The Red Queen | Lucien Castle & Tristan de Martel

Chapter 15

Klaus was still in a bad mood.

He tried to hide it, but Vivalda and Hayley could see it as he complained just before the vampires arrived for their first meeting. He had everything, he had the kingdom he wanted, but he wasn't happy, not truly.

She attempted to pry the truth out of him, but he wouldn't budge. What Rebekah had done was still burning in him, and she imagined it was taking everything in him to not to lash out at her.

So he lashed out at someone else.

"Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift: immortality," said Klaus, seated at the head of the table, Hayley opposite him and Vivalda at his immediate right, unfortunately amidst the inner circle vampires and across from Marcel. "After a thousand years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows do diminish with time. But, as vampires, we feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine."

He gestured outward, beckoning forward a group of waiters and waitresses that came to stand beside each guest. "Insatiable need, exquisite pain..." The servants slit their wrists over the glasses awaiting them, filling them with their blood. "Our victories, and our defeats."

Klaus raised his glass, "To my city, my home again. May the blood never cease to flow..."

"And the party never end," interrupted Marcel, raising his own glass.

"To New Orleans," agreed Diego, one of the more memorable vampires, but in Vivalda's opinion, also one of the dumbest because he seemed to believe brawn always overpowered the brain.

"To New Orleans," agreed Klaus.

Vivalda drank silently. Klaus clasped his hands together, "I understand that some of you may have questions regarding the recent change in leadership, and I invited you here tonight to assure you that you are not defeated. No, my intentions moving forward are to celebrate what we have. What Marcel, in fact, took and built for this true community of vampires."

Diego nodded to Hayley. "What about her? The wolf."

Klaus's lips thinned. "Had you let me finish, Diego, you would know that there is, of course, one further matter I would like to address." He walked around to the other end of the table, putting his hands on her shoulders. "As many of you know, the girl is carrying my child. Consequently, I trust you will all pay her the appropriate respect. However, I understand that some of you are concerned by this vicious rumor that I intend to use the blood of our child to create hybrids. I assure you I do not."

Hayley smirked sarcastically. "Father of the year."

Klaus noticed none of the vampires were particularly enthusiastic. "It appears I will have to earn your trust. Very well. We'll eliminate the root of your anxiety. You see, how I can I sire any hybrids if there are no more werewolves alive in the Bayou to turn? So eat, drink, and be merry. And, tomorrow, I suggest you have yourselves a little wolf hunt. Go ahead, have fun. Kill them all!"

Vivalda let out a snort, stabbing her fork into the piece of turkey on her plate. "Oh, that's rich." She gestured to Klaus. "The hybrid, everyone. Making sure all wolves are extinct except for him." She made a face, "Are you really going to make the best impression on your in-laws with that behavior?"

He frowned immediately, upset that she was intervening. She held out her hand to keep him quiet. "Don't," she said sternly, getting to her feet. "Really? You're not only going to get the wolves killed, you're going to get the vampires killed. The Crescents are stuck in wolf form thanks to Marcle here. A show of hands, who here has fought a werewolf?" A few raised their hands alongside her. "Good. Now who has fought one while they're in wolf form?"