The water was too hot to laze about in forever and eventually they needed to get ready for dinner. It turned out the hot springs were much closer to their accommodation than they’d realised and it was only a short walk back to the hotel from there.

  Amanda got dressed at the pools. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this clean. Not even her shower back home was this refreshing. She felt like a whole new person.

  Sirius and the others put their regular clothes back on and then got dressed up back at the hotel. Soon an escort arrived to take them to the dinner.

  Dinner was in what appeared to be the middle of a functioning restaurant, near the back in a long room with a very long wooden table. This room was lit purely by candlelight. Amanda suspected that was more for aesthetics than functionality given the use of electrics everywhere else. The walls had been carved into rectangular bricks to resemble an old-fashioned castle. Dark fabric in blacks and reds fell down around and across the various entranceways.

  It was fancier than Amanda had expected but not as fancy as she’d feared. If anything the outfits ranged across the board from relaxed bright coloured wraps all the way up to glittery sequinned ball-dresses. And none of the crew she was with appeared to be wearing anything that fitted properly. Neko suited the wild theme the closest, with a cornflower blue coloured suit, not too far off in colour from her own dress, although it was large enough that it looked like it was trying to eat him. Sirius’s suit was the opposite and she could see why he didn’t like it. It obviously pinched him in multiple places and he kept tugging at it and trying to adjust it. Shiv’s suit fit fine but it looked like it hadn’t been washed since he’d bought it, possibly over a decade ago. There was a stain on one sleeve, and few drops on the front, both of which looked suspiciously like blood.

  There were other crews in attendance that she could see as well, all of whom had achieved varying levels of success with the attire and all of whom were easy to spot. But the locals didn’t seem to be shunning them for it. Conversation was vibrant and everyone mingled in among one another rather than staying in their groups.

  Beatrice swept over to greet them in something glamorous. It was black and sparkly and it came in tight near her ankles. Despite that, she seemed almost to glide across the floor with unsettling ease. Other vampires joined them and soon enough their group was spread out around the room as well.

  “They say the waters have magical powers,” Beatrice told her when the topic of the hot springs came up. “That a witch cast a spell on them many years ago. That is why we wash our dead in them.”

  “You what?” Amanda spluttered. She remembered how Beatrice had talked about boiling their dead clean with the hot spring water but she hadn’t considered that it might be the same water they’d been bathing in.

  Beatrice, seeing the look on her face quickly assured her that it was different water. “We siphon some of it off before it gets sent to the public springs, “ she explained. “Although there is a blood spring which isn’t even exclusively enjoyed by vampires alone. We have the view here at Cap of conservation and renewal and that is a view shared by some witches as well. There are some who believe it is what keeps us young.” She shook her head, suggesting that was a flawed assumption. “It does have great spiritual meaning to us though. The body and all its outputs are precious things. To bathe in the blood of a loved one who has died is to absorb a part of who they were and sort of a way to keep them alive.” She sighed. “It is a pity Sirius didn’t manage to save some of those beetles who fed on my brothers, and that the beetles themselves had to die but I suppose it is better than nothing. It’s certainly better than having them rotting in the ground.”

  “Wouldn’t that still feed their life back into the earth?” Amanda asked carefully. She wasn’t sure if the question would offend Beatrice but she was too curious not to ask.

  Beatrice was quiet a moment and then she replied with a smile, “Here we have a ancient saying, ‘Lu?ě jest poěden? byti ot? l?va, ne?e ot? kozy’. ‘It is better to be eaten by a lion than a goat.’ There is a hierarchy among all creatures you see and it is a great honour to be eaten by one above ones own status in life.”

  Amanda glanced briefly at the sharp tip of one of Beatrice’s long fangs. Was that how the vampires felt about those whose blood they drank? That they were doing them a favor too? Much of the world’s blood supply she knew was legally and consensually donated. But there were also large portions that weren’t, enough that the shipping and sale of blood in general was controversial in many places. And of course there were some vampires who preferred the old fashioned way of feeding. Blood wasn’t just used by vampires though. Sorcerers regularly used it in spells. That too was controversial however and sorcerers were a niche group. Shipping live animals for sacrifice was largely considered more acceptable, often cats and pigs.

  “So you say you recycle everything, what about sewage?” Amanda asked, deciding that Beatrice was not the sort of person who was likely to be offended by any question so long as it was asked with genuine interest.

  Beatrice laughed. “I can see why Sirius likes you. He has a curious mind too. Always with the questions. All sorts of things he asks. Although you are a little bolder I think. Do you really want to know though?”

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  Amanda hesitated.

  Beatrice laughed again. It was a pleasant laugh. The woman really was quite easy to like. “Well, we recycle that too. We have a very advanced filtering and fertilization system. Some of it is used to feed our underground rainforest. If you get the time you simply must see it, it’s quite the sight to behold.”

  It wasn’t long before they were all called to the table. Each seat was named and she was pleasantly surprised to see that hers was next to Sirius’s even though it seemed like the rest of them had all been split up. She suspected Beatrice’s doing though as the woman shot her a wink from further down the table.

  A vampire she didn’t recognise pulled out the chair to her left just as a large cooked lamb was placed on the table in front of them with the announcement of “first course.”

  “First course?” She widened her eyes and spoke to no one in particular. “Out of how many?” If there was more than a few she’d be stuffed full by the end of the evening, looking at all the other food they were already bringing out.

  “Seven,” said a voice beside her. It was the newcomer who she didn’t know. His nails were almost as long as his fangs and covered in ruby red stones. He smiled wide at her. “Oh, it’ll be good for you,” he reassured her. “To replace the blood you’re currently losing.”

  “Excuse me?” Had he just said what she thought he’d said? Even worse, she was certain the action had been accompanied by a sniff.

  “Oh, Harry, you’re so vulgar,” remarked Nigel from behind the two of them. Before Harry could take his seat, Nigel leaned forward and lifted the name placard off the table. “Why don’t you go and find where my name is. I’ve decided to take this seat tonight instead.”

  Harry skulked off without questioning Nigel in the slightest. Nigel took the seat to Amanda’s left. “I apologise for him,” Nigel said once he was seated.

  Amanda shut her mouth which she realised had been hanging open. “Did he just..? Can v…”

  Guessing her question Nigel answered. “Yes, a vampire can smell when a woman is on her period but it is usually considered rude to mention, especially to non-vampire woman. It is considered a compliment in some vampire societies, much like noticing a perfume, but you must be careful which societies. Harry has never travelled very far out of Cap I am afraid. It is a luxury many of us take for granted. Truthfully, it is something that is actually far more common among vampire societies in the north. Our colony was originally formed In the north and migrated down to Cap a long time ago and separately from many other southern colonies, especially those in the east. Unlike others, who moved out of necessity or who came through the splice from other locations and who either didn’t have or who lost their culture, we have remembered and kept many of the older traditions.”

  Amanda was glad that he kept talking. She was even more relieved when Sirius appeared at her other side although he was still half in conversation with Sandy.

  As Sandy made to leave for his own seat, Sirius waved him back and lowered his voice. “Uh, Sandy, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about later if you’ve got a moment. It’s to do with an incident-”

  Sandy cut him off with a nod. “Of course, of course, but not tonight. We can talk tomorrow morning. I’ll send someone over for you if you’re not too worried about timing. A lot of us work nights here. I’ll leave enough time before you need to depart. I’ve just got so many people to talk to tonight is all.”

  “Sure,” Sirius nodded and took his seat.

  “Something the matter?” Nigel asked.

  Sirius shook his head. “No, no, nothing to worry about.”

  Nigel nodded although his smile seemed a little strained for once.

  Sirius turned his attention to Amanda then. She told him what she’d learned and he in turn shared his own stories.

  There were indeed seven courses but it turned out this included three palette cleansers in between the mains which to Amanda just seemed like very small desserts, one course of a light fish, followed up by a course of bread, cheese, and cured meats, and then some strange not-quite sweet not quite-savory sticky dumpling like things with a soft filling.

  “You didn’t want to talk to Beatrice or Nigel about the attack?” Amanda asked Sirius later when they were alone in their room.

  He’d stripped off his suit almost the moment they’d walked into the room with a sigh of relief and was now walking around naked and seemed much more comfortable. It was a little distracting but he didn’t seem to have yet noticed the way her eyes were following him.

  He shook his head. “I didn’t want to worry them and Sandy is one of the older council members.”

  She frowned. “So you trust him more?”

  Sirius took a seat on the bed and sighed softly as if his body were filled with tension and worry that could only be let out one little piece at a time. Amanda longed to place her hands on him and make him feel better. She took a step toward him but his focus was elsewhere.

  He explained, “Sandy is less likely to go against the general wishes of the council. If he’s guilty of organising the attack on us there’s a very good chance they all are.”

  She took another step toward him. “Isn’t that dangerous, going to talk to him about it tomorrow?”

  Another sigh. “It is. But the council has the best chance of finding out who organised it. A group that professional won’t be working alone. If they can find out who organised it then they can stop it happening to others. Of course there is the option to just keep our noses out of it.” He fixed her with a look.

  He knew she’d never agree to ignore such a thing. That didn’t mean there weren’t other options. “Alone?” she asked, thinking it would be safer if they went together.

  He shook his head. “It’s better if I talk to him alone. Demonstrates more trust. Acting like I think there’s a possibility they organised it affects how much they trust us and potential future shipments. We aren’t quite as established as some other ships who come through here. Cap is still a relatively new port for us.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to ship blood?”

  A subtle smile. “It’s not just blood they ship. Capilliria is major commercial hub and a through-port for many expensive goods with a very elite clientele and a restrictive allowance on who can trade here but almost no restrictions on what can be traded. But they don’t care what you have to offer so much as who you are and how you interact with them.”

  “Tricky,” she remarked. Then she took another step toward him, a mischievous smile on her face.

  He stared down in thought for several seconds while she waited for his attention to return her way. Finally, after she’d been quiet for too long, he glanced up in confusion. He caught the look in her eye and how close she was getting to him. He smiled and she got to enjoy watching as he came fully to attention just for her.