Re-Organizing - 9. Chapter 9

Scott called James and asked him to come help me prepare for the Baronets’ meeting. Billy brought me the file on each one and as we read their biographies, James gave me insight into their personalities. The first file I opened was that of Baronet Antonio Rizzo of Philadelphia. The photo showed a man who appeared to be in his late eighties with snow white hair, a large bulbous nose, and deep wrinkles on every part of his face. The eyes, however, showed a keen intellect and seemed to convey wisdom. I understood this when I saw his actual age; Antonio Rizzo was almost twelve hundred years old.

The next file was that of Samuel Gottfried Gerig, Baronet of Buffalo. There was nothing in his appearance or his file that made him stand out to me. James said he was an average Baronet who never let his head stick above his peers. The same was true for Baronets Iwan Reilly of Binghampton, NY, Jeremi Ruf of Albany, Dominik Tomasz Wrona of Kinston, NY, and Giorgino Hugo Rossini of Newark, NJ. James did mention that the Baronets from NY, NJ, and CT might still harbor hard feelings due to the conquest. I assumed he meant my conquering Baron Evans, so I ignored it; I would soon find out I was wrong.

James couldn’t give me much information on Baronets Santino Cassano of Trenton, Blake Wooster of Hartford, or William Spencer of New Haven, other than to say they had been Baronets since the states were colonies. He described Boris Shultz of Syracuse, NY as a self-important little queen who had only been tolerated by Baron Evans.

Baronet Cornelis Patrick Boels of Lake Placid, NY was described as a Puritanical Christian who insisted that every vampire in his Baronetcy attended church on a regular basis. He refused to recognize polyamorous or same-sex relationships, requiring his vampires to adhere to his interpretation of the bible. The records showed a steady decline in vampires moving to his area and, in recent years, a steady increase in vampires moving away.

The final file, if I don’t count James’ file, was that of Baronet Tobias Dominik Zoltan Barta, of Hazleton, PA. His photo shocked me. He looked to be about 45 but his actual age was 257. His wide, expressive eyes, high hairline, and downturned mouth with a slight underbite made me immediately think of Peter Lorre. When I mentioned this to James, he laughed and told us that his appearance wasn’t the only thing that resembled Peter Lorre. Tobias, known as Toby, was, like Lorre, a Hungarian immigrant, and his whining, nasal voice was almost a perfect match for the famous actor.

While Scott, Billy, and I were going through the files with James, Jake and Chris were studying Dracul law with Merrick Raine. Every footman in our employ was in the main hall or formal dining room with Andrew hovering over them as they made preparations to receive these 13 vampires who, after this meeting, would either be sworn to my service as Baronets of Dracul, private vampire citizens of Dracul, or bodies to be carted away by whichever footman had drawn Andrew’s wrath. I hoped there would be none of the latter, but I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.

At six Andrew came to say that breakfast was being set up in the family dining room and asked if Marshal Davis and his team would be joining us. I said they were welcome to do so, but I couldn’t answer for them. As Andrew turned to go, Paddy knocked and announced Robert, the tailor, and his apprentice, Samuel.

After bowing, Robert said, “I brought the new official garb your Lord Steward asked for, My Lord. If I may, I intend to offer these to all of my noble clients in the future.”

Before I could ask, Billy explained, “I asked Robert to make sets of official garb with Velcro seams for me, you, and, Scott. If one of us has to shift quickly during the meeting, it will hopefully rip open at the seams and you won’t ruin your best set.”

I laughed at the ingenuity and asked, “Why hasn’t someone come up with this before now?”

“Actually, I tried suggesting something similar to Baron Evans when Velcro first came out, My Lord,” Robert replied. “He called me an idiot and ignored my suggestion.”

I shook my head. “Well, join us for breakfast, Robert. After we eat, we can try them on and see how they work. I hope I don’t ruin all your efforts.”

“If you do, I’ve failed and we’ll try again,” Robert said with a smile. “I can examine the ruined set and learn what I need to change.”

I told Paddy to advise Andrew that Robert and Samuel would be joining us for breakfast, then took the garments from Samuel and examined them. As he had described, the arms, shoulders, and side seams were held together with Velcro and I could see how they would, hopefully, simply rip open at the seams and fall to the floor. The trousers were Velcro down the outside seams on both sides, meaning they would split and fall to the ground between our legs. I was tempted to put them on and try them out right away, but Paddy ended that thought by returning to say that breakfast was served.

During our meal, Marshal Davis told us that a quick examination of the books indicated exactly what Brian had described. Baron Evans had been taking the first twenty percent of gross tax income for decades. When asked, he said they couldn’t find anything specific in any laws that either allowed or prohibited this practice, so unless Chris and his team could find something, there seemed to be no laws broken. I again stated my opinion that regardless of the legality of such a scheme, it wasn’t proper and as of our conversation last night, it was now illegal in the Barony of Pittsburgh.

Jenny asked if we would be introducing our sons to the Baronets. I hadn’t considered this and after a short conversation with Scott, Billy, and James, we decided to present them to the Baronets shortly after the beginning of our meeting, then send them off with Jenny until our business was complete. Depending on how our meeting went, they might also join us at lunch, but that would depend on the mood of the Baronets. Josh decided there was no reason to bring Craig to any of the meetings, and Tommy agreed; Mandy would remain in the care of Jenny for the entire day.

After breakfast we led Robert to our bedroom and with assistance from Tony, Johnny, and Jonesy, as well as Samuel, we put on the new garb. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t tell these were any different from my other set. The Velcro seams were entirely unnoticeable, and the fit was as perfect as those Tommy had presented to us at George’s house. Once Robert examined everything and declared himself happy with the fit, he asked me to shift.

I woke up my snoozing beast and quickly shifted, suddenly standing two feet over our mates and friends. We shook our arms and felt the coat pieces fall to the floor. When we heard a giggle behind us, we turned, and Samuel was grinning. When he saw us looking, he pointed at our groin, so we looked down. Hanging from our hips were the torn remains of our boxer briefs. We laughed, which sounded more like a growl, and stuck our finger into the waistband to rip the last remnants off our body. We then shifted back to human, and I turned to Robert, who was examining the pieces of my garb.

“Well?” I asked. “Any damage?”

As he reassembled my apparently ruined suit he smiled and said, “None whatsoever, My Lord. I can’t promise it will work perfectly every time, but it is certainly better than ruining a hundred-thousand dollar suit every time you shift.”

His words reminded me of something, and I looked at the ring on my finger. I’d forgotten to remove it, yet it was still there. I quickly shifted back to full beast, and we gazed at our fingers, now claws. The ring was gone. We shifted back and it reappeared. Robert saw my confusion and laughed.

“I assume no one explained the rings, My Lord?” he asked. I shook my head, and he explained, “Rings for nobility are made by jewelers who are witches. They enchant the rings of office to be sensitive to the magic that causes our shift.”

“Okay,” I said, drawing the word out slowly. “And this means what? Where does my ring go?”

“I’m not a witch jeweler, My Lord, so I don’t know.” Robert replied with a shrug. “You’d have to find one and ask them, though I doubt they’ll ever tell you. While they do work for us, witches don’t usually like vampires. Like shifters, they’re happy to take our money, but rarely will they share a table with us.”

I wanted to ask about witches and shifters but was quickly distracted as Billy and Scott both shifted, ripping their garments to shreds, just as I had done. Like mine, each separated along the Velcro seams and did no damage to the garb, which Robert and Samuel quickly and expertly reassembled. As he was doing this, Tony, Johnny, and Jonesy paid close attention to how it was done, as they would be responsible for doing this with ours, if they were torn apart by a sudden shift. Once our garb was reassembled, we thanked Robert and said goodbye to him and his apprentice.

We then headed for the shower where we were soon joined by Chipper; something that had become a regular occurrence recently. He appeared with a washcloth and body wash and proceeded to wash each of us, saying it was only fair because we washed him when he took a bath. As he washed each of our more private areas, the stimulation caused us to inflate, just a bit, but we ignored it and let him continue. When he finished with us, the three of us attacked him with hands full of soapy bubbles. His squeals echoed off the walls as we scrubbed the little monster from head to toe. When we washed his private area, he giggled and pointed out that he had a ‘stiffie’. Like most times, when we got to his feet, the washing became tickling, with Scott and Billy holding him high as I unmercifully tickled his bare feet. As we dried off, he grumbled that it wasn’t fair how we ganged up on him, we were bigger. He just rolled his eyes when I said he’ll be bigger someday too.

As we entered the dressing room, Johnny got a silly grin and asked, “Should I grab a pair of plain black boxer briefs, My Lord? So you don’t look silly with SpongeBob hanging off your hips, or would you rather go commando?”

I tried to glare, but couldn’t hold it as I laughed and replied, “I think commando, Johnny, but we might look into break-away underwear.”

“I’ll look around for someone who provides clothing for strippers, My Lord,” Johnny replied, trying to suppress a laugh. Scott, Billy, Jonesy, and Riva made no such effort, bursting into raucous laughter.

Once the laughter subsided, Johnny, Jonesy, and Riva quickly dressed us in our new official garb, complete with swords and capes. They spent more time on the small details than on the actual dressing—adjusting how the capes hung, ensuring our swords swung freely without catching, and inspecting every inch of fabric to make sure there was no dust or lint. When they finally declared us acceptable, we entered our bedroom to find Jenny in her Marshal’s uniform, finishing up Charlie and Chipper’s suits. Once she was satisfied, we all headed toward the main hall, where the Baronets were assembled and waiting.

As we approached the main hall, Andrew, also in Dracul garb, pounded a staff on the floor and announced, “Baronets, Ladies, and honored guests, stand and be silent. Presenting Baron Gregory Fowler, Baron of Pittsburgh, his mate, Baron Consort Scott Warnick, and Lord Steward William White.” The fact that Andrew had procured garb and a staff so quickly confirmed that he was indeed, the right man for the job.

The room fell silent, and every head turned to face us as we entered. Those near the door backed away and cleared a path for us to enter. I walked into the room flanked by Scott and Billy, Scott at my side and Billy one step behind. As I looked at the faces of the gathered Baronets, most lowered their eyes in respect while five foreshadowed a problem by holding eye contact. One of those glared at me in anger while the face of the another, Baronet Boels of Lake Placid, showed nothing but disgust.

“Baronets, Ladies, and honored guests, we welcome you to our home. We have no business planned for today’s gathering, rather, we plan to spend the morning getting to know you, learning your needs, and we hope today is the start of a bright and prosperous time for the Barony of Pittsburgh. I look forward to meeting each of you individually and hearing your input.

“Now, if you will bear with me, I’d like to introduce you to my Council.” I placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder and continued, “Some of you have already met my mate, Scott, who is the son of Baronet James Warnick of Pittsburgh. To my left is my Lord Steward, William White. Behind us stand Jacob Jackson, our Lord Adjutant General, and his brother Joshua Jackson, Warden of Grounds. Next, we have our Lord Advocate General, Christopher Barnes; the Chief Marshal of the Baronial Guard, Thomas McNiel; Brian Simpson, our Baronial Master of Coin; and Sir Trevor Bowers, our Master of Children.

“We want your input,” I paused as if thinking, then said, “No, that’s not right, we need your input. Tell us what is being done poorly, tell us how we can improve, tell us how we can, together, serve the vampires of the Barony of Pittsburgh to the best of our ability.”

I was interrupted by Blake Wooster, the Baronet of Hartford, who snapped, “You can start by renouncing your claim on the conquered Barony of Danbury.” After a moment’s pause, he added, “My Lord,” in a voice dripping with sarcastic venom.

Shocked, I calmly said, “Baronet Wooster, I hope you’ll forgive me, but I wasn’t aware there was a conquered Barony of Danbury. Would you care to enlighten me?”

“I cannot do that without telling you the story of all of Baron Evans’ conquests,” Wooster said in a slightly calmer tone. He then timidly added, “My Lord.”

I said, “I genuinely want to hear this tale, Baronet.” I looked around the room and added, “Unless there is someone who objects, I feel it will make our conversation easier if we drop the honorifics. My name is Greg; make use of it. Now, Baronet Wooster, please start wherever you feel the story begins.”

Baronet Wooster raised his eyebrows, and he stared at me for a second; stunned that I would allow the use of my name. In a conciliatory tone he said, “Thank you, My… er, Greg. My given name is Blake, and I hope you can forgive my initial outburst.”

I nodded and said, “You feel passionate about this issue, Blake. The vampires of your Baronetcy are well served by your passion. Now, please tell me this story.”

“Prior to the human’s US Civil War, the state of Connecticut was a Barony, with the Baron, my father, living in Danbury. Upstate New York and the state of New Jersey were also Baronies, with those Barons living in Syracuse and Trenton respectively.

“Shortly after the war broke out, Baron Evans went to Syracuse and, while I don’t know all the details, I know he killed the Baron, his wife, and their infant son thereby conquering the Barony. As the war was coming to an end, he did the same in Trenton, killing the Baron, and his family. When he came to Danbury in 1866, father was expecting him. What he wasn’t expecting was one of our Marshals betraying his oath. Gareth Evans killed my mother and father, and would have killed me, if not for his…” Blake Wooster paused to consider his words. “If not for his preference for young boys, Greg, I would have been killed with my parents. Why he didn’t kill me after I hit puberty, I’ll never know.

“When father died, my eyes changed to those of a Baronet, and Gareth acted as both Baron and Baronet for Hartford until he tired of me. I expected him to kill me; I wish he had. Rather, he forced me to swear fealty to the vampire who murdered my parents, and I’ve served as Baronet of Hartford since I turned six in the winter of 1870.”

I reached out, putting my hand on his shoulder and saying, “I did not kill Gareth Evans to take his Barony, Blake. I killed him because of his preference for children. If you want, I will go to Viscount Chester and renounce my claim on Connecticut. I can’t promise he will name you the new Baron, and I certainly can’t promise the fates will accept you, but I will do all I can, if it will make peace between us.”

Blake Wooster looked almost embarrassed as he said, “My anger is, or was, with Gareth Evans. I’ve known for years that if the fates considered me the right man to be Baron in my father’s place, my eyes would have changed the second he died, and Evans would have killed me like he did the son of Baron Syracuse.” He straightened and held his head high as he said, “I will swear fealty to you, My Lord, if you will have me.”

I reached out and took both his hands in mine as I said, “We would be honored to have such a worthy vassal, Baronet Wooster.” I turned to Baronet Spencer of New Haven and added, “Unless the Baronet of New Haven objects?”

William Spencer gave a quick bow and said, “No objections, My Lord. I would be honored to swear fealty alongside my brother Baronet.” My face must have shown surprise because he quickly added, “Not literally my brother, My Lord, just brother Baronets in loyalty to our Baron.”

James, Antonio Rizzo, and Tobias Barta quickly exclaimed, “Hear hear!”

Realizing that the Baronets from New York and New Jersey hadn’t joined them, I turned and asked, “And what say the Baronets of New York and New Jersey?”

Baronets Rosinni and Cassano exchanged a glance and Santino Cassano decided to speak for the two. “The former Barony of New Jersey was ruled by a pompous ass who was killed and replaced by a perverted ass, if I were to speak freely. The Baronets of New Jersey begrudgingly agree that we can do no worse, and accept your sovereignty, Baron Fowler.”

I nodded, saying, “I understand your concerns, Baronet Cassano. I hope that you will assist me in doing better than my predecessors. It is my wish that you will tell me how I can improve, and it is my hope that at my court in December next, your oaths of fealty will be more heartfelt.”

Baronet Rosinni gave a slight bow and said, “From our short conversation, My Lord, I feel we are off to a promising start.” He glanced at his brother Baronet, then added, “You will have no problems from your New Jersey Baronetcies, My Lord. We will assist you as we can.”

I smiled and said, “Coming from you, Baronet Rosinni, that is high praise. I warn you; I respect my elders and tend to rely on their wisdom. You may come to regret your offer of assistance.”

Baronet Rosinni grinned and said, “A sign of wisdom, My Lord. You are free to… what do the humans say? ‘Pick my brain’ anytime you wish.”

I nodded in thanks, then turned to the New York contingent. “And what says upstate New York?”

The six Baronets from New York represented almost half of my Barony and, like New Jersey and Connecticut, became part of the Barony through a conquest carried out by my power-hungry predecessor. If they asked me to allow them to reform the Barony of Syracuse, I couldn’t refuse without looking unjust. I had made the same offer to Blake Wooster; to refuse would be seen as being disingenuous. They exchanged looks for a minute, then Baronet Jeremi Ruf of Albany stepped forward.

“Baron Fowler, as I was Lord Steward to the late Baron of Syracuse, I am the vampire who was most personally aggrieved by his murder. I feel honor bound to say that Baron Evans did indeed kill the son of Baron Weiss because the infant’s eyes changed on the death of his father; I was there. Baron Evans was delighted when my eyes changed from gold to seafoam green and he gave me a choice. I could serve as Baronet of Albany, or I could die. I have served for one hundred and fifty years and it has been torture, serving under the man who killed my lovers; my Baron and his wife. Unless any of my brother Baronets disagree, New York will follow New Jersey’s example, My Lord. New York begrudgingly agrees to—”

“I will NOT follow a sodomite!” shouted Cornelis Boels of Lake Placid. “The bible does not recognize what he does as natural,” he said, pointing to me, “and neither will the vampires of Lake Placid.”

Those standing around him quickly backed away, leaving Baronet Boels standing alone. Their message was clear; they did not agree with him, and they wanted nothing to do with whatever happened next.

In my head I heard my beast growl, ‘He must submit. He cannot talk about us like that.’ I let my beast shift my eyes and voice, and in a low rumble said, “Baronet Boels, you are free to believe as you wish, but your personal religious beliefs should not be forced onto those you represent. Are you saying that you wish to resign?”

Like most extremists, Boels apparently felt that if he shouted louder, it made his words truer, so he shouted, “The vampires of Lake Placid are faithful to the word. I will not be forced to resign by one who fails to follow the teachings of God!”

I had discussed the possibility of a confrontation with my Council and, while they hated it, they did as I had asked; they backed away. Scott and Billy were more hesitant to leave my side, but one glance from me sent them both to the sides of the room. Once they had moved away, I took a step forward and said, “You will submit, you will resign, or you will die, Baronet Boels. The choice is yours; choose wisely.”

Boels raised his voice louder and said, “I will not submit to one who does such unnatural—”

He didn’t get to finish his declaration because I shifted to my full Baronial beast, standing two feet above the man, and glared down at him. My beast roared in my head, ‘He must die!’ I replied, ‘We must give him a chance.’ My beast wasn’t happy. To Boels’ credit, he didn’t flinch as we wrapped our claw around his throat and roared, “Now you have two choices; resign or die.”

He made his choice known by shifting in our grasp. Maybe he thought his sudden shift would cause us to lose our grip or that we would retreat when faced with a fight. Neither happened. His shift was his final act of defiance. In my head, my beast roared, ‘We are a Baron; we do not tolerate defiance!’ We slowly closed our claw and felt his windpipe crush, felt the vertebrae in his neck snap, and felt his body go limp. Rather than give this defiant piece of trash any hope of healing, we sank our fangs into his neck and drained every drop of blood from his lifeless body. His blood told us many things, most important was that our job wasn’t finished. We tossed his lifeless, bloodless body aside and turned to our Marshal.

“Bring us his bitch!”

When Tommy moved to obey, Mrs. Boels saved him the effort, stepping forward and shouting, “How dare you call me that! You’re nothing but a sodomite! You’ll burn in hell for what you are! You’ll—"

We grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off the floor. Putting our fangs inches from her face, we growled, “Where are your pups, bitch?”

Rather than reply, she spat in our face. We didn’t need her to tell us where her twins were, we’d seen it in her husband’s blood. Our asking was an offer of mercy. We knew she didn’t love Cornelis Boels’ twins; they weren’t hers. They were the children of his lover who she murdered in a jealous rage. Boels only tolerated this woman due to his twisted interpretation of the bible’s definition of marriage. She only raised the twins out of a similar biblical understanding of a wife’s duty. We were sickened by the hypocrisy they both demonstrated, and we were sickened by what she considered caring for a child. Her treatment of these children was cause enough for us to end her. Her defiance simply added to her crimes.

“For your defiance and your treatment of your children, we sentence you to death; punishment to be carried out immediately,” we roared as we removed her head from her body.

As quickly as things had escalated, they calmed. We dropped her body to the floor, stepped back, and shifted to human form. I turned to Andrew to direct him to have the mess cleaned up, but he was already sending footmen to gather the help they needed. When I looked around the room, everyone knelt, bowing their heads, acknowledging me as their Baron.