**3rd Person POV**
“I did but we must return to the matter at hand,” Edvin knew that if he did not circle back to the important issue, Dagen would only go on and on about his perfect daughter.
“Of course. You were suggesting having some diplomatic face-off with them?” the problem was that Charlotte was like her father and did not have faith in conversations. If he had his way he would have sent out an army to crush the vampire kingdoms that were responsible for the raid but the council of Elders had stayed his hand saying that it could lead to an all-out war.
“It's not a face-off Dagen. It's a ball. We'll send someone there who'll look pretty and smile a lot,” replied Edvin.
****
A day later when Charlotte was having a conversation about the vampire kingdom with her dad, she burst out saying, “It will make us look weak! My point exactly!”
“How come no one seems to understand us?” returned Dagen with the same fervour. Edvin only shook his head as the two finished each other's sentences. It was a wonder Charlotte was not his heir because she was the perfect replacement for all of Dagen's ideologies.
“They say they want to avoid a war,” replied Charlotte with sarcasm.
“Can you imagine how ridiculous they sound? The bloody vampires would have murdered us all during the fiery red moon,” replied Dagen with the same sarcasm.
Edvin could not stand the two of them in the same room.
“That is what I keep telling Aunt Em. They want to cleanse us from the land completely. They are threatened by our existence and for good reason too,” said Charlotte, her green eyes glowing like jewels.
“I should speak with Queen Emily. Isn't it too dangerous? Your going there?” quipped Dagen. Edvin had known that Dagen would still bring this up.
“I will be fine, Dad. I will crush them if I have to.”
“Let's hope it does not come to that but if they dare you, my princess, they will face the full extent of my wrath,” said Dagen.
“I don't need protection, father. I can take care of myself,” returned Charlotte.
“I do not doubt that. Regardless, I worry about you. You are my little girl,” said Dagen.
“I'll be just fine. Besides, I have Thunder.”
“But there is something that bothers you, yes?” If there was someone else who could read Charlotte better than Reginald it was Dagen.
“It’s probably nothing but I… I just…”
“Spill, Charlie. Let me decide if it's nothing,” replied Dagen.
“So there was this bear I saw during my practice earlier in the week. It did just strike me as a bear, you know?” said Charlotte. When she had told her brother about it, he had said it was probably a costume of some sort although why anyone would want to wear such a thing was beyond him. He believed that someone might be trying to harm her or scare her off.
“Why did it not strike you as a bear?” asked Dagen, there was a note of concern in his voice.
“It was too intelligent to be one. It would not attack me; it'll catch my arrows effortlessly and then just make no move to eat me or anything,” Charlotte raised her concerns. Dagen thought about this for a while.
“I don't like the sound of this; what did you do when you tried to kill it?” asked Dagen.
“It had its head cocked to the side as though daring me to do something,” came Charlotte's response.
“You may be onto something,” inputted Edvin.
“What do you mean?” asked Dagen. Two pairs of eager eyes were now looking at him.
“I interviewed someone who managed to survive a vampire attack. He says that he never saw the attack coming. He was convinced that a werewolf was after him which was crazy. He had thought nothing of it until he was bitten,” said Edvin.
“The vampires are parading themselves in disguise?” quipped Charlotte with a tone of disbelief.
“They are cowards, that's for sure,” remarked Dagen.
“Smart cowards. So they can say they do not have an idea on the raids since our victims cannot accurately describe them,” said Edvin.
“But the bite marks are unmistakable. No other creature could have done that,” said Dagen.
“Actually, our wolf forms could. Hybrid wolves can suck blood like me. Wait! They're trying to make us go to war amongst ourselves?” quipped Charlotte in disbelief.
“They will record no such luck but your aunt's refusal to join our Council isn't helping matters,” returned Dagen.
“I can assure you that we will not be joining the Council anytime soon or ever,” returned Charlotte strongly. Father and daughter agreed on everything but when it came to certain matters they had strong and differing opinions.
“I will look into the disguise. It must be how they are entering our city unnoticed,” said Edvin. He did not want to be caught up in an argument between the both of them because when they started it was impossible to stop them. Besides, he needed to run a personal errand on his own before the end of today. He was hoping Dagen would release him soon. Didn't the man want to spend time alone with his daughter to bond?
“Thank you, Edvin. Your workload will be a lot lighter once Tyler returns from his trip. Does he have a honeymoon every year?” questioned Dagen.
“Aunt Harriet is a hopeless romantic. They were made for each other,” Charlotte said.
“I just don't understand why they must have a yearly vacation,” said Dagen.
Edvin groaned silently. He just wanted to leave father and daughter alone.
“If you had married, perhaps you'd understand?” Charlotte teased her father.
“Don't get so smart, Charlie. I'd marry in a heartbeat but your mother is hard to convince,” replied Dagen.
“Father, I believe we're keeping Uncle Edvin. He looks like he wants to bolt,” remarked Charlotte.