Sol pointed to Grady. “He’s the smart one of the two.” He looked at Markus. “And you? You are not. So tell me, Markus, do you know the true nature of why the elders seek a meeting?”
“I do not know. I know as much as my brother,” Markus said as his lips quivered.
“Yet the sweat that drips from your upper lip tells me otherwise,” Sol said mockingly.
Grady regretted bringing his brother. He did not have the spine for these types of discussions. He wished he would have asked the council to go alone.
“I do not know, I so swear it,” Markus stated with confidence he did not feel.
Sol went to the couch and knelt on the floor in front of Markus. He placed a firm hand on his knee and squeezed tightly. “You so swear it, huh?”
Moisture dripped from Markus’s back down to his pants. “Yes,” he said as Sol continued to apply pressure.
Sol looked sternly at Markus for a moment. Suddenly his sternness turned to a smile. He let go of Markus’s knee. “I’m just kidding with you, Markus. We would love to go and see what the elders want of us. Isn’t that right, Maryl?’
Maryl smiled. “Of course. Give them our best.”
“One more thing,” Grady said as he rose from the couch.
“So, demanding for someone on the enemy's turf, young one,” Sol said with enjoyment.
“What is it, Grady?” Maryl asked politely.
“We need assurances we will not be attacked on our way home.”
Maryl and Sol nodded. Grady and Markus left.
“Gather the council, Maryl. We have a lot of work to do before the week’s end.”
Grady was several kilometers away before he spoke. “Your incompetence is astounding, Markus!”
“I was nervous, Grady!”
“You will be reported to the council about your shortcomings!”
“I thought it would go smoother than it did,” Markus said in despair.
Grady was flabbergasted. “We go into enemy territory, demand to see the elders of the tribes, and you thought it would go easy?”
Markus shrugged. “I thought our name would give us more protection.”
“All the more reason I am going to report you,” Grady snapped. “Don’t assume just because we have the Cole’s name that vampires will open their doors with open arms! What is wrong with you?”
They came to the A and B’s region and sighed with relief.
“I am going to wash up from the well water to get the stench of the flowers and the awful smell coming from their chimney,” Markus said as he walked away.
“Good idea,” he murmured as he opened the front door.
Clayton, Ada, and Tabatha were sitting on the davenport. He reached the couch and sat down in front of them.
The three of them smelled the air and repulsed in unison.
“What is that awful smell?” Clayton asked.
“We rubbed scented flowers to avoid detection to make sure we consumed blood but were quickly apprehended.”
“I recognize the flowery scent, but I am unfamiliar with the other odor,” Tabatha said as she put a hand to her nose.
“I wanted you to smell it because the sour-smelling tribes invented the odor as a restraint or possibly a weapon against us,” Grady said with a heavy heart.
“Let’s go outside before I hurl,” Ada said as she got up and fled the house.
The outdoor air helped them breathe better.
“Apparently, our enemies are actively working on ways to overthrow us,” Clayton remarked with concern.
“I think our arrogance pushed them to the brink,” Ada observed.
“Nonsense Ada!” Tabatha admonished. “We will deal with this setback later.” Tabatha turned to Grady. “Right now, the important thing is to find out the answer to our query.”
“They agreed to meet the Council in one week at your desired location,” Grady replied.
“Good. Hopefully, Sol and Maryl will agree with our proposal.”
“Grandmother, I wish to express the lack of judgment and actions from Markus…”
Tabatha brushed him off with a wave of her hand. “We don’t have time for that, Grady. We must attend to more pressing matters.”
“Such as?” Grady said with impatience.
Tabatha rushed to him. “Don’t you dare question my motives, young man! Do you understand?”
Grady hesitated to respond. He wasn’t expecting such a reaction from his grandmother. For his grandmother to be so abrupt meant all wasn’t well in the Cole tribes or their other related tribes. “I apologize. May I go now?”
“Yes, and see to it you cleanse yourself of that horrid smell!”
Grady nodded before leaving.
“I think we should schedule another council meeting, mother.”
Tabatha bowed. “As you wish, son.” She was about to walk away when she turned to Clayton. “We should have told Grady and Markus the bad news,” Tabatha remarked sadly.
“Would it matter if they knew the King’s army was on the way here to take our lands? Would they have remained calm if they learned his army would be here about the same time as the elders from the other tribes? It would make them worry.”
“They will find out when they see their cousins and friends,” Ada said quietly.
“Let it be so,” Clayton said.
Ada started walking away.
“Where are you going, Ada?”
“I am going to pray,” she said sadly.
“For what?”
“Our tribe’s survival,” she said with gloom.
“You’re being dramatic, wife,” Clayton said with seriousness.
“No, I am not. Think about the three fronts that are almost upon us.”
“I am, but I am confident we will prevail. We always have.”
Ada shook her head. “We have the King’s army coming, the elders coming at the same time, and we aren’t sure if they will help us, and now we learned of a weapon the other tribes have developed to use against us! Take a moment and think about this fact. What have we done in the meantime? Nothing! For centuries we have done nothing! And why is that? Because we have been arrogant and relied incorrectly on our more potent blood, that’s what Clayton!”
Clayton took Ada’s hands. There was a grain of truth in her logic, thought Clayton. “After King George’s army is demolished, we will revisit this conversation, Ada.”
Ada removed herself from Clayton’s grasp. “Let’s hope we survive the ordeal.”
