“¿Quién confecciona estos vestidos? ¿Dónde los consigues?” I sighed. I was trying to ask where they got these dresses and who made them, because they were far from civilization here, especially knowing what I did about human history of the New World and the colonies.

Katelin cocked her head to the side. “Are you asking me something about the dresses?”

I nodded and made a scissor motion with my fingers then pretended to hand sew. I’d never been great at charades.

“Oh. Who makes them?” When I nodded with excitement Katelin chuckled. “Well, some of these were bought, and the rest we bought the fabric and I made the dresses out of them.”

My jaw dropped.

My expression apparently made Katelin giggle. “We may live way up north away from everything, but we move fast. Sweyn takes her court down to the colonies every month to buy things. We go to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston mostly, as she does not like to travel to the southern colonies and risk sunlight exposure. Especially now that The Coven has relocated to the southern mountains, we frequent the northern colonies often. That is where we buy fabric and supplies for constructing clothing. And of course, we visit the tailor for these beautiful gowns.”

Wow. I wonder if The Coven was aware Sweyn and her court were out and about.

“Do not worry yourself over money. Sweyn covers all the costs.” I must have made a face because she frowned. “Everyone who resides in Avolire has a job, we work and Sweyn provides us with food, clothing, and safety. It is a fair trade.”

I pointed to her then to the dresses.

“Yes, I made many of these. That is my job here, I am a tailor.” She was searching through the dresses like there was a specific one she wanted. “Sweyn will find a suitable job for you, although, with a face as pretty as yours, there is good chance you will be selected for her court, where your job will be to keep her company.”

I grimaced, which she luckily missed.

“Here we go. This dress will suit you well and shall make Queen Sweyn happy.” She draped a red gown over her arm then waved for me to follow her. “Now I shall show you to your living quarters underground.”

“¿Bajo tierra?”

She glanced over her shoulder at me as we left the dress room, so I pointed to the ground. “Underground? Yes. To hide from the sun?”

“Ah. El sol. Se me había olvidado.”

Katelin paused at the top of a spiral staircase made entirely of stone that looked super creepy with only the flickering of torch flames on the wall. She narrowed her white and red eyes. “How long have you been a vampire, María?”