MY SUGAR MUMMY IS A BEAUTIFUL VAMPIRE

Chapter 178: Give her a second and maybe a third

Instead of returning to the castle, Rose found herself inexplicably drawn to follow the strange vampire who had paraded that wretched human captive through the streets. There was something deeply unsettling about the entire display, raising far too many troubling questions that she couldn't simply ignore.

So despite her weariness and gnawing hunger pangs, Rose hurried after the vampire's retreating form, keeping a safe distance behind as he led his battered prisoner down a labyrinth of winding alleys and side streets. Finally, he ducked into a ramshackle dwelling, the door slamming shut behind him with a heavy thud.

Rose hesitated only a moment before steeling her resolve and continuing forward. Whatever fresh torment awaited that poor soul within those walls, she could not simply abandoned it to its fate.

Drawing her tattered dignity around her like a cloak, Rose rapped firmly on the weathered door. There was a shuffle of movement from within before it creaked open a fraction, one baleful eye peering out at her suspiciously.

"What do you want, casta?" the vampire growled, his words slurred slightly.

Rose bristled at the insult but fought to keep her tone measured and even. "I wish to have words with you regarding your...treatment of that human you brought here."

The vampire snorted derisively and made to close the door. Thinking quickly, Rose jammed her boot into the narrow opening, wincing at the dull ache in her foot.

"I am still a lady of nobility," she stated firmly. "And I demand you grant me entrance to discuss this...situation you've involved yourself in."

For a long moment, the vampire merely glowered at her before finally heaving a put-upon sigh and swinging the door open wider. Rose squared her shoulders and swept inside, coming face-to-face with...

"Dumphries?" she blurted in surprise.

The vampire arched one bushy brow at her, the beginnings of a familiar lopsided grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Well, I'll be damned. If it isn't Lady Rose, back from her self-imposed exile it seems."

Dumphries was the last person Rose expected to find mixed up in something so sordid. An artisan weaponsmith of some renown within the noble circles, he had always carried himself with a gruff but honest integrity that Rose respected.

"Forgive me, my lady," Dumphries said, his words only slightly slurred now. "I didn't recognize your scent at first amidst the...stenches of my work."

"Your work?" Rose echoed, then her expression hardened as she recalled the miserable state of the human her had been leading. "You mean to say you're involved in that...that abhorrent trade of enslaving mortals?"

Dumphries's gaze slid over her shoulder to the corner where the afflicted human cowered in the shadows. A muscle worked in his jaw as he regarded his "cargo."

"Dark times breed dark necessities, Rose," he said at last. "The old rules of civility have little place here anymore."

His lingering stare made Rose supremely uncomfortable. As he returned his attention to her, his manner shifted, becoming almost deferential.

"But nevermind that ugliness for now," Dumphries said gruffly. "It's been far too long since the Lady Rose graced my humble forge with her presence. Please, make yourself comfortable."

He gestured for her to sit in one of the few simple chairs arranged around a low table. Still deeply unsettled, Rose sank onto the hard surface, peering around at the dimly lit interior of Dumphries' abode.

Every available surface was cluttered with the tools and raw materials of his trade - racks of unfinished blades in various states, molds for molten metal castings, even a few suits of armor in different stages of assembly. It had been many decades since Rose last visited his workshop, but it seemed little had changed.

"I must admit, I'm surprised to find you in such...disreputable circumstances," Rose ventured carefully. "When last we spoke, you were the premier weaponsmith for the royal family."

Dumphries's bark of laughter was tinged with bitterness.

"Aye, the good old days before everything went to the seven pits," he grunted, busying himself with stoking the low-burning forge nearby. "Things change, my lady. Sometimes in ways we'd never dream."

Rose watched him work in silence for a long moment before pressing gently, "What happened, Dumphries? How did you become involved in...that?" She nodded tersely towards the corner.

The weaponsmith's broad shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "Like I said - dark necessities, Rose. There are forces at work here that you've been...let's say, distracted from during your time away."

He leveled her with a pointed look, and Rose couldn't stop the flush that crept up her neck. Her long absence from her home was no mere whimsical sabbatical, but something else entirely. Something she was still grappling to comprehend.

Before she could respond, Dumphries's calloused hand came to rest on her shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"No need to dwell on the unpleasantries of the past, my friend," he said gruffly. "We've all made difficult choices to survive these trying times. The important thing is that you've returned home at last."

Rose wasn't certain she would call this place "home" any longer, but she nodded mutely, appreciative of Dumphries's attempt at hospitality despite her muddled circumstances.

"In truth, I had not expected such a warm welcome after..." She trailed off, unable to give voice to the swirling uncertainties surrounding her arrival.

"After that bitter crone Gladys exiled you, you mean?" Dumphries supplied bluntly. At Rose's surprised look, he shrugged again. "Word travels quickly in our circles, despite the council's attempts to keep it hushed."

A twinge of unease prickled along Rose's spine. So her banishment was common knowledge, at least among the noble classes. No wonder she had been shunned and degraded at every turn within the city.

"I should not have presumed on our fellowship, then," she said stiffly, making to rise from her seat. "I would not tarnish your reputation with my presence."

"Tarnish, bah!" Dumphries exclaimed, his hand shooting out to halt her retreat. "Do you think I give a solid damn what that gaggle of doddering windbags decrees, my lady? You're no criminal to be outcasted."

Some of the tension eased from Rose's shoulders at his dismissive tone, though confusion remained.

"Even still...I had not expected such steadfast loyalty and welcome after all this time."

Dumphries snorted derisively. "We weaponsmiths live by a code of honor, milady. An oath as binding as your damnable family's precious blood ties." He reached beneath the table and produced a dusty bottle, along with a chipped ceramic cup.

"I believe some refreshment is in order for a long overdue reunion, yes?" he proclaimed, sloshing a generous portion of the bottle's deep crimson contents into the cup. He slid it across the table towards Rose with visible concern.

"You look famished, my friend. When was the last time you fed?"

Rose's hand hovered uncertainly over the proffered cup, unable to tear her gaze from its viscous, tempting contents. Her earlier disquietude over Dumphries's unseemly prisoner seemed to fade into the recesses of her mind, pushed aside by the resurgent claws of agonizing hunger.

Unable to summon a coherent response, she grasped the cup and brought it to her lips, draining the life-giving blood in three desperate gulps. The first few mouthfuls hit her like a searing brand, the rich coppery tang of living essence searing through her long-neglected system with merciless intensity.

A bead of crimson trickled from the corner of her mouth, which Rose swiped away impatiently with the back of one trembling hand as she thrust the emptied cup back towards her host.

"More," she rasped, the words thick and guttural, stripped of all pretense of refined nobility.

To his credit, Dumphries did not flinch or shirk away from her bestial demand. He simply refilled the cup and slid it back across the table, watching in silence as Rose drained it with equal desperation. And then another. And another still, until the contents of the entire bottle were spent.

********

*Author's note*

I apologize for faltering in update consistency.

It's partly due to some financial constraints. Hopefully I'll resume this week and be back to usual speeds.

Until then, enjoy the read.