Riona was starting to get a crash course in reality. She had always thought her life at the royal palace was the height of suffering—bullied and treated like a glorified servant.
But now, as she surveyed her current situation, she realized she had been living the high life. Even the artificial blood she'd scorned was a luxury she'd taken for granted.
She struggled to understand how vampires of old could hunt and drink blood directly from humans. She had heard that fresh blood tasted different, and she had hoped it would be an improvement.
Instead, she found it merely different in an unpleasant way.
The raw animal blood she had consumed while fleeing the Kingdom of Eira had a distinctly fishy smell. It was so sweet that it left a bitter aftertaste. It was a bit like drinking liquid garbage, only less appealing.
