Strome visited again.
She had stood in his doorway, and when he had demanded to know where his daughter was, the truth she revealed shattered what little remained of him.
Hiln had been working among vampires. Not for some noble human household. Vampires. Blood-drinking monsters who kept humans as pets and playthings. His daughter had walked into a den of predators, and he had been too blind, too weak, too trusting to see it.
He had begged Strome to bring Hiln to him.
She had laughed and left.
The horror that followed was indescribable. Melody had been working for Strome all along. The money Hiln sent had never reached the villagers or the healer. The isolation had been deliberate. He had been left to rot while his daughter served monsters, and he had been too helpless to do anything about it.
Hiln never visited again.
