Once Quinn had finished his turn speaking, the room was deathly silent. So much so that one could even hear the draft coming in through the small gap under the door. No one moved an inch, no shuffling of the feet or anything for fear it would make some noise.
The reason why? It was because of the words and tone that Quinn had used when speaking to the Vampire King. Bryce was a man that was well respected even before he had become King. The leaders like Muka who disliked him, even they had always respected him as the First leader.
He was organised, strong, and cared for the vampire settlement. Now that he was King, respect wasn't just expected but demanded. Some would even go as far to say that Bryce had earned the respect by being elected for the position.
But with Quinn, there were no fluff words like 'your Majesty' or beating around the bush. He was direct, to the point where Quinn may have come across as arrogant by speaking as if he was above him.
No words were spoken yet, the leaders had remained silent in shock with no idea how to break the awkward tension. They didn't want to set off anyone's anger at this moment, until finally Quinn was the one who had broken the silence himself.
"Bryce, remember you owe me, and more than once now." Quinn stated. "At least the people standing outside my castle know how to be grateful for what I have done. All I am asking is for you to do the same."
It was clear by the way Quinn was talking, the two of them had more history then the other leaders knew about. From Quinn's words they could gather that he wasn't just talking about what happened with Cindy.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtBryce sighed in resignation. "Very well. You are right. We accused you wrongfully and even then you were the one who got rid of the biggest threat to us. We still haven't even rewarded you for your efforts due to everything that is going on. What is your request?" Bryce asked.
Quinn was one step closer, but not the whole way, for now Bryce would have to hear him out, whether he would accept it or not was a different story.
"Whether I was forced into this position or not, I am the current leader of the Tenth family. The Tenth family, not the Fourteenth. It was by chance that I had got that power and my role was never to be a Punisher.
"At the end of the day, I can't let go of my past either or those I care about. I was originally a human and just like this place is your home, for myself, the humans, and everyone with me, Earth is their home. I want to request the freedom for me and my people to move between the Tenth castle and the Cursed ship as we wish.
"The other castles already have teleporters linked to Earth, so I see that there should be no issue if we link one to the Cursed ship my group has created. I won't be taking all of the Tenth vampires with me, but just those close to me and who wish to go to Earth. However, like I said, I won't abide by my position.
"If my people need me, if you need to call me for duties that those left behind can't handle to do with the Tenth family, then you can call me. I think this is quite fair.
"And I have on more requests." Quinn said, turning to Paul. "I want to know if there is a way to turn a vampire that has been turned, back into a human. Even if you don't know of one, if there is any research that I can look into, it would be appreciated."
For now, Quinn thought there was no need to mention about Paul and his men wanting to turn back, and just would let them know he was looking for a cure. They might even think he was looking for one himself this way.
Although Bryce was allowing Quinn to speak to him the way he did so, the other vampires didn't like it at all, and now after hearing his request they couldn't take it anymore.
"Have you gone mad?" Prima shouted. "Just because you have gained a little power you think you can trample over the whole council with your request! What you're asking for is basically to disappear and do what you want in the human world, while still keeping a title here in the vampire world."
"Let me correct you." Quinn said, staring right at Prima. "I don't care about the title and I don't care about the council. The only thing I care about is protecting those from the Tenth, because it seems like all the other leaders have something against them. However I won't force them to leave their home in order to protect them. I am leaving this place, but I was also thinking about the vampires, something you guys should do more of rather than just thinking about your own families."
Prima was enraged and went to reach for his rapier by his side, but Quinn's eyes were already glowing red and Bryce had raised his hand to stop the tension.
"You are a Royal Knight Prima, and you can't act rashly like you just did right now. If you attacked, then Quinn would have had every right to defend himself." Bryce stated. "Firstly to address your requests, I do not think there is any trouble giving you access to our research facilities and library, including the King's library which has books that have been scrapped.
"Although the Tenth family are the ones that have the most research and skills to deal with this. So I would expect that there won't be much you can find there. This will be your reward for saving the settlement, as for your first request it is something we have never allowed before, so we shall deal with this the same way we deal with problems undecided in the council room and we shall put it to a vote. All those that think Quinn's request is reasonable and he should be granted those privileges please raise your hand."
Quinn had predicted that it might come to a vote, but if it did he was unsure what the outcome would be. He just hoped it was in their favour, otherwise there was a lot of convincing he would need to do.
Muka, Jin, and Lee were the first to raise their hands for Quinn. They owed Quinn a lot for what he had done. Jin and Muka felt like if they hadn't taken his advice and not voted for Bryce they would have been in a far worse situation.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe next to raise their hand was Sunny. A lot of her people had been saved thanks to Peter, on top of this Leo and Borden dealing with Remus made it so her people could live. She saw the fighting first hand and thought her family would have suffered the most losses if Remus hadn't been dealt with.
The next one to raise their hand superseded them the most, as it was the new Second leader, Tempus.
"I like the kid." Tempus said. "Besides, he was the one that purged the evil from my family. He clearly doesn't want to be here, what is the point of stopping someone from leaving who wants to go? They will find a way out even without permission."
This meant there were now five votes in favour for Quinn's request being accepted. With Jill no longer being a leader, it also meant those against were the new leaders, Kim and Harlu, along with Suzan, Muscat, and David.
"A tie breaker?" Kyle mumbled.
If it was a tie, Quinn wondered what would happen. Would he have to fight some of the leaders to prove his strength like when the royalty were to be selected, or would it default and there was a majority rule in place? Also, didn't Quinn's own vote count?
"Not quite." Bryce interrupted. "Usually when there is a tie then the final vote lies with the King, at the same time, there isn't a current leader for the First family and I am still part of this role. My final vote goes in favour of Quinn's request."
It was safe to say, Quinn was gobsmacked. For some reason Bryce was on Quinn's side.
'First wanting me to become a Punisher and now this, what is he up to?' Quinn couldn't help but think.