A Taste of Crimson

by E. M. Knight

  “So, what does that mean for the rest of us?”

  “That there is great turmoil to come.” The helicopter hovers overheard. “Choose your tribe with great care and your allies with even more. Everything that any of us values depends on how we weather the storm.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Alexander

  The Haven

  I walk through the scorched grounds of The Haven, wondering if things can ever be restored.

  I doubt it. Ever since the castle fell, the coven has been hit with one disaster after another.

  The blame lies solely at the feet of one woman: our former Queen.

  Morgan has absolutely failed us. What she considered prosperity was little more than complacency. We had the villagers, isolated in their way of life from hundreds of years ago. While the outside world has progressed at breakneck speed, we in The Haven were left stagnant.

  Complacency. That was the biggest thing. Too many of our vampires were perfectly happy existing in this isolated bubble, oblivious to the rest of the world.

  Many… but not all. My closest friends in the Elite sensed the same thing I had, for at least several decades: if The Haven did not adapt to the progress made in the outside world, we would become a relic of the past.

  Of course, with the abolishment of the Royal Court’s power, there was little we could do. Morgan had consolidated all strength. The writing was on the wall from the very start. She wanted absolute rule, and as soon as it became expedient, she rid herself of us.

  Despite all the pomp and ceremonies that were lavished on it, we knew it as a sham. Perhaps the illusion was maintained for the Incolam. Perhaps not. Those weaker vampires would never find the conviction to voice their concerns.

  The hierarchy stopped it from being possible.

  I glance in the direction of the village grounds. A portion of the homes there have been reconstructed following the fire. To me, it seems an exercise in futility. We have no humans any more. Those who will be brought in from the outside will never accept the way of life the previous villagers had.

  The only way to ensure their compliance is through tyranny. They must constantly live in fear. No better than prisoners in a concentration camp.

  Logistically, that is not a problem. Humans are naturally afraid when in the presence of vampires. Sum up the grand total of all the Incolam and Elite in the surroundings, and you have the perfect environment cast for a climate of fear.

  There is just one problem: humans with pathological conditions make for the worst prey.

  The best blood comes from young, healthy, vibrant humans. Fear is an extension of the vampire influence. It is useful in small doses, such as when cornering a victim and making them submit.

  But humans who live in perpetual terror would quickly be ruined. Their blood, nearly rancid.

  That is why our former Queen erected invisible barriers around the outskirts of the village, to shield our stock from the debilitating effects of being surrounded by so many of the undead.

  Barriers of that sort won’t do any good for humans not born here. Those with memories—knowledge—of the outside world will never accept their prison as a home.

  I give my head a shake and pick up my pace. Traditionally, it is the Queen who deals with such problems.

  What the hell do we do if ours is nothing more than a little girl?

  I think back to my conversation with Eleira. She is impressive, no doubt, both in strength and talent. In so far as I can tell, she has a good head on her shoulders.

  But she is still a tyro in all this. Too many of the others are willing to turn a blind eye to her obvious shortcomings. They are used to obeying the law of the hierarchy. When someone appears above them, they follow without question.

  That has served us vampires well for generations. But times are changing. The invisible winds of fate are blowing harder than ever before.

  I do not believe for a second that Eleira is capable of navigating this ship on her own. The prophecy is one thing. Her immense raw strength is another. Her talent in magic is yet another.

  But beneath it all she is still a little girl. She is just a girl with less than two decades of life experience under her belt.

  She puts on a good front. It has almost everyone fooled.

  But in our walk through the woods, when I glanced into her eyes, I saw the very real trace of vulnerability that betrayed her true emotions.

  It was only there for a flicker of a second. But I’ve had enough exposure to the female psyche to recognize it for what it really is:

  It is a subconscious desire to submit to a stronger male.

  In that ephemeral moment of truth, the pieces fell into place. Eleira deeply craves a man she can trust.

  I felt a very raw, very visceral flare of attraction light up inside. Her overwhelming beauty almost floored me, then.

  I almost laugh at the impossibility of it. Never before had I had eyes for the girl. I knew she was promised to the Prince.

  But I also knew, based on my interactions with Raul, that he lacked the internal conviction needed to tame such a woman.

  Well, who could blame him? He was raised as a pampered human living amongst vampires. His mother converted him when he came of age. He was a good kid, but he had never experienced hardship in his life. All but one of the flings he had were all with women pre-selected for him.

  Unlike his older brother, James, he never showed a propensity for bedding any of the new crop of village girls who turned sixteen every year.

  My suspicion had always been, watching him, that he was stifled by his mother’s rule. The Prince has potential, but a match for Eleira he is not.

  James was too reckless to be promised to the coven’s second Queen. He had the disposition but not the desire. Proper rule never interested him.

  It is small wonder that he abandoned us.

  And Phillip? Phillip has been completely neutered from the start. In the past few weeks, he’s been unleashed, but in my eyes it’s too little, too late.

  Maybe it’s arrogance driving this train of thought. Yet when Eleira exposed herself to me so, there was no doubt in my mind that her seduction would be possible.

  I catch a glance of myself in a puddle. A smirk creeps across my lips. I have the advantage of having been made a vampire in the absolute prime of my life. I was thirty-four when it happened, already in possession of a gravitas reserved for even older men. The vampiric essence has cemented the strength of my features on my face. I was not a boy turned immortal, as the three princes.

  I was wholly a man.

  A man with exactly the sort of experience needed to court a woman of magnificent taste.

  I think back on the history of my conquests when I was still human. The smile magnifies.

  I was born to a poor Venetian family but was able to use my natural advantages to further my station in life. By the time I hit my mid-twenties, I had already made a name for myself in my native Italy as an intellect, a playwright, an alchemist, a duelist, and a bit of a rake.

  My greatest genetic advantage was not being born with a beautiful face, but instead, a face that people found easy to trust.

  They say physiognomy rules the world. Such commonsense knowledge is lost on today’s populace, but the veracity of it has never changed.

  And, so, I managed to penetrate the secret society of blood drinkers and charm them enough that they granted me membership into the exclusive club of the Creatures of the Night.

  From there, I traveled to North America, seeking new opportunities in the New World. A chance encounter with Rebecca secured me access to The Haven, and the rest is history.

  I stop in the middle of a large clearing and kneel down to touch the land. The grass is all burned away, courtesy of our Queen’s destruction of the white ghoul army Morgan allowed to fester underneath.

  Premonition tells me this is not the last of the sacred fire we will see.

  I stand back up, look around, feeling an uncanny sense of is
olation, and hurry to the designated meeting place of my small circle of like-minded friends.

  Eleira tasked me with putting together a Royal Council she can rely on. I do not take that responsibility lightly.

  This is our chance to make a mark on the trajectory of our coven.

  I enter the room. Five vampires sit around a small table.

  I greet them curtly and take my place. There is much to discuss.

  Before I open my mouth, Anneliese speaks. She is the weakest one here by far, but her intellect makes her one of the more worthy members.

  “Felix was spotted exiting the stronghold via a secret door,” she says. “He took great pains to conceal his whereabouts. Given the Queen’s excavation orders, he obviously did something suspect.”

  My eyebrows go up. “You followed him yourself?”

  She shrugs. “It’s easy for an Incolam to go unnoticed. Pride of the Elite, and all that.”

  There is no bitterness in her voice about her station, only a teasing ribbing aimed at the rest of the group.

  “We’ve all seen him sidling up to the new Queen,” Brandon, a tall vampire with bright orange hair, says matter-of-factly. “He is desperate to get on her good side. To what end, that is the true question.”

  “Felix is both sly and dangerous,” Geordam says. I was a bit surprised when I saw the Captain Commander present. I did not think he would find time away from his duties.

  He is one of my closest friends and has been for many, many years.

  “How far does Eleira trust him?” I ask. “You’ve seen them together more than the rest of us.”

  “The Queen is rightfully cautious about his intentions,” Geordam says. “She first brought him in as a tutor, but I suspect that has already fallen apart.”

  I nod. “Right. Well, you all know why you’re here. The Queen asked me to give her a list of names suitable for her Royal Council. She wants a selection of advisors she can rely on.”

  “Curious how she would task that to you,” Leonard observes. He is the youngest of us here, both in terms of years in the blood and the age when he was made. A wandering vampire found him close to death after a plague had ravaged his village, and—for reasons Leonard won’t reveal—converted him instead of letting him die.

  He was just fifteen when it happened. The essence has transformed his face into the most perfect vision of a cherub.

  “I’d tell you I had something to do with that, but truly, it was a matter of practicality. Eleira is stumbling around in the dark, hoping nobody will pick up on it. Truth be told, the majority of this coven is too self-absorbed to care.”

  “A shame that things have come to this,” comes a deep, methodical voice from across from me. Nathan had been a blacksmith before he was made. Despite his impressive bulk, he is one of the most graceful vampires I have ever known. The patience necessary for working metal is reflected in his overall manner: he always chooses his words with great care. “We are, as a race, hurtling toward a great abyss. The Queen needs years to position herself properly in our world. But with the prophecy, I am afraid she has no time.”

  “Which is why our task is of utmost importance,” I tell him. “The Royal Council we nominate must be like us.”

  Anneliese stifles a laugh. “Like us? Alexander, there are no vampires like us. How many years did it take for us six to trust each other? We were each feeling out the others’ strengths and weaknesses for centuries, before even coming close to being able to sit at a table like this and speak our thoughts freely.” She gestures around at the other faces. “This is the best selection for the Royal Council you can ask for. We do not need anybody else.”

  I give a little grunt of exasperation. “Yes, that’s true. But our alliance has become more public than I would like in recent years. If I nominate the five of you, it will cause a rift amongst the other Elite. We do not need more factions forming.”

  Anneliese sniffs loudly, unconvinced. “Eleira’s asked you for the best,” she says. “Would you deny the Queen that?”

  “It is not so easy in the upper rank,” I tell her softly. “The Incolam have had a great advantage, even if they don’t know it, in that very little scrutiny has ever been placed on their behavior. You remember with how much disdain our former Queen treated you?”

  “She was foolhardy,” Anneliese announces. “She valued only strength. The new Queen will not make the same mistake.”

  “And I am already close to her,” Geordam volunteers. “A spot for me on the Council would be a waste.”

  “Exactly,” I say. “That is why I called all of you here for this meeting. I want each of you to submit at least two names. I will parse them and bring them to Eleira.”

  Nathan shakes his head. “Subterfuge is unwarranted in this situation, my friend. The Queen already had the Royal Court. They are there for ceremony. The Council must be different. It must provide her with true value.”

  “Yes,” I agree. “That is precisely the point.” I look at each of the vampires in the room in turn. “We are the only ones capable of offering her that. So, I nominate your picks. They form the Royal Council. But each of them knows they are accountable to us. They do as we tell them. They answer to us. Think!” My voice grows passionate. “Who of the coven vampires wouldn’t want a chance to be closer to the Queen? It immediately boosts their status. The social hierarchy is nearly as important as the real one. We give them the appearance of that. They get to bask in the adoration of the others while we pull the strings.”

  “You want… a shadow council,” Nathan says slowly.

  “Yes,” I tell him. “I want that exactly. We are the shadow council. But the key point is this: Eleira knows the truth.”

  That suggestion takes some of the others aback.

  “What do you mean?” Anneliese asks.

  “It’s simple. I do not intend to deceive the Queen. She will know it is the six of us who are truly advising her. The elected members of the Council will be our proxies. The secret stays between us, them, and the Queen.” I take a deep breath. “Yet they will not know Eleira knows. It is a buffer that saves us from dealing with all the needless political intrigue. The rest of the coven will believe our nominated members are the ones with influence. In truth, they are only our puppets.”

  “This is devious,” Geordam says.

  “Yes,” I agree. “But necessary. It protects us. It protects the Queen. It gives her what she wants and keeps us out of the spotlight.”

  “I do not know how many vampires would take up this offer,” Leonard says.

  I smile. “That’s because you’re thinking of the Elite. Many in the Incolam would clamber all over each other to have a chance to just be seen by the Queen’s side.”

  He frowns, deep in thought.

  “There is, of course, a chance this could all backfire.” Anneliese says. “If any of the Incolam we nominate prove non-compliant…”

  “They can be replaced,” I point out. “Nobody said the station is for life.”

  “We need them to take oaths of fealty,” Nathan murmurs. “That is the only way I see this working.”

  I nod my head. “And those oaths will be bound by magic. You all know what the Queen did to Phillip.”

  “She was not happy about it,” Geordam says. “It would take a great deal of convincing for her to do it again.” He pushes himself up. “It is more than I can ask of her.”

  I cock my head to the side. “You forget,” I smile, “that you are not the only one here with the Queen’s ear.” I stand as well. “I will present the proposal to her. All the rest of you need to worry about is finding suitable candidates for our purpose.”

  “I don’t like it,” Brandon says. “But if the others agree, I won’t protest.”

  “A vote, then,” I say. “All in favor, raise your hands.”

  Leonard’s hand goes up first. Anneliese takes a few seconds, then decides to join in. Geordam looks around, eyes hard, and raises his, too.

  I put mine up as well
. “That’s four. Nathan?”

  “Abstain,” he says thoughtfully.

  “Then we have the vote. Four in favor, one withdrawn, and… Brandon, are you against?”

  “I’m neither for nor against,” he says. “Not that it matters, but I’ll follow Nathan’s lead.”

  “Very well,” I nod. “It’s settled. We will be the Shadow Council. Our picks on the Royal Council will do as we tell them. We retain our anonymity, and they gain social status. Everybody wins.”

  “That’s debatable,” Brandon murmurs.

  “This is important,” I tell him. “The Haven is falling apart without us. The Queen’s attention is diverted. She has too many things to take care of. We have a decimated village and a fallen castle. Once-verdant fields are turned to ash. We have the wards, yes, but all else is in disarray.

  “It will be on us to make the internals work again. So, get your selections to me quickly. The sooner we get to work, the better off the coven will be. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to craft The Haven in our vision. We can—will—make it glorious. We will make our Queen proud. Remember, this is not about restoring the coven to its former self. It is about surpassing that, and surpassing it greatly. We shall make our home the most prosperous coven in the word: And it all begins tonight.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Eleira

  The Haven

  I walk down the steps leading outside, eager to get away from the stifling interior of the apartments.

  I let the Forsaken Sisters in my rooms so they can do the tasks assigned to them. Morgan, for now, is also confined to the apartments.

  I want to have some time to myself, to think on all the implications of the new revelations and how to grapple with them.

  But I quickly rediscover how difficult it is to have any sort of freedom as Queen. No sooner do I pass the first group of vampires than whispers go up amongst them, doubtless about me. I keep walking, making it clear by my body language that I am in no mood to talk. The vampires get the message and don’t approach; however, I do soon have a group of them “coincidentally” walking the same way I am.