by Amber Lynn
Chapter Thirty-three
The woman the smile belonged to didn’t look any older than the rest of the adults in the room, except maybe Krinla and Hunter. The couple still had a touch of youth the leaders of the factions didn’t. The stress they were dealing with was bound to add at least a couple years to their appearances. At least that’s what Krinla thought based on some of Hunter’s experiences. He’d watched his mother age years after her initial diagnosis.
Unlike the Queen of the Beasts, the Naturists’ ruler didn’t wear a fancy ball gown. Krinla hoped that meant her father wasn’t going to be hit on, like she’d picked up Trilla trying to do. It was hard not to think that part of Trilla’s resistance to letting the Naturist up was that she didn’t want to share Krinton’s attention. Of course, the way Rose just appeared out of thin air made it seem like Trilla didn’t get a say in whether the Naturist joined the party.
Thinking of motives was taking away from Krinla’s perusal of the new person in the room. The woman was in a dress, but it was a flowing, light green dress that had twisted fabric that looked like vines from a tree that made up the bodice. The combination of the almost jade color of dress and her eyes with the woman’s orange-colored hair was something Krinla had never witnessed firsthand.
“I see you’ve been playing with your hair color again, Rose. Who are you trying to be this week?”
Rose ignored Trilla as she continued to focus on Krinla. Her smile never faltered, but something changed in her eyes. It was hard to tell what emotion crept in, but Krinla thought it could have been sadness.
“You look exactly like Noah described you. He carried a picture of the two of you together until the day he died, but wouldn’t let anyone else see it. For a human, he always seemed to know when someone was close to looking over his shoulder, and he’d tuck it into his pocket.”
Krinla took her eyes away from Rose to look down at Hunter to see how he took that news. With Krinla in his lap, it was difficult for him to spin around and face the woman who had mentioned his father’s name. They’d recently run from his father and the war he was preparing to start according to everyone else. Krinla figured hearing about the man he’d loved and would never be able to see again wasn’t going to be easy for him, but there was a small smile on his face.
“There are security cameras all over the lab, so I imagine he had the photo printed off one of them.”
The response had nothing to do with what Krinla was concerned about, but it told her he wasn’t going to stop the conversation from moving forward. Hunter grinned as he leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek.
“Eventually I’d love to fill you in on everything you guys missed once you took off out of the past, but we have more important things to talk about today. Plus, I get a little weepy when I think about how nothing from the past remains standing today.” The woman’s voice carried a little melancholy, but her next words seem to sweep it away. “Anyway, as great as it is that you two found each other, I’m sure you’re well aware of the unrest it’s causing, much of which I’m sure will take a while to be settled.”
Krinla looked back to Rose to try to see if there were any hints about what she was getting at. The only unrest Krinla was aware of had started long before she found Hunter in the woods.
“She wasn’t being literal about you two finding each other, just that you were meant to. I’m Rya, by the way. I can see why you’re the only leader I haven’t met.”
Rose’s attention didn’t leave Krinla, but she did acknowledge Rya’s words with a nod. “Your sister is a special Dracul. Like you, she’s included in some of the stories about the duo sanguine, but the stories are mainly things I, and a select few other Naturists, have foreseen happening in your life.”
“Exactly how many stories did you crazy magicians come up with? I thought my father was behind the ones I inherited, but I had no idea there were other copies or stories out there.”
Krinla saw the bristle in Rose’s shoulder and the slight flicker of gold in her eyes when Krinton said the word magicians. Since Krinla had only received odds and ends of prophecies, or stories, whatever people wanted to call them, she wasn’t sure what side was up as far as the duo sanguine stuff was concerned.
“It was actually his father that came up with a lot of the initial stories.” Rose pointed at Hunter to make sure it was clear he was the male she was talking about. “It wasn’t until well after the fighting stopped that we came together and learned about your trip to the past. Now, your father, Krinton, was key in brokering that peace and was just as shocked as the rest of us to find out he’d missed meeting his future son by only a year.”
“But the war went on for more than a year,” Trilla pointed out.
The timing of things was not Krinla’s strong suit, nor did it really interest her. The history buffs of the group didn’t seem to want to move on, though.
“Jiri started the war handling things in what was Eastern Asia, so he didn’t make it to the apex until a year into the war. These are all things we can talk about later. As shocking as it may be, I didn’t come here to rehash what was going on hundreds of years ago. I’ve allowed the general curiosity I knew there’d be, but we really need to move on.”
“And what exactly were you hoping to discuss?” Trilla asked.
Krinla didn’t know what had happened between the two women, but it was clear Trilla was holding a grudge about something. Krinton didn’t seem too happy with the Naturist either, which made Krinla wonder whether she naturally grated on everyone’s nerves.
“When I felt the disturbance in the air indicating your arrival from your little trip, I wanted to make myself available for your training. Early on when we started scrying for any hints of your future, we saw that you weren’t going to give in to the connection easily.”
Hunter scoffed, causing Krinla to glare down at him. He shrugged and shook his head.
“Hey, you can’t deny she’s right. You killed me about a week ago and you still haven’t trusted me enough to know my thoughts.”
The glare didn’t leave her face as she looked back to the woman who had brought the topic up. She was starting to understand why Krinton and Trilla seemed disgruntled by the woman.
“Why did you guys come up with the name duo sanguine?”
Krinla was just as surprised as anyone else in the room that the question came from her lips. She’d wanted to move on from the talk the second it was brought up, but the new subject was one she wanted to talk about even less.
“Why not? You exchanged blood, so blood couple seemed like the right thing to call you. We went ahead and made it sound a little more exotic, but there was no reason to go crazy.”
The response was too simple to keep the conversation away from the connection Krinla didn’t want to be pressured into. She wished her draw to Hunter wasn’t as strong as it was, so she would’ve had a little more time to realize what all it entailed. When no one immediately jumped in to add to the conversation, Rose added to her initial offer of training.
“The training I’m offering you will give you time to settle in before you complete the connection. I don’t blame you for not wanting to hear everything Hunter is thinking, but there is more to your connection than just hearing each other, and it would come in handy right now.”
Rose finally moved from the spot she’d been stuck to since she appeared. It was only to take a couple steps forward, but it was interesting to see the way her dress moved around like there was wind in the room when the air was stagnant.
“Do you mind explaining that?”
Krinla wasn’t sure why she was playing into the woman’s hands, but she got the feeling she was falling into some sort of a trap. Hearing she could hold off letting Hunter in any more than she already had was something that sounded too good to be true.
She knew that line of thinking stung Hunter when he heard it, but he seemed to pretend to understand why she was trying to slow things down some. Until the issue that Hulin posed was take
n care of, Krinla was afraid the newness of the connection would interfere at some point.
“No problem. I assume even Trilla is aware of your friend Hulin waiting patiently back home for you. If you were willing to take in all your fun powers the connection between you allows, there wouldn’t be a need for anyone to die, but I like to think it’s better to make sure things don’t come back to bite you later in life.”
Krinla stared at Rose, wondering if any of her words offered the explanation she’d asked for. She’d started off somewhat strong, but the rest of it seemed like nothing more than a ramble.
“Hunter has been training to kill Hulin, so we didn’t need you to swoop in to tell us that,” Krinton said.
“I’m aware of how you spent your time back when this place was called Earth. If you would’ve come straight home, I could’ve told you he wasn’t the one who has to kill Hulin. You are.”
For the whole conversation, Rose’s eyes didn’t leave Krinla, and they didn’t move as she spoke. Krinla again saw them shimmer a gold color as they lit up with excitement.
“Then what are we doing sitting around here?”
Krinla sensed no one else shared her sentiment as everyone else in the room seemed to need a minute to let the words process. Even saying what she did, Krinla didn’t jump off Hunter’s lap and run for the door.
“Why would Krinla fight Hulin? Hunter is the one challenging his claim on my daughter.”
Rose smiled and shook her head. “I understand how Dracul law works, but it was Krinla who challenged the claim by turning Hunter. It’s obviously not a widely used law. It does exist, though, and if I remember correctly, it’s written in such a way that it trumps any other challenges.”
The confidence in Rose’s voice made Krinla believe she was right. Krinla wouldn’t put it past the woman to have had a hand in making sure the law was in place.
“If I’m not aware of that law, I highly doubt Hulin is.”
Krinton’s admission was a little surprising, but as it was already mentioned, the law wasn’t one anyone needed to know since Draculs didn’t go around making new Draculs every cycle.
“You can understand why I wanted to hurry over and make sure you didn’t go into your little battle not knowing who would do the fighting. I’ve been keeping an eye on things back at home while you were away, and I may have made sure Hulin did a little brushing up on obscure laws, and the stories that made them relevant.”
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to just wave your hand and kill him?” Krinton seemed to have some sarcasm in his voice, but Krinla also picked up the sound of grating teeth, which she couldn’t remember ever hearing before.
“I’m not the one who promised my daughter to a man who wants to kill me. Since you didn’t decide to kill him, the duty is going to fall on Krinla, so we should probably get a move on that training I mentioned earlier.”
The growling and laughter coming from around the room let Krinla know Krinton was probably borderline homicidal when it came to Rose and Rya found whatever was being thought around the room funny. Neither of those things surprised Krinla.
She didn’t like the way Rose was pushing her agenda, but if what she was saying was true, they didn’t have a lot of choice in what needed to be done. As much as Krinla wanted to run home and take care of business, if there were some things that would help make it easier for her, she was ready to learn them.
Chapter Thirty-four
“I know for a fact you come from a long line of powerful Naturists, Krinla. Your great-great-great grandmother on your mother’s side was the last Dracul to be able to turn other species into Draculs and she fell for my great-great grandfather. There are many who thought the combined force would be unstoppable, so I know the true greatness inside of you, but yet you can’t even call fire to your hand.”
Rose liked to embed history lessons in her training, but it was the first time she brought up details about Krinla’s family tree. The focus she’d been using to concentrate on creating fire in the palm of her hand fizzled out as she looked up at her teacher. For a split second before the change in topic, a spark had ignited, but it was quickly forgotten.
“What?”
Krinla felt stupid for asking the question. She briefly thought maybe she’d imagined the conversation Rose had broached.
“That was meant to give you some confidence, not make you stutter again.”
Rose moved away from the wall she’d been more or less holding up for two cycles. The two women were locked in a room by themselves as Rose insisted Krinla needed complete concentration to be able to prepare herself for a fight against a stronger Hulin, who everyone agreed wouldn’t fight fair.
Krinla didn’t like being away from Hunter, but she felt him nearby, trying to send vibes her way. There was part of her that wanted to accept those vibes and not worry about playing Rose’s little games. Unlike Hunter’s more physical training, Krinla’s seemed to be mentally taxing, which wore her down more than any physical activity she’d ever participated in.
“I get the feeling you’ve only ever dealt with robots when it comes to this training of yours. You can’t expect me not to react when you bring up two relatives I’ve never heard about.”
Unlike Krinla’s thin white dress that she’d been wearing for over a week, Rose’s green dress still looked fresh and clean. The few times Krinla had concentrated enough to ignite something, her dress seemed to end up on the wrong end of the flames. Since Rose had magically locked the only door in the small empty room they were practicing in, Krinla hadn’t been able to escape the tortures the woman had in store for her.
“That’s exactly what I expect from you.” Rose waved her right hand in the air as she got closer to Krinla. It was effortless for the older woman to create the flames that flowed up her fingers. “The powers your ancestors have bestowed you with make you the unquestionable leader of all factions. That isn’t a title you’re going to get if you can’t prove to everyone you possess the key characteristics of all factions.”
Krinla was dumbfounded. She hadn’t heard any talk about the true leader stuff Trilla had brought up for cycles, and she was grateful for it. The training Rose had ushered her into was only supposed to help her take Hulin out of the equation. There was no mention of the leader stuff.
When Krinla’s brain started firing again, she held her hands out in front of her. Unless they decided they would spontaneously combust, they weren’t going to protect her like she wanted, but she needed some more time to let her brain finish its complete meltdown.
“This is exactly what you need to be prepared for. I know in the grand scheme of things you’re young, so you have a lot to learn, but you started this process and it’s kind of important you don’t get yourself killed before you finish it.”
Krinla closed her eyes and let the chill she knew the stones underneath her feet should have crawl up her body. She hadn’t had anything to eat since she was locked in the room with the crazy person, so her body was already a little colder than usual. With all the work she’d spent trying to create fire, she felt closer to being an icicle.
“If you’re trying to make me believe the things you keep spewing out, maybe you should take a few seconds to explain them.”
As the cycles went on, it was hard for Krinla to believe some of the things being said were true. It felt like people were just saying things to see if any of them stuck, and Krinla was letting it happen. She had allowed others to dictate her life for so long that it was hard for her to step up and try to take control, but she was tired of taking people at their words and following along blindly.
“What’s there to explain? It’s time for you to be who you were born to be and I’m here to help guide you. It’s not like Naturists normally live to be five hundred, but someone had to be charged with making sure you were guided in the right direction.”
Krinla shook her head. “How is that answer supposed to solve the problem I’m having? You’ve had me in here for two cycles tryi
ng to make fire. Last I checked, fire isn’t going to hurt a Dracul. I thought you’d be training me to move faster and hit Hulin in some special spot that would make things easier for me.”
It had taken almost the first cycle for Krinla to concede she could actually start a fire, a technique Draculs weren’t able to do. She hadn’t protested too much because she thought it’d be cool to create and control fire. It didn’t have a lot of practical uses in her life, but if she ever got lost out in the woods, she could start a fire to pretend she needed it to keep warm.
“What I want to train you will make the fight easier for you, but I can’t very well get to the more advanced stuff if you can’t start and control a little fire. Naturists have that mastered by the time they’re five.”
“Yet, again, I don’t see how that information is helping,” Krinla gritted out as she glared at the woman.
She had progressively been getting more and more irritated with the woman and was to the point things were ready to boil over. It was taking a lot of energy to keep from seeing how easily a five-hundred-year-old head could rip from its body.
“Part of performing magic is believing in the unexplainable, which is why I’m doing everything I can to give you details about what’s going on, but not explaining them. You need to accept who you are in order to make others see it.”
Krinla stared at Rose for a moment, and then screamed as loud as she could. Hunter had knowledge of mythical creatures called banshees, and Krinla definitely would’ve done them proud. Since she didn’t need to breathe, the scream rolled on for at least five minutes, using Hunter’s measurement of time since she was already thinking about him.
When she was done, Rose just looked at her with a smile on her face. Krinla had realized early on in their relationship that Rose didn’t seem to be all there mentally. She assumed it had to do with the fact that the woman had lived half a millennium, but it could’ve just been the way she was born.