Shira woke as the sun was setting. She sighed as she remembered what had taken place the night before, but as she turned her thoughts towards the future her spirits began to rise. By the time she had bathed and dressed for the evening, she was almost happy.

She was actually smiling when one of the maids, also a feeder, entered her chamber, in answer to her summons.

"M'Lady," the maid curtsied, "what can I do for you?"

"I need to feed," came Shira's quiet reply, as she moved to stand next to the maid, who smiled shyly and tilted her head to one side, exposing her neck.

When she finished, Shira smiled at the maid again and said, "Go rest. Tell Sarah I told you to rest, and that I'll be in the red salon if she needs me for anything."

"Yes, m'lady," the maid curtsied and left the room, followed shortly thereafter by Shira.

As she approached the door to the red salon, she saw Galen and Leo waiting for her. She smiled at them, and upon reaching conversation distance, said, "I'm glad to see you have recovered from your mishap of last evening, Leo. Galen did not give me any details about what happened, or how badly you were injured."

Leo blushed and replied, "Thank you. I hope you were not worried."

She grinned at Galen before saying "Galen wasn't worried. I took that as a sign that I needn't worry. I do hope you will be more careful in the future, Leo."

"I will try, Shira," he replied, turning even redder.

"You'd better," she grinned mischievously at them both, "I don't need Galen falling apart on me at some critical moment." Then laughing as they both turned red, she continued, "One such being this meeting we are about to have. Is everyone else inside?"

"Yes" Galen replied, scowling at her, causing her to laugh again. He opened the door and ushered her in with a bow and "After you."

Shira smiled at him as she entered the room, with him and Leo at her heels. She walked over to stand near the unlit fireplace, leaving the other two to find seats with the other eighteen.

When everyone was seated, she said, "Alright, let's get started. We've moved out of the castle, but we will still be doing what we've always done for them. We will also be expanding on those duties. We will no longer be just gatherers. We will be hunters and protectors."

She stood patiently waiting while the room erupted in cries of "What?! Why? Why do we owe them anything? They've always looked down on us," and other similar comments.

When quiet returned, she continued, "We are still part of Cain's court. We have a duty to fulfill, whether you want to believe it or not. If we don't continue our gathering, none of us may be alive to do anything. You all know how lazy some of the others at the castle are. We can't afford for them to go hunting. They'd only go as far as the nearest village. What a mess that would be."

"Shira, you said we were now going to be hunters and protectors. What do you mean?" queried Leo, his blue eyes reflecting his curiosity.

Before she could answer the physically eighteen-year-old vampire Shira saw Sarah standing outside the room. So instead of answering Leo's question directly she said, "Galen, would you mind answering that question? Sarah is standing in the doorway, trying to get my attention."

"Alright," he replied reluctantly, standing and moving to stand at her side, "but don't be too long."

"You can handle it," patting him on the shoulder as she walked by. "You're second in command, after all," she smiled as she walked out the door.

"Thanks," he muttered, and then turned his attention to the other nineteen vampires in the room and began to explain the plan he and Shira had devised to them.

Shira, on the other hand, was walking down the hallway to her office with Sarah, a human, walking beside her. Reaching the door, Shira opened it, ushered Sarah through and followed her in, closing the door behind them. She walked around Sarah and took her seat behind the desk, which had been in the family's common room the night before. Indicating the chairs facing her, she said "Sarah, please, sit down. Tell me, what can I do for you?"

Sarah sat on the edge of one of the chairs, looked down at the floor and said "M'Lady, are you and the others going to be staying here permanently? The other servants are asking questions. I need to tell them something."

"Yes, Sarah, the twenty-one of us will be, more or less, permanently living here starting now. You know what we are. I'm counting on you, and your descendants, to help us, protect our secret, throughout the coming years. In return, we will protect you, all of you, as much as we can. Do you understand what I'm asking of you?"

"I think so," Sarah replied after a few minutes of silent thought. "I'll tell the other servants as much as they need to know. We'll work from there. Is that suitable, m'lady?"

"That will be fine, Sarah. Is there anything else?"

"Just one more thing. What sort of supplies should we get as far as food, clothing, linens, etc., go?"

Shira smiled warmly at the young woman who was in charge of the household servants and said "Clothing, linens, and household supplies for twenty-one plus servants. Right now most of the servants are those who are willing to share their blood with us, and I intend to keep it that way in the future, so you only need to supply food for you and the other servants. Ok?"

"Yes, m'lady." She stood up, preparing to leave the office and get started on her expanded duties.

"One more thing, Sarah," Shira stopped her before she opened the door.

"M'Lady?"

"Do not let this information get out to the villages. We would rather not have to move again. Understood?" At the young woman's nod, Shira turned to look out the window and said, "Now, off with you."

"Yes m'lady." She left the room, closing the door quietly behind her, leaving the lady of the house silently staring out the window towards the castle on the hill.

Approximately twenty minutes later, someone knocked on the door, interrupting her contemplation of the building where she had spent the past thirteen years.

When the knock sounded again she called "Enter" but did not turn to see who it was. She didn't need to. She knew who it was and why he was there. "Galen. How did they take it? I'm sorry I didn't return."

"They are excited about the possibilities and are looking forward to the challenge. They want to know what we are going to do first, but as I don't have that information ... "

"You came to find me. Yes, I understand," she said as she moved silently to his side, picking up a piece of parchment from the desktop as she passed by. "I want everyone to pick a partner, so that there are ten pairs. I'd prefer you to pair with Leo, but otherwise we'll let them choose. One member of each pair will be here at any given time, changing regularly so no one loses their hunting skills."

"I have no problems with him, but why the pairs?" Galen queried, taking the parchment she held out to him.

Shira stepped into the hallway, with Galen following, before stating "I'll explain to everyone else at the same time, but I need you to go to the castle, tonight. You need to talk to Cain and give him this piece of parchment. We need a list of twenty vampires, old and new, that he feels are important enough to need to be protected in case the castle is attacked. They do not have to be paired or even from the same family. We'll assign them by twos to one of our pairs. The names on this list will change over time, I'm sure, but the job will not. Do you understand?"

"You want a list of twenty vampires that Cain feels are important enough to be removed from the castle in case of attack. You want the twenty of us to pair up so there is always one member of each pair here ready to protect or remove their assigned pair of vampires from that list. There's already two names on this list" he replied, glancing at the parchment in his hands, as they walked the hallways leading to the red salon.

"I am aware of that. We need twenty more names," she replied quietly as they stopped outside the red salon, where the others waited.

"Ok. I assume you want me to go now."

"Yes. I'll explain to the others. Tell Cain you need the list immediately," she smiled at the thought of Galen interrupting Cain, "that way you can leave before anyone there starts asking you questions about the rest of us."

"I'll return as soon as he fills in my list," he replied, starting towards the main tunnel that led to the castle.

"One more thing, Galen," she said, stopping him before he had taken more than two steps.

"Yes?" he asked, turning back towards her.

"I want you and the others to become Shido's friends." She laughed at the startled look on his face before continuing. "He needs friends here who will not take advantage of his current position. He's also going to need a place where he will be able to find friends later."

"Later?" Galen queried, perplexed by her comment. "Why later?"

"I just have the feeling that Shido is going to try to run away from Cain sometime in the future," she answered quietly. "If he does, he will need friends. Ones that will not betray him, or his whereabouts, unless he asks them to."

"I think I understand. What about you? Will you become his friend?"

"Not yet. Sometime in the future, perhaps," she replied as she took the final step to the closed door of the red salon. Placing her hand on the door's handle she continued. "Do not tell Cain what I said about Shido. He doesn't need to know anything more than that you all are befriending his mate."

"Alright," he replied, studying her for a minute before starting towards the main tunnel once more. "I'll take care of this list and return as quickly as I can. Tell Leo about us being partners before you let the rest choose their partners."

"Thank you." She pushed open the door and entered the room where the others waited, already thinking of how to explain this part of their new duties to them.