The Council Ch. 19

But things had changed since then. They were completely different now. Age was considered everything which placed Gard as the eldest among them and therefore the one with the power. Being Caleb's Sire gave him a further hold over him. She could only imagine the endless grief this would cause. She had to put a stop to it before it became unmanageable.

"Tell me what you envision will happen next, Gard," she said quietly, her gaze intent on him as she read his expression very carefully.

He appeared surprised at her question, his eyebrow raising inquisitively. "You take your rightful place with Caleb and me at your side. Together we will drag our people kicking and screaming back onto the right path."

Rhianna did sigh then, a long weary sound that had Caleb frowning deeply. He could feel every emotion through their bond. She was angry and happy, exhausted and very confused. He wanted to go to her, to wrap his arms around her and keep her safe but he knew she wasn't in the frame of mind to allow him to do so at the moment.

She was his Annie but she was also Anakatrine, one of the strongest, fiercest women to ever walk the planet. He had to tread carefully until she came to terms with this duality within her, learned who she was meant to be in this life.

"Times have changed, Gard," she sighed softly, her beautiful face serious as she looked up at her brother. "Our people don't need me anymore." She saw denial flit across his face.

"You are our Queen," he said firmly, his expression turning fierce. "Your rightful place is to lead us. Have you seen the complete mess they've made of things? It's a wonder we've survived as long as we have." His tone was laced with disgust.

Which only served to make her smile more. The Guardian took his role so seriously. In the past it had been necessary but times had changed since the last time they were called to walk the world together.

"Have you seen how they have risen to the challenge to right the wrongs?" she countered, her thoughts drifting towards the last few weeks and all that had happened. "They don't need a Queen, Gard, or a King. They are doing very well by themselves."

He snorted his disbelief at her, shaking his head in denial still.

"Listen to me, brother," she said firmly moving to stand before him. "Caleb has already set us on the correct path. Rightly or wrongly, he did it on his own but it is done now. The changes are happening. They will be slow but there are so many people involved now who are dependant on those changes bearing fruit. The time for Kings and Queens are a distant memory. Caleb and I will act from the sidelines, guide with a gentle nudge. We will not raise a royal hierarchy again."

Gard stared at her thoughtfully and then his fierce expression melted away and he gave her a rueful smile. "As always, you know what is best, Majesty," he breathed softly. "Though if I am not required to be The Guardian then what is to become of me?"

"You could try living your own life," she laughed softly, feeling such a strong rush of love for this dynamic man before her. He had pledged himself to the old ways his entire life. She knew it would be hard for him to do anything else.

"Find some love to fill your loneliness. Know some happiness for once, My Guardian. It's a wonderful experience." She sighed softly and turned her head to smile at Caleb. She could feel his concern through their bond, his eyes never leaving her as she moved around the room. They had a lot of talking to do but it would wait until Gard had left.

Gard rose slowly, his expression unhappy as he looked down at his sister. He had been alone for such a long time, patiently waiting for her to return and now she was here she didn't need him anymore. "I have missed you so much and I can't stand to be separated from you any longer now I have found you again. Please don't send me away."

Rhianna swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. Gard was always so strong, so resilient. Never did he show the level of vulnerability he was doing so now. That he showed it in front of Caleb was another telling factor.

His loneliness pierced her soul like shards of glass, it echoed in his words. "We will think of something to explain your sudden appearance," she sighed softly. "Give me some time to work on it. There are people I will need to speak to first."

She thought of Rafe. He was her brother as much as Gard was and she knew he would have a hard time coming to terms with the changes within her. She wasn't sure if he would accept Gard as her brother from a long distant past.

She felt relief shudder through Gard as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She smiled against his chest, feeling as if she were coming home. He kissed the top of her head gently and then stepped back from her embrace.

"Call me when the time is right," he said simply. They stared at each other for a few more moments and then he turned and left the house with barely a nod to Caleb on his way out.

Rhianna watched him go, her thoughts in turmoil as she was finally left alone with her vampire. She turned slowly to face him, her irritation warring with her intense love for him.

"I know you're annoyed with me, Annie, but hear me out first," Caleb said in a tortured tone. He knew he had some fast explaining to do. Judging from her expression he didn't think he would get the opportunity to do so.

Her hands rested lightly on her hips as she scowled at him. "Oh, so you really think you can justify keeping me asleep for the last few months?" she asked archly. "You can explain why you felt it was necessary to act on your own, to keep me locked in sleep when our people needed me the most? Apart from being a male chauvinist pig, is there any other explanation you can give me, Callain?"

The use of his old name made him wince. While part of him was Callain, the majority of him was Caleb. Just as she was Annie and not just Anakatrine. He didn't want to go back to the old ways. He didn't want to live this life as they had the old one. They were so much more than that now.

He felt his temper spark as he realised she was deliberately using the past to set his teeth on edge. His expression darkened and he shot her a baleful glare. "My name is Caleb," he said coldly. "If you want Callain back then I'm going to have to disappoint you on that one. I am no longer that man, Annie. Just as you are no longer Anakatrine. I suggest you get that firmly into your head before we continue with this conversation."

"Don't you dare try and take the moral high ground with me, Caleb," she snapped back, incensed by his put down. She might be more than Anakatrine now but he had better get his thick head around the fact she was more than Rhianna Armand too.

He didn't get to call all the shots in their relationship anymore. She was his equal in every way and he would damned well accept it or she'd make his life miserable until he did.

"You had no right to keep me asleep," she said coldly. "There is no justification for it and you know it. The moment you awakened you should have done the same for me. Instead you kept me sheltered and that could have led to the deaths of people we love. The fact it didn't is a miracle in itself."

"I had everything in hand," he ground out angrily. "There was no need for you to be involved anymore than you were. I told you I would always protect you. I keep my word, Annie, and I won't apologise for doing so. Everything worked out fine."

"Loretta and Ashleigh nearly died!" she yelled furiously at him, rage swirling through her uncontrollably at what her two friends had been through. "Liliana almost died too!"

His expression turned cold, pain lancing through him that she would think he would ever do anything which would jeopardise the lives of those she loved. "And you think if you had been awakened you could have stopped that?" His words were like lashes of a whip against her skin they were so cold and hard.

"Would you have been able to somehow guess Daniel's intent and stop him from kidnapping them? Do you consider yourself some omnipotent entity who can solve every problem which occurs, Anakatrine?" It was his turn to goad her with the past as he lashed out against the pain she caused him.

Rhianna felt as if a knife was burrowing deep within her gut. Caleb plunged it in and twisted it and she wanted to sink to her knees and weep for eternity. She knew he was hurting, that he didn't mean what he said but it didn't stop the agony from racing through her.

She stared at him, misery enveloping her as she realised they stood at a crossroads. Too much had happened in the past, too much had happened in this incarnation. If they took the wrong direction they would be ripped apart and never be able to come together again.

His words came back to her from earlier. He had asked her if she trusted him. His eyes had shone with adoration as he had told her he loved her and she would always be his Annie no matter what happened.

She pushed down the rage, dampened down the raw pain she felt inside. "Explain." It was a whisper, a plea for her to try and understand why he had acted as he had.

Caleb swallowed hard, fighting the urge to go to her, to hold her and beg her forgiveness. She was still too angry though, her posture rigid. She needed to understand his actions. So much had happened in such a short period of time.

"You died," he finally choked out, his expression haunted. He had fought at her side, battled against the very first Vampire Council which had overthrown their Queen to take power over their people. Gard had been away on some errand Anakatrine had sent him on. Callain had killed hundreds to protect her but eventually he had been overcome. He had failed her and she had died.

More pain lanced through Rhianna at his tortured words. "You died too," she ground out, her emotions raw. "Only you didn't see me die, Caleb. I re-lived every moment of your death a thousand times over until they finally killed me."

"Do you think I don't know that!" he roared furiously, his pain and rage at fever pitch.

His anguished roar rocked her to the core. In that instant she understood everything, why he had acted as he had. Tears spilled down her cheeks, her expression so full of sorrow as her heart broke for his agony.

"Oh Caleb," she whispered tremulously taking a step towards him. "That's why you didn't wake me. You didn't want me to have to remember the agony of watching you die."

His tortured gaze met hers, tears in his eyes as he asked for her forgiveness. "I knew it would kill you a million times over, my Annie," he said softly. "I didn't ever want you to remember that pain, the pain of my failure to protect you."

She threw herself into his arms, sobbing as she clutched him tightly. His arms were bands of steel around her, his body shaking with emotion as he wept with her. "I'm sorry, Annie. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you then that I let you down now too. All I've ever wanted is to keep you safe, to love you for eternity."

"You've never let me down, Caleb," she whispered softly. "Not then and not now. We fought together against impossible odds. We had no hope of winning then but we tried our best to the very end. You have nothing to fault yourself for, my love."

Caleb picked her up in his arms, sinking down into a chair and cradling her on his lap. He heard the forgiveness in her tone. His Annie always forgave him anything, even his failure to protect her so very long ago. "I'm frightened, Annie," he admitted. "I don't know how all this is going to end.

"Don't be," she breathed softly, reaching up to brush his wet cheeks. "What is set in motion will work out. As I said to Gard, we will work from the sidelines this time. I have no wish to be a Queen held high above all others, Caleb. Together we have set things in motion which are on the right path. There is no need for us to tell anyone who we once used to be. We are simply Caleb and Annie."

"Rafe knows something is wrong," he answered after a brief pause. "Tonight at the compound, when the baby was born, Anakatrine slipped through for a moment and he noticed it."

Rhianna sighed softly leaning up to place a gentle kiss against his lips. "Leave Rafe to me," she said quietly. "I have to try and explain Gard to him anyway. He will have to know some of it, if not all of it. But it is my place to tell him."

It was hard for him to let go and not try to protect her as he always had. He had to concede that she was so much more powerful now, that she could take care of herself. Caleb finally nodded agreeing to her request.

"This is going to take some getting used to," Rhianna smiled, her confused emotions still running riot within her though she felt a measure of peace beginning to sink in now she was in Caleb's arms.

"For both of us," he agreed with a rueful smile. "I have faith we can handle it, my Annie. As long as we are together we can do anything."

Her answering smile filled him with joy. She would always be his Annie, the other half of his soul. She completed him in every way.

He knew they had to talk more about what all this meant for them and their people. He knew that it would be an adjustment for both of them coming to terms with the fact that they had walked the world before in previous incarnations.

He had almost come to terms with it but it was new for his beautiful woman. But he had faith in her and in them. Together they could overcome any hurdle and their people, both Weres and Vampires could only grow and be enhanced by their subtle guidance.

The End.