The blonde rolled her eyes. "You must be the new pet." Not waiting for a reply, she strode right up to Kane, slapping him hard across the cheek. "You have some nerve showing up here again. I haven't forgotten about Connall. Nor have I forgotten your role and your disloyalty."
She balled her hand into a fist and hit him again. This time, her blow lands on the edge of his jaw. But her rage turned to fear as Kane stood. She took a step back, her eyes wide.
In one solid movement, he was in front of her, nose to nose as he bent down slightly. “You want to speak to me of loyalty? When you stop lying to yourself, we can talk loyalty. Until then, this will be your one pass at lashing out at me and only because of what you were to me.”
“Were?” She practically breathed the word. Tears filled her eyes as she ran out of the room, her cries echoed into the room until one of the servants closed the door.
Kane brushed himself off. "Forgive her, she is grieving a loss." He sat again. "You can undress if you like. Or dress however you like. It does not matter to me."
I rolled my eyes almost as dramatically as the woman before, starting to take off a couple layers. Ripping a strip of cloth from one item, I fastened a makeshift belt to keep the top closed. “So, you have the nerve to show up in your own home? And your servant has the nerve to speak to you like that and to hit you? Or is that your wife? And Connall a lover she caught you with?”
He roared with laughter. "Mika is family. I killed her lover in a war when he chose the wrong side. It's a long boring story. And she has not seen me since. That is all.”
“That is all? Uhhh…” I looked over the spread on the table. “Doesn’t sound boring to me. Sounds tragic.”
“Also, I am not one for men, sexually," he added, watching me.
I blushed, finally sitting in the chair. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.” I smoothed out my tattered clothes.
Another servant brought out more plates of freshly prepared food. She set them on the table, offering to dish up the guest of the house. I nodded, pointing to a couple of items that looked delicious. The young woman quickly dished the food onto my plate before leaving just as fast as she entered.
"I hope the food is to your liking," Kane said, watching me, his plate empty.
I eyed the food, licking my lips absentmindedly. “This looks fantastic. How many people like me are here? Any others from earth?” I found myself curious since there was an abundance of food in a vampire’s home.
Kane shrugged. "There are humans here. They are like you, but none are from your planet that I know of. They are allowed to stay here for their blood.”
“For their blood? Like blood dolls?” I stopped, mid bite.
“Blood dolls?” His eyebrows pinched together. “If that is a term your kind uses for those that allow my kind to feed on them willingly? Then yes.”
“Usually. Sometimes not willingly,” I added. “How many are here? In your kingdom.”
“I’d say there are about two hundred, maybe three? Depending on accidents.” Kane held up his flask. One of the girls swiftly takes it, rushing out of the room. “There are over three thousand of my kind here within my city’s walls.”
“Accidents,” I repeated quietly. “Two to three hundred humans feed that many vampires?”
“No. We also have…” The servant returns with his flask refilled. She hands it to him and bows before leaving the tableside again. “This.”
I looked to the flask. “And what is that?”
“People were commissioned a few centuries ago to make a beverage that would sustain a human’s blood for longer periods of time and one that we could drink in public. This is the result,” he explains.
“What is it mixed with?” I asked.
He tipped the flask and took a long pull off it. “I believe a mixture of herbs. I have never asked. I only know that a group of priests and priestesses know the recipe and provide it to my kind in trade for our protection.”
“Smart.” I took another bite. “Well, I’m no doll. Or a toy. Or a food source. The only food source I’ve been is allowing my ex to feed on me when needed or…” I stopped. “Anyways... Just don’t get any ideas.”
“Your ex? As in mate? Husband? You’ve been with vampire before?” He leaned on the arm of his throne-like chair and looked at me, obviously curious about what I had just said. “I was unaware that your planet was aware of my kind. Yet, you seem almost casual about all of this.”
“Most are not,” I replied. “Aware that is. On Earth, vampires, werewolves, witches… any other race other than human? We are all prone to hiding what we are in fear of what the humans would do to us.”
He roars with laughter. “You all fear humans despite your magic and other’s abilities? This is ridiculous!”
“It is.” I nodded solemnly. “But it is how things have gone. Even our own kind will kill us if we try to reveal what we are. Our numbers have shrunk so much that we would be slaughtered in a war, especially considering that the races war with each other. The lack of trust makes coexisting impossible at times. So, it is not as if witches, vampires, werewolves and the others could come together to fight the humans.”
