The Curse of the Rose
Page 4
Wiping my mouth I crawled up over her, and gently licked at the bloodied scratch on her neck. Hovering my face over hers, she opened her eyes and gazed at me in a confused manner.
“Never in all my time-” she began, only for me to cut her off.
“You believe yourself to be something beyond anything we, your mere servants have ever encountered, yet you just became nothing more than a simpering fool, a puppet in my hands,” I said as I drew the dagger from the hidden sheath in my dress. “Now I shall take back what was rightfully mine in the beginning.”
With eyes wide, she tried to get up but failed. Hitting her one more time across her face, she fell back, this time banging her head off the edge of a small ottoman. Her odour had begun to change, and having experienced the power of her witchery before, I knew time was of the essence.
From the hall I could hear the rustle of heavy footsteps making their way up the long winding stairwell.
Raising my hand up in the air, I drew the dagger down towards Iona’s chest and stabbed her repeatedly in her heart. With each thrust of the blade, her life slipped away, and with it the magic in the room disappeared. What once was a chamber of opulence became nothing more than a prison cell, with mounted murals on the walls – each one depicting the lineage from one Rose to the next. It stopped with Iona.
Falling back on my legs, I sat still and watched as Iona withered in front of me. Bursting in through the doors, Batar stood with his hands behind his head; his face was ashen and full of despair.
“Bianka!” he roared. “Bianka what have you done?”
I finished what should have ended a long time ago.
“You have no idea what you have just done,” he said as his voice broke.
Standing up, I watched the remains of Iona blow away into nothing as the wind blew in through the window, “Maybe not, but with her gone, I can leave this place forever. Tonight my life begins.”
Broken Batar retreated from the chamber, refusing to look at me. Even the guards refused to make any attempt of eye contact with me.
“Bianka tonight you ended any chance of your ever leading any kind of civilised existence.”
The door closed behind him and the guards accompanied him down the stairs and out into the chill of the night. Standing alone in Iona’s chamber I tried my best not to break down, I wasn’t the type of vampire that gave into my once human emotions, no matter how strong they were, I could never quite muster up enough emotion to cry or sulk.
Not wanting to spend another minute in there, I walked to the door and turned the handle, only for it to disintegrate in my hands. I soon became dizzy and felt nauseated. Round and round in circles I spun until finally I stood before people I knew, some familiar more than others.
I was in Court.
“How is this possible?” I whispered to myself.
“Bianka Anastasia Bakos,” the King, Batar’s father called my name.
“Yes,” I sombrely answered.
“Tonight you chose to take the laws of our kind into your own hands, and with your crime comes punishment worse than death itself,” he said as he gestured for two guards to approach me. “Iona was the maiden to the Oracle, the Oracle being the guard of our scared Bible. Tonight you claimed the life of someone older than time itself, and for that crime alone you will be faced with a future that sees you taking the place as maiden of the Oracle.”
“What?” I shouted. “I reject anything you bestow upon me.” I screeched.
Batar moved forward and stood by his father, “Bianka, the law states that you must become the sole bearer of the Rose and serve the Oracle. I tried to warn you so many times, but you refused to listen to me.”
“This is all complete fucking bullshit, and you know it,” I screamed.
“Enough with your insolence,” the King shouted as his voice echoed throughout the hall. “The guards will take you to your chamber.”
Screaming, I ran, I tried to escape, but it was pointless. Every exit had been barricaded by the monstrous beasts guarding the doorways. From the corner of my eye I could just about make out the silhouette of something appearing.
With bright burning light, it appeared dead centre in the room. Its glow was piercing and frightening, and as I looked around the hall, everyone had bowed – even the King himself.
“Bianka.” My name was called.
Turning around, it faced me face on.
“The curse. The moon. The blood will run. As one you will become with the Rose. You are the Rose.” The tall man spoke.
I was overcome with a wave of emotion; I could feel the bile begin to heave itself up the back of my throat.
“I don’t want to be a Rose or anything. I just want to be free,” I cried.
“You can never be free. When you took the life of Iona, you bestowed her duties unto yourself. What has been done can never be undone.”
Two guards stood on either side of me, each one bearing a mark across their cheeks – a crest of some kind. Taller than anything I had seen before they gripped me by my arms and led me from the grand hall.
“Batar….” My voice screamed and echoed as I was led away.
No matter how many times I called his name, no matter how much I struggled to break free, I was trapped, and now there really was no turning back.
***
The door to my chamber was locked from the outside and I was left alone in the very place I had taken the life of Iona. Now in her place stood a broken vampire who only wanted freedom. A chance to experience all the delights the world had to offer, and there would be no turning back.
The chamber had been reassembled, but now it was done to my preferred taste. Rich reds and blacks adorned the walls. Carefully mounted candles sat on the walls, my portraits had been brought from my quarters in the castle and my bed sat in the centre of the room. Everything looked as it would have; only now I was trapped here for the duration of my so-called-life.
My voiles blew delicately from the gentle breeze that blew in from the opened shutters. Outside, the night sky had changed as dawn fast approached. A blue haze had begun to shine through the long windows of the tower and left an eerie hue in my chamber. Birds begun their morning chants and just as I was about to listen to the solemn song I was whisked away to my daily quarters, entrapped within the confines of the darkened crypt, unable to see hear or taste.
Condemned to an eternity as Artemis’s concubine and feeding on the virgins of Hollókő. This was the price I paid for craving my freedom.