Beneath the Shadows of Evil... Treasured

by Jolynn Raymond

  Finally his body gave in to its need for rest and he slept the deep and complete sleep of the undead as day became noon, and noon faded into sunset. Though it was dark in the cave, Mikhal knew by instinct when it was safe to travel once more, and awoke rested and determined to get to his love. He gave his horse another handful of oats, and then saddled him and mounted up, feeling for Alliana, scenting the air, finding his bearings, and heading for home. So far it seemed as if Alliana and the castle were in the same place. Wherever she was, something bad had happened, and she needed him.

  The ground was rough but he urged his horse at breakneck speed, finding the main road and then giving the beast its head. Both the beast inside him and his horse could feel they were headed home, and home meant Alliana.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  As the sun set the day after Natalya’s death, Alliana finally emerged. She looked haggard, dark circles had appeared under her eyes, lines of pain were etched upon her face. No one had bothered her and Lucian in their mourning. They had wept, had remembered, had screamed out their pain while they held her, and had finally let go.

  Alliana and Lucian had washed Natalya then wrapped her in a shroud of clean linen, making it snug to comfort her earthly body. The Gypsy customs that would once have been so important were ignored, for Natalya’s clan had ignored her, even in a time when her safety was at stake. Now, Alliana had finally left the room, giving Lucian a chance to privately say his goodbyes.

  She walked down the steps to the great hall slowly, her mind numb, her body weak, but her will determined. It was time to come back to the world of the living and lay Natalya to rest. The others didn’t hear Alliana’s approach, for her feet were clad only in woolen stockings, her dress rumpled, her hair tangled, she was not coming back to the living for herself or them, but for Natalya and Lucian. One deserved peace, the other care and support. He had let her go though it tore his heart to pieces, the demon losing its fight to turn her and keep her with him for eternity, and so Alliana would be unflinching in her duty to take care of him.

  Katia saw her first, the words she had been saying to Emillian and Thalia dying on her tongue. She rose and came to the foot of the staircase, followed by the others. All looked upon her with concern, so Alliana straightened, resolving to be strong.

  “Maman, you...” Katia closed her mouth and shook her head, reaching to hold her mother. Alliana accepted a quick hug then pulled away. Her sorrow was bubbling just under the surface, her calm so very close to slipping away.

  “She is gone. Lucian and I prepared her for burial. A grave must be dug. He will send word and bring her out when he is ready. I...” Her lip trembled and her eyes shone with tears, but Alliana maintained her composure. “I need to bathe and change. Emillian, will you see to the grave? She is to be buried under the cluster of trees by the spring, tis shady there and he will be able to be near her more often. We shall find a stone carver when this war is over. For now find the one called Dante. He works as the blacksmith but can do wood carvings. Tell him no cross is to be put on her marker, for now, just her name.

  “I must change.”

  “Maman, you must rest and eat.”

  “Katia, there will be time for rest when Natalya has found hers. I will eat after a bath. Thalia, come with me. Katia, please see that all is made ready for when your uncle comes down with your aunt. I promise we will talk soon, baby. I simply cannot do it now. I’ve but a small hold on my sanity.”

  “Yes, maman.” Katia would obey her mother’s request to be left alone for now, but she looked to Thalia, her eyes begging the other woman to make her mother take care of herself. Thalia nodded and took Alliana’s arm, leading her back up the steps.

  Later that night Lucian walked down the stone staircase holding Natalya for the final time, clutching his precious bundle close to his heart. His face was etched with agony, his steps slow and methodical, his eyes black wells of pain. Alliana supported by Thalia came behind him in the solemn procession, and were joined by Katia and Emillian as they made their way through the great room.

  Minions held the huge double doors as their Master approached. They weren’t used to the process of grieving, their mates being vampires if they had them, and the emotions expressed upon their master’s face and the faces of those who followed them were somewhat of a mystery. Still, Natalya was respected and a certain kinship had developed over the years. It wasn’t love, but those who remained at the castle to help defend it instead of going to war, had a fondness for the Mistress that went well beyond simple tolerance, and all who had heard Lucian’s howls of rage and pain had been touched by his deep grief.

  They bowed their heads as he passed, then fell in with the others and were joined by still more as they walked to the open grave. All of the minions save those few who had to be in the watchtowers were in attendance, and all of the serfs as well. When Lucian, Alliana, and the rest arrived at the place where Natalya’s body would rest nearly all from the castle were there to bid their goodbyes. Only the family came close, all others kept a respectful distance as Lucian kissed Natalya for the last time then raised his head and screamed out his pain for all to hear once more. As the cries echoed through the darkness, Lucian fell to his knees; his face a shattered mask of agony, then bent and placed Natalya in her grave.

  He said her name, that was all his eulogy had been said in the last primal cry of his beast. Taking handfuls of dirt, he tossed them over his mate’s shrouded body, and bid her a soft goodbye. Alliana, Katia, Emillian, and Thalia followed suit, tossing handfuls of earth upon Natalya, whispering quiet goodbye’s, and then stood with Lucian, Alliana on one side and Katia on the other, holding him as his body shook with grief, watching the minions shovel dirt into Natalya’s grave and then place stones upon the mound of dirt.

  He watched it all, then stepped to the crude wooden marker, kissing his fingers then running them over her name, giving his mate one last kiss before rising and walking back into the castle, snarling that he wished to be left alone.

  Katia took Alliana’s arm and led her maman inside and up the staircase to her bedchamber, then lovingly undressed her like her maman and done for her so many times when she was a small child, gave her mother a goblet of wine laced with milk of poppy, then tucked her in bed, drawing the thick drapes around her already sleeping form and sitting before the fire, lost in her own grief.

  Thalia came at some point during the night and told her to get some rest, saying she would watch over the mistress. Katia asked about Lucian, but Thalia told her he hadn’t appeared. Katia really hadn’t expected him to. She went downstairs instead of going to the bedchamber she shared with Emillian, and out the doors, needing to sit by Natalya’s grave. Her Gypsy beliefs urging her to sit with her Aunt even in death, to make certain her path was a happy one, and that was where her father found her.

  She’d been heedless to the sound of the drawbridge being lowered and the portcullis being raised. All who resided at the castle were in a dream of grief. No shouts had cut the silence of the night, the minions knew their Master without words.

  Mikhal had asked the stable boy where Katia was; the grief of his wife had been replaced by that of his girl child when Alliana had fallen into her deep drugged sleep. The boy had pointed to the back of the yard and simply said ‘there’.

  If his heart had been beating, it surely would have stopped or simply burst in his chest when he saw the blonde figure lit by the torches, kneeling at the freshly dug grave. He hadn’t felt the blood tie he shared with Alliana sever, but he didn’t feel her either. Was she dead? Had he lost her? Had he been just a scant few hours too late to see her one final time?

  “Katia,” His baby girl turned at the sound of his voice and looked up at her father in shock.

  “Papa! Oh papa.” She rose and half fell into his arms and he held her tight, loving the warmth of her, the scent of her, the sound of her heart, all of her that was life, but what of Alliana?

  “Katia, is this your mother? Is Alliana gon
e?”

  “No, papa. Oh no. Tis Aunt Natalya. There has been a sickness.”

  “Is your mother well? Why are you here?”

  “Maman is sleeping. Uncle Lucian is shut in his chambers and maman has been given milk of poppy so she will rest. She is well but her grief has taken its toll. We came because of Aunt Natalya. Uncle Lucian knew maman would want to be here when she became sick.”

  Pain mixed with anger at Katia’s words. She shouldn’t be here, but he understood why Lucian sent for Alliana. He took Katia’s hand and they walked back to the castle. There were things to talk about, so many things, but first he had to see Alliana with his own eyes, and then go to Lucian as well. The man had been with him and stood by him for a long time, and though he couldn’t bring Natalya back, he could join him in his grief. Vampires weren’t beings which were supposed to have feelings, or so the tales said, but Mikhal knew different. He knew his first in command was feeling deep agony at the loss of his mate. He would see his wife, and then he would go to Lucian.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  “My Lord!” Thalia’s voice was hushed so as not to disturb her mistress, but her shock at seeing Mikhal was evident. She stood as he approached the bed where Alliana lay deep within her drugged sleep. Mikhal took the chair beside the bed, wanting to hold his wife, to kiss her and comfort her, but the shadows under her eyes restrained his touch. Even in the dim glow of firelight, the toll Natalya’s death had taken was evident.

  “She is well?”

  “She hasn’t stirred My Lord. The pain has not found her in her dreams.”

  “There is no fever, none of this sickness?”

  “No Sir. Lady Alliana is stricken by grief and weariness. The milk of poppy will heal the fatigue, and seeing you upon waking will sooth the pain of her loss. May I say it is good to have you home, My Lord.”

  “Thank you, Thalia.” Mikhal turned towards Alliana once again, the need to touch her almost overwhelming, but he knew that even in sleep, their blood bond would touch her soul causing her to awaken. It was best she rest. He would see Lucian, and then return.

  “Katia, you are not to stay here. I know you wish to be near your maman, but I want you kept safe. I won’t lose either of you.” He had already lost his son. His daughter and wife would be kept from harm at all costs.

  “Papa, I will do as you ask and stay away from maman, but I wish to go back to Aunt Marishka’s chambers so I may continue to look through her books. I was too late for Aunt Natalya but for maman... I must know if there is a spell to rid us of this evil.”

  Mikhal’s face had registered shock at the mention of his sister. It had been so long since anyone spoke of her. The memories tied to his demented sibling were dark and painful.

  “Katia, the magicks in those books are evil. Nothing good can come from anything my sister had a hand in.”

  “Papa, I am grown now, and Sabina taught me well. Many spells can be used for good. It’s she who casts them that makes them evil. I’m not a little girl playing at magick.”

  While it was true that Mikhal still saw his little girl when he looked at Katia, he often forgot how powerful she was prophesized to be. He’d stolen Alliana so long ago for the magick she would one day wield, and now that very magick was inside Katia. Despite his worries for her safety, his daughter’s magick might be the only thing that could save Alliana if she became ill.

  “Very well. You are far from a woman grown little one, but tis true you are not a babe. Your mother and then you were given that magick for a reason. Perhaps you were not meant to only help your clan. Go to Marishka’s books, but use caution. You are to speak to me before doing anything. Is that understood?”

  “Yes, papa.” Katia moved towards her father but he held up his hand to stop her, and rose to go to her. Katia held her father tightly, feeling hope fill her. “I love you, papa.”

  “And I you, Katia. Thalia, you are to send for me if your mistress so much as sighs. I’ll not have her waken without me by her side.”

  “Yes, M’Lord.” Thalia had already moved back to the chair next to Alliana to continue her vigil. It was a dark time for them all, but along with the Master had come hope. He couldn’t slay what ailed them, but he brought them strength unlike any other.

  Mikhal kissed his daughter’s forehead then took her arm, leading her from the room. “You are not to return.”

  “Yes, papa.”

  “Be careful. Marishka had no good inside her. Her evil mixed with madness and it caused us only grief.”

  “I know papa. Maman has told me. Papa I...” Katia wanted to tell her father about her marriage before he learned it from Lucian, but she didn’t want to anger him when she didn’t have time to explain. Her father lifted her chin when her words died on her tongue, tilting her head back so she had to look at him.

  “Katia, what is it? You look frightened.”

  “No, papa, not frightened. You make me feel safe and have brought hope back to us, tis nothing and everything. The last days have been trying, but you’re here now.” Mikhal didn’t fully believe Katia, but whatever she was hiding could wait. He wished to speak with Lucian and return to Alliana.

  “Mind me now about Marishka. You are to use care when touching anything, and are not to cast any spells without my consent. I will find you later.” He left without another word, forcing himself to trust that his baby girl was wise enough to do as he said.

  Mikhal’s thoughts turned to Lucian as he made his way to the chambers his first in command had shared with Natalya. Upon arrival, he didn’t bother to knock. Lucian would be deep within his grief, and Mikhal doubted he would bid entry to anyone, not even his Master. The room was dark aside from a lamp burning low near the bed, yet even in the gloom, Mikhal could see the destruction that had been wrought. It was clear Lucian had vented his rage upon the contents of the room. The sorrow was almost palatable, despite Lucian’s burst of rage, it appeared to have come and gone, to be replaced by a deep anguish once again. Lucian sat upon the bed against the headboard, his head bowed, his body shaking with silent sobs as he mourned for his dead mate with a heart that wasn’t supposed to feel the depths of his pain clearly evident by the absence of his usual unflinching power. Before Mikhal was a man crushed by his loss. The strength of the once powerful vampire had disappeared, leaving a broken shell in its wake.

  Lucian looked up when Mikhal approached, a bit of the fury that raged as he destroyed the room lighting his eyes. “Leave me in peace, Sire. If you wish to cause me agony for bringing Alliana back here you shall have to wait your turn. Grief is having its turn at torture just now.”

  “I haven’t come for that. You brought her here because you knew it would be her wish. What’s done is done. My intention was simply to console you, though unless I can bring her back I will fail miserably.”

  “She is in the ground, cold and silent. My only wish is to join her in death, but even that is taken from me. I am damned to live for eternity without her. We chose to wear the disguise of man and take a human form our own. Now my mask has been torn away. I am once more simply an evil creature sentence to live forever, alone. The game we sought to play is one that ends in despair.”

  “You would take back all the years she was yours?”

  “No... yes... leave me in peace. My time with Natalya is salt in my wounds. I cannot savor the good right now, it is covered in agony.”

  “Have you fed?”

  “I wish for death, how can you ask me if I’ve fed?”

  “My mate and yours would have you survive. You cannot starve yourself to death. It will only make you a weak, pitiful mewling creature. You are above that, Lucian. I will leave you to your grief and won’t ask anything of you, but I will not have you waste away into a shell of the man you once were.”

  “I was never a man. Never. A man could join her in death!”

  “Spend your rage and sooth your grief as you need. I will not force you from these chambers. You have spent many years taking care of me and mine, and
in turn we shall be here for you, Lucian, tis my turn to care for you. A wench will be sent. You are to feed.”

  “Your care will damn me further. If I tear the girl apart because of my fury at death, it will paint the memory of my mate red with blood. If I drink without harm it will sustain me when I have no wish to continue on.”

  Mikhal went to the bed and stood over the vampire who had pledged his loyalty. “Look at me Lucian.” His command went unheeded and Mikhal issued a low growl. “Look at me.” Mikhal was not his maker, but still, he had been among the vampires who had been pledged through blood to the master Mikhal had killed. By rites and the law of their kind, Mikhal was his master and must be obeyed.

  He turned his eyes upward, but only in the hope that his obedience would make his Master leave him alone to privately mourn. “I shall feed, Sire, but ask nothing more of me. I have nothing left to give.”

  Mikhal nodded, satisfied. He stood for a moment, looking at Lucian, knowing that some day he too would bear the pain of losing Alliana. The thought was horrendous. It was a cruel path they had chosen, and now Lucian was paying for his happiness as he too would. Still, Mikhal knew he wouldn’t change the life fate had given him. He loved Alliana too much. A day spent loving her was better than a year of the bloodlust and terror of his old life. The slaughter of war had taught him that. He had his fill of terror and blood, yet went to sleep every morn thinking of only her.

  “That is all I ask.”

  Mikhal turned and left Lucian to his misery. There truly was nothing he could do for the man. He was certain Lucian and Natalya had spoken of his turning her when death came knocking, but she must have wished to be let go. It was far too late now. Still, Mikhal wondered if he could force himself to honor Alliana’s wishes when the time came. What if she was to become ill and he were in Lucian’s place tonight or a fortnight from now? How could he go on without her? She was part of him. Mikhal knew that Lucian would mourn for a long time, possibly for the eternity he was damned for. Could he bear to do the same thing? Was not death preferable? The humans believed in heaven and damnation to hell, but if there were an afterlife, he would not meet his love there. He was one of the damned, a soulless creature that had committed untold atrocities for a hundred years. That couldn’t be erased.