"The king is throwing a banquet for a vampire that humiliated the kingdom!" Duke Richard Von Raizen was livid. He was holding a meeting for the high ranking members of his faction of the royal court.
Most royal courts had two factions, the noble faction whose concerns mainly focused on preserving or increasing the power and benefits of themselves, the nobility. The second being the royal faction that wished to uphold the dignity of the royal family and the kingdom.
Duke Von Raizen was the head of the noble faction. A pompous and gluttonous noble with distant blood ties to the current royal family.
"I agree, even if this vampire is a day walker he is still a vampire!" a noble agreed.
"The king really has no interest in preserving the dignity of the kingdom. How can the nobility be expected to attend this facade honouring this long toothed parasite!" another yes-man added.
"Are we not forgetting that this noble is from the Empire and an Archduke at that? He is to be addressed as His Highness and treated with the respected of a crown prince." One noble voiced his concern.
He was in no way advocating for vampire rights, instead he cared for self preservation and harming a noble of a super nation was hazardous to ones health he assumed. He only assumed it because no one had dared try.
"Castellon is not what it used to be! It is ruled by a regent and has a child emperor that sits on the throne. The nobility there do as they please which would be ideal but they basically sell noble titles to the highest bidders now.
This is also an affront to the rest of the nobility in the surrounding nations. Our ancestors worked hard to earn our titles buying that privilege is an insult!" The arrogance of the duke who rode on the coattails of his ancestor's achievements and his diluted bloodline became clear.
"To attend this farce is absolutely disgraceful." A noble agreed.
"The rumours of him defeating that many knights and Oswald must be exaggerated." Another stated.
"Exaggerated my arse! Our spies collected as much information as they could and each story was the same. Why is the word of our spies good when it benefits us and exaggerated when it does not? The king may be a fool but he is not a complete idiot.
There must be a reason that he and the people are going along with this. This vampire is supported by the empire and the banks as well and they are not fools. Something is different here. Do as you please. If you all want to cause trouble at the banquet, go ahead but do it without my money. I promise you that as of this moment I am switching to the royal faction. They are less suicidal than you lot."
*****
The time for the banquet had finally arrived.
A wonderfully dressed and a much more humble Alexander arrived outside Valerian's door. He gave a quick knock and while he waited for a response, he continued to practice the apology he had been planning since Valerian sent him away with the two young royals.
The door opened and Alexander was taken aback by the sight.
Valerian came out wearing a white button up angarkha with tiny diamond like gems that sparkled ever so elegantly when he moved. The outfit went down to the floor and had golden flower embroidery circling around the bottom edge that slightly dragged behind him.
He wore a mithril circlet crown and his long white hair hung loose and wavy like mane with an etherial glow. He wore a single yellow diamond ring on his right hand and a silver arm brace on his left arm.
Valerian walked out of the room, his angarkha parted slightly, showing the white, semi-loose trousers he wore underneath and white slip on shoes.
Alexander seemed to lose himself for a moment. If he did not know about the banquet and Valerian's identity, he would have thought the ancient vampire was a High Elven prince on his way to his coronation.
The desire to kneel in Alexander was fierce. He had spent a lot of time with Valerian during that long day that he almost forgot that Valerian was not a simple character. He was an ancient and primordial being.
He did not fight the need anymore and went on bended knee with his head bowed in reverence. This was the effect without igniting his auras.
"This unfilial descendant humbly greets the honourable Ancestor."
Valerian smiled lightly. He felt that he had overdone his clothing but this was the first party he would attend. Most of his clothes were made from materials from the primordial era so they were, in part, magical in their own right.
"Please stand." Valerian stretched out his own hand and helped Alexander up but when their eyes met, Val saw a deep fervour in Alexander's eyes that made him feel like he was back Az'Talon looking at his subjects once more. It was not a nostalgic feeling for him but he did have a slight fondness for the era.
The sound of footsteps were heard. Valerian and Alexander looked in the direction the sound was coming from. The shy prince and the beautiful princess had come, possibly to accompany Valerian but they both froze when they saw him.
Valerian was like a god walking the mortal plane.
He looked too good to be real.
The prince did not feel an ounce of envy. How could he? Yes, he felt inferior to the vampire but so what? How often was a sight such as this seen? Was one jealous of the sun, the moon or the stars?
No! And yet here was a sight that was not seen everyday, a being just as celestial as those bodies so how can one look at the sun and feel jealous? Was that not only a fool's hubris?
The princess did not fair better than her brother. She had been interested in Valerian. Her father would have loved for an alliance of blood with Valerian even if it meant his daughter became the concubine or mistress to a foreign noble.
The princess did not mind. Valerian had status, wealth and power as well as a pleasing appearance.
Her other suitors did not even have half those things and not even in the quantities that Valerian possessed each but now seeing him as he was in that moment made her want him for herself and not her father's ambitions.
"Prince Nikolai and Princess Thalia, have you come to escort me?" Valerian asked.
The four made their way to the banquet hall. Thalia insisted on entering beside Valerian which was not actually protocol unless they were courting or engaged.
Prince Nikolai was shocked by his sister's breach of protocol but decided to stay quiet.
Valerian had wanted to enter with Alexander behind him but the Princess was not accepting his tactful decline.
The noble guests had arrived from all over the Capitol. Many of them had brought their sons and daughters, seeking to make connections and new alliances.
Rumours were already spreading about the guest of honour being not only an Archduke of the Castellon Empire but a vampire as well.
Saras had a strong anti-sentiment to any race that did not fall under the definition of human but the nobility were more flexible when it came to these unwanted races depending on their usefulness.
"Announcing, Her Royal Highness Princess Thalia of Saras and His Highness, Archduke Valerian Erebus Jata-Vermeer of the Castellon Empire."