There’s a cobblestoned garden at its heart, with a fountain and many wooden benches interspersed between thorny rose bushes and well-groomed shrubs. A contingent of young vampires is gathered here, engaged in playful reverie. I don’t smell any living humans, which is perhaps why I didn’t sense them immediately when I came outside. It’s a bit unusual, for them to be having such an…exuberanttime without any breathers.
Then I see a flash of silver, and I realize what’s going on.
“Whatare you doing?” I snap angrily, making my presence known.
The shouts and laughter immediately cease, as all eyes turn to me. There are about a dozen vampires here, all relatively young, under a hundred years. Two of them stand in the center, their bare arms exposed, thin chains of silver burning their skin.
It looks like Cassandra is winning. Good for her, but I’m still disappointed.
“Get that silver off your skin at once,” I command.
“Sorry, sir!” whimpers the other vampire, wincing as he pulls the chains off. They leave burning marks along his olive skin, which hissas they heal.
“We were just playing Winter chains, my king,” Cassandra says, giving me a pleading expression. “And I was lasting the longest!”
“You’re not playing anymore,” I reply, firmly. “It’s a waste of your healing abilities, and will weaken you. Those are thin chains, but the more you add, the more your energy and power will be sapped. You’re too young to know how much you can safely tolerate without seriously injuring yourselves.”
“We were being careful!” one of the older vampires counters. “Didn’t you ever play Winter chains, Crimson?”
I cross my arms. “That’s beside the point. I won’t have you using silver on each other, and that’s final. Take those chains back to the dungeon. If you’d seen what I have, you wouldn’t be so eager to silver yourselves, trust me.”
There’s a weak chorus of disappointed sighs and groans as the newborn vampires place the chains in a wooden box. They disperse obediently, if begrudgingly, into the night.
“If you want to toughen yourselves up, spend a little more time in the gym! Or practice your magic!” I lecture as they disappear. But I doubt any of them will heed that advice. It’s far more impressive to show off how much silver you can bear than to spend time honing your vampiric strength, or reading dusty witch books in Murad’s library.
But I was serious about what I said. Most of these young vampires don’t remember what it was like hundreds of years ago. This world might be harsh, but it used to be far, far more brutal. Those chains were small, they should have seen what we used to use when I was their age. Once I silvered myself so badly that it took me an entire fortnight to recover completely. We were attacked by a coven of witches in the meantime, and one of them almost staked me because I was still sluggish. It didn’t make me stronger, it made me more vulnerable.
Even though Ididused to win most times…it certainly didn’t hurt my reputation.
I’m about to go back down to the crypts, when I catch an unusual scent in the air. It’s a living human, or no…certainly living, but their blood has an ethereal, mystical quality to it…
I glance to a dark corner of the courtyard. There’s a benchsurrounded by heaping, black rosebushes. Kai sits on the bench, wearing a dress of rich blue, wrapped up in the arms of a breather. He has tangled, matching blue hair, pale skin the colour of ivory, and wears only a pair of loose, linen pants with no shoes.
“Good evening, Kai,” I mutter.
The pair jumps when they see me, and Kai scrambles to their feet.
“Cr-Crimson…” they say, surprised. They stand between me and the breather, as though trying to conceal him from my sight.
“Who is that?” I demand. “I don’t recognize him. He’s not one of the breathers in our employ.”
They crosses their arms irritably. “You know exactly who that is, Crimson. And I have nothing to hide from you, I’m not ashamed.”
I glare at the man behind her. He gives me a tiny wave.
“Is that yourmerman?” I ask. “Isn’t he supposed to have a massive fin? I assume that’s the whole appeal.”
“Don’t fetishize him!” Kai snaps haughtily. “And he’s wearing an enchanted gem.” They point to his bare chest, where he wears a teardrop pendent of glowing emerald. “Obviously, it contains a magical spell which gives him legs so he can walk on land.”
“Nothing about that is obvious,” I grumble. This is the last thing I want to deal with right now, but I have to draw a line in the sand. “Kai, we discussed this already…”
“You’resounreasonable!” they counter. “Why can’t you just leave us alone?”
“Because I’m responsible for making sure you and the other vampires aresafe,” I reply, frustration colouring my words. “Something thatnoneof you seem to appreciate.”
“I’m safe with Neptune!” they declare. “He takes care of me!”
I raise an eyebrow. “His name isNeptune? Really?”
