I rather liked my new humans.

I did not purchase many females and I seldom brought the ones I did have with me to the council, but it was interesting to watch how having Trish in their midst changed the dynamics amongst the others around the table. Marcel was still in the recovery room, but the others acted far more deferential to the female in their midst than they usually did to each other.

They had the exact opposite reaction to my new male. Little Human schooled his features into an almost perfect rendition of a blank wall. Since he had been brought to my chambers I had seen no hint of the fury he had displayed in that one moment while chained in the feeder cages. I almost might have believed that I had imagined it, but I had not.

I did not allow my amusement to show on my face. How long would it take me to break that icy demeanor that was his shield? The human was good, very good.

There was nothing like a strong will to whet my appetite.

I observed my humans as they sat around the table eating silently. I seldom bothered with human food. I could process it, but it did nothing nutritionally for me, much like artificial sweeteners that had once been present in the human diet back in their hay day. But, I did enjoy coffee in the afternoons, however, a nostalgic habit of mine, although nowadays I liked my coffee red.

Red was easily my favourite colour, predictable though that might be.

Although brown was quickly moving up the list of my colour preferences, as I met the dark brown eyes of my newest male addition. I smiled crookedly, letting my right fang show, just to see how he might respond.

He did not flinch, nor did his eyes move. My curiosity was further piqued. His lack of visible fear was impressive, since I had never before met a mortal with such an impressive ability to maintain a stoic facade.

He would make an amazing vampire.

However, only a fool would turn him. If he was this impressive as a mortal, with vampiric strength he would be able to kill us all.

And judging by his well hidden fury, that was exactly the first thing he would do.

Then, last of all, he would either kill himself in disgust or reign over the humans as a new tyrant. It was anyone's guess.

It was fascinating.

He turned his non-malevolent gaze back to his plate and took another forkful of the nutritionally balanced meal.

It was only reasonable to feed my humans well. One did regular oil changes and maintenance on one's automobiles; one filled up the gas tank as needed; one ensured that their humans were fed all the necessary vitamins and minerals to maintain proper function.

A very long time ago, I had spent one lifetime masquerading as a nutritionist amongst my human prey. I had married a delicious man named Frank and we had a very nice, mutually beneficial time together. Frank had been a good man. I missed him, as I missed so many others.

Yet, one became used to loss when persisting unchanged in a world of decay.

The new male was resolutely not looking at me as I stared at him. I liked the stubbornness that he hid with almost perfect efficiency.

He was visually pleasing. I liked that, as well.

I surrounded myself with beauty. Most of my favourite humans were handsome and well built. I collected physically pleasing male specimens with the same dedication that I preserved what I could salvage of ancient artwork, media, and literature. My home was filled with all that pleased the senses.

This forcibly blank human would fit in very well amongst my other pretty possessions.

I was quite attracted to him.

The stray thought caught me off guard. How long had it been since I was attracted to anyone, human or vampire? It was certainly more than years. Was it decades? Maybe even centuries?

I well remembered the feeling, but when had it last been?

It was one of the hazards of such a long life, there was eventually no novelty, and there was nothing new to experience under the stars.

But this human might just be a flavour I had not tried yet. I smiled to myself.

This new toy was going to be pure delight.

I would take care not to break him.

* * * * *

Over the next several days, I proceeded to ignore my new humans. Marcel rejoined the others and proceeded to be so rude to the new male that it bordered on hostility.

It was not surprising. Marcel tended to guard me like a feral dog with a favourite chew toy. He did not trust the new human male in the slightest and he was not afraid of letting it show. Their interactions were highly entertaining.

It was doubly amusing when I overheard the new male call Marcel 'Agro' under his breath. Apparently Little Human had decided to give his fellow humans demeaning nicknames. It was difficult to hide my reaction to the first new bit of evidence of the attitude behind the blasé mask.

I wondered if he had a nickname for me. Perhaps Harpy? Bloodsucking Demoness? The possibilities were nearly endless. I hoped it was vile. It took iron restraint to keep my amusement from peeking out.

Truly, the younger vampires among us had no concept of what they were missing with their tortured humans, all behaving with the perfection that was expected of them on pain of punishment. So the same, so boring.

Perhaps they too would come to see the dullness of their existence in time. Humans were so much more than just food.

It was time to go. I stood up from the couch where I was reclining.

"May I please accompany you, Mistress?" Marcel asked, his brown eyes looking towards me for direction. His wavy brown hair was only a few inches long at this point and just messy enough that combined with his aesthetically pleasing face he looked like he could have been a member of a boy band, except that he was way too built from all his long hours training.

The briefest look of disgust flickered through Little Human's eyes at Marcel's request.

"No, I'm sorry, Marcel, but you're not recovered yet."

"Apologies, Mistress."

I waved my hand breezily in his direction as if to excuse his impertinence, although in truth he was doing exactly what I wanted him to be doing: irritating the new male with his subservience.

With some reluctance, I made my way to the door, pausing briefly in front of Little Human on my way out before leaving the sanctuary of my rooms. On my way to the council chambers, I encountered my dear current archnemesis.

I adored how prickly Councillor Davidson was. In his mind I was his evil counterpart and in mine his irate stubbornness helped breakup the monotony of the long council meetings.

In the deepest, dullest, and driest moments of those meetings, I liked to imagine how horrified he would be to know I considered him a beneficial force in my world.

Perhaps I would inform him one day when I tired of playing with him, ending our little game with a delightful bang.

"Davidson," I said with all the coldness I could summon.

"Vienne," he responded. He was trying to match my frigidity, but he failed miserably with all the blazing passion that poured out of him. I hoped time would not temper his flame.

Old vampires were so often dry and rigid, excepting myself, of course. I was obviously a delight.

I fell into step beside him and his compatriot, another one of the maverick councillors, a female named Naomi. No doubt she had voted against my bill. She was quite a beauty with a fairly soft heart for an undead monster.

She nodded to me with a similar attitude to Davidson.

"So, do you have any more interesting bills to present this quarter?" I asked them conversationally.

I caught a glimpse of dumbfounded irritation on both their faces at my blatant question before they schooled their expressions. My amusement was only obvious inside my own mind.

"No need to be so guarded, we're all colleagues here."

"That's one word for it," Naomi said dryly.

I could not resist needling them a bit more. I kept my tone serious, the voice of an elder tutoring the young. Davidson particularly hated that. "You mustn't take our little verbal battles so seriously, my friends. We all have the same motives at the end of the day, the prosperity and well-being of all vampire kind."

That probably was neither of their intentions, but I hardly cared. Discord was ultimately the spice of life.

I liked things spicy almost as much as I liked them bloody.

My polite smile only grew as we entered the council chambers.

I walked over to my spot and sat down. They did the same, but they looked rather serious. I suppose they felt their most recent loss keenly considering much of the days since had been wasted meshing out the details of my new human branding initiative.

Boring, but necessary, and ultimately for everyone's own good.

Well, perhaps not, but I rather thought it would resound to my benefit at least.

Satisfied, I settled into my chair more comfortably to prepare for a long day of boring planning and formalities.

* * * * *

Once the bulk of the other bills had been properly discussed and rejected, and the details of Bill 471FiI had been hashed out and initiated, we had finally reached the end of the council meetings for the quarter.

I was relieved, because I wanted to get home and begin training my new humans properly. Those caught from the wild could be difficult, but at least they did not have any learned problematic behaviours from previous masters, so I did not mind their rough hostility.

Rather, I revelled in it.

And the male who still had not yet even told me his name was going to be a pure treat.