“Her majesty’s gardens are beautiful, aren't they?”
I turned away from the window to look at Fiametta. I wanted to be angry at her for knocking me out, for taking away my agency, but I couldn’t. It had been selfish of me to try to throw myself at Stephanie. The principessa had told Fiametta to treat my life as if it were hers. I can only imagine the punishment a captain of the royal guard would face if a royal in their charge died. I probably would have doomed them to an inescapable death sentence.
“I'm sorry,” I said. Instead of being mad, I was just empty. “Last night, I put everyone in danger.”
I almost wanted her to yell at me, to tell me off. Then I could maybe feel angry, or defensive, or anything at all that isn't a dull ache signifying the absence of everything, of Stephanie, and of my home. Fuck. My home—I hadn't even really grieved the fact that I have nowhere to go home to. It's as if I've been plucked from everything I know and placed in this mad house with vampires, werewolves, and fucking necromancers who raise people's loved ones from the dead for some unholy army of futility because the powers they railed against were…
Fiametta cleared her throat, breaking my spiral. “I brought some bread, a fruit jam, some cheese, and some cured meat,” she turned to the side and pointed to a cart by the door.
I stared at the cart and blinked a couple of times, then looked back up at her briefly before returning my gaze to the gardens. “Thanks,” I said.
“Can I eat with you?”
I turned to look at her again, really look at her. Her skin was alabaster like Chiara's and Orsa’s. Why wasn't Ippolita pale like them? Her almond-shaped eyes still held no judgment or anger, maybe something that looked a little like pity.
“Sure,” I said and looked back to the window. Maybe being around someone will help. It was certainly very soothing with the principessa earlier. Things didn't feel so empty and pointless the way they do now. Wait. Why would her presence matter? I barely know her. I know I needed to cry it out, but I was clinging to her like—did she use magic on me? I couldn't bring myself to be mad at her. What did it matter that someone orders of magnitude stronger than me took away my agency? I let out another sigh.
“You need to eat, signore.”
“Just call me Jack, please. I’m much younger than you; I’m weaker than you. You don’t need to show me so much respect.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Everyone is deserving of respect until they prove otherwise, but I can be more familiar with you if you’d like. Certain elements of courtly etiquette are ingrained in me, though.”
“I’ll take it as a win, then.” I reached for a smaller piece of cheese and ate it. It was rich and nutty, and the first food I’d ever had from my new world. Tears threatened to fall again, but with a deep breath, I forced them back and grabbed a hunk of the bread. “What kind of fruit was used for the jam?”
“Raspberries and mulberries.”
“Oh, I like raspberries. I’ll try this, then.” I spread some of the jam on the bread. It tasted a lot like a mixture of raspberries and blackberries, a nice tartness balanced with the sweet.
“You aren’t weaker than me,” she said.
I froze for a moment, the bread in my hand was almost to my open mouth, but I lowered it and gave her my full attention.
“Yes, your cultivation is low, but you are not weaker than me. What’s happened to you… Stronger women would have buckled under the same stress. For my part, I cannot imagine being ripped from my home, and my purpose or having to watch the body of the one I loved become a puppet, even if I knew her soul was safe.”
I couldn’t hold her eyes anymore without breaking, so I lowered my gaze to the bread in my hand resting on the table. This hurt. My breath caught when she reached across the table and gripped my forearm. It was gentle, but firm—comforting even.
“I know what heartache feels like, but I can’t imagine what this loss feels like. The principessa may have asked me to protect you, but I can be your friend, too, if you’ll have me.”
“A friend sounds great right now.” My voice was steadier than I felt.
“Eat up. We’re going to spar after this. It’ll take your mind off things, and it’ll let me know what direction to take your training.”
“My training? I didn’t think you had adventurers down here.”
“We don’t. Well, not as such. It’s complicated, but that’s not why you’re getting training. You don’t yet understand how rare you are or your value. I will always put my life before yours, but you become much easier to protect if you are strong.”
“What exactly do I need protection from?”
“Women,” she said, then laughed. “Oh, Jack, none of us said anything last night, but you are extremely alluring to us. We can tell no one has marked you. The only scent on you at this point is that of the principessa, and that won’t last forever.”
“Marked me? What the fuck is that?”
“How to explain,” she trailed off, then snapped her fingers. “You had pets in your cloud cities, correct?”
“I don’t like where this is going.”
She waved her hand in front of her face in a dismissive gesture. “It’s not like someone will make you their pet. Unless… unless you’re into that,” she said with a slight blush. She looked away and cleared her throat before turning back to me.
“Rather than pets,” I start, “Do you mean something like a wedding ring?”
She lights up at that, “Yes, like that, but less official. It’s a magical mark that’s unique to vampire and were bloodlines, which of course includes the dhampirs and the current weres of today.”
“Is it something that you do to random hook-ups? Or is it like ‘this person and I are together’?”
“The latter. We can smell who someone has recently been with, of course, but the mark is something else. Chiara, for example, has marked her wife.”
“Oh, Chiara’s married?”
“Yes, to a wonderful weretiger. She’s one of the premier blacksmiths in the city as well. Her waiting list is 6 months long for custom orders.”
“Is that common? Two women being married, I mean. The principessa briefly explained the gender disparity, but I don’t think I really understand.”
“It’s fairly common, yes, though polycules are just as common. Usually it’s 2-3 women who share a man, but the women are just as in love with each other as they are with the man.”
“I have a hard time imagining that. The polycool thing. I can’t imagine Stephanie—” I stopped suddenly and forced myself to swallow the thick emotions I was feeling.
“It’s okay,” she says, and squeezes my arm again before retracting it. “It’ll probably take a while, but you’ll get used to the cultural differences.”
“Speaking of differences, I have some potentially rude questions.”
Fiametta stopped chewing for a moment, tilted her head, and I could swear I saw a spark of mischief in her eyes, but it went by too fast. She righted her head and nodded at me before continuing to chew.
“Vampires need to drink blood to live, right? Are there blood slaves? Is that… that’s not what’s going to happen to me, right?”
A look of horror flashed across Fiametta’s face, which in turn made me panic, as if I had just discovered the one thing they didn’t want me finding out.
“No! Gods! No, Jack, not at all. We would never… The covenant is an oath from all of the principesse sworn on their blood and their cultivation, and one of its tenets is to never take forcefully what must be given freely, in this case, the blood of those that must be protected. And no, coercion can’t be disguised as given freely. Even the concept of “you must give blood to be a citizen” is pushing the spirit of the covenant, if not the letter. It works out because citizenship is what qualifies a person as ‘the protected’, and to become one, they have to largely be ignorant of the transaction, hence ‘given freely’. From there, it’s just the choice to maintain citizenship. It skirts the line a bit, but doesn’t cross it.”
“So how do they get blood to survive? Vampires are predators. Full stop. And we are the food.”
Now, she was trying to keep a smile off her face, “Jack, you are not food.” She eyed me up and down, “At least not in that sense. To maintain your citizenship, you have to give a pint of blood every 2 months.”
“And there are enough people for that?”
“More than enough. The crown has warehouses of stockpiled blood in case there’s ever an emergency.”
“What about if you’re married to a vampire, and he or she wants to drink your blood? Does that count towards your donation?” I asked.
“No, but then that Vampire is responsible for getting their partner to a healer and making sure they don’t miss the donations. If they do miss the donation, and it’s discovered that the reason is because of feeding from the vampire, the vampire is subjected to heavy fines. If it happens more than once, then the partner is removed from the custody of the vampire for 90 days to make sure they have a clear head and aren’t being mistreated.”
“I thought you said the covenant protected us from that.”
Fiametta waffles her hand back and forth. “The covenant protects you from the principesse. The principesse protect you from the other vampires. And everything else for that matter.”
“I see, so there’s nothing stopping a random countess from grabbing me on the street, abducting me, and then feeding on me.”
A dangerous look that promised violence entered her eyes, “Signor Jack, no one will abduct you while I am around. They would have to kill me first, and very, very few in this city possess that ability.”
“That’s very reassuring, but for argument’s sake, let’s say it happens.”
“Then the principessa would know immediately.”
“You mean because someone would sound the alarm?”
“No, I mean this,” she said while gesturing around us. “This entire city is her dominio.”
“That’s the second time I’ve heard that word. I don’t know what it means.”
Realization crossed her face at that. “Ah, it’s a part of her cultivation. You know she is in the Immortal Realm, yes?”
“Yeah, I think she told me as much.”
“Part of crossing that divide between Mortal and Immortal Realms is establishing a dominio… a,” she pauses to think for a moment. “I do not know this word in common. Nevertheless, it requires a dominio. Inside your dominio, you can feel everything. This, of course, would be overwhelming, so you learn to block it all out except for key things you wish to know. For Principessa Ippolita, I assume the other principesse as well, this means she knows when anyone breaks certain key laws, abduction is one of them. She’d even know exactly where you were.”
“That’s very reassuring to be honest, if not a little creepy.”
Fiamette chuckled, “Were you anyone else, Jack, and I’d say you have too big an opinion of yourself, but I think maybe she will be keeping an eye on you.”
“And what about using mind magic on citizens?” I asked, thinking of this morning with the principessa.
Fiametta looked hurt but schooled her expression quickly. “Jack, I thought—I thought you understood I did what I had to.”
“What? No, Fiametta, I don’t mean you. I mean, I do because you can also do it.” I sighed heavily. “Look, this morning when Principessa Ippolita was here, I think she used mind magic on me to soothe me, make me comfortable, lower my guard, something. I don’t know exactly. And yeah, you used it last night—which was the right call, don’t mistake my meaning.” I sighed again and dropped my head into my hands. “Up in my city, no one took mind magic spells. Like sure, several people took Telekinesis. And occasionally, you might find someone who took Charm, but for the most part, mind magic was suspicious, and there were a lot of regulations around it. Many of the spells on the watch list were mind magic spells, so tattooists had to report to the city any time they gave the tattoo out.”
“Oh,” she said. “I’m sorry if I reacted too defensively. I really only used it as a last resort. In military operations, mind magic can be used with limited oversight. Vampires have mind magic as a natural skill, no tattoo needed, so most grow up here familiar with its uses. And yes, you are protected from someone walking up to you and using mind magic on you. Some of the more minor offenses aren’t stopped immediately, but the principessa is aware of when it happens, and justice is eventually carried out.” She paused and took a deep breath.
“Jack, I can’t speak to her actions, but I can say if she used her mind magic on you like that, it was because she thought it was what you needed. You said you felt soothed and comforted, right?”
I nodded.
“Then that’s just what she thought you needed at that moment.”
I started to speak again, but she held up a hand to stop me. “I don’t want to hear specifics. It was private, and I trust her implicitly. I suspect you are as okay as you are right now because of the moments you shared with her this morning. Please, just count that as the gift in which it was intended and not robbing you of your freedom.”
I could see I’d get nowhere with Fiametta, so I resolved to just bring it up with the principessa next time we were alone.
“Fine. I’ll try.”
She offered me a smile, and not for the first time, I thought how weird it was that every woman I’d met since being down here was gorgeous. Even the evil bitch who turned Stephanie’s body into a Risen was objectively attractive. I could feel a headache forming as I thought more about last night. I needed a change of scenery, so I cleared my throat and spoke up again.
“So, you said something about sparring?”
I would swear Fiametta had cast a light spell with how brightly she lit up, and the mention of sparring.
“Yes! Last night, you used several guards that I’m not familiar with! I would love to see them all and how they are similar to the ones we teach in the city. Then we can work out a training schedule! The principessa will likely want to oversee your cultivation training, but she put me in charge of your weapons training. I’m familiar with many weapons other than the longsword as well, if you’d like to learn something else!”
Her excitement was infectious and brought a smile to my face. Yeah, trading pointers, even if it meant getting my ass beat, did sound like a good time.