"I do not consider your presence nor those of your serving staff to be a nuisance." It was the truth; he had no reason to lie to her on this subject. He, of course, had his secrets, but he made no particular effort to hide that he had grown to enjoy her company and their conversations. She didn't wax and wane with complaints but came at situations with a curious musing, which he had grown to find endearing.
If they were still humans, he might even describe it as her coming alive during some of their particularly curious theoretical or realistic debates. Very few dared to even try to keep up with him on such matters, but she gave as good as she received.
He set his glass down when she tucked into the chair and turned down the path of 'this might sound insane', knowing that she was about to regale him with a theory of hers. He provided her his full attention as he considered what she was saying, corner of his lips twitching when she asked if he had heard the story before. He had stopped being personally offended by the idea that there was historical knowledge he didn't have that she might. Now he found it curious and amusing.
"We are the makers of our own destruction when we are too bold," he remarked after considering her words carefully. "Some forget that humanity and even lesser vampires are meager on their own, but once they grow in number, even the most ancient and cruel of us will find their end." They had plenty of historical evidence that tyranny would create uprisings, and even the best strangle-holds allowed some grains of sand to slip from between one's fingers. A united mass was truly a force to be reckoned with.
But war was an uncertainty, even for vampire-kind. It was in everyone's nature to take more than they needed, and ancient vampires were dangerous when they roused themselves to action given their ancient knowledge, skill and their potential connection to Chaos and the demonic realm. Uncertainty would remain. One wrong turn, one bold group of skilled warriors, losing track of time engrossed in a task, or even malcontent within one's own ranks.
"Your concerns are valid, Lenore. Eventually ambitions will outgrow the caution of remaining to the shadows." He gestured a hand towards her in animated conversation. "However, we remain limited by the sun where humans are not. Only on a full solar eclipse can we move freely during the day, but those hardly last long enough to make the risk worthwhile." He did consider the possibility as he stroked his goatee. "Do you believe there is a real threat of an ancient vampire that could blot out the sun?"
He had seen little evidence of ancient vampires, but it had been many years since he had walked around so boldly as to potentially provoke one either. They were best to let such sleeping dragons lie unless they revealed themselves. He wasn't King of the Vampires without certain assurances of his own abilities, but those who were truly ancient would gather the kind of power needed to overtake an empire. Secret societies aside, ancient vampires were not recorded to be agreeable to working well with others either their own kind or humanity.
"I also don't find the movements of the Ottoman Empire as it expands to be any more threatening than Alexander the Great, the Romans or even the Greeks. They move with a purposeful greed to covet the lands and people. Yes, their mechanizations have a definite air of secrecy...." He folded his hands together and rested his chin upon them as he stared in the fire, playing out her scenario in his head and what he assumed it might look like with vampires at the helm. "However, I don't discount your theory entirely. It requires evidence, and there is only few avenues available to gather such evidence."
Use spies to investigate or do so personally.
"Would you consider this unease within you so deep as you would expend resources to look into such matters?" He turned his head to regard her. She was a Queen of her own right; how would she act without requiring the approval of her fellow Sister-Queens?
/claps enthusiastically
If they were still humans, he might even describe it as her coming alive during some of their particularly curious theoretical or realistic debates. Very few dared to even try to keep up with him on such matters, but she gave as good as she received.
He set his glass down when she tucked into the chair and turned down the path of 'this might sound insane', knowing that she was about to regale him with a theory of hers. He provided her his full attention as he considered what she was saying, corner of his lips twitching when she asked if he had heard the story before. He had stopped being personally offended by the idea that there was historical knowledge he didn't have that she might. Now he found it curious and amusing.
"We are the makers of our own destruction when we are too bold," he remarked after considering her words carefully. "Some forget that humanity and even lesser vampires are meager on their own, but once they grow in number, even the most ancient and cruel of us will find their end." They had plenty of historical evidence that tyranny would create uprisings, and even the best strangle-holds allowed some grains of sand to slip from between one's fingers. A united mass was truly a force to be reckoned with.
But war was an uncertainty, even for vampire-kind. It was in everyone's nature to take more than they needed, and ancient vampires were dangerous when they roused themselves to action given their ancient knowledge, skill and their potential connection to Chaos and the demonic realm. Uncertainty would remain. One wrong turn, one bold group of skilled warriors, losing track of time engrossed in a task, or even malcontent within one's own ranks.
"Your concerns are valid, Lenore. Eventually ambitions will outgrow the caution of remaining to the shadows." He gestured a hand towards her in animated conversation. "However, we remain limited by the sun where humans are not. Only on a full solar eclipse can we move freely during the day, but those hardly last long enough to make the risk worthwhile." He did consider the possibility as he stroked his goatee. "Do you believe there is a real threat of an ancient vampire that could blot out the sun?"
He had seen little evidence of ancient vampires, but it had been many years since he had walked around so boldly as to potentially provoke one either. They were best to let such sleeping dragons lie unless they revealed themselves. He wasn't King of the Vampires without certain assurances of his own abilities, but those who were truly ancient would gather the kind of power needed to overtake an empire. Secret societies aside, ancient vampires were not recorded to be agreeable to working well with others either their own kind or humanity.
"I also don't find the movements of the Ottoman Empire as it expands to be any more threatening than Alexander the Great, the Romans or even the Greeks. They move with a purposeful greed to covet the lands and people. Yes, their mechanizations have a definite air of secrecy...." He folded his hands together and rested his chin upon them as he stared in the fire, playing out her scenario in his head and what he assumed it might look like with vampires at the helm. "However, I don't discount your theory entirely. It requires evidence, and there is only few avenues available to gather such evidence."
Use spies to investigate or do so personally.
"Would you consider this unease within you so deep as you would expend resources to look into such matters?" He turned his head to regard her. She was a Queen of her own right; how would she act without requiring the approval of her fellow Sister-Queens?