Harlan ate a late lunch, waited for Joan to calm down, and then went to Redhaven, specifically to the capital of Karmine.

He arrived a quarter mile from the gate and shifted his clothes into something less conspicuous.

There wasn’t a line to get into the city, which Harlan found rather strange.

As he got closer he saw the large white and red banners hanging from the walls depicting a white rose that dripped red.

The larger gate was closed, the two guards, women in that same blood red armor and wielding red weapons like what he saw at the Nightwatchers castle, crossed their spears.

“Halt. State your name and business.”

“Harlan, I’m just a traveler.”

He could smell it in the air

“Vampires?”

The women pointed their spears at him.

“If you wish to enter the city, the cost is a vial of blood.”

“Of course. Apologies for my oddity, I actually have a rather positive opinion of you.”

He held his wrist out and one of the guards cut him with a dagger, using water magic to pull the blood into a vial and then a healing spell to close the wound.

“You must leave your weapons with us as well.”

Harlan unhooked the simple sword from his belt and handed it to the other woman while the one who gathered his blood held up the vial.

“Your blood is odd, what are you?”

“Fomorian.”

“I don’t know what that is. But you look like a pale Dague. Do you come from the east?”

“I do. But despite appearances, I am not a Dague. Might I ask what is wrong with my blood?”

“Black, full of dark mana.”

“Odd, I don’t remember it being black just the other day. But I understand why it would be full of dark mana.”

“And that reason is?”

“I am the champion of darkness.”

“When inside of the city, you require a permit to start public sermons.”

“I’m not a priest.”

“Whatever god you claim to serve, don’t bother others and there will be no issues. I will check you for more weapons, and if you have them, you will be detained. Would you like to declare anything else?

That includes hunting knives, cooking knives, skewers, and meat forks.”

“I have nothing else that could be mistaken for a weapon.”

She patted him down and then waved him through the door.

Naturally he first looked for the slum, and so he asked another guard inside.

“There are no slums within Redhaven.”

“Really?”

“How have you gotten to Karmine without visiting another town? Queen Carmilla ensures prosperity for all of her citizens.”

“She seems like a great leader then.”

“She is. Is there anything else I can help with?”

He looked around, seeking information in the sights and smells.

“Are all of the guards vampires? And are they all women?”

“Yes to both. Does this bother you?”

“Not at all. Are you human? I mean, you must be if you are vampires.”

“Yes. It seems the only way for our kind to survive is with gifts, something able to put us on par with Cast and Goliaths.”

“Thank you, I’ve not seen another human since I reached this place, I was beginning to worry they were all gone.”

“Any member of her majesty’s service would be happy to answer questions such as this.

We are Redhaven, and that means a haven for those who have nowhere else to go.”

“Thank you for your time, I think I’ll find a restaurant.”

“Keep on the main path, and then take a right at the water fountain, you’ll find what we call the feaster’s row.”

“Thank you again.”

After an hour in the city, everyone looked happy, nobody cared about the fangs that could be seen on many of the women. The people were well fed and when they bumped into him, or rather he them, they apologized and didn’t make an issue of it.

The one time he saw the guards in action the would-be thieves were apprehended through blood magic paralysis, but were otherwise unharmed.

It was unsettling to him, nearly every day since he got outside of the veil he had seen, done, or heard horrible things.

That this place seemed so nice meant there must be an issue underneath, like human farms or a cannibal market or something else.

It was presently inconceivable to him that it was actually just a normal city.

He spent another two hours invisible, almost getting caught by a few keen nosed guards before he realized he should’ve applied scent cloaking as well.

But he found nothing.

The jail was a jail, they weren’t executing the prisoners to harvest their blood.

The orphanage was just an orphanage, there was no butcher room underneath and the basic education they received wasn’t anything Harlan would call odd.

The vampires didn’t seem to have any power over the normal humans like a caste system, they just treated each other as equals. The only oddities were that there was not a single male vampire in the entire city as far as he could tell and that because of it being a vampire city there was always a lingering scent of blood, but the citizens seemed used to that.

Finally he went to the castle and shifted his clothes to something more regal.

Which for him meant his thick lab coat-like jacket, and a vest with a dress shirt underneath.

His armor was shifted under his clothes, but it crept up around his collar so it was visible.

The guards were better equipped, their armor thicker, their gaze firmer, and they wielded thick thrusting swords. Most striking however was their nearly full helms that were engraved with a bat face and opened around the mouth, presumably so they could bite during combat.

When they pulled their blades on him, he noticed that they were hollow and had had many groves around the outside.

“I am King Harlan Fomoria, here to see her majesty Queen Carmilla, I do not know her last name, apologies for any disrespect, it is not intended.”

“The monster king?”

“I am unaware of any titles I may have gained.”

“He is said to be a shapeshifter.”

“I could prove that easily, but I also ask that you not attack me when I do.”

One guard looked to another, Harlan assumed by the deference as well as the white rose pinned to her black taberd that she was the captain.

When the captain nodded, Harlan transformed.

He simply gave himself scales and claws, nothing overly painful for him or that pushed his limits.

When the captain sheathed her sword, the others did as well.

“I will escort you inside, her majesty will see you when she decides so, and not any sooner, but she has been expecting you eventually.”

“I came rather suddenly, there is no issue waiting as a result.”

He was led to a tearoom, and when the tea arrived, among the cream and sugar were also vials of blood.

He could tell that one was human, but he couldn’t identify the others.

Harlan could tell that there were people hiding around the room, Gargoyles sat in statuesque stillness as above the doors and around the windows.

“Cream? Sugar?”

“Yes, thank you. Just one sugar.”

Harlan took a sip, it was unfortunately a floral flavor, but he wasn’t going to insult his host by not drinking.

“And would you care for any sexual gratification while you wait?”

Harlan choked on his tea.

“No, thank you.”

“Am I not to your liking?”

She untied the bow on her back which held up her servants outfit and it slipped from her shoulders, but before she revealed anything sensitive he used telekinesis to hold it up.

“You are a…”

Harlan felt like he could barely tear his eyes away, his body wanted, but his mind did not.

“Very, very beautiful woman, but I have other reasons.”

“Oh? Would you rather I fetched a butler?”

“Sorry, I don’t mean any insult, but I am not comfortable with this due to you being a maid and me being a guest. I’ve no interest in someone who may feel forced into it by her work.”

“I am doing this of my own will.”

“Still, I am not comfortable with this.”

The maid shrugged and tied her bow again.

“Are you perhaps inexperienced?”

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“I’ve never laid with a woman.”

“Really?”

She crossed her knees, rested her elbow on them and held her chin in a ponderous look.

“Though you are king?”

“What does my position have to do with anything?”

“Surely there are many women throwing themselves at you, and it’s not like they could say no if one did catch your eye. Not to mention making an heir.”

“I’m not like that. I…”

Harlan realized what the feeling was, and rage came over him, but he tried his best to keep it inside.

“I will warn you this once to not mesmerize me again.”

As soon as he used that word, the maid fled the room.

Mesmerize was not something ever written about, and very few even know that it existed among vampires.

It was a most insidious power, to subtly influence the mind, get someone talking, make them open to suggestions.

Harlan discovered it when his mental sensitivity grew. He had been having a conversation with Wulrun and Selen demanded that he come to her, since it was time for him to leave and he had refused.

He felt the effect on his mind by proximity, or perhaps because he was not the direct target, and thus it wasn’t trying to hide from him.

When he questioned her in private, she had no idea that she had or even could do such a thing, so naturally she asked someone higher up, who denied that it existed at all, but also said to never mention anything about it to anyone.

Technically it was an innate empathy, it could be turned on and off, but only if one knew that it existed.

While weaker as one couldn’t choose to influence certain emotions, it was automatic, attempting to get a desired effect based on factors the user could not read or change.

This along with it being only one way made it useful for many people, and Harlan almost lamented that his empathy required thought to actually be useful to him.

Flanked by several guards, Carmilla Karmine entered the tea room in a lacy dress that flowed like an unnatural breeze was coming from many directions and colored with many shades of red.

“I have heard of you.”

“I dislike others trying to pry into my head.”

“My daughter is young.”

Harlan raised a brow.

“Vampires cannot reproduce naturally, or so I thought.”

“Few things are impossible given time and trial. Blood magic is a powerful thing.

Now, for you to have felt and rejected her power, you must have some power yourself.”

“I am empathic.”

“Oh, I thought I might need to force such information out of you.”

“I came here with plans of peace.”

“Yet you use the voice against my kin?”

“Do you mean when I put mana into my words?”

“I do not know that technique by any other name.”

“Her brutish assault made me lose control for a moment.”

“A man, insulting my daughter with such words? Are you not the brutish sex?”

“I’ve met women who are brutes and dainty men. But I will admit there is some bias towards men in that way.”

Harlan thought a moment longer as the queen poured cream and blood into her tea.

“And I should apologize for what I did.”

“Diana, fetch Camila.”

She returned with the maid, who had since changed into a simple, or rather, simple compared to the queen’s, lacy dress of her own in a single dark red color.

Before Harlan could speak, she opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry for offering sex, I simply wished to see you squirm.”

Harlan suddenly had many blades pointed at him.

“I declined her offer. She used her mesmerize in an attempt to find out why I turned her down.”

Suddenly the girl was blushing, but Harlan could tell she wasn’t embarrassed, she simply put on the act as she used her hands to hide her grin.

“Withdraw your blades. It would seem my daughter has much to learn on how one should treat a guest. But I must also know why you refused her.”

“I simply put more weight on the act than some.”

“My, how chivalrous.”

Each word oozed sarcasm.

“Whatever truth there is, I will not pry to find it.”

She looked at her nails, checking for imperfections. Her laissez faire attitude touched a nerve with Harlan, but he was trying to let it go.

“I don’t believe I am here to speak of my sex life, and I doubt you care much about it either.”

“This is true. What business do you bring me? I could use a bodyguard for her.”

“I offer Drang, all I ask is for trade between our nations be established as a start to our relationship.”

“I’m not interested in fighting a war for the country of mud and inbreeding.”

“I’ve already won the war. Their leaders are dead along with much of their military forces. The issue is that I lack the manpower required to keep those places from falling into chaos or actually getting anything from them. It was rather spur of the moment.”

“So you accidentally conquered a nation, and yet I did not hear anything about it from my spies?”

“I killed the king, conquering the nation was the end result of finishing what I started.”

“I take it he did not want to trade.”

“I never asked. I saw men and women in chains being forced into depraved acts while nobles gorged themselves and children starved out in the street. It was all too much, and I could not stand the sight of it.”

“I will call my spies, hopefully you are telling the truth.”

She left him in the room without guard, well, as alone as one ever was in this castle.

He set his amulet down on the table and activated it.

“Mercedes, why did you tell me to come here?”

“I’ve met Queen Carmilla before, I believe the two of you will get along once she gets past you being a man.”

“Is that likely to actually happen?”

“Are you alone?”

“There are Gargoyles in the room.”

He felt them panic, but they did not move an inch, uncertain if he was referring to the masonry or them.

“She was not entirely unfond of my father.”

“Is there a story I should know about her hatred of men?”

“She is old, very old. I know myths, but she is likely the only person still alive who knows exactly why she hates them.”

“Perhaps it doesn't really matter. How old is she?”

“1,500, 1,600. She told me that she was born under a blood moon, turned that night.”

“Interesting. I read in a book once about an infant who was turned under a blood moon, but they died at 1,000 years old. I believe it was a girl even.”

“A coincidence, how odd.”

“By its nature a coincidence is odd, or perhaps interesting.”

“Tell her that I am alive, it might gain some favor. But I do need to get back to my work.”

“I’m sorry for making a mess for you, I really am.”

“Goodbye.”

He decided to read what he could from the books around the room, many of them were books about Carmilla, and they showed that she really had been around a very long time.

She returned after a few hours.

“Were you born in the Old Reinoan Empire?”

She froze for a moment.

“That makes you the second oldest person I know. Interesting.”

“Second?”

“Xol, he is a lich, eons old. The one younger than you is Marigold, but I’m sure the name means nothing to you. She was born before Old Reino fell, but was young.”

Harlan carefully closed the book he had been reading and put it back into its place.

“I assume your spies told you that the king is dead and that the nobles are as well.”

“You left the children, they are just going to lead another revolt, because that is all that place is capable of. A new king every few decades just so another man shows what he really is.”

“Unless they are directly a threat to another, I won’t kill a child.”

“Then you will lose the war. The Cast care not about morality, they will see what you don’t do as a weakness, and they will send children to fight you or wear their broken bodies as shields.

They are not uncaring for what is right, they actively understand and subvert what is right for the sake of mental warfare.”

“If they push, I will push back. I’m not going to let others be slaughtered just because of something like that, even if it kills me inside. Mercedes wanted to let you know that she is alive.”

“Mercedes Dantes?”

“The very same, would you like to speak with her?”

“I don’t have time to go on a trip. The Cast are still around the border, and as soon as they have a spare Finger I’ll need to fight them off again.”

“You wouldn’t need to leave the room to speak with her.”

Harlan touched the amulet, connecting it.

“I hope you are calling with good news.”

“I’m here with her majesty.”

She used a few spells to dispel illusions and try to find out how it worked, but even though she could understand that mental magic existed, that did not mean she understood its functions, nor could she access the crossroads herself.

After a few minutes, she decided that it was genuine.

“Perhaps a partnership would be beneficial to us.”

“So you will commit some forces to Drang?”

“If you can provide soldiers to guard them.”

“With what I’ve gained in their vaults, I could make thousands of golems. But that will take a few days.”

“Very well, three days time I will have my people ready. Will your escorts be ready by then?”

“Yes. I’ll gate back to Kor once we’ve finished speaking.”

He could feel something change in her once he mentioned gate.

“Let’s walk through my garden. Camila, come with us.”

It was rather normal, he almost expected something like Blackstone’s hedges which were cut to appear as battles between man and beast.

“How old are you?”

“18 on the last day of the year.”

“Yet you’ve gained your first truth.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve always avoided gaining them, I hate feeling trapped in a choice.”

“I felt somewhat pushed into it, but it was for the best. I can hardly imagine not having gate.”

“Overreliance is always a risk.”

“I’ve found very few places I can’t get out of. And the magic outside the is… I’ve not been impressed by any mages I’ve met so far other than the Finger I fought.”

“Have you beaten one? I killed the left pinkie before this one.”

“I fought the current one, but I have no experience in combat sigils, I couldn’t block his attacks with what I have.”

“For now, I have other things which need to be done. We may discuss more at another time.”

”Very well.”

Harlan gated directly out of the city, he didn’t want to go directly to Kor due to the risk of showing Carmilla something he didn’t want to. He thought it was very likely that as soon as he met her, she’d realize it was her body double, and not the actual Mercedes Dantes.

“Farewell, Little Shadow.”

He couldn’t help but smirk.

Back in Kor, Mercedes was resting, the paperwork had been finished.

Harlan moved her to the couch in her office and got a blanket for her.

Then he left through gate to avoid the sound of the door waking her.

He thought to what he learned.

Harlan never liked using his empathy on people, but he couldn’t really argue with the results of mesmerize, nor with his own use to quell riots or otherwise stop a situation from escalating past his control.

He called Darrath in from playing.

“Can I go back to playing when you’re done?”

“Of course.”

“Ok.”

He crawled around the back of the chair, his head poked out from behind it.

“Do you not like sitting?”

“I like being on things more.”

“That’s fine when it's us, but when other people are around, I think you should sit down.”

“Why?”

“Because others will think you are rude.”

“Why?”

“Because you are supposed to sit down.”

“Why?”

Harlan hoped that he wasn’t quite like this as a child, but he couldn’t remember, the older he got the more distant those memories felt.

“Because that is what people decided is or isn’t rude, and that’s the way things are.”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain when you get older.”

“Ok.”

“I called you in because I wanted to ask you something. If-”

“Ask.”

“I was. If-”

“Ok.”

“Darrath, how about you just stay quiet until I ask my question.”

He nodded his head.

“Darrath, if I made everyone think different, but it made things nicer here, would that be bad?”

“I guess.”

Harlan suddenly felt like a complete idiot, Darrath didn’t understand anything enough to even give a childishly unbiased answer.

“Nevermind, just go back to playing.”

Harlan gated him back to the Dague Quarter and then he flew himself to the top of his house.

He knew Marigold’s opinion on him using empathy on people, and Xol wasn’t exactly a bastion of morality, so it wasn’t worth it to even bother asking even if he did decide to respond to him.

He felt the world around him shift.

“I don’t think you’d give me any answers if I asked anyway.”

“I told you before that I would only defend you and your family from Fae, but other threats were not my responsibility.”