The Vampire and His Fairy

The Master

(Master Marcus P.O.V.)

The visiting Vampire Lord was different than I expected. The stories I heard about him would suggest that his behavior towards slaves would be cold, if not deadly. However his actions here and now were anything but what his reputation suggested. This was aggravating I had several slaves picked out for him, they were ones that had served there usefulness here. I had assumed that he would be interested in cheap stock, but his interest in the cell block was so annoying. I had plans for Kataya, her punishment for breaking a plate on purpose, will completed in this cell block. She was always a disappointment to me, this was the last straw for me, and she would not see the light of day if I had anything to say about it. Then a servant girl came running into the cell block as if hell was following her, she came right up to me and in an urgent tone whispered:

“Master Marcus, I have news. The Master has returned. He demanded to see you now. My Lord, he is very upset.”

I was stunned for a moment, as if things were not going according to plan with the Vampire Lord but now The Master was home. He returned early that had many implications none of which I liked, all of them meant my hide was about to be skinned if I was not careful. Of all the aggravating situations to be in this was the most precarious to be in, two Vampires with me caught in the middle. What confused me more was Lord O’Flynne’s actions towards this Fairy, it was beyond me, she was no one and not very good at anything.

“My Lord, I lave an urgent matter to take care of, the Quartermaster can guide you back.” I stated flatly.

Before anyone could say anything in protest I turned and left. This situation with The Master needed to be deal with quickly, while there was still hope of me getting out of it with my hide still attached. To make things worse things here have not been running smoothly, this was fuel to a fire that could easily turn to a blaze, I hoped I could turn this situation in my favor. Doing so would take a lot of persuasion on my part. I walked quickly to the main floors of the castle, The Masters chambers were located on the fourth floor. His chambers were almost a small house inside a house, when he was home he very rarely left his chambers. With in a few minutes of leaving the cells I arrived at the door of his chambers, I was worried was an understatement. The doors seemed so massive and ornate, knocked from inside I heard:

“Enter!”

I entered hesitantly there was no way to tell how this would go, I started to sweat. If I had anyway to not be here I would take it. However if I did not come there’s no telling what he would do. As I entered into The Master’s apartment I was not sure what to expect, instead my worse nightmare I found crates littered everywhere. The main was almost stacked to the roof with stuff, I assumed this is what he had traded for in the Highlands. Some were marked ‘weapons’, others said ‘food stuffs’. There were some that I could not make out what language was marked on the side. We knew that The Master had many dealings with many different races, to see proof of it sometimes was unsettling, I could not explain why. As I walked through almost aimlessly I saw things that were regular purchases for the house, some we were stocked on others that we were running low on. Then I heard The Master’s voice it was angry, and cold which sent a shiver down my spine, it was coming from an adjacent room.

“Marcus!”

I turned and followed the direction of the voice, what I saw and began to hear were not promising. Things were going to take even more work for me to get out of this alive. He was talking with the Headmistress, as I rounded another stack of crates I saw her face, she looked as if she was going to burst into tears any moment. This took me little bit by surprise, I had only ever seen her as a strong woman who ran a tight house. This however was more than her being weak, what I saw confounded me she was afraid but of The Master, or was there something else. I was close enough now to hear what was being said.

“How many times must explain to you how to manage MY Household!? They are slaves yes, but they are still people and those people are good or better at things, with that said WHY was the outside sets put in the kitchen?” said The Master his tone was beyond angry.

“I was just following orders, I thought it was odd My Lord, but I did not know what else to do.” answered the Headmistress.

He sat there a moment just silent looking at her, in such a way that I could not read his expression. I have served him for five years, and I still have a hard time reading him. This time his hard expression mixed with his pale skin was terrifying. I had walked up as close as I dared, that is when I saw that his normally gray eyes had darkened, now I was even more scared. Which way would this conversation go?

“Who’s orders?” The Master asked.

She stood there looking at him, tears were streaming down her face yet she remained calm and compose despite crying, however her eyes gave away the fact that she was scared. This fear was not the same type of fear that the household looked at me with. I never understood the difference. Many of the servants had said that The Master was compassionate as well as fair, I never saw it. He was a Vampire they were all the same, they killed without thought. The only other thing they cared about was power, they did anything to acquire more power. Yet, the servants always obeyed him no matter what the consequences were from me, I had to threaten them with hurting or destroying something they loved just to get them to listen to me.

“Lord Marcus’ orders Master.” she answered.

His eyes narrowed at her reply, they darkened even more. This was not good, I did have some time to think before I tried to persuade The Master to come to an understanding as to why things have been such a mess. This would take all my skill to get out of this and I knew it, something I was glad that I had learned of the years was to keep my heart be calm no matter how upset I was.

“I see my dear. Please tell me why, why did you do as he ordered?” his tone changed from being harsh to that of a caring father in an instant. “There’s no need to fear. Please tell me.”

“He said that if I did not follow the order he would take my daughter, and that I would be released from your service. He also said that it wold be done in such away that I could not be a Headmistress for any other Lord.” she answered.

Her face flushed as she spoke, she was scared of what would happen. I could see it I smiled to myself. She would pay dearly for this defiance I ran this household she knew that. Her little girl would also pay for her disobedience if had any say in this. I could not believe that she would actually tell The Master what I had said. This made things so much harder, this was getting out of hand quickly.

“I see. Well since I was not here to protect the household, I understand. You were doing what you had to do to protect your family. I am here now and you have my word that Lord Marcus will not touch your daughter nor will you be dismissed from my service. Your to valuable to the smooth running of the household. Now if you will excuse us Lord Marcus and I have to discuss his behavior.” The Master spoke all of this in a loving tone at the end he looked at me and his eye’s harden, he turn back to her and gave her a small reassuring smile then nodded.

She curtsied and turn, as she left the room she turned again, curtsied and closed the door behind her. We could her her footsteps leaving the apartment. This now left me alone with The Master. His presence made me uncomfortable, I however would not give him the satisfaction of seeing it. I looked at the table before The Master it would be better than looking him in the eye. I had to remember he was a Vampire first then The Master of the house. I ran the household, he was very rarely involved in the affairs of the household. So I was sure I could talk my way out of this, I glanced up to see his expression, it was hard his lips were pressed into a thin line his eyes were so dark I thought for sure he was going to leap the table and kill me. He did not move, even if he moved at his Vampire speed I would not see him move. He just stared at me, I knew this was going to take all my best tactics to get out of this alive.