A Prince's Duty: Part 5

From a tall, gaunt knight named Arturus representing a clan of warriors you receive an ancient dagger in a scabbard emblazoned with the figure of an angel. He tells you that it was his own backup weapon during his previous life when he fought against vampires and even fouler monsters. According to him it could only be wielded by a mortal and that it is a bane to all creatures of darkness. He tells you that with it worn on your belt you could walk bolder among the Countess’ children and warns that without it you would be vulnerable to the types of liberties that the first gift giver attempted to take with you. His words illuminate you to the fact that while all gathered here bent the knee to their ‘Mother’ their true loyalties were to themselves first and foremost.

You are surprised to see the next to approach the throne is Ambrose. Gathered at the foot of the stairs to observe the gift-giving are others in the garb of aristocrats, diplomats and merchants. His emotions cloaked Ambrose presents to you a ruby-studded golden chalice and a small razor sharp obsidian blade with which to open your veins so that you might fill the chalice for your betrothed.

After a number of gifts of the type you might have received back home from some of the smaller clans, objects of wealth and luxury which you politely accept before passing back to Dahlia to hold, comes an older looking elvish woman called simply Babette wearing a mask of garish makeup troweled across her broad smiling face. Her rosy cheeks, painted crimson lips and outlandish red curly wig and gaudy ballroom dress made her appear as a living doll. As she nears her the choking pungency of her musky perfume nearly makes you retch. Behind her are a most motley assortment of flamboyant street walkers, gypsies, and entertainers intermingled with dark cloaked figures and those in the drab dress of bureaucrats. From her you receive…a favor? The way in which she bestowed the ‘gift’ and the stir that it caused through the room gave you the impression that it was of great value though she makes no attempt to explain its true worth to you.

And at last there steps forward a walking contradiction. They lead the smallest of the clans but as the group of less than ten robed men and women navigate through the hall they are given deference and a wide berth, seeming to command a respect second only to the Countess herself. They were petite in stature though grand in presence. They looked among the youngest of the gathering, close to your age judged by human standards, yet in their stoical gray eyes you could sense the wisdom of centuries. Most perplexing of all however was that they possessed the high timbre, lithe figure, delicate hands, and fine features of a woman yet their name, Costorgan, short hair style, and the titles with which they were addressed indicated the figure was male. Whether Costorgan had changed his appearance through magic, was an incredibly effeminate eunuch, was a female who lived as a man, or something else entirely you could not say, all you knew is that you’d never met a man like him. From the clan of mages you receive a simple iron ring magically enchanted to aid the wearer in the recuperation of their ‘vital essences’.

With the gifts offered and received the clans settle back into their places and fall quiet.

Once more you find yourself looking down over a gathering of onlookers who await your decision. You turn back to Dahlia who had your presents laid in front of her for you to inspect then look them over, considering carefully which you would choose as your favorite. You’d gotten the sense that the honor of first blood was not simply about who would get to feed first but it came with social capital and bragging rights between the various clans. In your gut you sensed that trying to use some sort of diplomatic sophistry to placate everyone, like you might have at home, would not go over here. These were a group of predators you were dealing with. Only a single hunter could claim this prey.

As you contemplate your answer you consider not your own feelings on the items but what they might mean for you and for them. If you chose Ambrose’s chalice as your favorite it surely go a long way in smoothing out the already rough edges of your relationship with him. He was somebody of importance and close to the Countess herself. But he was also an arrogant arse. No, if he wanted to ease the tension with the Countess’ husband-to-be it ought to be him to make the first move. The dagger might be a good idea as it would show that you were not one to shrink in the face of the undead despite your vulnerable mortality, and getting on the good side of an order of warrior vampires would be incredibly prudent. But it didn’t feel right to you. You were under the Countess’ protection and you wished to faith in her. The baubles of the lesser clans were of no interest in this situation. While the luxuries were nice to have they wouldn’t change your life in any significant way nor would their givers be of particular value as allies in the grander scheme of the court. The ‘favor’ of Babette and her clan you found extremely intriguing and there was a little voice at the back of your mind whispering that the most valuable treasures could not be measured by the cost in gold. Having just arrived however you simply hadn’t the knowledge to appreciate what that favor might gain you or what even what it might entail. It was too vague right now at a time where you were already swimming in uncertainty. For a moment you even consider choosing the five gold pieces Vivienne had left for that shopkeeper in trade for the clothes that you and Dahlia now wore. It amused you to think about the reaction that choice might cause as she was one of Ambrose’s clan. It would surely be seen as a terrible insult to Ambrose, though you might gain the loyalty of a person who you believed had begun to warm up to you after you’d started standing up for yourself. You weren’t sure how the Countess would react though. She’d instructed you to choose one of these gifts before you. A creative choice like Vivienne might be seen as insolence instead.

In the end that left the iron ring presented to you by the wizards. Picking it up you turn it over in your hand, marveling at its unnatural weight and warmth. Yes. This felt right. Showing respect to the already well respected mages would likely be the among the least disruptive choices and garnering favor with powerful spellcasters was just common sense, but the real reason that it sat comfortably within your spirit was that it was a gift to your Mistress as much as it was to you. If you understood it correctly the ring would allow your body to produce blood after you had been fed upon, meaning she could drink more often and more deeply. Perhaps a well-fed Countess would be a content Countess. You look to Dahlia who gives you a very subtle nod to indicate her agreement with your choice.

You turn to face the Countess who was sitting regally and peering down upon you as one might a unique curiosity. Opening your hand you show your chosen favorite to her. She considers it a moment before reaching down to pluck it from your palm. Turning your hand over she then slips the magical iron onto your ring finger and just like that you realized that you now had an engagement ring. With the tiniest hint of a smile she pets your hair as she turns back to face her children.

“Costorgan. You have pleased the prince. Your clan shall taste first blood.”

As the small clan rises to their feet to give you a bow of thanks disappointment rumbles through the rest of the clans. Among the pale faces you see annoyance and envy, particularly among Arturus and his warriors, but grudging acceptance from most.

With a wave of her elegant hand the Countess signals for the proceedings to continue. The music strikes up once again as a side door opens and into the room is lead a line of attractive men and women, all of them in the prime of their years and all of them completely nude. They weave between the tables as the vampires around them eye them up with a ravenous thirst gleaming in their eyes. It gave you a chill to realize that these people were not guests, they were the buffet. What struck you most however was the complete lack of fear in the faces and body language of the warm-blooded newcomers. Not only were they not afraid they were actually actively attracting the vampires’ attention with beckoning blown kisses, alluring gazes, and sexy swaying and dancing. In response the vampires pointed and bared fangs and even laughed along with the humans!

Suddenly there were actual smiles in the room. With the appearance of the mortals the cool, stuffy mood of the party had suddenly livened up. The guests seemed to emotionally feed off of the humans’ lively energy just as they did on their lifeblood for sustenance. You could even feel a change come over the Countess as she leans forward to watch the humans frolic among her brood. When you hear a quiet clapping from behind you glance back to see Dahlia grinning and lightly clapping to the beat of the music.

Everybody was caught up in the rising mood and you might have been as well had a hot flush not come over you. A warmth had spread from your cheeks to cover your whole face and was currently working down your neck as the hint of a headache niggled at your temples. Your hands, which rested upon your knees as you knelt in obedience, had turned from pale to pink. You were sweating now. Your vision blurs as a wave of vertigo causes you to waver. And all the while your balls throbbed to the point of pain while your cock sprung into an iron hard erection.

You were beginning to worry that you’d been poisoned or something when the back of four cool fingers lightly stroke across your cheek. “It is the ring.” The Countess whispers. “This will pass.”

You shift uncomfortably, thanks to your aching royal jewels, and nod your head. Blinking hard you force yourself to focus on the festivities.

In the center of the room a space had been cleared for the members of Costorgan’s clan and the feeding stock to come together. The humans continue to sway and beckon even as they line up for the clan head to study the feast. One by one the petite mage, so feminine in stature, studies each person until pausing in front of the tallest and most endowed male of the group. A chuckle runs through the crowd as Costorgan raises a brow while inspecting the impressive manhood before him, for his part the man stands with a proud grin.

Reaching out Costorgan takes a hold of the large penis and slowly lifts it to feel its bulk and weight in his hand. A smile slowly grows across the wizard’s. Turning his head he looks up to you and gives you a single slow nod. After you acknowledge it with a nod of your own his attention returns to the naked human. With a muttered incantation and a wave of his fingers Costorgan binds the man’s wrists and ankles with shackles of magical energy, He then lifts the bound wrists high over his head while leaving the shackles around his ankles rooted to the floor. Helpless and with his tanned, muscular body on full display the man gasps loud enough to be heard throughout the room. “Thank you!”

In full view of everyone the mage peels off his robes to reveal his own slender, pallid body. What you see confirms your first impression that, physically, Costorgan was indeed female. With lovely tiny breasts, a smooth hourglass shape, and a pussy topped with inky black pubic hair the wizard’s flesh made your already painful erection surge harder than it had ever been before. It didn’t help matters when a moment later Costorgan dropped to his knees to begin sucking the big cock of the bound man!

At this point the other mages descend upon the beckoning humans as well, roughly half of them going for the necks or wrists so they may sup while the other half follow their leader in enjoying the feast of flesh in a more carnal way. There are jeers and hoots among the vampires as they watched the winning clan’s orgy of feeding and sex with envy. Thanks to your special destiny you had never seen a sexual act in person but here, suddenly, you were witnessing lewd acts that made your most lustful dreams seem tame. Even with your overactive, vibrant and lascivious imagination this was a lot to take in all at once.

“Nnngh.” You groan and tip against the side of the Countess’ throne for support as your penis and, even more, your balls pulsate with a pressure that would have brought you to your knees had you not already been kneeling. The hot flashes, the blush, the headache and dizziness, all of these you could understand in the context of the first rush of blood regenerating magic coursing through your system. What you couldn’t understand is why your testes ached so badly. It was then you remembered that Costorgan had not said ‘blood’, he had said ‘vital essences’. It seemed that semen was one of those essences! The pressure was nearly unbearable! It took all you had not to grab yourself to relieve it.

Your Mistress twirls a finger through your hair. “My poor little horny princeling. I sense your suffering.”

“I am…well.”

Grabbing your hair she pulls your head back to look up at her. You see those fearsomely beautiful red eyes piercing down into you. “Choose your lies carefully with me.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

Her grip eases and she smooths out the hair that she’d just disturbed with a slow stroke of her hand. “This will take some time. You need not spend your first night in anguish.” She beckons a nearby servant to approach, he does so bowing and scraping. “Take my betrothed and his maid to his room. The locked chamber next to mine.”

“Yes, Countess.”

“Bring him what he wants. He is surely hungry by now.”

“Yes, Countess.”

“Dahlia.”

“Yes, Countess.”

“Help your Master with his suffering if he wishes it.”

“Suffering?” Dahlia whispers, confused as to what was happening to you.

“Help him, but do not sully his purity.” The Vampire Lord commands. “His virginity is mine.”

“Yes, Countess.” Dahlia bows so low her head touches the ground then busies herself with helping the other servant collect up your gifts.

Those red eyes return to you. She smiles a fanged smile and pets your head once more. “I shall come find you when I am done here. I will claim you on this, your birthday night, Jacarian. Prepare yourself.”

Part 6