FIVE

I woke up the next day past noon full of energy, I'd slept well and had a wonderful dream but I couldn't remember about what. I headed to the kitchen in order to make a cup of tea and, while I was having breakfast, the tables on the fridge door caught my attention. I'd been living in that house for three weeks satisfying the tastes of my bosses and I decided it was time to try something new. Who would have thought that vampires were like toddlers hating veggies? But I had a secret weapon to make them change their minds: my delicious sweet potato and lentils cream.

I rolled up my sleeves and started cooking knowing that I had at least one hour before they got out of their bedrooms, enough time for me to get the lunch ready. The smell of curry paste drifted through the kitchen soon and I could picture myself traveling to India... I could pay for my dream vacation now that I earned a good salary. I also baked some lemon cupcakes because I thought that, if they behaved like good boy and girls eating all the cream, they'd be rewarded with a sweet treat. I wasn't aware of the fact that someone had sneaked in the kitchen and was getting closer stealthily because I had my back to the door and was humming a classic rock song with the radio on.

"It smells heavenly."

Ruby's sweet voice, her breath on my cheek while she tilted her head over my shoulder to take a look at the pot on the stove and her hand leaned on my waist gently, sent a shiver down my spine. I wasn't worried because a powerful and dangerous vampire had her mouth very close to my throat while sniffing in appreciation, not for one second. I didn't need Aren's magic trick to keep my mind calmed anymore: I trusted them. I took a wood spoon quietly, sank it in the cream and gave it to Ruby who locked her lips around it, closing her eyes delighted when feeling the spicy flavour on her tongue. A moan escaped from her throat and I felt a second shiver running down my spine. She fixed her eyes on my face, it was the first time I saw them so close... the colour was fascinating... green and blue, grey with golden spots... indescribable but very beautiful.

"Do you want more?" Her grin almost blinded me.

"Yes, Iselen, please," she answered quietly. My name on her lips sent a third shiver down my back and, while the vampire jumped on a stool and poured herself a tea on the island counter, I wondered if I had caught the flu or something like that. All that shivering wasn't normal. I put a generous bowl of cream in front of her along with croutons and she immediately grabbed the spoon. I smirked mischievously before saying casually:

"Ruby, you know that bowl is full of veggies, don't you?"

"Really?" She stared at the spoon shocked for a second before putting it in her mouth and swallowing. "It's delicious." I chuckled while watching her reaching the bottom of the bowl and licking the spoon clean before pushing everything aside. She sighed satisfied and took her cup of tea... her beautiful porcelain cup. My grin vanished from my lips: white porcelain with a motif of blue and red flowers Chinese style and silver-gilt details. I swallowed hard... For God's sake...

"Ruby, is that Meissen porcelain?" She nodded while drinking absentmindedly. "How old that cup is?"

"Mmmm I don't know. Around 200 years, maybe a bit more... Why?" She looked at me puzzled for a second before moving to pour more tea.

"It looks like the tea and chocolate set that belonged to Maria Leszczynska, queen of France," I whisper reverently, grazing with my index the edge of the sugar bowl in front of me carefully.

"Could be... come to think of it, I bought it when I was traveling through Saxony in my way to Paris." The vampire shrugged and kept drinking like it wasn't important, like nothing weird was happening in that kitchen despite I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown.

"You shouldn't use it to drink tea, what if you drop a cup and it breaks?" I whispered following with my eyes the movement of the cup from the counter to her plump lips

"I have good reflexes and there're more cups in the cabinet," she answered amused.

"Ruby, this tea set must be kept in a museum. The one that belonged to the Queen of France is in the Louvre." I explained slowly, emphasizing each word for her to understand.

"What? Why would a museum exhibit something like this? It's just a cup."

She stared at me utterly confused. Just a cup... that was what that piece of delicate porcelain was for her, the cup she'd been using for centuries. Simple kitchenware that meant nothing to her even if a human collector would pay thousands of dollars for one of those cups, designer dresses from the 19th century or paintings by old masters meant nothing to her too. Her world outlook was completely different to mine, what I saw as extraordinary were only objects of everyday life for her. I felt small and awkward suddenly while looking right into Ruby's eyes, eyes that witnessed the passage of several centuries: they accumulated so much knowledge and experiences that made me feel insignificant and ephemeral. By the time I wasn't in this world anymore, she'd keep moving on, drinking tea in her 250 years old cup like it was nothing important.

"Iselen, are you okay?" Ruby's concerned eyes snapped me back from my gloomy thoughts.

"Yes, sorry, do you know if Terra will come to the kitchen for lunch?" I asked to divert her attention because I was almost sure that the answer would be no, I knew my bosses' habits by then and only a zombie apocalypse would have been able to drag Terra out leaving her adored books behind, maybe that wasn't enough... an alien invasion would do... book-eater aliens... Yes, that would piss her off enough to force her to leave her den.

"She's in the library. She doesn't allow food or drinks in the room in case something is spilled all over her precious books but you can prepare a tray and take it to the office next door." Her explanation confirmed me what I already knew about her sister and I nodded.

"I'll do that, thank you."

I gave her a lemon cupcake and served a bowl of cream for Aren who walked in the kitchen drew by the delicious smell. He ate his veggies without complaining, mostly because he didn't know they were veggies, till he finished his lunch and Ruby told him laughing her ass off. Aren deserved a cupcake too. I couldn't picture myself joking with Terra the same way so I prepared her tray with a little bit of everything, cream, cupcakes and tea, and decided to let her chose what to eat. I carried it to the office carefully and left the tray on the dark wood desk, when I turned around to knock on the door that led to the library, I almost bumped into the vampire: she was behind me, standing still and holding a book, staring at me carefully but without hostility.

"Food," I pointed back over my shoulder. Terra got closer to the table grazing my clothes when she walked right by me sending a shiver down my spine... seriously, I should check my temperature because I'd caught the flu. She seemed to like the smell of the tray content and sat down to eat: she wolfed down the cream with vampire speed and enjoyed the cupcake slowly with the tea while I was waiting near the door for her to finish and take the tray back to the kitchen.

"It was good."

"Thank you." I moved closer to the desk to collect everything quietly and my eyes were drawn by the book she'd been reading: something about European geography. After hesitating for some seconds, I dared to ask her a question since it seemed to me that her mood improved every time she had her stomach full. "You're Spanish too..."

I was expecting her to answer me acidly before leaving the office and locking the library door , as I've said I was used to their habits by then and was aware of the fact that Terra wasn't a very patient person and hated wasting her time, but to my surprise she pointed at a chair on the other side of the desk and leaned back on her seat comfortably. I sat down cautiously because I wasn't expecting her to talk to me willingly, actually, and suddenly it didn't look like a good idea having a conversation alone with my moody boss who, in addition to her frown, had two sharp fangs and a superhuman strength that she could use against me if she got mad. But Terra smirked mischievously: she was guessing my thoughts judging by the way I fidgeted on my seat, probably.

"Technically I am, but from the county next to your kingdom to be precise since the country wasn't united like it happens nowadays."

"Where?" Terra smiled amused at my question but there was also a hint of condescension in her gestures.

"It's a small village, an insignificant spot on a map, I don't think you know it..."

"Try me," I replied faking more confidence than the one I really felt.

"Tarancueña," she answered. Her accent sounded odd to me, outdated. It was pretty obvious she didn't feel the need to speak Spanish in a long time, maybe centuries.

"That's in Soria region, it isn't that small: it had a medieval castle and a big bridge on the road leading to the village of Caracena. The medieval bridge is still there, in fact." Terra blinked, surprised, and I looked back at her smirking haughtily and raising an eyebrow, happy because I was able to catch her off guard. 'I'm an historian, I'm Spanish and I know this subject perfectly, you won't get me with this..." I hoped she was reading my thoughts at that very moment, at least I think she did because her grin grew wider.

"My father was the tenant of that castle, he provided the service of anubda for the Count of Castilla... Do you know what that means?" I nodded and the vampire leaned back on her seat, making herself comfortable with one leg crossed over the other one: she looked happy because she was having a conversation with someone who understood the basic concepts and she got even more relaxed in front of me.

"Yes, your dad was a member of the minor nobility but rich enough to buy a horse, a coat of mail, a sword, a shield... those weapons were really expensive back then. In addition to that, he had a handful of knights with him in order to patrol the border: if they spotted an enemy army in the distance, they must send a message to their Lord immediately, helping the population to seek refuge in the castle and protecting the walls from attacks till the Count arrived with his own army. Which count, by the way? Fernán, García or Sancho?"

"García, I was a kid when Fernán died and turned into a vampire a few months before Sancho inherited the county." Her words sent little shivers of pleasure down my spine: those men were heroes of my country and all the students have heard about them but I was in front of a woman who actually had met them... did she meet them?

"Did you ever talk to him in person?"

"He came to check the state of the fortress from time to time and chatted with my father. García was a good man, he kept his feet on the ground and, even if he was a proud noble, he was okay with talking to his people face to face, even if they were poor. But I was just a kid, one among many siblings, and wasn't important at all. My dad focused on bringing up my brothers and my mum was in charge of the girls... I was lucky enough to learn how to read and write, I also liked studying... I was the weirdo of my family."

"Did you get married?" She burst into laughing like my question was the best joke ever.

"No. Listen, the Middle Ages isn't exactly what Victorian writers described: a world of blonde damsels blushing while hearing troubadours' songs. We coexisted with death every day in the border of the county, diseases, war, hunger... and sex. Priests overlooked certain lewd behaviours because they knew people needed some fun in a world full of miseries but still... they'd never give their blessing to a lesbian, a woman who intended to 'usurp' the position of a man in girls' beds... it'd be going too far. My family wanted me to get married conveniently and have children... That wasn't what I wanted and I chose the other option."

"You entered a convent?" I couldn't picture Terra wearing a nun's habit following the commands of a mother superior, waking up very early in the morning and praying for hours... This woman looked like a rebel to me somehow and the strict rules of the monastic life didn't seem suitable for her.

"In Covarrubias, with the daughter of the Count, in fact. Life was way better there: I could study, we had food always and we weren't locked up. We could go to the market every week and talk to the baker, farmers, travelling salesmen... But I wanted more, I wanted to travel, I felt trapped and suffocating every day. Marcus and Aren passed by there on their way south and felt my eagerness to see the world: when they offered me the opportunity of joining them I didn't hesitate for a second, becoming a vampire gave me the freedom I'd always dreamed."

"And how did you meet Ruby?"

"She bumped into me, literally." I turned around when the voice echoed through the room. Ruby got closer walking gracefully and flopped down on the chair next to me, looking at Terra and smiling happily. When I saw them together I realized that, despite all the arguments, they we're deeply in love... they seemed perfect for each other, beautiful, smart, one was serious and the other more relaxed... complementing each other.

"In Venice?"

"Yes, in Venice. My father was a wealthy merchant so I had a very happy childhood and got married with another wealthy merchant when I was 16 years old, that's the reason why silk, velvet, fancy jewels, expensive spices and sweet wines were part of my everyday life. In addition to that, I was fortunate enough to become a widow very soon, free and independent: a widow, young, wealthy, living in the most wonderful city... Can you picture it?" Ruby looked really pleased with herself while remembering her youth.

"Spoiled brat..." I heard Terra whispering and her partner stuck her tongue out at her, smiling.

"Yes, that's what I was and very happy, thank you. The Dux organized Saint Marcus festival every April and the square was packed with people to watch the procession, it was pretty hard to move across the crowd to get back home for lunch so I ordered my servants to walk ahead and open the way for me. Venetian people had good manners and stepped back when I got closer but proud Terra refused to move and she bumped into me, literally. Do you remember?"

"Actually, it was you the one who threw herself to my arms and yes, I remember: blue and gold..."

"That was the colour of my dress. At that moment I thought she was a petty thief that wanted my bag of gold coins and I was ready to give her a lecture when she looked right into my eyes and we remained still, like made of stone."

"Was it love at first sight? How romantic," I whisper delighted looking at them.

"Yes I guess you can call it like that. The point is that I was the cause of a lot of trouble for Terra because I didn't want to turn into a vampire after she revealed her true nature. My life was wonderful as it was and I enjoyed my youth... she pestered me for months trying to persuade me."

"What happened?"

"The plague happened... and not one of the worst that hit Europe during those years, but a lot of people died, my baby daughter included." Suddenly, Ruby's bright eyes darkened due to her pain despite they were still breathtakingly beautiful. "I realized human life is fragile and got pretty scared, I ran out of my palace that night and threw myself to Terra's arms... I've never regretted my choice." Ruby winked at her making Terra roll her eyes hard although she smiled immediately. The sound of the entrance hall clock bells reminded me that it was getting late and I had some errands to run. I got up in a hurry and ran towards the door while saying:

"You two are so cute together but I can't talk anymore, I have to go to the store before it closes."

The last thing I saw was the expression half outraged, half shocked on their faces. I guess "cute" was not a word I should've linked with powerful and dangerous vampires.