After their private moment in the café, the two girls strolled lazily through the city's old, paved streets. Liliene had promised Laura a real day together, and she gave it to her whole. They climbed all the way up to the religious district to bask in the view of the green valley below. The atmosphere shifted starkly; while the districts below were noisy and full of people going about their lives, the upper part was steeped in reverence, as if any noise would spark divine retribution.
In the distance, a priest had his arms raised in front of a kneeling soldier. Liliene was too far away to hear the blessing the priest muttered, so she strained her ears. “Wo… lo… lo…” No, she couldn't make out what he was saying.
The couple headed back to a bookshop next, to buy a book each as a souvenir. Laura picked up a cheap romance, in her words. Liliene had wanted something epic, maybe with a kingdom at stake, and stumbled upon a book called ‘The Prince,’ written by an author whose name sounded both wicked and formidable. She had a good feeling about this one.
The sun had all but set when they finally came down, hand in hand. They had learned the city and its layout, at least in part, since coming here. As the sun sank, they knew which narrow alleys to navigate to keep its rays away from Liliene. The current alley was particularly dark; its buildings stood like giant walls, leaving barely enough space for the two girls to walk side by side.
A tiny prickle ran along Liliene’s neck; a few thin hairs stood on end. It was a vague and distant unsettling feeling, the same one she’d had to fight off whenever her mother told her a scary story. Something was behind her, moving slowly, one cautious step at a time toward them.
She turned in one swift movement, sneakily readying a pike to shoot from her arm. A black cat, five meters away, was startled by her sudden movement and lost track of the mouse he had been stalking.
“Meow!” he said reproachfully.
Liliene could only hope he wasn’t one to hold grudges.
“Lili? Is everything alright?”
Funny how hearing her girlfriend’s voice could dissolve every doubt lingering in her heart. Not that she had many doubts right now. But still, she should talk to Nex. And maybe Sylvia.
“Hm. Nothing. I just felt weird for a moment. It’s… hard to explain,” she said, slipping her arm around her girlfriend again and walking away. “Did you have fun today?”
Laura relaxed against Liliene’s shoulder and let out a contented hum. “Yes… Thank you, Lili. I-I love you.” But her dreamy look didn’t last. “But we can’t have more dates like today, or we won’t be able to afford food come next week.”
“But…”
Liliene knew her girlfriend's words held a sliver of truth. She had never bothered to count the coins in her bag, but it was definitely lighter than it had been this morning. Going by weight alone, she had a bit less than five dates left.
“How can I make money quickly without effort?”
“The question everyone would like an answer to.” Laura chuckled. “I think the easiest way is to simply be born rich. Like a noble.”
“But I was born a princess?”
Laura found no rebuttal. But still, it stirred a warm, happy feeling, almost pride, when she realized she had just had a date with a real princess. Then she blushed when she remembered that said princess was her girlfriend. A real princess had touched her… everywhere…
“Oh god.”
“Laura?”
Liliene couldn’t quite understand why her girlfriend had spontaneously combusted and hidden her face against her shoulder. It was certainly cute, but she didn’t remember doing anything this time.
“I was just… remembering something,” Laura mumbled against her dress.
“Oh.” That talk of remembering made her realize she'd forgotten the main event. “I forgot to buy your maid uniform.”
“Pardon? Since when do I have one?”
“I mean… You don’t have one yet… But… I thought, you know? You’d look good in one?” Liliene's voice grew smaller the more she talked, until it was barely a whisper, and her gaze was fixed on the nearby wall, suddenly holding all her interest.
“No?”
She was, Laura guessed right away. Her girlfriend was incapable of lying. She tried sometimes, but she had the most honest face out of anyone she knew.
“And what would I call you? When I’m wearing it?”
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”
How surprising.
***
The prickling was quickly becoming unbearable. At first, Liliene had been convinced it was a sign she should get some rest. Nothing more than overexerting herself during her last fight. She had lost quite a lot of blood, after all, and she hadn’t fed yet today, save for a few drops. Her Laura was exquisite, but she feared for her girlfriend's long-term health if she kept drinking from her every day.
Just today, she had jumped three times at things that weren’t there, reached for her girlfriend, thinking she was beside her, only to find her meters away, and realized one of the barmaids was having an affair with the owner in the storage room (without peeking, that would have been rude). She just… felt it, which in this case was particularly disturbing.
By now, she had a hunch about the issue, and regretted that their inn had such poor lighting, just a candle here and there. Most of the time, you avoided the patrons by first running into them.
She stood alone in their pitch-black room, Nex and Laura still downstairs and eating their meal. Not that she wasn’t hungry; she was, but being alone and far away made the presences more manageable. She shouldn’t assume, of course; maybe the blow on her head had made her crazy. That would be unfortunate, but such was life.
“Lili?”
Her girlfriend’s voice came from the other side of the door.
“Are you okay? Can I come in?”
“Hm. It’s your room, too.”
The door hinges creaked as Laura opened it, and the chatter from downstairs turned up a notch.
“Can you close the door, please? The noise is killing me,” she said, holding her head.
On those rare occasions, one would suggest rest, and if the problem persisted, maybe a healer, or…
“I… probably shouldn’t call a priest, right?” Laura asked, wincing as she sat next to Liliene.
“Hm. Probably not. ‘What long teeth you have, my child,’” Liliene said, imitating what she thought was an old priest’s voice. “The better to eat my girlfriend with, Father.”
“Lili!” Laura reddened and accompanied her outrage with a weak slap on Liliene’s shoulder. “You’re terrible. Here I was, worried sick about you. And you… you’re acting like… well, you!”
“Sorry,” Liliene said, not meaning it. She let her head rest against Laura’s shoulder. “I like you best with a rosy dust upon your cheeks. The sight is exquisite on your fair skin.”
Laura weakly pushed Liliene away and held her by the shoulders. Her face wore only a confused frown as she studied Liliene.
“What troubles you, my dearest lady? My heart cannot bear to see your face etched in torment as your gaze falls upon me. Have I wronged you? Speak, my dearest, and I shall gladly tear this wretched heart from my breast, for what worth has it if it cannot earn even the faintest of your smiles?” Find the original chapter at novelping dot com.
“Lili… Did you read the book I bought earlier?”
“No?”
“So you did…” Laura quickly hid her face against her girlfriend’s chest. Her arms flailed weakly, hitting Liliene with fists deprived of any real force. “Why you…”
“Do you want me to be like that?”
“No, please. It’s just… weird.” Laura pulled back, looked at her girlfriend, then pressed her lips against hers. “I like you best when you’re just… you.”
Liliene chuckled, feeling weirdly proud. Besides, her girlfriend’s kiss was a surprisingly good remedy against her headache. Why would her head hurt if all her attention was on Laura’s lips?
“Where’s Nex?”
“She stayed downstairs. In case you needed to feed.”
“Why?” But even as she asked, she realized feeding on Laura tended to put her in a mood. “Oh.” She nodded to herself and pondered seizing the occasion. But she restrained herself. “Could you call her, please? I think we need to talk.”
Laura went downstairs and returned with Nex; the two of them sat on the other bed, facing Liliene. For once, Liliene looked like someone about to have a serious conversation. To an untrained eye, Nex’s face looked normal, but Liliene could feel real tension underneath. It was the eyes. Probably. They couldn’t quite sit still and kept darting to the ground.
“Nex. Did you hear anything about my mother, Theresa I mean, gaining new powers?”
Nex relaxed a fraction. It didn’t make much difference, but she let out a breath a beat too long.
“Ever since I drank your blood, I’ve been feeling things that I shouldn’t. Seeing things that weren’t there. I mean, they were there there, I don’t have hallucinations. They were just there farther there. Hm. Does it make sense?”
Laura’s eyes widened, but she stayed silent; she looked like someone solving a difficult equation.
“I’m not sure. I was quite young, My Lady.” She shook her head. Then her lips moved for a moment, but no sound came out. She was remembering something, or maybe choosing her words. Liliene couldn’t be sure which. “I know she displayed a power similar to mine, yet not exactly the same.” Her lips trembled as the next words seemed to cut her throat like tiny razors. “If what you suggest is true… Maybe that’s why I was an interesting prospect. For a maiden.”
Laura stayed silent for the exchange. In her head, the equation solved itself; if Nex’s blood gave Liliene’s new powers, Laura truly had nothing left for her. Nex was just her, but better.
“Nex,” Liliene said, her voice as tender as it was firm. “I’m not my mom.”
That was the best she could say. Any more would be admitting things she wasn’t ready to admit herself. And things that would need a conversation with her girlfriend. A very disagreeable conversation she wasn’t in any hurry to have.
Really, the more she heard about her mother, the less she liked her. It was probably unfair, she knew. She had heard only snippets of a long life. But the legacy she left Nex with… Theresa stole Nex’s life by making her watch over Liliene as a baby; she stole Nex’s heart for years, preventing her from moving on. And now she was only entertaining Nex’s advances for her power?
Hopefully, no one could read Liliene’s heart right now, for they would find it darker than it usually was. Uglier. Liliene might share some taste with Theresa, but she wouldn’t share her temperament, or vices, or whatever her reasons were to take on a collection of maidens.
Nex was hers. She would make her forget about Theresa. She would make her smile at her like she was her first love. She would make both of her brides happy.
But for now, she would probably need to make them both unhappy with what she was going to suggest.
“Nex. Do you think you could reach Sylvia for me? She would probably know more about that.”
It was time for a tea party.