“She has you there,” Winny chimes in.
Ventos snatches the disk from my hand before I can react. “You think we don’t know what silver feels like? The subtle burn? The creeping itch?”
I purse my lips and inhale slowly. Old gods help me from putting this hulking man in his place so viciously he’ll be nursing the verbal lashing for weeks.
“Is it wise to handle silver with your bare hands just to prove a point?” Ruvan arches his brows at Ventos. The latter suddenly realizes what he’s done and his hand goes limp.
I catch the token before it falls. “There are two types of silver: pure and steel variant,” I try and explain, rotating the coin between my fingers. “Well, now I suppose there might actually be three types of silver. Pure silver is exactly what it sounds like. Fresh from the mines and not mixed with any other metals.”
“We know all too well about pure silver,” Ventos says with a note of disgust.
“Not quite,” I say, but then quickly add, “You might, I can’t be sure. But if you’re talking about the weapons you wield, that’s a steel variant. You can see it by the subtle waves in the weapons when you look very closely.”
“But if they cut us, we’ll die.” Lavenzia eyes her rapier. “Not the same can be said for steel.”
“Pure steel, yes. Modified steel, also yes,” I agree. “But steel variant silver is different. It’s…” I trail off as I hunt for my next words.
“It’s what?” Ruvan says softly.
I have no reason to be ashamed. In fact, I have every reason to be proud of my family for our ingenuity in the forge; I always have been before now. I am part of a long line of illustrious forge maidens. Without us Hunter’s Hamlet wouldn’t have survived this long. But…the weapons we made have also killed countless vampire—victims of the curse that I’ve now seen with my own eyes.
I already wish that I could ignore all that I’ve seen. I don’t know anymore with confidence who is good and who is evil. All I can do is keep going forward with what I do know—that I really believe I can trust these people.
“It’s a special alloy invented by my family ages ago. It’s what all the weapons are made from. It’s a secret trade not written down in any book or ledger, but passed from mother to daughter over centuries. Pure silver, though effective against vampire—vampir.” The correction surprises me. I speak faster, hoping they didn’t notice. Judging from the subtle shift in Ruvan’s expression, the brief furrow of his brow, the sudden intensity in his gaze that threatens to burn away my attempts at pretending it never happened…he heard it, loud and clear. “Pure silver is too soft to make weapons out of. Anything made of pure silver would bend and dull instantly. You’d get one cut, if you’re lucky. It’s not suitable for combat.”
“So you humans created something with all the effects of silver, but strength of steel.” Ventos draws his broadsword, looking down the blade. I wonder what he thinks of wielding weapons made by my family, for hunters, against his own kind. Whatever thoughts he has bring a grimace to his mouth. “Clever, vile creatures.”
“Still your tongue,” Ruvan snaps before I can even register what Ventos said. The vampir lord has squared his shoulders against one of his most ardent defenders. Ventos goes to speak again, but Ruvan speaks over him before he has the chance. “Floriane is a loyal member of this covenant. I will not have you continuing to insult her.”
“I said nothing of her, only her kind.” Ventos rolls his shoulders and tilts his head from side to side, as if he’s getting ready for a fight.
“The slight is the same.”
“And what of all she said about us? About the vampir? No doubt about you?”
“She is learning and moving past the errors of her ways. We can do the same.”
I wonder if all of this is because Ruvan caught my correction. His intensity does not seem to match the brief moment of etiquette I afforded his people. Especially since it was purely by accident. I wonder how much comes from the night we spent together.
“You didn’t even know her name until a few hours ago,” Ventos scoffs. “Don’t let the bloodsworn go to your head. She’s a tool to get what we need and has already fulfilled her purpose.”
“The curse is not yet broken.” I surprise myself by being the one to speak up. “Until it is, I am a member of this covenant. That was the promise I made. My purpose is far from fulfilled and I’m on your side until it is…and maybe after, depending on how we all proceed.”
Ventos looks like he’s just as surprised as I am. He blusters a bit and the incoherent sounds fade into a scoff. He stomps away. “Silver, steel, alloy, it doesn’t matter. Whatever that is, it’s not the curse anchor and we should get back to looking.”
Lavenzia sighs. “Ventos is right.” She wanders away as well.
“You never finished your explanation.” Winny startles me with an expectant and eager stare. “What type of silver is that? If not pure, and not steellike?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I know it’s different, I can tell that much. It has blooms similar to silver variant, but they’re reddish instead of a brighter platinum.” I let the disk drop to the stone floor. It fills the room with a dull metallic sound. Quickly after, I drop one of my last remaining silver daggers. The sound it makes when it strikes the floor is a high-pitched, clear tone that rings long after I’ve picked it up. “You heard the difference, didn’t you?”
“It all sounded like metal to me.” Winny shrugs.
“They definitely sounded different,” Ruvan says thoughtfully.
“Pure silver and steel variant both have that sharp-pitched sound. There are other things that I could do to prove that this isn’t pure silver, or steel variant, but I would need the smithy.”
“I take you at your word.” The way Ruvan says so makes it sound like he’s speaking for all of them. Judging from Winny’s, and even Lavenzia’s, expressions, he might actually be speaking for the two of them. But Ventos and I will never be on good terms, that much seems clear by the fact that he doesn’t even look back my way. “So then what’s special about this new silver?”
