Piper tensed up, preparing to run, as her tail swished back and forth nervously under her dress. With the mounting tension in the air, she wasn’t even worried about her secret being discovered. All she cared about was not being sucked dry by a vampire.

  Benedict, the mayor, raised his hands. “My lord, this violates all the laws in the Bloodveil Empire. Which I’m sure an astute ruler such as yourself is aware of.”

  “Laws?” Ranford scoffed. “Do you think someone ordained by the gods like me worries about laws? I am an immortal, and you are little more than cattle to me. I could slay every last one of you here, and the duke would barely raise an eyebrow.”

  A Crimson Guard, with a feminine shape to her armor, stepped forward. She was impossibly tall and towered over Ransford.

  “My lord, the honorable mayor is correct,” the knight said in a throaty voice, confirming her gender. “The laws strictly prohibit feeding on citizens of the empire.”

  “Bah,” Ranford replied with a wave of his hand. “What do you know? I will only drink a few to show them their place.” When he moved to step forward, the woman reached out with her hand to stop him. She pressed her palm against his chest plate, preventing him from advancing on the mayor.

  “I must insist that you not kill any citizens here,” she said stiffly.

  “If you touch me again, I’ll have you publicly staked,” Ransford snarled. “Is that understood?”

  The woman hesitated before withdrawing her hand.

  Ranford scanned the crowd, pointing at a girl with long brown hair. One of his other guards dragged the girl forward as she screamed. He continued to move through the crowd, picking out two other young girls. Then his gaze fell upon Piper, and he thrust his arm in her direction. “That one as well.”

  It felt like time stood still as the Blood Lord pointed at her. She was going to be eaten. This wasn’t how her day in the village was supposed to go. This was supposed to be a fun day.

  “No,” Ethel cried out as she stepped forward to shield Piper with her body. “Take me in her place.”

  Ransford snickered. “How heartwarming—a mother sacrificing herself for her daughter. However, let me ask you this question. Would you choose a tough old cow to feast upon? Or would you devour its young calf, with delectably soft meat that melts in your mouth?”

  “Please,” Ethel whispered, lowering her gave. “Don’t hurt her.”

  “Take the girl,” Ranford snapped at his guards.

  Piper stumbled back, searching for an avenue of escape. But the Crimson Guard were approaching her from both sides. She wouldn’t get far before they caught her. She also knew that she couldn’t possibly fight back against armed men in full armor.

  Still, she couldn’t let them touch her. The second they did, they’d realize she was covered in illusions. Things could only go downhill from there.

  “My lord,” the female Crimson Guard snapped. “If you choose to continue, I will have no choice but to report this to Duke Albrecht.”

  Ranford’s lip curled up in a sneer. “Do you think your father’s position in the duke’s court will protect you?”

  “Regardless, I will not allow this crime to occur,” she said, her hand falling to the handle of her sheathed sword. “Will you stop this madness?”

  Piper watched as Ranford’s face clouded with rage. His features went through a range of emotions before he barked out a laugh. “This was little more than a jest meant to shame them for not honoring my ascension.” He turned to address the crowd. “I will forgive all transgressions if you provide me with one kilogram of silver before I depart.”

  At his words, murmurs of discontent swept through the crowd. But the gathered citizens quickly began to disperse, most likely to collect what few valuables they had.

  “Let’s go,” Ethel hissed at Piper. “We need to leave immediately.”

  She nodded her head in agreement, noting that the illusion was beginning to shimmer on her arms. It wouldn’t be long before it failed completely. And she didn’t want to be standing in a crowd when that happened.

  Together, they hurried back to where they’d left the wagon and oxen. She climbed up next to Ethel on the driver’s seat, tapping her foot impatiently on the wood. When she turned to look back, she saw Ransford talking to the mayor and pointing in her direction. As the lord spoke, the mayor blanched visibly.

  That can’t be a good sign.

  But she could worry about that another day. Right now, they needed to get out of the town before she revealed herself as a demon. She felt a bit like Cinderella right when her wagon was about to turn back into a pumpkin. Except in that story, Cinderella didn’t turn into a monster when the clock struck midnight.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  With a crack of the reins, Ethel sent the wagon lurching forward. As it rolled down the street, she watched the Crimson Guard standing guard by the village exit. Would they open the gates for them? Or would they hold them until the ransom had been paid?

  Piper held her breath as they neared the armored men, but as they did, the knights exchanged glances and then moved to swing open the heavy wooden gates. Maybe they had heard through magic what was going on in the town square. Or maybe they’d seen the crowd dispersing and assumed their lord’s lesson was over.

  Either way, she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She gave the Crimson Guard her warmest smile as they rolled through the gates, though she couldn’t see their expressions beneath their steel helmets. Her smile cracked slightly, but she continued to grin until her cheeks hurt.

  Then they were outside of the village, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Neither of them spoke as they travelled down the lonely road, the shadows growing longer. Finally, after a few kilometres, Ethel slumped forward, her hands shaking on the reins.

  “Thank you for trying to save me,” Piper whispered. “I owe you and your family so much.”

  “I would have done the same for Ophelia.”

  “But Ophelia is your daughter.”

  Ethel touched Piper’s hand lightly, the illusion covering her skin breaking apart into motes of light. “So are you.”

  Piper’s heart swelled until it felt like it would burst. She was deeply touched that Ethel thought of her as a daughter. Without another word, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around Ethel. Squeezing the woman tightly, she blinked back tears.

  “We certainly cut that close with your illusions,” Ethel said, drawing back slightly to look down at Piper. “Next time, we might just go for a shorter visit.”

  Piper laughed and scrubbed her eyes. “If you think I’m ever going back to that village again, you’re crazy.”

  “New lords usually only appear every few centuries or so.” Ethel pursed her lips. “I wonder what happened to our last lord? I suspect the new one is going to cause problems before the duke puts him in his place.”

  Piper thought back to Ransford pointing at her. “I… think he wanted to know more about me.”

  Ethel narrowed her eyes. “What makes you say that?”

  “As we were leaving, he was talking to the mayor and pointing in my direction.”

  “Hmm… that is concerning. But we’ll handle whatever comes.”

  “What if I put your family in danger?”

  Ethel patted Piper’s hand again. “As I said, we’ll handle whatever comes.”

  Piper didn’t answer, secretly doubting Ethel and her family could handle a vampire lord and his knights. But she didn’t say anything. Right now, she was just grateful that she’d escaped with her neck intact.

  They rode in relative silence for the rest of the trip, each of them lost in their own thoughts. By the time they reached the farm, the sun had set behind the horizon, casting the world into darkness. The trees surrounding the road seemed alive with shadows, and strange noises filled the air.

  As they rolled up to the longhouse, Alfred emerged from inside with a relieved look on his face. He plodded over to the wagon, inspecting it before crossing his thick arms. “I was afraid you ran into some trouble,” he said. “Glad to see you’re both in one piece.”

  “We did run into some trouble.” Ethel said. When he raised his bushy eyebrows in response, she continued, “I’ll tell you about it later.”

  “That bad?”

  Ethel nodded with a grim look on her face.

  Swinging her legs over the edge, Piper sensed something speeding toward her. In the blink of an eye, her hand shot out and snatched the stick from Ophelia’s grasp. From beside her, the girl stared at her dumbly before her expression darkened.

  “No fair!” Ophelia cried out. “That was using some demon powers or something.”

  “Like I didn’t know you were going to try to attack me,” Piper said. Though to be honest, she wasn’t sure how she had sensed the attack. That was something that had never happened before.

  “So, tell me everything!” Ophelia said, grabbing her stick back. “It must have been awesome because Mom looks worried. Did you stumble across a Fomorian? An undead? Or something even cooler?”

  “Crimson Guard,” she replied. “A vampire wanted to drink my blood.”

  The girl’s eyes went wide as saucers. “No way! For real?”

  Piper nodded her head.

  “How’d you escape?” she asked. “Did you gore him with your horns? Oh, I bet I know. You wrapped your tail around his neck until his head popped like an overripe tomato, right?”

  “What? No!” Piper exclaimed. “And gross. Another Crimson Guard stopped him from eating all the young girls there.”

  Ophelia crossed her arms. “That’s boring. There wasn’t any fighting?”

  “No, sorry to disappoint you.”

  “Next time, can you at least get into a bit of an epic battle? Especially if I’m not there?”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Piper said as she tried her best to keep her face serious.

  “I almost forgot,” Ophelia said. “I have a surprise for you.”

  “Do I really want another surprise?”

  “It’s not an ooze,” she said with a giggle. “I promise. It’s in the barn.”

  “It better not be another monster.” Piper cautiously followed after Ophelia, expecting a dragon to burst out of hiding at any moment. Though her friend hadn’t done anything nearly as dangerous as fighting the ooze recently, Ophelia had only grown more determined to become a warrior.

  Ahead of her, Ophelia opened the barn door and slipped inside. She followed her friend in after a second, her tail twitching in anticipation of a fight. If there was something dangerous in here, she wanted to be prepared. She wished she had a weapon, but at least she could get her tail ready to strike.

  Piper could barely see inside the gloomy barn, and a cow mooed while the horse whinnied at their presence. While she stood there, Ophelia slipped into one of the stalls and then reappeared a second later.

  Walking up to Piper, Ophelia pressed an oblong shape into her palm. Then she stepped back, a silly grin on her face.

  She opened her hand and glanced down. Nestled in her palm was the most beautiful glowing stone she’d ever seen. It was as blue as a clear sky, with wisps of what looked like clouds moving through it. She felt a faint warmth emanating from its surface.

  “It’s a moonstone!” Ophelia exclaimed. “I found it a few weeks ago in the ruins. They say it can help you get a better class during your awakening, but I just thought it was the perfect gift for you.” She pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry about everything with the ooze. Next time, I’m going to pick something easier to beat.”

  “Next time?” Piper asked with alarm.

  “A warrior has to fight monsters.”

  “I suppose you’re right.” She clasped the moonstone to her chest. “And I love it. I’m going to keep it forever.”

  Ophelia leaned in and gave her a tight hug. “Promise that we’re going to be adventurers together?”

  Piper hesitated before nodding. “I swear that we’ll become the best adventurers this world has ever seen.”

  Her friend gave her another squeeze and then skipped off into the night. She was left alone in the barn, holding the warm gem and thanking whichever god was listening that she had ended up with such a wonderful family.