“It’s just… twist this, and then… done,” Kai pulls the collar from around Ollie’s neck, leaving the freed woman to stretch and get used to breathing without the pressure.

“Has Lewark spoken with you, Kai?” I ask. The young man nods, distracted by his own thoughts as he settles down and leans his back against the wall.

“How I’m going to stay with you and leave the city with you?” He asks, staring down at the ground his hands shaking around the collar in his hands. “Yes. Thank you for accepting me and protecting me.”

He bows his head to me, setting down the collar and wringing his hands. Even the sudden appearance of another bubbling ghost formed from the wild dark æther doesn’t distract him as it normally would.

“He’s going to die, isn’t he? It’s the only reason he’d tell me to leave like this…”

“He is pursuing something incredibly dangerous.” I nod slowly in reply. “It is likely that he’ll die and that people around him could be dragged into it.”

“You couldn’t talk him out of it?” Kai asks, looking up at me hopefully. “He trusts you, doesn’t he?”

I chuckle behind my gloved hand.

“He sees me as a child, as he does you, and he’s not entirely wrong in that,” I say, shaking my head. “I cannot stop him.”

“He’s…” Kai’s voice breaks and he stops himself from going further. The silence lingers for too long, and an impatient voice rises to seize the chance.

“I’m free?” Ollie asks, slithering her tail back and forth, the smile on her lips deep and cruel. She doesn’t care for Kai or his worries.

“Yes, but if you intend to interfere with my plans I’ll need to do something to stop you. If you intend to work with me, then stay a while and come join me for tonight’s jaunt,” I say. “I need these nobles to trust me, invest in me, and open their homes to me before we kill them.”

“I… understand,” Ollie nods, showing off fangs that are longer than mine. Given her serpentine form, I’m guessing it’s not about drinking blood but injecting venom for her.

“Tonight, we will go out to enjoy ourselves. Lunch should be prepared shortly, but I’m afraid that we don’t have any seating suitable for your body type, I’ll call our head maid to make adjustments for you if you would be willing to inform her of your needs.”

She nods, blinking at me and tilting her head in confusion. I suppose she never expected to be treated as a precious guest, she’ll need to adapt to it. She is not staff, and she is not a mindless slave to be rehabilitated, therefore she must be either family or guest.

“He’s like a dad to me,” Kai bursts the moment Ollie is gone from the room. “Do you know what my life was like before I met him? Do you know how much he’s done for me?”

“What he has done for you will be for naught if you join him in his suicidal pursuits,” I reply, meeting the boy’s gaze. “This is not some storybook, where you’ll find a happy ending after proving your bravery by standing up to the villain. Lewark… he’s a fine man, but he holds too much attachment to this goal of his.”

“We can save him,” Kai says.

“I can’t,” I reply quickly, shaking my head. “We all walk our own paths, Kai. He’s chosen his, and I’ve chosen mine. I will not dissuade him from his pursuits, and I’m sure that you’ve tried as well.”

“But…” Kai’s words fail him as he stares down at the collar on the table where he set it.

“The city is full of monsters,” I say, smiling at him. “You must choose for yourself if you wish to stay safe in my protection or find a place for yourself here.”

Kai looks up at me, blinking a few times before reaching over for a notebook of his. He dives into the pages, muttering to himself as he seeks something hidden within. His curiosity for magic no doubt bringing him to stranger ideas than I can conceive of.

I leave the room behind only to be greeted by a guest dressed as a guard.

“My Lady,” Sharre says, bowing his head to me while smirking. He’s the norkit slave that wanted to be a knight, the same one that slips into Piper’s room more often than is proper, not that I would judge them for it.

“Sharre,” I reply easily. “How is your training progressing?”

“Ah… good,” he nods his head slowly.

“And how are things with Piper?”

“Good,” the same word comes out much easier, and the smile on his lips is much brighter than it was. His gaze sticks on me a while longer just to be sure that I’m not bothered by their romance.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“You?” He asks. “You seem happier.”

“Yes, I suppose that I am,” I reply easily. “I have come to accept myself for what I am. I do not know why it has taken me so long. In fact, I’m a little embarrassed for how I have been acting until now, so desperate for affection and afraid of being myself for frightening away those who might love me.

“I really would like to apologise to Piper for all of that, but I’m not sure I know what to say. I don’t think I’ve ever understood her well enough to know what would comfort her.”

“You’ll find it. You two would like each other,” he chuckles at me.

“You say it as if I’ve never met her.” I glance at him but he shrugs, still looking for the right words to explain it.

“She doesn’t know who you are now,” he says, smiling. It can be unnerving how closely my guards watch over me sometimes. Even though I don’t watch them nearly as closely.

“Then I will need to meet her again, then, so we might become properly acquainted,” I say.

I was in a position of power over her and her kin at the time we met, and yet I was also incredibly vulnerable. Thinking back on her actions now, it’s clear how she was manipulating me, without any attempt at deceiving me on the matter either.

I do not begrudge her for it, but our relationship ought to be much healthier now that we can step outside of that terribly unhealthy place.

I enter the dining room as the first meals are arriving, another table has been brought in to give enough room for all the guests. The food… looks quite nice, and I’m sure that the chefs have put quite some effort into this.

My aunt is sitting on one side of me with the grand reeve Kaine, who is forcing a smile as he sits with us. No doubt he has his own thoughts about my norkit guests, but he will keep polite regardless.

Ollie sits on my other side, with Piper by her arm. The entire atmosphere is unpleasant and thick with tension that has yet to break.

“Tina,” My aunt says, pressing a smile through her lips. “I’ve hardly seen you these last days, are you well?”

“I have been doing what I can for the people of this kingdom,” I give a long resigned sigh. “It is more politics than I thought myself capable of.”

“You are strong, Tina,” she replies taking my hand.

“I am strong enough to do my part,” I reply. “I only wish that the other nobles, and the royalty themselves, were willing to put as much effort in. We wouldn’t see nearly as many dead if they were doing their duty.”

“You shouldn’t speak that way about the king,” Kaine says, turning his head to me as he eats another bite. “It is his laws that we are bound to, and his will that we must follow.”

“If a smith lets his hammers rust, who is to blame but the smith? If a farmer’s old, blunt scythe won’t cut through the harvest, who is to blame but the farmer? The King rules us, nobles and commoners alike, and thus ensuring we are in proper shape is his duty.

“Can you say that he has done well in that?” I ask, confronting the man and not letting my gaze wander. He continues to eat uncomfortably, yet still following all protocols.

Ollie by my side doesn’t care at all. From her training and the way she handles herself, I’m almost certain that she’s been trained to properly hold herself at a dinner table, but she chooses not to.

Perhaps I’d be galled at the sight if the food itself wasn’t off-putting enough to keep me from any other emotional reactions. Besides, such manners are for nobles to prove that they take their role and position seriously, a commoner need not hold themselves to the same standard.

Piper glances at me over the table and I give her the barest smile as I lift my warm tea to my lips. The sour bitterness of it forces my mind to focus, but it is far from pleasant. I should try to find some way of preserving blood from my hunts.

Either that or I should find someone who would gladly offer their blood when I need it. I would accept blood from nearly any at this table, but to ask for it is something more difficult.

“Fine, I’ve had enough watching you squirm,” Piper says, pushing her chair back and standing. The entire table pays close attention to us, as she approaches me and puts a nail to the skin on her arm.

“Piper, you needn’t-”

“Your expression makes it clear that it tastes awful. Why do you still drink it?” She asks, slashing her wrist and dipping her fingers into my tea, the blood trickles down, colouring the hot water.

“It is sometimes good to taste something foul, especially considering the things that I find appetising,” I explain but she neatly closes up the flow and pulls away. Rubbing her thumb over the cut, it disappears without me doing anything.

She’s been practising her healing magic, and she’s impressively good at it for the short time she’s been working on it.

“Thank you,” I say, bowing my head to her as she takes her place back at the table.

While Kaine looks at me in curious horror, Ollie is staring at me with something close to stars in her eyes. I flash her my own fangs, grown long from the scent of blood, and she smiles wider shuffling about eagerly.

“This house will be different when you’re gone,” my aunt says, staring into her meal. I’m not sure if she means that in a positive or negative light, but her expression shows only fear and worry. Kaine’s hand is comfortingly laid on her own.

If the man is an actor, then I can’t see through the act.

“Countess, I’ve heard that you were only recently forging stronger connections with those nobles that have outwardly expressed a wish to end any intentions of war?”

“I have,” I reply easily, easing into my seat as the warm blood in my tea caresses my tongue. “What is your concern?”

“None, I was only wishing to agree with the wisdom of the choice. While few nobles hold themselves to proper esteem, keeping with the king’s treaty and preventing more war is the only respectable means forward.”

“War would be reckless,” I agree with a nod, not much concerned by it.

Let the northern tribes march on what is left of the capital, I care not. From what I’ve been informed the commoners would likely be better off for the new leadership.

“Justice needs to be kept,” He nods to his own words of wisdom and the meal continues on just as awkwardly as it started.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ollie shivers as she handles the last of the effigies that I built from my last victim, holding it tight for some reason, rather than finding a place for it. Whatever her strange affection for the twisted thing, she seems happy to be affected by it.

“I will do the killing, all you need to do is follow and observe without getting yourself hurt,” I explain. “After, you may inform me if this is something you can participate in.

“You may remain as my guest until we leave even should you refuse-”

“Just get to the killing already,” she hisses, her eyes wide. “They deserve it, don’t they?”

“They most certainly deserve everything I am to do to them tonight.”

“We” Ollie corrects me. “Everything we do to them.”