Chapter Text
Italy. It was nice, near the beginning of the summer. Elayn found herself staying up late to greet the sun in the morning, something she didn't normally do considering her mate's aversion to it. And even in the night, the countryside was still beautiful. The flowers in the meadows she and Serana passed as they traveled filled the air with a sweet scent, one that lingered when Elayn broke away from the road to collect a handful of those flowers so she could shape them into a woven crown that made Serana giggle when she set it on her head. By night they met few other travelers on the road, and walked hand in hand whenever they had the opportunity.
Vicenza wasn't more than a day or so from the border, and it was the first place Elayn had been in a long while that could be called a city. They entered just as the sun was going down, Serana wearing a heavy hood to escape the few rays shining over the horizon. They passed without too much trouble, not being the only ones entering through the gate at that time. Salem bade them a temporary farewell.
Too many people to notice me, they said, tail flicking. I will go and hunt until your business here is done.
There was something strange about the city. At first, Elayn barely noticed anything about the hustle and bustle she knew was life in a city. It was Serana that mentioned, under her breath, “Do these people seem a little… Off, to you? “
Now that she knew she was looking, Elayn cast a more perceptive eye around. The people still on the streets went about their business with their heads ducked, eyes flat and somber. “Something is wrong,” she replied after a few moments gazing around. “I smell fear.”
There were few places better for two weary travelers to hear the news around the town but the market. It was nearly time for the shopkeepers to board up their wares, but there were still a few people milling about.
Elayn made for a merchant selling dried meats and paid for a strip of goat with a few coppers. While she ate, Serana talked to the woman selling.
“It's a damn shame,” the elderly woman said, sharpening her knife. “Children in the church's care dying, sickness spreading through the streets, and the Father, bless his soul, just passed at the end of this last week.”
She shook her head mournfully and repeated, “A damn shame. This city used to be so nice. Now we're starting to lose that spark. You two shouldn't stay here long, lest you catch ill yourselves.”
Serana thanked her and she and Elayn went looking for a place to sleep. “What do you think?” she asked, casting a glance at Elayn. “Vampires?”
“In a town like this?” Elayn took a quick look around at the many, many cross and crucifix decorations. Serana would have to be careful around those. “I don't think so. These folks seem a bit too prepared, and the catholics are strong in this country.”
She nodded, a sweet, thoughtful furrow between her brows. “But there's something going on.”
Elayn heaved a sigh. “Of course, you want to find out what.” Her words were said with exhaustion, but the sly smile that crept across her face told Serana she was joking.
Her mistress pouted anyway. “We could leave, if you really wanted to.”
She responded by pulling Serana into an alleyway without witnesses and pressing her against a wall to kiss her soundly. When they came up for breath, her mistress was smiling, and they walked on in companionable silence.
A street down from the edge of the market, there was a tavern. Elayn could hear the boisterous sounds of a good time before she saw the building. She felt herself make an involuntary face as she held the door open for Serana to walk past, and got a nose full of grease, yeast, and sweaty man-beast. Serana smiled knowingly at her, and the nightshade-moonlight scent that was hers wafted by and left Elayn blissfully mindless for a beat before she followed her in.
“A bedroom, please,” Serana said to the man behind the bar who was cleaning a wooden mug with a dirty towel.
He eyed the two of them. “How many beds?”
“Just the one.”
The man behind the bar got a funny look on his face, much like the one Elayn had gotten walking in. “You two sisters?”
“Cousins,” Elayn said, cutting in as she recognized danger. “Just traveling from Germany to visit family.”
He gave them another long look and she could not tell if he had bought it. But when Serana passed him coins, he took them readily enough and handed over a key. “Up the stairs, first on the right,” he grunted, and once more coins came his way for food to be brought to them, it was as if they had never been there at all.
Elayn hid her scowl until they were behind closed doors. “Fucking Christians,” she spat, careful to keep her voice down.
Serana turned around, halfway to the bed, looking surprised. “Wait, what?”
She gestured behind her, in the direction of the barkeep. “We're going to have to be careful here, with how much power the church has. They don't look kindly on… people like us.”
Her mistress blinked, as though Elayn's explanation had not clarified anything. “He couldn't tell what we were, could he? I know human noses aren't that keen.”
“Not what we are,” she said. “What we are to each other. Two women, two men, the church spits on both kinds of bonds.”
Understanding dawned on Serana's face, followed by anger. “I remember my mother mentioning something about that once, though at the time I didn't understand what she meant.”
“Humans are backward,” Elayn said, sighing as she felt tension bleed from her shoulders, and she crossed to the bed so she could collapse on it on her back.
“But wait,” her mistress said, sitting on the edge of the bed by her legs. “When you kissed me earlier, you knew it was a danger?”
Elayn smirked. “It was entirely worth it, I promise you.”
“Damn it, Elayn,” Serana said, but she laughed as she did, and swatted at her legs. “Be more careful.”
“Yes mistress,” she said, in a rumbly voice that brought a flush to Serana's pale face, and talking stopped in favor of--
Well, it was something the church would frown upon.