Outside the walls Sahen was going crazy he could smell Miranda, and it was strong, but he couldn’t find her. He called to one of his guards, “Go get Gage, I need him now, she’s here I can feel her and smell her. Jared I know she’s here, and she’s still out cold so she can’t call out to us, but she’s here I can feel it.”
He stopped, “Go get Carma I’m not sure why it was just something she said, I need her right now, even if you have to carry her here, be fast.”
The guard was gone in one minute and Jared left only seconds later. Right after they left only a few minutes later a house servant walked in.
She looked angry with Sahen and she asked, “Is something wrong? I thought you were the best?” her face changed as she looked around “Why aren’t you out looking for her? Why would you stay here? Please don’t tell me anything bad had happened, she was always so nice to me, even when Gage wasn’t. Please tell me she’s going to be ok?”
It was the servant who had the job of waking Miranda up in the morning. Miranda always had a kind word for her and a smile, the servant loved her dearly, and when Gage wanted to get rid of her Miranda won’t allow it.
“She is to kind to leave our world we need more people like her, I hate those people they come here trying to bribe us and get us to do things and spy…”
“Hold on, who wanted you to spy?” Sahen was curious, could they have a trap door or a room hidden in the house somewhere.
“Sir it wasn’t me, I told Gage about them. Mical and Emina, oh there was another man, but I didn’t know his name. I told Gage they came around a while back when Miranda wasn’t here he got mad at me, and told me if I helped them I would die. He didn’t understand I would never hurt Miranda she was the kindest person I knew and she was never mean to me.”
Sahen gave her a warm smile, “You have served Miranda well, she will be happy to know you have helped, and I think we may find her because of you. Please could you tell me one more thing, did you see anyone else talking to them?”
“Yes, but they told them it was not a good time, and they walked them off the grounds into the woods.” She smiled thinking her friend had also avoided trouble.
“These friends of yours, did they do any work around the house, after Emina and Mical left maybe to surprise Gage? Like building things or fixing the walls or even maybe something in this room?”
Sahen was trying to be calm and not accused them of something that would make her clam up. He was sure he was right and that they had build a secret room or passageway. He knew time was running out for Miranda, and he really needed to get to her, he could feel it in his bones.
“Yes in this room, they wouldn’t let anyone help because they said it was dangerous, I’m not even sure what they did.” She had a strange look on her face, “They did such a good job that went I told Gage, he thought I was crazy. It all looks the same, he said, and they said they never did anything in this room. I just figure they messed something up and tried to hide it so I didn’t bring it up again.
Jared was back with Carma, and Gage came back with the guard. Sahen looked at the guard, “Go get everyone from outside and bring them here. I have a new job for them, Gage you should give this servant a reward, I think she found Miranda.”
Carma was still hurt but she was starting to feel okay, Sahen looked at her and Jared, “Mind walk to her, wake her up, but tell her to keep still and keep her eyes closed. They aren’t going to hurt her until she wakes up.”
He looked into Carma’s eyes, “Celbris is cruel he’ll want her awake when he does it, so if she makes a mistake get out of her head, you don’t need to go through it to. I need her to tell us where she is in this room, she’ll need to mind walk in Triu’s mind and find the entrance, I know it’s here somewhere.”
Carma and Jared were very surprised they had no idea Miranda was still in the house let alone this room.
Gage looked at his servant, he knew he hadn’t been very kind to her, “I’m very sorry and I hope you can forgive me. I’ve never been the nicest to you and in fact I’ve been very mean, I don’t understand why you would help me now. I will give you a reward when this is all over, you can be head of the house, a position you should have had a long time ago. I will also have a cottage built for you, I know you have been trying to keep me ahead of things, and I should have listen to you more. I will do my best to be better to you no matter what your reasons are for helping me.”
“Sir, I mean no disrespect, but I’m helping Miranda. She has always been kind to me and she has never given me a rough time. If you want to give those things to me, that’s fine, but give them because I am a good servant not because I helped my friend. Yes Miranda called me Friend.” The servant girl was very proud of that fact and even more proud that she told Gage. “Just in case you have ever wondered, my name is Eve. Miranda asked me my name the very first morning she arrived here.”
“I guess I have a lot to learn from my daughter, don’t I? You will have all of those things because you should have had them years ago. You have always been a faithful and loyal servant, and I have always been a grumpy old employer. I am truly sorry.” Gage hugged Eve in hopes that he could make things right again.
“I’m not sure if this would help but I remember them talking about the fireplace and how could they use it. One of them said it could be used but Gage might still want to light a fire in it? Is that helpful?”
Eve was happy to remember anything that could help, she wanted Miranda back, because Miranda always made the house a happy place.
“That’s it, but we have to be careful, any loud noise and they might kill her.” Sahen was very excited he knew the scent was stronger over there, and before he didn’t know why. He starting looking for an entrance, while Jared and Carma concentrated on getting Miranda to wake up.
“Sir if I may, if you find the entrance why don’t you send me in first, they will think I have made a mistake and then you can attack them. I want to help, she is so good to me, please let me.” Eve was a small woman but she was pleading with Sahen to take on an enormous burden.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Eve they’ll kill you and they won’t ask questions, whatever comes through that entrance will get slaughtered.” Gage pointed at the door. “Miranda will want to see you went she’s back and I don’t want to tell her you died helping her.” Gage tried to reason with her, “Miranda would be very upset if you were hurt.”
Inside Celbris was getting anxious, “I’m going to start now. I’ve got to have her, it’s something inside of me, and I can’t wait any longer. I don’t like the fact that we can’t see or hear what’s going on out there either.”
He started to lean over toward Miranda; he picked her up off of the floor and threw her onto the bed, and started to grab at her clothes.
Just then Triu heard and noise, “Stop, did you hear that? What was that sound?” Triu was paranoid and he wasn’t sure if he was hearing things or if someone was coming.
Celbris was going crazy; he hated being trapped with nothing to do, “I think you’re hearing things again. Either help me with her or go sit over there and watch, I’ve got to start this!”
They were so busy arguing that they didn’t realize Miranda was awake and sending messages to the others on the other side of the wall. She started to panic as Celbris grabbed at her clothes.
“Help me Jared, what should I do? Should I fight back, use my shield or wait for you?”
“I got it!” Sahen yelled to the others, “I’m going in first follow me, only the guards, Jared I promised Miranda I can‘t risk you getting here.”
“Sahen they are trying to hurt her, let me in!” Jared was being held back by Michael, Mattis, Gage and Carma. Before he could say a word, they were gone inside the wall, Carma was already telling Miranda to look out the army was coming.
Miranda was already started fighting back and Celbris got excited, “Great she’s awake! I want you to feel the pain I inflict on you! You are going to be real sorry you scre
wed with me on the battlefield.” Celbris was screaming at the top of his lungs, “You can scream all you want they’ll never hear you. If you’re lucky I give your body back to Jared. Hey Triu, maybe we can throw it by the cottage! Talk about poetic justice, that‘s were these two fools started it all.” Celbris was laughing and punching at Miranda as she deflected him.
Just then a look of terror came across Triu’s face, Sahen was right behind Celbris, and he was going to attack. The attack was justifiable, and gruesome, Celbris was not going to make it out alive. He had tried to touch a woman who was spoken for, Sahen knew that was a death sentence, and he would be justified in executing him. Triu gave up right away, he never touched Miranda and he said he never would, so he would not have to die.
Jared came in behind them to pick up Miranda and carried her out, “Don’t worry it’s all over now, it’s all over.”
He kept saying it over and over, he knew she saw Sahen’s attack and the mess it left behind, he knew she had almost been hurt in a way she could never some back from. She would need some time to deal with all of it, when they got to the entrance of the passageway he told her about Eve, and how Eve made it possible for them to find her so quickly.
Miranda smiled and asked Eve if she could sit with her in the room later, if she wouldn’t mind. Eve helped Jared get Miranda back to the East Wing so she could get into bed. Carma went to Sahen to help him clean up from his work. The guards took the Triu to a place to be held, and remove what was left of Celbris; his body would be place in a rack in the town for all to see.
Miranda would need to decide what to do about the three who were still alive. Jared spoke to her softly, “That can wait until you recover they aren’t going anywhere. You need to rest for a few days, give yourself time to heal, we have eternity.”
Everyone took turns coming and going from Miranda’s room, they all wanted to check on her, and watch her sleep, but her most vigil guard, other than Jared, was Eve. She wanted to be sure no one woke or disturbed Miranda until she was ready to be awake.
It was about week later when Miranda came back into town, they needed to have a meeting to decide punishment for the three that were alive. Miranda decided it would be good if everyone helped to render the punishment.
“It happened to me and my family so I don’t believe I can look at this with a fair mind. I want everyone’s opinion before I render their punishment. I will give everyone two weeks to come up separately with a punishment they believe fits all of the crimes involved. Once they have been punished their family lines can find the next hybrids to take their place, one of their punishments is that they can no longer sit on the Concillium. That is a punishment I will not change, the rest we will work on together, if no one objects we will met here back in two weeks.
Chapter 25
It took a few days for Miranda to sort things out in her head, she knew Carma had been right Miranda was powerful but she had a human side too, and she would need to honor that. She needed to be able to get angry when she was scared, she needed to use her shield and fight when her life was on the line, not just when someone else’s life was on the line.
“Jared, I need to practice more, Carma knew the human side of me might take over and she was right. I was frozen in fear when he threw me on the bed. What would have happened to me if Eve didn’t know anything? Do you think I could have really helped myself?”
“Miranda, you were never alone, we were right there with you. Carma and I would have talked you through it, and you would have gotten angry again, you would have run into his mind and really messed him up. Don’t be so hard on yourself for being human, it what makes you a good force, it makes you the kind of person Eve cherished. That’s why she helped us find you, she knew how good you were to her, and that’s also why she didn’t help them. They could have bribed her if you hadn’t treated her so well; she really didn’t like your father because he was so mean to her. Did you know he didn’t even know her name? She made a point of telling him that you did. She told him that you had asked her name the very first time you me her.”
“I see you point, I guess my human side keeps me sane, and it keeps me human.” She looked down at her hands, they seem so much older, they really hadn’t aged but her mind did.
She looked at Jared’s face, “Are you ready then? Are you ready to see what they’ve done to our house?”
Miranda wasn’t quite sure about this, she really needed to go back to the cottage, but she wasn’t sure what they had done to the place.
“I want you to do one thing for me first, okay?” Jared though it better to get a few things out before they saw the devastation. “I want to talk about the punishment we are going to suggest for the other three. I think it’s the only way to have peace with ourselves. If we wait, and punish them for what we are about to see, later we both may regret it. I don’t want to live with any regrets, when this is all over I want to just move on, with.” Jared paused for a moment like he was going to think and then he smiled, “what did Sahen call you that night, oh yes, a crazy bride. I want to move on with my crazy bride and all of the foolish plans that are going into the monster size binding we’re going to have.”
“Jared that makes me think you’re giving up on the small one, do you really mean it, because I think it’s going to take a few months for me to plan this binding. I really want Carma and your mother to teach me a few more things about be bound to a vampire before I do it.”
Miranda was relieved and for the first time she felt like she could breath, “I’ve been so rushed worrying about who was going to separate us, that I haven’t had the time to enjoy any of this, I would like to wait a little longer, if that’s okay with you?”
“I think that is probably the best idea I’ve heard in a while. We have a few things to deal with and then we can plan the binding together. I know I’m not going to be too much fun with it, but I want to be there to help you, the whole time. First we have to make some decisions about our friends that are locked up, you know, the ones who tried to kill us.” Jared wanted to keep things a little lighter and see what Miranda did with them.
“I have been thinking about that, and I think that you need to tell me what the normal punishments are for each of the laws they have broken, then I will treat them like human criminals. The punishments and the reasons both go into the sentence.
Triu did follow after the two leaders, but he didn’t orchestrate the plan, if they hadn’t started it he would have just been angry with my dad. He also told Celbris not to touch me, I know it was because the law was clear, but he did try to stop him. As for the other two, they made multiple attempts, and we know for a fact that they planned it all ahead of time. They even made a backup plan in case they needed an out, so that brings a stronger sentence in and of its self. What are the normal sentences for what they did? Is there some kind of jail in your world? What do you do with people who screw up?” Miranda had no idea what she was asking and that she wasn’t going to like the answers Jared would give her.
“Well we do have a jail of sorts; it’s mostly a place where people get tortured. Miranda don’t look at me that way, the kind of people that go to our Carcer are the type of people who torture others, especially humans. You don’t understand, in the human world they think they are dealing with “demons” or “evil”, the humans like that are innocent compared to what we have to deal with. You really need to be around awhile to truly understand it and the place is there because, only the table has the right to impose the death sentence, we can only suggest it. We are immortal and only the table can change that, although there are ways as you saw with Celbris, but they are rarely used because if it is not justified you too can die. Now what do you think we should do with Triu? You’re right he didn’t start this mess but he did have a large hand in trying to kill you. He helped make it possible twice for you and I to come very close to dying and for that he should be punished. There is other thing to think about, do you know how Fortuna is going to deal with his family?
”
“I gave her three weeks to get back to me, and I’m not going to rush her, I think she has a lot on her plate. As for Triu, I think I need to know more about what the standard punishment is for his crime, before I can render a decision.”
Miranda change subjects, “Jared, how long are the werewolves going to watch the cottage anyway?”
“I asked them if they would sure it up for me until we could get things together here. I wanted to be sure that we both were completely ready for whatever it is we’re going to see. Your dad said it was bad and we needed to be prepared for anything. So I went to Sahen and asked if there was anything that he could do to help out there, of course for you Miranda he would do anything, even sit there himself. At this point even Emina and Mical’s family lines are to scared of us to go anywhere near the cottage. Sahen went to the cottage, made sure everything is fixed up until we can get there, and the wolves are going to stay for another week if we need them to.” Jared looked sad, “I told him not to tell me anything yet, I’m not ready for it, it’s the first place I fell in love with you.”
“Well then start with what the normal punishments are for what they have done even with the cottage, because our judgment will be based on the fact that they did it, not what they did to it.” Miranda was right if they hadn’t seen the damage they wouldn’t be tempted by their own anger.
“Ok, normally the penalty for destruction of property is public humiliation in the town square and they have to pay to have repairs done to the satisfaction of the people they’ve wronged. That can also mean more than the original worth, because who is ever happy getting it back the way it was, most people what more. Now as for the attempts on our lives, they are suppose to have the same affection on their life, our world is very cruel, they have to go out to the dark forest at night and if they live through that twice then they go to the Carcer for one hundred times each attempt to be tortured. They would also have a penalty for attempting to torture you and that carries additional penalties for each thing on the list and anything said directly to you, me or your family.” Jared breathed a sigh, “it’s a lot, they risked a lot going after your dad’s seat, and they needed her to be the strongest member to get past all of this. If she had won, we would be in jail or dead.”
Between Shadows Page 29