Chapter 365: Brothers in Chains
The sounds of chains clanking and low growls filled the waiting area under the arena where Savis glowered at the diminutive young witch who seemed to be in charge of the spectacle that was being made of their need to feed.
"I have never in my life been bound in chains," the white-furred vampire snarled, glaring at Heila and shaking the thick, heavy chain that bound his left arm. "This is an insult to the dignity of High Lord Hamdi’s line!"
"No one cares, big brother Savis," Tausau said, hefting his end of the chain and feeling its weight with his disproportionately small arms. "And besides, chaining you to me is an honor for you and a mark of respect for your strength. If they weren’t worried that we’d destroy these fallen champions in an instant, they would never shackle us like this."
"Sir Tausau is correct, Sir Savis," Heila said as she strode toward the powerfully built men with another set of shackles and chains, this time intended for their ankles.
The two men were so different from each other that for a moment, Heila struggled to believe that they were both the progeny of the same vampire. Savis was tall and regal, with a body that was perfectly proportioned. From his broad shoulders and powerful arms to his trim waist and sprinter’s legs, the light coat of white fur on his body did nothing to hide the perfection of his physique. In all the world, if there was a more perfect member of the Golden Eyed Clan, she couldn’t imagine how they could possibly be superior to the eldest of Hamdi’s progeny.
Tausau, on the other hand, embodied the many problems that plagued the Clanless. He was taller than his older sibling by a full head and possessed a barrel-chested physique common to many from the Clan of the Great Claw. Unfortunately, for all the strength and power of his core, he lacked the long, powerful arms of his father’s clan and instead possessed almost comically thin limbs that matched with the delicately striped features on his face, both serving as clear markers for his mother’s Clan of Painted Masks.
"In the Tangled Wood, vampires are addressed as ’Master’, little girl," Savis snarled as Heila secured a shackle to his left ankle. "You should..."
"I should what?" Heila said, her voice sounding in the stone chamber like the sharp crack of a whip. "Cower before you? Respect my elders?"
"You are the servant of a servant," Savis growled. His fur bristled at the feeling of being chained and this little girl who wasn’t even a tenth of his age only made the humiliation worse. In a single movement, he could reduce her to a lifeless corpse, draining the blood from her body before anyone could move to protect her, but she acted like he was a harmless pup!
"I am the first witch of the Mother of Trees," Heila said, securing a heavy shackle to Tausau’s leg. The younger vampire gave her a soft, apologetic smile but did nothing to defend her while his elder brother vented his ire on the diminutive witch. "You are the first progeny of a High Lord. If nothing else were true, that would at least make us equals," she said firmly.
It took an incredible amount of willpower for her to stand up to a vampire. Growing up in the Vale of Mists, vampires had stood at the very pinnacle of her world. The most revered Eldritch Lady of the Vale was a vampire and the previous High Lord of the Vale had been a vampire as well. Even the most powerful, revered members of Nyrielle’s inner circle were her own progeny.
To be selected to become a vampire was an honor that no one born in the Vale had ever earned since the death of High Lord Torbin but that didn’t mean that the people of the Vale forgot what it meant to strive to be worthy of the ultimate honor. So when she squared off against the powerful Golden Eyed vampire, the eldest progeny of High Lord Hamdi, it took every bit of strength that Heila had honed under the watchful eyes of the Mother of Thorns to stand up straight and speak to him as if he was her equal.