Page 51 of The Vampire King's Victory

President Arnold leaned forward. “This school--thisacademy--there will have to be humans there monitoring the students to make sure that no one is being coerced.”

She paused, clearly him answering her before she continued, “I know that you believe that humans will practically be breaking down the academy’s doors.” She ran a weary hand over her head, but her gaze sharpened again. “And you may be right. But people often desire what isn’t good for them. I intend to have Vampiresregulated.”

Julian laughed and shook his head in admiration. “She’s so tough! I can’t wait to meet her.”

Daemon nodded.

President Arnold disappeared and there were others that took her place. One of them shocked Julian, though he admitted it should not.

“That’s the Pope. The head of the Catholic church! And, look, I don’t know who the others are, but clearly heads of other religions,” Julian gestured to those seated around a man dressed in white. “Oh, boy, how is this going to go?”

“The Kaly Vampires claim to see a door to the afterlife?” the Pope asked. His nut brown face and deep brown eyes were warm, but wary.

Arcius was there. He was wearing his full Confessor’s robes. No, not Confessors,Preceptor’srobes. Arcius covered his hands with the sleeves of his black vestment as he placed them on the table between them. He licked his lips, clearly listening carefully to the religious people’s minds. What he said--as much ashowhe said it--would make this go easier or harder in the long run.

“I would defer to Caemorn and Christian about exactly what they see and know,” Arcius explained.

“But you are the leader of the Order,” a man with a thick white beard and dark eyes remarked.

“The Order does not concern itself--or has not in the past--with what is beyond this life, because for Vampires, this lifeistheir afterlife,” Arcius stated. “We focus on the Immortals, like Eyros and Wyvern and, of course, King Daemon.”

“So they are gods in your eyes?” A woman with silver hair lifted up her eyebrows at this.

“They are the ones that brought us eternal life,” Arcius said simply.

“But they arepeople,” the Pope stated with a frown.

“They are not like us. They were never human. They are quite beyond even Vampires,” Arcius explained and cleared his throat. “What they are, where they came from, what their purpose is, if there is a greater one than creating families is not altogether known to us. But they are sacred to us no matter what the answers to those questions are.”

“Some of our religions state that only through God can one have eternal life,” a woman in a nun’s habit said. She was very elderly with parchment-thin skin and rheumy blue eyes.

Arcius cleared his throat. “Yes, I am aware of that.”

“Your very existence places that in doubt. And if one of the pillars of our faith is disturbed…” The nun left this hanging, but Daemon was certain everyone in that group knew where that would lead.

“I am not here to tell you your religions are right or wrong,” Arcius again spoke carefully. “Religions are matters offaith. Vampires and Immortals and all of their gifts arefactual. How you address… whatlensyou address that through, that is up to you. The Order does not proselytize.”

An Asian man dressed in orange and red robes with a bald head spoke then, “If we do not address your existence, the people will do it for us. Why go through all the hardships of reincarnation if one can live one life? Why seek immortality in an afterworld when you can have it here?”

There was another brief cough from Arcius. “We do know that, at least for Immortals, that reincarnation exists.”

The Asian man merely inclined his head. “Some might think that you are lost in this world, unable to reach full enlightenment. Others will see you as supernatural beings to be aspired to. Your existence deepens the mystery of existence.”

“How do we know you are not demons?” A very erect man in saffron colored robes asked. “You sustain yourselves on our blood. Humanity is your prey. You flee the sun. You can lure us to do terrible things. Why should we not denounce you?”

Julian was stiff beside Daemon. He’d been watching the whole debate, hardly blinking.

“In the future, we really need to have more than just Arcius in there!” Julian cried.

“He is the Preceptor. He is the right person to discuss all of this with them,” Daemon contradicted.

“But--”

“Would you have them speak to Caemorn?” Daemon asked him dryly.

Despite what Arcius had said about deferring to Caemorn and Christian about what they saw, neither of those two had any real patience for faith. Julian’s mouth opened and shut rather comically.

“Ah, maybe not Caemorn. He would probably raise the dead in front of them and do other things that would offend and frighten everyone,” Julian admitted.

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