SILVERYMOON
Chapter 3
It has been three months since the Barber
Kate came downstairs and went into the empty business space where she found Rick still tinkering with his printing press. She joined him and looked it over. "Is it working yet?"
It looked simple enough to her. Without electricity, it was all done by hand. Put in the type, load a roller with ink then roll it on the type, coating them with ink. Lay a piece of paper or what passed as paper in this land on the type, and press. Then repeat however many times it took to get it right. Not too much ink or too much pressure, let the ink dry, and other things she didn't even know about.
"No type yet. It's only been four months, and you wouldn't believe the number of pieces of type that I need to make just one page. All those vowels, just the right number of consonants, and the special symbols, too. But I have a new problem. Ink in this city is 10 gold pieces for just one ounce and I'll need quarts of ink to do this. With 32 ounces to just one quart, you do the math." Rick wasn't sure this was such a good idea now.
"That's…" Kate needed to do the math in her head. She nearly shrieked at him. "Three hundred twenty gold pieces per quart!" Leave it to him, and they would be bankrupt already. "Can you get a discount?" He was going to need a lot of ink for this project. Even she needed his printing press for her music that she planned to sell.
"I don't know yet. I was thinking of selling at a certain price, but I may have to increase that price if we want to make any money." Rick stood back and looked it over. How could he manage to do it at a lesser cost?
"How is Alexis coming with her sewing lessons?" He didn't need to ask how her school classes were coming. She was already more advanced than her teachers.
"Would you believe she's taking them with Mops? I think she plans to have the little girl help her make Christmas dolls. Mops has taken a real shine to her. Or maybe it's Patches. I don't really know." Kate was happy she had at least one friend.
Rick grinned at that since his money was on it being Patches. "How was your class in Rogue since you have to learn that first before being a Slayer." Rick knew she had just come home from hers. His class was tomorrow.
"All right, I think. I'm pretty sure all my yoga classes are helping. I am rather limber, after all." Kate was doing well at getting the fighting down, though she was only beginning and had a long road in front of her.
"Yes, I know." Rick smiled at her. She was amazingly flexible, and he knew he could bend one of her legs till her foot was almost right next to her head while he fucked her. She might be a Vampire, but she was damn good in bed, and he was beginning to fall in love with her very fast.
Kate smiled back at him. "I know you do, and if you play your cards right, you might find out again tonight." He was proving to be the best lover she'd ever had. One side effect of being here was that she was trying to give herself permission to fall in love with him. She might not be there just yet, but she was getting there.
Suddenly Patches came flying into the room, announcing that Alexis was home. All Alexis had to do was follow Patches to find them.
"How was Mops?" Kate asked her after she showed up.
"A lot happier now. Jooge's business is even getting better finally. All that business with that Hag is officially over at last. Even Patches likes her. Don't you, Patches?" Alexis bent down to pet him.
"Oh, and I'm not a student at school any longer. I'm a teacher's assistant, so I'm getting paid now. I have a job!" Alexis was proud of herself.
"And your Sorceress classes?" Rick questioned her. She had a habit of taking on too much at one time.
"Three times a week and classes are three times a week, so I get one day off. My day off is spent with Mops while we learn to sew together." Alexis looked very pleased, indeed.
It was exactly what Rick was afraid of. Alexis was spreading herself pretty thin. He also knew he didn't stand a chance of stopping her.
"My teaching class doesn't pay enough to cover my Sorcerer classes, but it helps. I'm also learning about the many magic items they have that do such incredible things. There's so much, you wouldn't believe it." Alexis rolled her eyes.
"The only real drawback to all this stuff is that they're all expensive. We could be completely broke in minutes if we tried. We're not that kind of rich." Alexis knew she needed to make sure her dad didn't go on a spending spree.
Kate sighed. "We may never be rich since it costs 320 gold pieces for a single quart of ink for your dad's printing press."
"OUCH!" Alexis was helping Kate to keep her dad in check, or they would already be broke. "Still, these people don't know anything about a printing press. They do everything by hand here.
"On a side note, we need to go shopping for fresh food if we want to eat tonight," Alexis told her even though Kate didn't eat; all she needed was blood.
"I'll go with you. I want to talk to you about something anyway." Kate was a little worried for her.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
Patches led the way, and people usually gave him a wide berth. He was literally on fire, after all. They didn't know that he wouldn't burn them or their clothes. He was a well-trained kitty now.
Except that only lasted till a cat-hating dog on the loose showed up. That was where everyone who witnessed it found out just what Patches was capable of doing. After only a minute of close fighting with dog teeth, on-fire cat teeth, and on-fire cat claws, the dog ran away, yelping, with its fur singed in several places. And Patches was hot on his tail to finish him off.
"PATCHES! COME BACK! YOU WON!" Alexis yelled at him and was a bit amazed but proud of her cat when he hit the brakes, came bounding back to her, and jumped up into her arms after she patted her chest.
"Good Kitty." Alexis kissed his fiery head and didn't get burned.
"Looks like all those classes are paying off." Kate was even more amazed.
"Patches is a good kitty. That stupid dog should have known better." Alexis started to look him over to see if she could spot any injuries. But since all of him was fire, it was hard to tell, but he wasn't complaining.
They also noticed that everyone that had witnessed it was watching them. However, while the kids wanted to come see the cat up close, their mother or father stopped them. The cat was literally on fire even if it wasn't burning the person holding it.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
Rick was sitting on the edge of the bed. With the exception of his left shoulder, he was almost entirely clothed. The shoulder was exposed, and Kate was on her knees on the bed right behind him. However, there was a problem, at least in Rick's eyes.
"Are you going to bite me?" His left shoulder was where she usually bit him to get the blood she needed to live. "Is there a problem?" Rick turned to look at her and she was just sitting there looking at him.
"Do I have my dates wrong?" Rick thought he was doing a pretty good job of keeping track of when she needed blood. Today or maybe at the latest tomorrow, she would need blood.
"No…yes." Kate had a problem, and it was finally surfacing.
"I thought you said you liked my blood. It doesn't upset your stomach like that Drow blood." His Demon blood was working well for her so far. Then what was wrong now?
"You don't understand and you can't. You just can't." Kate was having trouble understanding it all herself. There was a fight taking place between her heart and her head. "Mom was dead, and Dad was a drunk. I didn't think I could ever get much lower in my life. Suicide was out, but this was bad.
"That was when I was found and converted. I never really regretted it until now. No more eating food, no more drinking coffee, no more alcohol. Just blood. For the first time in my life since then, I wish I was normal. That I didn't need blood.
"I found the blood I needed, lived my life, did my job. No one knew a thing."
Rick wasn't following. "So what's the problem?"
Kate groaned since she sucked at talking. She was getting better; she wanted to be better. "I don't want to have to bite you. You mean too much to me." She felt like she was hurting him. Not just the bite itself but taking his blood.
That had Rick up on his knees on the bed and reaching out to pull her into his body. Then Kate did something she rarely did — she began to cry. She could feel tears run down her face, dripping onto his shirt.
Rick could feel it. "I want you to live, Kate. I want you to bite me. You need blood, and I have a lot of it. If you plan to go out and bite someone else, I'll be so upset with you." It should be his blood and no one else's.
He might think he was helping, but all that did was cause Kate to cry harder. She was falling in love with him, and she finally knew it. Kate had been learning to like him. She only had to overlook his sometimes childish behavior and penitent moments for being a jackass. Now he wanted her to bite only him, him, and no one else.
She was a Vampire, and now she didn't want to be. She desperately wanted to be perfect for him. He deserved someone better than her. But he was stuck with her. All because someone kidnapped the three of them somehow and sent them here.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
"Better?" Rick asked after he let go of her and looked at her. She was no longer crying, and he watched as she nodded her head a little. "Good, now you need blood, and I need Cum, so let's trade. You bite me, and I eat your pussy."
Finally, Kate grinned. She had learned that Castle was a damn good lover and boy, did he know how to eat pussy. He had a way of making her lose her mind and just let her body react to what he did to her.
Kate leaned in, put her mouth on his shoulder, and exposed her fangs. She knew he always flinched when she did that, so her bite did hurt. Though, like always, it didn't hurt for long. She was a Vampire, and she was betting her bite did something to ease the pain, make him want her to bite him. To take the pain away and let her drink.
Kate soon licked his wound closed and ran her tongue around her mouth for each and every drop. Having fresh blood always made her feel better. Stronger and not so sorry that she was a Vampire.
Now she was on her back, helping Castle take off her pants, followed by her panties. The second she felt his tongue, she moaned from the pleasure that was to be. Multiple orgasms were coming her way.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
Rick and Kate were out of class and downstairs in the business part of what they owned. The front door was still heavily locked and barred, given that they still had nothing to sell. But they did have plans. They just needed time.
"MEOW!" Suddenly Patches took off up the stairs at a dead run.
"My money is on Alexis and that she's home from school," Kate said. Alexis took Patches with her when she went to her training to be a Sorceress. She had a familiar, they called it here, and they both needed to learn together.
"No bet here." Rick felt relieved since it meant his daughter was home safe and sound. However, she didn't come downstairs. So Kate went up and found her in the kitchen with a bag of fresh vegetables and she appeared to be getting ready to cook something.
Kate joined her. "You make me wish I could eat food." When she turned 13, her mother began teaching her how to cook. But now, she couldn't even eat what she or anyone else cooked.
"You can still help if you like, and so long as you keep biting Dad, I'm happy. Cooking without electricity is proving to be a challenge. We never did do any real camping. It's always been hotel rooms and restaurant food." What she was doing felt like camping-out cooking to her.
"Continual light spells, no TV, no movies, not even a Barnes and Noble bookstore. Castle even has to use a quill and ink to write anything," Kate added.
"We're in the dark ages, all right," Alexis agreed. "Still, I don't remember seeing London looking anything like this place." Silverymoon with all of its green spaces and trees everywhere. Vining and flowering plants were hanging down from planters suspended from every balcony. Even theirs gave this place a festive feel. Though, this city did have paint. All of the buildings had color. Most might be a bit faded but still colorful. And thanks to Kate's singing and playing that magical instrument, their place looked brand new with vibrant colors.
"There is that." Save for some of the challenges living here presented them, it truly was nice. They just had to keep hiding what they were.
They had learned that Rick and Alexis were Demons from the Abyss, evil in the extreme and not to be trusted. Killed on sight was more likely. Kate wasn't any better off. Vampires in this realm were UNDEAD, universally hated by all, and either banished or killed on sight. They were evil, and they had to go. No one knew about them still as far as they knew and no they knew they weren't Evil.
A knock on their door sounded and Kate answered it while Alexis kept getting ready to cook. Patches, however, was faster but couldn't open the door. Who was on the other side got sniffed first thing.
Kate found a male Elf waiting patiently. He was fully dressed in what she took to be Palace clothing, and he was even carrying a leather satchel. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Is that cat on fire?" He was looking down at Patches, who was touching his pant leg and was expecting to be on fire soon.
"Patches is a good cat. He is Alexis's familiar. He won't hurt you unless you do something wrong or if Alexis orders him to. How can I help you?"
That explained enough for him. "My name is Mitalar Aetoris.I have a proposal from the Council for you. If everyone is home?" He needed to speak with all of them.
Kate knew that after their encounter with Jooge, Mops, and his barbershop, it was possible this could happen. "Of course, please come in." Kate stepped aside to let him in and then closed the door. "Patches, go get Rick." Kate was still amazed that he loped off to the stairs. Listen to Alexis, she could understand, but her?
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
Mitalar had accepted their gracious invitation to join them for the evening meal. They were all sitting at the dining room table, enjoying the food. What Alexis had prepared had turned out to be very tasty. He was a little amazed that someone so young had done so well.
"I detect a number of different spices," Mitalar noted, "some of them quite rare."
"I learned about a magical item during one of my classes for Sorceress. So, if you ask for a certain spice, it will fill this little cup full of it. Use a little or all of it. Then ask for another, and it will fill it with that. I talked Kate into splurging, and she bought one. It works pretty well." Alexis was happy with it.
Kate was mostly pushing her food around and pretending to eat a touch of it to hide that she wasn't eating. "What can we help you with?" Maybe if she got him talking, he wouldn't notice she wasn't eating at all.
"The Council has an offer for the three of you. There is a Ball coming up soon hosted by Lady Edwina Westwood. The Westwood family has lived in Silverymoon for generations, and they own a mansion just inside Hunter's Gate. Perhaps you have seen it?" He needed to know if they knew where it was. Otherwise, he needed to pull out a map and show them.
"The one that looks like a castle complete with a wall?" Alexis queried since she got around. Plus, it wasn't all that far from the Market where she shopped.
"Correct, though the Palace is much greater in size. There is a Charity Ball in three weeks' time which they have been planning for months. People from all over the Silver Marches will be attending. However, we have reason to believe that it is possible a kidnapping, assassination, or theft will happen during this Ball.
"If that were to happen, our reputation would be ruined. Due to the size of the event, we would like to request your help. You have shown that you are trustworthy, and you did solve that problem with the Annis hag without our help or knowledge. Had she succeeded, that would have hurt our city." What they had done told him and the Lady that these people cared a great deal about their city.
"We will pay you, of course." Mitalar judged their reactions and waited for a response or questions.
"Can we have a minute?" He nodded. Kate got up, went upstairs, followed by Rick and Alexis.
"I say we do it. It's similar to what we did when you were a Detective, and we do live here now." Rick saw a mystery, and he wanted to help.
It was Alexis's turn. "You want to save money, and we aren't selling anything yet. So, I have an offer for you to think about. It's a Clerical spell, but I learned about it during my class. It's a spell called Hallow.
"Most of it's permanent, but one part only lasts for one year. First, the hallowed area is warded by a magic circle against evil.
"Second, all efforts by a cleric in the hallowed area to turn undead through force of charisma is bolstered by the sacred power of the place. In turn, any efforts to command undead in the same manner, is hampered. This benefit does not arise for a druid casting hallow.
"Third, any corpse interred in the hallowed area cannot be raised as undead.
"Fourth, one other spell could be attached to the hallowed area. It operates over the entire area, regardless of how the spell functions normally, and lasts a full year before expiring. The caster could specify whether it applies to all creatures in the area, only those who share their faith or alignment, or only those of a rival faith or alignment. Spells that could be attached include aid, bane, bless, cause fear, darkness, daylight, death ward, deeper darkness, detect evil, detect magic, dimensional anchor, discern lies, dispel magic, endure elements, freedom of movement, invisibility purge, protection from energy, remove fear, resist energy, silence, tongues, and zone of truth. This spell could only be changed or renewed by casting hallow again.
"However, it only covers a forty-foot radius, and we would need three of them, one per floor. The cost is 750 gold pieces per spell." Alexis waited expectantly.
"Technically, aren't I undead?" Kate didn't see how this was going to help.
"It won't keep you out. It just helps a Cleric to kick you out. We're not Evil, so it should work. I was thinking Discern Lies or maybe Zone of Truth for downstairs. Perhaps Invisibility Purge for the main floor and Endure Elements for up here. It would keep us warm during winter, and we'll use less firewood. It'll definitely cut down on costs."
Kate was just about sold on that Cut down on costs bit. "Just so long as it doesn't kick me out of my own home." Kate was willing.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
"We've reached an agreement between us. We'll help, but our pay is to have three Hallow spells cast on our home, one for each level. Plus, we will need a list of all those invited and who they represent. If something does happen, we will do our best to find out who," Kate said.
"We have a deal then. I have brought the list of everyone invited with me. I will leave it with you to study. After the Ball is over, we will arrange to have a Cleric come to your home and cast your three Hallow spells. Just be ready to decide which effect you want on each floor," Mitalar advised them. "Oh, and weapons inside the Mansion will not be permitted. There will be guards to prevent this. It will include you. No magical staves, wands, or other items capable of combat."
Kate nodded. "We will be ready."
"There is one more thing. This is a formal ball and you will need to dress accordingly for this event. I have brought a list of tailors that can help you. You have three weeks," Mitalar added.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
"Thank you for the meal. It was different and amazing. We will look for you in three weeks. If this works out, we may have need of your services again, and I like your cat. I can honestly say I have never seen one that is on fire naturally." Mitalar glanced down at Patches, sitting there watching him, eagle-eyed. Mitalar was a stranger in his home, so he watched him like a hawk.
Mitalar took his leave and returned home. He had much to tell the Council in the morning.
"So we need to get dressed up." Alexis looked at Kate since she had total control of their funding. She had an allowance to purchase things like food and other things. Even Rick was on an allowance.
"I heard him, but I'm wondering if we offered to do this for too little," Kate complained a little. "He agreed pretty fast."
"I'm ready." Alexis rubbed her hands together. "We get new dresses, new shoes, and maybe some new earrings. …Oh, and maybe a new ring." Alexis held up the hand that could get a new ring.
ϵө϶Ѫϵө϶
The School was broken down into different areas based on what you desired to learn.
Arkhen's Invocatorium – a school of sorcery
Everdusk Hall – an elven temple
House of the Harp/College of Fochlucan – a bard college
The Lady's College – A school of wizardry
Miresk's School of Thaumaturgy – A catchall generalist school
Utrumm's Music Convservatory – a magical music school