The newborn vampire awakens with a gasp. "It's alright now, Laura. It's alright, you're safe. Are you hungry?" The other vampire asks cautiously. Newborns don't always recognize friends and just see them as potential enemies.

From the look that Laura is giving him the vampire surmises that Laura doesn't see him as a friend.

"Are you hungry? Darius has left you some blood if you are. He wanted to be here with your awakening, but there was some seethe business that couldn't be held back."

When the vampire notices the red in her eyes he hands her the cup of blood. "There is more if you wish it." The other vampire says patiently even as he keeps his distance from the female vampire.

"What seethe business?" Laura demands once the worst of the blood lust has been dealt with.

Greyson subtly relaxes as the red leaches from her eyes.

"The one that attacked you survived the attack. He's dealing out the punishment in front of the seethe. We found the traitors that helped the vampires come undetected. They are awaiting their turn for their punishment as well."

"Where are they at?"

Greyson freezes at this question. Darius does not want Laura mixed up in that part of being a vampire, yet Laura is now his superior. He can feel that she's gained a great deal of Darius's power as well.

"Where are they at, Jackson?" Laura demands once more when he doesn't answer immediately.

Greyson stiffens then forces himself to relax. 

"They are in the great hall, Lady Laura."

Laura snarls, "My name isn't Laura, she died."

"Forgive me, my Lady. And I beg you that you forgive me for failing you." Greyson keeps his head down in shame.

"You were besieged by enemies. There is no way you could have stopped that vampire from attacking me. That more didn't was because of you and Castielle fighting off a small army on your own. There is nothing to forgive.

"Now, take me to Darius," Laura demands and gets up.

Greyson is quick to offer support. "It might take some time for you to become acquainted with your new abilities with this body. I will give you support for as long as you will permit me, my lady."

"Yes, just take me to Darius." Laura says more than a little irritated. She had thought she wouldn't need his help once she turned. Now she is finding that she still needs him, even if it is in a far smaller way than before.

They hear the noise of the meeting before they enter the room.

Greyson feels the stiffening of the newborn even as he smells the reason for it. "My lady, if you need more blood, take mine please." Laura had already finished off the blood Darius had left for her.

Laura turns and finds the artery and bites Greyson before he can think to move. Not that he would. Should Laura kill him as she drinks it would still not be enough to pay for his failure.

Before those thoughts even finish she's pulling away from him. She looks at him in confusion. "Why?"

Greyson is confused at her one word question before he remembers that two vampires sharing blood, there are no barriers, no secrets. She knows why he pulled away from her and now wants to know why he did, not understanding the reasons he had in his mind.

Laura's attention is pulled up to the front when the sound of a whip is heard striking flesh.

Laura hisses in pleasure as she sees the prisoner that is being whipped.

Laura, with Greyson's aid, makes her way up to the dais where Darius is flicking the whip.

"I believe that the wronged party has the right to participate in the punishment, is that not so, Darius?"

Darius pauses as Laura's voice comes over the sound of the vampires murmuring in the hall.

Turning Darius sees his niece walking up to him and he gives her a delighted smile. "You are up already! Welcome, Laura, yes, of course it is permitted for you to take part in the punishment if that is what you would like to do."

Darius offers her the whip and Laura shakes her head no. She has her own ideas about what she wants to do.

Greyson is there with the knife that he had given her before she was attacked. Laura smiles at him brightly. She hadn't even had to ask. 

She takes the sheath off and lightly runs the knife over the prisoner's skin. Just hard enough for the skin to break open. The prisoner hadn't been fed for some time and so is slow to heal.

"Lovely," Darius is thrilled with this direction and so takes the vinegar that Castielle hands him and starts dousing the male vampire in vinegar. The prisoner had been able to withstand the pain from the knife, but not the vinegar. His screams ring throughout the room.

The muttering of the vampires rise. Some fighting with their predator to not come out and play and others fearful of what this new vampire will do to the seethe. They had all forgotten just how much Darius enjoys causing pain to those that cross him.

When she tires of the knife drawings she shoves the knife in and takes it out once more. All the wounds are in non threatening, but highly painful locations. Each time she shoves in the knife it is with more force and more pain.

"Greyson, how many vampires distracted you from protecting me?"

"There were twenty-one, my lady." Greyson answers as fast as he could. He has no desire to be on the end of her knife.

"Twenty-one and then this one," Laura says thinks out loud. Once she hands out the twenty-first knife wound she leaves the knife in him. "I believe I'm done now, Darius, finish out the punishment however you wish."

"Lovely, thank you for your help, Laura." Darius tells her but his attention is focused on the prisoner and so misses the tightening of Laura's face at his calling her by that name.

"He doesn't know. Once this is over and the others are gone, you can tell him with out him losing face."

Laura nods sharply once as she moves back down the stage and back to her room.

"Would you like a bath, My lady?" Greyson asks solicitously as they make their way back to her room.

"He's more powerful now. Far more powerful than you or Castielle."

"He wasn't trying to hide it this time. Many forget just how powerful he is because of his love of Liberace. Yet, you would think that his seethe at least would remember."

"There were some almost cowering in the front of the crowd, they are not part of the seethe."

Greyson raises an eyebrow at this. He hadn't expected her to tell that those vampires weren't part of this seethe. "No, they are council members here to witness the punishment of the only surviving vampire that attacked Darius."

"Did Darius find out which of his enemies came after him?" Laura asks even as she starts stripping her clothes from her.

Greyson tries to answer but finds that he can't. He clears his throat and tries again. He tries desperately to turn from Laura to give her privacy but he can't. "Yes, and plans are already in place to destroy them. Two of the council members witnessing the punishment are involved and will be destroyed."

"Care to join me, Greyson?" Laura whispers even as she laughs.

"Your uncle would kill me, if I took you up on that invite. I'm still not sure how I'm not in the cells awaiting my turn at punishment."

With those words Laura pauses and turns towards him, the red of her predator taking over her eyes. "You are not to be touched. You didn't fail, you couldn't, no one could have done better. Darius will not punish you when the circumstances were beyond your control. You did far better than could have been imagined.

"What of Castielle? You had left him to keep the others off of us, to give you time to get me to safety."

"He managed to keep most of them occupied, but those twenty-one that came after us broke from the group he was fighting. He finished taking the others down when help finally came. He ran to us, but by then it was too late." Greyson still haunted by guilt for failing to protect Laura falls to his knees.

"Greyson, when I drank your blood I was inundated with images and thoughts. What the hell was that?"

"There are no boundaries or barriers when two vampires share blood. You saw my thoughts and very likely my desires." Laura lifts the down turned head up to her.

"Why? What was the real reason you pulled away from me, Greyson? No more lies."

"I didn't want you to be hurt when I couldn't love you like you deserve to be loved. I'm not good enough for you, none of us here are good enough. Our hands are covered in blood, even the newest made of us are, with you being the exception. We don't feel love easily, the destructive emotions of course, but the good ones? Not so easily. I wanted you to find someone to love, but I wanted your love."

Greyson sneers at himself. "I craved it, your love. I'm a selfish person, my lady, as selfish as they come, but for once in my life, perhaps the only time in my life, at least vampire life, I wanted to do the right thing. I did my best to distance myself from you so you would be free to find someone to love and it wouldn't put me into a killer state."

"Greyson, how did you feel when you thought Laura had died?" The new born asks him gently, not releasing his head.

"I wanted to die. I felt like the silver knife I had given her was shoved deep into my own heart. I wanted Darius to kill me, to take the pain from me."

"And when Darius was able to give me his blood in time?" The newborn demands, not losing eye contact with the male vampire even though she recognizes the fact that another had entered her room.

"I had hope for the first time. Hope that, perhaps, I hadn't failed completely, but that Laura would give me my  punishment for failing her."

"Then she shall," Darius decides it's time to speak. "Laura, why don't you put on a robe or something?"

Laura lets go of Greyson's head and turns with a hiss of anger to grab a robe and put it on.

"She is no longer Laura and would prefer that you not call her that, Darius."

"Very well, then what name would you like to go by?" Darius asks amiably. Many newborns choose new names when they start their new life.

"I don't know." The female says with a mixture of petulance and anger.

"I have a name, you don't have to accept it if you don't wish, but since you look very like my sister, would you be willing to take her name?"

This time Laura holds still in shock. She stares at Darius, "You wish to give me your sister's name?"

Darius smiles sadly, "If you would honor me by accepting it, yes."

Laura looks at him with narrowed eyes, "What was the name of your sister?"

"Lynnette."