They were at the barracks in no time. Mallen flung the doors open, the doors similar in design to that of barn doors. The barracks had individual rooms much like a hospital, except there were no doctors and medical equipment.

Mallen and Iérti sensed both vampire and human presence in each of the individual rooms. Upon passing by a few with doors slightly ajar, they could see vampires feeding off humans or collecting their blood by bleeding their arms into empty wine bottles for personal stores.

Iérti quickly looked away, the fresh sight of blood igniting his vampiric senses, but Mallen was unfazed, having a high sense of self-control about him. The sight and scent of blood was the same as a human seeing a slice of cake and seeing it as something delicious, but not yet hungry for it. The only time it affected him was when he was thirsty and needed blood to sustain his thirst. Mallen always made sure he was well fed before he was around humans.

Iérti had grown used to it, but he was still a newborn vampire and sometimes had trouble holding back the sudden desire to feed upon the scent of blood.

To help him, Mallen handed Iérti peppermint leaves from his pocket. "Hold these up to your nose. It'll help distract you from the scent."

Iérti glanced at the peppermint leaves, puzzled. "You keep peppermint leaves in your pocket?"

Mallen tossed him a look. "I'm surprised you're surprised, given you surely smelled them the whole time you were with me."

"Well of course, but I didn't associate the constant smell of peppermint with you. I just assumed we were passing by peppermint plants."

"And that explains the lingering scent in the castle?" Mallen asked, smiling at Iérti. "The castle was devoid of plant life. Or did you think it was peppermint incense and candles?"

Iérti was speechless. Mallen playfully mussed his hair and went ahead of him, catching sight of the vampire overlord they were wanting to meet up with. Iérti cautiously held the peppermint leaves to his nose, finding it indeed helped.

The vampire overlord was a kind-hearted young man with short blond hair and glacier blue eyes. He was wearing a metallic steel blue and sky blue outfit. His skinny frame and boyish appearance put him at around seventeen or eighteen years of age. He was talking with another vampire, an older one. Both appeared to be engaged in deep conversation.

Their conversation stopped when they saw Mallen and Iérti approaching. The older vampire said, "We'll talk more about this later" and excused himself, making a polite acknowledgement towards the vampire leaders. Mallen and Iérti nodded in acknowledgement before turning their attention to the young vampire overlord.

Iérti spoke first, saying, "Good day – er, night, sir. We are Iérti Keresi and Mallen Zaliċ. We're here to see how things are going in New Haven."

"Yeah, a woman seems to think your castle is hers," said Mallen. "Have you heard of her?"

"Skin white as snow. Eyes red like blood. Yeah, that's Trésora Martel." The young man shook Iérti's hand. "I'm Blaise , vampire overlord of New Haven. Pleased to see you again, ." He turned to Mallen, bowing his head a little. "A pleasure to meet you, Mallen."

"It certainly is a pleasure," said Mallen, shaking hands with Blaise.

Blaise looked at them curiously. "So are you both rulers of the land?"

Iérti and Mallen glanced at each other, Mallen's face encouraging the answer yes while Iérti's face was entirely a question. Iérti turned back to Blaise, saying, "Yes, we are both rulers of the land."

"So Mallen's not the only one in charge now? You both are?" Blaise asked, wanting to make sure.

"That is correct," Mallen confirmed.

Blaise grinned happily. "This is a high honor indeed! Why wasn't there a celebration? Are you just not into festivities and fun?" he asked Iérti, who looked sternly at him.

Seeing this was dancing on dangerous territory, Mallen quickly said, "Blaise, we need to speak to you in private. We have much to discuss."

"Certainly," said Blaise, his lighthearted smile dying when he realized they were here on serious business. "I know a place."

He led them to his home beside a stream. It was not far from the barracks, one-story and simple, unlike the fancy mansions and castles most vampires liked to reside in. There was a room entirely carpeted; thick carpets covered the floor and walls. They were of rich lavish colors of red, gold, turquoise, green, blue, and purple. It looked very exotic and cozy.

"So," said Blaise, shutting the door. "What did you wish to speak to me about?"

Iérti got right into business, saying, "How are things in New Haven?"

"Quite good, actually," said Blaise. "Things are going smoothly. No shortage of volunteers. No starving vampires. No fearful humans."

"No hints of rebellion?" Iérti asked, watching Blaise closely.

Blaise looked genuinely surprised. "Rebellion? In New Haven?"

Mallen stepped forward, lowering his voice as he said, "There has been news of a rising rebellion. Not just among humans, but among vampires. There are those who oppose the present time of peace and long for the old days of freely hunting and killing at will. Some humans hate us and won't let go of their fear and hatred. They seek to free themselves of our kind, yet we depend on them for blood. Iérti's way brought both humans and vampires at harmony with one another, but we both fear that harmony is on the brink of mutiny."

Blaise looked from Iérti to Mallen. "I had no idea this was happening. If there is anything I can do – "

"Actually there is one thing," Mallen interrupted. "Trésora is a spy for Tavaly. We think Tavaly might be one of the rebellion leaders. Make sure she doesn't learn anything from us."

"Of course," Blaise obliged. "I always thought Trésora was shifty and suspicious. Now I know why."

Mallen regarded Blaise, understanding why Iérti chose him to be a vampire overlord. Blaise was very innocent, sincere, openhearted, and a very likeable person. There was no bad bone in him. He would never attack or harm innocents, which was precisely the very quality Iérti wanted in an overlord. He wanted them to protect humans and ensure their safety, making sure they experienced no violence from vampires.

Iérti thought of the stable boy for some reason. Perhaps Blaise's youth and innocence was what made him remember. He ignored the memory, not wishing to reminisce on those he failed to protect.

Iérti ended their meeting by shaking Blaise's hand. "Thank you for your time, Blaise. We'll be meeting with other vampire overlords to discuss the threat of rebellion. We'll let you know when your presence is needed. I have a feeling we'll need a force of our own to counter these two rebellions."

"I would be happy to help you any way I can," said Blaise. "I am thankful for the peace you brought us and I wish for it to stay peaceful as long as possible."

Iérti smiled, glad Blaise was such a good overlord. He made his leave, thanking Blaise once again before heading out. Mallen followed after Iérti, his scarf tugging in the wind.

________________

The rest of the meetings passed rather quickly. Mallen and Iérti were easily able to discern those loyal and disloyal among the overlords. Most were loyal, but there were a few they sensed secretly supported Tavaly's cause. They discharged those few, replacing them with new overlords. To further ensure no secret information got out of hand, Mallen compelled them not to speak a word to Tavaly and his spies.

Iérti stood in front of his castle as he watched Mallen start to head back to his own castle. Now that there was concrete proof of a rebellion rising within the communities and settlements, Mallen wanted to build up a strong force to combat rebellions coming from both the humans and the vampires. Iérti thought the vampire rebellion was the most dangerous one since they wanted violence instead of peace. Humans were mostly fearful of vampires, wanting an end to the unspoken tension between them. Not everyone was comfortable with the idea of living so close to those they looked upon as predators.

It was an hour before dawn when Mallen finally opened the door to his room, relieved to see standing by the window. Írásom went over to embrace him as Mallen locked the door. He kissed her, his fingers running through her long dark hair as he breathed in her scent. She smelled like jasmine flowers.

As Mallen's kisses trailed from her neck to her shoulders, Írásom said in realization, "You didn't bite me once."

"Of course not," said Mallen, pushing back stray hair from Írásom's face. "You mean so much to me."

They kissed for a while before Mallen pulled away, deciding to tell Írásom what was going on.

"There are two secret rebellions rising. Humans hate vampires and wish to overpower them, ending their indentured servitude. Vampires want to go back to the old days of hunting and killing at will. and I are trying to stop them both and maintain peace in the land."

Írásom thought about it for a moment, stunned. "This is something that never happened before. Humans will not win against vampires."

"That's why we're fighting for them. The human rebellion isn't as big a threat as the vampire rebellion. Iérti and I believe Tavaly is part of the vampire rebellion, perhaps the one leading it. He's always been a man bent on destruction."

"You kept him at bay though, when you were ruler over the land."

"Now Iérti and I are rulers over the land. We will continue to keep him at bay as long as possible."

Mallen went over to his writing desk and began shifting through papers. He pulled out maps and began circling areas with a pen from an inkwell. He began labeling certain castle locations as either ally or enemy. He took notes, writing ideas and figuring out ways to protect people in case of war.