Part
One
The vampiress spy stares at the reflection at her feet, into the murky puddle, which shows a face she hardly recognizes.
Pale skin, of course. Gaunt features, high cheekbones that dip into a sharp chin. A perfect porcelain sheen that looks more like a doll than former human. Or at least it would be a perfect sheen if there wasn’t the cruel scar across her cheek that digs deep from temple to chin.
Commander Leyft gave her that cut weeks ago. He smacked her with his sword for being too slow for a job. He thought he was hitting her with his sword sheathed, allegedly, but no, it was the full edge of steel.
For some reason, the wound hasn’t healed properly—not how a vampire’s wound typically heals. It’s ruined any beauty she still had since turning into a fullblood and is a constant reminder of her failings.
She wishes she could feel something, looking at herself. Some kind of human emotion. But there’s nothing there. Just a taut frown, a sigh, and she turns around at the bark from Lefyt.
“Cadet Amelie, are you star-gazing again?!” the man screeches.
Amelie is an alias. All spies have them. It was the name of her mother, who has long been dead and forgotten to the annals of history. Spies like her don’t make it into the history books. They are forgotten, no matter how much they contribute to changing society.
She feels society is on the brink of such change. Olhav and Nuhav are close to war, and the vampires of the mountain city hold the edge, as usual. The blade against the proverbial cheek of their subordinates.
The Nuhavians won’t go quietly, however. They’re a sturdy bunch, those humans, after fighting for over a century for theirfreedom. They have some stubborn leaders who are unwilling to bend the knee to the Five Ministries—called the Three Ministries, now, due to recent circumstances.
Some of those unbreakable people are even vampires themselves. To the vampiress spy, it seems the lines are becoming blurred. Resistance is futile but revolution is guaranteed.
She sees no way for the twin cities to live in harmony, in peace. Still, she’ll do everything she can to help the guide the civilizations toward that end—society be damned.
“Overlord Aramastun wants you back at Sutlis Spire,” Lefyt tells her. “Where you can’t fuck things up.”
It’s a blessing for the vampiress spy. She nods diligently, says, “Yes sir, as you command,” and the next evening she’s transferred.
Transferred closer to her target—the vampire lord everyone is talking about. The one everyone is waiting with bated breath to see what he does.
She still has some time to her own, this vampiress spy, because as much work as she has to do for Aramastun’s army, the forgotten ones are always the ones who can sneak around easiest.
And thus, this is how the girl called Amelie finds herself in the throne room of adifferentleader of Olhav.
Overliege Liolen Sesk is a beautiful, prudent being. Possibly a man, possibly a woman, no one really knows, and it doesn’t really matter. Commerce runs through the Gilded Liege in Olhav. They may just be as powerful as the Night Judge himself, Overlord Aramastun Wyvox.
It doesn’t matter to the vampiress spy. Who cares who wins or losses, when the entire civilization will hopefully be brought to its knees before too long?
Staring out from Overliege Liolen’s many balconies, she peers at the giant jutting tower in the distance, in the center of Olhav. Rising up, up into the clouds, where its highest floors have become a dilapidated ruin.
Liolen’s voice is high and airy behind her. “Well met, my little agent. You have information regarding my dear overlord’s movements, yes?”
The vampiress spy nods. “Yes, overliege.”
Liolen Sesk, being an interfolk vampirex, is amenable to the outcasts of society, such as the vampiress spy’s dead lover. It’s why she and Liolen can get along and work together.
“Then tell me what you know . . .” Liolen trails off, draping a thin arm over her shoulder. They notice she’s staring at Sutlis Spire in the distance, that high tower with the dilapidated top half. “Ah. Sutlis. Your new post. You remember it?”
How could she not?
She helped turn it into the dilapidated ruin it is today, after all.
Chapter 1
Sephania
The vampires are hot on our trail.