Chapter Thirteen

The Oval

Not long after Magnus' departure, someone else had come to knock on the door. It set the tone for the day; they would barely get a moment alone after that. When Warren answered, yet another woman was waiting on the other side.

"I've come to escort you to the Elder's Hall." The woman stated. Her long chocolate-brown hair hung down over her shoulder in an elegant braid, tied with flowing crimson ribbon. The warmth in her expression was so soothing that Karou thought she even saw Warren smile at her in return for her own gesture.

Once they were out of Warren's room and heading in the direction of the hall, the woman slowed her pace to walk side by side with Warren rather than taking the lead. "You're a sight for sore eyes Charles." She spoke so calmly, and Karou noted that the use of his first name didn't seem to phase him at all when it came from the lips of this disarming and charming woman. Her aura was gentle and shared a similar quality to Magnus'; she was thoroughly maternal. "How does it feel to be back home? I know that everyone is glad of your visit. You should prepare yourself for quite a few reunion's today."

"It's especially good to see you too Ekaterina, you're looking to be in good health," Warren said. In reply, Ekaterina nodded and smiled warmly. It was easily assumed that she was probably not always well, though Karou couldn't say she looked sickly at all. On the contrary, her appearance was very serene. "- but we both know I never allowed Blue Ash to become my home. I merely worked here and left as soon as the chance arose."

"And we've missed you ever since."

"Hmm, some more than others, I'll bet," Warren replied with a knowing smirk. Although Karou wondered what the inside joke meant, she couldn't feel left out when Warren hadn't let go of her hand since leaving his room. Like the night before, she enjoyed the simplicity of the intimate interaction.

They paused before a pair of ornate wooden doors, set into an equally impressive stone archway. "This is where I leave you."

"Though it's been brief, thank you for your company."

"You're welcome, it isn't often I make an effort to see people, but when I heard you were in the castle, I couldn't resist." Ekaterina reached out and patted Warren's arm. The moment her brown eyes left Warren's, she noticed Karou's; the look of curiosity in them caused the vampiress to turn to her and explain. "When Magnus brought him here, he was starving for so much more than blood. I regret not being more forthcoming in my demands. I wanted to look after him as he required and deserved. Instead, I was silenced and he got whisked off to be indoctrinated." The regret she spoke of was clear to see on her face. "I'm so very relieved to see that he seems to have found his purpose. One that the rigorous regime of the Black Winter could never provide."

Warren had told Karou before how The Davikov's methods of conditioning fledgelings into formidable predators could almost be considered torturous. Ekaterina agreed; if she had been a physically stronger person, she would have waged an uprising to change that; but she was crushed beneath the will of her Uncle and coven Elder, Mikhail Orlov. Unfortunately, her will to fight was depleting rapidly, as was her health; at least she had her husband to wage her wars for her these days. Still, her warm words spoke volumes, and Ekaterina and Karou shared a moment smiling over at Warren - they both were glad to have found someone else that felt as compassionately towards him as they did themselves. Ekaterina could see the force of good that Karou was in his life.

"If your Uncle hears you talking so sentimentally, he'll think you've gone soft." Warren intercepted the women's moment and opened the door of the Elder's Hall for Karou. "Maybe we'll see you again before we leave."

"If you're not too busy, I would love to. Good luck in there."

The meeting went precisely as Magnus and Warren had suspected - The Davikov Coven Elders introduced themselves and the representatives of the Black Winter to Karou, officially. They made their case for her to join their ranks passionately and also attempted to flatter not only her ego but Warren's too, as he sat guarded and silent at her side. Karou at least made an attempt at joining in the conversation, but Warren made it very clear that he was utterly disinterested in the topic of discussion. Magnus smirked over at Karou a couple of times when he spotted Warren stifle back a mocking yawn or eye roll.

"It was a delight to have this meeting with you, Miss Morgan, but I think we have concluded our business. We will eagerly await your answer, though of course, we understand you'll need to take some time to contemplate our proposal... Taras! Lillianna! Please escort Karou to The Oval. I am sure she would enjoy a tour of our training facilities." Mikhail suggested before he and the other five elders left.

"Certainly. Please follow me." An elegant-looking blonde women, presumably Lillianna, agreed in a thick Slavic accent. Karou had already noticed how she'd been staring at Warren throughout the discussions, though, Warren's mind hadn't been present enough to pay her any attention. Now, when she walked passed him to leave the room she curled her fingers around his wrist. A subtle smile blessed her full lips; she'd finally gotten Warren's attention as he stood from his chair. "It's good to see you. You should visit more often."

"And you, Lilli, and I would love to, but my schedule doesn't allow me much personal time these days."

"You've always been so naughty, lying with such ease it's almost sociopathic." The golden-haired woman's violet eyes finally met Karou's. Lilli had seen her smirk at the comment, but all Karou had been thinking was that if she didn't know better, she would've agreed that Warren was a sociopath, too. The look Lilli gave her threw her entirely off her train of thought. Karou thought she'd figured out Lillianna's relationship with Warren given her longing looks, but now she looked at her in precisely the same way; it was penetrating and left her feeling quite violated and needing to clutch her clothes closer to her body to hide it from her inquiring eyes.

"If you insist." Warren nodded towards the door. Before it stood a man who had introduced himself as Taras Vasiliev, he was the leader of the Black Winter, a general of sorts. He was sharing looks with Warren, clearly rivalry; Karou was curious to find out why. Though that was only one of the million questions she had and her curious blue eyes looked up to her Sire as she followed him.

Are they your friends? Karou thought; hoping he might fill in the blanks for her.

You needn't look so nervous. Warren insisted and boldly took hold of her hand and allowed Taras and Lillianna to lead the way. In truth, he was the nervous one even though he knew exactly where he was going. In fact, that was more the reason for his nerves than anything else because he was about to venture into a part of the castle he hadn't been to in decades. It was where he'd spent his fledgeling years. The place was marred by a myriad of emotions that were still confusing to him. Realising that he could easily become very vulnerable to how The Oval affected his mood, he held onto Karou's hand to anchor himself in the present. He told himself that he was going there to show her around and not to do anything like what he used to, like fight, feed or fuck.

I think you're the nervous one… And you didn't answer my question.

They're colleagues, Karou, not friends exactly. Lillianna is perhaps closer to what you could consider a friend than Taras. He practically hates me. We were often set against each other back when I was still discovering the extent of my gift. He's competitive and a sore loser.

The way she looked at you before seemed a little more than friendly. The tone of her thought was a little pouty, and it made Warren look down at her with a smirk.

You want to know if I've slept with her, don't you?

I wouldn't say I want to know, but it's not hard to figure out that you have.

Yes, I have, and many others too, more times than I care to remember. Ellis and I did some pretty abominable things when we were nesting. Warren revealed. Along with words in his head, an image that she would've been forgiven for not recognising what it was she was being shown. It was one of Warren's darker memories of a time when he considered himself a hedonist. It appeared to be a writhing pile of flesh, limbs, faces and fangs. Some six or seven vampire's arranged on a large, cushioned platform, naked and performing all manner of sexual acts with one another. No inch of skin was left untouched. No neck left unbitten or erogenous zone unstimulated. Amidst the sea of faces, she could make out both Ellis' and Lillianna's and assumed that Warren was perhaps in there somewhere too, that or from the angle of the image, he was at least about to join in. See, Coven life isn't all that glamorous, is it? It's very easy to lose yourself to your hedonistic urges when nesting. I'm certainly not proud of some of the things I've done.

Oh, God. That was all Karou could think. She was torn over how she felt about the image in her head. It was like some catastrophic event, horrifying but also impossible to tear her eyes from. It made her want to look away but at the same time curious to look closer and understand it in all its depravity. What disturbed her most was the extent of her curiosity. Somewhere deep down inside her, the yearning to join in or feel what those involved were experiencing reared up and made her face flush with colour, her neck warm to the touch and stomach and thighs clench.

Their telepathic conversation was interrupted when Lillianna and Taras paused before two massive wooden doors. Karou had admittedly tuned out of where she was being led, and if she had been asked later, she wouldn't have been able to remember the route by which they arrived at their destination.

"This is The Oval," Lillianna announced proudly and spanned out an arm to present the room as the doors opened. The arena before them was indeed ovular in shape, that much Karou could've guessed by the name alone, but what was remarkable about the space was how it was confined. The walls stretched upward for some four or five floors and were formed by arch after arch of stone that created both windows and balconies to the ringed corridor that ran behind them and led to countless other rooms and chambers. Right at the very top stretched colossal arms of black steel that held up the impressive glass ceiling. The window to the sky above was like an open eye and allowed the cold Russian sunlight to rain in and illuminate the training arena below. The place was rather busy, groups of vampires were undergoing combat training, but the corridors were also littered with the odd person wandering to someplace or other.

Once Karou had taken in the room, she glanced to Warren at her side in the hopes of gauging his expression, but of course, he was unreadable as ever, yet he still kept a firm hold of Karou's hand.

"How about we let the ladies take a turn about the room and have ourselves a game or two?" Taras suggested.

"I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Afraid you've lost your touch?"

"Perhaps he just doesn't want to embarrass you like last time. Besides, I don't think it would please the custodians if we destroyed the arena with one of Warren's whirlwinds." Lillianna was at Warren's arm again and stoking him in the same familiar way Karou had watched Ellis do so before; it made her skin crawl just the same, too.

"Are you intending on letting Lilli make all your excuses for you, Charlie?" Taras made a wicked expression, and Warren bristled at the use of his given name.

"Taras, behave yourself." Lilli scolded.

I know it isn't a big deal, but you always change the subject when it comes to talking about your 'gift'. Karou thought.

Warren shot her a look but didn't reply right away. Their moment was quickly interrupted by Lillianna when she said, "How about we show Karou where you used to live before you got promoted up to the big boys' quarters?"

Lilli's arm looped around his left arm, and Karou held on tight to his right hand; he was literally torn. But a showdown didn't seem like a good idea. He'd half-turned, ready to leave, when Karou tugged his hand to gain his attention and thought, Are you really never going to show me what you can do?...

Warren's eyes met Karou's. He'd stopped in his tracks. "Why do you want to see?"

"Why do you feel like hiding it? I mean, how many more secrets are you going to keep?"

Though they'd kept their voices low while they spoke, Lillianna had caught on to the discussion between the Sire and fledgeling. She sighed. Warren way hadn't changed; he was still stubbornly secretive. With that in mind, she changed her's and spoke up, "What!? You've never seen him work his magic?" Her purple eyes gleamed with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Oh, at least put on a little display now that we're here?" Lilli let go of his arm to allow him the use of it and stepped back to watch what he'd do next.

"Please?" Karou pouted and let go of his hand so that she could watch too.

Silently, he turned his hand over, and when his palm faced skyward, Karou and Lillianna stepped closer, watching with eager eyes. His fingers twitched ever so slightly, and little by little, the air gathered, but it took only a moment for a tiny tornado to swirl upward from the centre of Warren's palm. The spectacle was over, the second his hand made a fist, and the air dispersed.

"That's so cool." Karou appraised. Honestly, the smiles on their face were enough praise for Warren.

Across the way, Taras chuckled. "Bah! Women are so easily impressed. What a pity, your talent has been reduced to parlour tricks."

Without warning, the general flung the contents of a flask into the air; in a display that Warren and Lilli knew meant, game on! Before the liquid could rain down on the four of them, Taras possessed the liquid and suspended it in a giant bubble that loomed over their heads.

Lillianna glared upward, unimpressed. "Getting a little wet is nothing but an inconvenience, Taras. What more could you hope to achieve with this stunt?"

"It's only a little game, Lillianna."

"At least it is if you're only wielding water," Warren stated, knowing full well that Taras' had discovered his aqua-kinesis would allow him to manipulate certain harmful acids that contained hydrogen. It was that signature skill that had earned him his place in the Black Winter, in the first place.

"Here's hoping I am." Taras teased, moving the liquid to swirl directly above Karou, with an ominous look in his dull brown eyes.

"Taras, that's enough! Karou is our guest." Lillianna barked.

"She wanted a demonstration."

Presented with a risk he wasn't willing to take fueled Warren's anger and lured a growl from him. He pulled Karou towards him, but under the protection of her Sire's embrace, Karou's wings moved of their own accord to cloak both of them from the danger that loitered above their head.

Karou, what're you doing? Your wings will burn!

Karou looked up to meet his eyes, confused by his question. But when she saw her feathers had created a canopy above their heads, she realised her own protective instincts had kicked in and smiled meekly; when she smiled like that, he couldn't be angry with her.

Cornered, Warren said, "Fine, Karou can have her demonstration, and you can have your game." He manoeuvred Karou out of the way, sending her into Lillianna's arms. "Forgive me for assuming you weren't serious, Taras. Threatening my fledgeling to get what you wanted seemed to lack the usual cunning flare your tactics are renowned for... Although your childish approach caught me entirely off guard, so now I'm left wondering if this was your plan all along." Warren sneered, but Taras merely chuckled once more and accepted the backhanded compliment with a pleased grin. A compliment is a compliment to a narcissist. Warren reasoned and assumed a defensive position.

"It's been a long time since I've seen him do this," Lillianna whispered to Karou. Standing at the vampiress' side, out of the firing line, Karou stared, both awestricken and anxious at her Sire - she had no idea what he was going to do, but she'd never seen him exude such confidence.

"What is he going to do?" Karou asked, glancing the woman's way for a split second to find her staring too.

"Who knows..." Lillianna answered honestly. "He's always so unpredictable."

Meanwhile, Warren had extended his forearms from his side and faced his palms upward; as if to receive. Stood firm, with his feet hip-width apart, he relaxed his shoulders and drew in a deep, calming breath to centre himself and hone his weapon. When his lungs couldn't hold any more, Warren steadily breathed out; that was when the demonstration began.

The air he breathed out he intended to wield - swirling coils formed in the centre of his palms once more, but now they were much larger, more impressive, yet it seemed so gentle, calming, benign and beautiful. Though, with a glance in the direction of Warren's opponent, Karou saw how alert Taras suddenly became; the general recognised the threat and realised he'd be foolish to assume that Warren's time away from the Black Winter had diluted his skill.

The bubble of liquid floating overhead wavered, and Taras lost control of it. His face reddened, and his hand reached out, grasping in an attempt to win back the will of the water, but it was no use. Calmly, assuredly Warren wielded the air he possessed with minimal flare; neither a flinch of his fingers nor brow gave away that he was about to play a deadly move. The liquid boiled where it levitated as the air around it vibrated at such speed that heat was created. Soon the bubble was no more. All that was left was steam that ascended unceremoniously towards the glass ceiling.

"What? How did he do that?" Karou whispered to Lillianna, who merely shrugged her slender shoulders as an adoring smile spread her face.

"He's always full of surprises." The vampiress mused.

"Yeah, sometimes it's more annoying than charming, trust me." Karou wanted to roll her eyes; once again she'd noticed Lillianna's gooey eyed expression.

Now that the display was over, Warren lowered his arms back to his sides and turned to face the women once more. "Should we continue the tour?"

"Still a cock, sure little prick, aren't you, Charlie!" Taras jeered bitterly - proving that he was indeed a sore loser. He was approaching quickly, with a blade in his hand. Melee wasn't Warren's strong suit, but he didn't have time to fear the consequences of an attack; Lillianna had fled Karou's side and taken centre stage.

The burly, bear-like Russian hadn't noticed Lillianna's lithe form slip into her personal space and hold her blade under his bearded chin. "You've had your game, so get back in your fucking box Taras! You're really starting to piss me off. Embarrassing the BW in front of our guest, don't think you're Uncle-in-law would be too thrilled if you upset the prospective new member."

Taras snarled some choice words Lillianna's way before backing down and skulking off into the distance.

Wow, he really is a sore loser. Karou thought once she'd returned to Warren's side.

He discredits himself with his childish attitude. He's actually quite formidable on the battlefield.

Are you... complimenting someone? Karou asked. There was no disguising the look of disbelief on her face.

It's not that rare that I do. People just think I'm being sarcastic most of the time. Warren replied with a smirk as he took her hand back into his own.

"Thank God he's gone!" Lillianna sighed, tucking her blade away. "Shall we continue?"

Meanwhile, Karou and Warren's attention was elsewhere - still in their shared headspace, but they followed Lillianna willingly as she started to lead them away from the arena. With Karou's hand back in Warren's, she was rather enjoying how safe and calm it made her feel. Though, she couldn't deny that she was made a little wary by how eager Lillianna was to get she and Warren to herself, and she was right to be.

The three of them ascended several flights of stairs until Lillianna paused before a set of doors. Karou hadn't noticed they'd stopped - she was distracted with looking out through the stone archways at the arena below. The aerial view was quite impressive and from that lofty height The Oval's vastness was put into perspective.

"Lilli, we're not going in there." Warren said suddenly, in a tone that was certain and suggested it wouldn't be wise to challenge him.

Karou glanced over at her Sire in time to see that he'd prized his arm from Lilli's grasp and the way the vampiress pouted in response.

"Ellis mentioned that you're no fun anymore. Or maybe you're just bored of her?" Lillianna grinned, undeterred, and suddenly Karou found the woman had extended her hand towards her. "If you won't join me, Karou and I can go in alone... I'll take incredibly good care of her."

"What's through the door?" Karou asked warily.

"It's The Oval lounge."

"Like a... bar?" Karou asked. Now she was confused why Warren didn't seem keen.

Quick off the mark, Lillianna answered, "Yes!"

"No." Warren disagreed firmly. "It's much more than a bar."

"Bar, lounge, club, whatever you want to call it, it's were all the Black Winter personnel come to wind down and release some tension. There are quite a few people who couldn't be at the meeting that are very eager to meet you, Karou," Lilli explained and displayed her persistence in the matter when she continued to beckon Karou towards her with her fingers. Hoping to entice the sweet-smelling hybrid, Lilli opened the door to allow the her a glimpse inside. A dimly lit lounge area sat beyond the door, and indeed a bar. Little did she know that all manner of unsavoury activities were on offer in some of the side booths...

"Lillianna, stop. She's not interested."

"What harm could a little fun do, Warren? But if you insist, she doesn't want to, she can tell me herself."

"Uh- I…" Karou stuttered; put on the spot. She wasn't entirely sure that she didn't want to go in, but that was merely because she was curious and not entirely on board with any debauchery that might occur. "I don't know what to say." Are all the vampires you know so... horny? Karou thought, thoroughly alarmed by how shameless Ellis and Lillianna were in their advances. Apparently, Lilli wasn't going to stop at just Warren.

It's nesting behaviour, nothing more. "As a matter of fact, now isn't a good time." Warren glanced at his watch. "We have lunch scheduled with Roman. I don't think it would bode well if we kept our Lord waiting."

"I didn't realise you and Lord Black had gotten so friendly."

"Oh no, I despise the man, but he was also keen to get acquainted with Karou. First come, first served."

"I'll just have to wait my turn then." Waving her fingers in a goodbye, the woman disappeared behind the door and let the two of them off the hook, though not before she'd flashed them a sultry grin. "Karou, you're always welcome here. Stop by anytime you like."

The moment Lillianna was out of earshot, Warren grabbed Karou's shoulders and turned her about to face him. "Karou, don't ever go through those doors." He demanded, glaring down at her though was still entranced and looking on after the vampiress. "Karou? Promise me?"

"That's... a very possessive request, Warren." Karou, eventually found his eyes and smirked up at him.

"If you're game for being violated in every possible way you can imagine and some you can't, by people you don't know and won't remember, then, by all means, follow her and have the time of your life. But be warned; the line between right and wrong stops at that door's threshold." He said nothing else and led her back the way they'd come, out of The Oval and back through the castle.

All the way, Karou pondered over what Warren had said. Honestly, she was alarmed by how none of it deterred her. She put it down to being sexually naive, after all, she'd only ever slept with Warren. Ultimately she decided she wanted to remain that way, at least for now.

When they arrived outside her guest room, they both noticed a red box sitting at the foot of the door. Warren let go of Karou's hand and reached down to retrieve the note left along with the package. "It's from Roman. It's the dress he requests you wear to dinner."

Karou picked up the box and carried it into her guest room behind Warren, and set it down onto the bed to open it. Then, taking the black garment out of it's tissue paper wrapping she held it over her petite frame and beheld it with wide eyes. "It's…"

"See-through…" Warren evaluated. "I suppose we should be thankful he put a dress in the box at all and hasn't requested you attend naked."

"That's one thick silver lining you've just found to this situation… I might as well be naked if I wear this."

"Wait didn't you tell Lillianna that we were having lunch with Roman?" Karou asked suddenly.

"Yes. I lied." Warren answered plainly.

"So..."

"We've got a few hours to kill... At least try the dress on for me?" Planting himself down on the edge of her bed, Warren rested back onto his elbows, waiting to see what she would say.

"For you?"

"Sure, why not? Humour me."

"Hmm, I'll put this dress on for you if…" Karou paused, considering what condition she should make. "You show me a glimpse of what I'm missing beyond the door to The Oval lounge, deal?"

"Sure, as long as you're not hung up on being able to walk to dinner…"

"Naughty." Karou chided, even if she was rather curious about what he was teasing at.

She disappeared into the bathroom adjoined to her guest room and returned a few minutes later wearing the garment. As she wandered over the floorboards towards him, he remained laid back on her bed. The dress took on the form of a sheer black blouse from the waist up, and beneath, Karou had chosen to keep on her lacey black underwear. With a few of the buttons left undone, Karou's neck and collar bones were exposed as if there was anything to leave to the imagination. If Warren was honest, she'd somehow made the garment classier than it had first appeared, but if anything, that only made him want to corrupt her more. "What do you think?"

I empathise with Lord Black on his choice of dress - is what he could've said, but he kept quiet, only thinking it to himself. Instead he replied; "I don't think I can let you wear that to dinner?"

"Really?" Karou asked, turning to examine herself in the mirror. "I didn't think it was actually that bad."

"I don't think it's robust enough to make it through what I'm about to do to you..." Warren admitted as he shifted from the bed at a speed that took Karou completely by surprise. When she looked up from appraising the dress she was wearing she found herself gathered into her Sire's arms and heading back into the bathroom...

"Warren!?" Karou squeaked. "What are you doing?"

Like mountains, her peaked knees were surrounded with clouds made of foamy bubbles. Steam filled the small room, and the hot water practically overflowed the tub when they submerged themselves into it. To get there, very little else other than disrobing had taken place. Although it was nice, it had confused Karou; she got the feeling that nothing like this happened in The Oval lounge.

Resting her head back against Warren's chest as she sat between his legs, Karou posed her question. Curiosity had gotten the better of her. "This isn't the sort of thing that happens at The Oval, is it?"

"No." Warren replied as dryly as always.

"Then why are we...-"

Warren interrupted Karou to ask, "Do you remember when you called me from Magnus' phone, on the drive here?"

"Yeah..."

"Our unit doesn't have a bathtub. Why waste the opportunity of having a few hours to kill?"

Karou was silent for a moment, trying to fathom what on earth their conversation in Magnus' car had to do with right now, but then it occurred to her. "Ah, right. You said you were in the tub with a hot blonde..."

"Ha- the penny has dropped." Warren chuckled and pressed his lips into her cheek.

"So we're going to lay here and prune 'til dinner time?" Karou turned around some. When she saw Warren had his eyes closed and looked blissfully peaceful, she regretted what she'd just asked because it insinuated that she'd rather have been doing something else.

"Hmm, I-" Warren started...

She didn't want to disturb his peace and finished his sentence for him; "I think that's exactly what we should do." Having pressed her lips to his cheek she turned back around and relaxed back against his chest.