“Hey, um Dmitri?”

He glanced at me in surprise, relief subtly set in his eyes when I spoke. “Yes Helen?”

“Um…” I swallowed again and looked to the floor as I built up my nerves. “Why...why did I get bit? Why was it me?”

He stiffened, and for a split second I saw his eye color change to a worried red. It was a swirling shift, like someone dropping red paint into a water mixture of green and blue. He closed his eyes and sighed, the color back to normal when he opened them again.

“I’m afraid I can’t say, Helen,” he answered sadly. “I’m not sure anyone can answer that question except Lord Zain himself.”

“Something tells me even he doesn’t know,” I muttered bitterly, remembering the list of demands he made of me in that closet only two days ago.

“You very well may be right,” he said, to my surprise. “Nobody knows what happened, or really understands how it happened. This is a situation that, in the full history of our kind, has never occurred before. Not to current record at least.”

“So…” I began after another moment. “So what...what do you think is going to happen to me? To...to the castle, and so on?”

“Hmm...that too is hard to say...if it were my decision, I think the easiest course of action would be to keep your identity casual; not hide it necessarily, but to let people discover who you are at your own pace. I think this would be good for not only easing you into our hidden society, but also to allow everyone to adjust to your arrival.”

“But,” he added with a touch of bitterness. “I have a feeling things may not develop so lightly.”

Before I could question any further we had already arrived. Before us stood a pair of oak wood double doors, similar to the ones from my first night here but not nearly as tall. Dmitri pushed them open and allowed me to step through before following himself.

The room was large but strangely contemporary, the regal decor of the rest of the castle feeling like a whole other world from this room. It was loosely sloped with tiers of tables and chairs, my guess it would fit about a hundred people at full seating capacity. Close to the center sat thirteen people, all vampires with stressed-red eyes, the same faces as from that first night. They were quietly and calmly talking amongst themselves as as we approached down the middle lane. Zain sat with a look of irritation at the head. Dmitri directed me to a couple seats at the beginning of the row and we sat down.

After a few more minutes another vampire entered and took his seat, casually apologizing for his lateness, and with another start of recognition I realized this was the same guy that escorted me to that hall from the room I had woken up in. He spotted me with a teasing wink and smile. The hair on the back of my neck prickled, and Zain shot him a darting glare.

“I believe that’s everyone,” spoke a slightly older vampire as he stood up. He looked to be maybe thirty, maybe twenty-eight, but there was a strange aged sound to his voice. “The meeting to settle the matter of Lord Zain’s Bride has been called to order. We shall be discussing first how we shall approach the public’s awareness, the statuses of the priorly appointed Bride and the new Bride, and the arrangements for relocations and tutorage of the newly appointed Bride. Is the council in agreeance?”

There was a chorus of soft agrees. The vampire turned towards Zain.

“And does my liege approve?” he requested.

“Approved,” he responded.

He nodded, and then made a motion toward Dmitri, who stood up next to me to speak.

“Prior to today, an emergency meeting was called to order in response to the contract with our Lord Zain and the Miss Helen Morris, who is currently present in attendance to this meeting. In that meeting it was discussed and decided that Helen Morris would reside with her human peers in the Rose dorms and that no official announcement would be made until a proper meeting could be discussed.”

“Does the council approve the recollection?”

More murmurs of approval.

“Does my liege approve the recollection?”

“Approved,” he replied again, but in a slightly quieter voice. I felt the pull towards him briefly turn up a notch.

Dmitri sat back down and the proceedings went on in a similar fashion, falling back and forth between addressing a topic and the council approving. I sat nervously, feeling my heart rate slowly climb with anxiety. Dmitri would try to give me an encouraging look but unfortunately I couldn’t focus on much else.

Finally they reached the first topic of discussion.

“The topic of Miss Helen Morris’s debut is now open for discussion,” the meeting leader guy announced as he sat down.

Immediately one of the vampires, a woman, raised her hand and spoke. “I feel it would be best to continue hiding her Bride association to the residences, and simply act as though Lady Victoria was successfully joined with Lord Zain. I believe it would put our public at ease and affirm to the outer societies that the bloodline is still strong and well.”

There were murmurs of both agreement and disagreements.

“Suggestion overruled,” Zain spoke firmly. “I won’t lie to our people, and rumors have already spread about a different Bride; they won’t trust it.”

Quieter murmurs of agreement.

“What if we were to present it as a stronger alternative?” one chimed in. “That, while Lady Victoria was the prime choice for Lord Zain until this time, it was a decision to bring in a suitor from the outside in order to strengthen the blood line?”

“Without any definitive proof that Miss Helen is the stronger choice, we would run the risk of going against Lord Zain’s wishes and be caught in a lie, which would only add cause for stress to the residence.”

“Stress to the residence is going to happen regardless; they are already worried as it stands. Our objective here should be to insure their security.”

“My strength has not been diminished,” Zain spoke firmly. “I am still very much in power.”

“Then we should choose a method that expresses that. I suggest we make the announcement as it is, establish the Miss as the official appointed Bride, and present the arrangement as if it were the intended outcome.”

Nods and murmurs of agreement. “There would be no risk of lying because it would simply be facts.”

More choruses of agreement. Next to me, Dmitri took on an expression of worry.

“How should we address questions that should arise?”

“They should be sent to me directly,” Zain offered simply. “If anyone feels they need more information on the matter then they are to ask me themselves. I will take the full burden of that responsibility.”

Almost unanimously positive murmurs.

The council leader guy stood up. “Then, are we in agreeance? We shall release the information officially as stated facts, all questions further are to be directed to Lord Zain himself?”

The council agreed in chorus.

“And does this decision appease my liege?”

Zain nodded. “This will do.”

The process was finalized. Dmitri sighed but looked content. “That could have gone a lot worse,” I heard him murmur to himself.

They continued to debate on the next subject in whether or not to have me in the same consideration as Victoria, or to have our social positions switched. There were many strong opinions expressed in this matter, between some that believed the regal traditions should be upheld regardless, and others that believed instead the titles should be more relaxed. Zain to my surprise remained quiet during this section, choosing instead to listen to the debates. His expression was somewhat indifferent, but something told me he did have an opinion on the matter, but was just choosing not to voice it.

Eventually they reached a point of agreement, and that was to leave it for a later date and decide after gauging the public’s reaction.

Then came the final topic: what to actually do with me.

“First and foremost I think we can agree Miss Helen Morris will need proper education on the matters Bridehood,” the group leader stated, the entirety of the council agreeing. “I move to arrange regularly scheduled classwork for the Miss, perhaps even to allow Lady Victoria to assist and tutor her.”

“That might be rather unfair for the Lady,” another interjected. “Lady Victoria will still be quite distressed about the current situation, she will need more time to adjust to the changes.”

“I agree,” Zain said. “Victoria’s been through enough as it is, there’s no reason to add more to her stress.”

“Then perhaps general classes are the best course of action?”

A chorus of agreement once more.

“Very well. Now what on the subject of her’s and Miss Helen’s relocation?”

A cacophony of opinions, one immediately after another, shot all around the room as if it were a bidding war. Every single person seemed to have their own idea as to what to do about where they wanted to put me in the castle. I looked around as the atmosphere in the room began to grow even more tense, unsure what to think, unsure exactly why I was even needed. Everything was being decided for me anyway, even deciding not to decide on it yet.

Zain’s face quickly grew exhausted as arguments ran around the room, propping his forehead against the palm of his hand in irritation. His eyes were still red, and lost. Almost, not quite, but almost the same sense of lostness I remembered in my weird dream. Next to me I heard a sigh from Dmitri, and saw his eyes tinge slightly red from worry and disappointment. I had to wonder how often discourse like this happened to them.

“And what about the young Miss Helen in question?” spoke up a familiar voice that cut through the arguments and quieted them. All eyes turned to him, the man who walked in last, the same one from my first night here, and then to me.

He flashed me a sly smile. “Does the princess have any opinions on the matter?”

“Yes, splendid idea Mason.” All the eyes on me were in varying stages of opinion. “Might you any suggestions on the matter, young miss?”

My heart rate skyrocketed as all of the tension was dumped on me. I stood up instinctively, after swallowing many times and trying to keep my breathe steady and feeling ridiculous for standing but it was too late to sit down now it would look even more-

Stop rambling and speak, I heard a firm, irritated voice in my head say, and saw Zain impatiently looking right at me.

I took a breath, feeling strange from having my thoughts interrupted like that. “I...I don’t really...know what to do about all of this. I’ve only been here three days, I’m still...I don’t really understand everything that’s been going on, but...I’m trying.” A small bit of courage filled me, and I could almost feel Dmitri smiling at me in encouragement to keep speaking. “I understand I can’t change anything now, I understand I can’t go back home. I...I’m willing to try to work with what I can. But right now...I’ve just gotten to know the people I’ve been staying with so far, Rose and Claire and everyone. They’ve been really nice to me, and helpful, and I...I feel like it would be easier to adjust if I were to stay with them…”

“A lot of unnecessary words, but she has a point,” Zain addressed to the council. “It would be better to keep her in the common wards with her peers.” His eyes glanced back at me briefly, slightly curious and...impressed? It was gone a moment later.

There were murmurs of agreement and murmurs of discontent. And truthfully, I didn’t want to be put anywhere near Zain. I’d take the stables over that. But Zain’s firm gaze was enough for them to reach an accord: I would continue to live in the current setup, and they would put it on review for another day to discuss again. Another round of “does the council agree” and “does the Zain agree,” etc, and the meeting was declared adjourned.

I let out all the tension I was feeling in a long breath as I walked the halls back to the other wing with Dmitri. He also relaxed with some relief.

“Thank goodness, that could have gone a lot differently,” he sighed with a smile. “That was a good move on Mason’s part, and you presented yourself decently well.”

“I still don’t even know what just happened. Or why I really even needed to be there.”

“Well, I suppose technically there wasn’t a need for your presence,” he admitted. “But formally it was out of respect. At anytime you would have been welcome to interject and speak your mind, especially since it pertains to how your life from here on will be. It would be your right to speak up and be opposed or for a decision. Luckily, the more pressing topics will be set for discussion for another date.”

I grimaced. “Will I have to attend that too?”

“Only if you wish to. This time around was a requirement formality, to account for your lack of information on these matters. In the future, you may refuse, but doing so will also forfeit your say in the final decision.”

“I see…” Great...A world of politics, and I hadn’t even left high school age yet. Wonderful.

“As a recap, if you are still confused, the decisions made today were to continue boarding you with the friends you’ve been staying with, in combination with announcing to the castle your role as Lord Zain’s Bride. In addition, you’ll be require to take a training course that will teach you what that role will mean for you.”

“What do you mean? Are Brides more than just food supply?”

“Yes, far more than that,” he chuckled in amazement. “Brides are incredibly important to their vampires for much more than as a resource. Ordinarily it would be the result of a relationship, so vampires depend on them for mental support in addition to physical. That will be why, if you’ve experienced it yet, you might feel Lord Zain’s emotions or hear his voice directly.”

I recalled hearing his voice just minutes ago in the meeting; him mentioning reading my mind in that closet. The vicious hate from that first night. This is all your fault.

Something clicked inside my head and I felt terrible. “Oh…” No wonder he was so angry. No wonder Victoria hated me. They already had something, were ready for this. He was expecting the emotional support from someone he cared about, the mental connections of someone not only willing but wanting to help him. And instead now all he hears is me; some girl from the outside whining about wanting to go home.

Dmitri cast me a patient smile. “I’m sorry you’ve had to be brought into this, Helen. If circumstances were different then maybe things would have worked out more smoothly.”

“It’s not your fault Dmitri,” I sighed, and then added bitterly, “Honestly it’s Zain’s, and maybe a little bit of mine too. I shouldn’t have been anywhere near the castle. I should’ve just taken the other way home, instead of trying to take a shortcut through the woods right at sunset. And...” I placed a hand to my shoulder. “...he shouldn’t have bit me.”

He seemed relieved despite what I said. “I don’t envy your position, but I’m glad to have received the chance to meet you, Helen. I hope you will be able to enjoy your time here with us.”