Intertwined Fates 30: Coronation

"Wow, you did it babe!" said Joy.

"We did it, Joy," said Carl grabbing Joy and pulling her into a hug. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Oh crap," said Carl as the halls outside the chamber were filled with guardsmen. Joy grabbed hold of Carl tightly as he gripped his sword. One of the guards pushed through the crowd and kneeled down before them.

The guard said, "On the laws of succession we name you our King."

Joy's eyes widened in shock as the guardsmen got up from his position on the floor. "I am Gustavo, the Captain of the Royal Guard and I am to escort you to the royal chambers," said Gustavo.

"Let's go then, Joy," said Carl, grabbing hold of her hand. The guardsmen watched them warily as they walked through the halls.

"High Councillor Sigmund wishes to see you both at our full assembled council in one hour. There will be two guards left outside your chambers. They will escort you when it is time," said Gustavo as they approached thick oak double doors.

"Let's go in, shall we, Carl?" asked Joy.

"Yes," said Carl as he pushed against the heavy doors. They opened slowly.

"Now that you are our King and Queen, no one is allowed inside your personal chamber unless they are personally invited by you. We shall leave you for the hour now," said Gustavo.

"Carl, how on earth did they know what was going on?" asked Joy amazed.

"I don't know but I'm thinking maybe Shiva had something to do with it," said Carl.

"Order!" shouted Sigmund as he slammed his gavel onto the table. The council chamber doors open. Gustavo stepped in and strode up the isle. He knelt down in front of the podium and said, "High Council, the new King and Queen have been settled into their bed chamber."

"Dismissed. We have other matters to discuss before they arrive," said Sigmund. Gustavo bowed, then stood and walked out of the room.

"How can we be certain that fledglings will be able to hold any sort of power?" asked someone towards the back of the room.

"Are you forgetting what they did only moments ago, Petro?" asked Sigmund.

"That is immaterial. They are not even six months dead yet. They are still very young fledglings. How can they possibly hope to rule?" the man asked.

"I thought you would be pleased, Master of Trenton, considering that King Carl and Queen Joy live in your city," said Sigmund.

"I demand a vote on who should assume the position. They are much too young, even if we agree to allow them to rule. There will be challenges and disruptions. We will be seen as weak from outsiders. We all know why such a large country has been able to stay together. It's because of strong unwavering leadership," said a female voice.

"Madam of Chicago, who would you nominate to lead our country?" asked Sigmund, causing all eyes to turn onto the Madam. She sat back down on her chair feeling defeated.

"New evidence has come to light about our former King Carlos," said Sigmund holding up a worn diary. There were a few gasps out in the crowd.

"I know, Master of Seattle, you never expected to see this again did you?" asked Sigmund slyly.

"Excerpt from the diary of King Carlos: 'May 23rd 1605 -- I fear my time is growing short. Master of London, soon to be King Geoffrey is gaining too much support. But I will have my revenge. The seed has been planted and the woman has given birth to my child. Her son will carry my blood through the generations until the time to strike presents itself.'"

There were many audible gasps throughout the chamber as he read how the impossible had occurred. Vampires, because of the demon beast that lives inside them, are sterile and thus unable to bear children.

"How is this possible?" gasped one.

"Madam of Philadelphia, there are other notes in this diary that seem to indicate that King Carlos received the demon's kiss in 1348 when fighting against the three harbingers of the end of days. Something that was kept a secret by England's Inquisition until only recently," said Sigmund.

"The Sabre have identified three others apart from the Master of Seattle who were involved in this plot against King Carlos. They searched for this child for years but apparently King Carlos had her leave England. The genealogist has traced the bloodline to Russia in the 17th -- 18th century then Australia from the end of the 18th century to the end of the 19th century."

The doors opened and a wizened old man strode down the center aisle. "High Council, I have finished tracing King Carl's bloodline and it does indeed match up with King Carlos' statement in his diary. King Carl's bloodline just stops around 1600. He is a direct descendant from King Carlos," said the genealogist.

***

"This place is so ornate," said Joy in amazement as she carefully studied the elegantly crafted figurines standing on an ancient wooden chest.

"It's really old, isn't it?" asked Carl.

"Indeed. That bed is so massive! And I can't believe how huge the closet is," said Joy inspecting the bronze engraved doors.

"These vampires certainly have a thing for oak wood, don't they?" asked Carl.

"Yeah. All the furniture and doors are made from oak," she replied.

"God, this suit is getting really heavy," said Carl as he sighed with discomfort.

"I know. I wish we could do whatever it is they want us to do so we can go home and check on Laura and Aaron," said Joy. There was a loud knock on the door.

"I'll get that, Joy," said Carl as he walked to the door. He pulled on the handle pulling it open.

"Sire, its time that we escort you to the council chambers," said the guard.

"Come on, Joy," said Carl as they left the room. The guards walked in front of them, leading the way through the twisting tunnels and halls until they came to a double set of rich black marble doors inlaid with milky white veins. The door frame, which was made of solid bronze, glimmered in the torchlight.

"In here, Sire," said the guard, pushing the door open.

The assembled councillors turned and watched them enter the room. One of them leaped from his seat and ran at Carl with a dripping dagger. Carl dodged his attack and drew his sword then slammed it through his attacker's chest. He screamed before becoming cinder. Sigmund sighed and muttered "Idiot," before he then said louder, "Rex, send a messenger to Seattle. Tell them the second in command is the new Master."

The guard standing at the door bowed and said "At once, High Council."

"Your Highnesses, there is a formal ceremony that will bond you to the people," said Sigmund.

Carl tensed and looked to Joy.

"Bring her forth!" called out Sigmund. "There is one special vampire that links us all together. To rule us effectively you both need to partake of her blood."

"Do not remove her veil. It is for your protection. It has happened before those who look on the blood well's face will be hopelessly entranced in her beauty and become raving mad." said Sigmund as the woman with a black and heavy Arabic head scarf approached them with only a small slit cut for her eyes to see out of.

"Sire you will not need much blood for this to work, but first I need some of your blood," said the woman with a sweet angelic voice.

"Carl, what are you doing?" asked Joy as Carl tilted his neck to the side.

"Trusting them. They could have killed us many times over if they wanted to," said Carl. He moaned in pleasure as the woman dug her fangs into his neck.

"Now, I need some of your blood my lady," said the woman with the same sweetly angelic voice.

Joy tilted her neck to the side then gasped as the pleasure rushed through her while the woman drew her blood.

"Now you must partake of her blood. Brace yourselves her blood is incredibly potent," said Sigmund.

The woman pulled her scarf back so it exposed her neck on both sides. Carl sank his fangs into her neck and began drawing her blood. As soon as it slid down his throat Carl was smacked against the wall. The burning power of her blood seared through his body as the most indescribable pleasure immobilised him. He moaned with the pleasure as it seared through him.

Joy was also on her back on the other side of the chamber groaning from the pleasure of the blood exchange. When they could both finally stand, Sigmund announced "By right of birth and battle our new King and Queen."

"These last few weeks have been such a headache!" grumbled Joy as she lay against Carl's bare chest.

"I know. I'm sorry we haven't been able to find Kally or Jake. Cindy still swears she remembers seeing them leave the mansion but with nothing chasing them," said Carl.

"I hope they are safe somewhere," said Joy.

"At least we got Steven back. It looks like Cindy was keeping something from us," said Carl.

"It does indeed," chuckled Joy.

"Do you think I made the right choice putting Aaron in charge of the Sabre?" asked Carl.

"Of course I do. There isn't anybody else more loyal or capable for the job, especially since Aaron is going to be choosing his own team," said Joy

"Yeah, you're right. Aaron is putting them out to search for Kally and Jake."

"I hope they find them. We need as many friends as we can get," said Joy.

"I know with Adam going back home, we really need them here," he replied.

"Everything will sort itself out. Shiva has seen everything."

"We still need to come up with a plan to get rid of those Masters."

"Not tonight. It's time to relax, Carl," said Joy pulling him into a kiss.

"I can do that," said Carl flipping them so she was pinned under him. He kissed her hard then released her.

"It's going to be a fun night," grinned Joy. She moaned as Carl dug his fangs into her neck.