The others were taken aback by Quinn's words. All of them had tried to gather information about this new family leader, yet all their sources could find was that he was supposed to be a normal seventeen year old boy, with his eighteenth birthday not too far away. Even if he didn't look like your typical eighteen year old, his experience should have still been limited.
What was making them confused, was how did someone like him find out about Rowa? There weren't that many who knew the former second family leader, so how could he have found out that sort of information? The initial thought was somebody was helping him but maybe that wasn't the case.
The last time these family leaders had seen Quinn was at the council table, he was still a frightened teenager, shaking in his boots, even though there had been times when he had sparked and shined through, just like he did now.
"Well, you have a right to say that." Cindy admitted by taking a sip from her cup of tea. It was only when she placed it down that Quinn noticed that the 'tea' itself was red, and the liquid didn't look like water.
'How is she covering up that smell?' Quinn let his mind wander.
"Just like I have the right to say this. Do you really think the current leaders should be judged based on the previous leaders actions?! You should get rid of your human thinking. Not only aren't we one and the same, but in the case of us vampires, there could have been centuries between the previous and current generation family leader. Some of us might not have even been born when our predecessor came to power. The environment of our upbringing would have been completely different!"
"If you want to follow this trend, then I have to ask you, what about your tenth family? You might have changed the name, but the tenth family will remain the tenth family, no matter what you call them. Should we punish you for what Vincent has done or the crimes the leaders before him, might have committed? Why don't we go back to the Originals and punish each other for their crimes now as well?!"
Taking another big sip of her drink, she put down her cup. "I think you get my point."
Cindy had retorted his logic with a fire in her belly. Quinn had to agree it was quite reasonable. He didn't know any of their situations, but then he had only been trying to probe them, hoping to find a clue if not an answer about the situation.
He just knew that one of them must have been working with the Bloodsuckers. As a former member of the second family, the current family leader had naturally been his prime candidate.
"Quinn, we're aware that this wasn't the most welcoming of meetings." Muka spoke. "I apologise for that. A lot of us leaders have high pride, and we already get compared to our predecessors internally. However, Cindy had a point, although we might follow in the footsteps of others, everyone is responsible for their own choices. As for me, I want to find out the truth just like Dwight."
"Remember when you came the time before? My knights had been killed, Fex got interrogated, and the Influence skill had been used on him. The reason why I'm telling you all this, is because I'm convinced that the one responsible isn't anyone in this room, and that includes you. If I had to put my life on it, my guess would be Bryce. No matter the cost, that man can not become the next King!" Muka was clenching his fist and his words were spoken with conviction.
Honestly, Quinn believed his words a lot more than Cindy's.
"I haven't made a decision just yet, but I do agree with your points. Honestly my decision will be based on what's best for the tenth family. You are asking me to do something that I might regret in the future, so in return I at least want to get something out of it now." Quinn demanded.
"Aren't you the feisty one?!" David was enraged and his tone made it clear he was ready for a fight. However, when all other leaders stared at him he quickly sat back down. "FINE! Speak, what do you want?! As long as you aren't asking for too much, we should be able to accommodate you."
"Firstly, protection. It's no secret that my tenth family still gets treated poorly, including those living in the pooling area. I've received some reports and they are shocking to say the least. I want all of your family members to immediately stop discriminating against them, including those in the pooling area. Should there be any incidents involving the tenth family that require punishment, be it in the past or future, I want you to leave the punishment up to me."
There were a few looks between the other leaders, honestly leaving their people in the hands of another family. They wondered how their families would view them.
"I'm not asking for you to let me decide everything on my own. If it's an incident involving both our families, I'll be happy to decide what is fair together." Quinn clarified.
"As long as it's a case-by-case basis then I think we can agree to your deal." Muka suggested. "Especially those that have been punished enough to be sent to the prison. I will definitely be able to hand over those criminals to you."
'Boy, just what are you thinking?' Vincent wondered where he was going with this.
There were two reasons for Quinn to make this request. Soon those in the tenth family would start to be treated better and it would be through his own actions. This should lead to some nice reputation points allowing him to further upgrade his defences.
As for turning the criminals to him, there were times when the punishment was eternal slumber, or imprisonment for life. Quinn wanted to check if they might have been judged too harshly in some cases. If so, he could lessen the punishment and add to his force. Naturally if he had to agree that the punishment was fitting, he could at least use the skill Shadow eater on them, so they would help him improve his shadow ability.
He knew it was quite harsh to make the vampires suffer through such a thing, but with Arthur arriving, someone who had been doing this for thousands of years, how could he ever hope to match up to him without getting his hands dirty.
"Are there any more requests?" Cindy asked, as if she thought he had already pushed his luck with the first one.
"Yes, although the next one is far more simple and it actually involves you personally." Quinn answered. "I've been told a bit about your ability, that you are supposed to be able to reverse time on a certain body part up to a certain degree. I have someone, whose memories have been wiped, so I was hoping that you could help in that regard."
Cindy didn't reply immediately, and instead looked into her drink that was now empty. She stood up and walked over to Quinn offering her hand.
"I agree. As long as you give us that vote, then your two requests shall be honored. Feel free to send them over whenever you like."
Although Quinn didn't want to make a deal that he might later break, he needed to gain her cooperation. He couldn't allow Bryce to end up as King, so in the end he might actually end up giving her his vote anyway.
He shook her hand and with that the meeting had concluded.
"As long as no problems arise between now and when the voting starts, this will be our last meeting. Quinn, whatever you do, be careful to survive until then." Cindy told him as he was the last to leave.
Quinn was unsure if it was meant to be a threat or if she was genuinely concerned.
Before he had a chance to clarify, the doors had already closed behind him.
Soon after leaving the place, one of the leaders who was present in the room had approached Quinn just outside the castle, away from the others, he was one that stayed silent during the whole meeting.
It was Fex's father Lee.
"Quinn, there is something we need to talk about, something I was unable to say to you before." Lee spoke. "Thank you, thank you for doing everything you could to save Fex."
He didn't bow down, Quinn supposed he was too prideful for that, but he didn't care, this was enough.
"It's fine, Fex is a good friend and I treat him like family. How is Fex doing anyway?" Quinn asked.
******
