Dhampirica

VII

LORD DANTE WAS even more ill-tempered the next day, choosing to ignore Yvanna as best he could and offering her begrudging one-word responses only where necessary, except for when he ordered her to go "wait somewhere I can't see you" when it was feeding time. The day passed by with all the ease of trying to do jumping jacks with a broken rib. However, she was fine with Lord Dante's temper, so long as his temper remained where she could see it.

Come nighttime, Yvanna found herself invited to dine with Lord Riccardo, who had returned home the one of the few days a week he was here. It was then that she was introduced to his minder, Royce, who was a reserved man and many years her senior — though he looked to be not a decade older. Lord Dante also dined with them that night. It seemed to be custom for the two to eat at the table together on the nights Lord Riccardo was home, uncomfortably quiet as it was.

When Saturday arrived and it was time for Lord Dante's morning fencing class, she found herself thrust into the painfully awkward position of being his opponent, as his usual sparring partner had taken a leave of absence for the next fortnight.

Though Yvanna had practiced using blades before — usually half the size than that of a sword — she had negligible experience in fencing. Since her inexperience was obvious, Lord Dante had abandoned his usual choice of weapon, the foil, and had them spar with the epee instead, which had less rules. She learned that she was allowed to attack him anywhere, but that her hits would only count if she struck him with the tip of her weapon.

Lord Dante was unsurprisingly merciless, and his reflexes were as quick as lightning. She found herself being prodded and jabbed all over the place, and she was certain she could expect bruising once the fight was over. After a time, she was able to dodge some of his attacks — her own reflexes were nothing to sneeze at, after all. She even managed to land a single hit on him with the side of her blade, but was immediately scolded by the instructor for the foul hit. By the end of the lesson, she was just grateful that he never managed to knock her to the ground and humiliate her further. She could be glad for her lifelong training granting her that, at the very least.

And when Lord Dante wore a self-satisfied expression on the way home, she chose to ignore it.

Come Monday, Yvanna was pleasantly surprised to discover West at Invictus Academy, accompanying his noble to his classes. He told her that Lord Aaron was at Invictus every Monday and Friday, and homeschooled on the days in-between, but that this was his first day back. Since the attack on Lady Ingrid, he had been homeschooled full-time until West was appointed as his new minder. And in the past week, they had not attended school due to family visiting from Germany.

At lunchtime, Lord Dante elected to spend his break outside, in the company of Lord Aaron. Yvanna sat in the grass several yards away with West, close enough to hear their voices, but not their exact words. She would have preferred to sit closer, but Lord Dante had shooed her away. She watched them interact like long-lost friends, and perhaps they were. Lord Aaron had been kept under close supervision by his parents ever since what happened to his sister.

"How is it?" she asked West. "Being an official minder?"

He smiled. "I feel like I'm finally doing what I was born to do."

She understood that feeling. Perhaps every dhampir did. There was no other purpose for which they were born unto.

"And you?" he returned. "Is this everything you hoped it would be?"

In spite of herself, Yvanna found herself frowning. Serving the Romaniello family was no small thing — an honor greater than most other dhampiri got to experience. Lord Riccardo had great influence in the Executive Council. Some might even say that his influence rivaled that of any other noble family.