Bow before your king (Gannen and Starling)

Gannen and Starling had been called to the central headquarters of the vampanese It was nothing at all like the modern and high-tech places they had expanded into. This was what they liked to call their ancestral homeland, a massive series of tunnels under what was now modern day Venice.

It had made Starling a little less nervous to know that they'd be visiting perhaps one of the most beautiful cities in the entire world after the meeting.

The meeting itself was something that caused Gannen's teeth to hurt and that was something of an instinct he'd developed that let him know when shit was about to hit the fan. For some reason, being summoned here today set his instincts into fight or flight mode... with fight being the number one option for some reason.

It was... confusing, to say the least.

Not to mention the summons themselves were strange. He was a massively respected member of the Vampanese community and he had never been summoned with this little information before. And he had definitely never been ordered to come. Let alone ordered to come to the Main Hall. In human terms the main hall was just a slightly bigger hall but in Vampanese terms, the Main Hall was where the undisputed leader of the Vampanese was said to address their followers.

Being called here meant that someone had actually been chosen after centuries of no one managing to scrape their way to the top. He smiled reassuringly at Starling and squeezed her hand, which he was holding, gently as he entered the hall with her. The first thing he notice though was that it was completely empty. The doors were shut behind them by the guards though so apparently this was expected. He glanced at Starling with a smirk,

"So much for our famous hospitality eh?" he joked a little bit, giving her hand another little squeeze, "I was expecting something much more... well... more."

Starling had been more than a little bit surprised when she had received the invitation to accompany Gannen to the halls of the Vampanese, she had hoped that she wouldn't be able to go but...apparently she couldn't be excused from this occasion. The note was really not very informative and that alone made Starling more than a little nervous...why didn't they have more to tell them? Did they not want them to know what was going on?

Who were they even?! It didn't even say that much on the invitation.

She had been somewhat calmed by the idea that they would be going to Venice, and that they would be able to go on a tour of the city at night afterwards. The idea of doing something so romantic with Gannen made her smile brightly everytime she thought about it.

Now though, with the empty cavernous room they had just been locked into, Aubrey was glad that she was here with Gannen. Squeezing his hand back for reassurance on both parts she smiled softly. The joke although a little bit flat was appreciated, it was like he was trying to make both of them feel better about what was going on.

"I was expecting someone to actually be here." she smirked, rolling her eyes sarcastically as she looked about the room...there definitely didn't seem to be anyone in here "I'm a little bit worried about this Gannen it doesn't feel right."

Gannen had to admit that he admired how brave Starling was being about this whole thing, standing by his side all the way here. After all, it would be rather scary to be taken to somewhere she didn't know for reasons that were only very loosely explained, and even the rumours he'd managed to get from some guards he knew were rather useless to be honest.

As they both looked around the cavernous room, Gannen had to admit, even if it was just to himself, the entire air in the room screamed at him that this was a perfect place for an ambush. Of course, it was a perfect set up, perfect location, for a trap. But none of the guards had seemed at all worried or anxious, even subconsciously. So in the end he just passed it off as something else.

Maybe their new leader was just theatrical or something?

He chuckled a little bit and nodded in agreement with her little joke,

"Yes well we're lesser beings to our new lord and king." he teased her with a wink, "Best work on your bows and you dancing! Kings and lords tend to enjoy having balls after all."

Before more could be said, a coffin began to be lowered down from the ceiling, close to the stone throne that had been empty for many centuries. Almost immediately Gannen recognised it as the coffin that was said to burst into flames. The survivor of the flames would be their Lord. As he had imagined it would do, the coffin burst into flames as it touched the ground. The front of the coffin burst open and an extremely cocky-looking teenage boy sauntered out dressed in black leather in an attempt to pull of a cool biker/rocker look.

He succeeded in only looking like he was trying way too damned hard. His smirk widened as he sat (lounged) in the stone throne, waving his hand at them as the coffin went back up to the ceiling,

"Go ahead, clap away." he told them with a self-assured smirk, "I know it was a magnificent entrance after all. So... Are you the famous Starling that everyone has been telling me about? Well? Speak if you are."

Starling rolled her eyes when she heard that they were lesser beings to the Lord of the Vampanese, she supposed that was one good thing about the Vampire Princes, they were more like the ordinary people, they liked to be around them. At least that was Mika's feeling about being with the usual vampires. This guy seemed to be a lot of hot air and she really didn't like the way that he was conducting himself.

Not even having met the guy yet as well!

"I doubt that I will be going to any of those balls and dances." she sighed, crossing her arms "Especially if the Vampire Lord thinks we are lesser beings...that just sounds like he is going to be so up himself I would hate to have a conversation with the man."

As soon as she saw the coffin descending from the ceiling, Starling raised her eyebrows and she wondered about what could be inside it. Could it be the vampire leader? If so this was one of the most pompous entrances that she had ever seen, could he really be so stupid as to think this was going to impress her?

Although she probably shouldn't say that out loud, it might upset the guy.

The fire just made it all the worse and Starling thanked the stars when he actually got out of the coffin and started lounging on the throne, wearing a little too much leather for her tastes to be honest.

"Uh...yes that's me." she stated, stepping forward she raised her hand for a shake in greeting "I am Lilith Starling, Daughter of Destiny. Who, might you be?" Starling asked with a little trace of contempt in her voice.

Gannen had to supress the urge to run to the nearest wall and begin banging his head against it as hard as he possibly could. This self-important little asswipe was their supreme ruler? The one that they were honour-bound to obey for all eternity? Better yet, he could bash the little shit's head against the wall instead and save his people centuries of terrible leadership,

"Something tells me that this guy won't be giving us a choice when he throws his little parties." he whispered softly to her as the teenage assumed the seat. Gannen smirked at the comment about the prince being up himself and he teased her, "I see you can tell the future now. He does seem the type."

Steve had been gracious in letting them talk amongst themselves, no doubt whispering about how amazing his entrance was and what it was like to be in his presence. He smirked a little bit to himself and Gannen narrowed his eyes slightly. It wasn't a nice smirk but it also wasn't one that promised pain. It was a pervy little smirk that made Gannen want to follow through with his little daydream and smash Steve's face in against the nearest wall.

But he was sure there'd be time for that later.

"Lilith Starling... Daughter of Destiny... Lady of the Vampanese..." the last one he said with a little lick of his lips. When she held out her hand for him to shake he held it before pulling her uncomfortably close to him so that their faces were only inches apart, "Your new Lord... but you may call me Steve Leonard."

Across the room, Gannen fumed at the display. Starling didn't like what he was doing so he was going to put a stop to it! It was only as he took a few thundering steps forwards that the royal guard of vampanese warriors entered the room to stand guard over the throne. He decided a different tactic,

"My lord..." he said, getting Steve's attention to such a degree that he actually pushed Starling out of the way a little bit to look at Gannen. This just made Gannen want to kill him more, "I wonder why it is I was not informed of your rise to power."

Steve merely smirked and waved Starling away for the time being,

"Timing is everything when making a good show little Gannen." he taunted a little bit before winking at Starling as he looked her up and down, "And not so little Starling..."

Starling was more than a little bit repulsed by the Vampanese in front of her, it was like he was trying to be creepy on purpose and she sure as hell wasn't getting turned on by his little power trip he was suddenly exerting over her. she could just sense that he was trying to impress not just her but everyone, and failing miserably at it while doing so.

How could centuries old Vampanese respect someone like this? Looking at Gannen's face, she guessed that they couldn't.

Gasping when he pulled her so close that their noses were almost touching, Starling narrowed her eyes in a soft glare, what the hell did he think he was playing at? Looking back at Gannen she bit her lip, wanting him to help her out here but, the guards put a stop to that.

"Pleased to meet you." she replied in an icy tone "Although it seems inappropriate to categorise your rise to power as a show...it seems to degrade it a little don't you think?" Starling asked with a rather fake smile, no doubt however Steve would think it was real, he seemed dull enough.

When she was pushed away Starling's eyes flitted their sharp black colour for a few moments before dulling again, she wouldn't let this ignorant toad wind her up. Even though he was doing a bang up job of it so far. Her mouth popped open and she looked at Gannen in disbelief before turning back to Steve; "Excuse me!" she protested "Is there any need for such crass remarks, we have only just met! What is it we were sent here for, get to it swiftly." Starling commanded.

Gannen had to admit that he would have rather followed a vampire than actually have this little whelp being his leader. There was no way he would ever acknowledge the little shit. Sitting there like he was naturally superior to everyone else because he had been the one person who had not been burnt by the flames of the coffin. He doubted that someone as obviously weak as Steve had actually managed it on purpose but who knew. Maybe he did have half a brain.

Steve savoured a few things as he face stayed within inches of Starling's. One was Starling. Or more specifically, Starling's body. She was one sexy little undead woman after all and would look perfect kneeling by his throne. The other thing that caught his eye was Gannen. He smirked a little bit, his little plan to break the proud warrior beginning now,

"Oh on the contrary! If you can do anything you make a show of it and it's instantly better!" he argued with a light laugh, "You have much to learn... but I can show you. I can show you 'everything' that you need."

He winked pervertedly at her and Gannen once again weighed up his options and the possible consequences of tearing the teenager's throat out. Gannen immediately noticed the way that Steve was moving his body and rushed into action even as Steve swung his hand to slap Starling around the face. Catching the wrist, swords and spears were pressing against him from all sides due to the guards. Steve smirked,

"Care to release my hand now Gannen?" he taunted the lower vampanese, "Don't want poor little Starling to have to see the first execution in my new leadership."

Gannen took Starling's hand and led her a respectable distance from the throne again, causing Steve to pout a little bit. Once a respectful distance away, he looked into her eyes for a moment,

"Just calm down..." he urged her, "Not when there's guards around... when he's alone we can kill him."