The Queen Maker

by Kristen Gupton

  The redhead looked downright sad. “I can’t stop him, either.”

  Kanan leveled his gaze on his son. It was hard for him to admit Jerris was grown up and already self-assigned to being Keiran’s personal guard. The official title didn’t seem to matter to the young man. Though it had been up to Kanan to look after the previous king’s security as the chosen King’s Knight, Jerris had been preordained to become Keiran’s even if he wasn’t yet a knight at all.

  He worried about his son and questioned his judgment far too often. Yet he knew it was time to cut Jerris and Keiran free to do what they needed to do. Either they would make it somehow, or they wouldn’t. They were grown men, and Kanan knew his own working days were numbered. It was inevitable that Jerris would see the day come when Kanan wasn’t around to guide him.

  “Remember what I’ve told you all of your life about your loyalties?” Kanan asked.

  “Aye.” Jerris nodded. “Once you officially made me his personal guard when we were young, you told me my job was to take care of him above all else.”

  The old man gave a nod and cocked his head to the door. “Don’t forget that. Ever.”

  Jerris nodded in return and got up, knowing the conversation was over. He went back to find Keiran exactly as he’d left him.

  Keiran still sat with a blanket around his shoulders, eyes distant and fixed on the dying fire. His pallor hadn’t improved, and his expression looked more depressed than Jerris could ever remember seeing. He didn’t look up to acknowledge Jerris’ return.

  “Keir, I won’t sit here and feed you a bunch of lies about how I know what you’re feeling or thinking,” Jerris said, sitting across from his friend.

  The vampire’s lifeless eyes panned up from the fire for just a moment, only to avert to the side. His lips tensed down into a thin line, nothing being said in return.

  Supposing Keiran wasn’t going to engage him in conversation anytime soon, Jerris slid onto the floor, stoking the fire and adding another log to it. When it was burning well again, he wadded up his cloak and dropped it on the floor to use as a pillow before he flopped onto his side to sleep.

  It was getting late, and in the morning he would be expected to escort Keiran back toward the castle. The job of keeping order in the region and watching the border would fall to the military. Jerris, as well as the other members of the Royal Guard who’d come along, would be leaving.

  The emotional highs and lows over the previous days had simply left the young guard exhausted. While he wanted to stay up and keep watch over Keiran, he knew sleep would be coming whether he wanted it or not.

  Keiran tried to find it within himself to say something to Jerris, knowing the other man wanted to help. All he could feel, however, was his heartache over Thana being taken away. He didn’t dare say anything, knowing it was likely he’d lose his composure if he did. While he’d been alone, he’d let a few more tears fall, but he’d be damned if Jerris would see any more of them.

  What he would do was still up for debate. With his emotions more riled up than they had been since he’d first taken human blood, he realized he was going to be helpless to fight against what his vampirism was driving him toward.

  Keiran was growing afraid of himself.

  ***

  Thana remained confined to her room on the ship, having no clue where it was headed. Feeling the motions of the boat as it traveled up the river made her nauseated like she’d never known. The sickness stirred in her gut for a long while before she was forced to crawl into a corner and let go of the scant contents of her stomach.

  She’d never been so ill in all her life. Unaware that it was from the movement of the ship, she began to think she was dying from some disease. When nothing more would come up, she made her way back to the bunk. She crawled onto it, covering her face with her hands. Her head was splitting with each beat of her heart, and her emptied stomach cramped relentlessly.

  There was no sense of time passing for her, and she didn’t know if it was simply hours or if her imprisonment on the ship lasted days. Mercifully, she ended up losing consciousness at some point, waking only when the door to the room was thrown open. Thana opened her eyes slowly, the headache not having abated.

  Danier stood silhouetted in the doorway. “It’s time to go.”

  “Where?” she asked, slowly standing on unsteady legs.

  “You are back in your homeland,” he replied, motioning for her to come closer

  Thana forgot herself for a moment and raced forward, hope sparking up. “You took me back to Tordania?”

  His forced expression faltered, and he huffed indignantly. “Your true home. We are at Takrah, our great river port city and our current emperor’s capital of the Sador Empire.”

  The girl froze where she stood, unable to move any closer. She’d never heard of Takrah before and had no idea how far she was away from home.

  While she was literate, her geography understanding was limited at best. All she knew about the Sador Empire was that great expanses of it were considered some of the most inhospitable land in the known world.

  Seeing her hesitation, the general sighed and shook his head. “You should be grateful. As it stands, you might be able to enjoy a rich life here beyond your wildest dreams, instead of being a slave back in that cold, dreary country. You are going to be presented to the emperor as a gift. The only surviving woman of a lost tribe! You should be filled with joy!”

  While it didn’t alleviate Thana’s apprehensions, Danier seemed legitimately excited with the notion. For now, she needed to cooperate until she was able to come up with a plan. Being anywhere, even a foreign land, was better than the confines of the wretched ship. She tried to relax her expression to seem more submissive as she stepped forward.

  Danier was pleased and walked at her side as they moved above deck. Maybe taming the girl would be easier without the Tordanians around to influence her. He truly believed being back in the Sador Empire would result in a better life for her if she behaved. Surely, the emperor would reward him for finding such a treasure even with the unauthorized invasion failing.

  Once on deck, Thana was struck from the heat in the air. She didn’t understand how it could be so warm in the middle of the night at the height of winter. The sky above was clear, allowing an incredible amount of light to shine down from the full moon above.

  They had traveled far south on the river where it continued to skirt the edge of the desert along the border of the empire. To the west of the river was the nation of Ibia, a friendly country of vast fertile plains, making it an agricultural powerhouse. The east bank they were on was considerably different, however.

  While it was flat like Ibia, outside of the city of Takrah, the land looked absolutely unpopulated. There weren’t any trees beyond the banks of the river.

  Takrah, however, was populated and densely so. The white-plastered buildings stood out in stark contrast to the night sky, glowing in the moonlight. Thana had never seen buildings like them before. Angular and boxy, they filled every available space between the narrow roads of the ancient town.

  The city was enormous by Tordanian standards, being home to several hundred thousand citizens. Standing taller than all the other buildings, sat the emperor’s Grand Palace. The structure dwarfed the castle back in Tordan Lea, having nearly a dozen different levels within. Great turrets rose from a multitude of points along the monolith, each capped with a shimmering black roof made of obsidian tiles.

  Not only was the view strange to her, but even the air of the city itself was alien. The smell from the crowded city assaulted her. The strong scents of their native spices, along with the odors of a tightly-packed urban center, overwhelmed her. The noises coming from the docks, still teeming with people and activity despite the late hour, caught her attention. Above all the noise, she only picked up bits of conversation, all being spoken in Sadori.

  At once, a profound and stunning cultural shock set into her, and her knees nearly buckled. How Keiran would f
ind her in such a labyrinth, or how she would escape it on her own, was beyond her comprehension. She realized it was entirely possible she was looking at her new home where the rest of her life might be spent.

  Chapter 7

  Keiran had no idea what time it was when he finally moved from where he’d been sitting. The town was quiet, most of the soldiers and freed townspeople sleeping off their exhaustion. No one was worried about the Sadoris returning anytime soon, so activity was at a minimum.

  He tied his sword belt on, hiding it beneath his cloak. He looked at Jerris sleeping for several moments before silently leaving the small building and stepping out into the street. There were a few sentries out keeping watch, but Keiran stuck to the shadows and managed to evade them easily enough. He moved to where the horses had been corralled for the night. There were multiple rows of saddles lined up, but Keiran’s was easy to pick out from the rest, and he carried it toward the fence.

  The corral was on the edge of the town and was little more than a number of ropes tied from tree to tree. He placed his saddle on the ground and stared out at the horses, looking for Porter.

  The animals were resting quietly when he first approached, however, something seemed to disturb them, and they moved to the opposite end of their enclosure. Keiran knew he’d done nothing to frighten them. When they came to a rest again, they weren’t looking in his direction.

  “You can’t let it go, can you?”

  Keiran snapped his head to the left, hearing the familiar, dry voice. His eyes narrowed, and the back of his neck tingled. Instinctively, he drew in several short breaths, his spiked fear causing his fangs to slide down almost immediately. There was a copper-laced, dusty scent in the air, making his heart rate skyrocket.

  “Where in the hell are you?” he asked sharply.

  Something black swirled amongst the trees for a moment before Athan appeared and stepped out into the open. He didn’t get too close, stopping about ten yards back from the younger vampire.

  Baring his fangs in a scowl, Keiran’s posture slouched somewhat, his left hand going beneath his cloak to grip the hilt of his rapier. “Athan, what are you doing here?”

  “Watching you. Call it morbid curiosity if you want,” he said, giving a lax shrug. His eyes moved over toward the horses. Athan was well aware of Keiran’s weapon, but it didn’t worry him in the least.

  Keiran’s newfound urge to be defiant toward Athan cropped up. He’d felt much more aggression toward him since he’d started drinking human blood. However, Keiran had received a rather one-sided beat down during one of their most recent meetings.

  This forced him to temper his attitude somewhat. This being was someone he simply wasn’t good enough to best, and trying to fight him would draw attention he didn’t presently want. Still, Athan never liked to make things easy, and there was every chance Keiran was going to be humiliated by him yet again.

  His shoulders rounded a bit more, though his expression still remained angry. “I don’t need you right now. This isn’t your concern, Athan.”

  “Yes, well, about that,” Athan sighed, lacing his hands together behind his back and puffing his chest out, “it is. Not about the Sadoris invading or you chasing them off. That was all well within your rights to do, and you succeeded. However, I know what you’re thinking of doing right now, and we needed to have a little talk about it before you moved on with your plan.”

  Since Keiran wasn’t entirely sure what his intended plan of action even was, he decided to see what Athan had assumed. He settled his gaze on the other, straightening up a bit. “You came all this way for a consult?”

  Athan’s eyes closed for a moment, and he groaned. Keiran was still bitterly ignorant as to what he was capable of. Frustration started to wind around inside the elder’s brain. “I can be anywhere I want, any time I want, without real effort. Don’t ever delude yourself, Keiran, that I can’t reach you whenever I so please. I went home for a time, now I’m here. I’ve been elsewhere, too.”

  “But how have you had the time to do that if it takes you two weeks at a time to go from Tordania to Talaus?” Keiran asked, not wanting to believe his claim.

  Athan blinked slowly. “I can travel as quickly as I please. The carriage, and the accompanying tale of it taking that long to arrive in Tordania, was all for your father’s sake. His feeble mind couldn’t handle the notion of me simply appearing out of thin air. Besides, the carriage let everyone in the castle know I’d arrived in a fashion they could relate to, so no one gave thought to the idea I was around unseen and unannounced rather frequently. I’m not here to discuss technicalities like that with you, however. This conversation isn’t about me.”

  Keiran canted his head a little bit and waved his right hand at his side. He wasn’t terribly surprised to hear that, though the idea of Athan stalking the castle intermittently wasn’t pleasing. “Usually, it is all about you.”

  Athan met Keiran’s gaze, his eyes reflecting his inward annoyance with that remark. Still, there were important matters at hand. “It’s about your feelings and this whole situation with the servant girl.”

  “I really don’t want to discuss my feelings with you, Athan. You and I don’t have that sort of relationship.” Keiran shook his head, wondering what of his interactions with Thana Athan had witnessed.

  The older vampire stared at him deadpan for several tense moments before turning away slightly and looking up toward the sky. “You’re not amusing. Regardless, I know what you’re going through right now.”

  Keiran scoffed, letting his left hand fall away from his rapier. “I doubt that. While I’m sure you’ve had women run away from you over the years, it’s not quite the same thing. I have every reason to believe Thana actually wants to be here with me.”

  He looked back at Keiran again, frowning. “Getting a bit full of yourself, aren’t you? It’s not about her as much as it is about what your emotions are doing to you. You’re angry she is gone.”

  “Aye, of course.”

  “And you can’t let go of that anger, can you? Not in days, not in months to come. Never. In fact, instead of easing up as time goes on, it will only intensify, demanding an outlet.” Athan paused, awaiting Keiran’s reaction.

  His attention was caught, and he took a step closer, not saying anything.

  Seeing he had the younger vampire’s attention, Athan gave a small nod. “The problem is, given what you and I are, the only outlet that will satisfy your anger is getting her back or killing those who took her.”

  “And if I do neither?” he asked, though he’d already resolved he needed to try and save Thana from whatever fate she faced.

  “Then the anger won’t abate, and you will act out on it but not against those responsible. It will burn within you, growing into a fury. That is one of our particular burdens, Keiran. We must do what our instincts and drives wish us to do. They are there for a reason, and it has been my experience that, generally speaking, they are righteous.” Athan gave a hint of a smile and took a step closer.

  “Pardon me for saying, Athan, but little you’ve done has been righteous,” Keiran replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

  Athan suppressed a growl at that but maintained his calm demeanor. “You only say that, Keiran, because you are still trying desperately to see the world through normal, human eyes. Eventually, you’ll stop responding to all those human trivialities and see the world for what it is. We don’t have to succumb to their petty, altruistic needs for sympathy and the like. We do what we need to in order to ensure our own power and pleasure. Everything else that pertains to their wants and needs is far, far second. We are at the top, they only exist to feed and amuse us.”

  “I see them as much more than that,” Keiran replied, frowning.

  Athan shook his head. “No, you don’t want to get Thana to save the girl for her own sake. You want to save her because you want her for your own pleasure. They wronged you in taking her, Keiran, and for that they must pay. That is your real motivati
on. You can try to delude yourself that you are going off on some noble mission to rescue one of your people, but it would be a lie. If she wasn’t the woman you wanted in your bed with you, she wouldn’t matter at all.”

  “She’s one of my people, and I have an obligation to save her,” Keiran said.

  Athan almost laughed. “Think about how many of your own men died today in chasing the general even though you knew they would leave Tordania without being engaged. What do you care for those men? You were perfectly fine with them dying in pursuit of just one woman—your woman. It’s about you and your ego, nothing more.”

  Athan’s words honestly forced Keiran to stop and think. Though he was convinced he was going after Thana for her own sake, he had to admit his pain over it was a huge motivator. If it had been anyone else, someone he wasn’t personally invested in, how far would he be willing to go?

  “So, are you encouraging me to actually go and do this?” he asked.

  Athan gave a small nod. “Sure.”

  If it was something Athan was willing to encourage him toward, Keiran had to wonder if it really was the best course of action. Generally, he was under the belief anything Athan thought worth doing was something to be refused.

  This just served to confuse Keiran and cause him more doubt. Still, deciding not to go just to spite Athan and resign Thana to whatever fate she would meet didn’t seem right, either. He looked over to where his saddle sat and frowned.

  The elder vampire could see the confused air settling around the other, and a wry smile came to his lips. “It is right about now that you’re asking yourself what side I’m on, isn’t it?”