“How did you find me?” Clementine asked. They were at the dinner table. A slim and tall blond girl had joined them.

“I followed you from the inn yesterday. Then I went and fetched my friend. Speaking of which, was all that really necessary? The burning, I mean.”

“It’s the law. I have no say in it. Now, what do you want with me?”

“I want to live a life of leisure and pleasure. I want to establish a power structure with me at its centre. But more immediately, I need a safe place to stay, and I need a lot of information about the Kingdom… You will let us stay, right?”

Clementine knew she stood no chance in a head-on confrontation. I need to play my cards right. “What if I say no?” A good way to gauge them.

“I can make you cooperate. Look into my eyes.” Clementine looked directly into the courtesan’s moss-green eyes. The bracelet at her wrist that warded against mind control became so hot that Clementine feared it might burn her wrist. If the girl kept this up for even a few minutes, the bracelet would break.

“You have beautiful eyes,” Clementine said, hoping flattery would distract her.

The girl furrowed her brow. “What’s that on your wrist?”

“Which wrist?”

“Don’t play coy with me, it doesn’t suit you.” The girl walked over to Clementine and yanked her right arm from under the table. Clementine winced at the girl’s iron grip. “Is this bracelet a magic item? It seems vaguely familiar.”

“It’s a family heirloom – created by Lady Ruringer Clearwater.”

“I hope you won’t mind if I take it off you.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Not really.” She took off the bracelet. “Now then, look into my eyes.”

Clementine tried to fix her eyes to the floorboard but her head turned to face the girl. She looked into those green eyes and her will melted away. There was nothing else in the world except for those green eyes. She loved the eyes. She wanted the eyes to look at her. She would do whatever the eyes asked her to do. She heard the voice of the eyes in her head: ‘You will let Penelope and I stay here for an indefinite amount of time and you will tell no one about it.’

The girl clapped her hands. “Well, that’s about it then, no?”

“Yes, make yourselves at home,” Clementine said.

“Dru, what did you do to her?” the other girl – Penelope – asked.

“I simply made her more agreeable.”

Wait, why was I hunting down these witches? Something didn’t feel right. “Are you two witches?”

“I feel like I’ve said this before,” the main girl said. “We are so much more than witches, we are Vampires.”

Clementine did not know what a vampire was. “Where are you from?”

“Penelope here is from out in the country, I’m from even further out. You could even say I’m not from this world.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t you hear? There’s a cosmic war going on – but that’s far, far above my pay grade. So don’t worry about that, there’s only me, here in the now. Is there anything we need to know about your manor Lady Clearwater?”

“Servants come every day in the morning to do the chores. I can tell them not to touch the attic without them being overly suspicious. The room has more than enough space for the two of you.”

“Excellent. Penelope, why don’t you go up there and check it out. If it’s big enough make it livable for the two of us.” Penelope silently left the dining room.

Clementine was alone with the Vampire in the light of the moon. Why am I helping them? “You will be found eventually, even if I don’t tell anyone.”

“This is only a temporary solution. I need to find my feet around here. As I’ve already said, I’m not from around here. So tell me about this place.”

“Could you be more specific?”

“I’m going to ask a lot of questions then. First, tell me about the power structure – government and so forth.”

“The King is the highest authority. Beneath him are the Grand Dukes, Dukes, Counts, Barons and Mayors.”

“That seems about right…Do you have any maps?”

“Not here, in the library.”

“Make some available tomorrow. Now, tell me who’s who in Court, assume I know nothing.”

“I’ll try. King Ferdinand Roland Boshamia is the sovereign of the Kingdom. He has triplets by Queen Wagnier: Prince Sancho, Prince Wessley, and Princess Gwendolyne. They are about fifteen years old.

The King has a Royal Council to help him govern. The members are Chancellor Quentin Redfield, Marshal Trance Bluewater, Treasurer Adrian Whitestone, Spymaster Evans Whitemoss, and myself – Court Scholar Clementine Clearwater. It is an unspoken rule that the council is filled with powerful nobles. Redfield and Whitestone are Grand Duchy dynasties and the rest of our families have ducal titles.

As a show of loyalty all dukes send their second-born children to the Capital to be raised by the Royal household. They make up the bulk of the King’s court. Naturally, with so many nobles in one place, they split into factions. The two largest factions are the Royalists and the Federalists. There are also factions within factions – but those are not important.

The King is in poor health, so the factions are lining up behind their preferred successor. The Royalists, led by the Chancellor, are backing Prince Sancho who was first out of the womb. The Federalists, led by Grand Duke Whitestone, are backing Princess Gwendolyne, even though she is a girl and was born last. If it continues this way, there might be a civil war not too far off in the future.

Also, I don’t know if this is important, but the Whitestone and Blackstone clans have a blood feud between them. The Grand Duke’s son, the Royal Treasurer, is probably having an affair with Dixie Blackstone – second-born of Duke Draxler Blackstone. The Treasurer controls the King’s finances without oversight, given the King’s health, so he might be your best bet to set yourselves up.

And also, there is a criminal underworld in Ginawaine. I don’t know much about them, only that they have three leaders and call themselves Clan Redclaw.”

The vampire had been listening intently this entire time, and her eyes were glowing. “My, my, nobles, factions, secret affairs, this all sounds so fantastical…I want a piece of it.”

“Nobody knows who you are – I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s Druscilla. Tell me about the economy. Are there any banking families I should know about?”

“I am unfamiliar with what banking is…”

“There are no banks?”

“Only riverbanks…?”

Druscilla broke into a smile. “I used to be something of a banker a long time ago. Hah! Who would’ve thought I’d start my own bank, and with no competition too.”

Clementine still did not know what a bank was.

“The short version: a bank is a house of money. Banks have lots of functions but the most relevant one here is that they lend money. If someone needs a loan they go to the bank and take out money. After a set amount of time, they pay back the money with a little bit extra on top.”

“Why on earth would someone return more money than they owe?”

“Payment for money-lending services. It’s called interest. As a banker, I observed a general rule: the best borrowers are the most desperate borrowers; the sort of people who could not afford to pay back the loans. Gamblers mostly.”

“That sounds unwise and illogical.”

“To take out a loan you need security, that is, possessions worth more than the loan so that if the borrower can’t pay, the bank can repossess them. It’s an unethical practice, but who’s going to stop me?”

“You want to start a bank?”

“A Merchant’s Guild, as you would call it.”

“Where will you get the money?”

“Redclaw. I’ll find some way to usurp their leader. Criminals like that only speak violence, right? Luckily, I am well versed in that too. And they can also serve as my debt collectors. Maybe with some racketeering on the side – look at me, a medieval mafia boss.” Druscilla laughed happily. “Anyway, I’m going to need a name for my guild. Hmmm… How about Venexia – because originality is overrated.”

“I have no idea what you are on about.”

Druscilla smiled like she knew something Clementine didn’t. “I don’t need you to understand – just point me at Clan Redclaw and I’ll do the rest.”