Daughters of the Moon

Chapter 10

As the sun dipped below the horizon Carla's eyes opened, consciousness flooding back into her. She turned to look at Gwen, who turned at the same time. When their eyes met, Gwen smiled and Carla returned it. Those smiles were almost instinctive. Every time Carla beheld Gwen she felt their connection, knowing in her very blood she belonged with this woman. Gwen leaned forward and they shared a deep kiss, the same as they did every sunset.

They kissed for a few minutes, and just as they finished the door opened and Sara came in with a tray with two wine glasses. At some point in the last few weeks Sara had somehow ended up as their personal servant. Carla wasn't clear on the details but she couldn't complain. A thousand small annoyances had disappeared under Sara's quiet competence, and every few nights Carla got to enjoy watching Sara writhe under Gwen's fangs. Last week she had fed on Sara for the first time. It had felt strange, like wearing Gwen's clothes, but Sara and Gwen both seemed happy enough. She didn't really feel comfortable with anyone else feeding on Lily, and Elaine and Gwen must have sensed that, because they never suggested it.

Carla and Gwen each took a glass and drained the hot, fresh blood they contained. The blood suffused Carla with warmth, banishing the small gnawing hunger that she always began the night with.

"Good evening, Gwen, Carla. I've drawn a bath and I've had your dresses prepared for tonight's court.

"Oh god, that's tonight?" Asked Carla.

"Yes, mistress," said Sara.

"Gwen, do I really have to go to this?"

"Yeah, sweetie, sorry. It's a full court meeting. Big news, apparently. Even the Gevudan are going to be there."

"Any idea what it's about?"

"Not specifically, but if I had to guess it's news about the Dragon."

Carla felt a chill, she had been so caught up in her personal drama and her night to night routine she had almost forgotten the war was still going on, that the Dragon was marching steadily west, toward Celador, to his inevitable meeting with the Good King, savior of humanity and the Father's bright sword against the darkness.

"What sort of news?"

"Well, either he won or he lost. Either way... well I have no idea what grandma is going to do. I guess we'll find out."

Carla got out of bed, feeling a little frustrated. Gwen was one of the most powerful warriors in their house, Sophia's great enforcer, but she barely seemed to pay attention to politics. She just let Sophia point her in a direction and send her off like a hound. Carla wished Gwen put a little more thought into what she was doing.

Carla got up, throwing on a robe. She looked back and saw Gwen searching around on the floor.

"Sara, where's my robe?"

Carla walked into the sitting room and Lily was at a desk, pouring over some papers. She had her tongue stuck out in intense concentration and Carla was delighted to see her wearing a pair of big reading glasses. Lily always looked adorable but she looked even more adorable with glasses. Since Carla had first fed on Lily a few months ago, they had kept spending nights together, both privately and in a group with the others. After a few weeks, Lily had appeared at the door to Carla and Gwen's room and told them she was now Carla's retainer. She had asked Will to give her to Carla and he had agreed immediately. Abby had sent a note along with Lily with a single sentence written on it, "limb from limb," which had made Carla laugh. The next week Lily had appeared at their rooms with Sara and informed them Sara was now Gwen's retainer. Gwen had been so flabbergasted she hadn't even objected. After another week Carla couldn't understand how they had gotten along without them, both because of the thousand small ways their retainers made their lives easier, and in the passionate nights of lovemaking and feeding that were now a regular part of their lives.

Lily looked up at her entering the room and gave her the big toothed smile Carla loved. Lily had a big smile and just the lightest case of buck teeth, which Carla didn't see as a flaw at all, it only made her cuter.

Carla went over and gave Lily a quick kiss on the head, "What are you doing?"

"Going over our accounts," said Lily.

"What? When did you start doing that?"

"A couple weeks ago."

"Why? Why are you doing that?"

"Someone has to do it. Before, Gwen just drew an allowance from Sophia, and according to Sophia's secretary Gwen had the smallest budget of any Mircalla. But in the last few months, Gwen has picked up two retainers and two dependents, one of which is Elaine..."

Carla smirked. She could barely conceive of Elaine's clothing budget.

... and her own land and income...." Lily's voice dropped to a whisper "...Technically it's your land and income, but having your childe support you is considered embarrassing among the blooded so I'm doing some creative bookkeeping."

"There's creative bookkeeping?" asked Carla.

"Oh you have no idea. Anyway, Sophia's secretary complained to me about all the extra work so I offered to take over."

"Why would she complain to you?"

"She wouldn't complain to a blooded, Carla!" said Lily. She used that tone she had when Carla was being a little obtuse.

"Are you okay doing it? I'm sure we could..."

"No, I want to. This is what I do. My dad was the richest merchant in the county and I don't have any brothers so he expected me to take over one day. Compared to what he expected of me, managing your... I mean Gwen's household is child's play."

"I had no idea. That's amazing."

Lily gave her a shy smile.

Carla leaned down and kissed her neck. She found this competent version of Lily very attractive. Lily made a small noise but then pushed her away gently.

"Don't tease, it's only been two days. We can't tonight," she said.

"Oh damn you're right. Sorry, I lost count. You need to stop being so sexy on off days."

Lily chuckled, "Accounting is sexy?"

"It's news to me too. Also I like your glasses," said Carla. Then she nibbled on her ear and Lily drew in a breath.

Carla whispered in her ear, "We could just fool around a little. No biting."

Lily licked her lips, "Okay, later."

Gwen walked in, stretching, and looked at them, "What are you doing?"

Carla pulled away from Lily and turned.

"Lily's our new secretary," she said.

"Since when?"

"Since we had to start paying for Elaine's clothing budget."

"Oh God, is there any money left?" asked Gwen.

"Talk to me before making any major purchases," said Lily.

Gwen groaned. Then started walking towards the bathroom, "Did you hear there's a bath? Carla, come to bath."

Carla turned towards Lily, "Did you want to join us?"

Lily smiled, "Tempting, but I want to finish this up."

Before Carla could reply she caught a flash of Lily's aura. Outwardly Lily seemed totally calm and happy but her aura was a blizzard of shifting orange, silver, and gray with hints of brown. Carla almost gasped in surprise. Lily was afraid, anxious and uncertain and Carla would have had no idea without the Oracle.

Carla turned to Gwen, "I'll be there in a few minutes. I just need to ask Lily something," she said.

"Okay."

Sara walked out of the bedroom.

"I can shampoo your hair, Gwen."

"Sara, you are a gift, remind me to give you a raise."

Lily rubbed her eyes and Sara giggled as she made their way to the bathroom with Gwen.

When they were gone, Carla pulled up a chair and sat next to Lily. Lily turned and raised an eyebrow, and now that Carla knew what to look for she could see the tension in Lily's shoulders, in the way she pushed back her hair.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" asked Carla.

Lily froze and then blew out a breath, "You know, sometimes being involved with a mind reader can be a little inconvenient."

"I'm not a mind reader."

"Yet," said Lily.

Carla didn't respond to that. She waited for Lily to speak.

Lily bit her lower lip, which Carla knew was a nervous tic of hers.

"If I told you it was private, that I need some space and time to deal with it on my own, would you let me?"

"Of course," said Carla without hesitation. She didn't even feel upset at the prospect. Sometimes people needed space.

Lily stared at her for another long minute.

"Ryan is in the city. I spoke to him the other day."

"Ryan?"

"My fiancé."

"Your... Carla had completely forgotten that Lily had been engaged when Will had taken her. Not just engaged, weeks away from her wedding. Carla felt a surge of fear at the idea someone wanted to take Lily away.

"What did he want?" Asked Carla. She was shocked at how calm she sounded.

"To rescue me, of course," said Lily, then she snorted, "It took a lot of effort to convince him I didn't need to be rescued. Ryan is very stubborn."

Carla had a brief, powerful urge to find this Ryan and melt his bones like wax, until he was a bag of flesh screaming on the ground. Or maybe boil all the blood in his body at once, so he turned red like a lobster before he burst from the pressure. Her magic perked up in interest, like a dog eyeing a new chew toy. She pushed the feeling down and kept her voice steady.

"Are you..." she couldn't even say it. The fury at the thought that Lily would leave for some... some man made her choke, made her throat fill with bile.

"If I wanted to go home with him, would you let me?" asked Lily, her eyes were calm but Carla got another flash of her aura. It was still a snowstorm but the burning orange of fear was brighter now, saturating the whirling white and gray like a sunset through clouds, and Carla realized it was fear of her.

Carla's fury redoubled. She had the urge to sink her fangs into Lily to remind her what she'd be missing. Or pour her blood down her thrall's throat. She knew instinctively if she did and pushed out with the blood just so, she could fill Lily's soul with its power and make her a slave to it.

Now it was Carla's turn to look away. She desperately tried to get her anger, her betrayal under control, but her blood was simmering with pure hurt and malice.

"I don't know. I don't know if I could," said Carla. It came out as a pained whisper, "I'd... I'd try."

"Hey, hey," said Lily. She touched Carla's face and when Carla looked back Lily was smiling warmly, Carla caught a flare of pink with sparks of blue and knew it was a smile of genuine affection, and her anger calmed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. I know how hard it would be for you to let me go. But I'm not asking, I... I want to stay with you. I love being with you. With all of you. I love this place. But..."

Lily closed her eyes for a moment, visibly gathering herself.

"...But I feel so guilty. My parents had this whole wonderful life planned out for me. I grew up knowing I'd marry Ryan, our families planned it when we were toddlers. He'd run the inn while I ran dad's trade. We'd have so many kids. Ryan loves kids."

"Sounds like a nice life," said Carla, it took all her willpower to keep her voice steady.

"It does. It would be. But I never wanted it. Ryan's a good man but he's not... his idea of a fun night is checkers and whittling. And the inn... I could have spent my whole life in the same ten square miles. I know a lot of people do that and are happy but I grew up on adventure stories and I always wanted to travel and do exciting dangerous things. And here I am."

"Doing accounting."

"For my vampire sorceress lover."

They both laughed.

The laughter trailed off and Lily was quiet for a second, "but if people back home knew what I was doing now. If my parents..." she swallowed. "...I can just imagine the disgust. I was raised in the church, you know. I ran goddamn Book study with the kids. The way I'm living now..."

"I know. I know. I've... sometimes I think about what I was, before. I would have been horrified by what I am now," said Carla.

Lily nodded, "But you, Gwen and Elaine, and Sara. You're all so sweet. I love you all to death. What we have here feels like the start of something good."

Carla smiled, "Yeah. I love being with Gwen but... the last couple months, with everyone here. I finally feel like I have a home."

Lily nodded and leaned closer, turning pink, "And..." she trailed off. It was her turn to be unable to speak.

Carla's face didn't heat but it felt like it should have, "...when i feed on you..." said Carla.

Lily's blush had deepened, "...How could we give that up?"

Carla nodded.

Lily continued, "And... I think about the future sometimes. If I stay with you, someday, not any time soon, not for years, but I know someday I'll ask you to turn me and you'll say yes. And then I'll be a revenant for... longer than seems real. And if I'm lucky, decades from now, you'll blood me fully and then... I'll be like you. Immortal, beautiful, powerful, a Daughter of the Moon..."

Lily swallowed.

"...and damned."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And I want that too. I dream about it sometimes. I dream about running faster than the wind, crowds bowing at my feet. Feeding..."

Lily kicked her lips. "...Feeding on Sara, feeding on... god, on my friends from back home. And I wake up and I have to touch myself so I can fall asleep again."

Carla swallowed and felt heat blossom between her legs. Felt her mouth watering.

"And I know it's so wrong. But I can't stop wanting it. And sometimes I think... I should just go back, remove the temptation. Like how I told you not to kiss me just now. Even though I want you to, so so bad. I ache for your lips, your fangs, but I know it's dangerous if we do it too often. If I went with Ryan maybe... maybe I'd look at my life here from back home, with my parents and my husband and my children and I'd realize the truth. That this is all crazy, that I'm destroying myself."

They were quiet for a long minute.

"I don't know what to say," said Carla. "I guess... I'm glad you have a choice. It was more than I had. And I won't take that from you. I won't ask you to stay. Whatever choice you make I'll respect it.. If you decide to leave..." Carla choked up, pushing down her rage "... I'll miss you terribly."

Lily smiled, "The fact you can say that to me, that you could try and let me go when I know how hard that is for you. It makes me feel less bad about staying."

Lily leaned forward and kissed her. They kissed for a while, Carla sinking onto the warmth of Lily's lips, she ran a hand through her hair.

"Carla, what happened to you?" asked Gwen, "You missed bath time."

They broke the kiss and turned to Gwen. The intensity of the conversion must have shown on their faces, because Gwen looked shocked and backed away.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize..."

"It's fine, honey. And you're right. I need to bathe before court."

"Ummm... we should probably get you fresh water. We made a mess," said Gwen.

Carla laughed, "Sounds like you still had a good bath without me."

Sara walked out of the bathroom, soaking wet and with her clothes extremely mussed.

"I'll draw a fresh bath for you, Carla."

"Thank you, Sara."

...

Carla, Gwen, and Elaine entered the throne room together. Elaine had met them when they were halfway to the throne room without any explanation of where she had been. Elaine spent as many nights away from them as she did with them. Sometimes she'd be with them for three or four nights then be gone for the next few days. Carla didn't ask where she went. Sometimes she worried she was a bad sire, letting Elaine roam freely. She had no idea what kind of trouble Elaine got into. But Elaine was still a grown woman and it felt wrong to treat her like a kid just because she had been blooded for only a few months.

Carla took in the throne room with her sire and childe at her side. It still felt strange to be here, back at the place where Sophia's decision had changed her existence forever. It felt even stranger that she belonged here now, that the assembled monsters around her were her peers and colleagues rather than her captors and tormentors. She had even gotten to know some of them and considered them her friends. If her past self could see her today she would be horrified, but it was hard for Carla to feel bad about it now, when she was next to two people she cared so much about.

There was a low mutter of conversation around the room as the vampires of the court traded gossip and made deals. Carla was relieved that she was too new and too weak to be worth anyone's notice.

"Oh wow, look at that," said Gwen.

Gwen pointed with her chin and Carla followed her gaze to a tall, imposing Gevudan woman. She was like all the Gevudan but concentrated and intensified. She had the deep brown skin of someone who spent their life outdoors and long wild brown hair that went down to her mid back. She wore a simple cotton crop top and soft buckskin pants. The list of deeds and favors sewn into the clothes of other Gevudan was conspicuously absent. She practically vibrated with the vitality all Gevudan had. Her eyes were darker than any other Gevudan Carla had seen, a deep burnt orange, and her fingers were black and rough with wicked claws, like crow's feet. She was with a small group of Gevudan all with vests sewn heavy with deeds. She was laughing at something one of the other Gevudan said and slapped him on the back, and when she looked away he winced.

"I take it that's the leader of the Gevudan?"

"Yeah, Morvana, the Moonshadow. I'm pretty sure this is the first time she's come to court," said Gwen.

"What is going on?" asked Carla.

"The Dragon went down," said Elaine.

"What?" asked Carla.

"Are you sure?" asked Gwen.

Elaine shrugged, "That's what I heard."

"From who?" asked Gwen.

"From Adrian."

"Why did he tell you that?"

"He loves the sound of his own voice," said Elaine. She had a small satisfied half smile.

A suspicion grew in Carla's mind and she called on the Oracle. She still had trouble using it on command but this time it worked. Elaine's aura was a shifting pattern of red and vermillion.

"Oh my god did you sleep with him?" asked Carla.

"Keep it down, and yes," said Elaine.

Carla and Gwen both stared at her. Carla felt betrayed but absently noted it didn't have the same sharpness she had felt when Adrian had tried seducing Elaine as a human, or with Lily earlier.

"Why would you do that?" asked Carla.

"You've seen him."

"Yes, but I can not tell you how bad an idea that is," said Gwen.

"I thought we were supposed to build alliances between the houses."

"Elaine, you have been a vampire for like three months and Adrian is a three hundred year old monster. You need to stay away from him," said Gwen.

"You're not my mom," said Elaine.

"I am," said Carla, "I'm your vampire mom and you need to stay away from him."

Elaine opened her mouth angrily to respond but before she could the conversation in the room died down. Sophia entered from the side door and took her place on the throne. She looked over the crowd, holding their gaze for a moment.

"I have brought you all here tonight to tell you dire news. The Dragon has fallen. His army has been almost completely destroyed. Let us take a moment. We have lost many brothers and sisters of the blood."

Sophia bowed her head. There was a worried mutter throughout the crowd, then it died off as the court followed Sophia's lead, bowing their heads at their losses.

"Told you," whispered Elaine.

They held their prayers for a full minute. Carla glanced around. Most of the blooded were blank faced as usual, but she saw a few red rimmed eyes and faces wracked by grief. One beautiful blond Mircalla Carla didn't know actually left the room at a fast walk, and Carla had a quick flash of her aura shining silver with pure grief. Carla realized Sophia's mention of brothers and sisters was more than just words. Many of the vampires in this room had lost family when the Dragon's dark army was defeated.