The Norse Vampire's Beloved

Chapter 1

When I was young and my mother told me stories of love and adventure, it was all I ever wanted. But growing up in a small poor village in the Highlands, I have seen enough travelers passing through to know it's a hard life out there. My da is the blacksmith of our village. He is a tall-built man with fiery red hair and kind eyes. We are all that is left in our line. My mother was killed by raiders when I was young. My da has done the best he can. We have a small hovel that we share even though I am 23 summers old. I stay and help take care of my da and work as a bar maid and help him as much as possible.

Being a bar maid isn't the best work as I have to deal with drunkards, but most of the village men have known me since I was a wee bairn. The main problems arise when men folk travel through or the English come and decide to torment us, much like tonight. But at least Angus and Ewan are hanging around keeping an eye on us women folk as the English like to get rough sometimes. It's thankfully, a slow night and not many of the townsmen have come in since they were in town.

"Evening Angus and Ewan, what can I get you?" I said as I walked to the table they were sitting at. "Just two pints for us, Morgan, maybe some stew if Flora made any." "Its rabbit stew today, that still fine?" "Aye it tis"

As she moves away from them to get the pints, the door swings open and three red coats walk in. She tries not to stiffen as they enter, but its difficult as they normally cause trouble and she is thankful they don't come here often as they are high up in the mountains. "Hey bar wench, get us three pints and some food." out of the corner of her eye she can see Angus stiffen and get red in the face as Ewan tries to calm him. She takes them the stew and the pints. "It's ok Angus, don't you worry, I can handle myself" She pats him on the shoulder and walks away. She quickly grabs the stew for the soldiers, taking it to them quickly without making eye contact, putting it in front of them and quickly going to get the pints before they have a chance to say anything more. She sets them on the table in front of the men, quickly walking away once more.

But before she is able to get far enough away, a scrawny man with dirty black hair grabs her by the arm pulling her back to the table.

"Where do you think you are off to so fast" she looked down at his hand, grabbing her wrist. "To do my job now, if you unhand me I have things to do" "Oh do ya now? You hear that, mates, she has something to do besides stay here and service us" he says, yanking her onto his lap, causing her to cry out in surprise as the rest of the men start to laugh. She can smell his rotten teeth when he speaks, truly making her nauseous by the smell. "I am not a wench, I am simply a bar maid. If you are looking for company, you have the wrong place", she states as she tries to get up, removing his hands from her waist, trying to avoid showing the wave of sickness she feels in her stomach.

Hearing two chairs slide back she see's Angus walking towards her as he reaches for her. He says" You heard her boys best to unhand her now." Angus is a large man with thick red hair in his mid 30's. He isn't the tallest man, but by looking at him you can tell he is powerful. The Englishman looks at him with disgust, "If ye want to try me out, we can walk out the door but ye wont be touching the lass anymore." He says with a scowl, his piercing gray eyes staring at the man through slits. He removes his hand from her as Angus pulls her towards him and pushes her towards Ewan. Angus nodded his head and they walked back to the table they were sat at. "Thank ye Angus and Ewan". "No problem lass, we will be staying until you leave tonight". She nods to them. Thankful they are here, Angus and Ewan are brothers and family friends. It's always a good day when they are around, but they also know when joking isn't what's needed.

As more of the clan's men come into the pub, she buisies herself refilling everyones drinks and cleaning up after everyone, eventually the Englishmen pay and leave heading to the Inn at the end of the village. After they leave, most of the tension leaves the building and the men start to get rowdy, joking and drinking. As the night comes to an end and she cleans up Angus and Ewan are waiting for her by the door. "Evening boys thank you so much for everything tonight" "Tis not a problem, lass, we will see you home and make sure your da is around." "Thank ye my strong protectors" she says smiling at them.

They all laugh and head off toward her home, not knowing that one scrawny soldier is watching them just waiting. "Guess I cant grab that wench tonight, just wait, I will get her back for embarrassing me" he says to himself. He follows them through the village watching as they laugh, just waiting for them to leave her alone. Now that he knows where she lives, this will all be much easier as he plans to catch her unaware. With a sinister smile, he watches as she says goodbye to the two highlanders and enters her home.