Were he in a joking mood, Mayerling would point out that his vision far exceeds that of a human's 20/20 vision. The metaphor is clear, however. Things are easier to understand, to analyze, and to follow the causes once they are complete, rather than mired in the muck of the present time. Never mind that the time it would take, the fraying relationships, means the best time, the time to start, likely would have been with the invention of synthetic blood, with the great shift that caused in vampire and human relations. Had he the same realization only two thousand years ago, would that be enough? He thinks not.

"We held true to the original vampiric beliefs, the teachings passed down to us," Mayerling says, "Others twisted their meaning to suit their own purposes, and others still tossed them aside for the belief in vampire superiority." He leans into her touch and sighs. "In the lifetime of the universe, even ten thousand years is but the blink of an eye. We are all of us only transient guests, here for a short while, no more masters of the universe than the humblest organism."

Even, Mayerling believes, Thirteen and beings like her. Their power may seem unimaginable, vast, and far beyond anything any of them have ever known, yet she too must have her limits and her time, long though it may be to what they know. "We do what we can, no more, no less."