I froze. Around me, nerves churned as vampires considered the possibility at which Darius hinted - that Cadogan House wouldn't be a member of the GP much longer. Instead, we'd be its enemies.
"Cadogan House rejected the efforts of the GP to review and stabilize this House. If Cadogan House does not wish to support the GP's efforts, the GP must inquire whether Cadogan House should remain within the GP."
Darius looked out across the sea of vampires before him, and then back at Ethan.
"The Presidium caled a shofet," he said. "And that shofet has voted to excommunicate Cadogan House from membership in the GP."
The magic went panicky, vampires whispering about the possibility that they'd be Houseless in less than a month. I heard their whispers, and while many felt the House was being betrayed by the GP, they weren't al favorable to Ethan.
"The GP has no right to do this."
"Ethan wil fix this - he has to."
"Is this Ethan's fault?"
For the first time, I was glad Ethan couldn't mentaly hear what his vampires were saying about him.
"I am not convinced that excommunication is the right decision. Although I have serious doubts about decisions made by this House, I do not doubt they were made with good intentions. But those decisions were made, and they were made in ful awareness of their consequences by experienced vampires.
"Therefore, tomorrow I wil cal the ful GP for a vote on this issue. And whatever decision is made, I wish you al happy and productive futures."
Darius looked over the crowd and gave a final nod, then stepped down from the podium and into the crowd. It split as he walked through the vampires, al turning to watch his procession to the door. He walked out of the balroom, and for a moment we al stood there silently, wondering what was going to happen and what was going to become of us.
Could Cadogan House survive on its own? Did the protections of the GP realy matter? I wasn't sure. And from the expressions on the faces around me, I wasn't the only one.
Needing reassurance, we turned and looked back at Ethan.
"Shut the door," he said, gesturing to the vampires in the back of the room. It closed with a thush behind us.
Ethan stood on the podium, gaze stil on the door, his hands on his hips. The line of worry between his eyes was gone, and there was a new determination in his eyes.
"The GP has existed for many years," he said. "Vampires formed Houses within its control because it was in their best interest to do so, because the protections afforded by the GP - financial, political, military - were worth it."
He looked down at us. "But the world has changed. The British Empire no longer rules the world, and the United States are no longer colonies in need of protection. If the GP decides Cadogan House's membership must be revoked...then perhaps
it is time we ask ourselves if the GP should be our concern."
"They can't just kick us out!" A male vampire - dark hair, worried expression - stepped forward from the crowd, his eyes moving franticaly between Ethan and Malik. "Our immortality has never been more precarious."
"We aren't Rogue vampires!" someone else caled out. "We are better than that."
There were murmurs of agreement in the crowd.
"We can't just defect," someone yeled out. "We can't just give up."
The murmurs grew to a cacophonous roar. However strongly these vampires felt about Ethan - and however many doubts they may have had about the GP - their fear of being Houseless was apparently stronger.
"Silence," Ethan roared out, and the room went quiet. His gaze went green and steely - the gaze of a Master vampire, not a man standing by while Darius West set forth his destiny.
"Remember who you are, and who we are together. Do not let your fear lead you - that's what the GP has done. We have survived for more than a century as Cadogan vampires, and whatever else happens in Chicago or the world beyond, we wil remain Cadogan vampires."
Ethan's eyes softened, and he took a step forward on the platform, his body visibly relaxing as he changed from Master vampire to friend and confidant.
"There is no doubt this situation is serious," he said. He spoke more softly now, and the room was silent to catch every word that fel from his lips. It was an effective technique.
"But consider what we have seen over the past year. We were outed without our consent by a Master who kiled three human girls that we know of. Our vampires were recruited and hunted by her and her minions, and we have become the targets of militia apparently intent on eliminating Chicago's 'vampire problem.' "
The crowd got a kick out of his air quotes. Riding the good humor, Ethan pushed his hands into his pockets and stepped down into the crowd. "Sit down," he said. "Al of you."
Vampires looked at one another nervously before sitting down on the hardwood floor.
"Good," Ethan said, and then did the same, sitting down on the edge of the platform to face them. It was a remarkably casual move for Ethan - maybe another bit of his postmortem transformation.
With nearly one hundred vampires at his feet, Ethan linked his hands and put his elbows on his knees. He leaned forward.
"They sent a man to this House who rationed blood, who sent our vampires into the sun, who stripped us of our protections.
Are those the acts of an entity that supports us? That protects us? Or are those the actions of an entity that tests us and provokes us? The world is different than it was a hundred years ago, and it is worthwhile to seriously consider whether membership is, as they say, worth the privilege."
He looked across the sea of vampires. "To excommunicate a House is a profound action. Not being affiliated with the GP would not be an easy course. There is a stigma, of course, and the concern we lack protection if we are not affiliated. But this House is financialy secure and would be able to maintain itself without the GP. It has connections throughout this city, including Merit's grandfather, the Apex of the North American Central Pack, water nymphs, fairies, the Lake Michigan siren, and potentialy the Queen of the Fae. My friends, my brothers, my sisters, I am not afraid."
He stood up again, walked to the edge of the platform, and lifted up a smal box that had been placed there. There was a slit in the top, just wide enough for a piece of paper or two.
It was a balot box.
"We are not colonials of the British Empire. We are citizens of these United States, and our ways are different. I say we make our own decision. We can wait for a formal excommunication to be handed down tomorrow. Or we can act tonight. We can leave the GP on our own terms. We can establish a new kind of vampire organization which recognizes our contemporary needs."