New Estra, Three Hundred Years Before“Do you know nothing of your history?” Wilhelma despaired.“None this far back,” Thaelen told her with sympathy.“None of the elders survived then?” She gripped the arms of the chair, her distress clear. “Geiva? Thrurgrivor? No?” She pressed her lips together, controlling her grief. “I am…” She shook her head slowly, unable to continue.Despite her grief, Wilhelma took care with her words, speaking slowly. There were some pronunciation differences, Thaelen thought, around the vowels, the rolled “r” and her “th” was softer, more of a “ff” than amongst the Concordian. His Concordian, he amended, struggling to make the mental transition.“I’m sorry,” Thaelen murmured, empathetic to her sorrow. She spoke the names as if she knew the people, which would make her ancient if they were amongst Thaelen’s ancestors. He recalled the bowels of the stronghold, the temples, and secret places. “Beneath the strongholds, there have always been chambers and tunnels

New Estra, Three Hundred Years BeforeThaelen took his turn at the oars, finding enjoyment in the simple physical exercise, the rhythm of the movement, the run of water over the wood to his hands, the splash as the oar descended, and the prick of sweat between his shoulder blades as he labored against the flow of the river. It recalled to him the days of his youth and the raids on the coast of Alden and Etrait.His cartographers debated small changes in the river’s shape, and whether the changes were permanent or as a result of tide, whilst chickens watched from within the woven reed cages and a goat complained from the back of the boat.Sigrid rode in the prow, looking forwards, her parasol all but hiding her from sight. She searched the riverbank intently, missing nothing on either side.“She dreamed of it,” Meguitte said quietly. She sat in the middle of the seat, between him and another vampire rowing. She kept her voice low, however, because behind them was Thaelen’s new blood sl

New Estra, Three Hundred Years BeforeThey were quick studies Thaelen thought, his fingers digging into the undergrowth as he braced a hand against Brygen’s thrusts, the shy vampire working hard against him, each thrust grinding Thaelen into Olieve. Her c-nt was so slick with seed and cum that Thaelen could feel the seep of it down his balls and inner thighs.Even with Brygen’s c-ck against his prostate he was not sure that he could come again. He had lost track of how many times he had. He had not realized how badly he needed the guilt free release, the act of giving sacrifice to the goddess under the moonlight even if he was not entirely sure in his heart that he still believed in her. There was a comfort in the ritual, in the mindless rutting of it, in the sweat, cum and blood on his tongue.There was a freedom in being able to seek his own release without the sex having complicated implications. It had been what he had sought in taking on Larin as his new blood slave, but even tha

New Estra, Two Hundred and Ninety Years BeforeA road had been carved into the trees, though road was a generous term for it. Truthfully it was where the ground cover had been trampled away underfoot by cattle being driven into the trees, and two lines worn into that by the passage of wagons. Trees had been chopped down to make way for the road, and the side was littered with the debris.“Most colonists head into the trees,” Harry told Thaelen conversationally. “The grass plains are a tough place to live. There are only a few places with ground water that the farmers can access, and in the dry season, with the lightning storms, that grass goes up like gunpowder, so the farmers need to clear a large around their homesteads fast and be able to pump that water from their wells quickly enough to create a firebreak. Even that’s not enough sometimes. Two families were burnt away the season before I arrived, and that’s put a lot of people off settling there.”“So, most take to the trees, fol

New Estra, Two Hundred and Ninety Years BeforeThe road branched off and they paused on the fork to consider their options.The road that seemed more travelled, the gouges from wagon wheels deeper, the greenery pushed further back, and the undergrowth trampled to dirt, lead towards the mountains, but it was possible that it curled back to the river. Travelling the road into the forest had taught Thaelen that colonists and cattle did not travel as the crows flies, more as the worm slithered, the path meandering leaning away and then closer to the river. Combined with the canopy of leaves, he sometimes lost his sense of direction and had to consult the position of the sun or the compass in his pocket in order to reorientate himself.“That way I think goes to where the Ridetens have settled,” Harry frowned at the road. “Very wealthy group from Greibron - shit,” they grimaced. “Veralden. They’re from Veralden,” they corrected themselves. “They have a lot of convicts with them, and plan o