That's a lot of fruit. 

Sitting at the table by himself, Marquise eyed the large spread of food laid out before him. He had been brought down by Taru the last few days, but the man had been called away to the hospital for an emergency this time, leaving him to dine alone. It still took a bit of effort to stay upright the whole time, but he knew that he could manage it well enough. 

Well, there were two servants present if I need help, but—"Young master Marquise, would you like some assistance?" the young blond servant asked as she suddenly appeared beside him with a smile. 

"Ah, um, I'm okay. Thank you for offering, though," he said quietly as he hurriedly reached forward and grabbed a plum. 

It was a bit too firm, signaling that it wasn't quite ripe... but that was perfect. It would be a little sour. He quickly began to eat as the woman stared at him, a slight frown on her face. After everything that he had faced in the past, he just didn't feel comfortable around others anymore, especially if his new master wasn't present. 

The woman didn't seem to get the hint, or verbal declination, because she quickly turned toward the table and grabbed a few different cut-up fruits before setting them down on his plate. 

Oh? 

Marquise waited for the woman to lean away first, but then he quickly reached toward the slices of grapefruit that now sat on his plate. He worked on them for quite a while before finally finishing everything with a content sigh. 

"Um... master Marquise?" 

This time the speaker was the male servant who had stood back as to not crowd him. 

"Yes?" he responded, trying to sound slightly authoritative... even though his belly was full and he was ready for a nice long nap. 

The servant bowed respectfully, then spoke again. 

"As one of the main servants to lord Taru, I wanted to ask... just out of curiosity..." 

Ah, of course. 

Grinning, Marquise leaned against his chair and nodded. 

"I am, or well, I was a werewolf. My wolf is no longer here, though, so I suppose I'm just a rotten little vampire now," he said with a shrug. 

The servant immediately bowed again, then returned to his position by the wall after giving his thanks for the information. The woman, however, simply stared at him with a curious expression on her face. 

Either way, he didn't want to deal with anymore people for a while. 

I really need to rest some more. 

However, his master still wasn't back to help him get upstairs and neither the porcupine, nor the peacock were present, either. 

I'll just have to do it myself. 

Licking his lips, Marquise carefully got to his unsteady feet using the heavy chair he had been sitting on. The task was reasonable enough, but there was no way he'd be able to walk unassisted. 

"My lord, would you like some assistance?" the male servant asked as he walked a little closer. 

Instead of waiting for him to respond, the woman still standing a bit too close stepped up and abruptly lifted Marquise's arm over her shoulder. 

"Don't worry, Damian, I got him," she said as she quickly began walking away from the table, practically dragging Marquise's frail body with her!

He might have just accepted the uncomfortable help, if the woman had been dragging him in the right direction. As it were, they went right past the stairs and began heading down a long, dark hallway. 

Hey, um, can anyone here me? he thought, then pushed his words outward like he used to when he was a werewolf. 

He wasn't too surprised when silence answered him. 

Just Vrasje, then. 

The woman finally stopped near the end of the hallway, then opened a door that had a staircase behind it. 

Okay, I guess we're going down instead of up. 

He paused for a moment as he realized something, then inwardly fidgeted. 

Her hand is cold. Even though she's a servant, she's also a vampire. 

Of course, he should have guessed that as soon as she'd grabbed him, but his mind had been a bit preoccupied. 

"Can we talk? I don't think my master would be very happy if I suddenly disappeared," he said quietly, figuring that she already knew that Taru might not be happy. 

Yet she's still dragging me away. 

The woman remained silent until they finally stepped into a surprisingly-nice room in the basement. There were no windows, of course, but that didn't stop the area from being decently well lit with candles and decorated beautifully. 

Oh... friends. 

"Why did you bring that down here, Olivia?" one of the men present said immediately as he got to his feet. 

The woman who had dragged him all the way downstairs, Olivia, evidently, simply chuckled and threw him onto the nice plush rug in the middle of the room. 

"You all know that this thing is going to hinder our master for the rest of his life," she said sternly, seemingly not caring at all that the three others in the room were all men. 

"It doesn't matter. Our master chose him. Heirs cannot be revoked. It is a one-time thing," another man said, though he didn't look happy about it, either. 

Olivia stepped forward, nearly kicked Marquise as he struggled to sit up. 

"He's not registered yet! And hell if the governor would even consider it! Even if he barely smells like a dog anymore, he was still clearly a werewolf. If we kill him before master Taru can register him as his official heir, then he will be free to choose an appropriate descendant!" 

I mean, I can't really fight back, so go ahead if you feel you have to, but I really don't think Taru is going too be happy about it. He really likes giving me head-pats... and I was kind of hoping for a belly rub one day, too. 

The group of vampires looked less hesitant now, but they still didn't become aggressive. 

"All you men are the damn same," Olivia growled as she reached down and grabbed a handful of Marquise's shaggy hair, then yanked his whole body up by it until he was forced onto his knees. 

"I'll just deal with it, then get rid of the body before master Taru gets back," she said as she yanked his head to the side and knelt down. 

 Marquise scowled as his head began to ache. He was going to just let her kill him, but instead of getting it over with, she began to spew a long monologue about how men can never do what needed to be done and that she always had to step in when something important needed handled. 

At this rate I'm going to die from boredom... and dammit, my head hurts. 

She gave his hair a particularly hard yank as she spouted off several degrading points, making one of the male vampires roll his eyes and walk into an adjacent room as the other two glanced at each other, clearly contemplating the same thing. 

Take me with you, please. 

"Alright, you worthless mutt. Time to get what you deserve," Olivia finally said as she gave his head a hard shake, making Marquise wince and let out a near-silent whine. 

"Let's start with breaking your neck. That way you won't be able to retaliate while I drain your blood," she said with a haughty laugh that made Marquise want to puke up the meal he'd just eaten. 

I already can't do anything against you, you moron. 

But honestly, now that he was in such a ridiculous situation, and quite annoyed with it, too, Marquise decided that he would try to do something. 

So, as soon as she reached around to grab his jaw with her free hand, Marquise felt his fangs extend as a feral instinct welled up in his belly for the first time in weeks. It didn't quite feel like his wolf, but he also knew that vampires weren't their own entity within a person. Heck, werewolves normally weren't, either. His wolf having completely split from his mind to form its own identity was not something that normally happened. 

Either way, he didn't mind... at all. 

Allowing that instinct to take control was the easiest thing Marquise had done in a long while. Before the woman could even contemplate what was going on, he had her fingers between his teeth. 

The sound of crunching bones mixed with the vampire's screams as Marquise's fangs clamped down, then retracted abruptly, only to be replaced with thicker, stronger ones. 

Two sets of fangs. That's an interesting little trick. 

He honestly lost himself a bit as the scent of blood and terror swept over him a few moments later. Sure, he could feel her trying to respond to him, but no matter how hard she hit him, he refused to let go. 

If I'm going to die here, I'm at least going take your fingers with me, you annoying leech. 

 The two men that had remained were, surprisingly, not doing anything. He wasn't really sure if they were watching, or if they'd left already, but either way, he didn't care. They weren't interfering. 

"Olivia." 

Blinking once, Marquise's vision immediately cleared from its red haze as he allowed the woman's shattered fingers to slip from between his bloody lips. 

The two male vampires still in the room stood immediately, then bowed and greeted their master. Olivia, however, was still screeching and crying as she scooted away from him on the floor, holding her decrepit hand against her chest. 

She seemed to realize that her master was present a few moments later, then began screaming for him to do something about his terrible dog! 

Marquise spat out a mouthful of the woman's blood as she squawked, making a face when the flavor finally caught his attention. 

Disgusting. Master's Taru's was much better. 

He then turned his attention back up to Taru and fidgeted before immediately looking down at the bloody carpet. 

 He doesn't look happy. I probably shouldn't have bitten his servant. 

He nervously waited for the man to decide what he wanted to do, and when he heard his footsteps walk farther into the room, he tensed and licked his bloody lips. 

Taru knelt before him a few moments later, then gently settled a hand beneath his jaw in order to raise his head. The moment their eyes met Marquise looked away, not daring to play the dominance game when he knew his place well. 

His heart hummed in his chest as the man examined him, then nearly stopped as Taru's free hand settled atop his head for a gentle pat. That abrupt halt to his heartbeat coincided with a rush of pain from his evidently-bleeding scalp. 

A line of blood actually slipped from his hairline and drifted downward along the left side of his nose not a second later, leaving a long stain of pale pink along its path. 

He wasn't positive, but Taru actually looked extremely upset with this new discovery. More-so than he thought he'd be. Before he could figure out anything to say, his master simply lifted him up from the floor, then turned and walked out of the room. 

Marquise could hear the two other vampires that had seen the whole thing begin to move, as well as a snarled shout from Olivia, but by the time they were back upstairs, the sounds had faded into silence. 

His body was just beginning to relax in Taru's arms when they turned toward the main staircase and something caught his attention, making him lift his aching head. 

Oh... Vrasje is back, too. 

They met each other's eyes for a brief moment before Marquise quickly hunched down against Taru. 

He doesn't look happy...

A gentle pat to his back snapped Marquise out of his nervousness and brought his attention back to his master. 

"Don't worry, that kind of thing will never happen to you again," Taru said firmly, his voice more stern and cold than he could ever remember it being. 

Either way, the man had helped him, yet again, so he wasn't going to worry about the situation any longer. If he got reprimanded, so be it, but he was beginning to think that he wasn't the one in trouble. 

In fact, when he looked back up to check on Vrasje, the man was already walking toward the hallway they'd just come from. Before he even go halfway there, though, his figure blurred forward, then vanished. 

He did hear another shrill scream about two seconds later from that direction, but then, nothing. Bone-chillingly cold silence was now the only thing that followed them up the stairs.