For once I don’t think anyone could have seen that one coming. I sure as hell didn’t. Doubt that any of the others had a fair chance.

The plan was to deliver a serious blow to JB’s pride by not greeting him properly like all the others. But, as fate would have it, he stumbled into friar Jean, Thomas and I while we were outside. Oh well. Probably didn’t even notice that I slighted him.

Jean seems to be more and more withdrawn. Detached even. He spends a lot of time thinking. I’m worried that it might be too much. Sulking tends to make people incapable of acting where they have to. Then again he is Brujah, who are prone to act. Though I have to hand it to them: Choosing Sparkle as their speaker wasn’t all that wise, guys. She likes her fair share of trouble too much to be in any real position to lead. That – or she grows up some time soon. Hell, I hope she does.

So Alessandro was pissed. Probably most of all at Jason for writing that mail. Can’t see why. After all he only voiced his opinion – internally, mind you. There’s no harm in that, is there. Obviously that would make him a traitor. It’s a good thing that he didn’t show up. I’ll be damned though if I had let Alessandro lay hand on him again. Will have to meet him some time soon and give him the details on what exactly happened.

For his part, Alessandro tried pushing us into a decision. I did as I said, stalling some. Also I wanted to give him the opportunity to step down and keep his pride. Which was then seen as me playing around, both by Alena and him. Well, tough luck! I don’t play around with serious stuff like that. At least not right now. Anyway. After hearing Alena’s lecture on how I should end this I agreed that I would do so that very night.

Turns out I didn’t have to. Thanks to some divine intervention the prince dismissed the primogen council as a whole. If truth be told that means that there’s no leading troup around right now, aside from the prince herself. Don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. I have no idea what she has in mind just yet. But I’m pretty sure she hasn’t made it this far by being an idiot. So I’m trying hard to cut her some slack and just wait for things to come while at the same time kick everybody else in the ass to get moving. They are so terribly slow these days! And with them I mean the new and improved pirmogen, now calling themselves speakers. Blabla.

The prince keeps impressing me, just like Jason keeps surprising me. That being a surprise in two ways – because I thought by now nobody could surprise me anymore. And there he goes and keeps doing it. Such a clever kid too! Smart move, that thing with Alena. If things plays out the way he planned, he’ll be very well off around here.

As soon as the sun went down I wrote a letter to Alessandro. Something tells me he’s not going to reply to it. Too much pride involved. It was disappointing to see him go last night. I had hoped he had more of a spine than that. Guess Brückner was just as disappointed. She’s known him a bit longer. On the other hand people like her must be used to losing others. The good ones just as well as the bad ones. Lost a friend. Made an enemy, most like.

Being the busy little bumblebee that I am I also wrote a letter to Bruni. He keeps telling me I have to grow up. No kidding! So I’ve noticed. There’s a change at hand. It’ll be a very fine line to walk. Keep your fingers crossed.

If there is one person who can quietly snicker to himself these days that’d be good Raphael. I bet he’s been grinning for the rest of the night once the doors of his haven closed behind him. After what they did to him I know I would, being in his place. It’s an interesting thing to see how the intel you plant boomerangs back to you, just as if those were top stories you haven’t heard before. No reason to let Alena feel bad for telling me something I already knew though. She needs to feel that she’s important as well. So it’s good to listen to her once in a while. And with those foster parents… I should probably listen more often.

Had a little talk with Miss Sanders as well. Being kicked in the groin by the prince sure left no dent in her behaviour. Might be she’s just slow. Still. From what I could tell people were remarkable at placing the blame at everybody else’s feet. And even if they did not, they sure as hell felt no need to pick up the pieces they’ve created.

Fine. I’ll make an exception. Thomas felt a bit bad. But he’s Nosferatu. People expect him to be neutral. That makes his position somewhat special. And his loyalty can’t be questioned. Besides, Mascha saved my mood at the end of the evening. That girl’s humor freaks me out!

“Seriously, Dee. I think it’s a pretty safe bet that people won’t consider you young anymore once you’ve passed 50.”
Besagte Dame starrte Nate wütend an und hatte, dies unterstreichend, die Hände in die Seiten gestemmt. “Doesn’t mean you have to burry him! I won’t let you!”
Nate verdrehte das Auge. “It does mean that exactly!” Er ging auf sie zu, nahm ihre Hände bei den Handgelenken und hob sie auf Brusthöhe an. “Do you want to live, hm? This, right here, is our best bet for staying alive. Because as crazy as the place may be, people are not quite as dead as they are elsewhere. There’s still a sense of honor. At least with some of them.”
Das waren gut sichtbar die falschen Worte. Noch während er redete stiegen seiner Gefährtin die Tränen in die Augen. Die Wut wich aus ihnen, nicht aber der Vorwurf sie verletzt zu haben.
“Listen. I like him as much as you do. But this has to happen. So that we can make this work. So that, one fine day, we won’t have to wake up rolling the dice on where we’ll go to sleep that night.”
Ehe er es sich versehen hatte fing er sich eine Ohrfeige die sich gewaschen hatte. Manchmal vergaß er die Stärke, die sein Blut ihr gab. “I don’t like you when you’re all grown up.”
“I won’t be around you. I promise.”
Ein wenig trotzig reckte sie das Kinn hoch, entzog ihm ihre Hände und drehte sich schwungvoll um, ihm den Rücken zuwendend. “Zip me.”
Seufzend fischte er nach dem Reißverschluss und schloß das schwarze Kleid für sie.