hallway, they are bound never to give their code nor yours, if they learn of it, to anyone other then you and the Xia of course. It can only be destroyed by fire. Keep it with you always."

Awendela removed the ribbon holding it in the palm of her hand, whispered a few soft words and the ribbon burned into nothing.

"I will not have slaves. If they are to serve me out of the Xia's bidding then it will be because they wish this job. I am assuming they are paid?"

"Of course."

"Then that is enough. Loyalty and trust is earned not demanded."

The two woman vampires looked surprised and pleased and Awendela knew she had won their trust or at least some respect in that moment.

"As you wish. I will see you in a few hours."

Shemar left, the women moved the packages to the walk-in closet while Awendela look a long shower then slipped into the warm bed. As she drifted asleep she thought she felt the dark presence of the Xia, but then remembered she was too far from him to sense him and hadn't since he had left for his own rooms. She must have imagined it.

Notes

Wende = Wendy
Awen = AH-when