Beneath the Sanguine Moon

Ch. 2: Blood, Bonds and Bones

Verena spent a good part of the morning letting Lady Reyah refresh her mind with important information before the night's first event. This included names, houses, titles, and anything else that may be of use knowing before she was tossed to the vultures.

Tonight was just one of eight events that made up the Courting Season. It was also the first of only two Waning balls and perhaps the most important of them all. Under the Waning Gibbous, every Vampire and human alike who was ready to take a Mate would present themselves to society and to the Council, hoping to be granted permission to court and then to marry under the Sanguine Moon, a sacred celestial event that takes place once every decade and has the capability to bestow immense power on those who wed during its ascent.

"I have something for you." Lady Reyah said, pulling a small and carefully wrapped box from underneath her housecoat and offering it to Verena. "You'll be needing this tonight.

Verena's brows pulled together as she took it from her hands. Carefully, she unraveled the ribbon that held it together and unboxed a tiny vile wrapped in cloth. "What is it?" she asked, holding it up to the light to study it better. The liquid just appeared milky white at first glance but upon further inspection, something else became apparent and Verena's eyes went wide with surprise. "This is..." she trailed off, twisting the vile between her fingers, watching as the light caught an iridescent sheen.

"Unicorn blood." Lady Reyah finished for her. "It's very hard to come by and forbidden here."

Cradling the vile delicately in the palm of her hand, she remembered the stories her mother had told her of the wild creatures. Perhaps she may have even seen something similar sitting upon her altar- before every supernatural creature and item apart from the vampires had been purged or exiled. "How did you find this?"

"I have a friend down at the apothecary, who also has a friend who knows where to find them." she answered, apprehensively. "It will help suppress the magic in your blood tonight."

'Bloody hells.' Verena thought to herself. That was the opposite of what she wanted. The Vampire from last night was probably already slipping out of the bond she'd planted. She desperately needed to find him and finish securing it if she wanted help from the inside.

Lady Reyah took a long sip from her morning tea before speaking again. "Any low rank Vampire may not be able to sniff you out, but these events will be crawling with Bloodguards and we can't risk you being discovered."

"Of course." Verena agreed after a moment. She was right, there was too much at stake to chance being outed as a witch on the first night of courting season. "Thank you for looking out for me."

The Vampiress nodded softly, placing her empty cup back down in front of her. "I have my staff picking up your gown for tonight as we speak." A mischievous smile spread across her lips. "There's not a chance you'll go unnoticed by the prince."

The thought of being the center of attention made her stomach turn. "Will you be in attendance tonight?"

Lady Reyah stood, smoothing out the wrinkles in her fabrics. "Yes, but I'll be retiring early." She waved over one of the staff who began clearing the table of breakfast items they had picked through "these events always last much longer than I'd like and I'm too old to try to stick it out until the end."

Verena laughed, standing to her feet. "Very well then."

"Just remember your training and everything will be just fine." She reassured her, giving the witchlings shoulder a gentle squeeze before turning to leave. "And remember to take the vile."

After she was alone, she helped finish clearing the table and soaked up the morning rays of light just a bit longer. A sigh escaped her as she looked out from the terrace and across the rolling fields which led to the west side of town. There was something she'd been putting off for a very long time and she'd decided then that she wouldn't avoid it any longer.