Chapter 861: Chapter sides As soon as the ceremony was over, the people at the plaza square started to leave the area. They were all heading back to either their homes or to the inner castle areas. All of them had only one question on their mind. ’Who would be the next King?’ With all the vampires being under certain families most of them had their personal bias, but fortunately this decision wasn’t up to them. It was down to the family leaders to decide between, just as it had always been the case in the past. They used the King’s castle as their meeting place. The one in charge of that was the one who had been in charge of the ceremony, which was none other than Dwight. In past generations it had been relatively easy to decide on one person, as oftentimes one leader had managed to earn the respect of all of his peers. However, over time the families ended up split into two sides. Rather than growing closer together over time, they had somehow grown further apart. Dwight was slightly afraid that both sides could end up having a conflict, but there was a good reason why he was confident that nothing would happen... at least not until the new King had been agreed upon by the rest, giving him more time. The reason was that Dwight was the one who would keep the Absolute blood control book until that happened. With only him knowing the location. All of the leaders with their Vampire knights entered the council room and sat down at their respective seats while their knights stood beside them. The tension in the room was a little unbearable for Quinn. Sometimes when entering they would look towards him in disgust. Others would be talking to each other, but there was no sound at all, and this time they weren’t only looking at him. Still, he did receive the odd stare now and then. When everyone was seated, Dwight came out on his own, standing behind the seat which was reserved for the King. It was a little odd just seeing Dwight, but there were still the Royal Guards in the room which would listen to his command until the next King was chosen. "It’s time for me to explain a few things, as not everyone here has been through a change of the crown. Those of you new to this listen very carefully as I don’t wish to repeat myself. if I need to then it would just prove that you are incompetent to take such an important position." Dwight stated firm and strongly. "Each of you will have the option to speak or remain silent. If you choose to speak up, then you should use the time to either present your case to the other leaders why you think you would be best suited for the role of King or you can explain why you think another person who you think is best suited for the role. Please make note, that at this point and time you will merely state your opinion. It will not be counted as your vote, but merely you speaking your current set of mind!" "Once everyone has spoken, you will have a week to consider who to vote for and everyone shall return here once again to cast their votes. Now this next bit is extremely important, so listen up. Things have changed slightly compared to the past. Now to obtain the seat one MUST obtain seven or more votes from the council table! And one is able to vote for themselves." "If the voting is inconclusive and a majority vote is not decided, then we will have to default to our old tradition. A leader can challenge another in a sacred duel to claim their vote!" ’What?! How stupid is that?!’ Quinn screamed internally about this nonsense way of handling things. ’What’s the bloody point of us voting in the first place then?’ ’For a long time tradition in the past had stated that the strongest vampire should become leader. This was because it was something that pleased the public. The vampires would at least be willing to follow who they believed as the strongest.’ ’Besides, a good King should have been able to get the other leaders on his side beforehand, don’t you think? If the leaders agreed together on one person who was most suited for the role, then the vampires in their families would naturally comply, believing in their leaders’ decision. In the end this was decided just as a way to stop arguments, and two sides from clashing. All families at one point or another had agreed to these rules.’ Vincent explained. ’If it comes to that, if one side can’t get the majority vote, then does that mean Bryce would become King, just because he’s stronger than all the other leaders?’ Quinn asked. Vincent chuckled internally. ’Only if he wins against the person he chooses. Theoretically, if he chose you and you beat him you would get his vote. Essentially the duel is also a double edged sword because then you would also obtain his vote after beating him. So a leader must be confident if it comes to this.’ "Okay, we will now start with the first leader, who I believe doesn’t need any extra introduction." Dwight said, taking a seat next to the king’s throne. When one was ready to speak, they would stand up and state their point and as the first family leader, Bryce got the first chance to do so. "Us vampires have lived on this planet in hiding for far too long. We hold such great power yet for some reason we force ourselves to live in the dark. We now have technology better than anyone else in the other worlds! With the help of our rings we can even walk under the sun, yet we still continue to stay here!" "I, for one, want a better life for our race! Where we don’t have to worry about limiting the amount of people we have! Where we don’t have to hide in fear! Do I want war? No! Of course, I don’t want that! I understand that some of you like your life here, and I’m not against that, however, you all saw that it was the humans who attacked us first!" Saying this, Paul looked down with his head in shame. ’We weren’t the aggressors, we were attacked the moment we came on this planet.’ He wanted to argue, but he understood his best course of action was to keep his mouth shut. "They have come for us once, so who says they won’t come again? Just like the previous King I want peace, but that can only be achieved if the humans want peace as well! If the humans decide to wage war against us, then our race will need a strong King who can lead them, not one who will bend over to every single one of their demands! If you will have me, I shall be that person for you!" After Bryce had finished speaking, there were many at the table who nodded in agreement. Since the order was that of the families once again, the next person to make their case was Cindy Cha. She stood up, fluffing her black dress a few times and cleared her throat before pleading her own case. "I believe we can all agree that the previous King did a great job! Our lives have gotten better under his rule, and I believe that we can continue to improve our lives WITHOUT getting involved with others! I would like to become his successor and continue his ideal." "There are many beautiful people, even in the Human World that should not perish. Just as there are bad humans, there are bad and ugly vampires as well. We’re no better than them, we are both just different. I feel it’s a shame that there are vampires hurting each other even at this very moment. I agree that if we were attacked we should deal with it appropriately, but just the same way as if other vampires were attacking us, like we have been doing." With that Cindy sat back down, and those on her side nodded. As they went around the room, the third leader Suzan forfeited her claim to become Queen and instead nominated Bryce. She wasn’t the only one, as the new sixth family leader Jake Muscat, the seventh family leader Kyle Dawn, and the eighth family leader Jill Snacker all did the same. All others had nominated Cindy so far, which was the expected result. Unless anything unforeseen happened, Cindy would tie with Bryce, making his vote indeed the tiebreaker. Finally it was Quinn’s turn to speak. He stood up but froze for a second as he hadn’t actually decided what to say. Dwight made it clear that whatever Quinn said today wouldn’t be counted as a vote, but if he didn’t clearly state which one of the sides he supported, in the weeks time it could just make matters worse. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖 ’If I don’t give up my vote now, will Cindy think I’m going against her? I’m sure she might understand that I don’t openly want to antagonise Bruce..’ "I, at the moment, remained undecided and would like to hear out the rest." Quinn stated. "That is fine, Quinn you may sit down." At this moment, Quinn didn’t even want to look at Cindy or the others for their reaction, but the hearing continued, and as expected the two sides were equally split down the middle. "So we have heard from everyone here today. In a week’s time an actual vote will be cast, and I have to warn you Quinn. During that time, if you are not able to come to a decision regarding your vote, either side could challenge you to a duel to force your vote." Dwight reminded him. When the meeting left, there was one person standing there more confused than ever at what he had just heard, and he felt like he had figured something out. ’I knew there was something up with that hag!’ Peter thought, clenching his fist as he stared towards Cindy. During the meeting he had realised something, that might change whose side Quinn would be on... ******