Starna looked worried.
I’d used some of my winnings to pay for a goat cart to drive me back to the ambassador subdivision as I was told it was called. Even though I didn’t remember the house number, once we were on the street I was able to recognize the plain building.
I’d expected that I’d find my companion disappointed. I’d hoped she’d be happy, but I suspected the vampires knew what they were talking about.
“The Tower can’t help?” I raised an eyebrow as I watched her pace around the room on the ground floor.
“Master Ammabus is on a personal quest!” Starna didn’t stop pacing as her voice picked up speed. “They don’t know where he is and the deputy headmaster refused to send anyone to even talk to Lessa!”
“From what I heard, they don’t have the people to spare.”
Her pacing abruptly stopped as she focused on me. “What?!”
“I met with Ford and Hera Glynot.” I realized that didn’t explain much. “You remember the vampire I gave blood to in Crylus? Ford is her son. Anyway, he wanted to make a deal for a Nether Cat hide. In exchange for going to look for one, He’s going to move part of his house to Hepool. If it’s attacked while we’re on Kazadt, his vampires will help defend the city.”
“You made another deal…” Starna glared at me. “With a vampire.”
“All I have to do is spend a few days hunting for a Nether Cat. Honestly, Vin would probably do that for fun.” I chuckled as I pictured my brother running off into the forest. “Anyway, it’s not permanent unless Alessa can forge an alliance with them, but two hundred vampires is a lot of firepower.”
“Unless they attack during the day.” Starna glared at me. “Vampires can’t spend much time in sunlight without being seriously injured.” She shook her head. “And what are they going to eat while they’re there?”
“Garm once smuggled a barrel of hydra blood into Inamac for a house. We had to get the stuff frozen from Porthy, then make it down the coast…”
“I get it, they can drink other stuff.” Starna cut me off. Her brow scrunched. “Really? Hydra blood?”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“It’s really acidic, but as far as canned blood goes, it’s one of the vampires' favorites.” I shrugged. “Vin, Forst, and Uziah tried some, it smelled like old boot, so I didn’t.” I grinned. “Wizz put some in Garm’s beer.” I chuckled as I remembered my father chasing the mischievous Goblin around the ship.
“That sounds…”Starna’s voice drifted off for a moment. “What was it like?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You mean when Garm spewed tainted beer everywhere?”
“No.” The tanned Elf leaned against the wall on the other side of the room. “I mean, you grew up without any of your family around.”
“I had lots of family.” Even if we weren’t related by blood, Vin was my brother and Garm had raised me, which satisfied the requirement for calling him my father in my book. The rest of the crew felt more like uncles. Usually very irresponsible uncles, but I’d never had to wonder if they cared.
“It was pretty crazy sometimes. And I’m sure you can imagine what a ship full of men smelled like after we’ve been at sea for a few weeks. But it was home.” I shrugged. “Even with pirates, sea monsters, the threat of city guards finding our stash, and having to hide my ability, I always felt safe.” I didn’t know how else to describe it. “I take it that wasn’t what you experienced?”
Starna looked down at her feet as she picked at her fingers. “My mother is… I mean was Arkun’s cousin. That’s why I was chosen as Lessa’s companion. My dad didn’t like…” A tear slid down her cheek, which she promptly wiped away with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be making a fuss about this when your parents were killed by my uncle.”
“Hey.” I softened my voice as I moved over to her and touched her shoulder. When she didn’t look at me, I touched the side of her face with my other hand and gently turned it so she was looking at me. Those watering blue eyes with gold speckles were leaking more tears.
“It’s okay.” I brushed the tears off the right side of her face with my thumb. “Just because you think that what I went through would have hurt worse, doesn’t make the pain you endured any less.” I pulled her close to embrace her in a hug, burying her face in my shoulder. “Some people can handle some types of pain a lot easier than others.”
“But…”
“I literally take people’s pain.” I cut her off with a chuckle. “I think this makes me an expert on the subject.”
Starna pulled back so she could look at me. I could tell that she wanted to argue, but she was having trouble formulating one.
“There’s a good argument to be made that in a vacuum, your childhood was worse than mine.” I headed off where I assumed she was going to try to argue. “My parents died, yes, but then it was over and I got to rebuild. Garm had most of my memories locked away, so I didn’t know what I was missing. You didn’t have that luxury. You had a constant reminder of what your family was and that it would never be that way again.” I booped her nose. “So don’t feel bad for being upset.”
“Okay.” There wasn't much confidence in her voice, but she didn’t try to argue.
“Want to talk about it?”
The look she gave me was all the answer I needed.