Chapter Text
Her eyes flutter open, met with the night sky, trees rustling with the breeze, and a warm source of light. It is a camp fire, with branches crackling as they succumb to the heat. She isn't cold, and she isn't alone. That much she realizes pretty quickly from the figure she makes out on the other side of the flames. She rises, her head immediately struck with an ache. She reaches for it and finds it bandaged.
« Awake, are you? » She hears from the voice of a man.
She turns, or tries to, but her body is certainly covered in wounds and bruises from the fall with how painful it is to move. She is regaining sensation everywhere, little by little. She was lying on a bed of dried leaves, and covered with a coat. Her crown and belongings sit beside her. Atop of the fire an animal is being cooked, a hare, from the looks of it.
« Benefactor, thank you for your help. What about my guards and horses? » She asks, she couldn't have made it out alone, surely?
However, the man, with long white hair, shakes his head.
« I see. »
« I was passing by, the smell of blood guided me. » He explains, finally raising his head to meet her gaze. His skin is ghostly pale, and his eye is a bright red. One side of his face is fully covered with long, black and white hair.
« A vampire? » She had never seen one before, they always stay as far from her holiness as possible, but she knew the basics of their characteristics. A face drained of blood, piercing carmine pupils, pointed ears and sharp canines. « I mean- my apologizes, it slipped out in surprise. »
« If you can move, eat up, bet you're starving. » He doesn't acknowledge what she said, tilting his chin at the meat that is just about to be charred.
He resumes his own activity, seemingly grinding herbs in a mortar. Medicinal herbs, she concludes, noticing now the cut on her arm that is dressed with green paste and a makeshift bandage.
« Thank you, good sir. There is no further need to care for my wounds. I...possess the power to heal myself. I only need replenish my stomach before I can. »
« ...Figures. » He mutters. It seems he does recognize her priestess getup.
After having her share of the meat and a cup of boiled water, she gathers her hands together, and whispers a prayer in a language he doesn't understand. A gentle light surrounds her body, and the scratches on her face and hands disappear.
« See? I'm all better now. » She smiles, her glow gently dissipating.
Her wounds are gone, and she removes the bandage on her forehead to prove it. He nods, and lowers his gaze. As expected of her holy powers, his eyes are sore and his skin feels itchy, he has to hold down his wrist to stop from reaching for his neck and scratch at it. He just needs some time for his body to settle down. It shouldn't take long, he had drunk plenty of blood from those dying horses, his thirst is quenched, and as disgusting as the blood had tasted, he should be revitalized.
« If you wish to bathe, there's a stream not far in this direction. » He extends his arm out left, « I will return to the carriage and scan the area for any traces of your assailants. »
That would put some distance between them. Between her intense, blessed aura, her captivating features and her delicious-smelling virgin blood, he can't take it anymore. His leg is shaking, his mouth is salivating, his fists are clenched, his nose is invaded, his head is clouded, his reason is slowly but surely slipping away from him, and he can't let her notice. It wasn't that bad when she was unconscious, her heartbeat was slow, and her holy disposition was faded, so it wasn't a problem in that moment of urgency. However now, as she is pretending to be calm, her heart is beating fast, her cheeks are flushed and she is sweating at her nape. Evidently she is alarmed, fearful, but does not want to act rudely towards this stranger who saved her life, and knows he is the only person in the vicinity that can be of any help.
She disappears into the direction he indicated, and he goes back to the crime scene. From how much the other bodies had bled out already, he knows he chanced upon her a while after the assault occurred. The assailants are long gone. Still, he inspects the vicinity, mostly to pass the time while the damsel in distress hums a tune in the distance. Some time later, they reunite in front of the fire.
« So, what happens now? » He asks, arms crossed.
« Don't you have any questions to ask before that? »
« None of my business. »
« I thank you for your discretion, benefactor... Then please, tell me how I can repay you for the boundless selflessness you showed in saving my life. I have not much on my person to offer but the riches you so kindly retrieved from my carriage, and m-my-...blood...? »
She hesitantly exposes her wrist in his direction, and he can't hold in the puff of amusement that escapes him, but god be damned, it makes his stomach jump. How can she so easily offer up her lifeline to a monster of his kind.
« Well aren't you a brave little dove? Keep your riches and your blood, a vampire has no need for traveling funds... Oh, but perhaps a noblewoman like you can help me. I'm looking for the maker of this ring. »
At the tip of his fingers, he holds the piece of jewelry.
« I am no expert in the subject-matter, but it is evidently a nobleman's. Our private jeweler might have some information-...If he is still alive, that is. »
« Dead or alive, he sounds like the best shot I've got at the moment. Take me to him. »