We bowed to him in thanks as he proceeded to leave. A few minutes later, a maid returned with towels, rags, and lye bar soap in hand. Even going so far as to bring me a scented hair soap made from hibiscus leaves. I smiled and thanked her for the items. Saying she would be right outside if we needed anything else. I handed my brother part of the items given and took the others for myself and proceeded to take my bath. The naturally warm springs were so perfect, I almost fell asleep after soaking a while. As we were getting dressed, the servant let us know that dinner was ready. My brother had just finished helping me put on the fancy kimono too. We both got excited and sat our stuff in the baskets provided for laundry. I finished combing my hair and put it up with the hairpin that was provided to me in the clothes. We then were taken to the huge dining hall, where we had one of the most luxurious meals we had ever had. We had never seen so much food on one table before. I was beginning to think they thought we ate more than pigs there for a while. Putting aside the fact the vampire lords were drinking what appeared to be wine, we knew different, but at least the farce made it easier to be around. We were then personally escorted to our prepared rooms by Botan Date himself.
Botan Date: "Here are your rooms. I hope they are to your liking. We have put some new clothes for each of you in your rooms. You also have an adjoining door in the middle if you wish to speak to each other without leaving through the main doors. Please be prepared for tomorrow. Your decision will need to be made Kaida Endo. Please keep that in mind. And have a good sleep. You will have to get used to a more adjusted time."
Kaida Endo: "I understand. And thank you for everything you did for us today. I especially enjoyed the use of the baths."
Smiling, I made a slight bow. He softly smiled and turned waving his hand nonchalantly. I then turned to my brother with a slight sigh. We each walked into our rooms checking them out and finding the door in the middle. The rooms were so huge, we could actually fit our whole house from the village inside one of the rooms alone. Sure, enough though, we could go to each other without having to leave. We locked our doors and began to discuss what to do next. After all, this was going to be one of the biggest decisions of our lives so far.
Tsubasa Endo: (With an exaggerated wave of his hand…) "Well it clearly appears that the queen has most of the say in what goes on. Lucky you."
Kaida Endo: (Staring back at him with one of the biggest scowls I could give him…) "What do you mean Lucky you? I do not sound lucky at all. Did you always know of this fate of ours and did you know what would happen to the females of the family too?"
Tsubasa Endo: (Sighing deeply, he hung his head with a look of slight regret…) "I was told by dad when we were much younger about a month or two before he died. When he knew he was dying, he passed the knowledge onto to me. I was just hoping I would never have to let you, or our sisters know, but that was very stupid apparently."
Kaida Endo: (Dropping my shoulders in slight defeat…) "I understand how hard it was for you, especially not knowing what the future brings. Not knowing if it was something to tell, or eventually pass to the next generation. Ugh, I hate this fate of ours. I suppose I have to choose someone tomorrow; who do you think I should pick?"
Tsubasa Endo: (Tilting his head to the side as though he were deep in thought…) "Botan Date seems to be doing a lot for us now. The other three just seem to be working under him. If I were you, I would go with him. Do not forget you still have to do your part and awaken me as well."
Kaida Endo: (With an exacerbated sigh, I shook my head in acknowledgement…) "I know, I know. I just hope I will be able to handle it all. So much pressure, well then, I suppose its decided. Shall we turn in now? Please stay by me for now brother, will you?"
Tsubasa Endo: (He sighed heavily as he reluctantly agreed…) "That is fine, you always did have an issue if it was not your room, let alone a whole new area. Just remember one thing though, they are vampires, with different laws. We may be required to learn a whole new set of things. And we may not like some of them as we are now, but once changed, I do not know what awaits."
Kaida Endo: (I flopped my back hard against the side of the odd bed style we were not familiar with as I reluctantly agreed…) "You have an incredibly good point. We will find out tomorrow then will we not."
He chuckled lightly as we basically took all the pillows and bedding and made a makeshift bed on the floor. Neither of us was used to anything outside of the floor futons we grew up with, so these new beds made us feel as though we would be swallowed up. They were just so big; we did not know if either of us would ever get used to them. We eventually fell asleep. All the while hoping we would find it easier as time passed to get used to this new way of doing things. The following day, we were woken up by one of the house maids. She knocked on the door letting us know that breakfast had been prepared. I shook my brother awake to let him know. Though I was not sure why she had brought in the syringe at first. It was one of the largest I had seen. She then explained we would need some of my blood for later. I did not press her and just agreed. There was apparently a reason for it, after all. She did her job and set the syringe of my blood in a container of ice. Without water around that was frozen, the ice situation did make me wonder. After all, it was not winter, so how could there be ice. We then prepared ourselves and were escorted to the dining area were the lords were already sitting. We sat down and began to eat out meal. I wanted one last bath in before we proceeded with the change, so I asked Botan Date about it.
Kaida Endo: "I was wanting to know if I could get one last bath in before we proceed with the choosing. After all, from the way you make it sound, there is a lengthy process to it. Or am I wrong?"
Botan Date: "No you are not wrong. The request is more than reasonable. You will be asleep for many hours. We just had to make sure you had eaten. The transition is smoother when the body is not hungry for starters."
Kaida Endo: "Thank you very much for your kindness regarding that. I do not know about anyone else, but I hate the feeling of being filthy for too many days."
He chuckled at me and said it was fine to leave the table. I got up, lightly bowed, and headed off toward the bath, after our arrival, he had the maids make sure there was always a stock of clean kimonos. I gathered the soap and shampoo stock; it had a lovely aroma of lavender coming from it; and took my time getting cleaned up. Thankfully, the lavender blended well with the hibiscus. After all, who knows how many hours I would be asleep for, the mere thought was enough to unnerve me a little bit. I was not too keen on-going long periods without a decent bath. A short while later, Botan Date sent a maid to make sure I was fine and to help me if needed. The maid helped me affix my sash properly then escorted me back to the dining area. I sat in my seat once again, drinking a little bit of water and lightly snacked. I had to make sure I had a mostly full stomach before anything was done.