The Help and the Reflection

If she wasn't careful, she was going to wear out the carpet. Well, what was left of it.

The Lady was walking paces in her room. After the embarrassment of realizing she was in basically PJs, Mira quickly whisked her back up to her chambers, making sure to get the handful of males to avert their gaze or else. Once hidden away, she was told to wait here while Mira went to go get some 'assistants'.

This left her time to her thoughts along with a few... tests. First, yes she couldn't see herself in the cracked mirror the room had. Second, it seemed like it was near Sunset which was enough sunlight to check something else. She didn't turn to dust when she stuck out her hand into the light but it did burn her. Like putting her hand under a faucet that was a little too hot. And her healing magic only made that worse.

"Oh... right, I remember something about healing magic hurting me." she thought as she closed the curtains once more, putting the room into darkness.

Well it was dark but she could see quite easily. Like built in night vision or... something closer to a cat's vision at night. But it wasn't bright green, no just everything looked a bit dimmer, with a washed out palette. But that color lit up when the door cracked open and light drifted in. Now that she thought about it, she had noticed lit candles and torches in the hall before.

That's what entered. A pair of candles held by a pair of women. One was the short brown haired woman from before, still in her maid outfit. But the other was older, to the point she was a little shorter than her company. The years literally wearing down on her. She kept her long white hair tied up in a bun, and her outfit was the same as the younger woman's only it seemed to fit her better. Or she wore it better. Yes, old as she was she held her body with a determined grace befitting of one that seemed to have worn the outfit before, several years in fact.

"Wait..., where'd that come from?" The Von Rosen thought to herself as the older woman lit a few more lights in the room.

"I suppose you are the Lady Von Rosen." She said, giving a curtsy that was quickly copied by the other woman, "Good Evening. My name is Isabel and this is Rena. We are here to be your chamber maids."

Isabel..., Mira had mentioned she had healed the arm of someone named Isabel. Hopefully that would give a little bit of good will when actively interacting with her. She approached the two and greeted them, trying to copy the curtsy as best she could back.

"Err... Hello and Welcome? May I ask a question..., why?"

She watched the reaction from the two. Isabel didn't seem to do anything, but Rena flinched just a bit at the question. The older woman just replied without much of a pause.

"Well, I used to be a maid here in my youth, before your time. And Rena also has some experience in working for nobles before she came to this land..."

"No, I mean..., I thank you for working for me Isabel but..., why are you doing this? I am a monster you know. I could backstab you all at any moment. I mean," She made a show of licking her lips, "You did just enter my room..., the room of a Vampire...,"

Rena went a little pale, taking a step back but tried to keep a professional look on her face as best she could. The slight buildup of sweat and increased heartbeat Von Rosen heard made it clear what she was thinking though. Isabel kept her poker face though. If she felt fear, she was very skilled at not showing it. That or she just has practice in dealing with..., threats from higher up the food chain.

"I admit, I am worried what you might do. But I have seen what you can do when given the opportunity. And.... I am far too old." her tone lowered a bit as her eyes looked away for just a moment, "I won't say I'm scared of **** but at the very least I would not want to be tortured. If you are going to backstab us, please make my own quick. Those bandits wouldn't have."

"And well..., I feel we should at least repay you as best we can...., and maybe," Rena fumbled out, "Maybe if we're useful you won't... eat us?"

"Ah. I see." The vampire put a hand to her forehead, "At least you're honest. I can at least get behind these reasons. Now I have no plans on what to do with you or the others just yet. All I have is just an idea but that needs some thought to it. And no, I won't eat you. If anything, letting you live would provide me more blood in the long term anyway. And it's not like I'm in a position to treat you as cattle anyway. How would I feed you all by myself anyway?"

It was true; she could just lock them in the dungeon, maybe chain one or two up in the kitchen to cook. But these Knights or Armors of hers didn't seem suited to gathering food from what she'd seen of them thus far, so her own food supply would starve if she did that. Then where would she be? Sure, she could leave this ruined keep, but it wasn't like she could just walk into the next town and start feeding for a NUMBER of reasons. No it would be better to keep them nearby, see if she can get a few more 'offerings' like Mira. This was just easier and safer to do.

"Now this is the part where I feel like I should say that you should rest easy, and you'll be safe here and no one will hurt you." The Vampire started, moving just a bit to keep her own thoughts going, "But that's a promise I don't know if I can keep in my condition. What I can promise you, and the others here is that I, Von Rosen, or her minions will not directly cause you harm unless it is warranted. Short of feeding and even then, I am bound by rules that stops me from feeding on the innocent first."

"So, you will not have to worry about me sneaking into bed and biting you, nor will you have to worry about those Armors blindly smashing you. However, if you fear me that much, I suggest trying to find a way to survive out on your own than trying to do something reckless. Like killing me off. This 'backstab' goes both ways; I won't seek to backstab you, I hope you won't backstab me either."

Isabel seemed to accept this with a nod and almost knowing smile while Rena was..., still shaking a bit but her body wasn't as tensed up. Not to mention her heartbeat wasn't going as fast. Being a Vampire had its perks in that way; it would be hard to lie to her. Though that was going to have to take some time to get used to. Maybe if she focused, she could stop that from being picked up. Drown out the 'white noise' so to say."

"Now then, onto the task at hand." She announced as she stood up straight, looking to be the 'noble lady' she was supposed to be. "Mira said you would 'assist me' and I have to ask, what are you going to do?"

"Well Lady Rosen. I figured you would want to get dressed." Isabel clapped her hands twice.

A few more figures slowly came into the room, all adult women of varying ages and mostly wearing maid uniforms. They carried with them a few trunks, boxes, and crates which they quickly put on the floor, bowed and made a hasty retreat from the room. Isabel ignored the fleeing women and stared to open up the trunks, revealing a number of clothes and dresses inside each and every one. What shocked her the most was that they looked pristine compared to everything else.

"We found these in our searching. A few were also found in that hidden room of yours. I believe most weren't taken because they were just dresses that while made with good materials, were not special in anyway. No magic, no enchantment. The trunks were though, enchanted to make sure the clothes wouldn't decay." Isa explained as she held up a few garments.

"I suppose it's easier to loot coins, gems, and magical trinkets than it is to fence women's clothes, regardless of how fancy." The Vampire said as she looked over the provided clothes, "But um..., it's a shame I can't see how well I look in them. The stitching on these look remarkable."

"I believe we found something that could help with that. Rena, the glass if you would."

Rena reached into one of her apron pockets before she dug into another pocket with a weak grin. She pulled out a glass trinket and placed it on the table. It was a glass pyramid that was supported by three gold curved legs, the glass itself being supported by all of them to stand a little way above the table. Isabel reached out and turned so one of the sides was facing the Vampire. With a tap on the object, flash of light passed over her body, but she didn't feel the same burning sensation from before. Isabel turned the small device again, making sure to turn the face that had affected her towards the side and tapped it again.

Another flash of light came, and the Vampire gasped.

Before her was... a woman. Wearing a white night gown that she filled out with her large breasts and wide hips. Her long slender legs and arms belittled how much power she could feel in them. Her hair was long and wavy, a brilliant red color. And she seemed to be taller than other women here, maybe a little over 6 feet. Not to mention a bit of toned muscle was on the figure; like that of a runner or swimmer. All of these were things she had noticed in her short time awake.

But it was the other things that really put it into place that she wasn't human anymore.

Her skin was a light grey, close to ash or slightly aged bone. Her eyes were a different, reminding her more of a cat or well a tiger, given their more slit design. Some sort of large predator with blood red eyes. Her ears were stuck out a bit to the sides as they were longer and ended in points. Her nails were a little longer too, and sharper too. But the most striking appearance was her mouth... or rather her teeth. Her canines were replaced with a set of longer fangs, on the top and bottom. She clacked her teeth closed a few times and failed to notice any sort of discomfort. The top teeth were a little longer which let her have a rather enticing overbite if she tried.

"That's... me? But how?" she reached out to touch the other woman, only for her hand to go through it. The image flicked just a moment before it returned to normal. "Oh... I suppose reflective material doesn't work but there's ways of displaying yourself still."

"I believe your father used this to keep himself 'presentable' after his own turning." Isabel started, as she moved over to the vampire, standing slightly behind and to the side of her in an almost practiced motion. "It's a simple magic tool that doesn't have much use beyond being a display piece like this. I assume this is why it was overlooked."

"Well, I suppose there's not much of a market out there when mirrors exist." The Vampire walked around her double before standing in place, "I wonder..."

She brought a hand up to one of the straps on her shoulder holding up her night gown and pulled it downward. The image... didn't copy the motion. But it did flicker for a moment, and the strap was suddenly off the image's own shoulder. It seemed like it could 'update' the image based on the targeted person. But was that all it could do? Wouldn't it be wonderful if....

Walking up to the image she reached up carefully to the other strap the image had on its shoulder and acted like she was removing it. The image flicked when her hand touched against it. But when flicked back to normal, the strap was also gone. She could made edits to the image herself! This was...

Memories started to come back to her; pages of info being written once more in her soul. She was from a different world or at least had memories of that world. She had been a designer, she made clothes dresses, fashion shows! But a jilted stalker had left her for dead before she'd been ripped to this new world! Stumbling a bit, the maids looked on with concern.

"No... wait. I'm fine. Just let me... need a moment." She steadied herself, "I'm good."

"If... you say so. Now." Isabel clapped her hands, at which Rena started to dig through the trunks, "Shall we find you something to wear? You wanted to address everyone? I believe dinner would be the easiest time to dress the largest group. Now we have a good selection...."

The Lady nodded but she mindlessly went along with it. The dresses were wonderful yes, but she was struggling with just who she was now. Mixed memories of her past life on earth and a few confused memories of her time as the Lady Von Rosen. Most of that memory was... fragmented. She was going to have to settle on just who she was.

There had been a few rooms dedicated to dining in the keep, separated by what class was eating there: the noble family and guests, guard and knights, and the hall for the more general workers. It was in that last one most the survivors had taken to using. It was large enough to fit them all, even with the long fancier table set up at the end of the hall. They'd moved a few things around to bring that in for some reason tonight. Probably for that 'lady' that had woken up.

People were split on this news. Some weren't happy about the idea of a vampire being on the loose, others weren't sure if they should be scared or grateful. But no one had tried to attack her during her 'walks' as they'd heard the stories of how she ripped bandits apart even while asleep for the most part. And those 'Knights' of hers probably wouldn't abide any attempts on her life. In fact, a few were in the room; a pair standing by the lone table at the front and another pair in each of the corners on the far wall opposite them. They weren't usually there so, it was likely she would make her presence tonight.

That was the topic of discussion tonight and before anyone could really dig into that, or their food, a door located near the front opened. And a chilled presence crept into the room.

A woman walked in flanked by Mira and Isabel. She was clad in a long, elegant dress, a mix of black and red, with a few dark greens as highlights. The top was a corset styled top with a mini skirt attached to it, with a decent amount of cleavage showing the tops of her chest. Below that was a longer skirt that went all the way to her ankles, and her feet wore a pair of wide high heels. Her sleeves reached down to her wrists, ending in cuffs, but her shoulders were bare. A simple black shawl fixed that problem, and she wore and embroidered collar, with a pendent center piece.

In fact, her long skirt had the same design as her pendent, just on the sides of her dress. A thorny rose bush with flowers, and a brilliant red heart gem in the middle. The woman's rumored long hair was tied up tight in a thick bun, and she wore simple dress gloves over her hands. She was a striking figure that drew attention..., but that fanged smile sent a shiver down some spines.

Example

A few people shuffled away from the front of the room, while others made sure to put their loved ones behind them just in case. But the people hadn't freaked out just yet.

She walked up to the front of the room and looked out over the gathered people. Several shrank back from her gaze, and a few had their heartbeats increased. They were scared of her, and she couldn't blame them. She was sent here to be a **** killing alpha bitch by the forces of Darkness and the **** for Light... well only seemed to want to collar her than try to 'fix' the problem.

Well... maybe she could find a way to spite both of them.

"Greetings everyone. I thank you for your time tonight. Some of you have heard of me..., and well I think it's high time I introduce myself."