"I like how you find this hilarious!' Gaston stressed. "How am I going to face my father?"
Aaron boomed in laughter. "And don't forget about my dad too, once he finds out you took his daughter's virginity, marked her, and got her pregnant all out of wedlock," he added, and he hadn't helped Gaston's stress when he pointed out everything he had done wrong.
"Maybe there is a small chance she isn't pregnant." Gaston tried to rationalize for the sake of his sanity.
"Yeah, when sheep poop golden nuggets!" Aaron laughed up his lungs.
As he fell out of the chair, Vlad busted the door open, and he entered with an intense stride. His face was simmering in exasperation as he scolded Gaston. "You have really done it now!" he clamored. "Follow me right now!"
"Dad, I can explain—" Gaston tried saying, but Vlad dashed to his face, and he was right against his nose.
"After what happened to Emily, I don't want to hear your excuses!" Vlad chewed him out.
"Wait, what happened to Emily?" Gaston asked, getting worried.
Vlad yelled horrendously. "You would know if you would've done your part to protect her! Instead, you're fooling around with another mistress!"
"Dad, she wasn't a mist—"
"To the council room right now, both of you!" Vlad spat as he didn't hear him out before he vanished from sight.
"Kai, what happened to Emily?" I pleaded to know.
"Something awful," was all Kai would share before I touched Aaron's arm to get to the council room.
Ironically enough, the same place we made camp from inside the palace was once their council room. Almost everyone was here as the headmasters stood to the front with their wives beside them. Serena was beyond stressed as she held one hand to her huge pregnant belly. Fury was smoldering on Morbius's face, and his wife Aurora had teary eyes that she kept wiping away from her eyelids as she too was very much pregnant. The young clan leaders stood in the center as they faced the Headmasters and their wives.
On the edges of the room, vampires and vampiresses gathered around, and I noticed Duncan standing amongst them from the right. A bunch of the parents of Kai's friends and his guardians were present as well. Most of the first-generation vampiresses were already pregnant with the second generation, which would be the older siblings of Kai's friends. To name a few, Irene was already pregnant with one of Rose's older brothers, same with Ivan's mom, and Rome's mom was starting to show a small baby bump as well.
"Almost everyone's here," I commented as I glanced around.
Kai remarked as he gave me a little more insight. "A handful of vampiresses like Rose, Sharlene, and Leah's mothers came from Vincent's Coven. Grandpa Vincent's Coven was growing weak because the vampiresses were joining Vlad's Coven, since their husbands wanted to stay with him. Plus, it didn't help when Grandma Rihanna birthed him too many daughters. Aunt Ivy was his firstborn, but Uncle Aaron was born second, though he was his firstborn son."
"How many offspring did your mother's parents have?' I asked.
"Vincent and Rihanna had ten daughters and four sons with one set of twins," Kai replied. "Vlad and Serena had thirteen sons and five daughters. She had three sets of twins. Right now, she's pregnant with Leia and Lyla, who are my dad's twin sisters."
I looked over towards Vincent and his pregnant wife Rihanna, and I couldn't miss that red-curly hair Mrs. Collin, her sisters, and some of their nieces like Ava had inherited from their mother or grandmother. Vincent had dark chocolate brown hair, which I noted Aaron and his brothers inherited from him.
"How did Duncan become part of the Collin Coven since he's a Light?" I asked when my eyes scanned his way again.
Kai explained with more insight. "Duncan was human-raised, but his mother's Kingdom was invaded by another Kingdom, and she died during the attack. Serena found him and took him in as her own. He isn't Royalty rank, but he chose to follow our Coven instead of the one his dad is from, but Duncan's father would always visit him."
"Which Light Headmaster does Duncan's father follow?" I asked as I glanced at the Light Headmasters. They were easy to spot because they each had worn a thin woven fabric over their eyes to evade the sunlight.
Kai replied, "Headmaster Edgar. Up at the front, he's standing next to Grandma Serena. Edgar is also one of the Lights that founded the Vampire Covenant, and he's our ally too. He's also one of the Headmasters who prophesied about the seven prophecies."
"That's interesting," I remarked as I watched Aaron and Gaston stand by their brothers within the center, I assumed.
"What's going on?" Gaston leaned to the vampire next to his right as he whispered.
"Who's the vampire he's talking to?" I questioned Kai as I walked in closer.
"Uncle Zen, he's Evan's dad and the second oldest. Then there is Uncle Liam, and the first set of twins are Uncle Leonardo and Leon. Lastly, Uncle Ash was deemed old enough to be a clan leader from turning twenty. The rest of my uncles aren't born yet, or they're too young to be clan leaders until they come of age, which is when they turn twenty. The five of them are who you see standing around my dad." Kai clarified since I never met them.
I nodded to understand as I listened in to hear what was going on.
"Where have you been since you don't know what happened to Emily?" I overheard Zen questioning him before he saw the sacred mark on Gaston's neck to know what his older brother had done. "You mated and allowed another vampiress to mark you?"
"What happened?" Gaston sternly repeated his question instead of answering his younger brother.
"Every firstborn clan leader, step forward," Edgar called them forward before Gaston, Aaron, and the others stepped to the front while the younger clan leaders stayed where they stood. Yet I noticed Dwight and Mr. Mill weren't anywhere around. Not even Kai's mother is off to the side with her sisters and their friends.
"You've failed your mission!" Vlad roared as he eyed every one of the firstborn Clan leaders, but when his eyes met Gaston, his anguish and fury only increased.
"What have we done?" Griffin Nasberry asked the Headmasters who stood before them.
Edgar told them. "You've led the enemies right to us!"
Morbius denounced in his wrath as he specified. "More specifically, Gaston is the one who led his enemies right to his fiancee from your travels! This is your fault alone! My daughter was defiled, tormented, and beaten before she was detained to send you a message!"
"What?" Gaston's mouth gaped as he couldn't believe it.