We have fled to one of my villas in the western mountains. It is a gorgeous country, rustic and well-forested; were it not for the commotion of my battalions making camp, it would be downright serene.

  I know that, in due time, they will be coming for me, in their hundreds of thousands. My scouts and spies report their inexorable march west from Joannaville, by rail and foot, horse and motor-car, red banners waving everywhere they go. In a week’s time, they will be here, and my troops and theirs will reduce this lovely scenery to a bloody ashtray as they slaughter one another.

  Perhaps I will manage to flee, to scurry away into obscurity once again. More likely, the arc of my long afterlife will come to its overdue conclusion. For now, I have time. Time to compose my memoirs, so that my name may not perish from the histories of whatever world they build when I am gone.

  I have died many times. This is the first.

  Three centuries ago, I was already dead.

  I had given many prisons and dungeons the slip before, but that was before I had developed my sterling reputation. Alas, when I was locked up in the dungeons of Castle Azure, I was no longer some anonymous burglar; I was Sig Messer, the greatest thief who had ever lived, and my captors had taken every last precaution to guarantee my head would roll come the morrow.

  My cell was not of cobble, but polished stone, with a heavy iron door and no windows or illumination. It was deprived of all furnishings and adornments, save for five iron shackles bolted to the far wall, around my wrists, ankles, and neck. In these restraints I could scarcely move a tenth of an inch. My upright position made sleep impossible, but my dreadful resolution made that last discomfort a moot point. I had lost all hope, save for that when I was slaughtered tomorrow, I would be reunited with Carmina.

  Stupid, brave Carmina. How did it all go wrong? Why did I have to live, when she, Jurah, and Metz were butchered before my very eyes?

  I had wept, bitten, screamed and struggled as they tackled me to the floor and hauled me off to this wretched gaol. Now, I had no tears left to shed. I had thought myself invincible, that I would die old and fat, with an ill-gotten barony somewhere in the Commonwealth’s eastern marches. Instead, I would perish beneath the executioner’s axe before my twenty-fifth summer. In those long, dark hours bolted to the wall of my cell, I think I made my peace with that fact. I was going to die; I was already dead.

  It was from this obliterative stupor that I was at least partially roused when I heard the door to my cell click open.

  At first, I thought it would be one of my guards, here to let me know it was time to die. But I felt a chill run down my spine when the door swung completely open, and I was suddenly sharing my cell with a monster.

  She was tall, unusually so, nearly seven feet by my estimation. Her skin was pale as the first snow of winter that concludes the fall harvest. Her eyes shone like those of a nocturnal predator in the dark of my cell, framed by hair spun from threads of purest platinum.

  In abstract, she was perhaps the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my entire life, and I had seen myself in the mirror when I deigned to present feminine. But there was an unreachable quality to her that made my heart sink in my stomach, as if all her aesthetic charms were but one part of her lifelong effort to place herself above everyone around her. The sense of total self-assurance in her gaze and posture told me that this woman thought herself a giant among ants, and that more often than not those thoughts had been proven right.

  She was clad extravagantly, in one of the frilled and feathered dresses common to aristocrats of that bygone era. The centerpiece of her outfit was the object my crew and I had been trying to steal earlier that evening: an ostentatious silver necklace, inlaid with three sapphires nearly the size of my balled fist.

  I had never laid eyes on this woman before in my life, but I knew immediately who she was. “I thought that jewelry was meant as a wedding gift for your grand-nephew’s bride, your grace.”

  The Duchess Azure did not smile. “That it was, Messer, but your little stunt has made that a moot point.”

  She took a step forward, heels clacking against the ground. I watched as the cell door shut behind her, and swallowed. “You’re not here to gloat; gloating to me would be beneath you. Are you the sort to enjoy torturing a lowly prisoner, Duchess?”

  She did smile at that, if only slightly. It was a wicked sight. “I was, once, but I grew bored of it after a while; there are only so many ways a person can scream. No, I’m here because I think you could be of use to me.”

  Even then, I still had enough dignity to feel insulted. “You killed my sister.”

  To my surprise, she nodded. “I did, because she was attempting to steal that which is mine. You cannot begrudge me that, just as I do not begrudge you for trying to rob me. You are a thief, and I am a woman with very nice things. These are the parts we are born to play.”

  She spoke with an easy, disarming confidence that set every hair on my body standing on edge. She was close enough now for me to really appreciate how massive she was compared to my slight, wiry, five-foot frame. She could eat me whole, and the world would forget my name within a decade.

  “What we can both agree to loathe,” she continued, “is the sort of wretch who betrays their nature, and their compatriots along with it.”

  When she said these words, I knew immediately who she was drawing me to. The one member of my crew who had managed to escape, who hadn’t been riding with Metz when she’d so heroically and foolishly crashed the getaway carriage through the northeastern gate.

  “Hilda. She betrayed us… But not to you?”

  The Duchess nodded. “You and your band of thugs so rudely interrupted the wedding of my nephew and Alsace Bloem, daughter of Viscount Dietrich Bloem. Dietrich is an old enemy of mine; I thought tonight would be the night where we put our differences aside. Instead, he’s used the excuse of my men slaughtering your three friends in the middle of the festivities to call the marriage off.”

  The pieces began to click together at the mention of that name. “Viscount Bloem… He’s a co-owner of Mainzburgh Bank, correct?”

  “The very same bank you and yours robbed for over five thousand ducats, yes. He killed two birds with one stone; he’s had his revenge on you, and made a show of snubbing me. Quite the clever ploy, isn’t it?”

  Perhaps I would have agreed, if I didn’t feel the need to burst from my restraints in outrage. “How could Hilda have betrayed us like this?”

  The question was more for myself, but the Duchess answered anyway. “You’re professional thieves: perhaps a quick fortune had something to do with it?”

  I regarded her with a cold gaze. “So that’s your offer: you set me free, and we both get our revenge on Bloem and Hilda? What’s the catch?”

  She let out a little laugh at that, taking my chin in her manicured hand, so I had to stare into those cold eyes with mine. “The catch, dear Messer, is that you serve me. From now, until your dying day, you will be another one of my very nice things.”

  I looked at that cursed necklace, the catalyst for the whole sordid affair. To lowborn crooks like me and my crew, it was a life-changing prize, a work of art hand-forged by master Carthian jewelers. To the Duchesses and Viscounts of the world, it was just another fancy toy, as easily replaced or discarded as five thousand measly ducats, or the life of one of their serfs.

  I knew that accepting Azure’s offer was a poison pill, that I was liable to perish in my quest against Bloem, and that I’d be little more than a slave even if I succeeded. But I was already dead, and in the dismal confines of that cell I knew that saying no would mean my head would roll come next morning.

  So, I made the only choice I could, which was really no choice at all. “Alright then. When do I start?”

  The Duchess Azure smiled wide, and I was too terrified by the sight to scream. “Right now.”

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  Then she ripped the tattered rags off of my body, and dug her teeth into the side of my neck.

  Memories of my embrace remain foggy. I recall too much of my own blood pouring out of my throat, cold claws digging into my sensitive flesh, and the Azure eyes of a wolf devouring its latest kill. But these are but brief flashes, crying out from beneath a feeling of total and intense violation, of an inky black poison being poured down my throat, in such a tremendous volume that I not only succumbed to it, but became it.

  When I came to, we were in the Duchess’ extravagant bedchamber. I had no memory of our arrival there. Azure was by my side, as naked as me, her chin dribbling with my life’s blood.

  I was too stunned to speak, or to realize that I was no longer breathing. That I did not need to breathe.

  Nevertheless, Azure noticed my waking. She licked some of my blood from her hands, and swallowed. “You will find that our gift has many benefits. You need not breathe, sleep, eat, or drink, save of course for sweet blood. Mortal plagues shall never trouble you, and any physical wound can be reversed with enough red wine. You can still hurt, still be made to suffer, but there is only one thing in this world that can truly kill you.”

  She crawled closer to me, leaning against my side, caressing me like a lover. I did not feel loved. “What is it?”

  She smiled. “Sunlight, my dear Scion. It is the bane of our line; stick a finger out against a window on a summer’s day, and you risk losing the hand it’s attached to. Stay out too late to watch a sunrise, and that tangerine glow will be the last thing you ever see.”

  For some reason it was this terrible truth that finally broke me. Carmina and I had always loved the beach, even as the summer sun would burn our skin to the point of peeling. Now, I would never feel that harsh heat again.

  I wept, harshly and loudly, like a small child. The Duchess stroked her fingers through my hair.

  That morning, I took my first sip of blood from a teacup. The Duchess had cut it fresh from the wrists of one of her maidservants; all of Castle Azure’s staff were either vampires or thralls, that poor class of bipedal livestock our kind make out of repeat drainees.

  I sat opposite her in her salon, hand trembling as I held the teacup. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I was until the blood was put before me; now, with that irresistible scent of iron so close at hand, I could scarce contain myself. I looked up at the Duchess, her maidservant draping herself over her shoulder, wrist freshly bandaged, with eyes only for our shared master.

  Azure smirked. “What are you waiting for? Drink.”

  She put some indescribable emphasis on that last word, which annihilated any reservations I had about tasting the red ichor. I drank the whole cup in one large gulp; it tasted of liquid steel, warm and slightly viscous. It was the most delectable meal I had ever had in my short life.

  I put the cup down on the table, reclining in my chair somewhat. All at once, I felt my whole being revitalized; I thought I might have been able to run thirty miles without breaking a sweat.

  The Duchess regarded this with some satisfaction. “I still remember my first taste, and that was more than four centuries ago. I spent nearly a full hour devouring one of my Sire’s men-at-arms.”

  I gulped, regarding the poor maidservant. She was my age, perhaps a bit younger, with a well-fed frame and dark brown bangs. I could still smell her blood, and it was intoxicating. “Is that why you gave me mine in a teacup?”

  “Well I couldn’t have you making a mess, could I, Scion?” Her tone had a humor and conversationality to it that our first meeting decidedly lacked. I had clearly climbed a few steps on the social pyramid by becoming her Scion; nowhere near equal to her dizzying heights, but a healthy distance away from the floor with the dogs and scat-flies and lowborn burglars.

  I exhaled, long and nervous. “I didn’t want to drink it, you know.”

  “You did want to,” she replied, “you just thought it would be wrong.”

  I scowled at that. “Nevertheless, there was something in the way you commanded me. Something that made me do it, where I otherwise wouldn’t have.”

  She nodded her head. “You are a keen one, Scion. Our kind have many magics at our disposal; regeneration, transformation, enhanced strength and speed and reflexes. Suggestion is one of the first, and most useful.”

  “If that’s the case, no wonder we’ve remained hidden for so long.”

  She shook her head. “If only it were as versatile as that. Our voices cannot erase the evidence of a subject’s own senses, nor can they overcome a strong will or conviction. Think of it more as a nudge in the right direction; it pushes prey towards what they truly desire, but might be reticent about accepting.

  “The trick, my dear Scion, is in ensuring your prey’s desires align with your own. Shouldn’t be too difficult for Sig Messer, master of disguises… and seduction.”

  My heart curdled at her words, thinking back to the violence of my embrace. I saw the way her maidservant adored her, and on the surface it was easy to see why. Azure was supernaturally beautiful, clad in a simple and revealing crimson dress that fit her athletic form far better than the ridiculous costumes typical to the aristocracy. With her hair down and straightened, she resembled nothing less than an ancient warrior-queen, straight out of the mythic age before the Iron Empire. Women and men both would kill to spend a night with her.

  She was a jungle plant, bright colors and sweet perfume luring insects into her jaws.I resolved to never become like her. “How long until I’m off on my mission?”

  “You shall depart at sundown, with a well-trained steed and that necklace you came here to snatch. The price from your usual fence should be more than enough to pay your way.”

  “My way to where? Where are Hilda and Viscount?”

  She waved her hand. “Bloemsport, obviously; Dietrich spends much more time managing his little eastern colony than any of his holdings in the Commonwealth. And there’s more than enough of Ostland for him to offer some flea-bitten plantation as a prize to your friend for her loose lips.”

  I had never been out east before, but I had pilfered from quite a few shipments of silver and textiles coming through northern port cities. “Bloem is a vampire too, isn’t he?”

  Azure scoffed at my question. “Why, of course he is! Feuding with mortals is beneath me. Don’t try confronting him directly; our kind have a sixth sense for sniffing out one of our own, and he’s far more experienced with this than you.”

  I frowned at that. “You expect me to fail.”

  “I expect you to die, quite horribly. But in the meantime you might do him some harm; kill a few of his associates, torch a plantation or two, maybe even slay one of his Scions. Surprise me.”

  I strongly disliked this idea. “And what if I just try and disappear?”

  She laughed at that. “Then my sires will hunt you down, and nail you to a tree facing east so you may see the sun as it burns you to ash.”

  She obviously didn’t take that suggestion seriously.

  “I could find other vampires, ones sympathetic to my plight. I didn’t ask for you to Sire me.”

  Her demeanor lost its joviality in a heartbeat, and without warning she pushed the maidservant to the ground as she rose to her feet, crossing the room to grab me by the shirt. Her grip was stronger than the restraints of my cell.

  “You can certainly try, Messer, but you’ll have no luck. Our kind are not social by nature, but we still have a culture, norms and taboos. Going against your Sire is chief among them.”

  And just like that, she dropped me, as if it were nothing. “Besides, you’re still a neophyte, not even a full night past your embrace. In time, I think you will come to appreciate our gift.”

  I spent the rest of that day wandering the castle, occasionally feeding on the Duchess’ thralls, who were more than eager to offer themselves up to one of their master’s Scions. Lady Azure neglected to offer any more formal instruction, as my time to departure did not, in her view, lend itself to much useful training.

  I did however manage some experimentation of my own. Carmina had always been our crew’s most exceptional acrobat, but I could manage quite a few feats of dexterity when I needed to. Even so, my new abilities far exceeded those of any mortal; I found that with but a couple hours of practice, I could leap from the floor of the castle’s main dining hall onto one of the heavy wooden chandeliers, which must have dangled more than ten meters above the ground.

  Sitting atop that vantage, I realized the key benefit to Castle Azure’s sturdy middle-aged construction, which by my judgement seemed rather out-of-date compared to the extravagant palaces and manors preferred by the then-modern aristocracy: the place had almost no windows. It was the perfect vampire’s lair.

  Alas, my exercise left me quite famished, and I ended up feeding upon one of the castle guards to the point of his fainting. Still, even this episode proved of some instruction; a vampire must feed, not just to live, but to refill the well of blood from whence they draw their power. Gauging my own hunger would be key to seeing the journey through to its end.

  Sundown came quickly; as I headed towards the stables, I realized I was descending the stairwell where Carmina had died. I found the exact step where she’d reached for her knife, and been run through by a guard twice her size for her trouble.

  I stood for a moment, hoping to take a deep breath, only to remember that I no longer needed to breathe. Mourning would have to wait.

  The Duchess herself met me at the stables, with the promised steed, a flagon of blood, and the aborted wedding gift tucked into a simple leather satchel. I snatched the latter two prizes from her hands, before mounting the horse.

  “I wish you the Emperor’s luck, Messer.”

  She smiled wickedly as she spoke; the Iron Emperor’s name was even more demonic then as it is now. She taunted me by invoking him, her way of letting me know she had damned me.

  I sneered down at her. “You think I don’t still hold you culpable?”

  She laughed out loud, harsh as frostbite. “Oh, I was under no illusions about that, my dear Scion. Now, what are you going to do about it?”

  In my heart of hearts, I desired nothing more than to leap off my horse and rip out her heart. But I knew her to be twice my size, ten times my strength, and having a whole estate of loyal thralls and Scions at her back.

  Against such overwhelming force, I could do naught but ride away.