His mad mother had hidden him away, and he had lived at the fringe of the court, before coming of age, when he'd burst from his cage and on to the stage. Courtiers had smiled behind their hands, amused by the restrained, handsome youth who was said to have ambitions for the title of Sire. It was an honor given to the foremost amongst them, the one with the purest blood in their veins, a de facto crowning. They would be assured the loyalty of the pureblooded families and lead the coven as they wished. Their last Sire, Dippet, had been a weak, yet amusing creature, one that had passed after being rammed with a stake through his dusty heart.