“Dear me, little Alec, are you insinuating that those born of my ‘gift’ are so quick to give in to their baser desires?”

A voice immediately caused all within earshot to drop to one knee as a mix of tension and fear swept over them. The five House Founders would have been able to identify that voice no matter what method was used to obfuscate it or twist it, for it was that of their Blood Sire, their Primogenitor. Alexis Draculina Nekronus von Darksol, the First of the Blood, the Crimson Empress, Ruler of the Midnight Aristocracy, the Wife of the Origin of Undeath, had been in this room longer than they had been, and yet not a one had noticed.

“Now, now. I did not gift you a fraction of my near-perfection simply so that you would bow and scape like mere broken dogs.” She said with a playfully sinister voice that dripped with more poisonous sweetness than one would have expected. “Besides, I asked you a question, little Alec, and I desire a decent response.”

The five rose from where they had knelt, though Grathe had simply fallen down to his hands and feet instead of taking a knee as his legs and those of his House Members bent backward like beasts. None of them tried to find the place where their master was hidden, for to even attempt to find her when she obviously wanted to be both intimidating and secretive was the height of idiocy along with being utterly suicidal. While she may not have killed them, she most certainly would have been rather upset, and when the gulf between them and their master was so massive they felt it was in their best interest to avoid making her angry.

“Yes. Well…. I by no means meant that, Your Highness. I merely meant that-.”

“I know what you meant, Alec.” Alexis said, cutting Alec off. “Did you forget that your thoughts and those of your sires are known to me, regardless of how any would attempt to hide them?”

“That, no, I….”

In place of the original tension was a lightening of the mood. The light fixtures that had been rendered blacker than pitch and the sense of ominous doom and dread that once made that room a horrible place were replaced with decent lighting and a smell similar to that of rosemary and lavender. In a corner sat Alexis, barely able to keep her smile from breaking into the grin of a sadist. In fact, she looked to be just about able to keep herself from laughing, but what else could one expect from such an apex predator?

Their fear, their anxiety, their utter despair; these were like drugs to her. Toying with mortals was fun and all, but to put such powerful beings in such a sense of hopeless dread was, to her, much more thrilling. What did it matter that they were so thoroughly bound to her that they were effectively nothing more than slaves that she could restrict at her whims? All that mattered was that she could get her kicks, and that was a trait that all of those who were risen into vampirism by her ‘gift’ ultimately shared to some degree or another.

Of course, it was always built on the idea that they were the ones who needed to be at the top and toy with those beneath them, and it expressed itself in different ways, but all vampires shared the callous playfulness of their origin, whether they knew it or not. And now the five remaining House Founders got a taste of the same fear that they had put into so many in the previous year, all courtesy of their Primogenitor. While some of their victims no longer were able to feel any catharsis from this, those that could either didn’t know that it happened or finally passed on, leaving their days as wandering specters behind.

“I do hope that you understand why I did that.” Alexis said calmly as she rose from the chair made of literal shadows and darkness. “If not, then let this be a lesson that you don’t soon forget. They may be weaker than you, but you are weaker than me, and I am more than willing to give you a few headaches if your little idiocies bring the Sanguinocracy crashing down.”

She walked over to and past Grathe and let the edges of her fingernails draw across his cheek, letting small but deep cuts send droplets of blood down the side of his face. “And Grathe, I don’t expect you and yours to be any different to what you really are. I know that the Sanguinocracy isn’t your cup of tea, I really do. Why else do you think that I am so utterly thrilled that we can have this little outing? And who do you think arranged it?”

Grathe let out a short, wavering huff of air, not as a bit of dialogue but partially out of anxiety and partially out of relief. He had heard that some of his kin had nearly done something that would have landed them and him in some very hot water, and the mortals in the Sanguinocracy already had a great distrust for his House. If his clansmen had gone through with what they had been planning, then he doubted that he would even be here right now.

“This isn’t just for you and yours, my little monster. No, this is so we can all stretch our legs and indulge our true nature to its fullest. I am overjoyed that the nonsense at the front regarding the flora and fauna has come to an end, but unfortunately, it does come with its fair share of bad news.”

Vanishing in a puff of mist to reappear in front of her Blood-Sires again, Alexis kept up the showmanship. “Sadly, despite the land being so utterly hostile, and despite the fuckery that was the seemingly hive-minded flora and fauna acting more as a single entity than what it should have been coming to an end, we now have to deal with the fact that we have some new allies/ puppets out there that we can’t just kill.”

Turning back to face the House Founders, Alexis has a smile fit for a sweet old grandma on her face. The aura she gave off, though, was anything but sweet.

“So, I guess we still have carte blanche to just go to town on everything else, right? Is anyone ready for a Jungle Safari? No guns, though it would give a better edge. Besides, I doubt the elves and animals and plants and whatnot even know what a gun is, let alone how to use them against us! We’ll just have to make do with pointy sticks being sent our way, rather than bullets, more’s the pity.”