The chief scout chuckled.
"These are their internal intrigues!"
"Explain."
"The priests from our shore are quite offended with the bishop. They believe he does little to eradicate the non-humans and generally does little for the Light..." Seeing the triumvir's confusion, he explained, "It's simply a power struggle! The priest from Pleshina wants to take the bishop's place. He is supported in this by the priests from Sands and Peatbog. That's why all the victory reports go directly to the archbishop in Kas! But in Savoyardi, the bishop only gets a headache. They presented the massacre we inflicted on the goblins as their own victory, almost in defiance of the bishop's actions. That's why he knows nothing."
"How quaint. Then your top priorities are the blood of the bishop, the mage, the baron's bride, and her father."
"It will be done. But approaching the bishop and the mage is not easy."
"Think! We have a campaign approaching!"
All that remained was to nod and find ways to obtain such valuable information and blood.
***
"Well, you scum, bandits, and killers. You've been given a unique chance, not just to die in the mines! But to die in the name of science and knowledge! And maybe even get a chance at life! Especially if you teach us what we want!"
Maria paced in front of the line of new convicts just delivered to her. This was already the third batch that the vampires had secretly bought from the royal representative. It had become something of a ritual for her to line up the newcomers in the hall of her assigned tower and brief them. Little remained of the girl who had been shy about her nudity in the woods.
She was now a tough woman who knew what she wanted. At times audacious and completely self-assured. Now she walked alone in front of six cold-blooded killers and provoked them. All the convicts were free from any chains, and besides her, there was no one else in the hall. The constables had been dismissed.
"Aren't you afraid, girl, that we'll teach you something you won't like?"
The vampire suddenly moved towards the speaker, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him off the ground.
"Are you going to teach me, wretch?"
The man's body flew into the wall. The girl stepped out in front of the line again, glaring menacingly at the silenced men.
"Get up, meat!"
The man by the wall barely stirred.
"Get up, or I'll break your legs!"
Groaning, the convict started to rise slowly. The impact on the wall had been too strong, and he still hadn't recovered. The others stood still. This batch was the calmest. The first had rushed at her in a mob as soon as they realized they were alone with the fragile girl, and the second batch had been a little smarter but still attempted to harm their new mistress; they had all done so. Finally, the boldest, or stupidest, of this batch staggered into line.
"Kneel, scum!"
The men obediently obeyed the command.
"You can resist. You can try to escape. But you chose your fate when you became soul killers. And now you'll get what's coming to you. Because you've fallen into the hands of creatures more dangerous than you."
The vampire bared her fangs. To those listening attentively, it seemed as if the girl had grown fangs. Those kneeling together made a joint attempt to move away from the suddenly dangerous woman.
"Are you afraid? Rightly so. You should fear me. Then maybe you'll live a little longer, scum. And now freeze and don't move!"
Maria approached the first of the convicts, a young light-haired boy about eighteen years old. The youth visibly trembled and even attempted to jerk his head away when the girl's palm approached, but managed to control himself and forced his head back into its previous position.
"Good doggie! Obedient."
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