Queen of Swords (The Vampire Swords Book 3)

by Arabella Kingsley

  The wind suddenly swept up onto the deck in a gust carrying a spray of water almost threatening to knock me from my feet. The brightly lit gas lamps on the deck blew out. The moon disappeared behind sudden gathering dark clouds and the sky was lit with a large fork of white light. The wind became stronger as the ladies on deck pulled their evening shawls closed across their bare arms and were drawn back inside the ship under the protective arm of their male companions, determined to shelter them from the ill weather. I had no such companion. Neither did I wear a shawl. The cold air did not seem to bother me as much as it used to when I was human.

  I dipped my head and cast my eyes out over the water thinking of Nathan. I had closed my mind to him as much as I were able to but his feelings would filter through my consciousness adding a heavy weight to my own. I had sensed a restlessness and a torment in him that made me fear. When I detected severe pain from him I was prepared to open my mind and allow our connection to flourish again desperate to know what ailed him so. Then I considered the possibility that it might be a ruse. The demon still possessed the reins to his soul and I would not have put the action above him. It was with great difficulty that I held myself back from giving in.

  A loud clap of thunder vibrated around the promenade deck breaking my thoughts. I was not normally frightened of thunder but on this occasion the noise shook me violently. I gasped as the wind blew harshly in my face and the shipped dipped. I looked out across the water, a strange orange glow lighting the horizon. A icy finger stroked my insides leaving a heavy coating of frost, making me shiver. I had experienced that feeling often enough now to note that it was a warning that a malevolent presence was close at hand. The orange glow grew larger and began to move towards the ship at speed. Had I breathed I would have held my breath.

  The fiery ball appeared to pulse with energy as it manoeuvred towards us. The storm intensified and whipped up the waves to an alarming height. I held on to the rail tightly to maintain my balance feeling a mixture of rain and snow fall thickly on my bare arms. Whatever approached the ship was evil. I could feel it strongly. Every movement it made towards us seemed to increase the density of its presence. I could not take my eyes from it’s strange form. It meant to cause the ship harm of that I had no doubt. We were all in grave danger.

  The doors out onto the Promenade Deck burst open and my Lycan companions Richard and Marcus hurried on to the deck filled with worry that I had disappeared from their line of view in the ballroom. They both rushed to my side, Richard remonstrating with me in his harsh badly mannered and condescending tone that I should not have left the ballroom and their care. Sometimes he made me feel like a unwelcome visitor in the Lycan clan as though I contaminated his people with my vampire presence. His cruel unnecessary words had stung me on more than one occasion in the very short time I had taken refuge with the Lycans. Thankfully, Marcus, the leader of the clan was more well bred in his manner and treated me with generosity and kindness.

  Richard demanded that I let go of the rail and come back inside but I would not heed his words. I had to take care of my ship and the human passengers on board. If I could not muster my mighty power as Queen of Talus to protect the vulnerable what use was I in this world?

  Richard started to roughly pull at my arm as Marcus stared out to see what so commanded my attention. He sniffed at the air and his expression changed to one of fear. I was about to argue when the orange glow receded and a large object emerged. I gasped out loud as Richard and Marcus stared in horror at the evolving shape from the orange glow. It was a ship, an ocean liner, an exact mirror copy of The Adeline on which we travelled and it was heading straight for us.

  Marcus joined Richard in trying to prise my hands away from the rail.

  ‘Come, Juliet. Danger approaches. We must see you safe or Nathan will never forgive me,’ he fiercely urged.

  ‘There is danger for us all,’ I told them, gripping the rail tighter. ‘A great evil approaches us. I must stop it. I can stop the ship colliding with us. I know I can,’ I insisted with firmness.

  ‘No, Juliet. You must come away. I will not be dissuaded,’ Marcus declared with fervour, succeeding in pulling one of my hands from the rail. ‘No one can stop this collision. The ship comes too fast . . . The Adeline won’t be able to manoeuvre in time to escape it. We must find somewhere safe and pray we survive the collision unscathed.’

  ‘What is the use of being Queen of Talus with immense power if I cannot use it to save the people around me,’ I declared in an angry tone.

  ‘Juliet, we do not have time for your stubbornness . . .’ Richard snapped.

  Still they pulled at my hands and body to remove me from the rail. My words were falling upon deaf ears but I had to make them listen. This was my chance to prove my worthiness as Queen of Talus and I would not be stopped by anyone when the lives of so many were at risk and I could save them.

  I felt the change in my eyes from green to black as the hardness of my anger pierced my soul. I gave vent to it. My mind sent a strong blast of energy at both Lycans, propelling them backwards. They fell down onto the deck and slid along it towards the wall. Shocked they both rushed to recover and stand. But as they did I took aim with another burst of energy and pinned them against the wall. I ignored their shouts for me to stop. They would not cause me any further trouble as I turned back to the rail to tackle the problem at hand. I turned the remainder of concentration and energy upon the approaching ship and fancied I saw it begin to slow it’s pace.

  The Adeline’s bells were ringing in alarm and two of the officers were racing down the promenade deck to lean over the rail and view the other ship on its collision course. At the same time I felt the boat begin to take evasive manoeuvres to move away from the ship’s path. The movement was slow and cumbersome as the ship ploughed the rough sea and wind in a vain attempt to turn away in time.

  Laughter entered my mind. An intruder from the ship heading for The Adeline. It’s Captain, no less.

  ‘Bravo, my beautiful Queen. You are everything they said,’ a soft deep male voice informed me. ‘Your beauty is Angelic, your power is so potent and your bravery stronger than any of my men who serve me. I must possess you. Your knight will not have you. Now let me come to you. You will not be allowed to stop the collision. It is your destiny to be with me.’

  ‘I belong to no one but my Knight. Do not make the mistake of daring to question my loyalty to him,’ I hissed.

  I increased the strength of my power and summoned it to obey my will as the on the ship began to fight my hold. His power was equally strong and for a moment the ship’s speed increased. But I had strong hopes that I could outwit his arrogance - a common failing, particular to the male sex. Once more the approaching ship slowed its speed and I felt hope dwell inside me once again. I was determined to stop the ship dead in the water but the Devil that commanded it’s metallic soul would not give up.

  I attacked his mind directly with pain and I became encouraged when I heard him growl with anger.

  ‘I admire you, Queen of Talus but you must be tamed.’

  For a brief moment I appeared to gain ground. It seemed I could not stop the ship but I began to force it to turn and sabotage the Devil’s plan to collide with the Adeline head on and take as many lives as possible. Another growl of anger startled my mind. Then a sharp piercing pain gripped my mind, my body forcing me to cry out with anguish. I struggled to maintain my concentration on forcing the ship to turn. It was so close. The great hulk of dark grey steel loomed ominously like a giant. it was an effort to look at it without terrible crippling fear.

  Marcus and Richard called out to me, desperate for me to let them go. So many people had spilled out onto the deck to ascertain the commotion. There were many cries of fear as people began to scatter in a panic. An officer began shouting at me to move away as he made every attempt to prise my hands from the rail. The rail was my anchor, my grounding. I could not let go. One of the officers made to pick me up and carry me to safety as
I fought to turn the ship away from us.

  ‘Let me come to you,’ the voice persisted. ‘Then the pain will stop, little one.’

  ‘I can endure pain better than anyone. You will not break my ship in two and sink it.’

  The officers would not stop their annoying pulling and attempts to lift me in the air. I could not afford to redirect anymore of my energy away from the ship. I let go of my hold on Marcus and Richard and pleaded with them to help me.

  By now Marcus was more amenable to my wishes. I had briefly felt him in my mind attempting to ascertain my plan and he was now eager to assist despite his previous concerns that I was a danger to myself in this situation. Why was it that the men around me refused to acknowledge or accept that I held power as a female? Why did I continually have to seek to prove myself to them before they would lower themselves to accept it? It was a most wretched state of affairs for a woman to find herself in. Both men succeeded in making short work of removing the officers’ hold on my person and I was left to tackle the problem with my full attention.

  ‘You bear pain well but can you bear the pain of mourning the death of those you seek to protect,’ the male voice was amused again.

  ‘No, please . . .’

  I turned my head quickly towards the passengers running around me. One, two, three fell to the ground dead. The body count continued amidst terrified screaming and my angry sobbing protest within my mind.

  ‘Stop it, please don’t hurt them.’

  ‘Then let me come to you. They mean nothing to me but I will spare them if you will but take your place by my side.’

  ‘You lie. You mean to sink my ship. Leave them alone.’

  Several more of the passengers died on their feet. There was no precision, no pattern, no gender nor any other apparent influence as to who was chosen to meet death. The Adeline was filled with blind panic as the passengers ran trampling over the fallen bodies and the weak and frail caught underfoot. The bodies kept falling.

  I stared suddenly at Marcus and Richard who had placed themselves either side of me. My fear that either one of them or Marcus’s two children would be chosen was acute. I turned to face the oncoming ship once more and screamed out loud at the Devil in a rage.

  ‘Very well. Come to me.’

  There was humour in his voice.

  ‘As you command, my Queen.’

  With a hiss I threw my energy into turning the ship as much as I could so that the impact might not prove as devastating as the demon intended. I would not allow the demon to sink my ship. Another angry snarl echoed in my mind but it was too late for him to take further action. The ship made heavy contact with The Adeline.

  Richard and Marcus moved me backwards as the ship rolled heavily to one side with the impact. We fell back against the promenade deck floor and landed hard against the wall of the ship. Richard and Marcus fought to keep hold of me as our ears were assaulted by a terrible grating sound of metal on metal. A high array of sparks flew across the deck towards us as the ship made to capsize. I diverted the fullness of my power to The Adeline and mentally fought the physical forces that were determined to see the stricken ship fall onto its side in the water.

  Eventually the terrible grating noise stopped and the ship ceased to loll violently to one side. I cast my mind out across the ship and viewed the large rip in the hull.

  ‘The ship is taking on water,’ I told Marcus and Richard. ‘I will keep the water at bay and keep it afloat. We must get everyone off the ship. This Devil and his men mean to board it. No one will be spared. We must hurry. Marcus, you need to find your children. I will stay here and face this man who calls himself Galen and gives himself the title of Devil.’

  However, I was quickly informed that I would not be allowed to take any such action. A stern promise had been made to my Knight of Swords that I would be kept safe at all costs and it was a promise Marcus’s intended to keep both as a gentleman and as a Lycan. He would also not seek to cause a war between the Lycans and Taleian’s, Hybrid or pure. We were to retrieve Marcus’s children and gather the other Lycans in the hopes of finding a way off the ship. But we were to be halted in our movement when a troop of black cloaked phantom men rose into the air from the replica ship beating their large black feathered wings. There appeared to be hundreds of them. The Angels of Death descended upon The Adeline and their prey as the passengers and demented crew fled in panic along the promenade deck.

  One of the vile creatures landed upon the promenade deck and stood watching the chaos around him as the demons swooped capture helpless screaming females up under their arms under their arms, carrying them off to another part of the ship. The men were to fare worse. The black winged phantoms saw them as killing sport, swooping low upon them. One of the demons reached his talon fingernails into the chest of one human and extracted his beating heart. He held a loft and squashed it flat, squeezing the life blood from it to drain into his mouth.

  I could not see the faces of these wretches as they pulled and tore the limbs and heads of the human men from their bodies because of their black hoods but their hands were devoid of skin. Their muscles and tendons covering their bones were apparent and a smoke rose from their bodies through their cloaks. Even their wings were smouldering. We inhaled a strong smell of burning decaying flesh. We all began to wretch.

  Marcus tugged on my arm and propelled me forward with Richard but we were to be stopped from making any further movement. I felt fear well and overflow inside me. On the deck a tall cloaked phantom was following the terrifying carnage of human life as it was carried out in front of him as though it were all to please him. He walked slowly, regally, stepping over bloody frayed limbs and heads scattered indiscriminately across his path. He removed his hood to reveal a singing mass of blood, skull and tendon on one half of his face head and lips that showed his inner workings of muscle as he moved and made his heavily blood shot eye protrude. The other side was made of fragmented and fraying skin that was burning and turning black. My hand flew to my mouth. I whispered his name as though it were an evil never to be spoken. Galen.

  Galen was a gruesome sight to behold. I was paralysed with fear and repulsion, unable to move my feet and run for safety. My Lycan companions appeared to be of the same mind. None of us had ever seen such a gruesome figure of a man. He turned his head towards me. Perhaps he had heard me whisper his name. I stared into his eyes and into the black beating heart of what remained of his soul and sensed a violent turbulent anger and deep painful loss. I couldn’t help but give a small shriek when I felt the figure violate my own mind. I fought hard to keep him out I could feel his black hearted consciousness seeping into the pores of my own exploring my soul.

  Skin began to cover his face, his hands and body. The burning smell and singing to his cloak and body receded. He opened his cloak wide shaking as the skin began to sweep over his open festering body covering his beating blood heart and organs. He pulled back the cloak and roared with pain as his feathered wings shortened and grew smaller until they disappeared inside his back.

  Galen’s hair began to cover his baldness, clothes began to cover his body. When the transformation was complete a tall regal handsome man stood before us. He fiddled with his grey cravat and moved his neck around as though it was stiff and he made to relieve the pain. Then he grinned widely, pleased with himself. His chestnut brown eyes stared mischievously an possessively into my own.

  ‘Ah, Juliet, there you are,’ he exclaimed with humour.

  I stared open mouthed.

  ‘Now, Juliet, my love, let us to business,’ he smiled widely tugging at the ends of the sleeves of his morning coat to neaten his appearance. ‘Perhaps you will be good enough to call that young buck, your Knight of Swords to come to your rescues as quickly as possible. I hate to be kept waiting. He and I have business to conduct.’

  Galen gave a small bored yawn.

  ‘Apparently I have to fight him to the death before I can take your for my wife. The Taleians have such pathetic ti
resome rituals but it must be done, I suppose. And you are such a tasty, clever morsel my dear, Juliet. I do so look forward to making you with child and having you sit by my side as my Queen in hell,’ he smiled raising his eyebrows with amusement.

  ‘As long as I live, you will not have her,’ Marcus bellowed before I could reply.

  I suddenly felt Marcus pull at my arm and then we were running.

  ‘Ah they always run. It is useless,’ he called after us. ‘I will have you Juliet. But I do relish a woman who makes me work hard for her hand. I love the chase,’ he laughed. ‘I haven’t this much fun in centuries.’

  Chapter Two

  Marcus and Richard directed me through the doors off the promenade deck to the wide luxuriously blue carpeted stairs and marble balustrade that led down to the first class cabins. Galen continued to call after me, his voice loud and full of wicked humour in my mind.

  ‘Oh, Juliet, my love, how much longer are we going to play this game? Remember if you give yourself to me willingly I won't kill any more of these boring churlish humans you care so much about.'

  I faltered, slowing my pace, thinking of the unfortunate humans who had already met their untimely deaths. They all died because of my stubborn belief that I could somehow outwit the devil's power. I glanced backwards wondering if I should go to him and face my would be conqueror alone to preserve the safety of the rest of the souls on the ship. I came to a sudden stop.

  'I should go to him. He will kill more of the humans if I don’t,’ I hurriedly told my Lycan friends. Perhaps, I can . . .'

  Marcus frowned and shook his head as I moved away from the grip he held upon my arm.