Ender had kept himself busy as the women worked in the garden. There was little privacy in the home of vampires, heightened senses made it all too easy to eavesdrop on any conversation, but Ender had tried none the less.
He had spent a portion of the morning reviewing troop reports and armory inventory. Even while immersed in his work, he found it difficult to completely shut out the sound of Caroline's heartbeat thumping at alternating rhythms from the garden. Ender tried to convince himself it was her safety he was concerned about, but since when was someone's safety at the forefront of his mind?
Putting down the parchment onto his weathered desk, the vampire decided some fresh air would be beneficial. Two hundred years of raids and war, and somehow this woman had wormed her way into his brain. The thought was both unsettling and refreshing.
