The invitation to drink comes in the way Ursulette tilts her head, a smirk flirting at the edges of her mouth. We bring our glasses to our lips.
"They call it," she continues. "Sangwine."
Just as we tilt our glasses back, Caz bursts out in laughter.A fountain of red spews from his mouth, drenching Ursulette and splattering her hair. She looks like she’s just walked out of a massacre, red wine dripping everywhere.
This, of course, turns Rhain into a cackling hyena.
I, however, find myself too impressed by the eruption of flavors filling my mouth to use it for anything otherthan savoring every second. As a noctis, there's very little that tantalizes our tastebuds. For some, even blood can be an acquired taste. For most though, it's one of the few substances that our bodies don't find repulsive. For whatever reason, one of only a few others is wine and the garnishing flavors the winemakers add to it. The rich berries, the bitter nuttiness, and the floral notes can oftentimes quench our thirst and satiate our appetite when we have no one to feed upon, or simply when we're in need of a change of flavor. Coffee is another. And I know from some experience that we can even stomach raw meat, not just the blood.
It should be no shock to me that this sangwine would make the short list of acceptable things that I can ingest. Wine and blood, what better possible combination could there be?
More surprising, however, is that I think I might like it even more than fresh, warm human blood.
I wonder if I’m the only one, if it’s because of the way I was raised.
Disgusted and drenched, Ursulette wipes away at what she can of the drippage. "Wasteful," she mutters, returning to the bar for a towel.
Caz and Rhain are still howling as we join her, and the laughter doesn't stop for most of the evening.
It's rare that we're all together like this. Not only do Ursulette and Rhain live outside of Neveridge Castle these days, but generally when we do all come together, it's for business—discussing updates and intel they’ve gleaned from their travels, organizing the rest of the Crimson Guard, training new recruits, and the odd task like finding humans for the Hunt.
We might've spent a couple of weeks scouring the land together, but we rarely had a night to just enjoy each other's company.
And enjoy it, we do.
"Laugh if you want," Renee says hours later, crossing her arms over the deep neckline of her scarlet dress. The dying fire casts glowing shadows across her skin, making her more ravishing than ever, even in the middle of her indignation. “It doesn’t make it any less true.”
“I’m not saying it isn’t!” Ursulette chuckles, one hand idly combing through Rhain’s dark, curls where his head rests in her lap. “It’s not that I doubt you, I’m just having trouble picturing it is all. You—you said that tothe king?”
“Of course she did,” Caz bellows. “Have you ever met my sister? She would’ve said the same thing to the gods if they’d have listened.”
Renee rolls her eyes. “Requesting a private room so I no longer had to share quarters with my animal-of-a-brother hardly seems the kind of thing to worry the gods about.”
“Hey!” Caz barks, seeming wounded. He sniffs his underarms. "I bathe...occasionally. Besides, like you’re one to talk. You know, when we were kids, it was like wrestling water to get her to wash weekly. She’d kick and scream any time the maids would try. After a while, our father stopped insisting on it. He said if she wanted to smell like a pigpen and scare everyone away, that was up to her. She was about a month in of a no bathing period when she met you, Mala—"
"That's enough of that." Renee flicks one hand at her brother, the other straightening her skirt over her crossed legs. "We were children. Don't act like we didn'talldo it."
I've never seen her cheeks a deeper shade of red, which is saying a lot since Caz is quite adept at embarrassing her.
Disagreement breaks out among my inebriated friends.
Though I've heard many a story of Ursulette, Caz, and Renee in their childhoods, how they grew up together, taking turns stressing out the king and Davorin, the stories they’ve been sharing tonight are ones I've never heard before.
There are many of those, the lives they led before I was brought to the castle a robust and endless supply of entertainment. Although I wouldn't trade what little time I had with my late mother for the world, I often find myself wishing I'd known them all back then, back when we had few cares in the world, before we really understood our roles and our responsibility to the noctis.
While the two siblings start to bicker, Ursulette mutters something to Rhain, inspiring a robust bout of laughter from his belly before he nuzzles back into her lap with an expression that says he's about three seconds away from whisking her up to their room. Renee seems moments away from fleeing, as well.
However, I'm not quite ready for the night to end yet.
In a few days’ time, we'll be separated again, set on our different paths of duty, honor—and at least one of us—rebellion.
It could be years before we see each other again.
For all I know, this could be our last night together.
When there’s a pause in the heated argument, I seize an opportunity to intervene, to continue the bantering and reminiscing so that the others might stay. Just a little longer.
"Is that really how you got your room at Neveridge? You just…told the king to give you one?"
