Knight of Swords: The Swords Trilogy

by Curran-Ross, Sara

  She nodded. Her bottom lip pouted out at Gabriel as her eyes travelled the length and breadth of his body in a frown. I was given the distinct impression that she shared my distrust of the man.

  ‘Oh, thank you, Nathan. All I require is a troublesome child. This is not going to . . .’

  ‘You see what I mean, Emily?’ I said quickly interrupting him.

  ‘Yes. I will watch him for you,’ she replied widening her pretty tortoise shell eyes, eager to please me.

  ‘Good, now go to him. I will come for you all when I have rescued our Queen.’

  I handed her over to Gabriel, watching her sit stiffly in his arms, despite his obvious ease with holding a child. He pulled the cloak tighter around her body as he reassured her of his protection. She did not appear impressed. I suppressed a smile.

  ‘Be careful, Nathan. I will be waiting for your return. But I am not patient. If I have not heard from you within a day and a night, I will follow you,’ Gabriel told me sternly.

  ‘Make sure the children are safe before you do or I will not wait for the challenge to remove your head.’

  I walked away from him towards Jason, deciding to trust him plus six of the other knights to accompany me to the village. We had to move quickly before Juliet was rendered a slave and lost to me forever.

  Chapter Twelve

  My plan to free Juliet was simple. Sebastian had taken and threatened she who I held most dear to my heart. I would do the same to him. He had imprisoned and murdered defenceless women. He had tortured, raped, and butchered Taleians and hybrids, offering their healing flesh and organs to these human cannibals he cared for so much. Not to mention the profit he made from it. His flock, as he so righteously called them, had been complicit in his plan. I would free our Queen and our women. Sebastian and his flock would pay dearly for their treachery.

  Now he had Juliet, Sebastian would be distracted with lust and hunger to make her his own. He was arrogant enough to believe he could defeat any attack I made upon the village. But my psychic gifts were becoming stronger by the hour since my change. I was now able to bar Sebastian from my mind, preventing him from knowing how and when we would make our move. I had the element of surprise. This time fate was on my side.

  Looking out over the sleepy, quaint village of Bullbeggar, nestled in a valley between two large hills swathed in heavy snow, I searched for a way I could utilise this element of surprise. Slowly the corners of my mouth lifted into a triumphant smile as I stared keenly at my answer.

  Jason came to stand at my side. ‘There appears to be some sort of gathering in the village hall. If we attack now, we will take most of them.’

  My smile widened. ‘It is most likely Sebastian telling his flock that he has our Queen.’ I spat my words with contempt. ‘But no matter, it is perfect timing. I do not intend to simply kill them. That would be too easy, and I fear it would provoke Sebastian into hurting or even killing Juliet in retaliation. I intend to hold their lives to ransom, gentlemen. Now, I am going to start an avalanche to trap these fools in their village hall so there is no escape for them. Then we will attack.’

  Jason nodded, clearly impressed even though I sensed he would have preferred the humans to answer for their crimes in blood. But they would not escape punishment. I made one more unsuccessful attempt to reach Juliet as we readied ourselves.

  It was not that she did not hear me or chose to ignore my words, there was something barring our communication. Every time I reached for her, I felt a strange pain sear inside my temples as though red hot fingers pushed through my mind. It was accompanied by the smell of rusted iron. The pain I felt was not mine, it was Juliet’s. My concern for her intensified even further. My temper flared with it. Whatever Sebastian had done to Juliet to fill her mind with such agony was designed to prevent her communication with me. I did not have any more time to waste.

  I stared across at the hills bathed in silver moonlight that glinted over their crisp, white surfaces. Concentrating on the looming forms, I envisioned a mass of snow moving towards the village. Nothing happened. Only a small amount of snow dislodged from one of them to slide down ineffectually. My powers were insufficient.

  ‘Damn it,’ I hissed before making another attempt. One of my men, Cedric was his name, spoke up.

  ‘The Queen could easily trigger the snow on her own, but perhaps you need some help. Psychic ability is not as strong in male hybrids . . .’

  I turned to glare at him, cutting him dead. His dark features turned an even harsher shade of pale. But he was right. I had been foolish to believe I could complete the feat on my own. I softened my features, admitting defeat. ‘You are right. We should join our minds. But we must hurry.’

  We stood in a group staring at the hills, each man having made contact with the others in the group. The strain of maintaining a link with so many was taxing. It threatened to overwhelm us all. My mind felt as though it was being torn apart into pieces as it was pulled and stretched from every corner. However, no man broke the contact despite the pain or the threat to our sanity. Our collective fierce desire to rescue our Queen and free the women drove us on. We supported each other as we turned our conjoined concentration upon both of the hills from a safe distance.

  Our energy threw a cold wind around us, spraying snow in our faces as the shadowy white mass on the hill began to heave and shudder. Just a little more effort was required before we heard a distant rumble that mimicked thunder. A loud crack followed, just like that made by a whip, echoing in the night air. The snow broke free and began to tumble down the hill to the left of the village at speed. Then the snow slid loose from the second hill. A race was on to be first to hit the village.

  We watched as the snow stampeded through the unsuspecting village’s small narrow streets, knocking down everything in its wake. A man and woman were making their way to the village hall in a horse and trap. I sensed their terror. They did their best to ride away from the snow’s approach, but the snow was much too fast. It was upon them before they could utter a cry. I felt revenge sit satisfactorily in my stomach as they were lost beneath it.

  People came running out of the old Tudor building that served as the village hall. However, when they saw the snow’s approach, they quickly turned and re-entered, seeking safety inside. The unforgiving snow tumbled down upon the village. Windows shattered, breaking with the weight of the snow as it invaded and buried each building. Nothing was sacred or safe in its path. Only the church and graveyard sitting on a small rise, a distance away from the village appeared to have been spared the deluge of snow.

  An eerie silence settled upon the buried village. It was as though it had never existed. Only the weather vane on top of the hall marked our destination. We jumped to the roofs using our finely tuned senses to determine secure footing. Our heightened vision enabled us to tread a safe path across them to the hall. As we landed on the hall, thudding onto the roof, I heard screams heralding our approach. I had never struck terror into anyone before. The noise that greeted my presence gave me a strange feeling both of power and heavy disappointment. Was this how I appeared to others now? A creature to be feared? I thought of Camille’s reaction to me. Is that how my friends in London would now see me? Could I ever return to my life as Lord Valancourt?

  I quickly dismissed my ruminations for later consideration and set about the task in hand. I could not sense Sebastian’s presence in the village hall. My anger rose at his absence as we scraped snow away from the clay roof tiles. The tiles were supported on a simple timber Tudor structure, and it was not hard for us to kick out a hole large enough to fit ourselves through.

  The screams grew louder. I leaned my arm on my knee as I peered down at the people below. They were pressed in a huddled group against one of the broken windows through which snow had piled into the room. They stared up at us. They were afraid, terrified of the consequences I would reap upon them. The women cried, the children wailed, and the men shook with fear, crying out in their minds for Sebastian to re
scue them. I had them just where I wanted. Without further hesitation, I jumped through the hole and landed squarely upon my feet in a crouched position. The height of the drop was sufficient that had I been human, it would have perhaps severely injured me, but my new strength and abilities as a hybrid vampire ensured my safety. My men followed to stand at my sides as I straightened. I smiled elegantly at the group of cannibals, brandishing my sword and my newly formed canines.

  ‘Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am sorry to drop in on you in this manner, but you have something of mine that is very precious to me. I want her back. If you don’t persuade your fine leader, Sebastian, to give me back my Queen, then I will have no choice but to seal you up in this splendid tomb. You will all freeze to death. Do I make myself clear?’

  They stared at me in horror. The terrified silence that settled upon the hall was deafening. At least two of the women fainted.

  ‘Good. Now, I am feeling rather hungry as are my men. Who would care to offer their blood?’

  I stared at them, raising my eyebrows in mock amusement when no one stepped forward. They all pressed themselves back toward the wall and window as if they could somehow melt through those barriers and escape away from us. But fortune was not on their side. The smell of fear was potent in the enclosed space, crammed with scattered overturned chairs.

  ‘No? Then we will just have to take it from you. Take your fill men. When you have finished, bring me a human to feed from. Something young and fresh in years.’ I turned to my men, a growl evident in my voice, ‘Don’t spare anyone but the children. The blood of our women runs in these villagers’ veins. Let us reclaim some of it on their behalf.’ I softened my mouth into another smile as I glanced at my men and then the group once more. ‘And try not to kill anyone.’

  Jason, Cedric, and the others moved quickly, their images a blur as they swept down upon the panicked humans. They reminded me of the ravens at Eldridge Hall. I watched with a distasteful gaze as I contemplated my new identity and role as Knight of Swords. I had changed, but not without cause or need. This was a war I needed to win for the survival of our people. I righted one of the chairs to sit down, watching as my men fed. I hoped my efforts would not be in vain, and Juliet would soon be by my side once more.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I cast aside the distempered, redheaded youth I had been feeding upon and wiped the blood from my mouth. He fell to the floor of the stage I was now standing upon, cursing my existence. I narrowed my eyes, casting them down in his direction. I knew they would still be coal black from feeding. He backed away from me on his elbows, terror in his eyes. I followed him.

  ‘We have every right to exist. It is you and your friends here who are the monsters, cannibals no less.’ I made no attempt to hide my passionate disgust as I towered over his prostrate form. ‘You rip the flesh from our women’s bodies, devouring it to heal yourselves. I have witnessed this crime myself. You disgust me.’

  The boy clutched his hand to his throat, wincing from the burning pain of my bite. He raised his chin at me defiantly. He was shaking, but that did not stop the tirade of venomous words dripping with hate from his lips. ‘It is no different to the way you take blood from humans. You are a scourge upon us all. It is against God’s law that you should even exist.’

  I fought hard to rein in my anger. ‘Really? And you know this how? Have you asked Him?’ Silence. ‘No, I did not think so.’

  I put the foot of my boot upon the inside of his elbow, trapping his arm against the floor. Pressing down with only a small effort, I felt his bones begin to compress. The boy groaned with pain and lay back, unable to move, as I continued my verbal attack.

  ‘And this belief gives you the right to treat my people as though they are common slaves? To be disposed of however you choose? To be used and consumed for profit?’

  ‘Yes, you are nothing but vermin. Parasites among the living that cheat death. This way you are of some use,’ he spat at me.

  My message, although eloquently put, clearly was not getting through to the callous youth. I had never been called vermin before. Not even by jealous husbands of my female conquests. The word left me cold. It sorely reminded me that I was not of my old human world anymore. Now, I was vampire, both physically and in mind. I was a powerful and feared creature, detested and hunted by humans. I could never go back to my previous innocent, human condition ever again.

  I had little choice but to resolutely accept the hand fate had dealt me, whatever the world thought of it. Perhaps one day I would find some peace in my new identity, but for now, my human side warred with its invasion. Finding Juliet, having her near me once more so I could touch and feel her presence, was all the peace I craved for now. I felt the headache that always accompanied our separation gnaw inside my head, a constant painful reminder of our loss of contact. I found myself wishing we were safe at home in London among my friends, forgetting any of this had happened. But that could never be.

  I pressed my foot down more forcefully, listening to the young man pant with discomfort. But he refused to give me the satisfaction of seeing him squeal. ‘And, are you not a parasite upon my kind? Have you not cheated death yourselves?’

  I looked out at the band of villagers as I spoke. A grand mixture of high, middle, and low born people, all united in their crimes. Even the children were party to their disgrace. None of them regretted their part or the benefit they took. We were nothing to them. We were simply animals, to be slaughtered like cattle for consumption. A means to their survival and a way to make the village’s inhabitants rich.

  By reading some of their collective thoughts, I learnt more of the reasoning that helped them to choose their errant path of destruction. They had been on the verge of death. Leprosy had invaded the village like wildfire. No one had been spared, many died in agony. The village population had been reduced from one hundred and fifty to the eighty-six before me now.

  I saw their memories of pain, deformity, and death as they watched their loved ones suffer. Then Sebastian had wandered into the village. He had promised them hope, a way to combat the disease. They had been afraid, worried his actions would offend God. The fact he was a clergyman eventually assuaged their concerns. They came to believe that God had sent him to them to save their miserable souls. The villagers gave Sebastian a home. He was their leader, spiritual and physical. Nothing was ever done in the village without consulting Sebastian.

  As my knights had fed upon a portion of the small throng, I had noticed a woman and her daughter sitting huddled together for protection. Their thoughts interested me, especially those belonging to the younger woman. She was worried that I would find the book Sebastian kept.

  The book was ancient. The girl and some friends had overheard Sebastian talking of it to the village elders when they had sneaked down into the dungeons where the female hybrids and their children were kept. It had been created by the powerful, magical advisor to the Queen when our people were first cursed and cast out of their lands. It listed the names of all the Taleians and hybrids that walked the earth.

  The Queen had wanted to keep track of her subjects as they dispersed over the globe in the hope that one day she could reunite them all. The book kept a record of all births and deaths. When a hybrid was to be born, their name would appear in the book together with their location, as though written by an invisible hand. This information was only to be known to the Queen, her Knight of Swords, and the Magical Advisor. Now I understood how Gabriel had known of my identity. Whoever possessed the Book of Talus held power over us all. None of us were safe, especially Juliet and the female hybrids.

  That was how Sebastian had known where to find them. All of the women he had murdered in London . . . that was how he knew what they were. Had he murdered them for their organs or purely to punish me for being Juliet’s mate? I knew not. I knew only that I had to get the book back.

  I returned my attention to the man beneath my foot. My anger at him burned in my veins, spurring my temper. I
increased the pressure of my foot as he hurled abusive, degrading words about Juliet. When he mentioned what Sebastian intended to do with her, I could only think of tearing out his throat, sending him to his maker for justice to be served. He was foolish to push me so hard. I could not bear his words any longer. I increased my weight upon his arm just a small fraction further.

  The loud crack of a bone breaking stunned the weeping women and frightened the men into silence. A cry of pain burst forth from the boy’s mouth, and he began to writhe in agony. He vainly attempted to lift his limp arm even though I still stood upon it.

  ‘You will not insult my Queen, or I will rip your arm from your body. Juliet is more noble, more caring of others than you will ever be. I do not wish to hear you speak of her again, or maybe next time, I will decide to kill you.’

  He nodded profusely. ‘I won’t do it again, let me go, let me go.’ His fear made my stomach twist with loathing. Where had all his bravado gone now? He was easily broken. I despised his weakness.

  ‘I haven’t heard you apologise.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’

  I pressed again, then gave his side a sharp kick, forcing him to roll from the stage. He dropped to the floor with a scream. There was a sharp intake of breath and gasps from my captive audience. Two of the men rushed forward to his aid. Jason and Cedric went to stop them, baring their teeth. I shook my head allowing the men to help the youth lift his aching, injured body from the floor.

  I turned away from the staring eyes of the shivering men, women and children who looked upon me with fear and condemnation. I knew the hall was cold. It did not bother me or my men, but the humans were suffering. The gas lamps were dimming and the candles flickered in the icy air that swept down into the hall from the hole in the roof. It would not be much longer before the beginnings of hypothermia would set upon them. Slowly death would approach. It seemed revenge was mine.