"Golden October Declining

Chapter IX: Gathered"

by ingrid

~*~

The lonely months pass quickly into summer which is beautiful out here in the deep country. The nights are warm and welcoming with little bright insects flickering in and out of the moonlight.

Often, I take a lonesome walk through the dark mesh of wilderness, breathing in the wild scent of the air, thankfully, Lycan-free, trying to keep faith -- mine and Rigel's -- alive in my mind and heart.

Often though, bitterness festers instead, as I wonder again why a lowly mortal is freer in many ways than myself, a predatory creature powerful enough to mock death itself.

They can come and go as they like for the most part, their overlords are little involved in their day to day lives. They trade a long length of life for a short burst of freedom and I wonder if I'd make that trade myself, if I could ... if it meant that Rigel and I could leave this restrictive society for a life of our own, even only for what would be to a vampire, years turned to a few blissful moments.

Truly, I wonder.

Back at the coven house, I leave Louis in the ground for two weeks before sending for him. When he returns to us, he seems far more subdued ... humbled, even. I'm hoping it was his grief over Nadia's loss making him act so outlandishly, but my eyes are open to him every minute, just in case.

Clothing and supplies arrive on a regular basis from Ordoghaz, even some of my personal items which are addressed to me in Rigel's own hand. Books, shirts and slacks, my laptop computer -- even some extra ammunition which I've been sorely missing.

A replacement for the gun Erika took and lost arrives, as well as my cellular phone which is fully charged complete with an independent long-lasting battery pack, as electricity has yet to be installed in these ancient castle walls.

Rigel hasn't called me. I don't blame him ... what is there to say?

He told me to have faith, so that's what I'll try to do -- as difficult as it is.

I wish he would at least write to me, but ...

The temporary Overseer position keeps me busy, as does trying to assimilate the coven to modern times. I attempt to explain how things are at first and when that doesn't work I decide a trip to town would be better than descriptions, so they can see things for themselves.

A bit of a mistake, I'm afraid. The profusion of electric lights, screeching automobiles and loud mortals dressed in strange clothing terrify most coven members so badly they hide in the forest until I come to fetch them.

Only Louis seems completely unafraid, as well as honestly intrigued. He asks me dozens of questions, all of which I answer as honestly as I can, hoping to gain his trust. He's particularly interested in our modern weapons, noting that becoming a working death dealer of this age would be the best way to avenge his Nadia.

I promise to teach him and for a moment, he almost seems grateful.

But there is still something about him that rankles me, so, on occasion, I word my lessons carefully.

Louis also asks me many questions about mortals, many of them I find I can't answer. The detailed workings of their society, especially here in Romania. This I'm not very sure about, but I offer him the use of my wireless laptop so he can look it up himself.

He learns the machine with great speed, faster than I ever did. He spends hours on it, absorbed by sites about Romanian law and rule of order.

Part of me wonders what he's on about, the other is just glad he's out of my hair.

I'm not cut out for a leadership position, I fear. It simply doesn't interest me, this molding of a coven's existence. I am a soldier at heart and I find myself ever longing for the nights spent death dealing in Budapest, guns firing in the back alleyways, hunting and killing with Rigel by my side.

I'm more lonely now than ever, even within my own skin. Standing above even the members of this coven, I am on my own and I can't help but wonder what Artemis was thinking making me Overseer here.

I don't want to do this anymore. I just ... don't want to.

~*~

As typical with the political intrigue surrounding the choosing a coven Overseer, we hear little from Kraven until the formal announcement arrives by courier, on the first day of fall. It's only a vague pronouncement, something to the effect of the new Overseer's arrival on such and such a date -- basically warning us to be ready for a large reception for whomever it is receiving the title.

This is the second highest event after an Awakening so I try to make sure as much is ready as possible for the momentous occasion.

All of Ordoghaz will likely be in attendance -- perhaps some of Amelia's cronies as well, if the Overseer has been chosen from the New World Coven, as unlikely as that would seem at first glance. Except that Amelia is most powerful and many of her right-hand men are ambitious enough to try and turn Sigisoara into their own private fiefdom of the East.

Not that I think Kraven would allow that, but he's no Viktor, so anything can happen.

I don't particularly care who takes over from me. The sooner the Great Whosit gets here, the sooner I can consider my options of leaving this place behind.

Going rogue, at least temporarily, is appealing to me more and more every day, especially since the coven is finally settling into the modern world with less fear.

I owed them that much, a life brought up to date but past that ... I need to seek my own path, at least until the day comes that Rigel and I can work through the miasma of pointless mores and ancient rules that plague our kind.

They say turning rogue is forever, but as I've discovered, nothing is forever.

Besides, I was never much for rules -- I suppose this has always been my fatal flaw.

As the great night grows closer, I'm not nervous, but the coven ... oh, the coven is in a frenzy. Fussing and dressing and cleaning and redecorating and redecorating again.

This is possibly the biggest thing that's happened to any of them, ever.

I, on the other hand, spend most of my time trying not to trip over chairs that weren't there the night before and ordering the females not to worry themselves bald.

Finally ... thankfully ... the night is here. We stand, gathered in the dining hall, dressed to the nines, everyone except myself sweating blood.

I put on my formal clothes for this event, standing at the coven's head in my only good suit. It's the usual cross between a nineteenth century lounging jacket and modern 'gothic' apparel, which seems to have no particular age. It's hot and constricting and it's only the gravity of the situation that keeps me from throwing myself into the castle's stagnant back moat to cool off.

The official courier arrives, making his announcement, followed by the formal bodyguard, death dealers all.

After that, in slink the women of Ordoghaz, so beautifully attired, they take even my jaded breath away. Selene in particular looks impressive in shimmering black beads strung up her slim neck like a spider's web as reams of ebony silk cover her artfully from bosom to the tops of delicate high-heeled shoes.

Not to be outdone, Erika is dressed in blood red satin and long matching gloves, standing out like a poppy in a sea of ash.

Kraven comes in next, through the middle of the females. He looks both bored and annoyed, which is a perpetual look for him these days. A seat is brought forward immediately and he plops down into it, waving forward the rest of his coven.

I don't see any of Amelia's henchmen anywhere among them and this is a good sign. Part of me dreaded having Dmitri or Rafael at our helm, infecting these innocent vampires with their decadent ways.

Not to mention having to follow the orders of either one of those gasbags.

"Nathaniel," Kraven calls, catching my wandering attention. "I bring to you the true Overseer of Sigisoara. Stand down and make way or else be unseated by force."

Stand down, indeed. I am more than ready for this moment, to shed a false mantle and eventually leave this unhappy place, before I lose all my faith in my own existence.

"My Lord," I reply dutifully, with a deep bow. "They are more than welcome to this seat, which has waited for them since the passing of Artemis, true Lord of this house. They will have no resistance from me or anyone here."

A short waggle of Kraven's hand at this response and a male figure emerges from the back of the room, dressed in immaculate black velvet, wearing the blood-red garnet signet ring of Sigisoara and for the love of Darkness, I don't think I can believe my eyes.

It is Rigel.

And for the first time in my very long life, I am struck speechless.

Rigel advances and kisses me softly on both cheeks. "Thank you for your gracious speech." He gives me a meaningful look. "I accept this seat of Overseer of Sigisoara, which is mine rightfully, until said otherwise by my betters."

He kisses me again, this time on the lips and both covens applaud.

"I told you to have a little faith in us, my only one," he whispers in my ear, so low only I can hear as all around us, vampires clap. "For faith as ever shall save our lost souls."

I can do little else but stare, openmouthed and wondering at the miracle that has happened to me ...

On a night I least expected it to.

~*~

In all my many years of knowing him, I don't think I've ever seen such a look of astonishment on Nathaniel's face as I do when I step forward to claim my seat as Overseer of Sigisoara.

The surprise melts away and changes into a look of happiness that is well worth all the trouble it took to get here since my journey to this point was anything but smooth.

I thought it would be simple once I found my old sword still in the castle's keep and remembered the details of the great battle after which I bestowed it upon Lord Artemis. It was on the bloody plains of Vitric where hundreds of Lycans were threatening close to his coven house and I had a lucky evening that battle, slaying many of them single-handedly.

Artemis was grateful to me, grateful enough not only to enshrine my sword in the castle but also to confer upon me the honor of heir to his seat should he die -- an offer which he had inscribed on the blade itself, nearly six hundred years ago in my native tongue, a very rare dialect of ancient German, which to the untrained eye looked nothing more than a series of Gothic scrawls.

"The Sword of His Lordship, the Count Von Rigel, Savior and Crown Overseer of Sigisoara, A. Rex".

Since most vampires don't die that readily the inheritance was more honorary than anything else, but nonetheless, such offers are binding should the death come to pass. I'd never thought twice about it afterward, indeed I'd forgotten the offer completely until I wiped the most recent bit of Lycan blood from the blade and saw the words, engraved in the silver.

It's a good thing I'd bothered to teach myself the old tongue during my reading lessons.

Upon my arrival back at Ordoghaz, I went to Kraven immediately to stake my claim but he wasn't ready to give such a plum job to someone who couldn't be a more powerful ally to him than a simple death dealer as myself.

I presented the sword, showed him the words written there and had the translation verified, but he dismissed my assertion outright, claiming that contracts written after the passion of battle are meaningless.

I was so annoyed I almost lopped his head off right there and then, but prudence stayed my hand, thank Darkness.

Grieving and furious, I swore to abandon the coven and take off with Nathaniel alone but Selene, as usual, had a wiser idea.

A fortnight later, she went over Kraven's head and directly petitioned Lady Amelia -- not for me -- but for herself as the new Overseer of Sigisoara.

This was a brilliant move. Amelia was more than happy to bestow the seat upon Selene for that would both curry future favor with Viktor and silence those in her inner circle who were vying for the job. A powerful male who would be lost as her minion -- perhaps becoming dangerous in their own right once they took over the Eastern coven, so far away, out of her control.

As for the ambitions of Amelia's men -- Dmitri and Rafael might have been able to argue about my taking over of the seat, but of Viktor's favorite, Selene?

They became conspicuously silent.

Oh, but Kraven. What a fury he was in once Selene came to him and told him of Amelia's pronouncement of Selene's ascension to the Eastern Seat. She would be gone for years and years, out of Kraven's sight and Selene relished poking him with this fact every chance she got.

Finally, one evening toward the end of summer, he called both Selene and myself to his private chambers. "What will persuade you to renounce this madness?" Kraven asked Selene, his teeth grinding so hard together, I feared his jaw would crack. "Tell me what you want so we can end this charade."

"Give Rigel what you and I both know is rightfully his," she replied curtly.

"Fine," he growled. "But there will be conditions."

Selene was about to argue, but I stopped her, since I had an idea of what they might be. "Name them, my Lord," I said.

"Once the coven is fully assimilated to this era and the males trained to defend themselves properly, I want to merge the two houses - Sigisoara with Ordoghaz. It is too expensive for us to run a tiny coven at such great cost. There is no need for it beyond tradition and as we've seen recently, too much adherence to tradition can be a dangerous thing."

"Done," I replied immediately. "Once the coven is properly prepared, we will migrate here to be as one."

"You will have to give up the seat and all claims to Overseership once this happens," Kraven cautioned

"Gladly, my Lord, for while I must do my duty to Sigisoara, Ordoghaz is ever my home." And Nathaniel's I thought happily, as our lives were here, hunting together side by side and once the covens merge both of us will finally be home -- together. "My ambitions, in truth, are no more than serving as a death dealer to my house of birth."

Kraven seemed appeased by my easy acquiesce. "Then I suppose this has worked out for the best," he said, with an actual smile. "Congratulations, Lord Overseer of Sigisoara. May you enjoy your rule until our merging." He took a gold box out of his pocket and handed it to me. "This is your signet ring. Wear it well and remember the previous owner's fate, taking care that it will not be yours."

I bowed to Kraven, so happy, I thought my heart would burst. I felt very badly that Nathaniel was still in the dark perhaps thinking I'd abandoned him, but the joy he'd feel upon finding out the truth would make everything worthwhile.

Or so I fervently hoped.

"Now we must be quick, before Dmitri gets wind of this and protests," Kraven said. Petulantly, he addressed Selene. "You're going to get me in trouble with Amelia, you know."

She shrugged. It was obvious she couldn't care less. "I'm sure gaining control over an extra coven will make your troubles with her well worth it."

"Let us hope," he snorted, waving his hand at us dismissively. "Go, get yourselves ready for we travel to Sigisoara in two days time. Oh, and Rigel?"

"Yes, my Lord?"

"I'm giving you three years to get the job done. Try not to spend every moment shagging Nathaniel," he smirked. "All right?"

I didn't answer him. It's only lucky I didn't have my sword with me because this time I would have certainly chopped his head off.

~*~

The ride to Sigisoara was long and nerve-wracking. All sorts of doubts plagued me. Not about ruling the coven -- as a mortal I ruled over a fiefdom ten times as large -- but that Nathaniel might be so angry at me for leaving and not communicating with him my plans that he'd spurn me and leave before I could explain.

Or that perhaps he'd grown weary of waiting and left already. Not that he would be one to easily abandon his duty -- part of me wonders if Artemis had purposely named him temporary Overseer to keep him from going rogue, for Artemis was ever wise that way -- but he was so sorrowful and sick the last night we'd spent together, anything could have transpired.

So worried was I that I barely paid attention to any of the pomp and circumstance surrounding the affair, spending every second waiting to see if Nathaniel were all right and if he'd be indulgent with me one last time.

When I was called forward at long last and saw the wondrous expression on Nat's face -- so full of joyous surprise -- all my fears died.

Kissing him at this moment is so sweet, I wish I could forgo the rest of the ceremony to be alone with him but that wouldn't go over very well. So I sit through the entire ordeal patiently, happily even, with Nathaniel at my right hand introducing me to my new subjects -- the sweet, shy females as well as the courteous, grave male vampires of Sigisoara who gracefully kneel and swear allegiance to me, one by one.

In a way I almost regret my promise to Kraven to bring these uncorrupted ones to Ordoghaz when all is said and done. Such old-fashioned manners are long gone from our halls and once they leave here, our world will be worse off for it.

But it will be best for them to no longer live in the past. Safer too for all of us, not to mention the three blessed years I'll be able to spend with Nathaniel at my side in this faraway haven without Kraven's whims and Ordoghaz's annoyances to bother us.

The ceremony goes long into the night and when the last glass of blood is poured, I rise to formally address both houses, holding Nat's trembling hand in mine. "Peace once again is with us, brothers and sisters. Why is this?"

"Because of The Chain," they answer dutifully, in the ancient words of our only religion, the Immortal Chain of the Command.

"That's right," I say. "Our Blessed Elders in their eternal wisdom have created ways of granting simple transitions of power that are denied to mortals, who live their short lives in war and strife, unlike us, who own both the blessings of immortality and peace. Let us drink our last drops to them, bestowing on them the honor they deserve. To the Elders!"

"To the Elders!" they cry, draining their glasses, Nathaniel and I along with them.

"To Sigisoara Eternal," adds a vampire, one named Louis, who has been sending steely-eyed glares at both Nat and myself all evening long. "Forever may she stand, coven of our hearts."

There's a moment of confusion and embarrassment, as members of both covens aren't quite sure how to respond without insulting either Ordoghaz or the East.

"Indeed," I say, meeting Louis' hard gaze directly. "For then she can forever be friend, sister and mate to beloved Ordoghaz. To Sigisoara Eternal!"

Relieved, everyone raises their empty glasses in salute and thank Darkness, I can feel the dawn approach. "Let us take our rest now, friends. Tomorrow eve we part but with joy in our hearts at the good fortune this night has brought all of us. Good Eve."

"Good Eve," everyone replies and the covens disperse, my new brethren leading our guests to chambers I know are specially prepared for them.

I'm not sure where I'm intended to sleep, but that doesn't matter. I gently wave off my personal servant, a pretty little female named Finola and tighten my grip on Nathaniel's fingers. "Is there room in that coffin of yours for one more?"

"Always," he replies, his voice hoarse with emotion. "If you don't mind a slow awakening. For I think that tomorrow night I might not feel like opening the lid for a very long time."

"That's fine with me, for I have a feeling I'll be particularly inclined to rest tomorrow night as well," I whisper, brushing my lips against his ear, enjoying the shiver that runs through him. "This Overseer business is already hard work."

Slowly, we walk hand-in-hand to his chamber. "You're going to tell me how in Hells you pulled this off, right?" Nat asks, climbing into his thankfully large coffin and pulling me in beside him.

"Perhaps," I tease, settling gratefully into his warm embrace. "Or maybe I'll simply make you my bedslave and keep you occupied as such, as a good Overlord should."

Nat thinks for a moment before lowering the lid against the sun. "That would suit me quite well, my Lord." A soft kiss to my lips before the dying time overtakes us. "Quite well indeed."

~*~

I normally don't let others sleep in my coffin with me, but Rigel, as always, is an exception to the rule.

Besides, how sweet it is to wake up and feel him against me, so wonderfully warm, fitting in my arms like a missing puzzle piece. He's a nuzzler too, his nose tickling against my neck and I chuckle, finding his smooth forehead to kiss in the darkness.

Soon my kiss travels down to Rigel's cheek, his jaw, then his lips and I have to be careful not to tip the box over as I roll atop him, wanting more. So very much more.

His breathless laughter echoes in our confined space. "Nat, there are whole bedrooms for this. Come, we are not fledglings on a field trip now, are we?"

I kiss him more deeply, enjoying his muffled protests, followed by passionate moans. "Those fledglings are smarter than we think."

Eventually, Rigel breaks away from the awkward embrace and fumbles for the coffin lid. Upon pushing it open, he looks down affectionately at me. "You're incorrigible, you know that?"

"That's how you like me," I reply, stretching out my cramped arms and watching as Rigel lights a gas lamp.

The room floods with light and I can barely stand to look at him, so beautiful is he, still in his velvet finery yet deliciously rumpled and debauched-looking at the same time.

The blood in me stirs hotly and it takes all the restraint I own not to leap on him and take him where he stands, especially when he starts shucking his clothes off, in search of something more comfortable.

"Remind me to never sleep in that stuff again," he complains. "Most uncomfortable. In fact, remind me to never wear anything like it again."

"I prefer you without clothes entirely," I reply slyly. "It's a wonderful look for you."

"Incorrigible," he repeats, but his eyes are filled with affection. "So, do you want to hear the story of my great rise from a slogging Death Dealer to royal Overseer?"

"You tricked Kraven into it?" I guess, as I've had an entire night to think about how it could have happened. "And Selene helped you?"

He looks puzzled. "Why, yes. Did someone else tell you?"

"No," I laugh at his adorably befuddled expression. "I'm just intimately familiar how that loving, but devious, mind of yours works. As for Selene, I don't think she's yet met an opportunity to annoy Kraven that she hasn't taken full advantage of."

"Perhaps we have been together too long," he muses, pulling a light shirt over his head. "Once all the surprise leaves a relationship ..."

Putting a hand on his arm, I stop him mid-dress and search his bright blue eyes. "Don't say that," I beg quietly. "Eternity itself isn't long enough for us to be together. As for surprises, I can live without them for a little while, can't you?"

The shirt drops out of Rigel's hand. A second later he's wrapped completely in my arms, kissing me breathless. My clothes follow Rigel's onto the floor and I find myself backed onto the couch in my chamber where we spent the one night together I thought would be our last.

Not so tonight, for this is only the first of many evenings together. I bare my neck to him with all the submissiveness I can summon and thrill at his hiss of satisfaction as he sinks his fangs in deeply, drinking what, in truth, belongs to him -- my body, my blood, my life.

The pleasure is dizzying, so much so that when he lowers himself to take me in his mouth, I can do nothing but close my eyes against the bright sparks of pleasure our mortal mating engenders. I am coming as a mortal might, lost in the ecstasy of his closeness, the heat of his mouth and demands of his touch.

Possessive and perfect is my Rigel, my new Lord and Master and I can't help but smile when he comes to rest his head against my chest, both of us breathing hard. "Your bedslave has a request, my Lord," I whisper to him.

Amusingly, I can feel his eyes rolling. "You're a silly creature, Nat." He lifts his head to smile at me. "So, what is this request?"

"I wish to be chained here, if that's all right with you. Just so I can better be at your disposal."

He snorts, before lowering his head and chuckling warmly. "I'd prefer to be chained here myself, but there is much work to be done. I've heard dreadful things about the training that's been going on in this place over the past year. A certain death dealer has been quite lenient with these soldiers, much to their detriment. Many stories have reached my ears from a certain someone about the sweet demeanor of my predecessor, whom it seems doesn't know that training death dealers and Overseering is a job for the cruel and relentless among us."

Heat fills my cheeks. "I hate Erika," I mumble. "I really do."

Rigel laughs heartily. "She likes you well enough. I've also endured quite a few lectures from her on what a catch you are and what a ... ach, what's the phrase she used again? Oh, yes ... 'bad boyfriend' ... I am. She's very passionate on the subject. She waggled her finger at me with great vehemence at least once a day over it."

"Didn't I request that you kill her, somewhere in that journal of mine?"

"You did, but it's hard to kill someone who is so fond of the one I love," he replies, placing a kiss over my heart. "I did consider it once or twice, if that's any consolation."

"None at all," I reply, before raising him to kiss again. "My only consolation is that you will have three years to make it up to me, at the very least.'

"At the very least," he agrees and melts into my embrace, as the stars gather and the future stretches out before us like a sunset reaching for the last pieces of sky.

~*~

THE END

Author's Notes: This has been a labor of love for me, with an extremely rare pairing in a tiny fandom. It's also been a great pleasure to write, as I've had some fabulous readers who've been faithful and wonderful with their comments, suggestions and critiques each chapter. A huge thanks goes to all of you, as you were my inspiration, friends and playmates all through this. I know I say I've appreciated your comments as I've posted this, but trust me when I say that statement comes from the heart.