3

A young merchant's daughter stood on the threshold, her arms pressed to her chest and breathing in the fresh, cool morning air. Lida watched her father talking to an unexpected visitor. The girl's heart was beating excitedly, like a small bird in a cage, when she tried to peer into the darkness under the hood pulled down deeply over the stranger's face.

Lida's father, smiling obsequiously, waved his hand towards the house, inviting the stranger to enter. The girl's eyes widened in surprise. So that her father in the morning, waking up earlier than expected, would not yell at the culprit of this action? For a scandalous and always dissatisfied merchant to fawningly mince next to a stranger?!

“Is it some kind of aristocrat?” - thought Lida, watching the slow, graceful gait of a stranger. He suddenly reminded the girl of her beloved cat Chamomile. Her favorite moved elegantly and gracefully, and when she saw a mouse, she froze, expressing alertness and curiosity with her whole appearance. The girl always admired her pet, but now she realized that even her white cat has no chance to compare with the plastic, magnificent movements of an unexpected visitor.

- Daughter? What are you doing here? the merchant hissed indignantly when he and the stranger approached the threshold of the house. - You still need to sleep!

Lida inhaled the frosty air, threw a fleeting glance at the stranger - nothing could be seen in the darkness of the hood - and shivered, wrapping herself in a warm woolen shawl.

- My friend, you yourself alarmed the whole house, - she answered timidly. “The aunt is already melting the fireplace and starting to cook breakfast, she won’t be able to sleep anyway,” she sighed heavily.

- Breakfast? This is very good,” the merchant smiled ingratiatingly at the stranger standing next to him. - My lord, I ask you to eat with us. I will be very grateful to you.

- With great pleasure.

From this soft, melodic tenor, Lida was thrown into a fever. Head spinning, breathing became heavy.

- Nu that you became in the middle of the road? Run to the house!

Lida obediently nodded and walked on trembling legs into the “fireplace”: a small hall that served their small family as a living room and dining room at the same time. At the far end of the room, under a barred window, was a dark wood dining table. To his left was a fireplace, lined with dark red, black-veined bricks. A soft crackling flame blazed inside the fireplace. The merchant busily seated his guest in one of two small armchairs upholstered in dark blue suede, and hurried away, calling to his aunt on the pretext of a delicious early breakfast. Lida was left alone in a room with an amazing stranger.

The stranger's hands reached for the ties of his traveling cloak. Throwing off his hood, he shook his blond hair, turned to the girl frozen in embarrassment and sent her a light, alluring smile. From his gaze, Lida trembled to the very tips of her fingers. The glare of the fire in the fireplace cast contrasting shadows on the stranger's pale creamy skin.

- What is your name? he asked, rising to his feet. The echoes of a soft, magnificent voice filled the room.

Lida was embarrassed when she again saw his plastic, like a predator, stalking gait. The stranger approached her, and the girl realized that he was only a head taller than her. Not too tall for a man, which did not make him less attractive, rather the opposite - a slender body and the close presence of a beautiful face made the merchant's daughter's breathing frequent and intermittent.

"L-lida," she squeezed out, hardly remembering the stranger's question.

The blond chuckled.

- And how old are you, Linda? he asked thoughtfully.

The girl was confused.

- F-f-fifteen.

- Quite a child...

Lida looked up in surprise at the stranger and met with cold blue eyes, turning into a dull, dark blue color along the edge of the iris. Long lashes set off those beautiful eyes the color of a summer sky. Thick wheaten hair framed his thin, aristocratic face in tight curls, their curling ends timidly touching the young man's graceful shoulders. A narrow chin, a smooth line of cheekbones, light cherry, sensual lips, combined with dark, thin eyebrows and golden-linen bangs falling onto a low forehead, made his facial expression both soft and predatory. A seemingly stranger could not have been given more than twenty-five. A black jacket with a gold border is casually unbuttoned, revealing a scarlet and gold sleeveless jacket. A snow-white lace shirt of thin silk, immaculately buttoned under the collar, hid the neck. By accuracy and quality, one can see - the clothes of an aristocrat. But long earrings-crosses made of silver aspen bark embarrassed Lida. Maybe he's from the Inquisition? Although its representatives often quarrel with the aristocrats…

The stranger gave her a lazy, appraising look. A blush appeared on Linda's cheeks. The appearance of the man at first glance was rather ordinary, but he still seemed indescribably handsome. And so attractive that the heart lost its rhythm, and thoughts were randomly confused.

- You ... you are an angel! Lida burst out unexpectedly.

The stranger's thin eyebrow flew up.

- Is it true? - Thoughtfully said the blond, taking a step forward and approaching her closely.

The girl swallowed hard.

- Aren't you hungry? Old Man will bring breakfast now, - Lida said timidly, blushing even more.

Did it seem to her, or did scarlet glare dance in the stranger's bright eyes?

- I think you will arrange me alone, - the man answered quietly, leaning towards her.

Lida wanted to recoil, but she couldn't. Amazing eyes were mesmerizing. They seemed to make her soul numb. The stranger's fingers touched her cheek. They were deprived of warmth. Linda shuddered. That cold touch, oddly enough, made her even hotter.

- Are you that cold? the girl asked in a whisper.

The young man's lips stretched into what looked like a smile.

- May be. I was just about to warm up, - he remarked, clinging to Lida's neck with a gentle, careful kiss.

The girl gasped as cold soft lips washed over her, from which a hot wave ran through her entire body. Consciousness was crushed by a strong, cruel will, not allowing her to move. Sharp fangs pierced her neck, causing unbearable pain, Lida screamed briefly and immediately went limp, frozen like a helpless moth in the strong hands of a stranger. The pain was sweet, it gave a strange, pleasant feeling of peace and tranquility ....

The sweet oblivion was broken by the unexpected, loud clink of dishes. The blond-haired vampire pulled away from his prey and turned sharply towards the sound. The merchant and his sister stared at him with frightened eyes. The woman was holding a tray in her trembling hands, fragments of dishes were lying under her feet. The sight of the blond holding in his arms the unconscious girl, whose throat had been crossed by two thin strips of blood, horrified people. Preventing a scream of fear from the woman's throat, the stranger threw his victim and rushed forward with lightning speed. A moment - and with an incredibly strong blow of his fingers, the vampire slashed her throat. The man turned and ran away, yelling. The vampire bent down and picked up one of the shards of glassware.

“The merchant spent a lot of gold on this rarity,” he thought with a bit of gloating. The blond grinned dismissively and threw the shard at the fugitive's back. A sharp object pierced the merchant's neck, and the man fell face down on the wooden floor, bleeding. There was a metallic, tart smell in the air, pleasantly tickling the hungry vampire's nostrils.

It's time for the bloody meal.

"Tristan! Tristan, answer me!"

The vampire seated in the dark blue armchair grimaced in displeasure and reluctantly answered the mental call.

"What do you want, William?" the blond sent a question full of displeasure.

“Where have you gone? Nobody has seen you since you visited the Oracle. Can you explain? You are the head of our clan!”

"So what? The blond snorted dismissively. "Our clan is a bunch of poorly trained young vampires!"

The hoarse baritone of the interlocutor was unshakable.

“You are our protection and support, Lord Tantario. Our master and lord, ”- barely noticeable, but in the voice of an invisible interlocutor, malicious notes slipped.

“What are you, little children, that you can’t take a step without me? – snorted Tristan, ignoring the mockery in the tone of the interlocutor. “I have important things to do. You know, important . And they don't concern you!"

"Tristan, you have to..."

"You're forgetting, William. Or should I remind you who gave you the essence of a vampire? Lord Tantario asked skeptically.

There was an outraged snort in response.

“You turned me because I am your friend, I had an incurable disease and…”

The next words of the interlocutor were drowned in a painful cry when Tristan sent a mental attack. The fresh blood of the girl has not yet calmed down in the body of the vampire, bringing with it the long-awaited, pleasant warmth and feeling of the Force.

“You are so naive, William,” the blond grinned, casting a fleeting glance at the dead coals in the fireplace. “I turned you because you were a man with a strong will and a fearless heart. Such people make excellent vampires, don't they?"

Doom was felt in the sigh of the interlocutor.

“Tristan, I know you don't like this whole Inquisition situation, but there's nothing we can do. If you continue to act like this… openly, the Sovereign might…”

A bright surge of the Force drew the attention of the blue-eyed vampire from his mental conversation. Tristan jumped up from his chair, crossed the room and leaned against the transparent surface of the window, looking at the area around. The sun's rays hit his face, burning his skin. Tristan recoiled and hissed, hastily hiding in the shadow of the room.

Until the fresh blood of the girl, running through the veins, finally merges with his body, the vampire is ordered to go outside. Tristan admitted with annoyance to himself that he was too carried away by the bloody meal. The high vampire slammed his fist on the table, shattering it into splinters. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself. A talented, unknown to him vampire with an amazing potential for the Force awakened somewhere nearby, and Tristan was sure that this was the vampire that the Oracle had told him about.

“After all, I have been waiting for him for more than one year. I'll wait a little longer, ”Tristan resigned himself, sitting back in his chair. The bloodless corpse of the girl lying between him and the fireplace annoyed with its appearance, but Tantario preferred to pretend that he simply did not notice him. For a vampire, this was business as usual.

In the luxurious apartments of the main building of the Inquisition, a blond girl restlessly paced around the room. Again and again she measured the space with sharp steps, bypassing the round table of polished honey wood standing exactly in the center. Scarlet velvet reigned all around, from the heavy curtains on the huge window and the upholstery of massive furniture, to the blonde's long, heavy robes. Her steps were accompanied by the rustle of a dress, and died away only when the girl stopped for a couple of moments at the window and looked thoughtfully at the city that stretched to the horizon.

- Miss Ilyana! - a middle-aged bald man burst into the room, adjusting his glasses, which had slipped to the side. – Miss Ilyana! There, again ... uh-uh ... again, again ...

- What's "again again"? The girl turned to him wearily. She looked unhealthy and exhausted.