Would You Like to Eat?

Elize shot a glare at Laurel so hard that she knew that the sorceress was shivering inside. "On a second thought," she said and looked at Caleb. "I will take that leather skin from you. Laurel had gone out in the wild to collect blood for me. It would be too bad if it went for a waste." What she meant was that she accepted the work of a courtier as the queen and obliged the courtier in the process.

Cool surprise flickered through Caleb as he passed the skin to her again, this time very content that she would drink and feel a little better. They had another few hours before hitting the main road to Yorkshire.

Laurel shifted in her place but said in a shaky voice, "Thank you, Your Highness. I really want the best for all of us." Elize's last statement rattled her. What if the vampire actually took blood from her? Bitter fear gripped her hard and she decided to be on vigil, lest she found the vampire latching on to her neck while she was sleeping. She would now sleep with her eyes open.

Elize took the skin and opened the lid. The first sip was distasteful. She had this urge to throw it out, but when she noticed Laurel's eyes on her, she gulped it down. She missed Caleb's blood. It was soothing like honey and cinnamon and her lids would grow heavy, her muscles would relax. She felt infused… with energy and something she couldn't point out. He was like her personal drug. She was growing addicted to him—one she had to leave before it reached a dangerous level. Wait. What the hell was she thinking? Why was it that her thoughts went to him even as she planned to leave him? She clenched her jaw tight and shoved the thoughts out of her mind. She took another gulp of the unsavory blood.

An awkward silence followed. The cave was filled with the smell of roasted meat and ash as embers danced around the fire. The only noise was that of the crackling fire. Clouds grumbled outside and soon heavy rain pelted the ground with occasional lightning in the distance.

Laurel busied herself taking occasional glances at the naked chest of her king. When he had shifted back to his human form, he was only wearing leather pants. And she wanted to feel every chiseled muscle out there. How could he stay warm in this cold? She grew hot. In order to make a conversation, Laurel turned her face to Caleb and with wide eyes full of appreciation and hero-worship, said, "At Ixoviya we heard that you single-handedly defeated the demon king of Galahar, Edyrm." She wanted to adulate the king at every given opportunity.

Caleb had leaned on the wall behind him, his gaze on his wife who was sipping the blood. But he knew very well that she was gulping it down forcibly and trying to look casual about it. Oh, how he wished that she was drinking from his neck. The thought made him grow hard. He had to think of ways to entice her to drink from him. His reverie broke. He replied indifferently, "Ah, yes. I emulated his magic to defeat him."

Laurel's mouth fell to the floor. "Oh. My. God." She placed her hand on her heart. "That is brilliant and very difficult and—" very powerful and absolutely, "awesome!" She couldn't imagine being the wife of a man who defeated the demon king. Her eyes became wide as saucers. "And you achieved that feat just before coming to Fulshire forest?"

"Yes," he replied, his eyes still at Elize, who was staring at the fire. Wouldn't she look at him even once?

"Your Highness, you are amazing!" said Laurel, praising him, cheering him. She observed how he was staring at Elize, who wasn't even interested in what he did. "You have had such a big accomplishment and yet you are so careless about it. If I were you, I would have announced it to the world, showed off and reveled in it. But you— you are so modest about it. Do you even know what the Lore thinks of you now?" What she was trying best was to convey that your wife wasn't even interested in your achievement while I am cheering you so much. There were stars in her eyes and her conviction to seduce him went a notch high. She certainly had to become his wife.

Caleb shrugged. "I did what I had to." He picked up a thin, damp twig from nearby. "Ileus needed my help for his sister. And I had to go there." He looked at Elize who was now as stiff as ramrod. "The danger is still out there," he said in order to make her feel the importance of his protection.

"I can understand, Your Highness," replied Laurel. She started to unbutton her cloak. "It is so hot in here now!" she remarked, as she took it out and folded her cloak to place it on the side. She saw that Auril had taken the meat out of the fire. She helped him cut it and then served the first piece on a dry leaf to the king with a broad smile, leaning forward so her face was near his even if a little, so that her warm breath was on his cheeks. Caleb thanked her and took the meat wrapped in the leaf. She turned to Elize, who was looking at the meat with abandoned pain. She asked innocently, "Oh, Your Highness, but would you like to eat some?"

Elize's emotions skittered all over the place. She lowered her eyes so that no one noticed her moist eyes. She used to love her meat pies, bread and vegetables and fruits and desserts, and now… now she was dependent on blood. She missed all the tastes because she had begun to hate normal food. Normal. The word sounded abnormal. She was a vampire—her normal. So many things she had to give up. Morning sunlight, flowers that bloomed in the daytime, birds that chirped only during the day…

"Your Highness?" Laurel said again. "Would you like to eat some?"

An ache bubbled in the pit of her stomach as her throat constricted. She was riled up with too many emotions, but Elize lifted her chin up and said—