World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

Chapter 31: Karen

Karen was furious and uncomfortable, so much so she had to take a semi-hibernative state in order to deal with the rough ride out of that bitches land. She wasn't even surprised when her supposed 'guards' left her when a pack of death wolves attacked the carriage near the edge of the territory. If anything, she was thankful, for despite losing a few maids and having to get her own hands dirty, she could once again travel in relative comfort back home. Sadly, it still wasn't enough to fix her mood.

"That bitch! If I had a little more time, I could've escaped with those two brats in tow. And what's worse! Despite everything! Katherine Umbra is still trying to win those peasants over. Does she have no eye for the highborn? My mother told me that the progressive faction has been consorting with their lessers, but I would never have thought that it would be to the extent that they would snub our great house in favor of that bitches!"

Karen fumed at the thought, taking much enjoyment in finally killing off the last of the wolves that she had been toying with. While death wolves are a great danger for many, for her, she only had to exert herself a little more than usual to get rid of them. After that, she gathered the few survivors and put them to work moving the carriage again.

"It doesn't matter..." Karen thought as the carriage began to move once more. "The damage is done. It will take a lot of convincing to get in Thea's good graces, time that we could use. Not to mention, House Umbra still needs us..." a small smile graced her lips before turning into a frown once more at the displeasure of it all. Followed by a shiver at the thought of telling her mother about her failure.

After traveling for what felt like forever. Karen was finally home. Normally she would not care about the sight of traveling through the large arched city gate of her home, as she had done so, so many times that she didn't pay attention to it anymore. But now, every step the carriage took getting closer to the castle made her heartbeat imperceptibly faster in fear. The city was far larger than the one she just left, so she had a lot more time until she reached the castle gates, giving her more time to think and plan an excuse... but that also gave her more time to stew in fear. She looked outside as she traveled in hopes of a distraction.

A sea of miserable faces greeted her. People hunched low and not even daring to give her carriage so much as a glance for fear of gaining her attention. Without even being told to, they moved out of the way of the carriage. Knowing full well what would happen if they were to linger. There was no hawking of goods, no smell of vendors selling foods, and more, there practically no males even willing to take the risk of traveling outside.

Karen sighed. Wishing she could pull in some nice young man to scratch that itch and get rid of some of her pent of stress. But the peasants have grown wiser over the years of her family's rule, they knew that, whether they wore a hood or not, or were accompanied or not, whether they were married or not. If her family wanted them, they would have them and ride them for all they were worth before throwing them away.

This attitude slowly spread out over the generations. And over the centuries, her house's territories have been known to be particularly bad at taking care of their males or giving them any sort of rights, so much so that rape was an extremely common occurrence. Not that she or her family cared, nor about the bad reputation that came with it.

Finally, she was at the gates to the inner castle. A few dead and rotting bodies on pikes greeted her. More of her mother's supposed' enemies and or spies, or perhaps just stress relief. They looked fresh, probably recent. Karen worried if her mother already heard the news.

Getting out of her carriage she walked up the steps to the castle, only to be greeted by her sister, Karmina, in her usual dress. Her victim and boy toy on a leash behind her, mouth shut, looking down. An acceptance of his fate etched on his face.