Chapter 232 Settling the Troops

For the most part, Van and the others waited on the sidelines as Cerina did her magic and began to ingratiate herself to their most ‘honored’ ambassadors from abroad. She didn’t miss a beat, talking about how welcome it was that two long-standing rivals, can now finally come together and step forward into putting their pasts behind them.

It was a strange thing to see. Even for Van, who while not having anything against Fandorians, still couldn’t help but feel that their presence here was a bit misplaced… The compounding oddness was only amplified when it was the very heir of House Taldor, the leader of the Aggressive and conservative faction, that seemed to be the one working hard to woo them.

He didn't fully trust Cerina… While Rosalyn tried to keep it quiet, he did overhear that one of the likely culprits of the evolution fiasco might have been her father. No matter how nice she was, or different compared to the rumors he heard of her father and mother, he couldn’t help but wonder if there was another face behind that mask of hers.

Without wasting any time. Cerina guided Avalyn and her entourage into their shared dorm. Leaving the situation of the hundreds of troops and hangers-ons to their individual owners. But not before turning to give a meaningful look towards Van, Seral and a few others, with the intention of silently motioning to the troops now standing around doing nothing.

Tabitha, getting her head back into the game, quickly called over a few of her lackeys and ordered them to take her butler back to bed so that he may rest. Before setting off quickly after her rival like her feet were on fire, not wanting to be left behind in the game of politics…

As they left, the soldiers, mercenaries, and general workers that were just milling about began to mutter amongst themselves about what they had just witnessed. Wondering what it means for them and where it would lead.

Van then decided to also get a move on, and talked with Seral about getting their people organized and housed into the large barrack structure. Unfortunately, there was still a glaring issue they had to attend to…

The almost four hundred or so royal guards, slayers, mages, and more that were clearly feeling out of place surrounded by their would-be enemies… Avalyn had left someone in charge of them, that much was clear, but since she was swept up in Cerina’s pace, they were left behind without so much of an order or command to follow. Making them antsy and giving defensive looks at the multitude of different races all across the vampire lands. Their mere uniformed presence was a stark contrast to the all walks of life and cosmopolitan bunch they were standing not too far from.

Thankfully there seemed to be at least one woman standing tall and straight, keeping an eye out on everyone else but also her own troops. Making sure nothing was accidentally started and looking on with confidence at those around her without an ounce of fear. Which served to soothe some of the fears of the soldiers behind her.

“What do you think we should do with them?” Luna asked, looking at them with a bit of concern. A mixture of both fear for them, and for what accident waiting to happen they may cause in her mind. Even she was aware of the situation they were in…

Van turned from his talk with Seral and Karmine about carving out a small territory in the barracks for their girls and responded to the best of his ability. “I think for now we should focus on our own girls. And then from there, we should talk with the other nobles about how we should set up the housing and bedding for them. We need to make sure they all can stay together with each other, as well as with the Fandorians in such a way they won’t feel fear that they are being threatened by our own soldiers.”

“And our soldiers feeling threatened by them.” Seral added, to which Van and Karmine could only nod in agreement.

“First things first… let’s get in and check out the barracks and see what we have to work with. We may not even have to worry. It could well be because the others didn’t bring that many people, we have more than enough room for everyone to have more than enough distance to feel comfortable.” Van said, hoping what he said was true, not just to help relax Luna but also for himself since he didn’t want anything to happen that might put themselves and their girls in danger.

With that in mind, Van and Seral began ordering their troops about, having Karmine and the other leaders of their soldiers help out in marching the girls into the large building. Once that was done with, they began talking with Kira and their other roommates about their plans and working together. To which they agreed and began coordinating with them to get their own women into the building.

Walking through the second set of double doors into the other half of their building. They found it wasn’t that much different than the first half, except a bit larger and more cramped. There was a large lobby area leading to several doors, each leading to rooms that had rows upon rows of triple bunk beds with far less in the way of storage for personal items. Each room seemed to be able to easily hold about a hundred people of medium height, if not because they were packed like sardines… Even the lobby had a few stray bunk beds off to the side, in case anyone needed to use them.

Further down they found an armory, as well as what appeared to be an incubation or gestation center of sorts for those who grew their soldiers through eggs or other means, basically a hatchery. There was a training hall that also led out to a training field and a cafeteria area nearby with its own kitchen, even a stables to set up mounts that led outside.

“This place is a lot more impressive than I thought… though also a bit cramped…” Van said, taking a look at everything. This was his first time exploring the majority of the building he would be calling home for the next few years. He hadn’t gotten a chance yesterday, but he was glad he was checking everything out now before it was too late.

After taking a quick look around, he joined everyone else in taking a few nearby rooms for them to house their troops in. from the looks of it, they should have more than enough space for everyone since like it was stated before, not everyone brought along the full contingent of soldiers advised by the school.

Once they settled their girls in, it was time to turn back and figure out how they were going to help the Fandorians before something bad happened. Fortunately, nothing happened while they were gone. But the tension between the two groups had risen for some reason and now there was an even more clear dividing line between everyone than before.

Not wanting to go alone, Van asked Seral and Kira to help back him up as they introduced themselves to what was the clear captain of the Fandorian soldiers staring everyone down. He cautiously walked towards the imposing woman, making sure that his intentions were clear with every step he took towards her by walking forward in an obvious manner. Upon reaching just a few feet away from the women in the splendid royal guard uniform. he introduced himself with a small salute by bringing fist to chest, trying to hide his nervousness.

“Hello. My name is Vanris Vransolis. And this is Seral Umbra and Kira Bloodmoon.” Giving a small wave of his hand to encompass his friends. “It is an honor to meet what were long-standing rivals of our wonderful nation on equal ground. I can only hope that this would be a step forward for peace between our two people. We have taken the liberty of securing some lodgings for you and your troops. While not the best, you will find that it is at least equal to everyone else's. If you wish, we can guide you to them right now.”

The captain of the royal guard just stared at him with fierce yet clear eyes for a solid few seconds. As if trying to discern what exactly was his true intentions. The other vampire nobles watching were also surprised by this and began muttering and gossiping with each other.

Van for his part wasn’t sure what was going through the captain's mind. Was she offended by the fact she was approached by a male? Or did she simply not trust him, or for that matter, any vampire no matter how good their intentions?

Finally after a while she spoke. With her own form of salute. “I thank you for your hospitality and would be honored for your help in securing a place to rest for my girls.” Is what she said, though her eyes gave a silent warning that if this was a trick, he would greatly regret it.

Van swallowed. “...Please follow me then. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask. I’ll do my best to answer them.” Doing his best to play a gregarious host. Once that was done, he turned his back to her and walked towards the building.

After a moment's pause she began to follow, gesturing and giving a few commands for her soldiers to follow.

Entering the building, the Fandorian soldiers began to look around suspiciously as in turn the soldiers brought by the vampire nobles warily looked back. As Van led the captain and her soldiers in, he gave a quick summary and explanation of everything here and available for use. Ending with showing the rooms that they would be staying, right next to the rooms his own troops would be staying in.

Only for there to be a young vampire noble arguing with Karmine about who got the room…

“What right do you have to stop me from taking this room! Hm! Move before I force you to move!” The vampire complained, clearly looking irritated by the fact that the room she wanted was being denied to her. It was a bit comical though, how it looked like a chihuahua barking at a far bigger and obviously meaner-looking dog. It was clear that this petite girl was never denied anything when growing up, making her very spoiled.

“Excuse me for one second,” Van said to the captain, before walking towards the rude noble.

Perhaps it was the pressure, or the feeling of sheer responsibility or fear that if he did something wrong he might be responsible for an accident that he wanted no part in. This put him in a very bad mood, so when he asked her to leave and she turned and started giving him attitude, all pretense of civility flew out the window and he gently but firmly put a hand on her shoulder and gave her the evilest glare he could muster.

“Listen you little bitch.” Van said in a very harsh but silent whisper. “I’m trying not to set off a diplomatic situation here. So I would greatly appreciate it if you moved on. Unless you want to get on the bad side of house Taldor, house Umbra, and the newly ascended house of Darkrose. If I were you, I would think very carefully of what I would think and say next, because it might be the last thing you and your ‘house’ would do. Got me…”

The poor noble girl’s eyes went wide as saucer plates during his harsh tirade. Especially when Van added a few extra threats into the mix for good measure, leaving her stunned and just standing there in fear.

“Well? Are you going to go or what?” Van asked after a few seconds of the girl shaking.

“...Please fuck me.” She said, biting her lower lips and giving him a big puppy-eyed stare, body still shivering. It was clear that her heart was racing and she was experiencing something she never felt before and wasn’t sure of what to make of it, which addled her brain.

“...I'll think about it if you go… Now…” Van muttered deadpan, a part of him dying inside.

The girl turned on her heel and left. “Keep your promise okay!” she said as she ran away.

Van then turned to look at Karmine. “What are you looking at…”

She gave him a massive smile. “I’m kinda turned on too…”

He wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not but decided to ignore her and go back towards the captain and her waiting troops. “Sorry about that, there was a bit of a mix-up, please go ahead and make yourselves at home.

“You can’t be serious…” one of the Fandorians muttered as they began to move forward and check out their new room.

“Is this an insult?” another whispered.

They peered into the cramped quarters with a mixture of disbelief and affront at the sight before their eyes.

Van, overhearing this, tried to help diffuse their displeasure by pointing a few things out. Turning to the captain as if he was just explaining a few more things to her, but in a way that others could overhear.

“While it is true that these rooms leave much to be desired. I assure you, no matter where you look, all other rooms will be the same. We treat all soldiers equally. Even nobles such as myself and others are not exempt from this. Your princess for example will not fare much better, and will also be in the same situation. Alongside every other student here.” hoping that explanation would calm them down a little.

“Indeed.” Kira began, wanting to add something to what Van just said. “It doesn’t matter if you are from a barony or archduchy. Nor if you are a royal or commoner. What matters here in Akeldama, in Bloodhaven academy, is merit and what contributions you can provide. If you and your… princess…” She paused over that part since she didn’t properly know how to address their owner. “Prove yourself, you will find that you can use the points you have earned to improve not only your accommodations, but also your access to learning resources and more.”

A few mutterings and whispers began to rise from the mass of soldiers.

“Are they really going to treat our princess like a common vampire?”

“Her highness doesn’t deserve such an insult.”

“She deserves so much better than this!”

Slowly they got louder as their dissatisfaction began to feed off each other and grow. Making Van and the others back off with fear that they might try something. Thankfully their captain still had her head on straight and yelled at her troops to calm down and fall in line, her voice booming across the room, making even the other vampires raise their heads and look over at what was going on there.

“What are all of you! A bunch of prissy little girls!? This should be no different than when we first entered the military! Our princess has risked everything to come here as a sign of good faith. To try and figure out a means of ending this never-ending war and securing some sort of long-term peace! And you bunch of pussies can’t even handle a few bunk beds!? Have you all gone soft while I wasn’t looking? Or has the five-star hotels and food made you all into fucking babies that need to be pampered! Did you really think that kind of treatment was going to last forever when we arrived here? Now suck it up and get in line! That last one to stop bitching will be forced to go back home on the first train out of here! Understand me!”

Her voice cracking like a whip, cowing her subordinates and even making a few nobles and their soldiers slink away in fear of getting in trouble with her, or at least growing the distance between them and her...

Once done she turned to Van and his group to apologize. “I’m sorry you had to see that, I assure you my girls are far better behaved than this.”

“Not at all.” Van said, not wanting her to act so deferential towards him. “It’s honestly quite understandable. Even I was a bit put off when I found that my accommodations weren’t that much better and that I had to share them.”

“Please, try and make yourself at home. I have put my own troops in the room next door and have asked them to help you and your soldiers should they need anything or have any questions to ask. I hope we can work together in the future. I at least would be looking forward to it.” Van finished.

The captain looked towards Karmine, and then the rooms nearby their own rooms before looking back to Van. “I thank you for your help. I will not soon forget it.”

And with that, the captain began ordering her troops into the rooms, breaking them up, and appointing leaders to each one. There were a few grumblings about the crampess of everything, but no one dared to utter it near the captain.

Van gave a small sigh of relief now that this huge task was done, feeling like a great weight was lifted off his shoulders. He and the others watched for a while as the Fandorians streamed into their new home. Once the majority of the Fandorians were inside, Van and the others decided that it was time to go check up on their dorm.

Hopefully Cerina had worked things out with the princess better than they had with the troops…