Vincent walked the long hallway to the throneroom. His shoes clacked along the tiles. He opened the giant doors with both hands, pushing one with each and entering. For some reason the basics of vampire culture swarmed within his mind. A mate was an equal. But, a mate to the Dracula was not. Standard hierarchical rules applied.

He didn't give a fuck about them.

This wasn't a standard relationship. Vincent was a human turned in some way. He was also a human and a mate. This made him lesser in two different ways. He glided into the room and turned every vampire's head. The meeting had already started. He was fashionably late on purpose. There were whispers among the vampires about him. Small rumors. Large rumors. Confusion about what he was doing here out of the cell. Questions about why he was a mate, if he was a mate, and why Dracula forgave him so easily after that other display of malice.

Sebastian stood next to the throne, as usual. Vincent didn't allow his disgust to show on his face. He would earn Adrian's full and complete trust soon. He would squander that position Sebastian clung to. But first, he had to make his rank clear.

"How odd," Vincent smiled a bit and addressed the vampires. "I seem to recall a specific form of greeting when Dracula enters the room," his smile remained. "None of you are doing a single thing."

"Does he not know-?" one whispered to another.

"He is a pathetically weak human. Of course he doesn't kno-"

Vincent's eyes wandered to the vampires whispering. "Dear me," his smile quickly faded and a coldness rested in his eyes. "I think you seem to have a misunderstanding," he started walking forward towards the throne, emitting a cool mist-like aura similar to what Adrian's was. It smelled sweeter, but was crueler. As he passed a row of standing vampires they kneeled instinctively, no matter how strong or pureblooded they seemed to be. No vampire could raise their head to see his face. Only Sebastian and Adrian saw, but it was Sebastian that would have this image haunt him day and night.

Vincent stood in front of Sebastian, already kneeling before even coming into contact with the aura, and grabbed his chin, lifting it up to stare at his eyes. "I am not a wife. I am not a human anymore either. I am a mate. An equal," his eyes glimmered. "Which means you will treat me as you treat Dracula." Although his words were loud enough for all vampires, Sebastian sensed they were for him especially. Vincent smiled, aura dwindling away in an instant. He moved Adrian's legs closer together and sat on the throne right next to him.

"Now, where were we?"

Adrian stared at Vincent sitting next to him but said nothing. He closed his eyes for a moment and was unable to suppress the urge to smirk. The vampires scrambled to their feet one by one and hesitantly raised their questions.

"What are we going to do about this village?" a vampire pointed to the map.

"Haven't we already concluded to massacre it? We have plenty of humans to use for food."

"There is no need to kill them anymore," Angel cleared his throat. "We should try to change our tactics or we will create a reason for the humans to get stronger. Someone might come to attack us."

"Let them come. No human can take us!"

Vincent watched as the vampires argued amongst themselves. This could hardly be called a meeting. He let out a small sigh and shook his head. "You seem disappointed," Adrian spoke a tad quietly.

"There is no reason for you to fight anymore, is there? You wanted revenge, right?" Vincent replied, equally as quiet. "I'm not dead. So revenge is pointless now."

"There are...reasons I cannot cease..." Adrian looked to the side, almost apolitically. He wondered if Vincent would hold it against him for all of the humans killed.

"Your empire will fall if you continue to be a tyrant," Vincent placed his hand on his chin. "That's just the recipe. You must take hold, cause willing surrender, and then leave them to do as they were before...except under your name now."

"What?" Adrian blinked a few times.

"It's a sure way to buy time."

"Time for what?"

"Time for an excuse to stop, I suppose," Vincent grabbed Adrian's hand and looked into his eyes. "Unless you really do want to run an empire with me for the rest of your Dracula days," he snickered.

"Maybe," Adrian refused to blush. He turned his attention back to the arguing lot of vampires.

"Silence," he said, loud enough to be firm. They shut up and turned to him. He stood up in unison with Vincent, perfect sync. "There is no need to be ruthless with them. We've given them enough reason to fear us for a lifetime. Our takeover strategies will now be given by Angel," he gestured to him.

"But-" one vampire attempted to dispute.

"Do you question the decision of Dracula?" Vincent stared carefully into the vampire's eyes.

"No."

"Good," Vincent smiled. Adrian and Vincent then walked hand in hand out of the throneroom. The doors closed with a loud thud behind them.