A Moment of Stupidity Chapter 2-6

[eiahmon]

Title: A Moment of Stupidity Part 2: 1,094 - 1,120 Part 2, Chapter 6
Rating: R for language, and mentions of RAPE and M/M SLASH. Don’t like, then don’t read.
Disclaimer: Castlevania and its characters and situations are the sole property of Konami. I am making no money or profit off of this fanfiction and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: AU. What if Joachim Armster had lived through his fight with Leon Belmont? What might have been different? Well hang on, because Joachim is going to tell you all about it. From his kidnapping and forced turning to his rescue from the ruins of Walter’s castle, and from Trevor's birth and to Richter's death of old age, he tells all - and blames it all on Leon while he's at it.
SPOILER WARNING!!! Spoilers for many of the Castlevania games!!
WARNING!! This fic my offend the religious! Read at your own risk!

6.
New Life, Old Deaths

Over the coming months, I gradually regained my strength. By early spring, walking was no longer a struggle for me, and I often could be found roaming the halls of Kerwin's house, just reveling in the feeling of freedom. I also rather enjoyed going outside on sunny days and seating myself on a bench under a shade tree in the garden, reading a book.

As I healed, Kerwin began to talk of granting me my independence, an idea that frightened me a bit. I knew nothing about living among humans, since Walter had never bothered to teach me. Kerwin, on the other hand, had received such lessons since he was a small boy. I took that to mean that Walter had never planned to let me go, though I never said as much to Kerwin. I'm sure though, that he thought so as well.

"My father was still very young when he lost his parents." was all he said "I believe that it left him a little... touched and made him possessive of anything that he was even remotely close to." I asked him to tell me more, but he refused to do so. Instead he only gave me instructions on how to fool humans.

"It is all in the mind." he explained "You make them think what you want them to think. For example, the people in this area know me as Count Wolfe Bernhard, the distant grandson of Count Kerwin Bernhard. If you call me by my real name in front of someone, they dismiss it because they 'know' that my name is Wolfe, and they assume that they must have been mistaken.

"It is a difficult skill to master, which is why vampires are given lessons in such things as soon as possible. If you were to ask some of my older servants, they could tell you about "Wolfe's' childhood. The memories are completely false, products of my own imagination, but they firmly believe that they are real.

"It is the same with Matatias. All of those that look at him, even his human nurse, see a young child whose mother died giving birth to him. They will 'see' him grow up into a man, just as they will see 'Wolfe' grow old and die."

He gave me instructions on how to build the false memories, along with the emotions to go along with them. For instance, he showed me a memory of baby Wolf's first steps, along with the feelings of pride and joy that accompanied it. The memory had been skillfully implanted into the mind of a woman that had been one of Matatias' nurses years before. Having Matatias there made things easier for Kerwin, since Matatias would play the child in the memories, and as that child grew up, Kerwin would take his place in them, giving the memories a smooth transition. The issue of their never changing appearance was an entirely different skill that Kerwin said he would explain later. Names were another matter, but they were easily implanted into the memories along with everything else. At the time, Kerwin was Wolfe, and Matatias was Adelar.

I felt a twinge from the bite mark on my neck, as well as a feeling of sadness. I put my hand over it as I wondered for a brief moment what had made Walter react in such a way. Kerwin had been assisting me in blocking the connection until I was strong enough to do it myself, so the emotion had to have been strong to make it through like it did. Kerwin gave me a questioning look, and I simply gestured him to continue.

"I have a bit more work on my hands," he said "because I have to keep the memories for myself and Matatias. Once they are constructed and implanted, I really don't have to do anything else. They will dim and fade like a real memory, so I only have to create new ones and reinforce the beliefs that I want them to have once in a while. If I keep that all maintained, then the rest will take care of itself. About 30 years ago, Matatias got into the kitchen pantry and managed to rip open a sack of flour. He got it everywhere, including all over himself. Those that were here then ‘remember’ Wolfe doing that at age nine.”

“Do they ever question your suggestions?” I wanted to know.

Kerwin frowned. “Once in a while, like that idiot that tried to kill you. I have been continuously reinforcing the story that I had given them, but sometimes a person manages to see through it.”

“What have you told them about me?”

“That you are a cousin of mine that was sent here to recover after a serious illness.”

One corner of my mouth curled up into a smile. “And my name?”

Kerwin smirked at me. “Why, Joachim Bernhard, of course.”

I started to laugh, and Kerwin joined me. It felt good to have something to laugh about after so many decades.

The following day, Kerwin set me to work. He sent me into town with instructions to find the most dim witted idiot I could find and implant a thought in his head. As my skill level increased, I would be able to implant more complex thoughts as I moved up the intelligence scale. My first several attempts ended in failure with my intended target doing nothing more than shaking their head and continuing on their way. Kerwin only told me to keep trying when I asked what he thought I was doing wrong. Eventually, he said, I would succeed.

I only saw Leon once during this time. He had come to discuss something with Kerwin, and I caught a glimpse of them, seated together in Kerwin's study. Leon nodded and smiled at me before he returned his attention back to Kerwin. True to his word, he had not told anyone what we really were, something which surprised the both of us. True, Kerwin had threatened him, but we both were fully aware of the fact that if Leon managed to convince enough people that we were vampires, taking vengeance against him would be the least of our worries. I really didn't understand it, but I wasn't going to question it. The only thing about Leon that Kerwin was able to tell me was that he had given up his title - that of a Baron - to rescue his woman, and that he had easily regained it with Walter dead.

"I'm surprised that they didn't vilify him." Kewrin said sarcastically "He defeated the Lord of the Eternal Night, he must have used some kind of unholy power!" I simply raised an eyebrow and said nothing. I couldn't call Leon a friend, but I wished no harm upon him, and I didn't understand why Kerwin was acting in such a way.

He must have seen the question in my eyes. "Trust me Joachim, when it comes to God and religion, the common people only grow more ignorant every day. It wouldn't have surprised me at all if they had turned on Belmont."

"Are you... are you still angry at him because of Walter?"

Kerwin leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and shook his head. "No," he said softly "I don't, not anymore. At first... If I had walked into that cabin and not found you there, Belmont would have died that night. But now, as much as it saddens me to think so, my father was very ill. HE mind had become so sick and twisted that I didn't know him anymore. I had known for many years that he was slowly losing touch with his sanity, but it wasn't until Actose attacked at the council meeting that I realized how much he had deteriorated.

“Actose was nearly seven centuries old then, and his youngest child was just over a century, yet you were punished for not being able to stop them from raping you.”

I curled up into a ball in my chair and stared at the cold fireplace. “Why didn’t you answer me when I was calling for you that day?” I shivered; that day still gave me the occasional nightmare.

Kerwin opened his eyes and looked at me for a brief moment. “Because Walter told me not to.”

I whipped my head up and stared at him in shock. “He told you not to?”

Kerwin nodded. “When you went to see your human family, you crossed into Actose’s territory to do it. He and Walter reached a compensation agreement to settle things, but Actose demanded more later. Walter told him that if he were to let the incident go, then Actose and his children would have you to themselves for one night. They just did not expect Silvanus to interrupt things.”

I was shocked. “So he whored me out just to settle a debt!”

Kerwin nodded gravely. “I begged him not to do that to you; I knew what you be like come morning, but he insisted that the debt be paid off.”

“If they had already reached an agreement..!”

Kerwin shook his head again. “I don’t know what went on between them, Joachim. He would not say anything to me about it. It was really none of my concern anyway.”

I felt sick at the thought of being at their mercy for an entire night. “What was the earlier agreement.”

“I don’t know. I always assumed that Actose had just dropped it, but...” He trailed off for a moment. “I was sickened when Walter beat you for not being able to get free of them. He had allowed them to do that to you, and then he punished you for it. I realized then that he was out of control, and it’s why I am no longer angry with Belmont for killing him. He was a rabid animal, and he needed to be put down. No, Joachim, I’m not angry at Belmont. I have reserved my anger for Cronqvist.”

I nodded faintly, but I did not share his feelings about Mathias. True, his actions had caused the death of Leon’s intended, and he had imprisoned Walter’s soul, but if he hadn’t done what he had done, I would have likely died a miserable death down in my prison. And with Walter’s power, my soul would have very likely remained trapped there for eternity.

Kerwin looked at me for a moment. I’m sure he knew what I was thinking, but he said nothing, and he left the room a few minutes later. I stayed behind, and I stared at the empty fireplace for hours, lost in thoughts of Walter and Actose.

*****

Less than a week later, I succeeded in implanting a thought in a human’s mind. Everyone watched in bafflement as my target dropped what he was doing and ran for all he was worth back to his house, firmly convinced that his wife had gone into labor with their child. The fact that he wasn’t even married never occurred to him.

Kerwin howled with laughter when I told him of my success, and once he had calmed down, he showed me how to fine tune the implanted thoughts and the emotions to go with them. H then sent me out to practice more, with the promise that, once I was skilled enough, he would begin to show me how to construct memories.

“You may never need any of these skills.” he told me “You may chose not to live among humans, but you still need to learn them, just in case.”

I nodded in understanding and turned to leave the room, but he called for me to wait. I looked at him, and he gestured for me to sit down. Once I had done so, he sat down beside me and looked me straight in the eye.

“Joachim,” he said seriously “there is going to be a council meeting next month.” I looked at him in terror; I was not ready to face such a thing yet.

“Kerwin, I can’t.” I whined.

“You have to, Joachim. I know that you don’t want to, and I know that you’re afraid, but we must go. The consequences if we don’t are severe.” He reached out and pulled me close to him, and it was then that I realized that I was trembling. “I will protect you, Joachim; I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

I spent the next month in a haze of fear. I knew that attacking one another was forbidden in the neutral zone, but I was still terrified of someone, namely Actose, dragging me off to some darkened corner where no one would hear my screams. Matatias and Celia seemed completely unconcerned, and for the most part, so did Kerwin. Once in a while, I would see him look at me and frown, but he never said anything. I thought about asking what he was frowning about, but I couldn’t bring myself to. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know.

The night before we were to leave, I was lying in bed, trying to sleep, when I heard Kerwin come into the room. He sat on the bed behind me, and I felt him lean over and touch his face to mine while he gently stroked my hair with his one hand and grasped mine with the other.

“I will keep you safe, Joachim.” he whispered “I love you, and I won’t let anyone touch you.” He kissed me softly on the side of my face. “Sleep now.”

We departed in the morning, with Matatias babbling on excitedly about where we were going and Kerwin firmly telling him not to go wandering off this time. I didn’t ask; I had something else on my mind.

“Kerwin,” I asked hesitantly “if attacking one another is forbidden, why must children be kept so close?”

Kerwin looked at me for a moment, as if he was unsure on how to answer, before Celia opened her mouth.

"Are you stupid?" she snarled "just because it's forbidden doesn't me it -" She broke off abruptly as her eyes rolled up in her head, and she slumped down unconscious. Kerwin was glaring at her angrily, but he hadn't moved. Matatias was happily scribbling in a blank book, oblivious to the three of us, and I looked at Kerwin, puzzled. HE smiled grimly and tapped the side of his head. He had attacked her mentally.

"Is it true?" I asked in the sudden silence on the carriage.

Kerwin sighed. "Yes, it is. Attacks do sometimes happen, but they are rare, and there are consequences." I swallowed; that didn't make me feel any better.

We reached the castle with no problems, and Kerwin kept me and Matatias close as we walked in. Matatias was curious and wanted to look at everyone and everything, while I only wanted to change into a bat and hide in Kerwin's clothing, out of sight. We gathered in the entry hall, and Silvanus was the first to be escorted to his rooms. A tall vampire with black hair that fell in tight ringlets to his waist and eyes that were an impossibly dark shade of blue was next. A child that couldn't have been older than fourteen or fifteen with reddish blond hair was asleep in his arms, swaddled in blankets. I could plainly see him shivering in his master's embrace as he was carried out of the hall.

"That was Ladislas and Rachim." Kerwin whispered in my ear, and I shuddered at the thought of being ill for the rest of my existence.

An hour or so later, we were taken to our rooms, and I was relieved to see that we were in a different suite then what Walter and I had usually occupied, even though Kerwin had risen in rank to fill his father's spot. Celia and Matatias had their own bedroom, as did I, and Kerwin had the master bedroom to himself. I had a feeling though that Matatias would likely be sleeping in Kerwin's room for safety reasons.

As we were settling in, I felt Kerwin go on his guard, and I looked at him to see him standing tense and alert. He relaxed after a long moment and refused to tell me what was wrong.

The following day, during the first meeting, Kerwin seemed to be waiting for something, and he held Matatias and I very close, much to Matatias' irritation. I didn't mind; the closer I was to Kerwin, the safer I was. After nearly an hour, I felt Kerwin tense up again, and I then felt a pair of eyes on me with a gaze that was in no way friendly. I looked up, past the dozens of vampires that were crowding the room, to see what I initially thought was Walter, but no, this build was slightly smaller, and the hair was a darker red and not as long. As I looked at the vampire, who was old, older than Walter at least, his gaze shifted to Matatias, who was clinging to Kerwin in sudden fear, and then onto Kerwin himself. The vampire smirked at Kerwin, gave him a mocking salute, and walked away. Kerwin said nothing, but he kept an even closer watch and me and Matatias for the rest of the meeting.

As it was drawing to a close, I was able to get a closer look at Rachim and Ladislas. The two of them were moving about the room, with Rachim dressed in heavy robes with a blanket around his shoulders, standing as close to his master as he could as he occasionally wiped at his dropping nose with a bloody handkerchief. Ladislas, for his part, always kept one arm around his shaking child, though I’ve no idea if it was a gesture of support or a gesture of possession. The two of them left as soon as possible, so I assume that Rachim was tired out.

Once we were back in our rooms, Kerwin sat in front of the fire, brooding. I was afraid to approach him, and even Celia kept her distance. His mood only ended with Matatias approached him with a book and asked to be read to. Kerwin turned away from the fire and smiled at him before he lifted him up onto his lap, opened the book, and began to read.

I did not see the red haired vampire for the next five days, and neither Kerwin nor Silvanus, who visited everyday, said anything. Silvanus seemed to know something about that vampire, but he never said or did anything that might have explained what was going on to me.

As far as I know, Kerwin had no outstanding debts with anyone, so I was surprised, and frightened, when he told me that I had to accompany him to the final meeting.

“Why?” I asked as we walked out of our rooms and towards the meeting hall.

He stopped, put his hands on my shoulders and turned me to face him. “Actose has laid a claim on you.”

I would have backed up a step if I could have. “What? Why?”

“I do not know, Joachim.”

I remembered all too vividly what it had been like just to spend a few hours with Actose and his children. I didn’t want to think about spending the rest of my life with them. Kerwin pulled me close and rubbed his hands soothingly up and down my back.

“It’s alright, child.” he whispered gently “I owe Actose nothing, and all debts that my father may have owed were cancelled when he died. Actose cannot touch you.” He gave me a comforting squeeze and a kiss to my forehead, and then we walked into the hall.

I followed Kerwin to the center of the hall, a step behind him as rules dictated, and I saw all the vampiric lords and ladies in attendance, seated in chairs around the room, including the red headed vampire that made Kerwin so nervous. I did not see Actose until an arm wrapped around my waist from behind and tried to pull me away from Kerwin.

“Ah, here’s my new little fucktoy.” Actose hissed in my ear. I shrieked in terror and, without thinking about it, I lashed out with my power and blew him away from me. I then darted over to Kerwin, who wrapped his arms around me and held me protectively. I heard muffled laughter from those in the room, and I hid my face in Kerwin’s shirt, fearing punishment.

“Do not be afraid, child.” I heard Silvanus say, and I looked up to see him smiling gently at me from his chair. “Actose overstepped his bounds.” His gaze shifted over to Actose, and his eyes narrowed. “Again.” I felt Kerwin lightly kiss me on the top of my head, and I looked behind me to see Actose getting to his feet. He glared at me and turned to face the others in the room.

“I demand compensation!” he announced.

I could almost hear all of the eyes in the room rolling in unison.

"What is it this time?" Ladislas asked, sounding bored.

"Bernhard murdered my child! I demand his child in return!"

I felt Kerwin jerk in surprise, and I looked up at him to see him looking at Actose in confusion. "What are you talking about? I've never touched any of your children."

"You killed Corvanus."

"Honestly Actose," a woman, Lady Sofia Clara, said exasperatedly "Corvanus died over a century and a half ago, and he was slain by a mob, not Kerwin Bernhard."

“He incited the riot, and took my child’s children and territory for his own! Furthermore, the bond between Corvanus and I did not break until a half century later!”

Another woman, whose name I did not know, raised an eyebrow. “And you have just now informed us of this? If Corvanus died only a century ago, why did you announce his death 50 years prematurely? As for inciting the riot, you have no proof of that, and Lord Bernhard was well within his rights to claim Corvanus’ children and territory. He is not related to you by blood, so you had no more claim.”

“The bond between Corvanus and I was weak, and I could only get the faintest of flickers from it. I knew he was alive, but I did not know where.”

I hid my face in Kerwin’s shirt again; I remembered all too clearly how Corvanus’ wasted body had burst into flames under the force of my rage.

“The child hides!” Actose snarled “He knows! Make him speak!” I felt dozens of pairs of eyes shift onto me.

“Joachim?” Kerwin said gently “Do you know what happened to Corvanus?” I hesitated for a brief moment, and then I nodded. “Then you must tell everyone what happened.” He gently turned me around, so I was standing with my back to him and facing Silvanus and Ladislas. I shivered and looked down at the floor, terrified that I would be leaving the council with Actose if I told the truth, but fully aware that lying would not be possible.

“What happened, child?” Ladislas asked, and I looked up at him and tried to take comfort for Kerwin’s hands that were resting on my shoulders.

“I killed Corvanus.”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than the room exploded into noise. I pressed myself back against Kerwin, who wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. Finally Silvanus let loose a fireball that quieted the room instantly.

“Let the child explain.” he commanded as he sat back down. He then gestured to me. “Go ahead, Joachim.”

I looked down at the floor again, too frightened to raise my eyes. “Walter.. Walter had...”

Someone interrupted me. “Walter Bernhard? Your former master?”

“Y.. yes.”

“Why do you stutter so much, child?” came another voice.

I turned and hid my face again in response to the question. I had done my best to bury the memories because it was too painful to speak of my century of confinement, and simply thinking of it was enough to make my heart race in terror.”

“I feel I should explain something here.” Kerwin said “My father imprisoned Joachim for a century, and during that time, he starved and regularly tortured him. It has been six months since my father’s death, and Joachim is still recovering from the abuse and neglect, and he has difficulty speaking of it.”

"Now stop badgering the child, and let him speak." Silvanus said sternly.

"Tell them what happened, Joachim." Kerwin said softly, and I looked up at him. He gave me an encouraging smile and turned me around to face Ladislas and Silvanus again.

I took a deep breath and began to speak.

"When Walter locked me away, Corvanus was already in there. He was badly starved, and he could barely move. He asked Walter to let him go, and Walter told him 'I told you that you would suffer down here, Corvanus, and I meant it' and then he walked out and sealed the doors." I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "I tried to get out, but I couldn't move the doors, and Corvanus started to laugh at me. I became so angry, and I screamed at him to shut up, but he only laughed louder. I screamed at him again, and he burst into flame! I tried... I tried to put the fire out, but it was so hot that I couldn't get close to him. He laughed at me... as he died."

I turned back to Kerwin as the room went utterly silent. He rocked me gently for a moment before Actose's voice ran out:
 

"He murdered my child! I want him! He will be mine!"

"You have no claim on Joachim Armster." Lady Clara announced "Corvanus was independent of you at the time of his death, and the child broke no laws.” I felt her gaze on me and Kerwin. “You may take him now, Kerwin.”

I kept my face hidden as Kerwin led me from the room. I couldn’t resist and involuntary shudder as we passed Actose, fully expecting him to try something, but he did not. Once we were in the corridor and doors to the meeting hall had closed behind us, Kerwin gathered me up into his arms and carried me to our rooms. Celia and Matatias were in the main room, and they said nothing as Kerwin carried me to my bedroom.

Kerwin sat me down on my bed and sat down nearby as I took my jacket and boots off. I hated to be dressed by someone else, but once I was done Kerwin pulled me onto his lap and let me feed from his neck. He rocked me and stroked my hair while I drank, and once I was done, he held me closer and whispered:

“Where did he put you, Joachim?”

I squeezed my eyes shut; Kerwin knew that I had been locked away for a century, but that was all he knew. I hadn’t not told him any of the details.

“In the Dark Palace.” I whispered “In the orb room.”

“He made you the guardian of the green orb?” I nodded. “That explains how you and Belmont met then.” I shuddered, and a sob broke free. Kerwin held me even closer, and I allowed him to see everything: Walter’s cruelty after Kerwin and I had been caught in bed together, my escape attempt and attempt to take the Ebony Stone, regaining consciousness in the sewers, being locked in and Corvanus’ death, and the century of misery and despair that followed. I was crying by the time I had shown him everything.

“Why?” I sobbed “Why did he treat me so badly? What did I do wrong?”

“You did nothing wrong, child.” Kerwin assured me softly “Walter was well on his way to insanity when he sired you. I’m sure that, to him, you deserved everything he did to you.” I hid my face in his hair and bawled. No, if I’m going to tell everything, I might as well be honest. I wailed. Kerwin rocked me and crooned to me, and I eventually cried myself to sleep in his arms.

*****

We departed for home the next day. I spent most of the journey asleep on the bench, my head on Kerwin’s lap, physically and mentally exhausted from the previous day’s events. Matatias asked what was wrong with me, to which Kerwin replied that I wasn’t feeling well. Celia said nothing, likely wary of getting knocked unconscious again. Either that or she just didn’t care.

It wasn’t until we were home that I asked the question that had been bothering me since the beginning of the council:

“Who was that vampire, Kerwin?”

Kerwin sighed and leaned back in his chair. We were alone in the front parlor. Matatias was in bed, and Celia was out hunting. A servant walked into the room and handed us each a glass of wine, and he waited until she had gone to answer. He took a sip of his wine and began to speak without looking at me.

“That was my cousin, Godric Bernhard.”

“Your cousin?”

“More accurately, my father’s cousin. He is my grand uncle Gannet’s son.”

“Your grand-uncle Gannet that’s the head of the Bernhard family? Why would his son come here?”

“Likely because news of my father’s death has reached the family’s lands in central Europe, and Gannet no doubt wanted the facts confirmed. The thing that worries me is that Godric was at the council meeting, which means that he has territory in this area somewhere. I asked a few discrete questions, and all I was able to learn was that he lives on the other side of the mountains east of here.”

“Why are you worried? Is he a danger to us?”

Kerwin nodded slowly. “Possibly.”

“Why? What happened between your father and his family, Kerwin?”

Kerwin sighed and drained his wine glass in one gulp, before he looked up at the two paintings hanging on either side of the fireplace: the one of Walter’s parents, and the one of Walter and a younger Kerwin. He didn’t look away from them as he began to speak.

“My paternal grandmother’s family was human, and they were, according to my father, masters in the field of alchemy. Over a century before my grandmother was born, they, in their quest to create the Philosopher’s Stone, accidentally created the Ebony Stone. They soon learned of its power, as well as its curse and locked it away, fearing that it would fall into the wrong hands.”

I nodded. Walter had told me that much years ago.

Kerwin continued. “When my grandmother, Leila, was fifteen years old, a vampire attacked her family and killed everyone, except for her. She was turned so she would survive the torture that he inflicted upon her to try and force to reveal where the stone was hidden. She would not tell him, and as time went on, he tortured her less and less as he realized that nothing was going to make her tell him.

“When she was roughly a century old, my grandfather, Emery Bernhard, who was just two centuries old himself, visited, bearing a message from his older brother, Gannet. He met Leila then, and the two of them grew to like each other during secret meetings at the border where his family’s territory bordered the other vampire’s. After about two years of this, with Gannet’s knowledge and blessing, Emery killed the other vampire and claimed his territory and took Leila for his own. Later that year, they married, and from little I know of them it sounds as though they were deeply in love. My father, their only child, was born 12 years later.”

“Why so long?” I asked.

"It is difficult for vampires to conceive, and no one quite understands why. To continue with the story, when my father was in his second decade, he met the teenaged son of a peasant farmer. The two apparently became friends almost instantly, and they quickly moved from friends to lovers. A few years later, when Walter learned that Adelar -” Here I felt another twinge of sadness from the faint remains of my and Walter’s bond. “- was supposed to marry, he asked his parents’ permission to turn him. Permission was granted, and he brought Adelar home and turned him that very night.

“Father would never say, and Silvanus did not know, but I always suspected that he and Adelar had a marriage bond. If the bond is consensual on both sides, and if both deeply love the other, then a marriage bond is the most powerful bond in existence. If they had such a bond, Adelar’s death would have been devastating, and it would have left my father incapable of truly loving another ever again.

"Which is very sad, because, 24 years later, it all came crashing down. My grandfather wished to be the head of the Bernhard family, but he knew that he did not have the power the challenge his brother. His wife had told him about the Ebony Stone not long after their marriage, and she had also warned him of its curse; insanity to those who used it too long and instant madness to those who tried to control it and were not deemed worthy. He knew that, if he could use it, he would be able to wrest the headship of the family from Gannet.

"He asked my grandmother to get it out of it was hidden, so he could supposedly try to learn how to recreate it without its curse. Instead he tried to control it, to force it bow to him. He instantly lost all reason. He attacked his wife and tried to force her to tell him how to use it. She couldn't of course since the stone chooses its master, and she tried to explain it to him, but his mind and sense were lost to him. His mother's screams drew Father to the scene, and he tried to intervene, but his father simply pushed him away. By then Emery was screaming that if Leila did not tell him what he wanted to know that he would kill her.

"My father knew the vampire laws. He knew that, as the dominate partner, his father could murder his mother and break none of them. He only intended to separate them, to protect his mother. Even he was never able to determine how he managed to do it - his father was almost three centuries his senior.

"My father killed my grandfather."

I stared at Kerwin in shock as he stared at the paintings. No wonder Walter had had no contact with his father!

"It was an accident." Kerwin continued "He hadn't meant to kill Emery, but that is what happened. Once it was done, my grandmother, battered, bloodless, and likely reeling from the sudden breaking of the marriage bonds, went to her son, but before she could reach him, my great-grandparents showed up, alerted by the breaking of the parent/child bonds. They quickly surmised what had happened, and they stood by and did nothing as their only grandchild was imprisoned for their son's death.

"Father was locked in a dungeon below Gannet's castle for a week. He was starved and beaten, and three days into his confinement, he was forced to watch from a shaded, sheltered place as Adelar was burned alive in the sun. Gannet then ordered his nephew's execution by fire, to take place three days later, and the night before it was to take place, my grandmother was allowed a final visit.

"She held her son, cried with him, allowed him to drink from her, and then she gave him her family's small collection of alchemy books. She then gave him the Ebony Stone and told him that he was its rightful master. She warned him about the dangers of overuse, but she told him to use it to protect himself until he was strong enough to stand on his own. She then helped him escape. She did not go with him, claiming that she would delay the family's hunters from chasing him and would follow him later. When morning came and Gannet learned that his nephew had escaped, he ordered his sister in law's death.

"My father fled southwest, chased every step of the way by members of his own family. He finally collapsed from exhaustion and thirst just a few miles from what would later be his castle. At the time, it was Silvanus' home. Silvanus had just lost his entire family to a massive manmade monster that someone had set loose in the castle while he was away. He took Father in and kept him hidden from the Bernhards for the next two and a half centuries. Silvanus then gave him the castle and most of his territory. And then Father used the Ebony Stone."

"So that is why Walter never spoke of his family." I said quietly "He had no contract with them at all after that?"

"He did, twice more."

"When?"

“Not long before my birth, trackers managed to find him, and Gannet demanded that he return to face his punishment. Father knew that they could not touch him due to the power of the Ebony Stone, so he did so. Of course, he was correct, but during the short duration of his visit, he apparently had a fling with a distant cousin, which resulted in my conception. Father did not know that they had conceived a child, and he returned home. Seven months later, he received a letter from his cousin's father, demanding that he come and get his child. My mother did not want the stigma of having a child born of incest, and her parents agreed. When Father arrived at her family's home, I was thrust into his arms, and he was told to never come back. I was two days old and had not been fed. I was nearly dead from starvation, and Father told me when I was much older that it had taken multiple feedings before I was well enough to act like a normal infant."

"Your own mother left you to die?"

Kerwin shrugged. "The rules of incest between vampires is much stricter than those of humans. The relation between my parents is so distant that humans would have not cared, but since vampires live so long..." He shrugged again. "Anyway, the subject of his family was a delicate subject for my Father, even when I was a child. I spent over half of my childhood believing that Silvanus was my grandfather I finally realized that there was no bond between us, and only then did Father tell me that his parents were dead. It wasn't until he gave me my independence a century later that he explained what all had happened. I believe the only reason he told me was in case Gannet tried something.”

“Why would he do that?”

“My father’s punishment was never carried out, so Gannet my try to inflict it upon us. As head of the Bernhard family, he has the right to order the deaths of everyone in Father’s branch.”

“There’s no law that says he can do that.”

Kerwin leveled his gaze at me. “There’s no law that says he can’t either.”

“How old is Gannet?”

“About 14 centuries, I believe. And he has been the head of the family since he was four and a half centuries old, which speaks volumes about his power and his willingness to use it.”

“I wonder what he had to do to gain the position while he was so young.”

Kerwin shrugged a third time. “I do no know, but if he sent Godric here, and if Godric had indeed claimed territory in this area, then that means we are being watched, so be careful when you venture outside the house.”

I took Kerwin’s warning to heart, but it would prove to be unnecessary; none of us felt or heard any sign of Godric Bernhard, something that was to continue for the next several decades.

Chapter 5 -- Chapter 7

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