I asked in a roundabout way for gossip on the capital, but there was little that reached this village. King Vaughn the Storm-blooded still reigned; that was hardly surprising—if anything had happened to him, it would’ve reached even Greymere. Prince Marcel the Bountiful is the light of the kingdom, added a girl my age, winking as she told me of his latest feats in a tournament.

I gave her a tight smile and asked for directions to the enchanted card dealer. She shrugged and pointed me towards a shop a few doors down.

The door chimed as I walked in, though no bells hung from it. A sure sign I was in the right spot.

Witches each had their own specialty of magic, like King Vaughn, who commanded the weather, or Marcel, who created abundance as he wished. They could use their magic, or store it with intricate spells in the form of cards. If someone wanted to access magic from others, they could do so using the cards, which led to a thriving trade industry across the kingdom. A pyromancer might make cards for someone in the winter with enough heat to keep a fireplace burning without wood for several weeks, or just a few hours, depending on their strength. All witches paid a tithe of magic to the king through their cards.

As a void, I had no magic and had to rely on the cards of others to use magic. And since I had none to trade, my only choice was to buy it.

“Greetings, traveler,” the shopkeeper said from behind the desk.

The woman was melting. That was my first thought upon seeing her. Every part of her body seemed to sag. Her ears dropped, her chin dipped towards me, highlighting the hanging skin on her neck. Her hair was silver, with dark strands interspersed, her mouth half open as she regarded me like she couldn’t quite be bothered to close it.

My mother would’ve had a fit if she’d ever looked like that. She’d have used every beautifying card in the kingdom to avoid that.

But then, my mother would never grow to be that old.

“Hello,” I said, rushing to get the word out before my memories took over. “I need some cards.”

She snorted, gesturing to glass cases that lined the store which were filled with enchanted cards. “You and everyone else who walks into my shop.”

Apparently, merchants’s attitudes towards service had changed since I was a child.

I stepped closer and examined the cards. “I need travel staples, so some warmth, body enchantments, and protection. And two disguise cards.”

We could wander around the village with just our cloaks hiding our identities, but in the city, it would take something stronger to hide Raphael’s red eyes. Besides, I didn’t know if the guards might come looking for me before I had a chance to get to the Monastery.

“Is that all?” A huff. “Let me see what I can do.”

She eased off her stool and trudged to the back. The door chimed as someone else came in. I fingered the coins in the pouch, trying to figure out what would be reasonable to pay while scanning the cards. One was enchanted for clean drinking water, made by an aquamancer. Could be useful to have. It came in a variety of types, from little enough to sip from, to enough to enchant a never-emptying flask.

“Alright, I’ve got your cards.” She slapped a small deck onto the glass desk and took her place back on her stool. The cards fanned out, and she pointed to them, one by one.

“Warmth for a cloak, to keep off the spring chill for a week. Bodily enchantments for your legs so they don’t tire. A hunger spell to stall your body’s needs for up to three days—if you want a card that will give you food, that’s extra—this one will make you a tent, no muss, no fuss, and collapse when you’re done. Two disguises.” She gave me a judgmental look. “Will distort your face. Just picture how you want to look, and it’ll work. These ones will let you start a fire, even if the wood is soaked through. And for protection, this is premium.”

The icon on the card depicted a swarm of insects.

“Bees?” I asked.

“Hah!” She looked down her drooping nose at me. “Wasps. Much better.”

“Do you have anything more powerful?” Wasps wouldn’t be any good against ogres or trolls. I had the vampire for protection—for now. But counting on someone to keep me safe was asking to get hurt. “Like a fireball or… or an explosive?” I asked hopefully.

She snorted. “Bah! I’ll be surprised if you can afford these. Fifteen gold pieces.”

“Fifteen?” I clutched the coins in my fingers. It sounded high, but the truth was, I had no idea what a fair price was.

“Fifteen?” a voice echoed. “Now, Darlene, you and I both know this is nine, at best. Eight, if Brian made the tent one.”

I blinked.

The other patron who had come in had wandered closer. He was a boy, or maybe more accurately a man close to my age, except he seemed so much softer than all the men I’d seen.

He eased closer, peering over my shoulder to look at the cards.

“Seriously, Darl?”

The shopkeeper—Darlene—frowned, clearly unhappy that he was negotiating on my behalf. “Don’t you have your own business to ruin? And don’t call me Darl, boy.”

I peered up to see his reaction, my shoulder brushing against his. He gave her a stern look. My savior was blond like the sun itself loved him, with bright brown eyes that twinkled with mischief, and a mouth that even at its sternest with the dealer wanted to smile.

“I can’t have you taking advantage of a pretty girl like this, now can I?”

Darlene glared at me, like this was my fault. “Twelve.”

The boy put a hand on my shoulder, leaning in conspiratorially, “Honestly, it’s probably only worth seven. She doesn’t even carry the good stuff anymore.”

I flushed at the easy contact, and the impish tone he had, whispering even though it was obviously said for Darlene’s benefit. How long had it been since someone had just… touched me? Not to hurt me, not to threaten me. Touched me like I was just a village girl.

“Ten. Take it or get out.”

I slid out a handful of coins and placed them on the counter before the boy could continue to argue on my behalf. “I’ll take it.”

I scooped the cards up and slid them into the pouch. I should get a proper deck holder for my belt; most people wore one. But that was an expense for another day. Still, I hesitated. “Do you have anything specifically for vampires?”

Darlene scowled. “Case to the left of the door. Back row.”

I went to look while the boy spoke to Darlene. The back row had several cards that wouldn’t fit my needs. Only one card could’ve been the one she meant. It wasn’t one I’d ever seen before. The glass was enchanted so I couldn’t actually take the card from it, so I went back to Darlene.

“Interested or not?”

“What does it do?”

She rolled her eyes, mumbling to herself. “The chit is asking for cards and doesn’t even know what they do.” Theatrics done, she fixed her frown on me. “It’ll hold off a vampire’s thrall for up to a week. Rare. Three gold pieces. No haggling.”

The last part was directed at the boy.

Thrall. The guard at Greymere had used the term. “What does that mean?”

“If you don’t even know what thrall is, you probably don’t need the damn card,” she huffed. “It’s how the bloodsuckers get you. One look in their red eyes and they can make you do anything. They can enthrall any person, void or witch, with just a single glance unless you have an enchantment. They’re rare too. Three pieces,” she repeated.

Did Raphael have that ability? The first night… he’d told me to look at him and ordered me to untie him. But I hadn’t felt compelled. Then again, Greymere blocked all witch magic. Perhaps it blocked the vampire’s powers too.

I handed over the gold and added the card to my stash, then headed out.

The bells chimed behind me.

“Say, why’s a pretty girl like you worried about vampires?”