The Tale of a Vampiress
Chapter 35:
Several nights later I was in my quarters and there was a knock on the door, it was Alicia.
"Can I help you?" I asked her casually, I hoped that there weren't any issues going on.
"I've come to ask you for permission to take a mate Anna, I've found a suitable candidate and we want to begin our term." she explained.
"Who have you chosen Alicia?" I was curious because I had no idea as to who she would even deem worthy of her love.
"Please don't kill me for this, I've gone for Gavner Purl. I saw him under the waterfall a few nights ago and I like how he looks, he's got a nice body." Gavner was pretty good looking, as he was also a close friend of mine I had no objections to him mating with my assistant.
"Has Gavner asked you to be his mate?" I wasn't sure if Gavner was following our traditions or not, he certainly hadn't asked me for consent.
"Well, I kinda told him that I liked him and he has been flirting with me ever since Anna. He's offered an initial term of three years and I've accepted it, however I've told him that he has to ask you for consent first before we actually mate. So far he's only kissed me, that's it." I was happy for Alicia if she was happy with Gavner.
"I have no objections to the match, go ahead and be with Gavner if that's what you want. I know that he'll treat you fairly, he's a real gentleman even if he flirts and plays pranks. You will still be my assistant, don't let your mateship get in the way of your duties or our lessons, you still have much to learn Alicia. At least now you've got a sparring partner who you can practice with when I'm not around." I had no idea if Alicia had any knowledge of sex or even if she'd had sex before, it wasn't really any of my business. I knew that Gavner would be good to her and he'd be kind, even if he didn't have much else to offer he would look after her well, I had no doubt of that. I also knew that he'd never force her or hurt her, it wasn't in his nature. Even if Alicia was inexperienced I knew that Gavner would be understanding and he'd take things slowly.
"Thank you Anna, I'll get Gavner to come and speak to you so that he can ask you for consent, I am trying to put into practice what you've taught me." I hadn't seen Alicia this happy in a while, I was relieved that she'd chosen somebody as her mate who I could trust. I'd known Gavner for a long time, I could certainly vouch for his character, in other words he was a good egg and Larten had taught him well.
"That's OK Alicia, by the way we've got a two hour combat lesson tonight. I'll meet you in the Halls of Sport in an hour from now, don't forget and don't be late." I was becoming really good at the whole mentoring thing, we had a schedule and we stuck to it. Approximately fifteen minutes after I'd had my conversation with Alicia there was another knock on the door of my quarters, this time it was Gavner and he was looking very smug.
"Hello Gavner, I already know why you're here." I invited him inside my quarters and we sat down.
"Larten not around?" he asked.
"Nope, he's gone hunting with the wolves and Seba, they'll be back later on." I poured myself a drink, I hadn't had one in ages. "Do you want a drink Gavner?"
"Yeah, go on then. What is it, blood?" I handed him a glass and filled it almost to the top.
"Yep, it is warm and fresh too." I took a sip and so did Gavner.
"I'm here to ask if I can have your permission to take your assistant Alicia as my mate. Do you have any objections Anna?" at least Gavner hadn't beaten around the bush, he'd come straight to the point.
"I have no objections at all, go ahead and take her as your mate. Incidently, what about Liz?" I wanted to know if Gavner was going to be faithful or not.
"She's an old lady now Anna and she doesn't want me to see her aging, I offered to blood her years ago, but she said no and that's her right. I'll make Alicia happy and I'll keep her safe, don't worry." I had no reason to doubt Gavner's intentions, he had a good heart and he was very loving by nature.
"I believe you, only I'm not sure if Alicia is very experienced with sex. I know that when she was a human she got a lot of bullying for being telekinetic, I don't actually know if she's had sex before so just be gentle with her, at least until you find out from her whether she's still pure or not. I don't want her being hurt Gavner, I mean it." I had to put my foot down in defence of my assistant, not that Gavner would ever deliberately hurt her.
"I understand Anna, I shall take things slowly with her. I won't hurt Alicia, I swear to you that I'll be good to her." Gavner finished his glass of blood and got up to leave.
"I know you'll do the right thing by her Gavner, we've actually got a double combat lesson tonight so perhaps you could be her sparring partner? I'm going to the Halls of Sport now in fact." I got up and put our empty glasses on the table, I grabbed my staff, put my cloak on and headed towards the Halls of Sport. Gavner came with me and we met Alicia en route.
"Well Gavner?" Alicia asked expectantly. "Do you have consent to become my mate?"
"I do, yes." he replied.
"I'm so happy, however I must focus upon my lesson now Gavner. Spar with me?" she offered.
"Of course, that's why I'm here Alicia." Gavner got a staff from the rack and then I began my lesson. We were going to be doing an hour of duelling on the Bars and an hour of hand to hand combat tonight.
"Right Alicia, I want to see some good, clean strikes from you tonight and some decent blocking maneuvres too. Show me what you've been practising all week, don't go easy on her Gavner she has to learn how to defend herself." I called up to her, she was standing on the Bars looking quite nervous. Gavner and Alicia began their sparring match, she wasn't half bad either, she'd taken on board what she'd learnt from her previous lessons. "Not bad at all, you're doing fine Alicia. Gavner, do some combination moves now. Alicia needs to learn how to block more than one strike in quick succession." Gavner performed what we call a double strike, that is to say he attacked with both ends of his staff one after the other. Alicia blocked one and took the second hit, she wasn't quite quick enough to block both strikes, howeve she'd been close. Gavner's second blow connected with her ribs, it wasn't a hard one but it knocked her off balance. "Close, but not close enough Alicia. You nearly pulled off that defensive double block, you just weren't at the right angle."
"I tried my best, it is harder than it looks Anna." duelling on the Bars wasn't meant to be easy, it was supposed to be a challenge.
"Never mind Alicia, keep practising though. We're moving on now, it is time for a hand-to-hand combat lesson and then you can have the rest of the evening off, OK?" Alicia hopped off the Bars and put her staff back on the rack, she then stood inside the training area for hand-to-hand combat and Gavner joined her there.
"Is this like a martial arts style of fighting Anna?" she was holding her daggers out infront of her in a defensive stance.
"No, not really. You won't need those daggers either Alicia, hand-to-hand combat doesn't usually involve weapons, besides I don't want Gavner to get hurt." Alicia put her daggers away and stood back inside the training area. "Hand-to-hand combat is literally that, using your hands and nails as weapons in whatever way you can to survive. We have separate lessons for weapon training, tonight I want Gavner to show you how to defend yourself using only your hands, were you aware that you can use your nails like a blade if they're at the right angle?"
"Nope, I had no clue. I usually rely upon my telekinetic abilities to cause a disruption or a distraction and then I hide, I'm good at blending into the background Anna." she replied.
"So you're a passive individual?" I had no idea if Alicia had even been in a real fight before.
"I tend to hide and I use the environment to cover my tracks Anna. I am more likely to set a trap than actually be part of a fight, I use mud and whatever I can find to blend into my surroundings, like the army does." Alicia wasn't stupid, she clearly knew more than she was letting on.
"That's very smart, where did you learn techniques like that?" I had to know exactly how well trained she was, if at all and whether she had useful skills that I was as of yet unaware of.
"I've played a lot of games, certain games require you to do things like that to survive so I just learnt a few tips from them." I'd quite forgotten about games and gaming consoles, I hadn't played one in years.
"Well if you live then great, traps are always an option and use your vampiric instincts, another thing to remember is that anything can become a weapon in the right hands." I was surprised by how much she knew about stealth combat, perhaps it'd be useful in the future. "I want to see you two sparring now, I need to see you in action before I can tell you where you're going wrong Alicia." Gavner and Alicia squared up to one another, Gavner threw the first punch, however Alicia dodged it and countered with a kick that hit its mark, she then grabbed him by his shirt and sliced his face open with her nails, she was clearly no pushover. "Enough Alicia, that'll do for now. I said sparring match, not fight to the death, geez. Gavner, are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'll live." he said. "You're one tough cookie Alicia, I'm glad you're on my side." he healed up the scratches on his face using his spit and got himself a mug of ale.
"Enough training for tonight I think, go and enjoy yourself, you've earnt it." that was the end of our double combat lesson, if there was one thing I admired it was fighting spirit and Alicia had loads of it...
I happened to see Alicia and Gavner sitting together in the Hall of Khledon Lurt later on in the evening, I thought that they would probably get along together really well. I could see them chatting away like two friends would, although I did notice that Gavner had his arm around Alicia and he kissed her a couple of times too, although they weren't full-on kisses as such.
Larten still isn't back from hunting with Seba. I figure that he will be gone for a while, but not this long. I'm really missing him and my wolves have gone hunting too, I don't even have them to keep me company right now...
When Larten and Seba finally returned from hunting they were carrying a stag each, both of them were rather large and heavy looking with six or seven points on their antlers respectively.
"Wow, those are big stags." I couldn't wait until they were roasted and served up on our plates, I was really hungry.
"We captured the two biggest ones and brought them down with help from your wolves Anna." Larten stated.
"I guess that the Princes will get one to themselves and we'll get the other one, right Larten?" The Princes always got the best food and they got to pick whatever they wanted out of anything that was available.
"Well, we will have to share it with the other Clan members Anna, but yes we will get to eat venison tonight." Seba had already disappeared into the kitchens with the stag that he was carrying. Larten disappeared pretty soon after we'd spoken and the wolves were searching for snacks that'd been left unattended on the tables.
"Get down from there, you know better than that Sasha." she'd jumped up onto a vacant table and helped herself to a bone that'd been abandoned. Sasha grabbed the bone, hopped off the table and lay down by my feet, I could hear her crunching away whilst she was eating it. Shadow just looked up at me expectantly, I got him something to eat and he seemed to be OK after that. Some of the other wolves were also hanging around, a couple of them were looking a bit thin which was worrying, however the rest of them were fine. I was no longer their guardian, however I would still be keeping an eye on the wolves just in case they developed any health problems.
"Titan, Thor come." Titan looked at me and bounded towards where I was sitting, Thor on the other hand was a bit more cautious, however he did come over to the table eventually. They were looking a bit ragged to say the least. "What's happened to you two? You're thin and your coats are really messy. Its bathtime for you both, I think. Where's your guardians, eh? They're not taking very good care of you." I was a bit worried about Titan and Thor, maybe their guardians had an issue, whatever it was I'd get to the bottom of it but right now they were in need of a good meal, a wash and a groom. I was lucky that I had a hairbrush, I didn't mind using it on the wolves, my clothing was covered in wolf hairs anyway so it wouldn't make any difference whatsoever. I took them to the Hall of Purta Vin Grahl and went into the pool under the biggest waterfall, they would have to jump into the pool too. I would make sure to give them a really good wash, they were looking like they needed it. The water was icy cold, however it was fresh and clean. I brought a sponge with me so I could use it to rub the dirt and crap off of Thor's fur, he was covered in mud, Titan was also looking pretty dirty. I was lucky that I'd purchased some dog shampoo from the supermarket and brought it with me, I would use it to at least attempt to get the wolves clean. I could feel bones under their fur so something clearly wasn't right, wolves aren't meant to be thin, they should be muscular with fluffy looking clean fur that feels slightly rough to the touch.
After Titan and Thor had been bathed I fed them, they were going nuts when I gave them some fresh, raw meat. I would be speaking to their guardians when I could, I was not happy with how they were being treated. There would be no reason for them to be starving and in such poor shape, their guardians obviously hadn't been looking after them properly and that was making me feel sad and disappointed.
"Larten, Titan and Thor don't look so good, they're thin and they were filthy before I bathed them. I am not very happy with how they've been treated, all the other wolves are healthy, just not these two." I had to tell him because he was good at dealing with problems.
"What do you wish to do about it Anna?" I wasn't sure if there was anything that he could do, although he was good at talking to people and the Clan respected him which was always helpful.
"Find their guardians and ask them why they've neglected to take care of the wolves properly." I said. "It isn't fair on the wolves and it isn't right, why should they be left to fend for themselves when they have guardians who're supposed to feed them regularly and groom them at the very least?" I was not a happy bunny and Larten could tell. I don't often get angry, however animal cruelty is one thing that I cannot stand. I might be a vampiress, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about animals or the environment, in fact vampires tend to be much cleaner than humans and we live in tune with nature.
"Alright Anna, calm yourself down. I can see how upset you are about this turn of events and I do not blame you, rest assured that I will deal with it, even I care about the welfare of the wolves which you have raised so carefully. I can see what you mean, looking at Titan and Thor now you have just reasons to be concerned about their welfare." Larten would always be on my side, he also understood how much my wolves meant to me.
"Yes, you're right Larten, I'm sorry. I just get so bloody angry sometimes, I mean how hard can it be to look after a wolf? They only need feeding, exercising and the occasional bath plus regular brushing, if I can do it for ten wolves successfully then surely taking care of one or two isn't that hard, is it?" I was passionate when it came to doing the right thing, I didn't believe in suffering for the sake of it either.
"I will put things right." Larten didn't say anything more, in fact he disappeared and I was left in the Hall of Khledon Lurt with only the wolves for company. There wouldn't be anything happening in the Halls of Sport tonight as all of the equipment was having maintenance done to it, even the weaponry was being cleaned and sharpened, not that real weapons were used most of the time, they were more for show.
I decided to go to the Hall of Princes, I had an idea that would perhaps make Larten happy and reward him for being such a loyal and strong Clan member. Arra had proven beyond all doubt that she deserved the honour of having a hall named after her, I also thought that Larten had earnt the same honour even though he was still alive.
"State your business here." one of the Guards declared when I reached the entrance to the Hall of Princes.
"I need to speak with the Princes about Arra Sails having a hall named after her, she deserves that honour in my opinion and only the Princes can grant such a thing." I hoped that this was a good enough reason to get into the Hall of Princes.
"Very well, you may enter." the Guard replied. "We have to search you first, however you know that anyway."
"Go ahead, I have nothing to hide." I never carried weapons to the Hall of Princes, nor did I take anything with me that I didn't require. I spread my legs apart and the Guards ran their hands all over my arms, legs and I had to take my hair out of its bun too. They didn't touch my skin at all, it was kind of like going through an airport search and it didn't take long either, although it was a bit humiliating because I had two men effectively feeling every contour of my body including my bum.
"You're clean, you may pass into the Hall of Princes." the Guard remarked, however I had to wait for a Vampire Prince to come and open the doors for me.
"I told you that I had nothing, now I just have to stand here waiting for goodness knows how long. The Vampire Princes need an appointment system." vampires had been known to wait outside the Hall of Princes for hours in the past, so I hoped that I wouldn't be waiting too long.
I was not happy with the search techniques of these two Guards in particular, most of the other Guards were alright, however on this occasion they had touched me in a way that I deemed to be inappropriate, especially when one of the Guards had touched my bum cheeks and ran his hands down the front of my chest, he'd practically squeezed my booby too and that was also inappropriate. I would report it to the Princes when I spoke to them, it was technically sexual assault. Had larten or Gavner been with me then they wouldn't have dared to do such a thing, in fact I was feeling both violated and embarrassed by their conduct towards me.
When I was eventually admitted into the Hall of Princes and into the Princes' Dome itself I didn't have to wait long for them to acknowledge me, although I still bowed as it was expected of me to do so.
"Sire, I have a couple of things that I wish to discuss with you." Prince Mika looked up from his maps and so did Prince Arrow. Prince Darren wasn't in attendance, Prince Paris was in the Medical Wing as he was ill and Prince Vancha was currently away from Vampire Mountain.
"What matters do you wish to bring to our attention?" Prince Arrow looked at me with genuine interest.
"The first thing I need to report to you Sire is that I've just been violated by the Guards who're outside the Hall of Princes, they searched me as they were meant to, however one of them took liberties with me and touched me inappropriately whilst he was searching me." it was hard to admit to such a thing, I had no proof of it either. It would be my word against the words of the Guards in question. "I also think that a hall should be named after Arra Sails, does she not deserve that honour after everything she did for the Clan and because of her sacrifice? This is the second thing that I wanted to speak with you about Sire."
"In relation to the first matter it will be dealt with straight away, we take alligations of sexual violation very seriously. In relation to the second matter it will be added to the agenda and put to a vote at next week's meeting, we cannot make such a decision without imput from all of the Clan members who are currently residing here at Vampire Mountain." Prince Mika declared, to which Prince Arrow nodded in agreement, he leaned back on his throne and his mate was standing behind him, at least I thought she was his mate, however she could have been his assistant. Unusually Sophie wasn't around, maybe she'd gone hunting as the Halls of Sport would remain closed until the maintenance was completed.
"Thank you Sire, I'll go now that I've brought these two issues to your attention." I bowed and turned to leave when Prince Mika stopped me from going anywhere.
"Anna, we have to take a statement in relation to your alligations against the Guard or Guards who assaulted you, you have to tell us what took place. If it is deemed necessary an enquiry will be held and those responsible will be held accountable for their actions at a public trial. So, what exactly happened to you?" I felt a bit put on the spot by Prince Mika, however I had to reveal the truth.
"The Guard who searched me touched my bum cheeks and my breasts, he practically squeezed one of them as well and I deem that to be inappropriate. I feel violated Sire, had Larten been there then the Guard in question wouldn't have dared to touch me like that, he must know that its wrong, right? I can understand why I have to be searched, however that is not a reason to sexually assault me, for that's what it was Sire, sexual assault."
"I understand, I can promise you here and now that the matter will be investigated properly. We will select a Vampire General to look into the matter, he shall gather any evidence of the crime and report back to us, we can then make a decision as to whether this matter will be dealt with privately or at a public trial." the Vampire Prince sounded like he meant business and that was good.
"Very well Sire. Now can I go? I must report this incident to Larten, he may even wish to seek his own justice because you know what he's like." I knew that Larten would go mental when I told him, however he was my Blessed Mate and I would need his support to get through such a thing.
"Yes Anna, you may go and we are sorry that our Guards have treated you so badly, this is not how any vampire should behave, much less one of our own Guards." I appreciated Prince Mika's apology, but he hadn't done anything wrong. If anything the Guards were the ones who needed to apologise because of their conduct...
I left the Hall of Princes, when I was exiting the huge doors which led into the Hall of Princes I could see that the Guards standing outside the doors were different now. The Princes hadn't wasted any time, they were clearly taking action against the two Guards who'd been there previously, one of the Guards had stood by and said nothing whilst the other one had been touching me inappropriately, this made them both equally guilty in my opinion, although it would be down to the Princes to decide upon their fate.
I went back to the Hall of Khledon Lurt and I bumped into Larten en route, I practically jumped into his arms because I hadn't seen him for ages. Under normal circumstances I would have controlled myself, however due to what had happened I just wanted to be in his arms.
"Thank goodness I've found you Larten, I need you." I was practically holding onto him for dear life, it wasn't like me to do this either.
"Why Anna? What has happened?" he sounded concerned, however when he wrapped his arms around me I felt a bit better.
"It was horrible, I went to the Hall of Princes to ask them if they'd consider naming one of our halls after Arra, they'll put it to a vote at next week's meeting. This isn't the issue, the truth is that when one of the Guards searched me as he was meant to do he touched me in unsuitable places, he even squeezed one of my breasts and the other Guard did nothing, he just stood there. I feel so violated Larten, I really do." I still couldn't quite believe that it'd happened. "Don't cause a scene, the Princes are already dealing with the Guards in question." Larten didn't say anything at first, however he was still holding me in his arms. I was almost in tears, I couldn't understand why a Guard would do that to me, to any Clan member in fact.
"They will pay for their crimes Anna, I assure you." I hoped that Larten wasn't about to do anything stupid, otherwise he'd be in trouble too. The Clan didn't believe in vigilante justice, however in cases such as this an exception may be made.
"I feel sick to my stomach, I know that my body is sacred and only you are permitted to touch it in that way, otherwise our solumn vows to each other mean nothing." I was taking my Blessed Mateship vows seriously, except for the one about kicking Gavner in the bum of course.
"I know Anna, I totally understand your position and how violated you must be feeling. Like I said, they will pay for what they have done. All crimes must be dealt with and justice for the victims must be sought." I agreed completely with Larten's statement, at least he would support me through this difficult time. If the Princes did decide to put the two Guards on trial for their crimes then that would be another stressful situation to deal with, I had come to the mountain to take my Trials of Death, not to be part of the prosecution in a criminal trial, I didn't even know if vampires had lawyers. As far as I'm aware both sides speak one after the other, the Princes decide upon their guilt and if they are found guilty then the Princes sentence them to an appropriate punishment or death if the crime is serious enough.
I was summoned back to the Hall of Princes a few hours later, when I arrived I could see that the two Guards whom I was accusing of sexual assault were also in the Hall of Princes, only this time their spears had been confiscated along with their Guards' robes, they were both wearing shackles and their clothing had also been taken away apart from their boxer shorts. I bowed to the assembled Princes and so did Larten, afterwards he placed his arm around my waist and I was leaning into him, I was apprehensive about what the Vampire Princes would say when they spoke.
"Anna, after reviewing the evidence and hearing statements from both of the accused we have decided to charge both of these Guards with sexual assault, inappropriate conduct whilst in a position of responsibility and in addition to that we are charging the Guard who stood by watching as an accessory to illegal activities whilst on duty. I hope that you are content with these charges." Prince Arrow stated officially.
"Yes, Sire I am happy with those charges. I just want justice, after all they've violated me in a most foul manner." I was trying to make this as simple as possible for all concerned.
"Both Guards will be pleading guilty to all of the charges, as such there is no need for a trial to take place. The only thing we have to do now is pass sentence upon them, however before we do that would you like to speak to the accused?" Prince Mika queried, I wasn't sure if I needed to speak to them or not.
"Excuse me Sire, I would like to talk to the accused, if I may?" Larten requested.
"As long as you keep it civil Larten, you may speak to the accused." the Vampire Prince agreed.
"Very well Sire, I shall not use any offensive language, however I will speak my mind." Larten took a couple of steps towards the now disgraced Guards, I was prepared to listen to what Larten would have to say. "You two should be deeply ashamed of your most recent conduct towards my beloved Blessed Mate, she deserves to be treated with utmost respect, what gives you the right to put your hands upon her most sacred body parts? If the decision to punish you was in my hands then you would be dead by now, as it is the Princes may afford to show some clemency not that either of you deserve it. I never want to see your faces again, nor do I want you to be allowed to remain living at Vampire Mountain, you do not deserve to live among us. The worst thing is that whilst these disgusting offences were being carried out one of you just stood by and turned a blind eye to it, doing that makes you just as guilty in my view." Larten was a very articulate and intelligent vampire, he would have made a fantastic criminal court judge.
"I Prince Mika Ver Leth shall now pass sentence upon you both. For the crime of sexual assault I sentence you Cyrus to banishment from the confines of Vampire Mountain, never again will you be permitted to attend a Vampire Council or live here, for the crime of inappropriate conduct whilst in a position of responsibility I am sentencing you to a term of imprisonment in our dungeon for a period of one year, upon release you will be escorted from the dungeons and banished for life from Vampire Mountain. For the crime of allowing illegal activities to take place whilst being on duty I am sentencing you Thomas to two years imprisonment in our dungeon, after you have completed your sentence you too will be banished from Vampire Mountain. If either of you dare to return after your banishment has been imposed than you will be executed. You will be henceforth taken from here to the dungeons to begin your sentences and may the Gods of the Vampires have mercy upon you in the next life." Cyrus and Thomas were then escorted by Guards down to the dungeons.
"Anna, are you content with those sentences?" Prince Arrow queried.
"Yes, I am. I think that you have shown more mercy than they deserve to be honest. Larten are you satisfied with their punishments?" I wasn't sure how Larten would feel, however he'd got his wish of having them both banished.
"Yes, at least they will not bother you again Anna. This will also serve as a warning to others, we take sexual assault and rape seriously here, in fact vampires have been excuted for being found guilty of rape in the past. The only thing in those Guards' favour was that they admitted their crimes, had they denied them then their punishments would have been more severe for lying and making us go through a whole trial." he replied. Vampiric justice was kind of similar to human justice, except that humans couldn't banish other humans, however they would deport them if they were found to be in a country illegally...
Justice had been served, the former Guards who'd assaulted me had been sentenced, I thought it was no more or less than they deserved. By this point in time I'd left the Hall of Princes, the next job on my to-do list would be dealing with the two vampires who'd left the wolves in bad shape. I couldn't understand why they'd not been fed or taken care of properly, I also noticed that their collars were gone. All of the other wolves had their collars on, except for these two. When I'd handed them over to their guardians they'd been wearing collars, nothing was making sense to me. I wasn't sure exactly what had gone wrong, although I wanted to find out because I cared about the wolves that I'd raised very much.
My first job would be to locate the actual vampires who'd agreed to take on Titan and Thor in the first place, I had to ask them why they'd neither fed or washed the wolves in a fair amount of time. I wasn't even sure if they were currently residing at Vampire Mountain itself either, however I was about to find out.
"Anna, I've just found out about what those former Guards did to you. Are you alright?" it was sweet of Gavner to ask if I was OK, not many of the Clan had done so.
"Yeah, I'll be alright Gavner. I was just in shock because I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen." I replied. "Incidently do you know where Titan and Thor's guardians are? Their collars are gone and they're underweight, naturally I'm trying to find out why this has occured."
"Oh, has nobody told you Anna?" did Gavner know something that I didn't? It was beginning to look that way.
"Tell me what Gavner?" if he had knowledge about the wolves then I needed to know it.
"Well there was a duel on the Bars, the guardians faught each other and only one lived to tell the tale. I was watching them duel, when Saskia knocked the other guy off the Bars using a wicked combination strike I knew it was bad, the other duelist didn't come around after he fell. We carried him to the Medical Wing, however when he was examined it was clear that his skull had been caved in during the duel, hence why skull crackers have their name. Saskia was distraught that she'd killed him by accident, pretty soon after that she left Vampire Mountain, we haven't seen or heard from her since. A couple of the Generals removed the wolves' collars, they were trying to re-introduce them to the wild, but they have remained here. They were deliberately not being fed to encourage them to hunt for themselves, it hasn't worked of course. Had I realised that they weren't being cared for Anna I would have looked after them as my own. It is lucky that you arrived in time to save them, I know where the collars are being kept too so I can go and get them for you." Gavner's explanation was a lot of information to digest in one go. I was not very happy, but at least now I knew the truth and I was here so I could put things right.
"Go and get the collars Gavner and something for the wolves to eat, we have to feed them regularly from now on, otherwise their body condition will get worse and they're thin enough already." Gavner nodded and vanished before I could say anything further, Titan and Thor were now looking at me and I could tell that they were hungry. It didn't take long for Gavner to return, he was holding both collars in one hand and a big leg of venison in the other.
"That'll feed 'em for a while, here are the collars Anna." he handed the collars to me and I put them back around the necks of my wolves, they would be my wolves until they were back to a normal weight and were healthy again. Afterwards I wasn't sure what would happen, maybe Gavner and Alicia could take them on seeing as their previous guardians were no longer around and I couldn't stay at Vampire Mountain full time because of my obligations to the Cirque Du Freak.
"Cheers Gavner, you're a star." he smiled and kissed me on the cheek.
"Anything for you Anna, oh dammit I'm late. I promised Alicia I'd take her out so that we could do some stargazing together. I was meant to meet her ten minutes ago." he seemed to panic, in actual fact he vanished before I could even say goodbye to him. I hoped that Alicia and Gavner were getting on OK, stargazing is a great thing to do with somebody and it is something that I've always enjoyed myself...
Alicia's P.O.V
I must have been hanging around waiting for Gavner for about ten or fifteen minutes, I hoped that he hadn't been called away on some urgent Generals' business. We were planning to go stargazing, I hoped that it would go well for both of us. I'd been looking forward to it, I wanted to spend some quality time with Gavner, I was planning on getting to know him. We hadn't actually had sex, although we had talked about it at length, so far all we'd done is kiss. I wondered what Gavner was waiting for, did he want me to ask him to mate or something? I'm not sure and I wasn't very experienced when it came to sex either. When did happen I hoped that Gavner would be taking it slowly at first, talking of taking things slowly he was running late, I hoped he hadn't forgotten about our arranged meeting.
"Sorry I'm late Alicia, I had a matter of urgent business to attend to, however it has been sorted out now." Gavner apologised.
"That's alright Gavner, shall we go?" I was eager to get going, I hadn't ever been stargazing with another person before, I thought it would be quite interesting. Gavner led me down the tunnel to the entrance, it was a bit chilly but my cloak would keep me warm. "Where is the best viewing spot?" I didn't know the surrounding area very well, in fact I barely went outside alone in case I got lost.
"We're going up a bit further and then we'll get a really good view of the sky Alicia." Gavner seemed to know where he was going at least, I'd happily follow him anywhere. "We've reached our destination, a large, flat piece of ground that we can stand on and if you turn around you'll see a great view as we're rather high up now." I turned around and the view was spectacular, I was high enough up to see the sky in all its nighttime glory, in fact every star was clearly visible. My vampiric vision had given me the ability to see things much clearer than I could before, the stars were popping out at me and the moon looked huge too.
"Gavner, you were right. The view is amazing from up here." I'd never seen a more wonderful sight, to share it with somebody I loved made this whole experience even better. I was standing next to Gavner and his arm was around my waist, he had been taking good care of me. "Can I kiss you?" I asked nervously.
"Of course you can, you don't need to ask for permission. You can kiss me whenever you want Alicia." Gavner's reply made me smile, I turned to face him and we kissed. The kiss was a real one, I could feel Gavner's tongue touching mine and I did my best to keep up with him. I'd never really experienced a proper kiss until now, it felt pretty good. I had my arms around his neck loosely, I had no idea how long we were kissing for either. When we broke apart my whole body was tingling in a way that it hadn't tingled before, it felt good.
"I think it is about time that we made our mateship term official Gavner." I had been dropping hints for a while now, would tonight be the night that we mated? I wanted to mate with Gavner and get it over with, why had he been making me wait?
"Are you sure about that Alicia?" Gavner sounded reluctant to take our mateship to the next level.
"What's the issue? Don't you want me Gavner?" I was feeling hurt, what was the point of dragging out the inevitable?
"I'm worried Alicia, I don't want to hurt you. When vampires mate it can be quite intense and you haven't got any experience with vampiric relationships." he answered.
"I won't get any experience if you keep putting it off, will I?" I had needs and Gavner wasn't currently meeting them. "Make love to me like humans do if you're worried Gavner, you'll soon be able to tell whether I'm able to cope with it or not, right?"
"I find that style so boring though Alicia." he complained. "Basic positions were the only thing I ever did with my former mate, she was a human so I had to be careful with her, after all humans have broken their bones during vampiric sex before. One woman had her spine fractured and another one ended up with a broken arm. These are the only two I know about, however I'm pretty certain that there were others who weren't so lucky."
"Is vampiric sex that violent Gavner?" I had to know what I was going to be getting involved in.
"It isn't violent as such, it is just powerful and vampires are much stronger than humans. A human would be hurt much easier than a vampire, we tend not to mate with them for this reason." he replied.
"I see. Luckily for you I'm already a half vampiress so surely I'll be alright, at least I hope so anyway. I want to become your mate in every way Gavner, not just in name." I hadn't pleaded like this before, but mating with Gavner was important to me as the Clan wouldn't officially deem us to be mates otherwise.
"Alright, alright I get it Alicia. Geez, you're persistant if nothing else. I'll mate with you, but I'm warning you now that I'm not going to hold back so on your head be it." Gavner's declaration made me both happy and nervous, however I loved him and he loved me so it was only natural for us to mate with each other properly...
Anna's P.O.V
I was just finishing off my last duty for the night when I saw Gavner and Alicia, they were going towards Gavner's quarters so I knew that they would probably mate tonight, although I'd rather that Larten had been the one to break Alicia in as he knows what to do, Gavner doesn't really know much about taking a woman's purity from her, I wasn't really sure whether Alicia was actually pure still or not, to be honest it wasn't really any of my business. As long as Alicia was happy then I was happy for her, after all the shit she'd been through in her life it was nice to see her smiling for a change.
"Larten, do you think that Gavner is knowledgable when it comes to taking a woman's purity? You know him better than I do." I hadn't ever delved into Gavner's past, at least not in depth.
"Put it this way Anna, in our past I would often end up finishing what Gavner started. Hopefully he has remembered the advice I gave him, if not then Alicia will not have a very good time tonight." he answered.
"Oh, well do you think perhaps we should intervene so that you can make it a good experience for her?" I didn't mind if Larten were to mate with Alicia because I knew that it'd be better for her in the long run.
"I shall go and check on the situation, I have probably slept with more women than you have eaten hot meals Anna. I will step in if it is necessary." Larten had mated with a lot of individuals in his lifetime, however the exact number would remain a mystery, as such it was easy to work out why he was so good in bed. "In the past it was vampiric tradition for the mentor to be present at his or her assistants' first mating session, they were meant to give advice and such like. It was stopped when the Princes decided that it was a violation of privacy rights, also I found it harder to perform properly if I was being watched, I could not concentrate and as a result I was not as good as I should have been."
"I couldn't imagine being watched whilst me and you mated, I would find it both awkward and embarrassing Larten." I kept all of my mateship details private. For one thing I wouldn't want any of the Clan seeing my naked body, nor would I want them to see me climaxing or hearing me doing so. I believed that it was a very personal moment between Larten and I, as such it didn't need to be shared with anybody else.
"I agree, I am going to Gavner's quarters now Anna, he might need me to give him some more tips." we then went to Gavner's quarters together and we listened outside of the door to get some idea of what was taking place inside...
Gavner's P.O.V
After we had finished stargazing I took Alicia back to my quarters, they were better than hers due to me being a Vampire General. I was intending to mate with her fully and make her mine, I would try to make it as good for Alicia as I could by following the instructions that Larten had given me in the past. I knew what to do I was just a bit rusty, we both got undressed and soon our clothing was scattered everywhere.
"Alicia, what do you think?" I had to know what she thought of my body, as for hers I thought she looked amazing, she had a perfect hourglass figure and plump breasts, they were neither too big or too small.
"You're so hot Gavner, I've never realised how attractive you actually are until now." her words made me smile, I pulled her into my arms and we kissed, this was a deep kiss and I made sure to use my tongue because she liked it when we kissed like this, she had her arms around my neck and I was holding onto her waist gently, I knew that she was getting turned on by our kiss and so was I. I broke it off so that I could lead her over to where my coffin was located, I lay down in it and she followed suit, I closed the lid and she kissed me again, I was partially on top of her by this point. I started running my hands all over her body and between her legs, I could feel how wet she was getting which was good as it meant that I would be able to penetrate her. I kissed her neck and gave her a couple of small lovebites, she sighed and started running her fingers through my hair, after that she began scratching my back lightly with her nails. At this point in time I could see that Alicia's legs were open wide enough for me to penetrate her, I knew that I would to be careful as it was her first time and I had no intention of hurting her. I started to kiss her much deeper than I had done previously and when our bodies were perfectly alligned I entered her, she was tight and she cried out with shock, I pulled out and kissed her some more before entering her again, she gasped this time and tensed up slightly so I continued to kiss her and I took my time.
"It hurts Gavner, it hurts so bad." she stated between kisses.
"It always does, my love. Just close your eyes Alicia and trust me." when she closed her eyes I started thrusting slowly back and forth inside her. "Wrap your legs around my waist if you can Alicia, it'll be better that way." when she'd done that we were able to get into a good rhythm, I continued to kiss her and after a few minutes her body relaxed and I was able to go a bit deeper and a bit faster than I had done previously. "How does it feel now sweetheart? Better?" I had to know if she was feeling any sexual pleasure or not, she was starting to breathe faster and she moaned into my mouth when we kissed, she hadn't done that previously.
"Gavner, it feels so good now, give me more please." she was shaking underneath me and I knew that she was getting closer to reaching her climax, I kept on going, only I was now thrusting deeper and faster than before, I was getting close to reaching my own climax, however I was trying to hold back until she reached hers, she was now rocking her hips in time with my thrusts instinctively and she was being louder than she had been previously, I was obviously doing a good job of satisfying her, I could tell. I pulled back and slammed into her a couple of times, as I did this I released my fluids into her and it was enough to make her climax, I slowed down a bit and made her last for as long as I could. "I love you Gavner," she murmured as the last waves of pleasure hit her, "never let me go."
"I won't, I promise. You're mine now Alicia, mine and only mine." I pulled out of her and she unlocked her legs from around my waist, I opened the coffin lid to get some fresh air, picked up a blanket that was lying nearby and covered us both over with it, I kissed her a couple more times and she snuggled into my arms. "I love you Alicia." I whispered in her ear before kissing her neck and wrapping my arms around her.
"I love you too Gavner, so much." she sighed, she then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep whilst I held her in my arms...
Anna's P.O.V
"Judging by what we've just heard I think its gone pretty well, don't you Larten?" we'd been listening to Alicia and Gavner mating for the past half an hour or so.
"I agree, I certainly heard Alicia moaning and making orgasmic noises." Larten's sexual knowledge and super sharp hearing allowed him to pick out individual sounds, especially when it came to sex.
"We should leave them to it Larten, at least the deed has been done." I never normally listened to couples having sex, however I'd made an exception in this case.
"Yes, knowing them they'll probably tell us about it tomorrow, Gavner never has been one to keep this kind of information to himself." Larten took me by the hand, he was leading me in the direction of our own quarters. "It is our turn now Anna."
"Great, I'm up for that. Listening to Gavner and Alicia has turned me on Larten." I wasn't sure how he would respond to my admission, we entered our quarters and got undressed. We hopped into the coffin and closed the lid, Larten started touching and kissing my body, I was very turned on and I wanted him badly. "I want you inside me Larten, make me scream." I whispered between kisses.
"Very well Anna, I shall do just that." he then slammed into me, pulled back a bit and slammed into me again only deeper and harder this time, I gasped and at that point he began to thrust back and forth with speed, I rocked my hips rhythmically in time with his movements and we became as one. I could feel myself getting close to my own climax, it didn't take long because I was already stimulated.
"Do-don't st-op n-now La-r-ten, I-I a-am s-s-so clo-se." I could barely speak, I wasn't far away from having an orgasm, I was feeling the energy building up inside me.
"Do you want me to finish you Anna?" was he teasing me? He already knew the answer to this question.
"Y-yes, m-make m-me c-come La-rt-en, I w-want y-you s-so ba-d-ly." I was stuttering because I was so close to reaching my climax and I was shaking with pre-orgasmic energy. We kissed and Larten adjusted himself slightly, he then released his fluids deep into my body, it was enough to tip me over the edge and I climaxed.
"Enough?" he whispered in my ear as the few remaining orgasmic sensations hit me.
"N-no, I-I w-want m-m-more La-Larten." I was pleading with him to keep on going as it felt so great.
"You want more Anna?" he sounded unsurprised by my request.
"Y-yes Larten, p-please g-give m-me m-more of y-y-your l-love." I was practically begging him by this point in time, after all he was an amazing lover. We shared a kiss and Larten penetrated me again, he started thrusting and it felt even better than before. I wasn't sure if he wanted me to make noise or not, however I couldn't help it. "D-don't st-top n-n-now Lar-te-n, I-I a-am about t-to c-come ag-agin." Larten went as deep as he could and sped up again, I was on the edges of Paradise and it was feeling incredible. I was loving every moment of it, he released yet more of his fluids into me and it made me feel as though I were flying, in fact I was literally moments away from climaxing again, we moved in time with each other and the sensations were really powerful. "I-I l-love y-you La-rt-en, m-more t-th-an y-you c-ca-n i-ima-gine." I was still shaking due to the amount of pleasure I was experiencing, it was at this moment that I climaxed and it was beyond description. "Ahhh Lart-en!" I screamed as I felt my whole body coming alive, it was one of the best orgasms I'd ever had and it lasted for quite a few moments too. After it was over Larten pulled out, I rested my head upon his shoulder and fell asleep in his warm, loving, protective embrace...
When I eventually woke up I went to the Hall of Purta Vin Grahl for a wash, I was all sweaty and I had some of Larten's fluids on my body that had dried. I jumped into the pool under the waterfall and washed quickly as it was colder than normal. I got myself dried and dressed, after making myself look presentable I would try to find Alicia, I had to give her a few jobs to do.
"Hey, have you seen my assistant?" I asked Seba when I bumped into him in one of the tunnels.
"No, I have not seen her since yesterday." he replied. "I think she is still with Gavner in his quarters, it just so happens that he has his quarters next to mine, I do not need to tell you what I heard."
"I'll go and knock on their door then, thanks Seba." I had a pile of laundry that needed to be washed and dried. Alicia also had a lesson with me as well, I was trying to keep her on track as we had a lot to cover. Pretty soon I would be training for my Trials of Death, I wouldn't have time to teach her anything as I'd be focused upon my own lessons. I went to Gavner's quarters and knocked on the door, after a few minutes Gavner answered it. He was only wearing his boxer shorts and a T-Shirt.
"Is this a bad time Gavner?" I hoped that I hadn't interrupted anything.
"No, its OK. Come on in Anna." he looked rather red faced to say the least.
"Alicia, we've got a lesson and you've got duties to do. The laundry won't wash itself, you know?" I had to be firm with her, otherwise she'd take liberties and not pull her weight.
"I've just woken up, give me a minute Anna. I had a rather good time yesterday as you can probably tell." I could see the marks on Alicia's neck so I knew for certain that she'd mated, my neck also had prominent marks on it too.
"I was thinking that maybe you, Gavner, myself and Larten could have a foursome at some point, what do you think? I'm sure we'd all have fun." I'd had a threesome before, however I hadn't had a foursome so it'd be an interesting experience.
"I'm up for that, only I need to have sex a few more times first Anna." she put her hair up and checked how it looked in the mirror.
"I'm willing to participate in a foursome Anna," Gavner stated, "I'd like to make you climax properly, I also want to watch Larten in action and pick up some more tips to add to my repertoir of skills." he had made me climax before, however it hadn't been that powerful. I figured that I'd like to see how good Gavner could be when he was given the option to show off his skills.
"I wonder if Larten will agree to such a thing, maybe he'll like the idea of mating with you Alicia, I'm not sure. As things stand I'd certainly be willing to mate with Gavner during a foursome, he is pretty good," I remembered the time that we'd mated and I'd really enjoyed it, even though the orgasm he'd given me hadn't lasted very long. "I'll ask Larten about it and see what he says, it is up to him really because we've already made up our minds."
"I want to stay here and spend more time with you Gavner," Alicia complained, "I love being alone with you."
"Now, now Alicia, remember what I told you. I said that you two could be together as long as it didn't get in the way of your duties, you can come back here later on, I promise. Right now the laundry needs doing otherwise we'll have no clean clothing to wear." I hated being firm with her, however I had to be a good mentor first and foremost.
"I have Generals' business to attend to anyway my love, I'm already late for a meeting with the Princes. It is rude to keep the Princes waiting around when they're on a schedule." Gavner claimed.
"Oh, well in that case I guess you'd better go Gavner. I'm sorry Anna, I'll be more focused in the future." she apologised.
"That's OK Alicia, now let's go and get started, shall we?" I tried to be as fair as I could be, however I had to teach her as much as I could, if I didn't make it through the Trials of Death which was possible I had to make sure that she would be OK.
I had shown Alicia how to do the laundry, our facilities were primative so the clothing got soaked in hot water, we also used natural plants such as soapwort to make detergents as that was all we had available to us.
"Grind up the soapwort and mix some warm water into it, then it'll get all frothy and you can use it to get the marks out of your dress Alicia." she nodded and did what I said, her best dress had been marked with ale from where a drunk General had spilt a mugful of it all over her by accident. The dress smelt like a brewery to start with, however we did try our best to salvage it as it had cost quite a bit of money and it was reasonably new.
"It isn't coming out Anna. I need to use some Vanish on it or something." she continued to clean her dress as best as she could, but soapwort wasn't any good for removing stains unfortunately.
"When we go back to the Cirque Du Freak we can wash it again at the local laundrette Alicia, just hang it up to dry for now and do the rest of the clothing." there would be no point in wasting time on a fruitless exercise, especially as we had a lot to get through tonight.
"Alright Anna." she nodded. "What's next?"
"Larten's cloaks, they need to be washed separately or everything else will be stained red. Make sure the water isn't too hot either, otherwise they could shrink and we don't want that to happen, do we?" I was pretty good at washing Larten's clothing, after all I'd been doing it for years now.
"No, he would not appreciate that at all Anna. I cannot afford to replace them either, they look pricey to me." she added.
"They were not cheap, no. These cloaks had to be made to measure by a specific tailor, you can't buy cloaks and things like this anymore because fashion has moved on a lot, they've got to be taken care of properly Alicia." the last thing I needed was for Larten's best cloaks to get ruined, Alicia would be in the shit and I'd never hear the end of it either. I supervised Alicia as she very carefully placed one cloak at a time into the warm water and swilled it around, the water turned a deep red colour as a result, she added the soapwort mixture and got it to froth up. Each cloak had to soak for fifteen minutes, it would be squeezed gently to remove the excess water and then hung up to dry, after that they were ironed by using a large, hot flat rock that was run over them to get any creases out. Larten hated it if his cloaks got creased or if they looked scruffy, he had certain standards and I couldn't blame him for wanting to look his best at all times. When Larten suddenly appeared out of nowhere he made Alicia jump, she was right in the middle of ironing the first of his many cloaks as well.
"How are you getting on Alicia?" he queried as he watched her working.
"I was fine until you made me jump, by the way Anna's been showing me how to wash your cloaks. I hope I've done them well enough and up to your standards Larten, I know how particular you are when it comes to them." she answered.
"I will let you know if there is an issue, however if you have listened to your mentor then there should not be any problems." Larten sat down and I continued to observe Alicia as she finished soaking the last cloak, she'd done pretty well and I was impressed, however as they weren't my cloaks I had no say in whether they would match Larten's high standards or not.
"I'm done, that's the last one hung up to dry." she sighed and stood up. "I want my lunch now."
"Alright, you can go and eat, however I do have some more jobs for you to do Alicia so try not to get distracted." she left after she'd disposed of the dirty water and packed the ironing rock away. When we were alone once more I sat down on Larten's lap, I kissed him and snuggled into his body because I was cold. We shared another kiss, it was a deep one that lasted for ages and it felt amazing.
"Last night's mating session was really powerful Larten, I loved it." he kissed my neck and put his hands on my skin underneath my clothing, wherever he touched went all warm and tingly, I had no idea how he did it, but man it was feeling awesome. "What's your game?"
"I am showing you affection, that is all." he answered.
"I'm enjoying it, my whole body is getting aroused and you're barely doing anything to me Larten." my breathing was beginning to get harsher and more animalistic. Larten continued to touch my body and we kissed, I could feel his tongue dancing in my mouth, I gripped onto his shirt and soon it became my turn to play with him. I had my hands on his chest as we kissed, it always feels good to have skin-to-skin contact, he leant backwards and I toppled forward so we ended up on the floor, I was on top of him slightly. I decided that I would work my way down to his manhood slowly and tease him, it was my turn to pay him back for all the teasing that he'd just made me endure. I broke off our kiss and changed my position slightly. I'd ripped his shirt open with my strength, I gave him my love marks as well. When I got to his manhood I sucked it for a few moments and stopped again, it was already rock solid so I could tell how aroused he was. I was just playing with him, he had done it to me so now it was payback time.
"I want you Anna, get on top and ride me whilst I am this hard." I really wasn't certain if it was a request or an instruction.
"I'm not done playing with you yet Larten, you are always teasing me so now it is my turn to tease you." I sucked his manhood a little bit more, I could hear his breathing getting harsher as I did so. I didn't want him to climax too soon, I was dragging it out to build up the sensations he was getting. When I actually did go on top and ride him I made it last for as long as I could, we were so in tune with each other that we could tell when the other one was getting close, we would always try to climax at the same time and feed from the other one's energy to keep it going for as long as possible.
"I ca-can't w-w-wait any l-longer, I-I ha-ve t-to cli-max n-now." I was shaking and Larten was holding onto my waist for support as I was getting close to actually having an orgasm. He then rolled over so that he was on top, it would be easier for him to thrust into my body this way, he pinned my hands above my head playfully and kissed me all over, in fact I was at his mercy now as he had me right where he wanted, he was in control and all I could do was move in time with him, he got faster and deeper, however he wouldn't let me climax. "Ahh fu-fuck m-me." I could barely get my words out, I was writhing around in pre-orgasmic ecstacy underneath Larten's warm body, in fact it was a really intense sensation.
"Do you want me to make you touch the skies Anna?" it was his way of asking if I wanted him to let me climax.
"Y-yes, l-let m-me ent-er Paradise." I was almost breathless so my voice was a bit quiet. Larten linked his fingers with mine, he kissed me as he sped up his thrusts a bit more, he went as deep as he could and with some kind of animalistic roar he reached his own peak, as such his fluids went shooting through my body and we orgasmed together. We stayed linked to each other for quite a few moments, as the orgasmic waves hit us we kissed and he linked his fingers with mine, I was feeling nothing but bliss and happiness, I became totally lost in his eyes and in the moment. This is true love in its purist form and to experience it is incredible...
I opened my eyes and it took me a couple of minutes to work out where I was, I was on the floor of the quarters I shared with Larten, the chair we'd been sitting in was tipped over and we were curled up next to it.
"That was one insane mating session Larten." I had a sore throat so talking was hard for me to do.
"I did say to you a long time ago that my skills are incredible, you have now experienced my love in its purist, most physical format." he helped me up off of the floor and we put the chair upright again.
"I've never felt anything like that before, I was completely lost in your eyes as we orgasmed together. I am so in love with you Larten, our bond is deeper than ever and I only hope that you feel the same way about me."
"Anna, I have never loved anybody like this before." he took my hands in his and we shared a kiss, this one was slow and filled with love, it wasn't a bit like the last kiss we'd shared which had been full of orgasmic energy.
"I'm glad to hear it Larten." I sighed and got myself dressed again. "By the way when we mate are we doing it often enough or too much? I'm not sure."
"Most vampires with mates will mate weekly, some less often and some more frequently, it is up to them Anna, there is no right or wrong amount. Blessed Mates are expected to mate often, it is like an unwritten rule, why would they be Blessed Mates otherwise?" Larten had a knack for answering my question with another question.
"That makes sense, I guess if a couple wishes to maintain their bond then frequent mating sessions are required to do so." I certainly felt a strong connection to Larten, it went much deeper than a physical thing, we truly had become one entity and I'd never loved anyone as much as I loved him.
"I for one have never felt a bond like ours before Anna, I can honestly say that I am in love." Larten poured himself a drink and downed it, he then offered me one which I accepted. "Down it Anna, it is a shot."
"A shot of what exactly?" I had never been one for doing shots, although it could be fun.
"Tequila." he answered simply.
"Alright." I drank the shot and wished that I hadn't, it was very strong. It tasted kind of like vegetable water, I didn't like it one bit. It made me cough quite a bit actually. "Larten, that was vile."
"It is rather potent I grant you, however I like it." he poured himself another shot and drunk it without hesitation.
"I'll pass thanks," I put my shot glass down and drank some water, I had to try and get rid of the burning aftertaste in my mouth. "I know not to drink tequila now, it is an aquired taste which I do not possess."
"Fair enough Anna," he said, "not everybody can handle it."
"I wonder where Alicia is, we have got another lesson. I am going to take her foraging Larten, she needs to learn what food is available around here." it was something that I'd taught her already, however this was an additional lesson because different food would be available now, some of which Alicia probably wouldn't know about.
"Good idea, but just be careful out there Anna. Take the wolves with you, that way you can give them some exercise and Alicia can learn her lesson at the same time, therefore you will be killing two birds with a single stone so to speak." I hadn't even considered taking the wolves with us, however it was a pretty clever suggestion on Larten's part so I would be going along with it.
"That is a very good point Larten, I hadn't even thought about it if I'm being honest." my mind was so pre-occupied with other matters that I wasn't really thinking about multi-tasking, although I used to be great at it. "Incidently did Alicia do a good job when she washed your cloaks?"
"They are dry and clean at least, however she did not iron them to my standards." he then showed me exactly how badly creased one or two of them were.
"I see. I'm sure she will improve with time Larten," I had to try and be positive, for a start she'd never ironed anything using a hot rock before and she'd probably never washed a cloak either. "don't worry, I'll get these creases out in no time." I took the creased cloaks off their hangers and lay them out flat, I heated up the rock we used as an iron and spent the next fifteen minutes getting them up to scratch. I then hung them up again so that they'd be ready to wear, I then put the flat rock away as I had finished using it. "Are they up to your standards now?"
"I would say so, yes. You really are remarkable Anna, what would I do without you?" he seemed to be pleased and that was good.
"You'd do it all by yourself of course." I had never actually seen Larten doing any form of domestic work, he'd always had assistants or mates to do it for him, in fact in his mind it would have been unthinkable for him to wash his own clothes or clean his quarters, I was expected to do it so I just got on with it.
"You should go now Anna, you have to give Alicia her lesson." Larten was right, I was trying my best to stick to our schedule and so far it was going pretty well.
"Yes, I know Larten." we shared a kiss before I left to go and find Alicia, we always kissed each other if we had to spend any time apart.
"I will see you in an hour or so, foraging lessons do not take long." we linked our fingers together and shared another, longer kiss.
"With every piece of my heart I love you." I whispered in his ear, the lovebites I'd given him the day before were clearly visible now and so were mine.
"I know you do Anna, I can see it in your eyes and whenever we mate your body language tells me the same thing." our eyes met and we kissed again, it was deep and meaningful and I could hear Larten's heart pounding, I was sure that he could hear mine too, it must have skipped more than a few beats, but that was to be expected. When we eventually broke apart it took me a moment or two to steady myself, my head was spinning and I was feeling a little bit dizzy. "That kiss was my way of expressing what I feel for you Anna."
"I could hear your heartbeat Larten, you don't need to say anything else because I already know how deeply in love you are." our love was real, it was pure and it was true.
"You are correct, I cannot deny my feelings for you and I have no need to do so either. When you came to rescue me it told me all I needed to know about your character, I can tell that your love for me is genuine. You would not have risked your own life to come after me otherwise, you knew how much danger I was in, however you still came to my aid and unlocked those chains, despite being outnumbered five to three you saved my life Anna." I put my arms around his neck and kissed him again.
"Of course I came for you Larten," I whispered, "I couldn't let those evil, murdering scum torture and kill you, I love you too much." he didn't say anything in reply, we just kissed again...
"Alicia, we're going into the woods for our lesson tonight. Bring your daggers just in case we run into trouble, I'm taking mine and the wolves are coming too." Alicia was sat on Gavner's lap, she turned to face him and they kissed, he whispered something into her ear and she kissed him again. "Alicia, are you coming or what? We're behind schedule as it is."
"I suppose so Anna." she replied. "Gavner, I'll see you later. I love you."
"I love you too Alicia," Gavner declared, "you're so beautiful." I waited as they shared one last kiss, then Alicia stood up, grabbed her cloak and followed me, we picked up her daggers en route and went outside.
"It feels good to get some fresh air into my lungs." I'd been inside the smoke-filled Hall of Khledon Lurt for a while and it wasn't doing my chest much good either.
"I agree with you Anna, they really need to widen the cracks between the rocks so that more smoke can escape." I was leading Alicia along the same path that I'd used when I went out into the wilderness.
"First of all Alicia we've already had one foraging lesson, tonight I'm going to show you the food which wasn't available to us last time. Different food sources are available at different times of the year, however there will always be something to eat if you know where to look for it." Alicia was taking notes in her book and I was looking around for wild berry bushes that we could harvest from. "This is a wild blueberry plant, they have fruit on them between July and October usually. These berries are good for eating and they provide a great source of minerals too."
"Are these ones ripe Anna?" she queried between taking more notes. "I'm hungry, I spent so long with Gavner that I forgot to eat anything."
"Yeah, you can eat them, they won't do you any harm." I walked on a bit further, the wolves were a few paces infront of us and suddenly they stopped, their bodies tensed up and they were growling at something. "Alicia, stay here. If I say run, you have to run to the entrance and get Larten, if not stay out of sight."
"What is it?" she whispered, she looked frightened now.
"I don't know, I'll go and investigate." I replied. I took a few steps forward and stood next to my wolves, Sasha and Shadow were both snarling at something which I couldn't see. "Forward, find 'em." this is the command I use to get my wolves to investigate an area before I enter it myself. I stood back as my wolves went to have a good sniff around, then Titan came up to me and nudged me. I followed him and then I saw what the wolves had been snarling at, it was a body...
"Alicia, run!" I shouted. "The Vampaneze have been here recently." we both legged it back to the entrance with the wolves in hot pursuit, when we got there we reported our findings to Larten and Gavner respectively.
"I don't know how many Vampaneze there are, I found a rotting corpse that had been drained of blood, however it wasn't that badly decomposed so whoever it was hasn't been dead for long." I explained to Larten when I found him.
"Where was the body found Anna?" he had a concerned look on his face.
"In the woods, it is along the main path that leads to the wilderness, it is the path that's referred to as the blueberry trail." I revealed.
"I know where you mean." he answered. "Other than the body what other signs of Vampaneze activity were there in the area?"
"Well I found a brown T Shirt that had been thrown away and I saw some deep nail marks going up a tree, it was like they'd dug their nails into the trunk to climb upwards." I was trying to give as much detail as I could.
"Do not panic Anna, we will deal with it. The Princes shall be informed and so will the Generals. It is likely that the Princes will send out a couple of Generals to investigate, if they do come across any living Vampaneze then they will be killed outright for trespassing here." Larten explained.
"Anna, Gavner come quickly. There's a woman here and she's asking for you, she's hurt." Vanez revealed.
"Woman? What woman?" I didn't know any women apart from Sarah and I hadn't seen her in years. We went with Vanez to the entrance of Vampire Mountain where the Guards had detained this obviously frightened woman, she was bleeding too.
"I'm Anna, this is Gavner. Why are you asking for us?" I had to get to the bottom of who she was, I didn't recognise her.
"Jade? Is it really you?" Gavner looked shocked. "Let her go at once, she is known to me personally, I shall vouch for her."
"Yes, it is me Gavner." Jade answered. The Guards lowered their spears and Gavner embraced her like an old friend.
"Will somebody explain what is going on? I don't know you, but you know me." I was confused.
"Anna, this is Jade. She is Liz's youngest daughter. She knows of you because I told her about you and Larten becoming Blessed Mates." Gavner explained.
"Why are you here Jade? We need to patch you up, come on. Follow me to the Medical Wing." I led the way and she followed me, Gavner came too.
"I was attacked, those Vampan-wotsit thingys got me. They've killed Harvey already, I found his body and came straight here to find you Gavner. Mum is dead, she died in her sleep. It is just me now, I'm the last of her surviving children, not that I'm a child any longer. I remember you coming to visit and staying over after my dad left, I grew up calling you uncle Gavner."
"Who is your mum Jade?" I was curious about her family ties to Gavner.
"My mum was Liz." she replied. Now everything made sense to me.
"Harvey was your brother I take it?" I queried.
"He was my half brother actually, but yes. I think he was killed for his blood, those monsters kill when they feed." she was crying and her wounds were quite bad, I couldn't believe that she'd actually found the entrance to Vampire Mountain. We arrived at the Medical Wing and we got her settled into a medical bay, the Medic came around and examined her.
"I've never seen you before, you are newly blooded I take it?" the Medic asked as he got his healing green paste ready.
"No, I'm a human actually. The Vampan- whoever they are killed my half-brother and wounded me. My mum was a close friend of Gavner's so I grew up calling him my uncle." Jade replied as the Medic cleaned out her wounds and bandaged them up with the paste. "They hurt Gavner." she was probably referring to her wounds.
"The paste will help, it has willow bark in it which dulls pain." he reassured her. "Do you know where the Vampaneze are now Jade?"
"They said something about a new tunnel by a storeroom and setting a fire, they're camped in the wilderness beyond the woods, I saw them there when I went searching for Harvey." she stated.
"Well Jade, you did the right thing by coming here and finding me, I will look after you, don't worry. Your mum made me promise her that I would keep an eye on you. I will ask Seba to give you your own quarters, for now though you have to stay here until you've healed up." Gavner hugged Jade again and he kissed her cheek lovingly, she seemed to be a bit calmer now.
"I miss Harvey, please make them pay for what they've done Gavner. By the way do I have to be blooded if I live here with you?" she was coming across as quite level headed. My heart went out to her after hearing her heartbreaking story, the Vampaneze had killed her half-brother, her mum was dead and she'd been left to fend for herself.
"Eventually yes, but do not worry about it. I will be the one to blood you Jade, I'll take you on as my official assistant. This way you'll be safe from harm and the Clan will welcome you as one of their own." he answered.
"OK." she sighed. "Ths isn't the life I planned, but it is better than being killed by Vampaneze."
"They will pay Jade, believe me. I have to go and report to the Princes now, I'm sure that Alicia and you will be good friends, she's your age and she's Anna's assistant." Gavner gave Jade another hug and left the Medical Wing. My wolves were still pretty agitated, they hated the scent of Vampaneze.
After I'd given Jade something to eat and a drink I got Alicia to sit with her, Jade needed company and I had no jobs for Alicia to do either. I met up with Larten and explained the whole situation to him, now he would know who Jade was if he happened to meet her.
"Larten, Jade was injured and terrified. I've never known a human to escape from a Vampaneze and live to tell their tale before either." I poured myself a drink, I needed it after the night I'd had.
"No, neither have I. Either something stopped them from coming after her, they showed her mercy which is not likely or Mr Tiny has another evil plan which involves her." he remarked.
"We'll get to the bottom of it Larten, besides she is going to become Gavner's assistant so he will deal with it. We need to start focusing upon my Trials, I want to get them out of the way as soon as possible." I wasn't looking forward to them, however I had to take the Trials whether I wanted to or not.
"Yes, I will notify the Princes of your intentions and then we will begin to train for them. I have no idea which Trials you will face as they are picked at random, in fact I often pray to the Gods of the Vampires that they will spare you from the harshest ones." I didn't really know how religious Larten was, it didn't matter to me whether he was or not as it was his private business, not mine.
"That's nice to know Larten, I appreciate the sentiment." I'd never had anybody pray for me before, I'd been an atheist as a human. I was a vampiress now so I believed in the Vampire Gods, I also thought that somebody or something was keeping me safe. When my life had been in significant danger I had managed to escape somehow, I wasn't even sure how I'd done it, however I was grateful to be alive...