A man with dark hair and strong features sat calmly on a wooden chair in a circular, stone courtyard, the only sound that of crackling from the large bonfire not far in front of him. The stars were bright in the dark of the sky above, but Ambrogio had no eyes for them this night. As with every night, his heart was with the moon and his beloved Selene, even after all these years.
The look in his gleaming red eyes was sad tonight, though.
“Do you see, Selene?” He asked the moon, too quietly for any of those around him to hear. He spoke only to her, as if indeed he was completely alone. “How our children struggle with the world, even against me. They are… full of life.” He stood and took a couple steps forward, but continued watching her for a moment longer. “Now close your eyes, my love.” He whispered even more quietly, the words barely passing his lips.
“Are you finished praying?” The vampire that stood on the other side of the courtyard with her eyes trained on him was standing tall, proud and regal. One he considered a child of his own. She stood by the side of a lower Vampyre. One she had been both conspiring with and manipulating. She was not the only one standing there in the open, under the watchful gaze of the moon. Many of the other vampires had gathered here tonight to watch the proceedings. The time was ripe to make an example of those who broke the code.
Ambrogio met the female vampire’s eyes with a cold gaze but no words, and she tapped the shoulder of the lower Vampyre, as if releasing him. The younger vampire raced forward to attack Ambrogio, but the youngling was no concern of Ambrogio’s, at least not now. A loyal vassal of his sprang forward and intercepted the troublemaker, getting him face down in the ground in less than a second. Ambrogio simply stepped over the two of them and walked closer to his defiant daughter. Baring her teeth, she jumped forward. It was a fight she was destined to lose, from the beginning, and the Father of Vampire emerged victorious. One foot on one of her calves, he had her kneeling in front of him, arms pulled above her as he held her wrists in one of his hands. It was a humiliating and painful pose to be kept in in front of so many of the vampires.
For a moment, he kept her that way, letting the deathly quiet of the congregation sink in. Then, Ambrogio spoke, voice loud and regal, speaking to everyone present. “Protect and worship Artemis.” His voice rang out pointedly, the sound uncontested by any other except that of the fire. “Guard the secrets of our kind. Make more of our kind only with care and forethought. Shed no more blood than you must.” He looked around the congregation coldly, and relinquished his grip on the girl. Two more vampires grabbed her, making sure she didn’t cause any more trouble as he spoke. “Outside of these four things I make no other commands of you. You are my followers, my children, not my slaves. Your lives are your own.” He walked around the circle, eyeing each and every one of them. “Nor do I object to any of you challenging me for the position as head of the vampires. You are strong. And proud. As you should be. Many of you have followed me since much older times, and together we have watched as humans whispered stories of us in the dark, fearing our strength, revering our beauty.” A fierce pride of his own entered Ambrogio’s eyes as he surveyed them. “But in your long memories, it seems some of you may have forgotten that you must take responsibility for your actions, and for the actions of those you have created and led. This child” he pointed to the young vampire, still on the ground, scowling up at him, “took it upon himself to kill three human families simply on a whim. He was encouraged in this impulse by one who was once loyal to me and to the code we all live by.”
Turning back away from the crowd, Ambrogio approached the female vampire and addressed her, though everyone in the courtyard could still hear him clearly. “If mercy must temper justice, so must justice temper mercy. I will not punish both of you, but we cannot let our laws be broken without consequence.” Even as he said this, the look on his face was tender, gentle. An expression only for her to see. “Will you take the blame for his dishonor? Or denounce his actions?” There was no right or wrong answer, simply a choice for her to make, and either way she could hold her head high.
For a moment, she met his eyes, glaring at him. Then, she turned her face away, and spoke loudly, “I will denounce his actions as opposed to our laws.” Ambrogio looked at the two vampires holding her back, and they let her go. “And take responsibility for watching idly as he performed them.” She approached the younger vampire, and the one guarding him disappeared back into the crowd.
Ambrogio watched as she dispatched her former follower, and his expression remained hard and unconcerned, but when she turned around again, he approached the female and kissed her on the forehead, blessing her. “I’m sorry.” He whispered, before putting his hand on her head briefly and returning to his chair. This matter was over.
He sat back in his chair and went back to watching the moon as most of the vampires disappeared, perhaps to hunt, perhaps simply to return home. “Are you alright?” One of his oldest followers had approached him, even as the others were vanishing back into the shadows.
He smiled at her as he would a friend, dropping all of the regal formality he’d projected earlier. “Of course.” It was not pleasant to have to publicly humiliate and hurt one of their own, and he did not make a habit of it, but the youngster breaking the code had been common knowledge. That was why there had been so many there tonight. He had had to respond to so blatant a challenge of his authority and wisdom. “In the end, no more blood was spilled than was necessary. Don’t you worry about me. Sit with me awhile. Why don’t you just stop to enjoy the night before hunting for a bit?” Continuing to smile comfortably, he turned his face back to the sky and closed his eyes gently, basking in the moon’s pale light.