The Vampire King's Mate

Chapter 6: Common as a Cockroach

Matthias

"Master... I think you are losing your touch with the women, eh?" Maurice smirked at me and gave me a cold water bottle. "She's been out there a long time." He commented. "She is thirsty."

"Thirsty. Right." I ran my hands through my hair. He was right. I was bungling everything. I'd gone too fast, told her too much, given her the wrong ideas, and offended her... all on the first day. I put a baseball cap on, and a pair of sunglasses, and headed out into the gardens. It was easy enough to follow her scent, and I found her sprawled in the grass in the outer orchards. She was staring up at the sky, and had that shut-off expression which I was already coming to dislike.

I sat down next to her in the shade. At least she'd chosen a spot out of the sun. Just because we didn't burst into flames like in the movies, didn't mean that sunlight was comfortable or likeable. I offered her the water bottle. She glanced at it suspiciously, but Maurice was right. She was thirsty. She took it from me and mumbled, "Thanks," as she unscrewed the cap and took a long drink. She drank half the bottle until it was beginning to collapse on itself before she came up for air.

"I'm sorry, Rose, if I have said something that has offended you." She shrugged, and said nothing. I was much more used to the humans who never shut their mouths. Her silence was disconcerting. "Perhaps I could interest you in seeing the stables?" I knew exactly what kind of a bribe I was offering. Her vacant expression snapped back to the present, and she tried hard to hide her interest. I stood and offered my hand. She took it indifferently and allowed me to pull her to her feet. I did not release her, but lead her back toward our stables.

"Why do vampires keep horses?"

I glanced down at her. I suppose I would be fielding such questions for weeks to come. Normally it irritated me to explain things that should have been perfectly clear to a sensible person, but I didn't mind telling Rose. I wanted her to know me. I wanted her to understand me. "Many of us were born before the advent of the automobile." I said quietly. "But for me it is more than nostalgia. Breeding war horses was once my profession. Now it is more of a hobby, but my horses still fetch a good price."

"War horses?" We had reached the barn, and I was grateful to get into the cool interior, away from the sun. The horse barn had 15 stalls, and a tack-room. Most of the horses were out to graze for the day. My prized breeding stallion snorted and pawed at the door. She approached him fearlessly, and foolishly.

"Take care, sweetheart. Maestro is a dangerous animal."

She turned around at me and gave me a glare that could have burnt me alive. "Don't do that."

"Don't do what?"

"'Sweetheart, honey, dear..'" She mimicked my accent. "I'm not your sweetheart." She turned back to the

horse. "And I'm not afraid of your horse."

Everything in me wanted to leap forward and pull her back, but I was also curious to see just how far her fearlessness and foolishness would take her, and how the temperamental stallion would respond to her. With his ears laced back in a dangerous expression of aggression and displeasure, he stretched his nose out to her. And she walked right into his space. Her body language was equally aggressive and demanding. She stared him in the eye. Her shoulders were square to his face. She stood steady as he sniffed at her. She did not budge when he gave her a shove with his nose. I thought at any moment he would open his jaws and take a bite of her soft flesh... but instead he melted into her like a gentle puppy dog. His ears flopped forward, his eyes softened, his aggressive pushing became friendly rubbing. My mighty stallion just submitted to a girl. And she also softened her stance, tipping her shoulders away, lowering her eyes.. and stroking his face like they were old friends. It must be her unique aura. Nothing could resist her, neither living nor the undead.

"What's the difference between a warhorse... and a draft horse?" She stood on her tiptoes so that she could look over the stall door and assess Maestro's body and build.

"There was a time when a horse was far too valuable to be a mere plow animal. Before they were draught animals, they were war machines. They had to be very strong to carry a knight in armor. A full suit of armor can way hundreds of pounds. They had to be fearless and steady. They had to have great endurance and a fair amount of speed. Look closely, Rose. You will see Maestro is longer in the leg than most draft breeds, deeper in the chest and barrel, allowing for greater lung capacity. His feet are large, yes, but not heavy and plodding like a draft." I ran my hand along Maestro's thick, strong neck.

"How does he ride?"

I smiled. "Its like riding the wind."

"Can I ---"

"No. Not Maestro. But I have a gift for you. Follow me." I took her shoulders and turned her back down the aisle. I smiled to myself at the wistful way she glanced back at Maestro. At least my woman has good taste in horses. However, for her safety and my piece of mind, I'd already chosen a more suitable mount for her. I lead her toward the box stall on the end. "This is Charlie." A beautiful dapple-grey head poked over the stall door, eager for attention. Charlie was a gelded son of Maestro. He was a gentle giant with a teddy-bear personality. He was no war horse, but he was a perfect lady's mount. "He is yours."

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a cute little "o". "Mine? Like mine, mine?"

I smiled her and felt a rare warmth in my heart. Pleasing her made me feel good. "Yours."

She fawned over him, and Charlie ate it up. His bottom lip bounced happily as he snuffled around her and accepted all her petting. The horses apparently loved her scent as much as vampires do. She boldly slipped into the stall, but I wasn't worried. Charlie would never intentionally hurt anyone, and the big dopey horse was already head-over-heels in love with his new mistress. He stood at nearly 18 hands, well over her head, but she was combing her fingers through his long, thick mane and tracing his muscles. As usual, she had to touch everything, as though she was seeing through her hands as well as her brown eyes.

"I will give you the number of our stable boy. When you want to ride, give him notice, and he will be prepared for you."

Her frowning face poked over the door. "Don't be silly. I can do it myself. Someone just needs to show me where everything is."

"Do it yourself? I don't think you can reach."

She slipped out of the stall and carefully closed the latch. She stood before me with her head down and clasped her hands in front of her. "'Thank you' doesn't really seem like enough for this... this is... just..." Her eyes turned back to the horse, and I thought for a moment I saw the glimmer of tears. "Thank you."

I touched her face and lifted her chin so that I could look into her eyes. "Rose... soon you will understand... anything you want, if its in my power, I will give it to you." An angry look clouded her expression, and she brushed my hand away.

"I love the horse. I don't want to refuse it or give it back. But you should know, I can't be bought, Mr. Black." She squared up her shoulders and stared back at me boldly. There are not many creatures in this world who dare to look in my eye, let alone stare me down. It was very, very sexy. But I knew better than to tell her so.

I leaned very close to her, maybe just to see if she would step back, or look down. She didn't. I saw her clench her teeth, but she would not look away. "Rose, you are a priceless treasure. You can not be bought, only cherished." I straightened and tried my best to give her a charming smile. "Shall we go back to the house?"

"Its not a house," she grumbled under her breath, but she followed me anyway.

Rose

I did not know what to do or how to handle this. Take a deep breath, Rose, and take it one moment at a time. That's what I'd done all my life when I was thrown into some new, terrible situation. The newest school, the newest foster placement, the newest job... every time I was uncomfortable and challenged I tried to stop thinking about the future and just look at the NOW. At this moment I was surrounded by beauty, decadence, luxury. The kind of life I'd only seen on TV or read about in books. I had this handsome dark prince at my elbow, opening doors and pulling out chairs.

I was sitting at tables with white linen table clothes and silver candlesticks... and I'm pretty sure they were really old, and really silver. Oh, and not to mention that there were way too many pieces of silverware lined up at the place setting. I didn't know which fork I was supposed to use, or why I would need so many spoons. And it wasn't like I could watch Matthias and copy him. He sat across from me with nothing but a crystal goblet of red wine. At least I hope it was wine. But he wasn't going to cue me on which spoon to use. Screw that. I kept one spoon, one fork and one knife, and put the rest off to the side. I raised an eyebrow at Matthias and dared him to say something. He better figure out now that his "priceless treasure" was as common as a cockroach. You can dress me in expensive clothes, and feed me fresh lobster flown in from Maine this morning... but underneath it all, I was just Rose. The girl who had worn hand-me-downs her whole life.

The food was amazing though, I have to hand it to that Maurice. I wondered how a vampire became a chef... or a chef became a vampire. It seemed kind of depressing to dedicate your life to making cuisine that you were never going to eat and you couldn't appreciate the taste of. Who was there besides me to enjoy this food? And for that matter... how did Matthias and his household feed themselves? I cleared my throat. "Um. Are there other people here? You know, like, warm-blooded, living people?"

If the dark prince was offended by my question, he gave no indication. He simply nodded and swirled the wine in his glass. I thought it must really be wine, because he didn't seem all that interested in that. "Yes. We have several full time staff members who are human, and who live on the property. It is much more convenient to assign the outside work, like the grounds keeping and the stables to those who tolerate and enjoy the sun. We also entertain visitors from time to time."

"And they all know... what you are?"

"Of course."

"Do you... feed off from them?"

He set his wine glass down carefully. "My family does not feed from humans, except under very special circumstances. We hunt and feed from wild animals. Within our grounds we have deer, moose, elk, wild pigs, mountain goats, and all kinds of small game. We have more than enough fresh meat to sustain us." He smiled ruefully. "If we fed from our employees, I think good help would be hard to find. As it is, most of our workers have been with me for generations. They are very loyal and trustworthy. That is not a thing to take lightly."

"Yeah, okay." I really really wanted to ask what the "special circumstances" were when they justified feeding from humans, but I decided that I didn't want to know right now. I just couldn't really absorb any more weirdness. I set down my fork. "I'm full."