I caught him looking at me. Jamie was really testing my resolve to ignore him. Apparently my change in behaviour had left him trying to figure me out, which was another problem.

He was a problem. I should have left him at home, but I gave in too easily to his request and now he was going to be right under my nose distracting me for the entirety of the convention.

Ignoring him was not working. I needed to get rid of him, for the good of my endeavors and for my own good as well, but I was stuck with him. He was too much trouble to send to another location and I could not bear to kill him nor release him.

I could have groaned, except it was not the impression I wanted to make and I had no idea who could be watching now that we were in vampire central where all the gossips lay in wait.

I turned away from my most intriguing human and towards the building and my purposes. I pushed him out of my mind and turned it towards more useful, but not more amusing matters.

My stride was confident as I climbed the steps and made my way to my chambers. The halls were quiet, since most of the youngest among us would be getting prepared for their daily rests.

Still, I greeted several others among my peers politely as I made my way determinedly to my room.

"Councillor Vienne," someone called. I did not even have to look to recognize Councillor Enrique's voice. I schooled my expression into one of pleasure to hide my annoyance.

"Councillor Enrique, a pleasure to see you again."

His expression told me that the pleasure was all his. "Ready for another quarterly?"

"Absolutely," I said.

"I heard you're putting forward a bill," he commented as he began to walk with me.

I did not sigh at his all too obvious attempt at subtlety. "I am."

"I'm quite surprised. You're particularly active this year."

Well, if nothing else, Councillor Enrique was something of a filter-less weathervane for the opinions of the majority.

"I simply put a bill forward whenever inspiration hits and I was particularly inspired recently."

"I am curious about what you're bringing forward this time," he said in the most ridiculous attempt at coyness.

I smiled warmly, as if tempted to give in. "I'm afraid I am going to have to keep my mouth shut just a bit longer."

He nodded and tried some expression I imagined was supposed to be boyish charm, but failed miserably. "Not even a hint?"

Stopping outside my chambers, I sighed heavily, as if he was convincing me. "Very well, Councillor. I'll just give you a tiny spoiler. It's related to the cause that is ever in the centre of importance in my mind, blood security." It was my favourite issue, because blood was my favourite thing.

It was always a good argument to use, because even the most cruel, callous, and foolish vampire cared about maintaining their source of blood on some level.

He nodded. "Ah, of course."

"I, of course, understand that you cannot make any promises, but I do hope that you will consider supporting my bill when the time comes."

"Of course, I know that you always have the best interest of our brothers and sisters at heart, Councillor."

"Indeed," I agreed to the laughable supposition.

On the surface, I was an ancient, arrogant vampire who cared only about her own amusements and the future of the vampire race.

Below the surface, I was an ancient, arrogant vampire who cared only about her own amusements and the future of her own concerns.

Ancient, arrogant, and amused. I liked that. I decided I should have Theo add it to my information while he hacked the council database.

No, that would never do, they would instantly suspect me. Perhaps he could update Ivan's to say something flattering instead so that if our hack was discovered he might bear the suspicion.

I smiled wickedly. He seemed to take it as a friendly gesture.

"I was wondering if you would be interested in supporting my bill and I could offer to support yours as well in return, once I know what it is, of course."

"And what is your bill?"

"I'm looking for more resources to be allocated to the main highways. They're getting increasingly rough every year. I would be asking every vampire to either pay an extra tax or provide slaves to perform the necessary maintenance."

I could not see any reason to disagree with that. I could pay the tax and be left alone. "Very well, then. I already intend to speak to the magistrate and propose my bill early in the convention so you can make your decision then."

"That sounds excellent."

I could have simply had him agree to support me without foreknowledge, but pretending I cared what he thought would flatter him.

Instead of taking the hint, Councillor Enrique began to make small talk and I resisted the urge to cut him off and retreat into my chambers. As he yammered on, my humans came in and out carrying the various supplies and luggage.

"I swear you bring more humans with you every time you come, Councillor."

I did not let my annoyance show. "I nearly ran out of blood last time and I do not mean to repeat the experience."

He did not take the hint from my frosty tone. "I do say, isn't that the human you bought last time?"

I resisted the urge to snarl at him for his curiosity towards my human. Such a reaction would create a stir. Instead I forced myself to smile and nod amiably. "Yes."

"An easy break?"

"So easy I could have done it in my sleep. He looks strong, but he is very meek." Had Jamie heard my lies about him? What did he think?

"A shame."

"No, it was truly sort of pleasant, like a vacation from breaking the really rebellious ones. I'm going to incorporate more varied humans into my roster." The lie had satisfied Magnus so no point changing it now.

"I see. Well, I must admit I never really saw the allure of deliberately picking out troublesome humans."

I smiled. "Variety is the spice of life."

"If you say so."

"Well, I really should get settled in now. It was a long journey."

"Of course, councillor. A pleasure to speak with you."

"And you, of course."

Finally, he walked away, but at least I had gained a vote in favour of my bill. My mind ran through the possibilities. I was fairly certain I would easily obtain the votes of about thirty of the councillors, but the others would need to be convinced.

An uphill battle, a pleasing game. I smiled as I entered my chambers. I was going to have to work to win this one.

* * * * *

After I settled into my chambers in the council building, I relaxed for a while before the rising sun stole my energy and I took my rest with Mantis standing watch over me.

While I rested, my tech humans had jobs to do and by the time I woke up they had organized and set up all their equipment in the small storage room in the slave quarters hall.

I was in no particular rush, but I would need to schmooze to garner support. However, until I actually presented the bill, there was not much for me to do on that front but plan and savour the anticipation.

I could make more vague agreements as I had with Councillor Enrique, but the people who would agree with those would be the same who were most likely to vote along with me anyway.

Instead of subjecting myself to their small minded gossip before necessary, I savoured my bloody coffee. While I did so, I quickly penned a note for the magistrate regarding the placement of my bill. I gave it to Greg and sent him to deliver it.

All my guards and Jamie were rather idle, but Theo was busy and I needed to talk to him.

"Jeffry, I need to feed," I told him.

He nodded solemnly. "Theo, Henry, Lars, Christopher, all of you come too."

I did not fail to notice the look of disgust on Jamie's face at my words, even though I was still supposed to be ignoring him. I tried not to be amused as I led my humans into the room in which I preferred to eat.

Jeffry sat down without question and the others sat in the chairs nearest to him. Theo looked perfectly at ease, but I could tell the other three were still uneasy with the situation. It made sense; they were all young even for humans and had not been brought to the capital since they had been bought, or in Henry's case, never.

I smiled at Jeffry. "Don't hold back, now."

While I sat down on the coffee table situated between the chairs and faced my tech humans, Jeffry started wailing like I was torturing him to death.

Under the cover of the noise, I asked, "Is everything set up, Theo?"

"Yes. All our equipment is ready to go and I've managed to get my hands on the slave schedule."

I smiled. "Excellent. We need an excuse to get the slaves here so that I can compel them."

"We're already working on that," Theo said.

"I'm going to have to court the other council members to get my bill agreed upon this time, so perhaps the best time is during the day. Or perhaps not, since they'll have taken the most precautions."

"Of course, Vienne. We'll figure out the best time." Theo agreed, before running me through the finer points of his plan.

"And you're sure you can pull this off?"

"As sure as I can be."

I did not like it, but Theo was cautious and would tell me if he thought it was not going to work.

Jeffry continued making noise. Satisfied with what I had been told, I nodded. "Very well, we'll take a chance. You can get the rest up to speed while I actually have a bite to drink. You're all dismissed."

My tech humans left the room quickly. I turned my attention to Jeffry, who was still performing very satisfyingly. I moved forwards towards him and sunk my fangs into his neck, quickly drank that wonderful, life giving fluid.

It was so good I could barely contain myself. I stopped myself from drinking before I really wanted to, because they recovered better when I did not go overboard.

"Just a few more minutes, Jeffry, to ensure they're done speaking."

He nodded his understanding.

It was so much more peaceful feeding when there were no other vampires around for the show. I sat back beside him and counted the seconds.

Finally, I nodded, and Jeffry began to taper off the disturbing sounds. He grinned at me when he finally went quiet.

I smiled back. "Now, go rest and recover your blood, human."

"Mistress." He grinned wider and made his way to the well stocked recovery room. I turned and went in the other direction, back out to where my humans were waiting out in the room.

"Javier, tend to Jeffry."

"Yes, Mistress."

"Mantis, make some more coffee."

"Yes, Mistress."

I was entirely too tempted to make Jamie do something while he was on his agreed upon good behaviour, but I reminded myself that I was supposed to be keeping him at arm's length anyway. Instead, I sat down and lounged until Mantis brought me another steaming cup of red coffee.

I smiled until my fangs showed as he respectfully nodded his head and backed away.

I sipped my bitter blood and savoured themoment.