Part 3:
"So what Claim do you renew?" Gunn asked, confused.
"Most Favored Childe," Wesley replied quietly. "That's it, isn't it?"
Angel nodded reluctantly.
"Most Favored Childe," Gunn repeated, looking back and forth between Angel and Wesley. "You've got a Most Favored Childe? First time I've heard of that. Who is it?"
"William the Bloody," Wesley answered.
"Sure, right, Spike's your Most Favored," Gunn snorted, clearly amused.
He looked at Angel and then at Spike, as though waiting for the punch-line, and when his grin was met with a stony expression on both vampires' faces, his own dropped away abruptly.
"Spike?" he asked again, this time with amazement. "The annoying bleached blond who makes your life a living hell? That Spike? You're joking, right?"
The last question was directed to Wesley, since he was getting nothing from the two others.
"It's a fascinating story, actually," Wesley said, clearing his throat. "According to the Watcher's Chronicles, in 1883 Nast sent Angelus and a handful of his other Grand-Childer to the continent to assist in clearing out the established competitive vampire clans from many of the major cities there, in order to secure them for his own Childer's Houses. Angelus took the fledging William along, apparently as part of his training, and together they were more successful than all the other Aurelian vampires combined. When they returned to London in 1885 their reputation had long preceded them and was firmly established by both the vampire clans, and by the Watcher's Council. It was at this time that Angelus became known as 'The Scourge of Europe', and William as 'William the Bloody, Right Hand to the Scourge'. Upon their return, they were called to the Master's court and Angelus was formally pronounced a Master, and given his pick of the conquered cities. Angelus and Darla chose not to take a city, but instead took the right of conquest to make use of any of those territories as suited them, when they wished. The other Childer of Nast agreed to this, since they themselves benefited by the decision directly, with territory bestowed upon them instead. So Angelus was the youngest - at that time," Spike," he cut the blond vampire's imminent protestations short - "Master ever named, even though he had no specific territory under his control. At that same court, Angelus claimed William the Bloody as Most Favored Childe, apparently in recognition of the assistance given to secure those territories. It was quite the to-do among the Watchers of the day, by all written accounts," he added in closing.
"Most Favored," Gunn repeated in a stunned voice, as though he still couldn' t quite comprehend such a foreign concept. "I just don't get it," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. Angel and Spike's jaws were set tight, and both looked pointedly away from the other.
"Irrelevant, and a waste of our time," Illyria broke in, waving her hand dismissively. "Our focus must be on the upcoming meeting, and our strategy to ensure victory." She turned her narrowed gaze in Angel's direction.
"What will happen during this Claim Renewal ritual," she asked curtly.
A tick jumped in Angel's jaw as he considered her question. When he hesitated, Wesley tentatively answered.
"The Most Favored ritual is actually one of the most interesting ones I've ever encountered in my studies," Wesley said, warming to his subject. "The claim ritual for a Childe is simple by comparison. Simply turning the Vampire isn't enough. Depending upon the amount of blood given, the vampire may become either a Minion or a Childe, but not all Childer are formally claimed as such. For a Childe to be accepted by a Clan, the claim must be made formally, at the Order's Court and before the Master, who must approve the Childe and formally accept him into the Clan. That ritual, though is still fairly basic; words, spell, blood. A Most Favored claim, though is different."
At this point he hesitated, then abruptly ceased his discourse.
"But I'm getting off track," he said. "Illyria is right, we need to focus on the upcoming meeting and what we'll do should we decide to participate."
"Wait a minute," Gunn said. "I for one would like to know a bit more about this ritual if we're going to be going through it before a whole boat-load of Aurelian vampires. Finish your story," he demanded.
Illyria cocked her head in Wesley's direction, clearly waiting to hear the remainder of the story as well, and with a sigh and an apologetic glance at the two vampires to his left, whose jaws tightened even more, he continued.
"Usually a Most Favored status is conferred upon a direct Childe. Sometimes, though very infrequently, the claim is made upon a vampire who is not the claimants direct Childe. Rare as these cases are, almost always the claiming Sire and intended Childe are in the same direct bloodline, though they may be a generation or more apart, as in the case of Angelus and William the Bloody. The Claiming ritual in such a case as this, would require more than a simple taking of blood; it would require a second turning, as it were, for the claimed vampire."
Wesley hesitated again, glancing in Spike's direction. Spike stared down at the table, not stopping him, but not meeting his eyes, either. Wesley sighed.
"No one in the Watcher's Council history has ever personally witnessed such a ceremony, but there have been accounts, gathered by rogue vampire contacts that describe the ritual. The claiming vampire takes essentially all the blood from the claimed Childe, then gives it back, ensuring that the blood is now purged of the original Sire. That blood becomes the pure conduit for a transfer of the claiming Sire's demon. In essence, when the transfer is complete, the Most Favored Childe has become the true Childe to the claiming Sire. Making a Most Favored Claim upon a vampire not originally of the claimant's siring, is very rare and not done lightly. To this day there is disagreement among the Council as to which claim is stronger among vampires, that of Mate/Consort or Sire/Most Favored."
"Mate," both Angel and Spike chimed in at once, then glared at the other before turning away once more.
"Hmm, yes, quite," Wesley murmured, scrutinizing both vampires closely.
"Let me understand this," Gunn interrupted, his brow furrowed. "Are you saying that Angel is actually Spike's Sire, and not his Grand-Sire?"
Wesley glanced hesitantly again at both vampires before responding. "Well, yes, that is essentially correct."
"But you always said." Gunn began, directing that partial sentence in Spike' s direction. He left it hanging before abruptly turning toward Angel. "And you always implied."
Neither Spike nor Angel answered, both looking straight at the dark-skinned man, stubbornly silent.
"Oh, man, I cannot believe this!" he cried, throwing up his hands. "All this time, Grand-dad this, and Dru's boy that, when."
Gunn trailed off as a sudden thought occurred to him.
"Hey!" he cried, turning toward Angel. "If you're his real Sire, why did you let him badger you so often? I thought vampires were supposed to be all big and bad where their Childer were concerned!"
Angel scowled, finally goaded into response.
"I had a soul, Gunn. What was I supposed to do, put him over my knee and spank him?"
Suddenly Spike grinned. "Not like you haven't done it before, mate," he smirked.
"Yes, well, that is probably more than we need to know," Wesley hurriedly interrupted. "At any rate, Illyria, to answer your question, I assume the ritual will consist of the usual elements. You know; words, spell, blood, but a fuller exchange than the simple one typically used for a regular Childe claiming. Is that correct, Angel?"
"Not exactly," Angel muttered, not meeting any of their eyes.