Ryvian sat down at the large table next to Arkonus as the servants brought out their dinner.
A beautifully plated chicken and roasted veggie dish.
As one of the servants filled up his wine glass Lord Arkonus stroked the stubble on his chin looking like he was deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" Ryvian asked.
Taken aback by her direct question he cleared his throat.
"Well, I was thinking that maybe working and living in the city might be too dangerous for you. At least for now." He said, as he sipped his wine.
"So I was thinking of offering you a job here. If you wanted it"
Ryvian almost choked on her food.
"Here? Meaning I wouldn't have to go into the city again?" She asked. She couldn't imagine working for a vampire and the thoughts of what he might ask her to do weighed heavy on her, but it was much better than being in the city again.
"Only if you want to of course and you would be free to leave at any time." He said watching her reactions closely.
"I accept," she said quickly. "I really didn't want to have to go back to the city" she was both happy and anxious.
Arkonus looked surprised.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have made arrangements" he asked her. "I thought living with and serving a vampire would bother you too much or else I would have offered earlier"
Ryvian thought carefully for a second before speaking.
"I… admit that you being a vampire is hard for me to accept. My past with your kind has been far from good." She said slowly "but you don't seem too bad so far. And you have been very courteous to me and even protected me from those men in the city"
Arkonus nodded and smiled. He seemed glad to have gotten on Ryvians good side.
"I feel like I should tell you about my past, just so you understand why I feel animosity towards your kind" Ryvian said as she pushed her food around on her plate.
Arkonus leaned forward onto his hands attentively.
"You don't have to if you don't want to" he said gently.
Ryvian shook her head.
"It's definitely hard for me to talk about, especially because some of my memories are missing, but nevertheless I feel like it's important that you know" she said as she took a deep, leveling breath.
She launched into the story of how her and her parents had been very happy and had lived in another city. But when her father had gotten into gambling when she was 3, they became money hungry and had moved to the city in hopes of finding a better job. It didn't take long before they fell into poverty and heavy drug use. Ryvian explained that at 5 years old her parents sold her to a vampire named Dorimier in order to pay off their debts.
Arkonus's eyes widened in recognition as he heard the name. And he placed his hand in front of his mouth as he realized just how dark her story was about to become.
She continued to explain that Dorimier used her as a guinea pig for all of his experiments, not once telling her what they were for. All she remembered were the constant injections of strange liquids and the pain and sickness they often caused.
She stared down at her half eaten plate of food.
"I have a lot of missing memories as well from that time, but about a year ago Dorimier got into it with another vampire and he was murdered in front of me." She said, shivering as she remembered the bloody scene.
Arkonus was absolutely horrified by her story and he gently patted her shoulder.
"I'm not gonna let that happen to you again" he said firmly, making and holding eye contact with her so she knew he was being serious.
She nodded, a small amount of relief bubbling up inside of her.
I can't trust him, he's a vampire.
She thought to herself. But she wanted so badly to believe his words.
Arkonus suddenly clapped his hands together, startling Ryvian.
"On a happier note" he said as servants entered the dining room with a large clouch.
"Happy Birthday!" He and the servants yelled as they opened the clouch to show a large purple cake with "Happy 18th Birthday Ryvian" written across the top.
Ryvian's eyes widened and began to water as one of the servants lit the 18 candles and they began singing happy birthday to her.
"Make a wish" Arkonus said as he motioned to the candles.
Ryvian let out a sob as she blew out the candles.
I wish I could stay here forever…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next few days were filled with hard work, but every moment was worth it to Ryvian.
Finally she felt like she had some amount of purpose and drive.
She shadowed under Otis, a very old man who was Arkonus's personal attendant.
He had apparently been Arkonus's attendant since he was a young man and he had now grown too old to do his job for much longer.
Ryvian started out with simple cleaning, but once she proved she was very capable with cleaning she moved up to care related jobs.
She still felt awkward around Lord Arkonus but it was getting easier.
She slowly dragged the brush through Arkonus's long, silky smooth black hair.
She blushed slightly as she realized how attractive he was with his hair down.
"Are you okay? You look flushed" Arkonus said as he looked at her through the mirror.
Ryvian blushed even harder and stared down at his hair.
"I-I'm fine, it's just a little warm in here" she stuttered.
When did she become like this? So soft and easily flustered.
Arkonus looked confused.
"Is it really? I can't feel temperature very well anymore" he said almost sadly.
Ryvian pulled his hair back into a sleek ponytail and stepped back.
"How did I do on your hair today?" She asked, trying to change the subject.
He looked himself over in the mirror and smiled.
"It looks very good, thank you Ryvian" he said as he got to his feet and turned around.
Otis walked in just as he got up and handed him a vial of dark green liquid and a glass of water.
She had just recently learned that Arkonus took a vampiric medication to help him keep his bloodlust at bay.
Arkonus had apparently been surviving by only drinking blood once a week which was completely unheard of with vampires.
Most vampires needed daily doses of blood, straight from the victim, in order to survive.
Ryvian grimaced as she watched him slug down the gross looking liquid and then chug his water directly after.
"You can stay if you want, but I'm about to get changed" Arkonus said as he opened his dresser drawer. A small teasing smirk on his face.
Ryvian blushed even harder than before and hurriedly walked out the door.
"I guess it really must be warm in here" Arkonus chuckled as she left.
Otis stood outside the door. His usual emotionless and stern self giving off an unwelcome energy.
He grabbed Ryvian gently by the arm as she tried to rush down the hallway.
"You're not done yet" he said quietly. "We wait 53 more seconds and then you will enter the room again to help him button his vest and tie his tie"
"Why can't he button his own vest?" Ryvian asked in a whisper.
Otis leaned forward and whispered back
"Lord Arkonus has nerve damage in his hands." He said "he has trouble with small movements such as buttoning thing's"
Ryvian looked confused but Otis pushed her to the door.
"Hurry up and help him. He tries to do it himself and gets frustrated" he said as he motioned for her to open the door.
She gulped and entered the room.
Thankfully Arkonus had successfully changed into new black dress pants, but both his long sleeved grey button down and his black vest were unbuttoned and his black tie hung loosely around his shoulders.
He turned around and opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he saw it was Ryvian.
"Oh, I guess it would make sense that Otis would want you to take this over as well" he said awkwardly.
Ryvian nodded and tried her best not to stare at his abs and bare chest.
She awkwardly cleared her throat as she began buttoning his button down shirt, her hands shaking.
"If you don't mind me asking, why do you have nerve damage in your hands?" She asked and she did the last button on his shirt and moved to the vest. "I thought vampires could heal anything."
Arkonus suddenly looked sad and a little embarrassed.
"It's an injury from when I was a teen." He said sadly. "I'm not sure how much you know about vampire royalty, but all of us are born vampires and not turned. My life in the beginning was far from enjoyable and at the time the thought of living for an eternity was too much for me…" he trailed off as he showed Ryvian the deep scars on his wrists.
Ryvian looked down at them sadly, knowing all too well the feeling of wanting to give up.
"Most injuries we can heal, but I think these ones stayed around for a mental reason. They haven't faded in all these years and I still struggle with fine motor movements and sensations" he said as he clenched and unclenched his hands.
Ryvian stood on her tipytoes as she tried to tie his tie.
Arkonus's face went from one of sadness to amusement as he realized Ryvian was too short to tie it.
He leaned down to make it easier for her and she laughed as she realized the ridiculous height difference as well.
"I know vampires are really tall, but wow" she said, still laughing.
She finished tying his tie and gave his chest a gentle pat.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you're alive" she said with a gentle smile.
Several expressions flitted across Arkonus's face, but eventually landed on a soft grateful smile.
The moment was interrupted as Otis knocked and entered the room.
"I hate to interrupt my lord but you must leave soon" he said, offering Arkonus his black trench coat.
Arkonus nodded and took it.
"Where are you going?" Ryvian asked as Arkonus grabbed his gold pocket watch from the dresser and stuffed it into his vest pocket.
"A meeting with the other vampire royalty." He said, already looking exhausted by the mere thought of it. "We're discussing what to do about the influx of Hunters and HAL incidents"
"HAL?" Asked Ryvian as she followed him down the stairs and to the front door "What's that?"
"It's a group of vampires that think all humans should be beneath vampires. The acronym means 'Humans Are Livestock'" he explained as he put on his black leather boots.
"I'm hoping the other royals will take them seriously now that they are threatening our secrecy and openly breaking rules."
He grabbed an umbrella from next to the door and gave Ryvian a small wave.
"I won't be back until pretty late, don't stay up for me" he said with a smile as he left.
As soon as the door closed Ryvian felt alone.
This was the first time Arkonus had left the Estate since Ryvian had come to stay.
Otis and the other servant's were great and kept her company, but she already missed chatting with Arkonus while he sorted through piles of paper and signed documents.
Otis told her she was free from duties for the rest of the night so she made herself comfortable in the library.
Halfway through a good book she fell into a deep sleep.