They Have Come

VAULIC WAS AWOKEN far quicker than he would have liked, so his mood was tarnished. Eight men surrounded him, wearing garb that stank of animals and cooked food.

Villagers.

Why have they come to disturb him after all these years? They knew better than to trespass on the land of the vampire lord.

“Why hath thou disturbed me?” Vaulic grumbled. He rose to the air, looking down at the men who had now been stricken with fear. He determined that tales of his rampages were passed down through the generations.

There were also three women present with them, and one clutched Stella’s infant in her arms. He would have killed her, but the infant was not crying, and it fascinated him.

“W-W-We have come t-to speak with you, m-my lord, your grace!” One of the men quivered. “A-A newborn requires milk and is fragile. Since Stella’s passing, we fear…”

A silence befell the group, and it irritated Vaulic.

“Speak plainly.” He commanded.

“The baby will not survive in a place like this, my lord.” An older man said, his hair white with age. “We have all come together, and we believe raising him in the village is for the best. It would be what Stella wanted.”

“Do not use her name as a means of trickery. Hear me clear, humans of beyond the wood. If thou wish to see the child, thou may. If it is taken from this castle, I shall consume thy flesh as I did in the time of thy ancestors and ensure that none shall survive to share the tale.”

The villagers became mute, trembling in fear. Some even collapsed to their knees.

“Did you speak to Stella this way?” The woman holding the infant mumbled. She bounced lightly with the infant, who fussed in his dreams.

She reeked of flour and leavened dough, therefore it must be her trade. He hoped her smell wouldn’t rub off on the baby.

“Whatever thou be called, baker woman?”

The woman seemed startled by Vaulic’s directness, but only momentarily.

“M-Martha.”

Vaulic heard it, and forgot it as quickly.

“My lord, you said for us to speak plainly, so, h-hear me clear! We have settled here for weeks, sir, as you slept. We have been feeding him, changing him, and bathing him until tonight. The only reason why the infant is alive is because of us, my lord."

“I…knew not.” Vaulic blinked. He assumed it was because the infant was vampiric, but it seems the villagers had slipped into the castle and tended to its needs.

“Francis is a human baby, and has human needs. It is why we believe that he should be among others like him. If Stella were here, we wouldn’t bat an eye. But she is not. If you know how to raise an infant, tell us, and we will leave.”

Vaulic knew this baker woman was correct. He knew nothing of the needs of human infants. All he knew was that they cry endlessly and have a foul smell, defecating on themselves hourly.

“...Alright.” Vaulic said softly, descending to the ground. The human woman was correct, and he would have failed Stella and her hard work on the crib if Francis died due to his negligence.

“But it shall not be taken from here. I forbid it.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I do not believe thy words still, so I shan't slumber for a time. Bring to me four goats and a basin of pig’s blood, so I may feast on them and not thy company.”

The villagers glanced at each other and bowed obediently. The baker woman cradled the infant in her arms, who slept soundly with a curled fist. Vaulic had never seen Francis at peace like this.

Perhaps… it would be best if he allowed them to care for the child.