Tea Party

“This is ridiculous,” Sasha said, sitting opposite to me. The male human beside me was giggling as I sprayed his wrist into my cup. He was cute and would make a rather nice snack later in the day for separate matters. I swirled the warm blood in my china cup.

“Oh, I’m sorry did you want one?” I asked offering her my glass. I stirred in a few herbs that I delighted in. She refused my offer. By how boldly she denied me it was evident she had never seen a fancy fucking tea before. “I accommodated twelve different types of herbal teas especially for you, you simply have to choose one.”

I pointed to the table between us that had an assortment of biscuits and such to keep my human well fed. We sat in the botanic garden that was fluttering with butterflies and birds. I was certain there were even exotic animals such as tigers in here. It had been so many years since I had personal guests and used this space that I wasn’t sure what lived in here anymore.

“I still don’t understand why you had me taken from my position and guarding the wall to have a tea party with you,” she seethed, and oh how she was angry.

“Sasha you seem like an angry person,” I began as point of conversation. I set my blue china cup down and uncrossed my legs. “Maybe I can teach you to loosen up. I’m certain that eventually you will be so daring as to give me a smile.”

She stared at me in disbelief. “Many of my men and women have died protecting your walls… so you can have tea parties. Forgive me that I don’t see light-hearted humor in this meeting.”

“You’re forgiven.” I shrugged my shoulders accepting her insincere apology. “So obviously no boyfriend then?” I asked, crossing my legs. Not that I cared if she did. It would make no difference to me. If looks could kill, I’d be dead. I let a coy smile out. How I delighted in that hatred. I picked up my tea, taking a mouthful of the coppery herbs. I was praying on the beating vein in her neck. I could be consuming the very creature sitting before me instead of entertaining her in this sophisticated stage that I never used. “Tell me Sasha, how do you see me?”

She responded without hesitation. “I think that you’ve gone crazy during the hundreds of years that you’ve lived. You lack in ambition and act as your brothers lap dog. I’m surprised very few have attempted to take your life and genuinely believe that your arrogance will be your undoing.”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “No, no, I meant my looks. Are you attracted to me?” She looked at me dumbfounded and I charmed her another smile. “Play with me.”

She looked away with a sigh that sounded imprisoned for eternity. I took a loud sip to draw her attention back to me. Tick tock. Tick tock. The mouse will come around the clock. She turned again and straightened her shoulders. Much to my shock she flashed her pearly whites with a smile that I thought I would never see.

“Well,” she purred. “You look to be a man in his late twenties. You have pale, smooth, and beautiful skin. Well built in frame, muscular, six foot six in height. You have nice trimmed black hair with a little bit of shadow instead of a full-grown beard. You have a strong muscular jaw and pointed nose with bold dark eyebrows that so beautifully frame those piercing blue eyes that seem to look into my soul every time our eyes meet. You hold a daring confidence that lets any woman in the room know that you are no good for her.” I prompted her to continue. This was the conversation I had been waiting for in the last twenty-four hours. She provided pause and I took that in with a smile. She was attracted to me. “Such a beautiful man, such an intoxicating vampire. And yet,” the charming smile she held vanished. “I find myself utterly repulsed.”

I slowly put my tea down not letting my gaze drop from hers. “Are you certain repulsive is the word you meant to use?”

“Undeniably.” She said dryly.

“You know I could have you dead for saying such a thing to me.”

“And if you were going to, you would have done so by now,” she added finally taking interest in the selections of tea. “I’m not scared of death, therefor, I’m not scared of you.”

“There are worse things than death,” I added, taking interest in her selection of teas. This entire setting was too much even for me. The herbs were disgusting, and my cup of blood was already going cold.

“The only thing that is worse than death is defying it,” she said looking up at me.

“You mean becoming a vampire. Tell me, why does the daughter of Captain to our Wall Guard hate the monsters that she is protecting so much?” This was nice. Entertaining the novelty of pretending to care how a human mind functioned.

“Unlike some, I’ve come to terms with the monsters we live amongst and work for. What I can’t justify is that we are trapped within these walls.” I could relate to that. I hated when the walls first went up and my discovery of the world was left to bleed. I could leave at any time but found small pits of entertainment amongst this establishment until I grew too bored of it. Beyond the walls were the same. We were limited and I had already travelled all there was to see.

“We provide you safety from other Kingdoms that might not treat you so well. Humans wouldn’t survive on their own for a week out there.” There were rebel vampires who didn’t belong to any one Kingdom. They would seek them out within days if they ventured on their own outside.

“And yet we’re the ones guarding your walls and protecting you,” she said sitting forward to lean over the table. I replicated her movement, so we were nose to nose.

“And it’s our reputation that keeps majority of them away in the first place. Do you really think you’d be safe without the monsters that slept within the wall? No one would dare challenge us. And if they do, I can kill them singlehandedly. Not your party of humans who think so highly of themselves.”

“That’s rich coming from you,” she seethed.

“Your majesty,” one of the servants cleared his throat to draw my attention. I snarled irritated that he had interrupted. This conversation was just becoming heated. Sasha reclined back into her chair. “They are ready.”

Well, that put a smile on my face. “Well little mouse, show me what you can do. I’ve acquired five interior guards, all of which are vampire of course. They are average at best; I want to see how efficient my human bodyguard is.”

“You want me to show you how I fight?” she asked almost insulted.

“Is five too much? I can make it less?” Humans were naturally weaker in every aspect opposed to a vampire. They had all the odds against them which is why I was so curious as to whether this little mouse had the right to speak so confidently. It didn’t take long for her to take my bait and prepare to showcase why she was so bold. Servants pushed back the table and chairs so I could comfortably watch from a distance with my cup and pinkie poised.

I thought that the guards would take her less seriously, but it was the opposite. They seemed determined to kick her ass. They were told well in advance that none of them were to bite or kill her. If any of them stepped out of my instruction, I would kill all five. They were allowed to rough her up, sure why not.

“Sasha, Darling, if it gets all a little too much just wave your white flag, okay?” I antagonized. She ignored me as she collected the two swords from her back. She had other weapons that decorated her muscular frame. She swung them around having a feel for their weight and how they glided.