by John Booth
Jorge could see Peter’s logic. He knew the populations of Vampires and Warlocks were close to collapse. If you went into the forest, you could find the remains of villages. If you went far enough afield, you could find the ruins of towns and abandoned cities. Still if Peter was right, there was only one conclusion.
“You’re trying to tell me that Han No plots the destruction of Vampires, Warlocks and Grimms. If so, why is the world not already filled with Dragons? Where have they gone?”
“I don’t know,” Peter confessed. “From what the Vampires and the Grimms tell me, one day there were lots of dragons and then there was only Han No. I think that was the point where the Great Game stopped being a game and you all started killing each other. As far as I can tell, it was about the same time the Grimms population collapsed. Grimms are very difficult to kill. Had that not happened, the Warlocks, Vampires and Dragons would only be a footnote in the history of Hellogon.”
“Well, you can’t blame the Warlocks for that,” Jorge said.
“How does any of this stupid talk help anything?” Sal burst out. She had rattled her cup and saucer until the handle of the cup broke off, and she was tired of being ignored.
“I’ve no intention of attacking the Warlocks. I think I can keep the Vampire Lords in line unless your hotheads attack the Vampires,” Peter explained, ignoring Sal. “If you attack the Vampires, I’ll have to respond in kind or I’ll be deposed. It’s time the Vampires, Warlocks and Grimms rounded on their real enemy and discovered what Han No is up to.”
Jorge Dallman stood up and offered his hand to Peter. “I’ll do what I can to hold my people back. They would never believe your argument about Han No. I find it difficult to accept it. He has been our salvation for centuries. However, I believe you do not want to kill us.”
Peter took Jorge’s hand in a firm grip.
“Finally,” Sal said in a voice filled with admiration and disgust. “The boys are prepared to put down their toys. Anything that results in Han No’s death is fine with me. I’ve a personal matter to settle with him.”
Chapter Twenty One
Saloni
Peter and Sal left Jorge Dallman at the tavern and decided to wander around the market before it closed. Under pretty coloured tent cloths they found many things to divert them. Peter bought Sal fried sausage with something similar to rice. Sal washed it down with a local drink that tasted something like lime. Peter barely touched the food because he still felt queasy.
They watched the street shows. Peter threw coins to the players because Sal had no Hellogon money. They watched a play performed on a makeshift stage involving a mix of Vampires, Warlocks and Grimms, not to mention a Warlock in a mask playing a Dragon.
The play took two hours from start to finish, mainly because the audience shouted insults and encouragements to the characters. The distinguished looking Vampire playing a Vampire Lord broke off from the story to engage in good natured insults with the Warlock crowd. He gave as good as he got and the crowd roared their approval at his ready wit.
It was getting late when Peter and Sal made their way back to Castle Cragus. The massive red sun touched the horizon so they knew they had only a few hours of daylight left.
When they got back to their mounts, Peter offered to swap horses with Sal. His mount had been placid on the ride to the town while Sal seemed to have real trouble with her horse. Sal thought one horse must be much like another so she wasn’t really bothered. In the end she decided to humour Peter by agreeing to the swap.
Riding Peter’s horse was a revelation. It seemed to know exactly what she wanted without giving any instructions. Peter’s horse gave her a sense of security she hadn’t felt on the ride to Tallus. For Peter, who was an experienced rider, Sal’s horse was a revelation of a different kind.
Someone had fed an already jittery horse far too many oats. It was no wonder Sal had problems. Even with his considerable experience, Peter found it difficult to keep the horse under control. He wondered exactly what someone had been up to when they gave this horse to a novice rider.
Peter didn’t say anything to Sal about the horse or his deepening suspicions. Sal was paranoid enough about the Vampires of Castle Cragus and Lady Ilarna as it was. Telling her anything would only confirm her worst suspicions.
They rode towards the setting sun. The sun wasn’t very bright, but there was so much of it that it filled a quarter of the sky. In its own way the sun was as spectacular as anything that might be experienced on Earth, especially as it contrasted with the jet black forest and purple grasses around them.
They had just ridden past the crossroads when Sal asked if they could dismount and talk. They walked the horses into the forest and found a small glade formed by the toppling of an ancient tree. The tree’s trunk provided a convenient place to sit and talk.
“I want to apologise for being such a bitch,” Sal said hesitantly. She never found it easy to say sorry. “I’ve been blaming you for the death of my father when the real villain is Han No. I knew I couldn’t get at Han No, so I got at you.”
“I promised to keep your father safe,” Peter put his hand on Sal’s leg. “I know how I’d feel if something happened to mum.”
“Why did he do it? Kill my father, I mean.” Sal stared out into the forest.
“I think it was to keep me off balance. You were there to manipulate me. To show me Hellogon as Han No wanted me to see it, and then to reel me in like a fish on a line. That went wrong, so he punished you. But he didn’t eliminate you because I said I loved you. That made you useful and that meant he needed to keep your father alive.”
“I don’t understand. You said you would keep my father safe.” Sal plucked a blade of jet black grass from the ground and started to chew it.
“I sent Han No a message saying I wanted you returned to me, so I could punish you for your disloyalty. I thought he’d understand that, as it would appeal to his nature. However, he knows everything happening in Castle Cragus. One of his spies in the castle will be passing on every detail.” Peter paused, he was not sure of the truth of what he planned to say next.
“I think his spies reported back that you and I have become a team and he decided to break us up by killing your father. He wants us to fight each other. He knew I wouldn’t be able to operate effectively while worried over you. I think he killed your father to slow me down.”
“You’re saying I’ve been doing exactly what Han No wants me to do?” Sal said in a whisper.
“He’s an excellent manipulator of emotions, that’s for sure,” Peter replied dryly. “I’m sure I’ve badly underestimated him.”
The two sat in silence. There were strange sounds in the night as the local birds, bats and frogs welcomed the fall of night. Peter found the sounds relaxing and felt at total peace for the first time in days.
“Saloni,” Peter used her full name for the first time, “I need to ask you about the things Han No said.”
Sal’s face blanched. Peter was going to ask her about all the boys she had been with, and she knew how it would sound to him. Boys always wanted to believe they were the first with a girl, that they were the most experienced. For the first time in her life, she regretted her past.
“It’s all true. I was always into boys. By the time I was twelve I needed the feeling only a boy could give me and his holding me as if I’m the most important person in the world. I needed that comfort a lot.” Peter said nothing and Sal felt she had to continue.
“I’ve had a lot of boyfriends and I’ve screwed every one of them. They were all grateful for my favours. Not one of them said ‘You’re under age’ or ‘Let's wait a bit’ or even ‘Should I use a condom?’ And I manipulated them all, it was always so easy. I’d just run my finger up my legs like this…” Sal ran her finger up her jeans and then veered off towards her inner thigh.
“See, it even gets a reaction from you.” Sal looked at the suspicious bulge in Peter’s jeans. “Well, I’m sorry, but what I’ve done is done and I
can’t undo it. You’re just going to have to put up with it.”
“Are you finished?” Peter asked.
Sal nodded and dropped her head, eyes fixed on the ground.
“No more outbursts to come?”
Sal nodded again.
“That wasn’t what I wanted to ask you about.” Peter yelped as a fist pummelled into his upper arm. “Ow! That hurts!” He rubbed his arm. “For the record, I may be an abnormal male, but I couldn’t give a damn what you did. The only thing that matters to me is what you do now we’re together. I had a strange childhood. I only know what constitutes a normal childhood from books and television.”
“We were trained not to judge the people we work with. Some of those people could have done terrible things. Things they needed to do to survive. Judge not others, was the creed of the Establishment.” Peter smiled at Sal and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “However, if any of those were a lot better at it than me, could you keep it to yourself?
“What? Not even to explain their techniques?” Sal asked brightly, and managed to dodge a blow to her arm every bit as hard as the one she gave earlier.
Peter chased a giggling Sal through the glade. When he finally gave up, Sal came and sat besides him, keeping just enough distance between them to run away. Peter started the conversation again.
“What I wanted to ask you about was about Han No visiting your father. Why did he do that?”
“Daddy was an exile from Hellogon. I suppose Han No came around to check Daddy obeyed the rules.”
“What are the rules for exiles?”
“If you’re an exile, you have to stay out of the Game. You can’t return to Hellogon.” Sal thought for a second. “I’ve just realised. Your father broke the rules! He was an exile just like Daddy and he took his wife into Hellogon and you too, at least once. Even the Vampires would have strung him up if they’d found out about it.”
“Mum and Dad were Establishment. We break the rules as a way of life. What’s more interesting is how they got into Hellogon. The regular portals are guarded.”
“They must’ve had the help of a Warlock.” Sal said with certainty. “Only Warlocks can bring people in through places like the Sunner Gate, and those are the only ones not guarded.”
“Getting back to the subject,” Peter said, “how often did Han No visit your father?”
“I don’t know. He was always around when I was young. Remember, I saw Mum die when I was seven and it traumatised me. I don’t have good memories of our early days on Earth.” Sal thought for a few seconds. “He came around at least once a month, I suppose. That doesn’t really make any sense, does it?”
Peter had all the facts he wanted and needed to divert Sal from her current line of thought. He didn’t want her thinking about why Han No would be visiting her father. Fortunately, she’d given him a cue for something he did want her to know about. “You saw your Mum die? That must have been terrible.”
“It was.”
Peter waited for her continue, and Sal cast her mind back to that terrible day when her mother died and she and her dad fled to Earth.
“We were staying in Zandar. It was a horrible place for a little girl, full of angry men. We came from a village after some Warlocks visited us and told us we weren’t safe and we had to come with them.”
“Mummy was upset about leaving and she hated it there. We spent most of the day walking around looking for somewhere to hide away, somewhere quiet and safe.”
“When the Vampires attacked, it was chaos. Mummy picked me up in her arms and ran back to the common room. It was the only place where Daddy could find us. The room was empty and we sat on our bedrolls. Mummy put her hands over my ears so I wouldn’t hear the screams.”
“Then Daddy burst into the room and Mummy smiled at him. The next moment she screamed because a Vampire came in behind Daddy and felled him. Daddy fell to the floor groaning and holding his head. The Vampire spotted Mummy and me and came over to us. He put his hand on Mummy’s head and Mummy started shuddering and shaking.”
Sal paused to wipe a tear from her eye.
“I could feel her body go cold and she stopped breathing. Her hands fell away from me and I saw this Vampire quivering. He swayed as if he was drunk. Then he turned his attention to me and his hand reached down to touch my forehead.”
Again, Sal paused and Peter took her hand in his and held her tightly.
“I closed my eyes and waited to join Mummy in death, but his fingers never reached me. An even larger Vampire came up and killed the first one. I thought he was going to kill me too when he held out his hand. I’ll never forget what he said. We don’t kill children. He had his death coming and I have given it to him.”
“My daddy cradled my mummy in his arms. He cried like a baby. He ignored the Vampire. The Vampire spoke again. 'My orders were that non-combatants should not be attacked. I am sorry you should have encountered such an unworthy Vampire'.”
“My Dad stood up and took me in his arms. He bowed his head to the Vampire. ‘May we leave, my Lord’, Daddy said.”
“'Can you make a portal to Earth?' the Vampire asked and Daddy nodded. 'Go in peace,' the Vampire said and Daddy made a portal appear and carried me through it. We were incredibly lucky because it brought us to the city. A short time after, Daddy requested exile and the Vampires, Grimms and Han No agreed.”
“Shall we go?” Peter helped Sal to her feet and kissed her on the cheek.
“Can’t we stay a little longer?” Sal gave Peter a wicked grin and rubbed her hand against the front of his jeans. “I’ve never done it in a forest.”
* * *
A few hours later, Peter and Sal rode through the gates of Castle Cragus. They were laughing, and leaning over to hold each other’s hands.
Far above them, Ilarna nodded in relief. She stood at a window and watched Peter and Sal ride up the hill.
It has all worked out as I planned. The girl’s inability to handle the horse resulted in Lord Cragus saving her and that has led to the girl giving up her attempts to punish him, she thought.
Ilarna stepped away from the window and looked at her watch. This had proved an astonishing week for her and she still couldn’t believe all the things that had happened or all the things she had done.
To think I had to explain myself to a slave simply to get her to follow my orders. I would have killed her once upon a time just for the impudence of it. But Lord Cragus would have been upset if I killed her. He is subject to many foolish sentimentalities. Still, I wish him whatever joy he can get out of the girl. When he tires of her I’ll show him the best love can only be experienced with a fellow Vampire.
Pleased her latest scheme had worked so well, Ilarna bustled off to make sure an excellent meal would be ready for Peter, whenever he was ready to eat.
Chapter Twenty Two
Commandant
The next two weeks were exceptionally busy for Peter as he consolidated his position. He had been busy trying to make the essential changes needed if the Vampires were to survive. The first thing he did on getting back from Tallus was to issue an edict that Vampires shouldn’t kill each other. Any Vampire killing another for any reason except unambiguous self-defence risked being put to death.
He half expected the Vampire Lords to rebel over the order but they went along with it without question. Even Lord Baldan, who often boasted about how many Vampires he had killed, seemed to be okay with it. Peter asked Lady Ilarna for an explanation when he noticed the sour looks he was getting from the younger Vampires.
“You are so naïve sometimes, Lord Cragus. You make many good decisions, but you do not seem to understand the people in your charge.” Ilarna laughed, which made her breasts heave in a way Peter found fascinating. Ilarna noticed where his eyes were focussed and subtly turned to give him a better view.
“That’s exactly why I’m asking you, Lady Ilarna. Instead of laughing at me, perhaps you’d care to explain?” Peter asked though gritted teeth. He hated people
laughing at him.
“Would there be something in it for me?” Ilarna asked, giving Peter a sly wink.
“Yes, my dear Lady Ilarna. Telling me will mean that I’ll change my mind about having you tied to the whipping post and asking the servants to do the honours.”
Ilarna blinked and her face took on a slightly paler shade.
“I beg your pardon, Lord Cragus,” she said giving a low bow. Ilarna decided to get on with it when she saw how Peter’s fingers tapped irritably on the desk.
“Despite first appearances, the Lord Vampires do not enjoy killing their young. It is just that the fastest way to climb to the top has been over the dead bodies of Lords. Young Vampires are impatient for power and glory and believe themselves infallible and indestructible. They see no problem in killing a Lord to advance in the hierarchy.”
“Lord Baldan talks up his reputation for dispatching reckless youths, which makes them wary of attacking him. They say to themselves ‘I will tackle an easier target first’ and, of course, there are no easy targets. Lord Baldan has fewer young Vampires attacking him than would otherwise be the case. The Vampire Lords are grateful you have ended this massacre.”
“Okay, I think I see. The young Vampires think I’ve denied their chances of reaching the top, so they’re mad at me.” Peter mused on this strange state of affairs. You would’ve thought they’d be pleased they might reach the age of nineteen or twenty, he thought.
“Under the old rules, an intelligent young female Vampire might try to kill a naïve young ruler when he turns up unannounced. If she thought she stood a chance, of course.”