(Northern Region- Outskirts Of New Atlantic City)
(Castle Eden- The Annex)
"Wow!" Mary softly exclaimed as she entered a wide-open space with a beautiful glass ceiling that allowed the beauty of the night sky to be seen clearly.
Dozens of small wooden birdhouses had been built along the walls of the space and inside each house were gorgeous black ravens.
One of the ravens curiously poked its head out of the hole of its house and made a loud cawing noise.
Camilla smiled gently as she saw the look of wonderment on the face of her human servant.
"You may pet them if you like," the beautiful vampire gently whispered.
Mary quickly walked towards the raven that made the noise and reached out her hand slowly in order not to startle it.
Her back was turned to Camilla, so she didn't see how her vampire mistress' eyes slightly glowed as her fingers approached the bird.
The raven wanted to peck the strange hand at first but one look at the scary pair of crimson eyes behind her body was enough to make it quickly reconsider.
It nuzzled its head against Mary's fingers and made a soft cooing noise. Mary laughed happily and rubbed her hand along its feathery back.
She had always loved animals.
It was just a shame that both the original Mary and Sui Li did not have any experience of having an animal as a pet.
Mary played with the raven for several minutes and was soon greeted by some of its companions as they curiously flew out of their homes.
Some landed on her shoulders while others landed on her head and began to gently nibble strands of her black hair.
"What is this place?" Mary asked curiously as she picked up one of the ravens and stroked the top of its head.
Camilla stared at the scene with barely contained jealousy in her eyes and all of the ravens playing with Mary felt a cold chill run down their spines.
"These are my messengers... ravens are typically used as harbingers," Camilla explained as she walked over to the desk in the corner of the room.
"I must admit that your human technology has most likely made them obsolete but ancient vampire clans pay strict attention to tradition."
Camilla opened up one of the drawers on the desk and took out a large stack of plain white sheets of parchment paper.
She took out a silver knife from the same drawer and without hesitation she cut a small red line on her wrist.
Blood slowly flowed out of the wound and the female vampire whispered a few words under her breath in a language that sounded eerie and unnatural.
The droplets of blood slowly floated in the air before rushing towards the stack of papers.
Mary watched in amazement as letters formed on the pieces of paper from the blood.
When one sheet was completed, Camilla would remove the paper and her blood would rush towards a fresh page.
It was almost like a magical printing process.
Well... that was probably an inelegant way to put it, but Mary did not know any other way to describe the impressive feat.
She absentmindedly continued to play with the ravens while watching her mistress out of the corner of her eye.
Camilla was truly... amazing.
Why did such a powerful vampire need a bodyguard was a mystery that she still had to unravel but...
Mary had to admit to herself that as far how things could have turned out... it had been a blessing in disguise that she had been bought by this clan.
She shuddered to imagine what her fate would have been like if she had been bought by other vampires.
Her blood apparently had an unpleasant taste so perhaps she would have been killed for being a useless product... or worse.
When the last letter had been written, Camilla neatly folded up the parchment papers and then softly whistled.
The ravens playing with Mary immediately jumped off her body and rushed towards the desk.
Each picked up one sheet of paper and then flew out of an open window towards an unknown location.
It was a surprisingly orderly process which meant that the birds had been well trained.
"The banquet will be held at the end of the month," Camilla suddenly spoke as the last raven flew through the window.
"Is there anything that I will need to do to prepare?" Mary asked curiously with a more casual tone than usual.
Playing with the ravens had made her subconsciously relax and she even forgot to refer to Camilla as mistress.
"Hmm... I will require the throne room to be cleaned but other than that... just do not neglect your training," Camilla thoughtfully spoke.
"My original plan was to rebuild my clan with new clan members and blood slaves but after the attack... I have reconsidered."
"The vampires who enter my castle will only see you as my one servant. It is likely that they will believe that there are others, but I have just hidden them."
"We vampires are a cautious race and until the full extent of my clan's population has been revealed... it is doubtful that more assassins will come."
Mary nodded in understanding and then walked forward until she was right in front of her beautiful mistress.
She stretched out her arm and tightly held Camilla's hand. It was a bold move that shocked both Mary and the female vampire.
Somehow under the pale moonlight that streamed through the glass ceiling... Mary felt as though it was the right thing to do.
It was almost as though her body had moved on memory alone as if she had held the hands of another person while bathing in the moonlight.
Mary felt the cold touch of Camilla's palm and for some reason the coolness made her feel very warm inside.
"You..." Camilla stuttered for a moment in a rare state of panic as Mary's piercing green eyes met her crimson gaze.
"Even after the banquet... I am enough..." Mary gently spoke.
"You do not need more blood slaves."
There was a rare hint of possessiveness in her voice that even the human woman did not notice as she stared into Camilla's eyes.
The moment stretched out for what seemed like a long time until Camilla nodded.
She leaned forward and captured Mary's lips in a soft and lingering kiss that took her breath away.
Mary closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. For once all of her problems and desire to escape just melted away to nothingness.
All she could feel was Camilla's soft lips and the pleasant taste that was spreading through her mouth.
She wished that she could stay in this moment for all of eternity but eventually... the kiss was finally broken.
Mary smiled warmly at the female vampire and then what she had just done finally registered in her mind.
Wait... what??
The young woman turned away so that Camilla could not see the panicked expression that flashed across her face.
She was just acting right?
Right?
"Don't worry my pet... you will always be enough for me," Camilla softly whispered as she wrapped her arms around Mary's body.
She could feel the human trembling in her arms and assumed that it was due to her excitement at being so close together.
Meanwhile poor Mary was still trying to figure out why she had just openly flirted with the female vampire for seemingly no reason at all.
It was like for a brief moment the shadow of another person or persons had possessed her body and made her act that way.
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