Chapter 20: Saviors

When David awakens his entire body hurts. He can feel all the damage he had taken in the fight with Zeke, but he was not dead, there was that at least. As he opens his eyes, he can see that he was laying on a straw bed in the middle of a cold stone room. For the briefest of moments, he freaked out thinking that he was back in the dungeon under House Velma, but after he takes in more of his surroundings, he realizes that is not the case. The room he was in was a small kitchen that had been poorly maintained, with a table, 3 chairs, a few cabinets, and a window letting light in from the outside. He tried getting up for a moment and was immediately brought back down by pain, he could move soon, just not yet. As he touches his abdomen, he sees that he is wrapped up in a mishmash of clothing, gauze and other things to stem his bleeding. Just as he notices that, the 3 kids he saw before he passed out opened the door to the room and entered, carrying a bowl. He got a better look at them now. 

There was one girl probably around 10 with brown hair and brown eyes wearing a tattered and torn yellow dress, there was one boy with similar features to the girl except with black hair instead of brown. He was definitely older than her by a bit so perhaps he was 11? They looked like a brother and sister. The 3rd kid was the one that was most shocking to him though. It was a young vampire, he had black hair and eyes that were a deep and dark shade of red and looked to be the oldest at 12. He knew that it wasn't uncommon for humans in this world to toss unwanted children out onto the streets, but for vampires it was a serious taboo, even if one had an illegitimate child, a vampire was expected to take care of them, even if they don't take care of them well. It was not a law but a cultural norm for them, so to see this young vampire on the streets, with two human children was very strange.

The three kids walk up to David and hand him the bowl, which he now realizes is full of dirty soup. These three kids. They must have thought he was homeless or something and they patched him up and are probably offering what little food they have to him. This was... probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him, next to Alice saving his life. For all he knows he could have bled to death in that alleyway. David had no recourse at the moment but to accept their offering.

He grabbed the bowl from their small hands and started to drink. It was not the most appealing food he ever had, months of eating well at the mansion had spoiled him to good food. But he had spent over a year trapped in his mind in that dungeon, being forced fed dirty water and spoiled soup, he still remembered the taste, so compared to that, this was fine dining. 

It took him only a minute to drink the whole bowl, when he was done, he handed the bowl back to them. 

"Thank you, you saved my life." He said flatly to the human boy. Even if it wasn't the case, he would certainly have been in much worse shape had they not helped him. The young boy hides behind the girl. She then speaks up. 

"He's just shy, don't mind him." The young vampire boy then speaks up. 

"I may not look it, but I'm pretty strong. You try anything and I'll stop you." He said as he took a more defensive posture. 

"Don't worry, I have no intention to do anything to my saviors." He said with a soft smile. The vampire boy continues to eye him wearily but seems to relax a little. 

"Where am I?" David said feeling well enough to sit fully up. 

"You're in the house we live in, in the slums." The girl said, still covering for the older boy hiding behind her. 

"Why are you guys living here? What happened to your parents?" David asked. The vampire boy crossed his arms and looked angry. 

"Who needs parents! They are the ones that left us here!" The girl looks from the vampire boy back to David before speaking. 

"We were left here by our parents long ago; I don't know where they are anymore." She said straight faced. For a girl that young to be able to say something like that without a single tear either means she didn't like her parents to begin with or, and more likely, she has run out of tears to shed. If that is the case, they have been here for a long time. 

"Why did you save me? You could have left me there." David said he couldn't understand why these children, who clearly had so little, would save him. 

"Well It wasn't my decision!" The young vampire boy said indignantly. The girl turns around behind her looking at the human boy, she grasps his hand before turning back. 

"We were taught by our parents to always try to help those in need." Wait, they were taught to think like that? If their parents had enough of a moral compass to teach them a lesson like that then they probably wouldn't be abandoned. So, what happened, why are they here? 

"What are your names, children?" David said as he stood up slowly, still in pain but no longer willing to lie down. 

"I'm not a child!" The young vampire yells at him. The girl lightly slaps his arm before turning back. 

"That's Derek, I'm Mabel, and this," she said as she moved slightly revealing the boy behind her. "This is Josh." 

David is now standing up fully, bracing himself against the wall. 

"Well, Derek, Mabel, Josh," He said as he looked at them in turn. "For saving my life I'd like to repay you, but I don't have the means to do so right now." He said as he stumbled for a moment. 

"But do you know the fancy side of town where all the big buildings are?" David asked. Mabel nods her head. "There is a large beige house there, with a big wall around it. Head there in a few hours and I'll reward you for your help." David said as he started slowly making his way to the door. 

"What if I don't trust you!" Derek yells from behind David. 

"Then I'll have to go the rest of my life with no way of thanking my saviors!" David shouts back as he leaves the room. He really did hope that they would come, but after all they had been through, he wouldn't be surprised if they didn't trust strangers, the very fact that they saved him at all was a surprise. He just hoped he could help them out a little. With that David very slowly and carefully makes his way to the Palace.

He thought he would have a hard time getting into the palace looking like he did, but it seems that the guards at the front must have recognized him because they let him in easily. He was walking towards Alice's office when she burst out the door and ran towards him. She was about to throw her arms around him and hug him when she suddenly stopped herself. David assumed it was because of how injured he looked at the moment. However, Alice had stopped herself for an entirely different reason. 

She was absolutely thrilled to see him back in one piece, but the moment she was going to give him a hug she remembered the hug she gave him when she last drank her blood. The embarrassment was enough to make her decide against it. She walks over to David, grabs one of his arms and helps him into her office.

"It really is good to see you again." Alice said with a heartbroken smile as she sat him down on the couch. He looked up at her, she had clearly been crying, her eyes were red and slightly puffy, and her cheeks were pink. 

"I've felt better, but I've had worse." David said, trying to lighten the mood. Alice then looks down and sees the mismatched bandaging on his chest. 

"I want to know what happened, but first let's fix you up, so shirt off!" She said strictly. David was a little taken aback by this. 

"But I..." David begins before being cut off by Alice again. 

"SHIRT OFF!" She yells now with a practiced and intimidating commanding tone. David then sheepishly removes his tattered cloak and shirt revealing his naked upper body.

Alice had gotten swept up in the moment of helping her friend and fixing his bandages. So, she was not thinking about the implications of when he actually took off his shirt. She saw a tight chest with well-defined abs, he barely had any excess fat on him, and his arm muscles flexed every time he made the slightest move. His skin was scuffed and bruised and had a few scars but overall his body was finely tuned. She shook off her embarrassment and then started to get to work wrapping him with clean gauze. However, when she was doing so she went around to the back of him and was shocked at what she saw. Scars, tons of them, at least a hundred of large and small scars scattered across his back. She stopped for a moment and gently put her hand on his back. 

"What did he have to go through to get all of these?" She thought to herself as she stared at his back. She is awoken from her trance when David speaks up. 

"Are you done?" 

"Ah, no, not yet." She said as she composed herself and began to wrap him up. While she does, he explains what happened.

"So, did Maria make it out okay?" David asked Alice after he finished with his explanation. 

"Yes, thanks to you we picked her up at the designated trade point, she is currently staying in a guest room in the Palace with multiple knights assigned to her." David sighs a breath of relief; they had succeeded at least. 

"Did you spread the word that you hunted down the "Black Hand" and eliminated them, as well as rescuing Maria?" 

"Yes, just like you planned." Alice said as she partly sits on the arm rest of the couch. David pauses for a moment. 

"And how many of my men were..." David trails off, he knew that there was no way that something like this would have allowed everyone to get away safely, even before they ran from the main gate, he saw at least one of his men dead on the ground, but he didn't have time to think about it back then. Alice sighs. 

"According to your men, 12 died in the attack last night." This hit him hard. 

"12? That was more than 1/5th of my men! Soldiers I sent into fight, soldiers I sent to die! It's my fault! If it weren't for me, they would still be alive! If I hadn't sent them to do something so dangerous, they wouldn't have died! It's all my fault! I should have died with them!" David thought as he began to break down slightly, his eyes getting wet. Alice got up and took a seat next to him, and like she had in the past embraced his head, petting his hair. 

"That is the burden of leadership." Alice said softly. "Someone has to make the decisions and those decisions will sometimes lead to death." 

A few tears were beginning to escape his eyes. 

"What if I don't want that burden, what if I'm not cut out to be a leader? Why... why didn't... why didn't I die with them!" David said as he began to sob softly into Alice's chest. Alice continues to sit there gently stroking his head. 

"David," she said softly, embracing him even slightly tighter. "Your actions yesterday saved not only Maria but a whole lot of other people from death. You prevented a war that would have killed thousands. Your men did not die in vain, they died to protect those people. That is a soldier's job, to protect the citizens of the land. They did their job splendidly." David can't hold it anymore, Alice's soothing words had broken the last of his defenses, he could no longer hold back the tears, and so he began to cry into Alice.

It took some time for David to calm down enough for Alice to feel comfortable enough to let him go. As he used a handkerchief to clean his face Alice spoke up. 

"I gave your men the next few days off, I didn't think you would mind." She said as she looked back at his gauze wrapped body. "You should do the same." She said with a sweet smile. David looks back with a weak smile. 

"Yeah, I probably should." He said as he shakily started to stand up. Seeing him get up like this only makes Alice worry even more. 

"If you want, tonight might be a good night for me to come sample your chef's food again." Alice said in an attempt to allow herself over to David's house to monitor his condition for longer. David looks over to her and smiles, still weakly, like he has got a surprise. 

"That depends, do you like kids?"

Alice walked David home and stayed with him for a while in one of the audience rooms before Sebastian knocked on the door and came in. 

"Sir," he said with a light bow. "It appears that we have 3 young guests at the gate requesting entry, should I let them in." 

"Yeah," David said as he stood up much better than before but still without much gusto. "I've been expecting them." Sebastian leads the way as both David and Alice follow behind. They arrive at the front door and wait there as Sebastian goes and gets the gate. The three children then walk up to the door, Mabel and Josh looking around like it was the imperial palace and Derek not looking around and just staring straight ahead sternly. 

"Welcome, my little saviors." David said with a smile. "I have two orders of business for you." He reaches into his back pocket with some minor difficulty and produces a bag of coins. 

"This is for saving my life." He said handing it over to Derek who is standing closest as if to protect the two behind him. Derek swipes the money from David's hand and then opens it. Almost as soon as he opened the bag, he went wide-eyed and his tough guy facade was totally gone. He immediately turns around and shows the others the bag's contents, they too look equally excited at the money inside. As they should, saving his life is no small matter, whether they were kids or not had no bearing on it, he would compensate an adult with the same amount. He happened to already have a sizable fortune thanks to the girl standing behind him staring excitedly at the kids, so giving away this much was not too much of a bother for him. It would be especially helpful if they must live on their own, they could use that money to afford a real place to stay and to take care of themselves for a long time if that is what they chose to do. However, David had another plan. 

"So that's the first thing." David said with a smile. 

"Second, in order to thank you for your soup, I wanted to invite you inside to have a nice hot meal, a bath, and we can get you clean clothes." Derek immediately goes back to being defensive, but Mabel lightly tugs at his shirt from behind. 

"We will accept your kind offer." She said as she does a small curtsy. Alice by this point was practically jumping up and down. 

"I guess she really likes kids." David thought to himself as Alice leans in and whispers in his ear. 

"Do you think I can help out too?" Alice said with obvious excitement. David looks at Sebastian who was close enough to hear her but gets no reaction from him. He clearly can tell the impropriety of the crown princess bathing and clothing some kids off the street, but his practiced butler exterior gave nothing away. David wanted to say no, but how could he say no to his friend when she is looking at him with those eyes and with such an excited look. 

"Okay." David said with a sigh. Alice jumps up and cheers, and then runs down the steps to gently usher the kids inside. David turns to Sebastian with a shake of his head.

"Please make sure she doesn't cause too much trouble while they are taken care of." Sebastian nods with a small bow and then heads inside. He was lucky he had sent Lily out ahead of time to her father's shop to get children's clothes just in case they clearly were going to need them.

The meal that night was rather rowdy. Between Alice and the two boys scrambling for the food on the table it was like a food fight in his dining room. The kids he understood, they were near starved, and were eating high class food for maybe the first time in their life, but Alice was just being Alice. After a short while of watching her tomfoolery he lightly hit her on the head and told her to save some food for the children. Mabel was the only one that seemed to not be eating ravenously. It actually was rather funny to see the crown princess have less manners than a 10-year-old girl. When dinner was over David then spoke to the kids again. 

"Alright, I have one last offer for you all." He said looking at the kids. "You are more than welcome to stay here for a while, while I look for a proper home for you three. If at any point you wish to leave then you are more than welcome, but I'm willing to take care of you for a time. This is after all the least I can do for my saviors." He said with a smile. Derek looks at him with a suspicious look on his face, but unlike earlier he seemed much less suspicious than before. 

"We... need to talk it over." Derek said as he got up, along with the other two and headed out of the room to talk. 

Alice, who had yet to have any moment away from them finally lets loose the rest of her excitement. 

"They are so cute!" She said as she rested her chin in her hands. 

"I didn't realize you'd like kids this much."

"Well not always," She said with a mischievous smile, "Just the cute ones." David takes a sip of tea. 

"I guess it makes sense, you are basically a kid after all." He said with a small chuckle to himself. 

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm renowned for my maturity throughout the Empire!" She snaps back indignantly. 

"Yeah, the maturity of a child. I've never even seen you act like a princess." David said, not missing a beat. Alice looks like she might throw the seat cushion at David and then stops letting out a sigh. 

"It's just that I feel like I can be myself around you." She said aloud. There is a moment's silence before she realizes that she said that out loud. Of course, such a thing was not a secret, but she had never admitted it before and saying it to David so blatantly embarrassed her. She turned her head, hiding her blush. But before David could speak up the 3 kids entered the room again.

"Okay, we have decided." Derek said back with his tough guy attitude.

"We will accept your gracious offer." Mabel finishes. David then turns to Sebastian who was waiting in the corner. 

"Could you please show them the guest rooms, let them pick whichever ones they want." 

"As you wish." Sebastian said with a light bow, then leading all three kids out of the room.

"Alice," David said, now changing the topic. "What are the orphanages like around here?" Alice turns back to look at him, her blush mostly gone. 

"Well there are a few, but usually they are pretty full and won't go past capacity. There is a nice one in uptown that gives the kids a really nice home to live in, sponsored by my father of course." She said, slightly proud. 

"The problem with that one is that it only accepts Vampire orphans, which, I don't know if you know, but for vampires is a pretty big taboo, so there aren't very many kids there. The issue is whether or not the young vampire would be willing to leave his friends or not." Alice said with a sad sigh. David mulls it over for a few moments before speaking again. 

"Is it possible for you to make an exception for his friends?" 

"I might be, but that's not the issue. The issue is that there are only vampire children there, it might be hard for them to get along with others if that's the environment they are in." Alice said worryingly. 

"Well I don't think that will be an issue." David said confidently. "They've already passed through the race barrier, so I'm sure others can learn to as well." He pauses and then smiles at Alice sweetly. 

"After all, haven't we?" 

Alice gets a faint blush on her face when he smiles, which is then only exacerbated by her remembering what she said earlier. 

"But ultimately it will be up to the kids." David said as he slowly stood up. "We will present them with all the options and let them choose for themselves. That's all we can do for them." He said as he walked past Alice. He then stopped and placed a hand on her shoulder leaning in for a whisper. 

"Oh, and as for earlier. I feel the same way." He said with a sly grin on his face. Alice blushed even harder now as he walked completely past her and out the door. Of course, he had said it teasingly to rile her up, he had a good teacher after all, but his words were genuine. And for Alice's sake, despite how much she was blushing right now, it was good to know her feelings were reciprocated.

After a bit of time all 3 kids come back down looking very excited, Sebastian is following closely behind. 

"They have decided to share one room, sir." Sebastian said as he came down the stairs. 

"If that is their decision, I shall not go against it." David walks over to Sebastian to begin discussing plans for tomorrow. 

"Alright I'm going to be leaving now!" Alice said cheerfully as she started heading towards the door. When she got to the door and took a half step out, she felt a small tug from her skirt. She turns around and sees Mabel standing there holding her.

"Why are you leaving?" Mabel asked innocently. "Aren't you two married? Don't you live here together?" This almost made Alice burst out laughing, 

"Him and me married? There is no way I would marry someone so..." She stops as her mind drifts back to the last time she drank his blood; her heart began beating faster and her whole face was now red. She turns away to hide her blush. 

"Ah... well no... but ah... I got to go!" She said as she nearly ran out the door. David was too busy talking to Sebastian about what might need to be done for the children during their stay to hear any of that exchange, but he did notice that Alice had indeed left.