Grace

Once Dezzy had figured out she could tie closed the neck and sleeves of a shirt to turn it into a makeshift bag, she and Damien had stuffed the article of clothing chock full of pastries and sweet bread. Then, the two of them made their way back into the market. Damien was starting to wonder if Dezzy was planning another detour, considering that she had commented more than once about being thirsty, and he already had heard more than enough about the beer in the tavern to suspect that was on her itinerary. 

But then, suddenly, Dezzy stopped still. "Oh!" she said, and then grabbed Damien's shoulder. "Look! There she is!" She was grinning excitedly, but seemed to be a bit nervous, for some reason. "Isn't she great!"

Damien took a few seconds to scan the crowd, his eyes eventually landing on a small, waifish young human girl with soft blonde hair and big, blue eyes. She looked sweet and adorable. Oh yeah, definitely Dezzy's type, he thought, and tried not to smirk too pointedly. 

"Well, let's go say hello," Damien suggested, taking a step forward.

"Hold on," Dezzy said, and took two deep breaths. "Wait a minute," she began rummaging in the shirt-bag, and eventually withdrew an egg tart, "Okay. Now let's go."

Flustered Dezzy was an extremely funny thing to witness, Damien decided. He narrowed his eyes a bit at Grace. The girl was a thrall, but he supposed if Dezzy really liked her that much, he could look past it. She'd better be nice to Dezzy, though, or he'd be having words with Grace. Dezzy didn't find people that she really liked all that often, but when she did fall for someone, she fell hard and fast. Damien wasn't used to playing the part of protective sibling, but that didn't mean he couldn't be overprotective when given the opportunity! 

"Grace!" Dezzy waved, and jogged forward.

The girl turned and looked up, and her face broke into an angelic smile. Her eyes seemed to sparkle, and her cheeks pinked a bit as she called back, "Dezzy!"

"Hi," Dezzy said as she drew to a halt, standing a hint too close to Grace. Grace didn't seem to mind. "I brought you this," she said, and extended the egg tart in Grace's direction, nearly knocking her nose off. Clearly, she was fumbling with nerves. Damien tucked the moment into his memory to give Dezzy grief over later. This was honestly blackmail gold. 

"Oh, you went to Tabitha's!" Grace said, and accepted the somewhat battered tart with a soft smile. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome," Dezzy said, and then looked at Damien with a hint of panic in her eyes.

Damien couldn't understand how Dezzy could be absolutely fearless when it came to breaking and entering, and yet she floundered when it came to talking to someone pretty. "Hello," he said, taking a few measured steps forward to stand somewhere behind Dezzy, not about to get as deep into Grace's personal space - he had a feeling it would be less welcome, coming from him. "I'm Damien."

"Oh! Dezzy's told me a lot about you," Grace said, sparing a hint of a smile for him, too. It was lovely, but it wasn't nearly as full of happiness as it had been when directed at Dezzy. That was good. It wouldn't be very nice if Dezzy was the only one who was happy to be together again. 

"Only good things, I hope," Damien chuckled.

"Of course!" Grace said, though a bit absently as she was looking Damien up and down. "She said you were sick…?"

"Oh," Dezzy said, "Yeah. His medicine worked really well last night, so he's feeling better than usual."

Damien grinned weakly. "I don't know how long it's going to last," he confessed. He should have said something about getting close to the vampire, and how that would probably help. But the problem was that he still didn't want to get closer to the vampire, even though he knew he needed it. 

"Yeah," Dezzy said, dragging the word out a bit. "That's why we need you to help us bust back into the castle."

Grace smiled, though it had a bit of a grimace's edge to it this time. "You're here for the scent again?" she asked, lowering her voice a bit. Damien appreciated her being circumspect, but he suspected Dezzy had been anything but, so he wondered if it was something of a moot point. Still, he appreciated the effort, even if it was likely meaningless. 

"Well," Dezzy actually appeared hesitant as she glanced between Grace and Damien. "Actually… I was wondering if maybe you could take him to the castle and… keep him there?"

Grace blinked once, then again. "I'm sorry?" she said. "I thought you didn't approve of enthrallment, though…"

"Oh, no," Dezzy said quickly, "not to make him a thrall! He just needs to be near the vampire's scent all the time, it turns out."

Grace turned to Damien, a look of genuine concern on her face. "Really?"

Damien nodded, afraid at how bitter he might sound if he dared admit it using his words. 

"That's… troubling," Grace said slowly.

"It is?" Dezzy asked, sounding crestfallen. "Why?"

"Because he isn't here right now," Grace said. "He was sent somewhere by the clan head, Lord Solveig. We don't know when he'll be back."

"So… his scent isn't in the castle?" Dezzy asked in a small voice.

"Not anything recent," Grace said, sounding like she was trying to hold back tears. She turned to Damien's sister, voice quavering. "Dezzy, I'm really sorry. If I'd known -"

"No, no, it's all right," Dezzy said, though from the strain in her voice she clearly didn't think it was, and was trying to inject false positivity into the situation. "I'm sure we can think of something!" She turned to Damien. "You should try laying in his bed or something."

"WHAT?!" Damien exploded. He hadn't planned on yelling so loud that he drew the eyes of nearly everyone in the market, but he also hadn't expected Dezzy to say something like that!

"Well, it probably has the most scent," Dezzy explained. "And nobody else would have slept in it!"

"...we do change the sheets," Grace said quietly.

"Have you changed them since he left?" Dezzy asked, turning to Grace.

Grace blinked. "Um… I don't think so? He usually locks the room so nobody can get inside while he's out."

"Oh, well if it's locked then I guess Damien wouldn't be able to get in there, either," Dezzy grumbled.

Thank goodness, Damien thought. 

"You can still come to the castle," Grace said. "I'm sure Cain will do whatever he can to help once he's back."

"Oh, is Cain gone, too?" Dezzy asked, seeming to not notice any connection between the two circumstances.

Grace frowned. "...yes…?" she answered, though she sounded a bit confused by Dezzy's question.

"Wow, everybody's gone, I guess!" Dezzy said, prompting yet another confused look from Grace.

This was getting ridiculous. Damien had a sneaking suspicion that he knew where the disconnect was, and so, with a sigh, he glanced between the two of them with a slight frown. "Um," he began, not quite sure how to broach the topic gracefully. Both Dezzy and Grace turned to look at him. "I have a question."

"What is it?" Grace asked. 

"Is Cain … the vampire's name?" Damien asked.

Grace nodded, still looking vaguely baffled. She must not have realized that Dezzy had mistakenly assumed that 'Cain the thrall' and 'the vampire' were different people.

Dezzy gasped, understanding finally dawning on her. "Oh! Wait, really? That explains so much!" She frowned then. "But it also makes some things more confusing," she added thoughtfully.

"It does?" Grace asked, still sounding fairly confused herself.

"But I thought Cain was a helpful thrall!" Dezzy exclaimed, sounding somewhat petulant, as if the misunderstanding had been caused intentionally, and wasn't more likely a result of Dezzy not asking clarification questions.

"He is helpful," Grace said, her voice sharpening a bit as she reacted defensively. "And technically all vampires are thralls to their Sire," Grace said. "I didn't realize you didn't know! He's pretty well known and sought-after."

Damien grimaced. "So he's popular?" He hated the idea of that horrible vampire being liked by the thralls in the castle. He was awful! Why would anyone like him? But then, he couldn't imagine liking any vampire. So clearly he just didn't see eye-to-eye with any of the thralls in the castle. 

"You could say that," Grace said. "It's more like he's kind. That makes some thralls like him, but other thralls think they're better than him."

Kind? That vampire? Damien waited for her to laugh and assure them both that she was joking, but after several seconds passed with nothing more being said, he realized to his horror that she was serious! She really thought the monster that murdered Damien's entire pack was kind! How horrible were the other vampires, to make a killer like that vampire seem kind in comparison? "Huh," Damien finally said, not trusting himself with words.

"So Cain is the vampire," Dezzy mused in an undertone. "That actually explains a lot."

Grace smiled weakly. "Sorry I didn't explain it very well."

"And he's out of town right now?" Dezzy asked.

"Yes," Grace said, this time looking at Damien as she said apologetically, "No one knows when he'll be back."

That was honestly fine with Damien - he was dreading seeing the vampire again anyway. "It's not your fault, so no need to apologize," Damien said.

"You can still bring Damien into the castle, right?" Dezzy asked, sounding worried.

"Yes," Grace said slowly. "But the only one who would likely offer protection to him is Cain, so he'll need to be careful." She turned to Damien, then. "You're not interested in becoming a thrall, right?"

Damien nodded. 

"Then above all, you must avoid eye contact with the vampires, and never let them drink your blood," Grace said, her tone cold and heavy with sincerity. 

Damien's hand rose instinctively to lay over the amulet he wore under his tunic. The one that mother had given him to ward off vampires. "I won't," he promised. "Not even a glance or a taste."

Grace nodded seriously. "Good," she said firmly, and Damien felt a bit surprised that the girl hadn't tried to convince him to become a thrall like her. 

"That's it, then?" Dezzy asked, glancing between Damien and Grace. "You can take him to the castle?"

"It's good that you found me early," Grave said, glancing at the sky. "The sun has been risen just long enough that most of the vampires have likely gone to bed, and so have most of the thralls who keep a similar schedule."

"So there will be fewer people around to ask questions?" Dezzy clarified.

Grace nodded. "I still need to finish shopping, though," she said apologetically.

"No problem," Dezzy said. "Damien and I still need to eat breakfast. Where should we find you?"

"Let's reconnect at the north gate," Grace suggested, and turned to squint in the direction of the recently-risen sun before turning back to Dezzy. "You remember where the sundial is?" 

"Yeah!" Dezzy agreed excitedly. 

"Okay, then meet me in about an hour," Grace said as she reached inside her bodice. For a moment, Damien wondered what he was about to witness, before the girl revealed a small sand-timer on a leather cord. She turned it upside down and said, "I'll use this to keep track of time on my end."

"Sounds good," Dezzy said. "See you in an hour!"

Damien considered teasing her and asking if she wouldn't rather spend more time with Grace, but before he could, Dezzy latched onto his arm and began dragging him away. He was confused until they rounded a corner and Dezzy dragged him into a small courtyard, where some benches were scattered around what appeared to be the remains of a once-lovely fountain. 

"Let's eat!" she declared, and held up the shirt-turned-bread-bag with a wide grin.

Ah yes, the pastries. He'd almost forgotten.