He did not stumble very much, but there are few mistakes one can afford to make when attacking even a weak vampire, and in that mere second it took him to recover his footing, her teeth were already in his throat, her slender arms had his muscular arms pinned helplessly to his sides, and his world was rapidly fading into non-existence…
…while hers was changing as rapidly. The servant vampires were sustained entirely on the blood of small birds and animals, which kept them well nourished, but weak and susceptible compared to the ladies of the court, who regularly drank the blood of predators, birds of prey, and unlucky bandits.