"The wedding is tomorrow, is it not?" Zarin asks Natalia as they wait for Nikolai and Alexandria to finish.

"Yes," Natalia looks at Zarin hesitantly. "Nikolai would like to make me a vampire in a few years. You've been around a long time, does the process hurt?"

Zarin cants his head to the side as he thinks about her question. "Vampire blood is exchanged and that can burn. Also it depends on the manner used to kill the mortal body. Nikolai wouldn't want you to hurt so your death would be quick and clean. With your death the vampire blood wouldn't be felt as it goes throughout changing your body to that of a vampire. It's blood magic at its greatest."

"How did vampirism come about?" Natalia is dying to know that.

Zarin smiles softly as he thinks. "Once a very long time ago there was a witch. She was very powerful and they say beautiful. She loved a human male, but as all humans are mortal and witches, powerful ones at least, are long lived she watched him slowly age and die. In her grief she cast a spell to bring him back. It was a blood spell and he required it to live.

"He was a good and loving human, at least that's what the histories say. But after he was brought back he was cold, ruthless and struck terror into those that met him. He laughed at their terror. The first victim of his blood lust was his creator, his former lover. 

"From her death he figured out how to make more of those like him. At first their creation went unremarked, but as he created more they were out of control. In time the witches and warlocks had to step in to curb their path of destruction.

"They learned to curb their hungers. The magic community agreed to allow them to live as long as they kept themselves in check."

Zarin snorts. "Nikolai and Ivan's reign of terror was only allowed to go unchecked because they primarily fought other vampires. They established control over vampires that hadn't been under control before.

"They kept their feedings down. Then of course the magical world came under fire multiple times during history as well.

"It was greatly due to Nikolai's efforts that the magical community and vampires have been at a truce for centuries."

"So now that you are his, will there be fallout with your leaders?"

Just then Nikolai opens the door. "He is their leader."

"No, master, there is no leader among the witches as there are among the vampires."

Nikolai rolls his eyes. "Sure, that's why when you tell them to do something they do it. Perhaps it isn't set up as such but you are the de facto leader of the magical community. They will not be happy to learn of him chaining himself to me like this."

"No, they won't." Zarin agrees with Nikolai.

"Zarin go to Alexandria. She thinks that you will want nothing to do with her now." Zarin pushes past Nikolai and finds Alexandria. Nikolai shuts the door as he joins Natalia.

"Are you angry, Natalia?" Nikolai asks hesitantly. Natalia has been masking the bond for some time and he's not sure how she feels.

"You wanted this."

"I'm not going to lie, yes I did. But it isn't something I would ever have asked of him. I need him to organize the magical community formally. As long as the witches and warlocks are willing to live by the rules they need not be under his control, but rogue covens are springing up all too often. Vampires are far better to deal with their destruction. Witches are all to often tempted to save the books of power. Meaning that another coven will turn."

"And vampires will destroy it all so that those books are destroyed." Natalia says softly.

"Yes and they can easily fend off the attacks of the black witches." 

"You and Zarin have been friends a long time."

"Yes," Nikolai replies not sure where she's going with this.

"Did he help you and Ivan against other vampires?"

Nikolai smiles at her question. "Zarin has been a known ally of mine almost the entire time I've known him. At times he has used his skills to help me, at times I've helped him. We have been allies, but never before has a situation like this arisen where he had to sacrifice so much."

"Couldn't you have done this without taking them as pets?"

Nikolai shakes his head, but it's Zarin that answers her question, "The greater the magic the greater the sacrifice. In this case Alexandria wouldn't be able to pay the full price, I too needed to pay. Truly a blood bond wouldn't have been enough, only the sacrifice of our freedom would be enough. He could have demanded a life of one instead of the freedom of us both. That was the price I was willing to pay should he have asked it."

Natalia looks past Zarin to Alexandria, "Is the price worth it?"

"If you had the chance to save Nikolai by giving up your freedom would you?" Zarin asks her in way to answer her.

"Yes," Natalia doesn't hesitate. She smiles then and nods her understanding. 

"Alexandria, you bare a greater price than Zarin. Having my mates child is no easy thing. Is it worth the price?"

"I am still alive when the law states I should have been killed. My freedom and giving birth to his child is far better than death for me. This child I now carry will be a powerful one indeed."

"Yes, much like my children in Africa." Nikolai smiles slyly.

"By morning the coven will be no more. Alexandria, Zarin please come to dinner. You will be needing to eat after the amount of blood I took. Especially you Alexandria."

Nikolai leads them all into the dining room with Natalia at his side. While they are eating he leaves and shortly returns.

"Zarin, you have your ears pierced do you not?" Nikolai demands.

"Yes," Zarin replies immediately. Nikolai nods almost to himself. He hands each of them a box.

Zarin opens it. Sapphire and black diamond ear studs. Alexandria opens hers and finds a matching set to Zarin's. They both remove earrings they currently have in and replace them with the ones that Nikolai gave them.