Adela shifted her eyes to a suit of armor decorated with an elegant gold lower case "k". He was a soldier of Kratz and a law enforcer. The whip cried out again, as the man continued his assault. The officer stood still, showing no signs that he intended to take action. The leather tail reeled backward and flicked forward at astonishing speed. Adela's muscles twitched, and a cloud of dirt kicked up as she traveled several feet to intercept the whip catching it in her hand. A not-so-gentle tug and the man was disarmed.

She looked down at the girl whose blood was mixing with the dirt on the back of her shirt. Her brown eyes also carried auburn hues, and a softness that implied she wanted to cry but would not. Her hands hurriedly reached forward recovering a carrot and other miscellaneous vegetables that had spilled from her tattered clothes. Adela watched as she concealed them in hidden pockets sewn onto the inside of her wears. The girl stared at her deliberately in the eye as she did so.

"What's the deal?" The shopkeeper boomed in a gruff voice as he approached Adela. "I have rights here Augustan. This child was thiev'n! And you can't stop me from punishing her."

"He didn't see me take anything." The voice was soft but strong. Adela shifted her glance down to find the little girl rising to her feet.

"Did you see her take anything?" Adela asked the shopkeeper.

"Whenever that runt's around things go missin."

Adela repeated her words more slowly, this time emphasizing each word. "Did. You. See. Her?"

"Well no. but-"

"-Than what are you punishing her for?"

A metallic voice rang out as the Kratz enforcer finally intervened, pushing the girl down once more with the bottom of his boot. "He doesn't have to answer to you. Don't forget where you stand Augustan. This is Crichton, you're out of your jurisdiction." He crossed his arms confident though he stood outnumbered six to one.

One of Adela's retainers stepped forward making a habit of coming to her aid "Do you know who you're speaking to?"

"Yea I see the cape," he said dismissing her guard with a wave of his hand.

Adela kept her eyes locked on the child. This conversation wasn't worth it, she knew how it would eventually pan out. Still, it was unusual for any vampire to disrespect a noble. At times it became hard to tell who was who while concealed in Dawn armor. After all, it was designed to cover the wearer's whole being and mask it from the sun. Thus large insignias on the front would let them know what house they were from, a cape would let them know if they were talking to a Noble, and special helmets with various crowns would show High nobles, though they often became tedious and hard to keep track of so most memorized only the important ones, Kres, Kratz, her father. A vampire's eternal life span allowed them to learn such trivial things, often imprinting on their memory whether they liked it or not. Unfortunately, memory wasn't a luxury Adela was blessed with. Or perhaps she really hadn't taken the time to learn them herself. She really hated anything Dawn armor. Adela flicked her eyes back to the conversation watching bored as the two argued.

"Noble or not, you know as well as I do that Aquilo respects order and structure. I'm sure he wouldn't like to hear about you interfering with Kratz affairs!"

"Aquilo also wouldn't like to see you speaking to his heir that way."

There it was. Adela's eyes took on a stale stair as the shopkeeper and Kratz vampire took a step back. It didn't matter the province or species, all knew the Supreme Lord of the vampires, as well as his daughter. Though it wasn't so much her they feared but the wrath of her father. Yep, this was how conversations often ended. She could always count on the name of her daddy to bail her out.

"Uh-uh, you bluff! She doesn't wear a crowned helmet."

The slimy voice of Squealer finally spoke up. "Our Liege, Master Adela has been most forgetful lately. And when summoned to Crichton by none other than Kratz himself, she surely must have left it in her haste to pay aid to your nation. Speaking of Lord Kratz I'm sure your master would be most displeased when he hears you've not only postponed his most urgent meeting but also harassed his royal guest."

They didn't need to see the Kratz soldier's face to know he was flustered.

"Fine, you can keep the whelp." He gave the girl one last shove with his foot before retreating. "And Lord Adela, please remember your crown should you ever  grace us with your presence." Her acute hearing could hear him smell the air deeply, trying to sift her scent from the others around her. It was likely he wanted to make sure he never made the mistake again.

Adela's least favorite retainer cackled to himself.

"Thank you, Squealer." She said prompting another laugh from her troops.

"I'm sorry Lady Adela, but I do have a name. I am none other than-"

Adela turned her back on him ignoring him entirely, bringing her attention to the orphan instead.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes." Her voice carried all the innocence of a child but the confidence and authority of an adult. Such a strange child. "Thank you, Miss Adela. For covering for me."

"You mean, she is a thief? Mistress Adela I beg your pardon but-"

"Hold your tongue." She said. Squealer went quite immediately and stormed off to the back of the pack. The rest of her caravan laughed and slapped him on the back as he retreated.

"Those are pretty good manners for a thief." Adela spoke in a tone that she used for children. "Congrats on not being seen. But isn't that amount of food a little zealous for one child. You shouldn't get greedy." She leaned in closer to whisper though she knew the other vampires would likely hear her anyways. "Like the houses of vampires that live here."

The girl stared at her seemingly unamused. "I know that mam. This food is for all the orphans on the street. All the ones I can take care of anyways."

Adela stood up from her crouching position and put her hands on her hips. "Well looks like we found the responsible big sister."

The girl blinked hard, the statement seemed to catch her attention. Adela snapped her fingers and a retainer rushed over.

"Grab me a coin purse please.

The girl stared her in the eye. Which she found a bit unsettling. It wasn't often she was stared down and if it ever happened it certainly wasn't by a human child. She didn't need her memory to know that most humans feared her kind. It made sense. They were a race with superior prowess and used it to suppress them, but being so interconnected all the humans could do was cope and live with it. This was the behavior that she wished to undo. They shouldn't be regarded as kings or rulers looking down on others simply because they were stronger or feared. Status should be maintained and given out of respect. After all, weren't all vampires human once?

Her retainer returned with a small pouch of gold and handed it to Adela. She gently grabbed the little girl's arm and raised it. She froze immediately at the sight of it. She had encountered this disease before. A stumbling human flashed in her mind, and all she could see was blisters. Red sores that resembled decaying flesh. She shook her head as the memory subsided.

"This is for you." Adela said forcing a smile the girl couldn't see.

The girl slowly tucked it away in one of her secret pockets. "Thank you."

"What's your name?" Adela asked, still trying to shake the bleeding red rash from her mind.

"Sofia"

"Your welcome Sofia."