[h2]Tyaethe[/h2]

"Tarts are good," Tyaethe said, holding up a fork full of the dessert as evidence, "But [i]custard[/i] tarts are better. Particularly the spiced variants. There was a chef in the past who was particularly in favour of putting whatever savoury ingredients we had spares of in tarts like that, they seemed to be a particular fan of experimenting with custard."

Any similarity with the perceived flavour and texture of elven blood was unlikely to be a coincidence, although whether the preference for this particular dessert came first or the way blood was perceived would be hard to tell--the girl had both been initially raised amongst the higher levels of nobility, and the chance she had much opportunity to sample elves [i]before[/i] the Iron Roses were founded was low. She couldn't, herself, remember which she had first tried, only that there was a distinct similarity between the two.

"You don't have to force yourself to talk to me, no matter how little anyone else might. I [i]am[/i] both a vampire and your considerable elder, it's only to be expected."