Page 179 of Vampire's Choice
There was a shifting throughout the chamber, but the Council members nodded. Some of those in the chamber bowed their heads. Others closed their eyes or gazed meditatively in space. Ruth logged every reaction, holding onto them. She would tell and show all of it to Adan.
As the three minutes were drawing to an end, tapping feet approached the door. At Lyssa’s nod, Lionel opened it, and a male Inherited Servant entered. He had sleek dark hair, queued back, a hooked nose, sensual lips and brown eyes. His features were almost obscured by the scrolls he carried, tied with ribbons. He also had a quill and inkwell.
Did we just go back in time? Merc asked.
Ruth shook her head, just as baffled.
“Take a seat behind me, Emrey.” Lyssa motioned to the InhServ, then directed her words to the curious Council. “It has been correctly stated that, according to our law, a vampire cannot be submissive to a human servant. But we have a set of directives pending that could change that.”
“Lady Lyssa, this was not on the agenda,” Lord Stewart said. Lady Carola nodded emphatically, her mouth tight. Lord Belizar’s expression had moved to disapproval.
“I’m within my rights to add it. Can anyone claim it hasn’t had sufficient time for discussion and revision?”
Some more shifts, a little grumbling, but shrugs showed reluctant agreement with her point.
Emrey unrolled one of the scrolls. Apparently, despite the technological age, the Council still put down new laws, or pending ones, in the same manner as they were done hundreds of years ago. Ruth couldn’t deny the sight of the parchment, the careful calligraphy on it, made the proceeding seem more formal. And momentous.
“For years,” Lyssa said, “this document has been revised, added to, subtracted from. We’ve received input from overlords and Region Masters. In more enlightened moments—like when Lords Belizar, Stewart and Lady Carola have been in more benevolent moods—we’ve gathered feedback from our more highly placed servants.”
Her gaze glinted with some humor. Not much, but what could be managed under the circumstances. “I move that it be read aloud, and the vote called. It is time.”
“Yes,” Carola said. “I second. It is well past time.”
Her tone said her vote would not agree with Lyssa’s, but the queen didn’t show annoyance at the reaction. She merely nodded at Emrey to proceed. The scribe moved in front of the table. Since Kaela and Garron’s matter was still pending, they were not invited to move from their position, so he adjusted himself a step to the right, the most direct line of sight available to the Council head.
Kaela had fixed her gaze on Emrey. It was an intense look, one that made him shift a little uneasily. However, he cleared his throat and began, with a strong tenor appropriate to his role. As he read the words, they filled all corners of the chamber, echoing in the rafters above. The gurgling fountain didn’t distract from it.
“Servants will have an elected body of seven to represent their interests to the Council…
“Servants desiring separation from their vampire will have the right to petition this committee for that act.
If a vampire desires separation, the servant will not be terminated, unless Council approves it as necessary to protect the race…”
Ruth wondered if Carola, Stewart and Belizar, as well as the other Council members not fully on board with the document, were noting what she did.
Jacob’s gaze was locked upon his lady. Lyssa’s attention toward him gave that connection enough weight to make it vibrate in the air between them. Jessica’s eyes were likewise on her vampire master, her expression reminding Ruth of her history, the horror of her beginnings in the vampire world. How Mason had brought her to love and trust in a Master again.
Even the servants with more traditional connections to their Masters and Mistresses seemed affected. An energy was filling the room. Wonder, uncertainty, hushed anticipation. To many of the vampire and servant relationships here, as well as the servants individually, the words had unique meanings, related to experiences, challenges, intense pain or intimate triumphs,
Aided by the momentous events of these past few hours, the vampires present were stepping into the tide of change. Maybe Lyssa was right, that the timing was right to see who was willing to accept its flow, open themselves to its wisdom in ways they never had been before. Great loss, near loss, it could have that effect. She stood as witness, not just for herself, but for her mother, and her father.
A vampire of any rank has the right to choose whether or not their servant participates in the demands of a social gathering…
She thought of her father’s tension about such events, her mother’s quiet acceptance. Yes, Elisa had learned she could make it work, find pleasure in serving her Master in such ways, do whatever was required of her. But she and Adan had also recognized, even if they never spoke of it, that Mal worked to keep Elisa’s mind on him and his desires, so they could both stand away from the truth.
Many vampires and servants might enjoy it, but Mal had fucking hated those events, even before he had Elisa. And after…sharing her with others was something he never would have voluntarily chosen to do.
The shape of the relationship between vampire and servant is private and not subject to Council rule, as long as there is no proven conflict with his or her loyalty to the preservation of the race, as defined by Council…
The quiver that went through Kaela was strong enough she swayed. Garron didn’t move, but when the shudder left her, her body was pressed back against the strength of his, his mouth near the strands of her hair at her temple.
A born vampire’s human parent will not be separated from the child unless extraordinary circumstances proving the need are presented to Council. This request can only be submitted by the vampire parent. It cannot be imposed by Council mandate…
A human parent will be honored as such, not merely as the servant of the vampire parent…
Ruth thought of when she and Adan had been told not to call Elisa Etsi or Mum in front of vampire visitors, because they were supposed to be “old enough” to view her as Mal’s servant, not their mother.
All those years Mal and Elisa had to pretend not to be what they were to each other and to their children, in the presence of other vampires, or at those gatherings.