Deirdre lay in bed while reading , her legs splayed on the wide mattress atop the silken sheets, as her father’s youngest and as the ‘beautiful treasure’ of the Kingdom, she was afforded every luxury. The sheets of silk, the mattress was stuffed with a fragrant moss each handful of which cost more than a peasant farmer could earn in a year, the springy stuff not only provided a sweet perfume to the room as it decomposed in a slow, two year process, but it also remained soft and springy, making it almost like she imagined a cloud to be when it came to sleeping upon.

It served as both a final enjoyment of the life she knew, and a stark contrast to the life she knew lay ahead. The book she held above her face a few inches from her eyes was titled, ‘Our Wandering Time’ a story of adventurers living in the wilds by their wits and strength.

The Princess didn’t read it for pleasure, the author it seemed, was far too indulgent with his focus on the various people in their adventure and not enough on the hardships of wild living. ‘Come on, I don’t care how that person struggled with the gods. Or how that person struggled with living in a new land. Or how they got duped by the first confidence man to come along. Tell me more about outdoor life!’ She frowned and set the book aside, crudely dropping it to fall with a crash against the floor. She picked up another off of the bedside table and began to read.

This one immediately proved more useful. It detailed the fine points of starting fires without causing a hazard that could endanger the party or relying on magic. It covered the various forms of edible plants and the signs of various animals in the area that were either edible or extremely poisonous, and what to look at when it came to identifying the presence of monsters.

It was a veritable manual for survival in a variety of environments. ‘I wonder if the Adventurer’s Guild has any ‘required reading’ for new members?’ She smirked at that, she knew right away that they did not.

‘Most, other than mages, can’t even read, they have to get the guild receptionist to read the quests to them.’ She shook her head, utter foolishness.

She tore through the pages, her pupils racing across the page as fast as a raging river flows through a canyon. Free of the burden of any observers, she was able to indulge her mind to its greatest degree, not pretending to be flighty or whimsical.

And so she didn’t. Her mind recorded the information as if a scribe lived within her skull, and page after page was written down in memory. ‘I need practical experience, yes. But I have book knowledge at least.’ She thought and traced her fingers over the patterns of a colorful drawing of a wide green leaf with a red flower growing at the center.

‘I wonder,’ She pondered and looked toward the wide open window of her room, the hour was growing late, ‘are the vampires and their servants dead yet?’ There was almost no chance that the vampire clan she’d offered refuge there in exchange for the Red Gift would defeat the Thorns. And there was definitely no chance that Freydis would spare them. ‘Offering shelter to the vampires and sending them ‘food’ in the form of those workers was a stroke of genius. Even by my standards…’

It was then that she felt it.

A feeling as if a chain breaking and falling away. Something she’d worn for so long she didn’t even know it was there until it wasn’t. ‘Ah, so that’s it then, he’s dead, with that, I’m free of his bonds.’ A smile came over her face and she reached up to her lips, her fangs emerged and she touched the tips of her fingers to the tips of her now sharpened teeth.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

When a vampire turned a human into one of its own kind, that new vampire was bound to serve the maker. But if the maker perished, the new vampire was free to pursue their own will. ‘Fool, he thought he’d ensured permanent safety to feed from, shelter himself, and a spy in the palace that would keep danger at bay… it never occurred to him that I arranged it all before even making the bargain. Now… I’m strong enough to survive without slowing Faust down, and I have no other will to serve but my own.’ She retracted her fangs and fidgeted with the ring on her finger, rolling it back and forth.

That item hid her nature even from the likes of Belladonna the Witch, but even so… ‘I will have to be cautious. At least for a time. Until Faust and I can remain together forever… he must not know… he cannot know…Faust! Faust! Faust! Faust Faust Faust Faust Faust Faust Faust! He’s mine… my Faust! Nobody will ever separate us! I’ll never let that happen! Never ever! Nobody will! Not even he!’ Deirdre’s body shook with rage that rattled the bed beneath her for several minutes until she could forcibly bring herself back under control.

“Relax. There’s nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. Nobody is even trying to do that, not now…” Deirdre murmured and looked out the window. ‘I wonder if father is dead yet? Or my brothers? I wonder how much longer they can last…’ If her calculations were correct, they would flee west and south, one would return to the capital, probably their father, the rest would be expected to rally support from the other nobles to drive back the invasion and then rush to relieve the siege of the capital. ‘The chance of success there is very low, it isn’t zero, but it might as well be.’

In the back of her mind the fires raged and she could see the mangonels rising outside the city, the mages of Auxkos sending fire and poison to the top of the wall while great rocks battered the walls of the city. The very age of the place worked against it, with the walls not built to the same standards of quality that younger cities were, there was little chance they would stand for long.

The guards that kept order were no army, the militia that would undoubtedly rise would be undisciplined, lightly armed, and no match for fully armored knights, let alone the magic casters that would come their way. She could hear the crashing, the screams, the dying of those who thought the walls would keep them safe, living long enough to learn how wrong they were.

Even if relief arrived, the Empire’s four knights were astute commanders and would likely divert a portion of their host to keep any reinforcements at bay until it was too late. ‘Father will come here to die with his Kingdom. And then… we will see.’

Her brothers wouldn’t look for her unless they needed someone as a marriage pawn to assist in saving Gelia with some kind of an alliance, the Emperor would certainly look for her so he could claim the Kingdom by claiming her… all in all, it was far, far better to simply hide… hide and wait.

A tingle lingered, running its races up and down her spine. Almost foreboding, but also full of promise… as if she had only to wait until her kingdom’s rot was reduced to ash, to plant a mighty and beautiful garden in the soil that would be made fertile with its death.

She set her book aside and reached for the next, this one sat on the bedside table next to the stack, one to save for the inevitable travels, when all hope was lost to everyone but herself, and the only one that mattered to her.

It was enough to make Princess Deirdre smile as she cracked open the spine and began to read yet another useful tome.