Chapter 25: Chapter 25: Forewarned

The four of us traveled fast at first until our new friend began slowing us down. She simply could not keep pace with vampiric agility. Melyiana started becoming annoyed and shouted, “There is only one speed, girl!”

The Avenadyn girl was not much older than me but had the endurance of an elderly woman. She keeled over with her hands on her knees and said, “I’m trying, dammit!”

“Why can’t we point her in the right direction and leave her?” Akisma asked.

“I am her duchess, remember?” I said, frustrated with their lack of accommodation for the girl I rescued from sexual abuse or worse. “We travel at her speed, alright?”

Melyiana groaned and reduced her pace.

The woman caught up to me and said, “I still feel like I’m walking towards my death.”

“You’re not. We are allies of the Avenadyn and we’re returning to Shurchester fortress.” I tried to assure her in a calm tone.

“Why though?”

“Because I am the duchess of the Avenadyn,” I said.