The world around Ana turned into slow motion. She knew that the room was full of vampires, each of whom had magic. But only one other person in the room had the same magic as Ana, and she was sitting on the throne. One step. Like an army charging in unison, the two rows of guards took a running step forward. Ana waited, coalescing her strength. Another step. The closest guards to her were only five steps away from her sides. Another step. And she was ready.

The blood magic she had received had increased her already high control to new absurd levels. And each of the guards was surrounded with metal that was more magnetic than iron, almost making her plan too easy.

There wasn’t a fourth step as every armored soldier there was lifted and sent flying up. All of them crashed into the ceiling, falling a second after like broken puppets. Several loose items flew as well, but not Lorelai’s crown. It was magnetic as well, but Ana took an extra moment to avoid disturbing it. The knights quickly got up, charging at her. She pulled two closest swords to her hands, using them coupled with her magic to parry and disarms any opponent that came her way.

She parried, kicked, rolled, punched, and jumped as she avoided dozens of enemies. With her magic, no one even came close to landing a hit. For ten seconds she lasted but the knights never paused, getting up and rushing at her for more. While she gave them a nice show of force, it wasn’t something she could do for an extended period of time.

Using another burst of power she sent the knights flying towards one pile behind her. It was one hell of a strain to keep such a powerful field in place but it was well worth it.

“I am Doctor Anastasia DeRose!” She proclaimed, intentionally translating her last name, making it sound Of the Rose instead. Then the boring but most important part came. She knelt, lowering and tilting her head to one side while raising her right hand with her palm and wrist open. She released her spell and the knights scrambled to their feet.

A few of them almost reached her when Lorelai stopped them. Rising from her throne she gracefully walked down the steps and stopped with Ana’s outstretched hand in front of the queen. Ana held her eyes closed as Lorelai bit down on her wrist. Such a small amount of pain was easy to ignore.

Once the queen had her fill, she turned around and walked back up to her throne. Speaking once she was seated once again. “You may rise.” And Ana did, seeing the shocked and curious faces of the crowd.

The knights were all behind her and she didn’t know how pissed off they were, but she hoped that her slight against their honor would be forgotten quickly. The herald introduced Ana as the new Vassal of the Bloody Rose. Lorelai was tight-lipped about the hierarchy in the order, so a vassal was pretty good in her opinion.

She wasn’t a servant, only a subordinate. She didn’t even know if that meant that she was a part of the order or not. After the introduction Ana followed the Herald outside, seeing that the knights had reformed into a square formation. Their faces revealed nothing. They all looked forward as the previous bout had never happened. And with their healing, no one sported any marks of a fight.

The herald and Ana behind him approached the formation who opened up a path for them to leave through. She felt nervous walking through their lines after what she dished out a minute before. No one moved or even glanced at her as she walked past them to the exit. At the door, the two guards that had escorted her in were waiting for them.

The herald stopped at the door and Ana left through with two knights behind her. Not knowing where to go she backtracked back to her room with the men on her heels. More than half of the knights were Mertwalan and even they had helmets with curious designs that didn’t obscure their hearing while covering their ears. The faces were open with only a nose guard.

With the healing the vampire held, the helmets didn’t cover them completely. At least that was Ana’s take on it. The two vampire bodies she had found were human, so it was strange to walk around with so many of her kinsmen here. Even Lia was shocked at how many of them were there.

The knights were silent as they walked, and they had entered the room with her. Ana sat back on the bed not knowing if she should apologize or not. She felt bad for throwing them around, but she also wanted to make it clear that if anyone tried to go after her, there would be hell to pay.

Minutes slowly ticked by and the knights in the room just stood there unmoving.

That was some nice ass-kicking.

I gotta be honest, it was fun as well.

Oh yeah.

I mean I have so much more control when compared to before, it's crazy.

But that isn’t the only thing you have.

I know. I noticed it while we were flying, and after this bout, it just became louder.

You do remember what you will need to do?

Don’t remind me. That is the one thing I can’t get behind.

Well, you reap what you sow.

Ain’t that the truth.

Another hour passed with Ana sprawling on her bed with several steel balls floating around her. It was an exercise she liked doing while talking with Lia. The point was to control the forces at play with only an afterthought. She had started with one that she could barely keep afloat while not focusing directly on it, whereas now five of them swirled around her while she talked with Lia. While she was laughing internally at a story Lia was relaying, someone entered the room without knocking. She sensed who it was a moment before the doors opened.

Lorelai walked in dressed in a more casual outfit. “You got a sense for the dramatic that is for sure.”

Ana shrugged, lifting herself to a sitting position. Then the queen she had submitted herself to only an hour ago, jumped, landing on the bed next to Ana with her hands outstretched. Such a childlike motion had shocked Ana, leaving her speechless.

Moans of comfort left the queen as she sprawled on the fluffy bed. “You can leave.” Her voice coming out muffled by the soft bed. The knights turned around and left the room and Ana got up to follow them. “Not you.”

The still muffled voice of her new boss stopped her at the door. “Close it.” Ana pursued her lisp in annoyance. You know what, I’m done. She is your problem now. Closing the door Ana focused on her spell ignoring Lia’s objections. “No spells in my room.”

“Your room?!”

“Aha.”

“Why am I here then?”

“Because you’ll be sleeping here.”

Fuck this, I need a break. Finishing her spell she detached her mind from their body, leaving Lia in control. Lorelai rose from the bed with an annoyed look. “I told you, no spells.” And she was looking straight at Ana. Not her body, but the usually invisible astral projection.

“You can see me?”

“You sound surprised. But I gotta say, that human look ain’t right on you.” It took Lorelai a second to figure out that Ana’s body didn’t fall to the ground unconscious. “Well, well, well. Color me interested.”

“You two have fun, I’m outta here.” Lia turned around and went for the door. Before she could grab the handle Lorelai pulled her back to the bed with magic. Ana was still blinking in shock while standing in the corner of the room.

“You’re not going anywhere. I hadn’t noticed that there were two of you in there. Quite intriguing.” With a lot of badgering and commanding, Ana and Lia explained the situation. With Lia’s existence revealed it became impossible to keep Ana’s trip to a new world a secret. Lorelai was like a bloodhound for the truth. Ana noticed that she was using magic, but had never heard of truth detecting magic before.

“I really got lucky when you fell into my hands. Two for the price of one. And what's more, two lovely ladies that are quite literally, out of this world.” Lia allowed Ana to do the talking, using the opportunity to feel the comfort of the bed. Ana kept as much detail out of her story as she could, but Lorelai was too smart for that. She had a way of asking questions that made Ana trip up and reveal too much. After a grueling session of questioning food had arrived. Several servants brought in a cart with fresh food. Lia was sleeping on the bed until the food arrived, and the smell had woken her.

Once they were alone in the room Ana spoke up. “I was curious, how does this town feed itself?”

“It’s quite simple really. Herded animals, mushrooms, and gardens.” Lorelai spoke with a mouthful of, well, cooked meat, mushrooms, and vegetables.

“And you have enough of that for a whole city?”

“More than enough. And since you shared your little secret with me, I’ll do the same. There are caverns through these mountains, and beneath this city is a large interconnected cavern where we grow the mushrooms in large quantities.”

“So you have your own little paradise here. ”

“Kinda. It gets dull sometimes though, so thanks for the show earlier.”

“Will the knights hold it against me?”

“Some might, others will see it as a challenge while some probably enjoyed the bout. You were quite gentle.”

“I’m still new to the whole process of wounds healing themselves, didn’t want to push it.”

“You feel the hunger yet?”

“Yeah, I’m starving,” Lia added, joining Ana’s new boss in the feast.

“Ah come one, don’t be shy. If it’s not strong enough to bother you now it will later.”

“I’m good with ignoring it for now,” Ana said while she paced in her invisible form around the room. “How can you even see me?”

“That is a lesson for some other day,” Lorelai spoke while gesturing with one hand that held a piece of meat at the end of the sharp utensil. Lia had no desire to use any utensils and was stuffing their body with both of her hands.

“Then why am I staying in a room with you? I expected some dark and gloomy dungeon somewhere.”

“We don’t have dungeons here, and if you want a dark and gloomy place. I guess you can visit the caverns later.” She chewed for a moment, swallowed, and then continued. “And your here because I said so.”

“So that’s how it’s going to be like from now on? You snap your fingers and I dance?”

“Hey, I gave you a choice.”

“After I had no other prospects to consider. And I had just gotten my life on track again. I had friends, a job, and a reason to wake up in the morning.”

“You said it yourself that the monsters had been hounding you southerners, so you would have come up north eventually anyway.”

“Possibly, but most likely not for years.”

“Details. And all of that is in the past anyway. Were here now, and you will be keeping me warm at night.”

“Don’t you have people for that?”

“I do actually, but I grew to like your tail in particular.”

“Technically not mine, Lia’s. So you two go ahead and have fun, I’m going to stay like this for the foreseeable future.” Lorelai chuckled, lowering her utensils back on the table before she slowly turned to Lia. The spirit gave her a measuring look, never stopping her meal. Lorelai reached over and grabbed the ethereal cord that was connecting Ana’s astral form with her body.

With a sharp tug at her chest, Ana found herself back in her body with a mouthful of meat and an annoyed Lia. “You’ll do what I say, when I say it, and in whichever way I say it. And if you follow my orders, you will get rewarded. And I think we both know what happens if you don’t?” Ana nodded as fear had blocked her from speaking.

The sensation of getting back to her body was terrifying. At the moment she got pulled back, she felt fear on such a scale that it wasn’t comparable to anything she had experienced before. Shivering she slumped to the floor, curling into herself, the motion more instinctual than intentional. There were no tears, only shock. It took a few moments for her to realize she was on the floor cowering.

“Please. Never do that again.” Lorelai returned to her meal unfazed. With some more time, Ana was back to herself, trying to forget the feeling of terror that had washed over her. Lia was untouched by the backlash of the broken spell. It made sense in a way, as it was Ana’s mind that was projected and not Lia’s.

While Lorelai was finishing her meal Ana was sitting down on the edge of the bed in silence. Once the queen had finished her dining, Ana had summoned the courage to ask finally.

“What do you have in store for me?”

“No one ever fiddled with your soul before, huh? I’m guessing you came about that spell all by yourself?”

Ana nodded.

“And you don’t even know where you did wrong, do you?”

Ana shook her head.

“Projecting can be an interesting spell, but doing it without any sort of protection is abhorrent stupid. You do have your spirit to guard your body, but if you didn’t any stray being could have taken it from you.”

“So I should lock the car when I leave. But you never answered my question.”

Lorelai rolled her eyes. “I did. On the road when you asked me what was happening north of here.”

“The spirits?”

“Yes. While I didn’t venture south looking for more talent, you fell into my lap at the perfect time.”

“So what? I just switched one army for another?”

“Pff. Armies, soldiers... They are all just clueless morons.”

“They are the pawns, while you are the king.”

“Queen.”

Seeing how she never showed the queen chess, she got her board out and explained her references. What piece did what and how they were called. Lorelai found the game interesting and the two ended up playing for the rest of the day. Ana got bored after a few matches, but the queen wanted to play so they played.

They played on the bed laying down, and with the warmth and comfort of the bed, Ana quickly fell asleep. She woke up covered with a sweet-smelling cover, naked and tucked in. She wanted to be upset but the warmth under the covers was exquisite. Not getting up or moving, she just laid there with her eyes closed, enjoying herself.

This was the most comforting sleep she had in a year, and she was loath to give it up. Minutes turned into an hour as she enjoyed herself. Her consciousness drifted but she never fell asleep, stuck somewhere in between in pure bliss. And the best part was that it lasted. No one disturbed their sleep. The queen was gone from the bed, leaving Ana alone.

She lazed around until the noon sun and hunger got to her to get up. But then she noticed that all of her clothes were gone as well, with only one dress in the room. Don’t! I never have, and you have avoided it so far! Better go naked! Lia protested, but Ana shrugged and got the dress on. She went to explore the house, admiring the opulence on display.

There were no canvased drawings like she imagined such a household would have, but most walls had an image drawn on them. Windows were prevalent everywhere giving her more than enough light to admire every detail. The windows themselves didn’t have any glass, only wooden shutters that were all open.

It took some time to walk around the house, but she was able to locate the kitchen and with it, some food. No one spoke with her as she walked around and she didn’t initiate any conversations either. After a quick bite, she ended up sitting in front of the house with an uncorked bottle of some alcohol that she liberated from the kitchen.

She waited there for something to happen. The property guards and the servants went around on their business, and the day slowly went by as Ana drank her worries away. This was just her first day, so she was nervous. The problem was that she had no idea what to expect. Joining Ghost she knew what she was signing on, but here she didn’t know if her life would be chained to this house or whether she would be sent packing the next day.

There were too many unknowns, and the one person who got to decide about her future was being tight-lipped about it. The bottle had hit home but she didn’t want to stop there, and she raided the pantry once more. The rest of the day and that night she went by in flashes.

She woke up in a different bed with the worst hangover in her life. Whatever she drank last night, that was the first and last time ever. Looking around she found herself in a totally strange house naked, sharing a bed with an equally naked stranger. She remembered meeting the man yesterday when she left the house, but after that her memory became blurry.

Once she confirmed that the man was only sleeping and wasn’t dead she found her torn dress and scurried down the stairs of the second floor. She was somewhere in the city in the early morning, and with a few directions, she found her way back to the house. Embarrassment wasn’t really Ana’s style, and this wasn’t her first walk of shame and certainly won’t the last.

The headache and dehydration bothered her the most, and this primitive world that didn’t have bottled water or electrolyte-rich sodas drove in the point that she should be more careful to not go overboard with drinking. Back in the room she still wasn’t sure was hers, but where most of her things were, was the queen, waiting with a pissed-off expression.

Ana opened the door to the room, seeing her boss sitting on the bed. After an awkward moment, she closed the door and turned around, only a second away from being able to run away as she didn't want to deal with the angry queen. If only she would be so lucky. A familiar feeling lifted her from the ground and pulled her through the closed door, slamming them open. She hit the side of the bed, her head snapping back and making eye contact with the smirking Lorelai.

“Fuck.” Was all she could utter as Lorelai’s lightning-fast fist met her face.