The cool breeze that filled Ishta’s sitting room that afternoon just after he’d dismissed the servants was becoming annoyingly familiar.

“Mr Moonshadow,” Ishta huffed as he put down the teacup that he’d lifted to his lips, “One of these days I really must insist that you learn to use the door…and knock before being invited in”.

Rassa chuckled as he came before Ishta, flopping down rather elegantly into the couch opposite, “But that would be so very boring…and orderly”.

Ishta sighed, “Two visits in as many days after not hearing from you in over a year, you really must be confident”.

“Well, you can interpret it that way if it makes you feel better,” Rassa replied, his eyes not leaving the ornately decorated roof high above them, “How did you get that painting up there? It looks to be done there rather than placed, what an awkward position to work in”.

“The Artist was well compensated for his work,” Ishita replied, “And for the record, it does not make me feel better. To what do I owe the inconvenience of your visit today?”

Rassa sighed, “Remind me what it was we agreed upon last time Ishta…”

Ishita could not resist the opportunity, “I would sell my Evanine to you at 80% of the Market price and in return, my company would receive a 10% discount on Moonshadow orders, plus 10,000 charms or the equivalent every year”.

Rassa burst out laughing as he sat up, leaning over as he gathered himself, looking up at Ishta with the amusement of a father who knew his child was lying but was willing to play along and entertain him. Ishta found himself preferring the look of a King from the night before.

“How old are you Ishta? You don’t appear old enough for your memory to be failing you but perhaps the Head of Golden Sands has access to a particularly miraculous cosmetic,” Rassa stated.

Ishta gritted his teeth, “I am old enough to have several bastard children, a Golden Token Trading Company, and to know to take an opportunity when it presents itself,” stated Ishta.

Rassa nodded, “Fair enough, I will admit fault, I should have stated my memory of the event first if I desired the upper hand. As I recall it, we agreed that I would buy your Evanine at 60% of the market Price, and your company would receive a 10% discount plus 10,000 small charms or equivalent every Trader’s Festival…My, I was in a generous mood upon my return, wasn’t I?”

Ishita smiled, refusing to be intimidated despite the fact that he felt the dark presence of Rassa filling the room before him, “Without my Evanine Supply, you will fail to establish a decent foothold with your company in the south, even with such a commodity as the charms”.

The two stared each other down for a moment before Rassa sighed and sat back, “Perhaps, but if I am providing you with 10,000 charms for free biannually, I should expect that what you give me will far exceed that”.

“You wish to impose a quota?” asked Ishta, “The mines can extract a minimum of 100,000 of your small charms a day. I highly doubt you can meet that”.

“Ah, but I believe the market is still very much of the mind that Evanine on its own is useless. It may have taken them some time to work it out, but surely you would not be so stupid as to believe, like the others, that you can hope to make the Charms without Moonshadow’s expertise,” Rassa stated.

Ishita sighed, “Then I will take a gold coin for every kilogram of Evanine”.

Rassa chuckled, “Oh no, you will take 50 silver”.

“Don’t be absurd, that’s daylight robbery,” stated Ishta.

Rassa put a hand to his heart in mock surprise, “Ishta, I am offended by the insinuation. We agreed on 60% of the market price. The Market price on average for a kilogram of Evanine is currently at 80 silver coins. After all, we still have those who believe that the Evanine is useful in anyone’s else’s hands but Moonshadow’s, leading to it being more expensive than it was prior to the appearance of the Vanguard. At 60% market price that is roughly 50 silver coins. Of course, I am being generous considering our previous dealings”.

Ishita huffed, snatching up his teacup and taking a sip, “This feels more like coercion than a business discussion”.

Rassa smiled, “You are getting something out of it are you not? After all, if you decide to sign the deal with me, you can make your first request for charms at this Trader’s Festival. I’ll even throw in a bonus Protection Charm for free”.

“You think your old trinkets have any weight anymore?” asked Ishta.

“They do if they are designed to protect an entire building…or ship…or whatever other structure you desire. Free installation, of course,” Rassa stated.

Ishta tsked in disgust, “So really is keeping the best for themselves”.

Rassa smiled in a way that could only be described as smug, “If I do not create something to aspire too, my Empire will only last so long. It’s changes to this world will only be skin deep”.

“You are perhaps the most ambitious man I have ever met,” Ishta scoffed, “And that is coming from me”.

Rassa stood, “I am not ambitious, I am bored”.

Ishta frowned.

Rassa caught his confusion and smiled enough that two needle-like fangs protruded from beneath his upper jaw, glinting from the afternoon sunlight that streamed in through the windows, “It is not ambition if it is already yours”.

Rassa flipped up his hood, which up until that point Ishta had barely realised wasn’t up considering how dark Rassa’s hair and eyes were, then he walked back towards the window.

“I’ll have your answer before the end of the Festival, Ishta,” said Rassa.

Ishta couldn’t help but watch as Rassa seemed to simply vanish between one step and the next. Clearly not shadow magic considering the shadows did not move nor bend as they had around Illai. The younger man, or whatever he was, did not need to wait for his answer. He already had it.

***

Iah tried not to grit her teeth in annoyance as she greeted another guest for the night’s celebration. This night was not just about Moonshadow employees, but also those companies that Moonshadow had invested in over the years. The vast ball room that Iah stood in the entrance of was a part of a hotel that Moonshadow had finished building just 8 months before in Port Leis. A hotel that was already booked out 6 months in advance. It was anyone’s right to feel jealous and envious of the success that Moonshadow had. But the company also commanded much respect, especially from those that resided on Rouke Island. And the man who had begun it all? The one who garnered such respect and envy from those both in attendance tonight and not?

Nowhere to be seen.

Why was it that whenever Iah needed Rassa to be somewhere, he was never there when he was supposed to be?

“Mr Penworth, and Miss Penworth,” Iah smiled warmly at the two guests from the Calligraphy Store on Charm Street, “Such a pleasure to have you with us tonight”.

“The pleasure is all ours, Lady Moonshadow,” Mr Penworth bowed his head as he took Iah’s outstretched hand and planted a light kiss to her knuckles. The Miss Penworth, Helena, whom Rassa had bed and fed from the night of his return from the south, curtsied gracefully. There was no shamefulness in her eyes, no girlish wonder. She appeared mature and dignified. Though Iah could not help but wonder if it was a result of Rassa’s Allure.

Rassa seemed to be good at attracting untouched women who knew better than to latch onto the one who would be their first. The three women whom had approached her seeking a night with the Moonshadow Patriarch were a prime example. Iah had been suspicious and thought it strange at first, but upon consulting with Ebony, both had decided that whatever they planned, Rassa would be able to handle it with ease.

It had seemed, since Iah had yet to hear a word from any of them of their night, and Rassa had not been particularly angered or annoyed, that they had approached from pure curiosity and been satisfied of it. Or at the very least, Rassa had led them to believe they were.

“Please,” Iah insisted with a sweep of her arm, “Enjoy yourselves”.

She turned to another guest and greeted them. When Rassa arrived, he’d certainly face her wrath for being late.

As if summoned by her anger, Rassa Moonshadow himself swept inside, waving and smiling handsomely at the line of guests before pausing to kiss Iah on the cheek.

“Welcome, welcome all!” he called out as he continued passed Iah and into the ballroom to mingle. Iah barely had a chance to glare at him for his inappropriate entrance.

As he began to mingle with the crowd however, his red overcoat with silver buttons standing out splendidly amongst everybody else, Iah could not help but let her earlier anger dissipate.

You could be disappointed in his lateness, but never in his ability to command the attention and admiration of a room.

***

Rassa stepped up onto the stage, taking with him a goblet of what appeared to be red wine. Really it was horse blood. Not as good as the human stuff but at least not as unpalatable as actual red wine was.

The room turned their attention to him, a hush falling over the crowd with the unspoken command his presence on the stage was.

“Once again, welcome. As head of the Moonshadow Family, I welcome you and thank you for your presence here this night,” Rassa began, noticing Iah coming to stand slightly behind him on the stage, “When I began Moonshadow four years ago, I merely had the idea for something ground-breaking. Never could I have imagined that my family would grow so exponentially, that my name would take on the meaning that it has. Yet, here we stand. Here and now we celebrate four years of prosperity. Four years of astounding growth and expansion. And of course, we come together to in the consensus that this is only a beginning. That we may continue in our prosperity, and create something even more miraculous and life-changing. So now, I ask that you, as honoured guests, both of the Moonshadow Family and our closest friends, raise your goblets with pride and celebration. To Moonshadow”.

“To Moonshadow!”

Rassa tipped back his goblet, swallowing despite the bland flavour, then turning to Iah who shook her head. Rassa had said all that needed to be said.

“Let us celebrate!” Rassa called. The room cheered and he took Iah’s hand in his. Both of them descending from the platform, apologising to those that began to swarm them as they temporarily stepped away for a respite.

“You were late,” Iah huffed as they stepped into the hallway behind the ballroom under the pretence of resting a moment.

“I am always late,” Rassa replied, “But I have never let you down in the end, have I?”

Iah rolled her eyes, “One of these days, Rassa, being late will be something you regret”.

“What happens will happen,” said Rassa, “There is no guarantee that my arriving on time will change events, and therefore no use pondering it any further”.

Iah sighed, taking her hand from Rassa’s before she took his goblet, “I’ll be back in an hour, I find myself hungry due to the stress your antics cause me”.

Rassa gave a small smile, “Then I shall hold the fort in your absence”.

“You’d better,” Iah nailed him with a glare before she turned and continued down the hall at a leisurely pace.

Rassa smiled after her, then frowned at the other presence he sensed in the hall.

It felt so strange to him. Like it was supposed to be wrong but was somehow not. He turned to find the source, and found himself looking at a young woman in a white gown with a scarf over her head and the lower half of her face. Dark blue eyes looked directly at him with a knowledge that Rassa found somewhat unsettling.

“You are unfamiliar to me, are you with a guest from the event?” asked Rassa, disliking her stare enough to want to end it.

“I come to you at this hour, Lord of Night, to show my subservience,” the woman stated as she pushed away from the wall, “I am not a guest of your event, but I have used tonight to meet with you. After all, you are a hard man to find. Or rather, a hard Vampire”.

Rassa raised an eyebrow, turning to fully face the woman, “You are rather bold for somebody who knows what I am”.

“You are not the first I have met,” she admitted as she stepped forward, “And frankly, I could not be absolutely sure that you were whom I sought had you not confirmed it for me now”.

Rassa gave a small smile, “No? So, you were not aware after those three you sent returned to you?”

She frowned, clearly confused as to why she was being caught off guard and not him.

“You have the same scent as they do. Pure, uncorrupted, light. Though admittedly yours is far stronger. No doubt due to the fact that you are a Light Magician and not merely dealing in the presence of such magic. If I had to guess, I would say you come from the Holy Order, no?” asked Rassa.

She tilted her head a fraction before she sighed, “You are indeed far more formidable than I expected. Had I come straight here rather than meeting the other you sired first, I likely would have been killed”.

Rassa frowned, “You have seen Aegin”.

She nodded, pulling her scarf down to reveal her lips, “My name is Devina Lightbringer. I am a Priestess of the Holy Order, and one of the twelve in line to become Head of the Holy Order. My mission, when I left the Holy Empire over a year ago, was to find the Lord of Night and kill him before his shadows could spread”.

Rassa’s lips quirked in amusement, “And here I thought the Holy Order was ignorant to the war of their ancestors…I sense it is no longer your mission”.

Devina shook her head, “No. It has become clear to me that the Holy Order has been suppressing the shadows for thousands of years. But that suppressing them may not have been the best course of action”.

“And what would you do now? Heir to the throne of the Holy Empire? What could a remnant of Chaos possibly have that a fully established Paladin of Light could be interested in?” asked Rassa.

Devina seemed to hesitate a moment as she stared up at Rassa, then a resolve seemed to enter her eyes, “A path forward. This world has stagnated too long. It needs to move forward, or it will resolve itself to one way of life for all eternity and that was not what it was designed for”.

“And Aegin showed you this?” asked Rassa.

Devina nodded, “Not intentionally, but as a Priestess I am trained to see that which others do not”.

“And what would you ask of me, to come all this way?” asked Rassa.

Devina hesitated, then lifted up her wrist, exposing it to him, “I wish to understand the path you walk on. The path I have determined can lead us forward. But I cannot do that in the state I am now”.

Rassa raised an eyebrow, “I think for that, little Priestess, you are far too ignorant of what you ask for”.

Rassa turned and walked back towards the party.

“Please I-”

Rassa ignored her, entering the ballroom once more without so much as a glance back.

***

*Eldovian Era 1714, 7th day of the 12th month*

“Rassa, she’s come every day since the night of the ball. Don’t you think it’s even a little bit concerning that she knows what you are? What we are?” asked Iah. She was pacing back and forth in Rassa’s apartment as the Head of Moonshadow flipped through the book he was reading.

“I think we have better things to focus on,” Rassa replied.

“She’s a Priestess of the Holy Order, Rassa. Probably the most literal threat we face as those on the path of Chaos. She even admitted that her initial mission was to kill you,” said Iah.

“Yes, and now she asks that I turn her. A Priestess of the Holy Order. What, does she think I’m stupid? Not only would that be practically suicidal, but it would also be asking the Holy Order to come knocking, I don’t particularly feel like going up against an army of Light Magicians on my own. You know, seeing as my Sired have yet to be unsealed,” Rassa proclaimed.

“Well sorry for being so utterly useless!” snapped Iah.

Rassa scoffed, “Don’t try to argue with me, Iah, just ignore her. If Aegin happens to drop back in, I’d love to chat to him about why he thought it was a great idea to trust her with all this”.

“Aegin would not betray us,” came a new voice from the balcony. Rassa huffed as he turned to face Ebony and Mathius, who had clearly just arrived after their journey, “And you know it”.

Ebony moved forward and leaned down to kiss Rassa’s forehead lightly before taking a step back with a bowed head.

Rassa sighed, glancing at Mathius, the only one among them who hadn’t met Aegin. There was something about him that seemed different to the last time Rassa had seen him. Rassa glanced back at Ebony, but there was no obvious change in her.

Rassa closed his book, “Just leave her be. She will not say anything unnecessary if we do not provoke anything. How was your journey?”

“Boring without a view from above,” Ebony smiled, “But now that we’re here, what do you say that we go to the Trader’s Ball to stir up some trouble? I have a bone to pick with a certain Southern Trader”.

Rassa stood, “You’ll leave Ishta alone, he’s an important business partner”.

Ebony froze, turning to Rassa in surprise, “We’re in business with Ishta Alamone? The one who sent pirates after us and sold Aegin and I to the Slave Master? The one who ordered Kit and Olly killed? You’ve got to be kidding”.

Mathius seemed shocked too, though remained silent as his gaze flickered to Iah, the only one among the three not surprised. Though her expression was begrudging.

“Ishta owns 80% of the Evanine Mines in the South. Seeing as we decided that Falla was not going to be able to supply us with Evanine for the Southern Continent as well, I went to the next best option,” said Rassa.

“The next best option?” asked Ebony in shock, “Who owns the other 20% to say that Ishta is the next best option?”

Rassa’s eyes narrowed, “Ebony, do not mix your emotions with business. He is a bastard, but he’s also a businessman. More often than not they are bastards. I am on the verge of having this deal signed, don’t ruin it for me”.

Ebony pouted in annoyance, “This is a bad idea”.

“If you can come up with an alternative that could offer us the same or better growth potential than the cheap deal that I have with Ishta, please, propose it, otherwise, you’ll just have to deal. Besides, Ishta will only be around another couple of decades anyway. The earlier we get in, the earlier we’re able to influence the situation,” Rassa replied.

Ebony’s expression softened somewhat. Eternity was hard to come to terms with when you had yet to really see its effects. The only reason that Rassa was better at it than the others was thanks to his experiences with the old Vampires during his training.

“Fine. But I will not smile at him, and if he makes a jab, I reserve the right to threaten him with my fangs,” Ebony bargained.

“So long as there’s no biting,” Rassa replied with an amused smile, “Now, go get ready, I need to bathe and change”.

Mathius and Iah turned to leave immediately, but Ebony hesitated, “Can I…talk to you for a minute?”

Rassa nodded, and Mathius and Iah took that as their dismissal. After a moment when she was satisfied that Mathius and Iah were out of hearing range, Ebony followed Rassa into his room.

“What is it?” asked Rassa.

“It’s Mathius…he…”

“Ah, so you felt it too,” Rassa nodded, “I was unsure whether you would”.

“What is it?” asked Ebony.

“As you know, when a Vampire is turned, the majority of their abilities are sealed until they’ve proven themselves mature enough,” said Rassa, “It takes longer for a child because their physical bodies have to fully mature before they can be unsealed as well, but as an adult the time frame depends less on age and more on one’s mental capacity”.

“So, Mathius is ready to be unsealed?” asked Ebony, “He has only been a Vampire for a little over a year”.

“As I said, age and time have little impact on unsealing if you’re being turned as an adult,” said Rassa.

“But…I am his Sire, and I am not unsealed,” said Ebony.

“No,” said Rassa, “It is somewhat strange, but your situation to begin with was not exactly normal either”.

Ebony sighed, “So what does he have that Iah and I do not?”

Rassa chuckled, “It is not simply something you can get. To become unsealed you must accept the burden, fully and irreversibly. That change does not happen overnight”.

“Apparently it doesn’t happen over fifteen months either, exactly what is putting him so far ahead of us?” asked Ebony.

Rassa sighed as he turned to look at Ebony, “Mathius has been around for far longer than you and Iah. He, over his years as a human, learned to adapt to situations quite quickly in order to survive them. In addition, he has quite a strong will for leadership”.

“Iah and I have proven on multiple occasions that we can adapt, and we have leadership skills,” stated Ebony.

“Yes, but both you and Iah are more timid,” stated Rassa. Ebony looked somewhat offended, “It’s not a bad thing. You both have kind and forgiving souls. That is something to be celebrated, but over the past year I’m sure you’ve become aware of how opposite your personalities are to the Hunger within yourselves. It will take longer for you to reach an equilibrium because of it”.

Ebony huffed, “So I just have to become more ruthless?”

Rassa rolled his eyes, “No…look, the process of becoming unsealed is unique for everyone. I can tell you what is required, but the path to reach it must be your own. Mathius just happens to have a shorter path”.

Ebony sighed, looking away in defeat, “I just…it feels wrong that he should reach that point before me. I feel…”

“Responsible for him?” asked Rassa, “Yes, it’s likely the same feeling that I have for all of you. But just because he is unsealed sooner doesn’t mean you will cease to be his sire. Besides, if you are to live for eternity you can’t say that relationship will be the only one you rely on to interact with one another”.

Ebony nodded, and silence lapsed between them before she looked away, “Is Aegin…Is he unsealed?”

Rassa hesitated a moment as he looked at Ebony, then he shook his head, “No…not yet anyway”.

“Iah said that priestess came from the west…that she was with Aegin,” said Ebony.

Rassa paused, then came to stand before Ebony, placing his hands on her shoulders, “If you want to go after him, I will make no protest against it. But if you do, make sure you are going for you, not for him. You will not try and influence his decision to remain away. It was his choice, he must be the one to choose to come back…if he ever does”.

Ebony closed her eyes painfully at the words, “I miss him”.

“I know…I do too,” Rassa admitted, pulling Ebony in for a hug.