Chapter 8

— How delicious. You were right, Fes, why do we need that fool? We can take his place ourselves.

The young man just laughed and kissed her on the lips, still not completely rid of the blood of their former master. He had turned them into vampires and taught them how to turn others into vampires, so why follow his orders when they could give their own? And especially, why share the girl with him! Men don't do that, and Fes considered himself a real man, with the strength he now possessed only confirming that.

— I think we'll have time to visit another village before dawn!

Another tree crashed down.

— Watch out!

Next to the already felled cedar lay its brother. The need to clear the forest of valuable alchemical ingredients growing in it was met with enthusiasm by the vampires. Even Olga had voiced no objections, although she was expected to be the first to protest; she simply stopped all construction work and joined in the collection.

All the captives were put to work, and the castle's cellars quickly filled with precious contents. After a week, it was known that a hundred of the duke's troops had entered Rostki and restored order there, but they did not stop their well-running activities.

Gennady had already sold twenty kilograms of fern root in Kasa and was incredibly happy, as were the resellers who had bought the goods from him. The rest was decided to be kept for now; these tubers were the only non-perishable ingredients and could be stored for a long time.

However, black cedar wood lost its magical properties, or rather slowly charred, becoming smaller, so the vast reserves had to be removed before winter. And there was still the harvest festival ahead, meaning a time when locals would be resting a lot. This mainly applied to cities and the wealthy, while the peasants would be working hard to harvest that very crop.

— Boss, — the village vampire on duty ran up to Alexander, — A messenger from the baron!

— Now?!

The triumvir did not receive an answer to this question, but it was not needed; it was likely asked just for show. The sunset had been several hours ago, and the arrival of a person in almost complete darkness was surprising and worthy of a degree of admiration.

"What could the baron have promised him for a nighttime journey through the forests on this side of the river?"

The answer to this question was received back at the castle, where, after opening the envelope, the knight read a message from the local ruler and his friend. Baron Vilt Savoyardi requested Sir Alex Blood to visit him immediately. And after the signature was a messy note, apparently written in haste — "Important!"

— Sergeant, mount a dozen gendarmes! — Why wait until morning if it can be done now?

Although the night was as bright to vampires as day is to humans, the same could not be said for their horses. So, they preferred to travel on foot in the dark. But how to explain the appearance of a mounted knight with an entourage at the city gates? It meant they would have to ride a bit slower and create light with magic, but at least they would be on horseback, as befits noble warriors.

Making a commotion and causing panic among the peasants as they passed through Peski and Torfyanoye, the squad reached the city gates before they were even opened. The sergeant in charge of the guard did not hide behind the rules and, upon hearing of the invitation from the baron, ordered the massive gates to be opened and let the guests in. The castle guard acted in the same way. The baron, woken directly from bed, rushed out to Alexander without even bothering with proper clothing.

— Rebellion! Archmage Elos has been declared a traitor!

Processing the received information, the vampire simply scratched his head and asked the question that was on his mind.

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