Chapter 8 - Whispers of Rebellion

(3rd pov)

Marius Tepes was angered, no, he was fuming and angrily pacing around in his room.

"Who do these peasants think they are?! They're thinking of rebelling against me? Me!" his anger and screams were often accompanied by thrown furniture and broken glasses.

Why was he so angry? During the last couple of months, many of his ardent supporters, nobles of a pedigree just lower than himself, wound up either missing or tied to crosses, each body bearing the same cursed message.

Death to the king. Death to the king. DEATH. TO. THE KING.

It was beyond the point of grating on his nerves.

'Did someone find out about my plan? It must be those Carmilla bitches, the whole country stinks of them. They must have found out about that filth and her sacred gear' his cooperation with that damned devil was one of the greatest feats he could imagine.

Already some of his men were enhanced by the sacred gear of his so-called 'sister'. Everything was on track. First, he would get an invincible army then he would unite the vampires and then the world. The devil would be taken care of later, of course, he would be, he needed to be. How could the great Marius Tepes not see the scheming behind the eyes of that disgusting underworld dweller? He would either be used and then discarded or he would be under Tepes boots where he and his kin belonged. They should feel grateful for serving the vampires, they all should.

'Rally the banners and purge those blood traitors' yes, that's what he should do. They already found some treacherous snakes sneaking around, of course, they were dealt with swiftly because they didn't talk, they never talked, they just looked blankly at him until they were sent away to either prison or the chopping block.

'The enhancements must be quickened, I don't care that the girl may die, before she does I'll rip the Grail right out of her soul and use it myself!'

Indeed, they will expedite the process and finish everything before the filthy traitors have a chance to win.

Of course those Carmilla sluts would never win. Nobody defeats the Tepes Faction.

Nobody defeats Marius Tepes.

*BOOM*

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(1st person pov)

I looked upon the new hole in the castle's defenses, my homecoming gift for the Tepes faction and the first of many to come.

It all began with a simple plan. How was I going to sneak into a highly fortified and entrenched position and kidnap/rescue the adorable dhampiress? I wasn't. There's no point in trying to play the cat burglar, or in this case the lady burglar. No, the vampires were going to do the heavy lifting for me.

Now, how do you instigate a coup d'etat when you're dealing with such sophisticated beings like this world's vampires, my oh my they were the poster children of solidarity and kinship. My sarcasm couldn't be less.

With this idea, I was ready to begin. My plan was centered around one vampire, Duke Stefan Musat, a prime example of vampiric aristocracy. His family had the checkered history one would expect from members of the noblesse, family betrayal here and there, this cousin slept with that cousin, good stuff. More importantly, they were relatives of the current ruling members of the Tepes faction, cousins going back some incestuous marriages ago. What, how do you think they maintain the 'pure' blood of their primogenitor? Not by a happy married life.

Duke Stefan was my perfect candidate, 'noble' pure-blooded, and the best part, he already had an ember of ambition coursing through his veins. Enough to spark a fire.

All it took to get him to my side was catching him on one of his 'hunting outings'. There's a reason why virgins were becoming rare in Romania. Approaching him was easy enough, wait for a sunny day, drink the blood and kill one of his manservants, assume said servant's form, and strike. Bada bing bada boom, one claw to the brain coupled with some minor adjustments and suggestions and you get your own little rebellious scamp.

It did help that he had a Wormtongue by his side, i.e. myself, to whisper the names of his targets in his ear.

I almost blew my cover when the other vampires noticed that the Duke had begun eating cookies one day out of the blue. When asked he responded with something related to the dark side.

*shrug* I couldn't help myself, I had to do it to 'em.

Of course, some of Stefan's confidantes also needed a little nudge to the proper rebellious mindset but a couple of visits from TongueWorm can do miracles.

I even helped fix a couple's marriage one day, no powers and all, they just needed to actually see each other for more than one day a month and all was resolved. They were some of the good vampires around, getting their blood from a sustainable source. Plus, Alexandra, that guy's wife, made some great tea, I had to help. I made sure the good ones were always in the shadows and through liberal use of suggestions and memory alterations, nobody even knew they were part of this merry little revolutionary boy band.

After getting the scamps back in line, the faction purge was about to begin. What followed the starting order was 2 months of subterfuge and 2 months where I feasted upon the magic of my fellow, inferior, vampires.

The gaping maw within my soul was getting fed and my powers were growing. I learned the basic magic that the vamps used, bat summoning and control, mist magic, shadow magic. I mean basic because they all had the same problem as most of the people in this verse, poor application of raw power. Just the bats alone had so much potential, but I digress.

After 2 months the rebellion was growing swiftly and they were on the path of actually being ready to overthrow the current leaders. That's when I whispered the order for the attack upon Targoviste to commence.

What? I didn't need nor want the rebellion to actually succeed, I didn't desire to be the leader of this lackluster show of idiots, I didn't care to lead the vampires to a more prosperous future, they were not my responsibility. They would have fallen out even without my little promises of power, all I did was expedite the process. The Carmilla could pick up the pieces, if they were capable enough, they could rule for all I cared. And if the Carmilla and I ever met as enemies, well, the saying that history repeats itself is true for a reason.

No, all I needed was beautiful chaos.

And with all of that in mind I nodded towards Duke Stefan who was sitting to my right, signaling the attack.

"Begin the attack, teach those false Kings!"

Following this, I vanished, but not before sending a letter in a certain direction.

'My darlings from the Carmilla. The board is set and the game is afoot. Do have fun.

With all my love,

Julian'

There's no reason not to create more infighting between the vampires, the girls would have noticed this soon enough anyway. Let them wonder who Julian is.

I arrived near the castle, activated an array that I previously set up aaand….

*BOOM*

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A/N

A bit on the shorter side, this chapter, but it felt the right moment to end it in preparation for the grand rescue.

As always, feedback is appreciated.

See you next time.