Daughters of the Moon Pt. 07

Thanks to Liter Knight for their excellent editing and encouragement. I couldn't have done it without them!

Chapter 7

Everyone was in the command tent, celebrating their victory. The table was festooned with food and drink, with house banners on each wall and the enemies' weapons in piles outside. Patrick's axe capped the largest pile, shining in the moonlight. There was the clinking of bottles and rowdy conversation was already beginning.

Helena stood. Her dress was pristine and her hair coiffed as usual, she raised a glass of wine, "A toast to the victors."

Everyone raised their glasses, "To the victors!"

Gwen drank from her goblet. It was full of blood mead Christoph had provided. It burned her throat and her nostrils as it went down.

Helena lowered her wine glass, "In centuries past, my house attempted their great conquests alone and were always thrown back. But this is the start of a new era. The four great houses now stand united, and our victory this night proves once again we are far stronger together than we are apart. What happened tonight is another portent of the future. A future in which all our houses prosper together."

Gwen raised her goblet again. Helena was as pretentious as always but at least she was talking about the bridges they were building. Gwen hoped her grandmother would be proud of her.

Christoph came up to her and clinked his bottle of mead with her goblet and with Will's, "To the heroes of the hour."

There was a general round of cheers.

"Thank you," said Gwen, a smile in her voice, "but we're all heroes here. To all of us."

There was another round of cheers at that. Even Helena smiled.

Conversation restarted, Gwen looked around and was happy to see all the house soldiers mingling together freely. The conversation had a warm, playful edge to it, but knowing this crowd things were likely to get wilder as the night wore on. Gwen took another slug of her mead and winced at the burn. She was going to have to pace herself.

When she lowered her goblet, Christoph was smiling at her. "Remind me never to fuck with you, Gwen," he said, "you hit that front line like a scythe through wheat. I couldn't even see you."

Gwen laughed, "It only worked because Will blew a hole for me first. That was a cute trick."

Will shrugged, "Thanks... you know, everyone hates bugs."

Gwen nodded with false seriousness, "Everyone hates bugs."

"I liked it when Christoph pulled that guy's head off and emptied him like a wineskin. That was scarier than my bugs," said Will.

"Ha, yeah thanks. That took a lot of practice," Said Christoph.

"It did?" Asked Gwen.

"Oh yeah! You have to use just the right amount of pressure. Too little and not enough comes out, too much and the body just explodes."

There was a pause.

"How do you practice that?" asked Will.

"On pigs. Mostly. Sometimes we do pig chugging races at the big moots."

Gwen laughed her high arching laugh at that and took another swig of blood mead. Christoph said the Gevudan brewed it from honey made by bees fed on vampire blood. Gwen would have to tell her house's brewers about it because it was strong and cool and delicious. She hadn't been this buzzed in decades. She looked in the corner and saw Callie making out with the mercenary she had been beating the night before, while the halfbood who had fought for her was licking her neck and groping her breast, Gwen laughed again and took another drink.

The night got hazy after that. It came to her in snippets, strangely similar to her experience during the battle. She remembered standing on the table in the middle of the room arm and arm with Will, singing one of Elaine's songs while the crowd applauded. The world blurred, and next thing she knew she was chugging a wineskin, trying to get the pressure just right while Cristoph gave her pointers. Then she was on her hands and knees drinking blood from the thigh of one of the mercenaries she had just finished eating out while Callie fucked the mercenary she had been kissing earlier next to her. The mercenary cried out as Callie's fangs sank into him. And the cries of the two made a beautiful chorus.

The last thing Gwen remembered was stumbling into her tent as she felt the sun growling restlessly over the horizon. She fell into blankets, body sinking into her bedding as dawn claimed the world.

...

Gwen woke up that night and gasped. She was viciously, completely hungover. She had no idea she was even capable of being hungover anymore but somehow she had managed it. Fighting through the splitting headache, she dragged on the first clothes she could find, a pair of wool trousers and simple cotton shirt, and stumbled out of the tent. She looked up at the moon and winced as the light pierced her skull, kicking her headache to a new level. She stumbled toward what she hoped was the direction of the supply tent. She made her way through a few rows of tents when a voice spoke up behind her.

"Ser Gwendolyn, Lady Helena requests your presence at your earliest..."

She whirled and saw Helena's manservant. She cut him off, "Blood. Now."

He started and his eyes widened then he quickly ran the way she had been going. Gwen sat down on the ground and put her head in her hands.

A few minutes later she heard a diffident voice above her, "Ser Gwendolyn?"

She looked up and the manservant was back with a wine bottle on a silver tray. She snatched it from the tray and started chugging. She used the blood as soon as it hit her system to purge the toxins from her, hydrate her body, and banish the hangover. She finished the bottle, sighed in relief, and stood.

"Okay, now what were you saying?"

The manservant licked his lips nervously, "Umm, Lady Helena requests your presence at your earliest possible convenience."

She sighed, "Fine, I'll be right over."

"Umm... you may take a moment to freshen up if you wish."

Gwen looked down at herself. She hadn't put on a bra and the blood had made her nipples hard. She looked up at the manservant and glared. Without a word he spun and ran.

After finding some grooming powder and fresh underwear, and changing into a simple white shirt and blue skirt, Gwen made her way to the command tent. As she walked through the camp she saw the mercenaries and their camp followers striking the tents, preparing to move. She noted with satisfaction many of them were nursing hangovers as well. Helena had originally wanted to quarter the troops in the village but Gwen had convinced her to just move the camp closer. They didn't need the wave of looting and assaults that occurred whenever soldiers occupied the homes of the conquered.

In the command tent there were still signs of the celebration from last night being cleaned up by Helena's servants. Helena had added a vaguely throne-like chair for her to sit in. Gwen was the last of the vampires to arrive and Helena gave her a respectful nod, her face studiously blank, "So pleased you could finally join us."

Gwen bit back a sarcastic reply, she was supposed to play nice. "Sorry, took me a while to recover from last night. That blood mead is murder."

Christoph laughed, "I'll return your compliments to the brewers."

Helena ignored the banter, "Tax collection proceeded throughout the day and is now completed. But I wanted to have an additional little ceremony. I would like to gift each of you with a thrall, taken from among the villagers, as a reward for your efforts on my house's behalf.

Christoph smiled, "Nice! Sounds good to me."

"If you want," said Will

"I appreciate the offer but I think the villagers paid enough already," said Gwen.

Helena shook her head, "I must insist. My gift serves a secondary purpose. I wish to stress the cost of disobedience to the village to discourage further rebellion."

"Ah, so want us to all grab a hottie. Make all the big strong guys feel bad they can't protect their women," said Cristoph.

"That isn't exactly how I'd put it, but that was the general idea."

"I'm not going to participate in this," said Gwen.

"That is your choice but if you refuse I will simply pick someone for you and keep them for myself. I will send this message with or without your cooperation."

Gwen sighed. She really didn't like this but she figured any of the girls in the village would be better off with her than Helena. It suddenly occurred to Gwen that she could always let whatever girl she picked go later and send her back to the village. It's not like Helena would notice.

"Fine, but I really don't think this is necessary. I think they've learned their lesson."

"Best to be sure. Peasants often require repeated instruction."

...

Helena certainly had a flair for the dramatic. She had all the villagers gathered in the center of the village green and had her soldiers surround the square. She had the banners of the four houses draped over the mayor's inn that lined one side of the square and each of the vampires was standing in front of their respective banners. Standing in front of her crescent moon banner, Gwen stared out at the mass of villagers in the early evening light. Mage lights gave the square a warm friendly atmosphere that belied the tension in the villager's faces.

Lady Helena stepped forward and raised her voice, "Your blood tax has been collected. Each of you has contributed what will be required of you once each month. I hope the ease and painlessness of the process has driven home to you how foolish and ill considered your rebellion was.

"Now that you have paid the small cost of compliance, you will pay the cost of defiance once more. Each of the blooded standing with me raised their swords and fangs to enforce our claim to your lands, and I have decided to reward them by gifting each of them one from your village as a thrall to do with as they will."

As Helena's words sank in, the crowd began to mutter. There was scattered weeping and angry shifting from the men. For a moment Gwen thought the villagers were going to riot, but the mercenaries put hands on hilts and the villagers quieted down. Helena smiled, fangs showing as she watched their will break. Gwen rolled her eyes, Dracul bullshit, so overdone.

The crowd died down and the air was thick with tension. Then a voice broke the stillness.

"I offer myself."

It was a young woman. She stepped out from the crowd. She was short with curly reddish brown hair that tumbled carelessly to her mid back. She had light brown skin that usually came from people farther south. She had a round face that made her look younger than she was.

She took another step forward, "If you're going to take someone, take me."

Then, an older woman who looked like her mom, their features were similar enough, ran out and grabbed at her. The mother squeezed her daughter's arm painfully, her face twisted in anger. The girl yanked her arm out of her mother's grip and walked forward a little more. The mother looked like she was about to grab at her again, but then noticed the entire village staring at them and backed off, her face blank with suppressed rage.

"I offer myself," repeated the girl.

Gwen groaned inwardly. She saw Will put his head in his hand. This whole thing was getting ridiculous.

The three vampires looked at each other.

"She's a little short for me," said Christoph.

Gwen turned to Will; he shrugged. She couldn't tell if it was a yes shrug or a no shrug.

Gwen sighed. It would be really embarrassing for that poor girl if she did that whole heroic sacrifice bit and no one picked her. She gestured to the girl to come to her.

The girl turned and gave her mom one last look. The mom stared back with an unreadable expression. Then the young woman was walking towards her, as she got close she slowed and Gwen saw her regretting her decision. Gwen suppressed her irritation at this entire charade and gave the girl a small smile.

"It'll be okay."

The girl's eyes widened and she walked up to stand by Gwen with more confidence.

"My name is Abby," she whispered.

"Gwen, it's nice to meet you," Gwen whispered back

Then Helena turned to Christoph, "My lord Christoph... many of the villagers fell to your fangs and claws, and your mastery of the beast within you broke their spirits. I give you the honor of choosing next."

Christoph chuckled and Gwen snorted.

"This is so stupid," she muttered to Abby. Abby gave her a shocked look

Christoph walked forward, eyes roaming the crowd. He walked directly into it and they backed away, giving him his own little bubble of space. His eyes roamed over faces and bodies, even sniffing the air a little. Until he stopped in front of a tall, curvy woman with well tanned features and curly brown hair. He looked her up and down.

"You're a tall one."

She didn't say anything.

"Where's your man?"

She didn't look up, "He's dead."

"Ah, that's a real shame. Why don't you come with me? I'll take care of you."

She looked up, pulling in her lips in fear.

"Least I could do after causing you so much trouble."

She looked like she was about to cry but before she could Christoph ran a finger down her cheek and a shudder went through her. She straightened up and Gwen could see, even through her dress, her nipples were hard.

"Trust me. I'll treat you real nice," said Christoph, then he turned his back to the woman, "Let's go."

"But, but.. my son. I can't just leave him."

"Eh, you can bring your brat. It's all good."

He turned around and started walking away. The woman, looking bemused, picked up a small boy next to her and followed him back towards camp. It hadn't occurred to Gwen they could just leave but she kind of wanted to see what Will would do.

Will stepped forward.

"I appreciate your gift, lady Helena, but I would be honored if you chose for me. Your judgment would be far superior to mine."

Helena nodded and smiled indulgently, "Very well. Mayor Albert, step forward."

Mayor Albert did as he was told.

"Kneel," said Helena. And her voice reverberated with the power of the Scepter, the Dracul's ability to break the will of others and force obedience. The mayor was driven to his knees.

"Mayor Albert. You were elected to guide your people with wisdom and restraint but you have failed in your duty, leading your people into their foolish rebellion against our rightful rule. You, more than any other, are responsible for your people's suffering and so you must suffer in turn. Answer me true, which of your daughters do you love the most?"

The mayor stiffened as Helena applied the Scepter, dragging the answer out of him, "Lily."

There were gasps and shouts of rage and all eyes turned toward a stunning young woman with bright red hair in the front row. She withered under all the stares, looking around, shocked by the sudden attention. Next to her the mayor's wife grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close.

But only one gaze mattered, Helena locked eyes with the girl. "Lily, come here."

Lily began to walk forward, shaking off her mother's hands, her face disturbingly blank. Her mother reached for her but Helena's gaze turned to her next. Lily's mother froze as Helena lashed out with the Scepter once more, her eyes going wide and blank as Helena drained the will from her. Lily's mother could only watch as her daughter walked away from her for the last time..

Next to her, Abby moaned. "Oh no, no no no."

Gwen turned to her, suddenly furious. "Let's go. I don't need to see any more of this bullshit." She started walking back to camp, taking fast angry steps. She moved fast and quickly left the commotion of the village square behind.

She walked for a while before she realized Abby wasn't with her, she turned around and saw she was jogging to catch up. Gwen stoppeduntil Abby was next to her.

"Sorry," said Gwen, "I just needed to get out of there."

Abby looked at her. "I'm pretty sure you don't need to apologize to me."

Gwen tilted her head, "Yeah that's... that's fair."

They walked in silence through the empty street of the village towards the warm lights of the houses' military camp. Gwen was fuming to herself, silently cursing Helena and all Draculs for their absurd theatricality and their stupid games and their obsession with dominance.

"Are you going to kill me?" asked Abby.

Gwen was jerked out of her angry reverie, "What?! No! Why would I do that?"

"You're a vampire. Don't you want my blood?"

"God, I need blood but I don't need to drain anyone dry. That's the whole point of the blood tax. We take a little from everyone so no one gets hurt."

"Oh."

"I mean..." Gwen looked her up and down, She wasn't the prettiest girl. Her nose was a little too big and she had acne scars. She wasn't slender but Gwen liked that, she could tell there was a really nice pair of hips under her skirts, "...I might bite you a little. If that's okay with you."

Abbie's face paled. "Um..."

"Just a little."

She looked down at the ground, "Would it hurt?"

"Not the way I do it. It'll be better than sex."

"Oh." Abby's paleness disappeared as she blushed a little. It looked very nice with her light brown skin. She searched for something to say for a minute before she finally spoke.

"I've only had sex once and it was very disappointing, so that's a pretty low bar."

Gwen threw back her head and laughed. When she stopped she looked over at Abby she had a little half smile, and she was still blushing.

"If you're not going to kill me, what are you going to do with me?"

"I figured we could wait until we marched back for a few days and I could have one of the girls bring you back home."

Abby stumbled and almost fell, "What?"

"Yeah, that whole dog and pony show was Helena's idea. I don't see any reason to keep playing along once she's moved on to her next stupid game. There's enough people who want to be thralls of the house that I'm not going to force someone to do it. But if you are interested in serving the house and seeing Tamlin I can get you a servant job in the palace."

"The capital?" asked Abby. Her voice went high and excited, "I could live in the capital?

"Sure. Either is fine with me. You can think about it for a couple days and let me know what you..."

"Tamlin," said Abby. She spoke very quickly, "definitely Tamlin."

"Alright then."

Abby was silent for a few minutes. When Gwen looked at her she looked upset.

"You look awfully disappointed for someone who thought they were going to die," said Gwen.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me either."

"Sor... it's just... I thought I was doing something noble. Sacrificing myself to save the life of one of my neighbors. But it turns out one of them would have been better off going with you anyway. Lily always dreamed of going to the capital."

"You really thought I was going to kill you?"

"You're a vampire. And you just killed so many people."

"Killing people in battle is totally different. And it wasn't even that many. It looked like a lot at the time but I think only forty or fifty people died in the end. Most of them ended up running away."

"That sounds like a lot to me."

"Oh. Well, I don't think I personally killed anyone other than Fireeyes."

"You killed Lord Fireeyes?"

"Yup. Juiced him dry. That's what he gets for starting all this bullshit."

They walked silently for a few more minutes. The empty houses passed them by. Their residents all gathered in the square to take part in Helena's pageant.

"If you really thought I was going to kill whoever I took, it was very brave of you to volunteer."

Abby looked down and smiled at the compliment.

"It wasn't so brave. My life isn't worth that much."

Gwen stared at her as they walked, disturbed by the matter of factness in her voice. "Why would you say something like that?"

She shrugged. "My family's poor. We're from farther south but my parents fled some stupid war. They were rich back home but they lost everything. My dad works at the inn's stable and my mom cleans houses and she hates it. She hates her life and she's so angry and she comes home and she... let's just say she's not very affectionate. And she doesn't trust anyone in the village so she barely lets me leave the house, never lets me meet any guys. There's no money for a dowry so I'm just stuck there. I just stay home and cook and clean and wait for her to come home and scream at me."