Piper waved goodbye to Beatrice as Ethel’s sister climbed out of the wagon in front of her home. As soon as the woman was inside, Ethel snapped the reins and the wagon trundled deeper into the village. They passed merchants hawking their wares, groups of children jumping in puddles, and a few armed men on patrol.

  Ethel stopped the wagon at the end of the street, near a man standing behind a wooden cart. His hair was thinning, and his jowls sagged, making him look like a hound dog. But he had smile lines around his eyes and a friendly look on his face. As they approached, he inclined his head slightly.

  “Which of my delicious treats may I get for you lovely young ladies?”

  Ethel stepped down from the wagon and pointed at two shiny balls in a basket and then at what looked like a pile of dried fruit. “I would like two of those, and two of these, please.”

  “Excellent choice as always.” He waited for Ethel to hand over her coins before he offered her the sweets.

  Climbing down, Piper walked over beside Ethel. The blond-haired woman held out one of each of the sweetmeats.

  Piper took the offered treats hesitantly, eyeing the round ball. It looked like it was coated with sugar, but apparently it had a meat center? Now that she thought about it, she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to try it. The whole idea sounded disgusting.

  “What sort of meat is inside there?” Piper asked the man.

  The vendor responded with uproarious laughter, bending over to slap his knee. He didn’t stop guffawing for what felt like an entire minute, and when he finished, he had to wipe a tear from his eye. “My dear, there is nothing but sugar, nuts, and seeds in that delicious treat.”

  “But it’s called a sweetmeat,” Piper insisted. “Doesn’t that mean there’s meat inside?”

  Ethel touched the small of her back and guided her away from the stall. “She’s visiting from a logging camp in the mountains,” she called back to the man. “She doesn’t know much about our food.”

  The man continued chuckling as they returned to the wagon. As Piper walked, she took a nibble of the round ball. The sweetest flavour she’d ever tasted flooded her tastebuds. She immediately shoved the entire thing into her mouth and sighed with pleasure. Oh, how she had missed sugar. If she could find somewhere selling ice cream, her life would be complete.

  Next, she tried what looked like candied fruit. It wasn’t as good, but was still better than anything she had eaten in a long time. Ethel made delicious meals, but sugar was completely absent from their diet on the farm.

  Once she was finished, she had to fight down the urge to suck her fingers. “Thanks for buying that for me. It was so tasty.”

  “He does make good sweetmeats, doesn’t he?”

  “Why are they called sweetmeats?”

  Ethel shrugged. “My mother told me meat used to refer to all foodstuffs. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it makes sense to me.”

  Piper frowned as I thought about that. It was strange living in a world without books. So much of what she was told about this place was based on half-remembered memories and legends. Who knew what was real and what wasn’t? It was mildly disconcerting.

  They climbed back up onto their wagon and continued through the town, stopping again at what Ethel called a goldsmith. But strangely, the man mostly sold copper jewelry. Then they explored the blacksmith, the tanner—the smell from the building making Piper hold her nose—and finally a few of the shops where Ethel picked up some supplies.

  Piper was exhausted by the time the sun had begun to set on the horizon. Living so close to the mountains meant that night came early here. Since the illusion was only supposed to last until sunset, they needed to leave soon.

  “Shouldn’t we get going?” Piper asked, scanning the street.

  Ethel patted the basket of goods she’d purchased, which mostly seemed to consist of salt, and nodded. “We’ll head to the gates now. I hope you enjoyed your day.”

  Piper nodded her head rapidly. “I loved it!”

  The older woman opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by thunderous hoofbeats and a commotion in the distance.

  When Piper looked up, she saw a group of armored riders galloping through the gate at the end of the street. As the men entered the village, two of them dismounted and began to shut the great wooden doors.

  “What’s going on?” Piper asked nervously. Ethel had never mentioned anything about armed men. Especially not ones wearing blood red cloaks and full plate armor. Something about these men seemed ominous to her.

  “They’re Crimson Guard,” Ethel said, her features tight. “However, they shouldn’t be arriving until the spring. Something is wrong.”

  The four horsemen who had continued into the settlement careened down the street, nearly riding over an elderly woman who only managed to scramble out of the way at the last second.

  Ethel steered the wagon between two buildings and out of the path of the riders. Her lips were tightly pursed, and she looked worried. And she never looked worried.

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  The booming sound of a voice made Piper jump, and she spun around to see where it was coming from. Then she realized it must be a magical ability.

  “All residents of the town must assemble in the town square to pay homage to their new lord,” the voice commanded. “Any found not attending shall be punished severely.”

  “We need to get you out of here.” Ethel tugged on her braid as she scanned the street. “Maybe we can go over the walls…”

  “What will happen to us if we don’t go to the town square?”

  “You don’t need to worry about that.” Ethel leaped down from the wagon and then tied the oxen to a post. She reached up to help Piper down.

  “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Piper said, pulling against her grip. But the woman was surprisingly strong for someone her size, and she couldn’t break free. “We should just go and see the new lord.”

  Ethel gave her a look usually reserved for Ophelia. “Stop pulling on me this instant. What do you think will happen if a vampire takes a liking to you and decides to drink your blood? Most of them behave themselves, but what if this one doesn’t?”

  “Oh…” Piper said, trailing off. The second they tasted her blood, they would know she wasn’t human. Plus, it probably wasn’t a good idea to drink a demon’s blood. Who knew what that would do to a vampire? If she hurt one—even by accident—she was pretty sure the others wouldn’t be happy.

  With renewed urgency, she leapt down and hurried after Ethel. They reached an empty street, and Ethel peeked around the side of the building before motioning for her to go. Piper sprinted across to the far side, where the buildings had been constructed against the wooden wall.

  Once Ethel had joined her across the street, the two of them made a beeline for the ladder leading up to the platform against the wall. It must be used for defense, but it would help them climb over to freedom.

  Placing one hand on the first rung, Piper began to climb. She was halfway up when two men with spears appeared from a nearby alleyway. Their eyes travelled from Piper on the ladder, to Ethel, and then back to her.

  “Hey!” the man shouted. “What do ya think yer doing? Didn’t ya hear the Crimson Guard?”

  “Go,” Ethel whispered to Piper. “I’ll find my own way out.”

  Piper hung there frozen, unsure of what to do. Then, having made up her mind, she began to climb back down. After everything Ethel and her family had done for her, she couldn’t leave her here to her fate. She owed the woman everything for taking her in.

  “Sorry,” Piper said to the guards, trying to sound sweet. “I’m visiting my aunt here from a lumber camp, and she wanted to show me the view from the wall. What was that about the Crimson Guard?”

  The man pushed back his helmet, straw-like hair springing free. She quickly realised he wasn’t a man, but a gangly youth not much older than herself. His brow descended as he rubbed a hand down his face. “I didn’t know yer ma had any other kids, Ethel.”

  Piper fought down the urge to facepalm. Of course, everyone in the village knew Ethel. It wasn’t like it was a big place. She should have thought of a better lie.

  “She’s on Alfred’s side,” Ethel said quickly.

  The man scratched his head but then shrugged. “Didn’t know he had kin neither. Mind you, I don’t know much about those mountain men. Come on, ya two, got to assemble in the square. Best get it over with quickly.”

  With the men escorting them, they were led to the town square. Ethel walked stiffly beside Piper, her eyes darting around like a caged animal.

  Piper decided right there that she would give herself up before getting Ethel into trouble. If it came down to it, she would simply tell everyone that she had bewitched her or something. Ophelia had told her numerous stories of demons with silver hair doing just that. Though she was pretty sure her friend had added the silver-haired part just to annoy her.

  Thankfully, they weren’t the last to arrive at the town square, so they didn’t draw too much attention to themselves. The square wasn’t much more than a few market stalls set up in a muddy field with a wooden temple dominating the far end. As they stood there near the back of the crowd, others trickled in, many of them looking fearful. She guessed a new blood lord was a big deal here.

  Piper turned her attention to the Crimson Guard. They wore expensive looking embroidered cloaks that almost seemed to glow in the twilight. She also realized that none of them had any exposed skin. Which made sense if they were vampires. They probably didn’t want to turn to dust in the sunlight or however it worked here.

  One of the Crimson Guards, shorter than all the others, paced around at the center of the gathered crowd. When everyone had finally arrived, he stopped and crossed his arms. “My name is Ransford the III, and I am your new lord. Now that I have you all assembled, may I ask what I have done to the village of Alderwick to earn such disrespect from you?”

  A man wearing a heavy chain around his neck emerged from the crowd. “My name is Benedict, and I’m mayor of this town, my lord. However, I’m not aware of any disrespect on our part. We honour our lord and the Crimson Guard sent to protect us from the terrors in the night.”

  “Do you?” Ransford asked. “Do you really?” He returned to pacing while he shook his head. Then he stopped in front of the mayor. “If that’s true, why were no gifts sent to celebrate my ascension?”

  The mayor looked stricken. “We received no word of your ascension, my lord. But please allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your ascension. I am pleased to serve you going forward.”

  “How do you treat your dog, Benedict?

  “How do I treat my dog, my lord?”

  “Yes,” Ransford continued. “How do you treat your dog? It’s a simple question.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand the purpose of it, my lord. "

  Ransford cocked his head to the side. “If your dog misbehaves, do you reward it?”

  Piper watched the exchange with growing unease. She had a feeling she knew where this was going.

  “No, my lord.”

  “No is right!” Ransford shouted. “You punish your dog. All of you have been very bad, and though it pains me greatly, I must now punish you.”

  The vampire lord angled his head toward the sky, noting the sun had finally sunk beneath the mountain. He then pulled off his helmet to reveal a middle-aged man with curly hair plastered to his forehead. He had high cheekbones, but his skin was deeply scarred, most likely from some sort of illness. And his lips were far too thin for his face.

  Piper blinked her eyes as she took in his features. He wasn’t at all what she’d expected from a vampire. Most of the vampires she’d read about were supposed to be irresistible to women. Meanwhile, this one just looked like an ordinary man.

  Ransford shook out his hair and placed his helmet under his arm. “Do you think it’s fair that the Crimson Guard are only permitted to feed once a year in your village? Don’t you think they should be able to drink their fill?

  “My lord, we pay our blood rent as required by the emperor.” The mayor’s face had drained of color. “Perhaps if you contacted the duke, we could work out a small increase to the yearly tribute.”

  “I don’t want a small increase,” Ranford said, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. “I want to drink my fill.”

  “Get ready to run,” Ethel whispered from the corner of her mouth.

  Piper nodded her head. She didn’t need to be from this world to know something bad was about to go down. And she didn’t want to be anywhere near this place when it happened.