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proved again that she was a coward as well as an animal.
    She wished she could cry for the release of it, but that was a thing vampires could not do. They shed no tears. Perhaps that was why her grief expressed itself in rage and violence, since it had no other outlet. If only she could talk to Max Schreiber, the wizard with whom she had travelled on her adventures in Kislev and the Worlds Edge Mountains, and whom she had come to love after he had saved her from the terrible illness that had nearly killed her in Praag. Max was wise. He would tell her what was best to do. He would comfort her. Perhaps he could even cure her.
    She longed to see her old lover Felix Jaeger, too. She and the poet had drifted apart, but he had never turned his back on her when it mattered. He was a good man, no matter how annoying he could sometimes be, and lying in his arms had always given her great comfort. She fell asleep at last wishing that she could be folded within them again, and hear him whispering foolish rhymes in her ear as they lay in bed.

CHAPTER TWO
    BY ORDER OF THE QUEEN
    ‘How doth my lover love me?’ whispered Felix as he held Ulrika in his arms. ‘Doth she pine for me by moonlight? Doth she sing sad songs of my departure? Doth–’
    ‘What does “doth” mean?’ Ulrika interrupted, laughing.
    ‘Ah, it’s an old-fashioned way of saying “does”,’ said Felix. ‘Certainly you could understand that from the context.’
    ‘Yes, but why use it? Is it an old poem?’
    ‘No. I wrote it myself.’
    ‘Then why write it that way?’ Ulrika insisted. ‘You don’t say “doth”.’
    Felix squirmed. ‘I… I wanted to evoke an earlier, more romantic era. A time of grand passion and–’
    Ulrika raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you saying that romance and grand passion no longer exist? Should I be insulted?’
    ‘No, I…’ Felix stopped, then sighed, exasperated. ‘You are a very difficult young woman to recite a poem to. Do you even want to hear the rest?’
    ‘By all means,’ said Ulrika, then smiled slyly and kissed his naked chest. ‘Unless, that is, you would rather learn better how thy lover doth love thee.’ She kissed his collarbone. ‘Perhaps you could add a few more stanzas to your poem.’
    Felix grunted with renewed lust and pulled her close for a long, deep kiss. Their bodies moved against each other. She ran her hands down his hard back, desire beginning to glow brighter within her like the embers of a stirred fire.
    As they began to move together, the fire flared to a roaring blaze and she rolled on top of him, nipping at his shoulder while they caressed and grappled and gasped. He was so warm and strong and full of life.
    Their tempo increased. Her lips pressed against Felix’s neck. His touch was enflaming. His scent was intoxicating. His taste made her weak. She could hold back no longer. With a wild animal cry, Ulrika crushed herself against him and tore his throat out with her fangs.
    Ulrika jerked awake, gasping, the taste of Felix’s blood on her lips and the smell of his sweat on her skin. The dream faded slowly as she lay back, shaking and staring unseeing at the ceiling. Was that what she would do if she saw Felix again? Or Max? Was her passion to be like her grief, transmuted into nothing but rage and violence? Was bloodletting the only release left to her? She closed her eyes and made a silent prayer to the gods who would no longer receive her that she would never see her old friends again.
    At least it wasn’t likely to happen. When she and Countess Gabriella had parted ways with the four adventurers, they had been heading back to Kislev to help defend Praag against the spring return of the Chaos hordes. It was doubtful any of them would survive this second siege. Praag itself was unlikely to survive, and knowing Felix, Max, Gotrek and Snorri as she did, she was sure they would die fighting before they let it be overrun.
    She wondered if they were already back at the White Boar, drinking