Breakfast in the Witch Sector was nothing like breakfast in the Vampire Sector. Jed was thankful they ate human food here. Which he supposed was just normal food? What did they eat in other sectors? Jed really liked food. He wondered if seeing others eat around her was making Lailah hungry. She didn't protest when he sat down at the end of the bench that Brokin was seated on. They hadn't spoken this morning, and she hadn't so much as made eye contact with him. This was all going extremely well. She was looking around, most likely for the Mother Witch, and her answer.
"I'm sure she will be here any minute." He said. She looked at him for the first time, bored again. Like clockwork, the Mother Witch entered, met Lailah's eyes from across the space and summoned her over to where she was standing. Jed had never seen Lailah move so quickly, however he noticed how gracefully she moved among the witches. He watched her talk to the Mother. What have even happened last night. Jed had understood why she had pulled away, anticipated it, had been the reason why he hadn't moved to kiss her like he wanted to. Jed reminded himself that she was royalty and engaged and that he had no place with her, but everything she had said to him the other night...before he would finish the though Lailah returned to her seat next to him. She sat close. If she was disappointed or relieved, she didn't show either on her face as she sat patiently for everyone to finish eating. Jed knew better than to ask her here.
~
They left immediately after breakfast, Lailah shook Brokin's hand.
"Have a safe trip back, Lailah. I am sad to watch you go. Next time, stay longer" Brokin said, she looked at Jed, gave him the once over, and added a suspicious look to finish.
"I will, I promise." Lailah agreed, not seeming to notice this, and they were off.
Once they were out of earshot of the city, Lailah began speaking.
"She will help us."
"She agreed?"
"There are many conditions, but they are workable. We have her on our side at least, as long as we abide."
"Thanks fantastic."
"Don't get too excited. There's still a war to win."
"You think it will be a full fledged war?"
"If I'm honest, I have no idea what we are walking into. All I know is that we need to figure it out, and soon. Why was your heart beating so quickly back there, Brokin is harmless." Jed was taken aback.
"If I'm honest, I have no idea." Jed had a pretty good idea, but he was not willing to talk about it.
"Men who believe they have nothing to hide will hide all the same out of fear that someone will discover something terrible about them that they didn't even know was there." There was a pause.
"And what do you think is there." She didn't respond, she just kept walking.
They walked quickly, Lailah talking, mostly to herself, about what needed to be done when they returned. She talked about training her soldiers harder than ever before, maybe getting Jed to return to the humans and see if they would help, perhaps bringing Nat with him to prove they were on each others side. Jed didn't respond but, only nodded is agreement. He was cooking up a plan of his own that he would pitch to her at a different time. He needed to ask her a few questions first.
"What's first when we get back." Jed asked her.
"We need to convince my father to help us."
"What else." She took a deep breath.
"Perhaps we will have to ask the Werewolves after all."
"You've got be joking."
"I'm sorry Jed, but perhaps you have misunderstood something somewhere. I will do anything to protect my people. There is nothing more important. There can't be." She was breathing very heavy. Jed wondered why Vampires breathed if they didn't have any blood circulation? He would ask her when she wasn't so stressed.
That night once the campfire was set up, Jed pulled up the courage to ask.
"How does one go about turning a human into a Vampire. Purely academic question. Simple curiosity. But is it possible?" She looked up at him from underneath her brow for a considerable moment before talking.
"It's possible, I hate it, I think it goes against everything we should stand for, but it is possible."
"And what situation would allow it?"
"If the human was dying for say, changing them would save him. Or if the human was in love, deeply in love, with a Vampire, he could ask the King or Queen to be changed. They aren't thrilled about it either."
"Right."
"Why do you ask. Really."
"Honestly, curiosity."
"You know your last name means honesty."
"I do."
"Hmm." She considered him. "Goodnight Jed." He looked at her. He wondered what was going on in her head, and he wondered if he even wanted to know.
"Okay." He replied. But she was already asleep.
