Page 13 of Rite of Blood and Secrets

"I don't want this life."

"It's not really your choice," Eliza says. "You can go back to town if you want. I can take you down to the front of the castle and order you a carriage. But you'll die the moment the sun touches your skin. Is that something you're willing to chance?"

I look down at Pip, wondering what would happen to her if Eliza is telling the truth. Though I don't know what will happen to her even if I stay.

"Things will go a lot smoother for you if you don't fight it," Eliza promises. "And it's really not so bad."

"But...blood."

"You don't have to think about it too much," she promises. "Mostly, it's brought to us like wine, and I'm assured that it's ethically sourced."

I swallow hard. "What's that even mean?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I try not to ask questions about it. Ah, here we are, this is your room." She pushes open a door and gestures for me to step inside.

"My room?" I echo.

"They knew you were coming," she says.

I follow her in with Pip coming at my heels.

"Though they didn't tell me about your dog, so I haven't prepared anything for her. But that's all right, it won't take long to get her a bed and anything else she needs."

"You're not going to make me give her up?"

"What? No, of course not. I still have my cat from when I was a dhampir. He's called Mr Purr, you'll meet him before long, he's always running around."

I look down at Pip, tears forming in the corners of my eyes. I don't think I realised how worried about her I was. I don't want to be parted from her, but Bastian has been so strange about her presence.

"Now, we should find you a new dress," she says, heading towards the wardrobe with purpose.

"A new dress? What do I need one for?"

"Because the one you're wearing doesn't fit you properly."

I grimace. She's not wrong, but I hate the idea that I've been looking untidy even if it's not my most important concern at the moment. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only to someone with a trained eye. But more to the point, you can't be a Fallmartin and wear something like that. We're from an important House and at midnight, you'll be presented to the rest of the court. You need to look the part. Aha, this is the one." She pulls out a striking deep red dress with black overskirts. "It's the House colour."

"I don't even know what that means."

"There are books in the library, I'll show you tomorrow," she promises. "All you need to know for now is that you're part of a powerful noble House. Unfortunately, they're a bit short of heirs since my father died."

"Don't you and Bella count?" I ask.

She rolls her eyes. "To some of the more forward-thinking Houses, we would, but for House Rothorne, it's a boy or nothing. That's why our House name and our family name are different. If you didn't have your brother, you'd probably have been left in town to die tomorrow." She gestures for me to take off my dress.

I hesitate for a moment, then realise there really isn't anything wrong with changing into a better dress. "I would have died regardless of coming here?"

"It's something about dhampir coming of age. Once we're eighteen, we have until the next Golden Moon to be accepted by our House, or we die. No one wants too much vampiric blood running around unchecked, that could lead to rebellions."

"We wouldn't want that," I mutter.

Eliza reaches out to take Pip's rope from me. It's hard to actually let go of it.

"I promise you nothing bad will happen to her. She can just sit on the bed while we get you ready."

I nod. Despite the situation, I do kind of want to trust her. I let go of the rope, my heart hammering in my chest as Eliza takes it.

---