Rose hadn't eaten anything since being banished to the knights' quarters the previous day. Her stomach growled hungrily, the pangs of emptiness only amplified by the life growing within her womb. She knew her mother wouldn't allow the castle servants to feed her, so she would have to venture out to find sustenance elsewhere.
Pulling a large, baggy maternity gown over her clothes to conceal her small baby bump, Rose quietly slipped out of her room and made her way through the dimly lit halls. She passed a couple of snickering maids who instantly averted their eyes upon seeing her. Rose ignored them, holding her head high as she exited through a side door leading outside the castle's main walls.
The inner city streets were bustling with vampires going about their business. Many turned to gawk openly at Rose, their supernatural senses detecting the unmistakable scent of pureblood nobility wafting from her. Hushed whispers and furtive gestures followed in her wake.
"Isn't that the Shelly mistress who ran off?"
"I heard she's been cast out, made an outcast..."
"They should chase her from the inner city, force her to live with the rabble like us lowly commoners..."
Rose did her best to tune out the disdainful mutterings, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she navigated the winding streets towards the city's central blood market. Despite the heavy gown, her hunger was becoming more pronounced by the minute. The life inside her seemed to share her ravenous yearning, kicking fitfully against her straining belly.
At last, Rose reached the open-air blood market, an expansive courtyard lined with stalls and vendor carts peddling a grisly array of wares. Behind the counters, grizzled sanguine vampires - fearsome hunter breeds - hawked their fresh acquisitions of human blood and...less savory remains.
Wrinkling her nose in distaste, Rose approached the nearest stall, trying to appear as unobtrusive as possible. Perhaps if she was fortunate, one of these cretins would simply take her coin without comment or complaint.
"You, merchant," she said coolly, keeping her voice measured. "I require two pints of your freshest human provision."
The sanguine's gaze swept over her dismissively before huffing a derisive snort. Without a word, he turned and began brusquely closing the shutters over his stall.
"Hey! You cannot simply ignore a paying customer, you wretch!" Rose snapped, her temper fraying.
The sanguine paused, fixing her with a look of utter disdain. "I don't serve your kind, outkast," he spat the words like a curse. "Best crawl back to whatever dirt you were kicked from."
With that, he slammed the shutters closed, the clang of wood on wood ringing out like a death knell. Rose's hands clenched impotently at her sides as humiliated fury blazed in her breast.
"How dare you address me that way, you filthy leech!" she raged at the shuttered stall. "Don't you know who I am?"
Blinking owlishly, Rose stared in bewilderment at the bizarre sight. What sort of lunatic would bring a dumb beast into the heart of the vampire city? Unless...
Her gaze sharpened as a dreadful realization blossomed. It wasn't an animal at all - at least not in the typical sense. The figure shuffled along at the end of the vampires' tether was humanoid in shape, its features obscured by a coarse burlap sack tied over its head.
A human.
An involuntary shudder racked Rose's frame as she took in the wretched state of the vampire's "pet." Its clothing was little more than soiled rags, its exposed flesh marred by a myriad of brutal lacerations and discolored contusions. From the sluggish, shuffling gait, it was clear the human was barely conscious, no doubt battered into a state of semi-delirium.
The vampire leading the miserable captive sneered openly at Rose upon catching her horrified stare, his lips peeling back over elongated fangs in a bestial snarl.
"You're in the wrong part of the realm for your sort, casta," he spat, tightening his grip possessively on the tether. "Best crawl back to whatever festering crypt spawned you."
With that, he gave the tether a vicious yank, nearly toppling his hapless cargo as he stormed off down the street. Rose could only watch in stunned revulsion, her previous hunger utterly forgotten in the sickening wake of the barbaric display.
In that moment, she found her mind reeling, assaulted on all sides by a torrent of harrowing implications. How had their society truly devolved so utterly, so completely unto this level of wanton depravity? These were not mere "pets" in the conventional sense - nothing as innocuous as vampires keeping mortal companions in their thrall.
No, these were chattel livestock, human beings subjugated to the lowest, most abhorrent level of bondage imaginable.
Rose after seeing the gruesome scene while displeased by it suddenly thought of something.
"Dumphries!!" The name came out of her mouth.
As Rose retraced her steps with purpose, her mind raced with possibilities. The name "Dumphries" echoed in her thoughts, igniting a spark of hope in the midst of the darkness that surrounded her.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she hurried along the trail, the urgency of her mission lending speed to her movements. Every skip in her step was a silent plea, a fervent wish that her plan would succeed. "
Oh please, let me have this one. Just this one," she whispered to herself, a silent prayer to whatever unseen forces might be listening.
As she rounded another bend in the path, Rose's pace slowed to a cautious halt. She strained her ears, listening intently for any sign of movement or activity. And then, she heard it – the rhythmic clang of metal against metal, the unmistakable sound of someone hard at work.
"I hope he hasn't changed,"