Victoria was happy that Vail was proud of her and smiled when he leaned over to plant a kiss on her cheek. She shook her head at his question of it being so bad. “Not anymore. Perhaps my tastebuds are adapting to it.” She mused in reply. Maybe the fact it was in a glass and resembled more like a wine than blood helped her mental state of mind and eased her anxiety over her phobia. She wasn’t ready to start even thinking about…[i]hunting[/i] humans. She just couldn’t bring herself to hurt an innocent person. 

Lady Crest was relieved to have Sylvie accept her invitation for a girly chat. She smiled at her warmly as she linked her arm through hers. Sylvie was a friendly woman. Albeit 300 years her senior, still looked around Victoria’s age. She turned to see Vail’s reaction toward Sylvia’s remark that she had his girlfriend for the evening. If Victoria could blush, she would at the moment Vail said he wanted her back later. Was he being a tad possessive over her? She liked the thought of belonging to someone, to him. 

“Don’t worry, I will always come back to you, Vail.” Victoria chimed sweetly at him as he said he would find her later. She blew a kiss his way as Sylvia tugged her from the dining hall and into the hallway. Diana smiled and shook her head as she began clearing the table with her sister. “Vail does give you a hard time, doesn’t he?” Victoria asked Sylvie as they walked down the hallway. “Did you annoy him somehow?”

As Vail joined the men in the lounge area, Francois took a large cigar from a box and placed it in his mouth. “Care for a cigar, Master Hygrace?” He offered the fellow vampire as James took a seat and crossed his legs and leaned back in the lounger. “You must be relieved that Victoria woke up.” James did not take a cigar as it didn’t appeal to him. “Although it is a shame about that tome. Perhaps when Lady Macey and I return I could scout your home and if its’ clear of Wynter scum, I can look for it.” He suggested as a help to them both. 

Victoria and Syliva meanwhile, ventured out to the back garden veranda. A fireplace in the centre of the terrace lit up the benches. One of the servants came out with a pot of hot tea for the ladies to enjoy and keep warmer in the colder Scottish air. “So I wanted to speak with you about my new…life.” Victoria didn’t know how else to describe it. “Vail can teach me how to live as a vampire and guide me but I need to know how a female vampire works. From a fellow female vampire. Such as….how do we breed?” She asked a little coyly. She knew how a human body worked. A monthly cycle. But she knew nothing about vampire anatomy. “And I need to know these things…for the future. Especially if I am to get married and expected to have children.” Which was the social convention these days. She wasn’t even sure the Hygraces would want her to bare their grandchildren.