Saber de lineas de sangre 344257123-V20-Lore-of-the-Bloodlines-11056187-pdf | Page 21

“Again,” he said. “No,” she replied. “I don’t think I heard you correctly.” “Yes, you did.” “You will do as you are told!” shouted Byron, more desperately than he exp ected. “No. You are going to open this cag e and release me. Then you are goin g to commit to several new policies and ensure the Prince and the other Primogen agree. Then, and only then, will I sing for you again.” Byron was dumbstruck and angry, but the echo of her voice was still there in the room. He began to realize how much he needed to hea r it. Eloise seemed to stand taller inside her cage. “I really did think it would take longer to addict such an eminent Toreador,” she smiled . “Sing for me!” shouted Byron desper ately. Eloise stepped closer to the bars. “Kn eel for me, and I might,” she whispered . Byron slowly sank to his knees. “Ple ase,” he murmured. Overture Where did we come from? I’m told it’s one of the mysteries of the modern age. All I know are the stories that my sire told me, and her sire told her. Perhaps my sire was the original; perhaps we’re actually all just Toreador with a special skill. I can’t tell you the truth, as valuable and as elusive such a thing is among us. But I can tell you what I was told, even though it will grant you more questions than answers in the long run. One of the tales involves three sisters. They all had incredible voices and talent, enough to interest several vampiric Clans. One was embraced by the Toreador, another by the Ventrue, and the third by the Malkavians. However, the divisions of Clan could not keep them apart, and against the orders of their elders they met in secret. Unfortunately, the elders rarely reward disobedience, and each was punished severely. However, instead of coming to heel, each punishment only made the sisters more determined and cunning. Together, they began to plot a way to escape their Clans and be together. So they started sharing not only their skills but their blood, hoping to bind themselves even more than before. As time passed, they began to grow together, and the ties to their sires gradually weakened. They found new skills and developed new powers as they became more than the sum of their parts. Those they sired claimed that legacy as Daughters of Cacophony. 20 There are three different stories about their end. In one, they all became like the Toreador, and were so fixated by the harmony they could produce. It is said they became lost one day in a single perfect note and remain frozen forever, listening to a song they cannot stop singing. Another tale blames the Malkavian blood, saying they became crazed by constant music and developed a hatred of it. They sought out musicians and slaughtered them until Clan Toreador captured them. They scream nightly in some deep dungeon to stop the music that only they can hear. The Ventrue tale is simpler. It is said they simply developed a taste for each other’s blood. Nothing else would grant them sustenance, so they fell upon each other, and the victor has held the other two prisoners as her personal supply for centuries. Are any of those stories the truth? I cannot tell you. Perhaps there is a grain in them. But how can you believe one tale when even the stories of our origin in the Victorian era is a lie? It is true that era was a golden age for us. Music halls and theatres could be found in every town. Indeed, competition for the greatest acts was rife, and in an age without television, radio, or phonographs, the people clamored to hear our song. That is not to say such demand had never been the case before. For hundreds of years previously, the wealthy had considered music a valuable accomplishment and entertained each other with song after dinner. But the Victorian age was not just an age of music, it was an age of the performer. We captured hearts from the stage, be it in the charm of the music hall or the drama of the opera. DAUGHTERS OF CACOPHONY