Entertaining the Vampire King

Lost

Thaddeus' POV

The ale house smelled particularly terrible tonight. A band of knights traveling towards the capital had decided to make it their stop for the night. The smells of sweat and horse manure were particularly bad tonight. I decided not to breathe until after I had the boys clean up.

I delivered another pitcher of ale to the loud men. They were stripped to their under garments and shirts. They must have ridden dozens of miles without a stop, and they were over exhausted.

All of the men were tall, nearly as tall as myself. Only one man stood a few inches taller than me. They called him "The Bear". He seemed a bit on the slow side. No doubt due to his size alone had he even managed to attain his current status.

"Hey gent, can we gets another round? An you have rooms upstairs?" Said one of the men. He was already slurring his speech.

I brought them a pitcher of ale after I added a few squirts of river water. They tipped me a silver.

"I have four rooms upstairs, each has two beds. I can me room on the floor if need be, and the stable has a loft. The hay is warm." My voice was clear so that he could understand me.

"Great. How much for the lot?" He asked, pulling a bag of coins from his blouse. His dirty hand held out more silvers.

"Normal price is a silver a night. For all of you, ten silvers sounds fine. And I can wrap you some bread for the road." I smiled. He widened his blood shot eyes.

"I'll have you twenty. You seem like a nice man, an' this is some good ale you 'ave here." He hiccuped. He held up his cup with the rest, and the wood splintered as they clanked the cups together.

A normal night it was.

I employed three young boys. They were sent here by their families to earn wages. The families were some of the lowest of the poor, and most of their fathers didn't make more than five silvers a month if at all. I would send them a silver weekly, and give the boys room and board. In exchange, they cared for the horses and kept the place as clean as we could do. During daylight hours it made things easier knowing I had things done.

After the drunken lot had made their way to their sleeping quarters, I set out to hunt for the night. I enjoyed the woods more than anywhere else. It was peaceful, and not a man in sight.

"It doesn't have to be like this, you know." I heard a voice behind me. How had I not heard someone behind me?

I turned to see a man in a black tunic and cape. He had black slicked hair and a beard, both touched with silver. I could see his blue eyes in the darkness. He was beyond my years but still looked absolutely refined.

"I know not what you mean, sir." I bowed my head. What was a man doing so far out here?

"Feeding off of animals is both unnecessary and difficult. I'm impressed." He said kindly. I narrowed my eyes. Who was this man? How did he know?

"Please allow me to intrude, but I see you're a bit inexperienced." He chuckled.

"Who are you?" I asked harshly.

"Ah, I apologize. I am Aldred. I'm a vampire, like you." He smiled. I tried to comprehend.

Vampire. Is that what I was? It finally had a name. I had never referred to myself as anything short of a monster.

Aldred was the gift I needed in my second life. He had wisdom beyond all of my years. He showed me how to use my skills, and new ones I hadn't known existed.