Revenge of the Heir

Heinrich Family Gathering

Eric took Holly and her parents to Boston with him, and he settled into his new office as he began conducting his own review and began preparing for when he would officially take over. Congress had to approve him, and they had. They had just not informed the family that he was the only acceptable Heir of the lot of them. Being appointed a High Lord had one major requirement, you had to serve in the Military or attend Military Academy with very specific course work. Eric was the only one in the entire family who had fulfilled either requirement.

He was just settling in to his office when Holly brought her parents into the office. "Hey you." she said as she walked in and all three of them sat down.

"Hey there, how was the tour?" he asked them as Melissa Smart came into the room.

"Mr. Heinrich, I have the contracts ready." she said as she slid the file onto his desk. "Melissa Smart." she said introducing herself to them.

"Melissa, this is Holly Dawson and her parents Hellen and Devon." Eric said making the introductions to them.

"Nice to meet you." she said to them as they all shook her hand. "Sir, the family is demanding that the vote be held." she said to him.

"How long do we have to hold the vote?" he asked.

"3 days. It has to be held before the appointment, fortunately it is not binding on the Senate." she replied.

"How many others in the Heinrich Families fulfill the requirements to become a Lord authorized by Congress?" he asked.

"None, a Peter Knolls is currently attending West Point, however he has not taken any of the requisite courses to qualify. You are the only one who has." Monica reported.

"Tell them that the vote will be held in 3 days than, are there any stipulations on where it must be held?" he asked her.

"The family home is where it must be held." Monica said before she turned to leave.

"Thank you Melissa." Eric said as she walked out and waved.

"What does this mean?" Devon asked him.

"The family vote is not binding on Congress, which allows the Lord's to run the districts. It is supposed to show support from the family before Congress accepts them. In this case Congress has appointed me as the Lord, and the Family Vote will show how much support I have." Eric said. I expect it to be near 0." He told them.

"What will it mean if it is?" Devon asked.

"Normally the family vote preceeds the Congressional Vote, and they take the results into consideration. This time however President Tycho made Congress vote before the family did, and there isn't anything the family can do about it. It will show that I am leading a fractured family, but as 3 of my uncles are responsible for my father's death, that was going to happen anyway." Eric said as Devon nodded.

"Fractured families are notoriously problematic. What can we do to help?" Devon asked.

"Devon, I appreciate it, but I will be fine. My security is much tighter than most people think." he said as Holly looked at him curious.

"I have never seen any security." Holly said with a smile.

Eric whistled loudly, and a few seconds later 4 men entered the room. It was clear that all of them were bodyguards, and the way they carried themselves it was very apparent that they were heavily armed. Eric also knew they were very well trained in martial arts, as each of them had trained him over the years. They were all also ex military officers, and had trained him extensively in the use of his Aura. Each of them had admitted they hated facing him when he used it, as it made them feel sluggish and slow.

"Holly, I would like you to meet my security detail." he said as she recognized two of them as people she had seen around them.

"I recognize you." she said pointing at one of them.

"Brian Waters ma'am, I am assigned to you along with David Forrest." he said indicating the man next to him.

"2 man teams?" Hellen asked.

"No ma'am, we only reveal 2 of each team to the protectee." Brian answered.

"Devon, Hellen, this is Patrick Denver, and Houston Montoya, they are assigned to you." Eric said as the two of them nodded to them.

"Where is your team?" Hellen asked making Brian snort.

"Sorry." he said quickly. It was clear the others were amused by this as well.

"What?" Holly asked them.

"Ma'am, when you are with Lord Heinrich, there is almost no safer place. If he needs assistance with most situations, it is most definitely a bad day." David said with a smile.

Holly gasped as she remembered the one time she had seen him actually use his skills. Even heavily trained MPs could not stand against him. "How were you trained?" she asked.

"By them." Eric said as he looked at everyone. "As much as I would love to continue this, I do have a lot of work to do."

They all nodded before they stood up and left him to his work.

3 days later Eric pulled up to the mansion that his grandfather had owned. There were nearly 100 cars there, and he knew it was going to be a show as soon as he entered. There were nearly a dozen of them standing on the porch, watching as his driver pulled up to the front door. He got out of the back of the car, and closed the door before it pulled into a nearby parking lot.

"Who are you?" one of them asked him.

Eric looked at him and smirked, knowing that his security had been top notch if they didn't know yet. "Eric, who are you?" he asked him.

"Dante, son of Pamela." he said clearly wanting to know whose kid he was.

"Well let's get inside, I assure you the ceremony will begin shortly." he said making them laugh.

"We start when Kevin says we do." Dante said through his laughter.

"Fine, meet you inside." he told them as he walked inside. All of them were curious as to what was in his briefcase.

He looked at the interior, and was not surprised that it was decorated ostentatiously.

"Look what the cat finally dragged in." Kevin said loudly from the head table in the ball room as he walked in.

"You are in my seat Kevin." Eric said loud enough to silence the entire room as they realized what he had said.

"I think you will find the family is ready to support me in the vote to replace my father." Kevin said. "Your court order means nothing here."

Eric smiled as he looked at his Uncle. "Well first the vote is not official until all votes are cast, and is not official unless cast in the presence of all vote casters. As one of those votes was not present when it was held, the vote is invalid and will have to be recast." Eric said citing the rules of the family voting process.

"It will not change the results, but we will follow the rules. Clear the board." Kevin ordered as the names disappeared from it.

"Now, we all know that none of you know who I am, outside of Kevin and Stephanie. I am Eric Thomas Heinrich, son of Steven and Joanne Heinrich, Heir to the Heinrich Family Trust. Most of you are likely under the impression that your vote here today will bind Congress to select Kevin as the next Lord. Fact of the matter however is that as Kevin himself admitted, none of you are eligible to become the next Lord. I hereby submit that I have indeed completed all requirements to become the next Lord, and hereby submit my name for the vote. Any other eligible member is welcome to add their name, and proof they have completed all requirements to serve." he stated throwing the first file on the table of the vote controller from the Senate.

They all watched as the Controller looked through the file, and nodded after his review. He added Eric's name to the board, and he saw that Kevin was visibly nervous now. He only got his name on because none of them could fulfill all of the requirements.

"How is it possible you have completed the requirements? That would require 4 years in the Military." he demanded to know.

"Or a Masters Degree from one of the Military Academies of the Empire, with a associates degree in Military Command." Eric said as he had all 4 Military Degrees possible. "I spent those 15 years at West Point, and assure you that I have completed every requirement. You have 5 minutes from now to submit any other eligible family member." he said as he took a seat next to the vote controller as Kevin sat there stunned.

"We demand that Kevin Heinrich be added to the vote. You may be the Heir, however you are not one of us." Anthony Heinrich said from the other end of the table. They watched as the clock began counting down, and the vote controller sat unmoved by the argument.

"Why is he not adding Kevin as we demand?" Marcus asked.

"Because he cannot, when Kevin does not fulfill the requirements." Eric said as he looked at him. "For being part of the family, you should become familiar with the rules we must abide by."

The looks on their faces was priceless when they realized he was right, and that not one of them could be recognized for the vote after proving he was both a member of the family by blood, head of one of the branches, and had met all requirements to hold the position of Lord. The clock kept ticking, and as it got closer to 0 the family became more frantic as they tried to figure out what they could do. As soon as it did, the vote controller stood and looked at them.

"As only one member has qualified to be placed on the ballot, the measure is carried that Eric Heinrich has won the vote. I will inform Congress of this development." he said as he gathered his belongings and departed. As soon as he did, Eric stood up and looked at Kevin.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let us get down to business." he said as Kevin stood.

"We do not accept this and will appeal to Congress and the President." Kevin said as Eric pulled out a file.

"Congress has already held their vote, and have confirmed me as Lord of the Heinrich Family. I am well aware that all of you are opposed to my appointment, and hereby declare this family fractured. Once you find an Heir qualified to stand as Lord, I will gladly allow you to call a vote to replace me. Until that happens, you have two choices. You can stand behind the rules of the family, contribute as required, and watch as we become more successful under my reign. Or you can stand behind Kevin, ignore your requirements, and watch as this family crumbles.

"Unlike Lord Jason, I will tolerate no deviations from the rules as set forth under the Trust of Alexander Heinrich. Anyone found in violation of those rules will find themselves ejected from the family without question. Any head of Family found in violation, will be stripped of all familial ties, along with their entire family. Now that we have concluded the business for today, I bid you all adieu, and shall see you at the next investment meeting in 3 months time." Eric said as he turned and left with all of them looking like they were choking on something sour.