Their protestations did not assure Agata since tongues were already wagging. Agata slipped out of bed and covered herself in a robe. Her feet were cold on the stone floor. She reached for her door, but thinking better of it, she rang for her maid.

Elana’s candle flame flickered as she opened her door. “My lady?”

“Come with me to the kitchen? Last night, I had such a fright, I fear going the kitchens on my own, but I didn’t eat enough at dinner. The attack and the ugliness with Father Bogdan weighs on my heart.”

“Certainly, my lady,” Elana said, “If you don’t mind me saying so, it is unlucky to quarrel with a priest, the countess ought to be more careful. What if he puts the evil eye on you?”

“I fear thinking of such things,” Agata said softly as she embraced herself and rubbed the ache from her arms. Though in reality, she feared Bogdan’s loose tongue convincing Mihai that he be permitted to marry Agata and take her house than the evil eye.

Elana put an arm out. Agata allowed herself to be comforted by the other woman closeness. Her stomach cramped in hunger. The scent of Elana’s flesh made Agata salivate. Ignoring the urge to bite her maid, Agata crossed the halls of plaster walls. What if the Legatus is real? What if he attacked me? No. I don’t believe in vampires.

There was power in gold and silver, parsley and garlic, but not because they could ward off vampires. Infants met death at a midwife’s hand because if they were born with a caul, it was thought they were cursed to become vampires. She had witnessed too many instances of infected, untended wounds that might have healed with a good scrubbing of potash soap instead blamed on vampires. Vampires were even blamed when a starving peasant elder failed to recover from a winter’s chill when a hot meal might have saved them.

Agata bit the inside of her cheek; trying to pinch the craving away. She looked away from Elana’s neck. The walls of the long corridor were painted green, but everything seemed black flickering in the candlelight. They passed several tapestries and the carved pillar showing Jakub’s family heraldry with his emblem in the cadet position.

They slipped into the kitchen. The maid lit several candles. Light flickered around the room, casting the women in comforting softness.

The two hounds which the manservant kept looked up at them and wagged their tails in unison. The maid sliced off a hunk of yesterday’s bread and set in on a plate.

Agata swallowed a bite. It tasted like ash in her mouth. As naturally as she could, she broke the rest of the piece in two and threw it to the dogs. They gobbled up the morsel as if their lives depended on it.

Meat was what her body craved. “Do we have sausage in the pantry?”

“Indeed.” Elana sliced pieces of blood sausage and set it on the plate.

The hounds nuzzled her side, hoping for more. She listened to the creatures’ heartbeats. Their backs trembled under her hand as she pet them. Her mind wrapped around their primitive dog minds.

Food. Lady. Pet. Food. Food. Lady. Pet. Food.

She threw them pieces of sausage.

“Perhaps some milk or beer would help you sleep?” Elana asked.

Beer sounded awful, but perhaps milk would sooth Agata’s stomach. “Would you warm me some milk, please? And for yourself, if you wish it.”