Chapter 2. Long in the Tooth

Rafe

“Pardon me,” I mutter as I bump into someone coming around the corner near what smells like a bakery. I’m in too much of a hurry to say more as my two highest ranking advisors and I rush from the sheriff’s office to our meeting with the mayor.

Our conversation with Sheriff Brown hadn’t gone as expected. I asked about crime rates, the number of officers they keep on staff, budgets, etc., and all of his answers were vague, as if they kept no records, and he wasn’t even familiar with his staff.

“I’m telling you, it’s always like this in these outlying villages.” Kris, a wiry fellow with short dirty blond hair narrows his eyes and shakes his head. He’d been a secondary advisor to the king before being assigned to me recently, and I’m still not sure how I feel about him. Something about him just seems to rub me the wrong way, though I’m not sure why. “The mayor will be better prepared.”

“I hope so,” I say, preparing to add to that remark when I hear a voice behind me.

“Hey! Hey you!”

Normally, I would just assume that the young woman’s voice has to be addressing someone else because it sounds so rude, but the volume and anger she’s bellowing out into the universe makes me think I need to see what’s going on, regardless of who she’s speaking to, so I stop and turn around.

A petite young woman with wild copper hair and even wilder blue eyes stalks toward me, her blue cloak swirling around her as she approaches, her hands in fists.

I turn and look from Kris to Zeke, my most trusted advisor and best friend, who smirks and shakes his head, and then turn back to face her.

She is looking at me with a murderous glint in her eyes. I might find it comical considering I could crush her in a split second, but there’s something interesting about her. She’s beautiful, despite her thin, ragged appearance and the hate rolling off her.

“Me?” I ask, trying not to smirk.

“Yes, you. Do you have any idea what you just did?” She stops before me, her hands on her hips as she glares up at me.

Clearing my throat, I try to guess what she might be talking about, but I honestly have no idea. “Me?” I ask again.

“Yes, muscular guy with the dark hair and… unexpectedly stunning eyes.” She shook her head and continued, still shouting. “You just ran into me back there and knocked my bread out of my hands, you asshole!”

Behind her, a large line of people standing on the walkway gasp and begin to whisper.

My forehead creases as I try to piece together what she’s so upset about. “I said pardon me when I ran into you. I honestly didn’t see you.”

“We’re in a hurry,” Kris adds, not that I need his help. “And you need to watch who you’re calling an asshole, little girl.”

Zeke thumps him on the chest as Kris leans toward her. I don’t look at him, but I don’t have to in order to know what he’s thinking. Kris wants to tear her apart.

I’m more reasonable, and so is Zeke.

“I’m sure you are in a hurry.” Sarcasm drips from her tongue as she continues. “I bet you have important people to see and a significant list of things to do. But you ruined my fucking bread, and now I have nothing to feed my family.”

Once again, I have to wait to respond as a tall shifter lad with dark brown hair comes flying up behind her, shoving several loafs of bread under his arm. I wonder if this is her husband, or if she is even old enough for that. When he wraps an arm around her middle and pulls her back, I want to tell him not to touch her for reasons I can’t understand.

“Come on, Ainslee. You’ll get more tomorrow,” he says. “Leave them alone.”

She breaks free of him. “No, I can’t wait until tomorrow. Well?” she addresses me. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I already told you I’m sorry. Can’t you just go buy another loaf?” I wonder if I even have any vlads on me. I don’t usually carry money, leaving that to others. Zeke likely does.

It doesn’t matter. She’s laughing like a rabid hyena. “Buy more? With what? No, I can’t just buy more.” Her hands shoot out, almost striking the fellow who was trying to lead her away.

“First of all, I don’t have any money left. I gave all of that to that bastard, Laslo Black, for the first loaf. The loaf you ruined. Secondly, it’s not like I can just go give more blood today to get more money. It’s forbidden—and I’d die. So, I’m shit out of luck until tomorrow, and now my sick mother and little brother and sister are going to have to eat nice, big bowls of air for all three meals today instead of just two.”

She pretends to scoop some air into her mouth with an invisible spoon. “Mmm, air!” she says in a mocking voice, then growls at me. “Thanks a lot, pretty boy. Really. I do so appreciate how you fuckers come into our village and ruin everything.”

“You will not speak to us that way!” Kris is on the move again. This time it’s me who steals him by raising a hand.

Never in my life has anyone ever talked to me like this. Well, at least not in the last one hundred eighty years I can remember. Before that, when I was a human, it might’ve been possible. But certainly since I’ve become a vampire I’ve never had anyone speak to me in such a tone.

I’m fascinated by her. She’s unleashed so much anger at me, yet disclosed so much information I cannot understand. I want to ask this young woman a thousand questions instead of questioning the mayor.

But Zeke clears his throat. “Sir? We need to be going. Perhaps we can handle this later?”

I nod, knowing he’s right. “I am very sorry,” I say to her again. “Miss?” I think that boy called her Ainslee, but I don’t know her last name.

“Bleiz,” she says. Perhaps that’s her name, or maybe it’s a curse in an ancient tongue. After all, when she utters it, I think I hear Zeke gasp a bit, though he tries to hide it.

“Come on. You’re making it worse.” The boy tugs on her arm, and she starts to walk away with him, but in her blue eyes I see unshed tears. Her jaw is set, and she is clearly distraught.

I want to help her, but I can’t at the moment. Besides, as I turn and walk away, I have to remind myself that she is a wolf shifter who lives in an outlying village, the furthest one from the castle, a border territory between our realm and one controlled by our enemies. She is nothing to me but a number—maybe a body count if the situation between us and Warfang continues to unravel.

“That was… peculiar,” Zeke remarks.

“Indeed.” I’m not sure what else to say. I try to get my head on straight so I can interview the mayor. I need to have a better understanding of this place so that I’m ready for what’s to come.

“Stupid little bitch.” Kris shakes his head, but his words offend me for reasons I can’t quite place.

“Enough. We’ll take care of it later.” We approach the mayor’s office and are shown inside by an elderly woman with a severe bun.

Angus Black is a large man, which surprises me. All of the people I’ve seen in the town so far have been thin, some of them extremely so. Even the sheriff was about average in weight.

But Mayor Black is hefty. He invites us inside, offers us pastries and wine. We refuse all of that. While we can eat and drink substances other than blood, we don’t enjoy most of them. Besides, I’m here for business reasons, not for pleasure.

I begin firing questions at him as he sits behind his desk, the three of us in grand green velvet chairs with intricate carvings on the armrests and legs. It seems a bit much considering how dilapidated many of the buildings in town are. The sheriff’s office was nice, as is this office, the bakery I caught a glimpse of, and a few other buildings on the main street. The houses we passed in order to get here were run down, paint peeling, holes in the roofs. I can’t figure this place out.

The mayor explains the situation with several shrugs and simple answers. “These people are lazy, Your Highness. That’s really all there is to it. They don’t want to work. Hell, we can barely get them to give blood. It’s a shame, really. This place used to be so prosperous. Now, it’s full of slums. No one takes care of their homes.” He shakes his head as if it pains his soul to see his beloved village fall into such a state of disrepair.

I consider his response, but I’m not sure that can possibly be the only answer. “Why would they suddenly become lazy?”

“Honestly, I don’t think they respect the king. There’s been talk of how it used to be, back when we had sovereign rule in our territories.”

He is speaking of the wolf shifters as a whole. Decades ago, this land was part of another territory, one known as Longclaw, but King Axel conquered these territories, and the new rulers he instated came to an agreement with him that they would supply both blood and feeders to the castle in exchange for being left to self-rule. While they are now subjects of the king, we don’t do much to govern them, only check in from time to time to make sure all is well.

That is, unless the blood supply dwindles as it has in some villages recently.

Or if a culling was required.

As far as I know, this village, Beoutown, has been good about turning in the blood taxes, and I believe the last culling was two years ago. I am visiting to become more acquainted with the territory, as I have recently made my way through all the lands and holdings of Shadowglade. I need a better understanding of the people I will soon be ruling over, once King Axel steps down.

“If you want my honest opinion, Rafe,” the mayor begins.

Kris interjects. “Prince Rafe.’

“Yes, yes, sorry.” The mayor chuckles like the fact that he’s forgotten to use my title is a hiccup and not intentional. Looking into his beady dark eyes, I have to wonder if it was intentional, but I gesture for him to continue. “Prince Rafe, I believe what we really need is a culling, get these people back in line and remind them that King Axel—and you—are still in charge. Donations are dipping fast. They refuse to show honor to the king.”

“At the moment, only King Axel can call for a culling,” I remind him, stroking my chin. I’m not sure how I feel about this. Generally speaking, we only harvest feeders through cullings every five years. If there are special circumstances, that can change. I had no idea donations have been down.

“The feeders are running low,” Kris whispers. “We could use a fresh batch.”

I turn and look at him, my forehead knitting. “Aren’t there other villages that are due for a culling soon?”

“Yes, but only four or five. If we could add this one in, it would help significantly.”

“Why don’t I look into it?” Zeke drops his large hands down on his larger thighs. “Check populations, that sort of thing.”

“Please do.” Mayor Black smiles, and I can see his wolf behind his eyes, his long canines seeming to sharpen by the second. “I would like to help Sheriff Brown get things under better control.”

I nod, but I’m not sure this is a good idea. Why doesn’t the mayor already have control? Ultimately, King Axel will have the final say.

But I do not trust this man, Mayor Black. Not even a little bit.