Queen of Ashes │ Season 1 │The Journey

28 │Welcome to Lorium - part II

The path was winding and thick, with plants unknown to both of them. A peat bog, humans would say—a land of secret life and humid kind of sensations. They weren't in human lands, though. The women couldn't name these surroundings and they didn't have any strength and courage left to ask questions. There, far ahead, a castle waited and inside the castle—a man whose ambitions led to their presence there.

After a while, a cobblestone road started. The echo of the hoofbeats was the loudest sound in the mysterious wilderness. If not for the road, Giselle wasn't sure that she alone could ever leave the peat bog. Especially at night. Especially when a lone shiver followed the sense of a presence somewhere deep into the darkness. It was like only the company of the two vampires held some sort of leash on these creatures. One wrong step, and they'd show what fear truly tasted.

With clothes damp from the mist, Giselle dreamed of the hot bath. And later, a warm and soft mattress to drift into oblivion. First, she had to help Freya with settling her down into her chambers. But later... Sweet gods. She'd treat herself nicely.

An enormous gate presented itself right in front of them. The cobblestone bridge, which they had to cross to enter the city and head to the castle, made the only distance. And boy... That castle was high. Having seen Forladrin's architecture, Giselle thought nothing could be even more towering. But it seemed vampires could've been the ones starting this trend. Because that building was a gem among all the highness.

One misty river and cobblestone bridge later, the Lorium city opened before them. The vampires at the gate didn't hide their baffled glances, but apparently, seeing the king's personal adviser along with his brother had that kind of impact. They said not a single word about the women accompanying them.

They traveled through the city in silence. Giselle absorbed everything with undisguised curiosity, but one look at Freya told her that her mistress was doing the same. After all, that place was set to become her home from now on.

The city was big. Maybe not as big as Carda, but big enough to accommodate everything needed. She could grasp a few opened taverns with loud music and people shouting over the card games. There were a lot of opened boutiques offering scandalously baring clothes, although Giselle certainly could picture herself getting used to that kind of fashion. At some point, she even spotted a bookstore offering delightful pieces of solid entertainment.

She couldn't shake the surprise at how normal that all looked. How human. However, both—she and Freya, didn't have a solid education about vampire civilization, so Giselle guessed she shouldn't be surprised at the fact that she was surprised. The maid wasn't at fault that after learning of vampires' existence, all her brain could imagine were the dungeons, chains, and people screaming.

Giselle focused on the people they met on their way. She was curious how many of them were, in fact, vampires. Freya already explained that there were also other species in the world and that she guessed they didn't particularly hide their existence from the members of other races, except for humans. So Giselle tried to determine which ones were vampires, and which ones were others. But fuck that. In the dark, she could see shit, and even the city lanterns didn't help her grasp the details of the mostly hooded people. At the back of her head, she left a note to check it out when the time allows it.

Not long later, they started their ascent. The road leading to the courtyard was quite steep and took about fifteen minutes, but once they arrived there were already people gathered—apparently a welcome committee. Giselle quickly assessed their faces. One beautiful pale woman at the center—clearly a vampire. Then, a man at her side, also pale and handsome, also a vampire. If not for his hair being much longer, he could easily be mistaken for Leander at first sight. Then at the back, four women and two men stood in silence. Those people, she wasn't sure of. They looked quite ordinary—could be humans. Giselle assumed this wasn't time for questions so she stayed silent, observing all the people present as she dismounted with the rest.