Serana woke slowly. She sat up and the green covers fell off her. She had no recollection of finding her way to bed. However, it was the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. The pillows were soft, the duvet was thin but somehow surprisingly warm. The mattress was feathered and supported her weight effortlessly.
The sunlight beamed in through the stained glass window. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. Unlike the rest of her kind, the sun didn't burn her. In fact, it didn't actually affect her. Instead of burning her to a crisp, it just burned her lily white skin. Hence the reason she preferred to wear clothes that fully covered her body. Despite this, she still preferred the night time.
She listened carefully to see if Stefan was in the next room. She couldn't hear anything. She climbed out of bed and pulled on her boots. Her Elven dagger glinted in the morning sun. She ignored it and pulled open the door. She walked along the the corridor and descended the stairs slowly. Her hand glided along the rail as she descended and her cape from her armour billowed in the breeze as she descended.
She stepped out onto the oak flooring to see Stefan cutting up some meat and cheese in the kitchen. He could hear her boots on the wood. He looked over to see her walking towards him. Her long black hair billowed behind her as she walked, she smiled at him, exposing her fangs. He beamed as she approached him.
"Good morning Serana," he greeted. "Did you sleep well?"
"Better than expected," she replied. "Thank you."
He placed a selection of meats, fruits and vegetables on the huge table in front of her. Serana looked at them and turned her nose up at all of them. He then grabbed a large silver goblet and an iron dagger.
"What are you doing?" asked Serana.
"You can't starve," he said.
He took the dagger and held it to the palm of his hand. Serana knew what he was going to do before he did it.
"No," she exclaimed. "Stefan don't!"
"Do you want to starve?" he asked raising his eyebrows.
She didn't answer. He made an incision in his hand. Serana winced. Blood poured from the open wound and into the goblet. Once it was full, he moved his uninjured hand over the wound and it healed instantly.
He passed the goblet to her.
"Drink," he commanded.
Serana looked at him affectionately. Most of her victims had given up their blood by force. By he, this man, a mere mortal had just sacrificed his own blood without hesitation. It was a gesture that she was unfamiliar with. She watched him preparing his food. Stefan looked up at her again.
"I didn't cut my hand open for nothing you know," he barked.
Serana jumped, his words threw her out of her stupor. She raised her goblet, pressed it against her lips. She drank the fresh blood from the goblet. It splashed on her tongue, the taste of it awoke her senses. She felt it run down her throat, flowing into her undead stomach like the waters of life. She hissed in pleasure and her mouth watered. She suddenly felt energetic, for the first time in centuries.
She drained the goblet and placed it down on the surface again. He looked over to her. A dribble of blood was running down from the side of her mouth.
"You got some here," he told her pointing to it.
Serana aimed her tongue at it and licked it off. He watched her and looked away quickly. He then picked up some Venison and some cheese and started to eat.
"Are we going on an adventure today?" she asked as she watched him eat.
"No," he replied after he swallowed. "I have to repair my sword and clean my armour. Tomorrow, I can take you to see Solitude. I have to meet Elisif The Fair."
"Another request to be the thane?" asked Serana.
"No," he replied. "Something about the Barbs College."
He took a drink of some water.
"A Barb," she said. "It must be nice to learn how to sing."
"You wouldn't want to hear me sing," he said jokingly. "The dogs would howl from here to Morrowind."
Serana laughed. He smiled as she laughed at his joke. He watched as her eyes narrowed and smiled as she laughed. He noticed how dimples appeared when she smiled and how her eyes lit up. The redness of the colour seemed stronger when she was laughing. He gazed into her eyes as her laughter slowly died away.
"I saw your library," she said. "You have so many books."
"You like to read?" he asked.
"Oh yes," she replied. "Very much so. There are so many things I have missed out since being locked away."
"You can read as many as you like,"he said. "There's far too many to read in a day though."
"I plan on staying here longer than a day," said Serana hopefully.
She swung her legs around the table and stood up.
"I'm going to get started," she said excitedly. She power walked across the floor and almost ran up the stairs. He shook his head and continued eating. Serena entered the library and her eyes feasted on the all the books in front of her. There were so many, she wasn't sure where to start. Without wanting to waste any time, she grabbed a book called "A Brief History Of The Empire."
As the day passed Stefan has sharpened his sword, cleaned his armour and even found time to make some potions. He had picked all the flowers he needed and made them into several poisons. The sun had really fallen by the time he was ready to call it a day. All the time Serana had been in his library, reading to her hearts content. Her deep red eyes followed the words written on the pages as she learned all the things she missed from her imprisonment.
There was a knock on the library door. Serana looked up to see Stefan standing in the doorway. He was dressed in loose ragged clothes that didn't try to hide his muscular shape.
"Have you been here reading all day?" he asked.
Serana gestured to the pile of read books in a pile next to her. He counted around twenty in total.
"My goodness," he said. "You really went to town didn't you?"
"No," replied Serana confused. "I didn't go to town. I've been here all day."
Stefan chuckled. Her naïve grip on modern expressions was cute.
"No, no," explained Stefan. "Go to town. It means you did something in a way that is proper and you spent a lot of time doing it."
Serana thought for a moment.
"Go to town," she repeated. "I like it."
He chuckled.
"Are you hungry?" he asked.
The thought of him cutting himself just to feed her vampire habits made her feel guilty and she quickly refused.
"No,"she said quickly. "I'm not."
He gave her a patronising look.
"You don't have to be ashamed Serana," he said. "If you are hungry, then I am happy to provide."
"Why?" asked Serana suddenly firing up. "So I won't bite others while you are sleeping?"
He was taken aback by her sudden aggression. That was the reason why, but he didn't want her to know that.
"No," he answered. "You don't need to go outside and hunt for it, to risk your life. I can provide it, you need but to ask."
"Suppose what you give me isn't enough?"asked Serana, she was touched by his kindness but this pressing issue was troubling her. "What if I get hungry in the night and I need more. Who's to say that I won't go out and bite someone?"
"You won't," he said. "I know you won't."
"Is that so?"she pressed.
"It is so," he answered calmly. "Because I trust you. In all the time we have been travelling together, you have never bitten anyone even me. I trust you Serana."
She was silent for a moment. It seemed that his statement had pacified her. He trusted her. He knew what she was, and he trusted her all the same. A strange feeling reared up inside of her. It was this hunger that had visited her before. She was hungry to do something, something she had never done before. But she couldn't understand why she wanted to do it. She didn't even know what it was, or indeed if she knew how to do it. She looked up at his kind, battle scarred face. She felt this warm feeling in her chest, even though her heart hadn't beaten in centuries.
"I will ask you again," he said in a voice that seemed a long way away. She pulled herself back to reality. "Are you hungry?"
Serana nodded, barely moving her head. He nodded once in agreement. He disappeared and reappeared moments later with a large goblet filled with his own blood. She looked up at him as he handed it to her. Her eyes fell upon his right hand. Even though the spell had completely healed his wound, she knew where he had cut himself.
The sunlight has turned to moonlight. The moonlight poured into the room. It was hard to tell exactly what the time was, but he knew it was getting late. He watched her drinking from goblet.
"Please don't watch me," she asked. "It makes me feel more guilty."
He looked away. Instead, he stood up and glanced out of the window. He could see two moons in the sky that night. He glanced over to Serana, she was still drinking and reading her book in the process.
He looked out of the window. He could see her reflection in the window. He watched her drinking. The moonlight danced on her long black hair. It illuminated her lily white skin and her eyes, her deep red eyes glowed in the candle light of the room. It was almost as if she was shimmering. He watched her intently, and almost couldn't take his eyes off her. She shook her long hair out of her face and continued reading. The moonlight shook as she moved her hair. It illuminated the braid next to her ear and he could count every stitch. She drained her goblet and looked over to him. He saw him glancing out of the window, unaware he was watching her reflection.
"Did you see something?" she asked, there was a note of concern in her voice.
'I saw the girl of my dreams' he thought to himself.
"Nothing," he replied. He peeled his eyes away from her reflection. He picked up the goblet and placed it on the small cabinet next to the door.
"Are you going to be alright here reading by yourself?"he asked. "I'm going to go to bed."
"Of course," she replied. She looked up at him. "You should go to bed. I know mortals need their sleep."
"Thanks," he replied. He tore his eyes from her and made his way towards his bedroom