…

          Phoebe was absolutely bamboozled. Lilith couldn’t blame her, she had changed from an absolute unit of a man, to an absolute work of art woman. She really couldn’t blame her.

          Ok maybe that was a stretch. Lilith wasn’t that gorgeous. Now, how does she tell her? How does she tell her surrogate sister the whole story. While she had been thinking about how to tell her cousin the whole story, Carrion walked.

          At his entrance, Phoebe hid under her blankets. This caused him to stop for a moment then start up again. Lilith couldn’t help but notice the blush that had crept up onto her cousin’s face.

          “Oh? Phoebe, do you have a thing for tall guys?” she asked.

          Phoebe began to stutter at this. She flared around and then stopped when Carrion stopped in front of the bed she was laying on. He took a knee and then bowed his head like a knight.

          “I’m very sorry for spooking you like that. I did not know who you were at the time so even when you did faint, I only cared about how bad it would make my mistress look. I am sorry,” he apologized.

          This made Phoebe blush even more. That was until someone who Carrion came to see said something. It was Lilith; and she wanted to clear up Phoebe’s newfound feelings right away.

          Little did she know how wrong she was. Phoebe had a closely kept secret, something only she knew. It will become clear in the next paragraph.

          “Carrion, take off your helmet,” she ordered.

          Carrion didn’t falter. He stood up and looked at the wall. In order to take off his helmet he needed to keep a straight back. He made it as straight as a rod. Then he un-coupled the locks on the underside of the helmet. After that he gripped it in both hands.

          With a great tug and oof he pulled it off. Underneath the helm was a gaunt face of dried muscle, his skin and flesh looking like it had been mummified in a bog. His eyes sunken, his red hair basically plastered to his head.

          Though, that was really just because of his helmet than his undead nature. The dull blue smear of light that came from his sockets gave a gentle appearance. His lips were particularly pulled back and it made him look like he was constantly giving a smirk.

          As a person who knew what he looked like under the helmet, Lilith wanted to clear things up with Phoebe as she didn’t want to scar her little cousin, but that was dead wrong.

          The blush didn’t stop. It, in fact, spread all the way up to her ears. That was when Lilith realized that Phoebe was into the dead. Or more accurately, she was a necrophiliac.

          It all clicked in her head. She never dated any one for long. And she didn’t like watching movies that had zombies in them. She was also really into that one zombie idol anime. The author can’t recall the name.

          Phoebe couldn’t hide the blush that came from her face. It seemed to not want to stop spreading. Lilith told Carrion to put back on his helm, and he agreed. Lilith then looked at Carrion and then to Phoebe.

          “Carrion, why have you entered my room? You know that I asked everyone to not enter here without my permission,” she told him.

          “I am very sorry my lady. A messenger of the Duke. He wants to, well, give you a message,” he told her.

          This day was going a strange way and Lilith didn’t know how to feel about it. On the one hand, her adorable little cousin was here. On the other hand, a messenger had come from the duke.

          What that message entailed; she could only guess. It could have something to do with his daughter and the fact that she had been enraptured by her. Or he could be asking for the thralls.

          But if he was asking for something else, well then; she had no idea what. It could be that he wished to accuse her of some sort of crime. Or it could be that he simply wished to thank her for killing bob the dragon.

          Whatever it was, she needed to hear it. She told Phoebe to wait, and she went outside the room. In case you were wondering, yes, that is Lilith’s room. She simply had no other place to put her.

          The messenger was waiting in the dining room. He was garbed in a silky blue shirt, like all people in this world, he was short. His skin was a pale color and his head adorned with a strange hat. His pants looked as though he had come from a renaissance far.

          “Hello, I am going to assume you are Lilith Von Cleo III?” he asked.

          “Yes, I-

          “Very well, the duke wishes to ask something of you. He says if you would be so kind as to grace my court with your presence then I shall reward you for the slaying of dragon and if you wish, a place by my side as a concubine,” the man finished.

          Lilith was shocked. Now the author has decided to make the duke kind of a dick but if you have any faults with that, then say them. Anyway, she was going to have decline the concubine offer but other than that it seemed to be going well.

          “I will be there soon. Oh, but tell the duke that I will have to decline the concubine status. I am a woman of the bloodied hands; I follow a religion that forbids me from taking purely political titles. And I am already a leader of a country, if I was taken as a concubine then my people would revolt. But like I said before, I will be there,” she explained all in one breath.

          “Very well,” is all the messenger said before he bowed and left.

          Lilith clapped her hands and stood up straight with giddiness. She had thought that that had gone pretty well. In all honesty, she had expected the girl from before to be here.

          She went back up to her room and checked on Phoebe. Phoebe had fallen asleep yet again but as soon as Lilith opened the door she woke. She wasn’t actually asleep. She wasn’t just laying down.

          “hey cousin, do you drink blood like a vampire would,” she asked with tired eyes.

          “Yes I do, and speaking of which, I kind of hungry,” she said as she locked eyes with Phoebe.

          Phoebe began to shake in terror and she looked to Carrion for help but he simply looked away as if nothing were out of the ordinary. Lilith then pounced and latched on to Phoebe. She then nibbled Phoebe’s neck until the girl began to laugh.