Keiran gave a small shrug. “The only side you’re on is your own. Yes, you’ve been both horrible to me and saved my life. You’re encouraging me to do something I actually want to do, but you’re trying to convince me it’s only for my own selfish motivations. It must somehow be in your best interest for me to do this. Just as it was somehow in your best interest to save me from that demon.”
“Does that make it wrong? Are you only going after her based on some noble ideal, or is it because she is what you deem to be yours? Moreover, does it even matter which it is?” Athan asked, letting his hands hang at his sides again.
“Saving her is the right thing to do, and curing my own misery over her being kidnapped is just a side benefit. She is one of the most important things to me in the world. This is about bringing her home, not extolling some great revenge on the Sadoris.” Keiran looked at Athan again.
Athan laughed and shook his head. “Well, however you wish to justify it, I know the truth and deep down, so do you. If you don’t go and do this, the anger over it will just fester, and you will take it out on others. In fact, I sense things regarding her have been on a difficult path for you for a while. In all likelihood, you’ve already turned on your friends at least once due to the growing frustrations within you. The more you let things linger, and the more you let their provocations go unaddressed, the more dangerous you will become to those you keep around you.”
Keiran didn’t outwardly respond, but the memory of his fight with Kanan not long ago washed over him. He could feel Athan mining into his thoughts, and he saw the other vampire actually smile.
Athan picked up the younger vampire’s inward agreement with his last statement, and it pleased him. “As for your speculations on why I may have saved you from that demon, make no mistake, I only did it for my own benefit. I understand my motivations. You are part of a greater plan I have, and keeping you alive long enough to see if you come through for me is important. If it someday becomes clear you are a liability to me, I will kill you myself.”
Keiran’s eyes narrowed as his hatred of the other man grew dangerously close to boiling over. He wanted to run forward and end Athan once and for all. He forced himself to stand down, though, knowing he couldn’t risk any injury that might keep him from going after Thana.
Athan took his silence as a sign of submission even though he knew Keiran was struggling to maintain his outward calm. He rubbed his hands together and started to back away. “Do what you must, justify it however you need to while you still have that annoying conscience. Don’t hold back once you cross the river, though. Once you leave on this mission, I will not intervene. I won’t go into that wretched empire. This is in your hands alone.”
“Though I appreciate that you saved me from the demon, I wouldn’t want your help with this. It’s my responsibility. The Sadoris are just men, they aren’t demons, and I will find a way to handle them. Go home and feel free not to spy on my affairs in the future.” Keiran turned away from Athan and moved to where he’d set his saddle down, picking it up in his arms.
“Oh, I have more interventions to carry out, and I’m actually running late on the next one. Trust me, you are better off for me keeping a watch on you. While my eggs are not all in your basket, you are marginally amusing so try to survive.” Athan gave a snort and started to fade from view, dissipating in the night air.
Keiran quirked a brow at the last comment but kept his forward momentum as he stepped through the rope fence and moved toward his horse. He knew Athan was gone as the scent in the air was fading and the horses were visibly relaxing.
Giving a shake of his head, he tried to refocus on the task at hand. He found Porter in a corner of the makeshift corral. Keiran gave the horse a slight nudge before setting the saddle upon his back, not wanting to startle him. The horse gave a disgruntled sigh but remained still as the saddle was cinched down.
It only took him a few minutes to have the horse readied. He led the animal to an improvised gate of scrap wood and moved out of the pen.
Jerris appeared out of the darkness, looking both exhausted and annoyed. He held his arms out momentarily, his own horse’s bridle dangling from his right hand. There were no words from him as he motioned at both the vampire and horse before dropping his arms back to his sides. His groggy brain wasn’t up for elaboration regarding his feelings at the moment, but they came through clear enough.
Keiran ducked down slightly, wondering if anyone else was out looking for him before he addressed his friend in a forced whisper. “What are you doing?”
The young guard looked as though that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. “Looking for you!”
“Jerris, keep your voice down. Is anyone else out here?” Keiran asked, straightening up a little to look beyond the other man.
“No, I came alone. I saw you were gone and knew I had to go, too,” he replied, giving a weak shrug.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I woke up, you were gone, and I knew I had to go, too,” he repeated, his displeasure obvious through his clipped tone. “I’m not as stupid as everyone likes to think I am, Keir. You’re going after her, and as your guard, it’s my duty to stand by your side. So, here we are. Will you give me a minute to get my horse, or am I going to have to chase after you like a madman again?”
Keiran didn’t really have a response to that and remained silent as Jerris brushed roughly past him.
Jerris retrieved his horse, quickly leading her out of the corral. The guard worked at saddling her, grumbling to himself in assorted profanities as he worked.
Jerris had tried to talk him out of doing this very thing earlier but was now volunteering to go along. The notion that Athan and Jerris were seemingly both onboard with whatever plan Keiran was going to undertake should have thrown up multiple red flags.
Soon enough, both men were on their horses, and that was about where Keiran’s plan had run its course. He sat there, staring out into the darkness. “I would imagine we have sentries along the road following the river upstream from here.”
“Theoretically, yes.”
The vampire gave Jerris a sidelong glance. “Theoretically?”
“The men are exhausted, Keir, and the Sadoris that weren’t rounded up in the mountains earlier have left the country. Most likely, those sentries are out there asleep, or at best, not exactly on high alert. Slipping past them just off of the road shouldn’t be terribly difficult,” he said, shifting in the saddle. “I just need to know what you intend to do once we are out of this town. We’re on our horses, so I presume we’re not somehow just going to sail across the river in our imaginary boat.”
“No, no boats for us. We don’t know a damn thing about sailing, anyway. We will probably just continue down the trade road into Ibia then across the bridge right into Takrah. I’m supposing that’s where they would have sailed to.”
“Traveling down into Ibia, fine. Easy,” Jerris said quietly. “But if you think we are going to be allowed to just stroll across the Takrahn Bridge into the empire, that’s suicide. Brazen, Keir.”
“Which is exactly why we’ll do it.”
The redhead frowned to himself for a few seconds. If he had any better ideas that were workable, his tired mind wasn’t able to put them together. “As I said, suicide, Keir, but this whole mission is when you get right down to it. Fine, lead the way. It will take days to get that far, anyway.”
There wasn’t much Keiran could say after that. Jerris was right, it was brazen to the point of insanity. He had no real idea how they would cross the bridge when they got to it, but there would be several days to come up with something. Finding a way to sail across the river would have simplified things, but it wasn’t something they knew how to do, nor did they have the means.
***
Corina’s days were busy in light of the considerable change in staffing taking place. While many of the servants had opted to stay and receive payment for their work, there were many others who were leaving. Most of those choosi
ng to go had been brought in from towns far away from Tordan Lea and simply wished to go back to their families and more familiar territories.
The end result was Corina picking up much of the extra work herself. She’d always been a hard worker and truly believed she needed to serve as a role model for the others. Her duties were compounded, however, by the need for her to interview and vet new applicants.
Word had been put out in town that the castle needed new, paid servants. People desperate for income in the depressed economy had responded in droves. Corina had strict work standards, but there were several she felt hopeful about. Once they got up to speed with the routines of the castle, she knew her job would grow easier again.
After only a few hours of sleep, the old woman forced herself out of bed while most of the castle still slept. She dressed and left her room, preparing to start her day.
The castle was dark as the sun wouldn’t come up for several more hours. With a small candle held before her, she moved down toward the empty kitchen. Though the king was gone, there were still communal meals for the servants and advisors to prepare. She always liked getting the prep work done alone before others were competing for room in the kitchen.
She closed the door to the kitchen behind her, not wanting noise from her work to disturb anyone. With her aged knees creaking, she knelt before the cooking hearth and prepared the kindling to start the day’s fire. She ignited it with the candle she’d brought, remaining focused on the task until the fire took, and the first small logs began to burn.
Satisfied, she struggled back to her feet, turning toward the long wooden island running down the center of the kitchen. A scream caught in her throat when she saw a figure sitting on the edge of it. He didn’t move at all, and as her eyes adjusted back to the darkness after looking into the fire, she recognized the intruder at once.
It was Athan, his hands casually laced on his lap. His expression was blank, though inwardly, he was amused at her staunch refusal to show him any outward fear.
The two of them locked gazes, just staring at one another for several tense seconds before he stood up and began to walk toward her. Corina knew there was no point in running. He would simply stop her from reaching the door.
She didn’t know why he was there but feared it was over the scant amount of information she’d offered Keiran about his mother. Perhaps Athan somehow knew of their conversation and was there to kill her for it.
Athan lifted his gaze away from Corina as he stopped right before her, giving a deep sigh to reflect his annoyance.
Corina managed to find the courage to say something, her voice wavering as she asked, “What is it you want?”
He didn’t divert his gaze toward her, simply continuing to stare at the door she’d entered through. “For you to move.”
“What?” she asked, confused.
Athan tensed his jaw, placed his hands on her shoulders and gently but firmly moved her to the side before stepping around her and going closer to the door.
Corina spun where she stood, her heart beating horribly fast after being touched by the vampire. She started to say something else, but Athan’s right hand lifted up slightly from his side as he went to the door, signaling her to be quiet.
The uncomfortable silence in the room was broken by the sound of someone slowly opening the wooden latch to the door.
Corina brought her hands to her face, trying to muffle the sound of her own breathing.
Athan watched as the door crept open. The visitor was attempting stealth, but the old, worn door protested on its hinges.
It was Farin, and he immediately spotted Corina standing there with her hands over her mouth. He knew her routine well enough to find her there. With his focus on the old woman, he didn’t see Athan’s dark form standing next to him near the entryway. A wicked smile came to his lips, and he pushed the door open enough to shove his corpulent body through before latching it again behind him. There was a long knife in his right hand, his stubby fingers wrapped around the handle.
He turned to look at Corina, but Athan had moved immediately before him. It took him a few seconds to recognize the unexpected presence, immediately stammering and falling over his words. “Ah, Lord Vercilla, what would you be doing in here?”
Athan raised his right hand and slowly wagged his index finger between them, shaking his head. He could read right through Farin’s thoughts as easily as he could see into a child. Nothing within the guard’s head was hidden from his view.
“No, the better question is what are you doing in here?” Athan asked.
The sentry looked over Athan’s shoulder toward the woman. His mind struggled to come up with some justification for why he was there, aside from the truth. “Just thought I should check up on Corina. She’s so busy during the rest of the day.”
Athan’s expression was flat, his eyes blinking slowly. Dealing with those as simple as Farin was boring. Still, he felt the need to clear things up for the sentry, so he could know the error of his ways. “No, you came through that door silently, knife in hand, intending to kill this woman. You’re trying to cover up your tracks for the whole fiasco involving Thana.”
Corina’s hands fell to her sides, her head canting a small amount. Athan knowing about the interaction between Farin, Thana, and herself shouldn’t have come as too much of a surprise. The notion the vampire was there to save her life struck something odd, however.
Farin stammered, glancing down at the blade still gripped in his hand. While Athan had him dead to rights, he didn’t know how the vampire had come to that conclusion unless he’d gotten the information from Corina. He remembered a time long ago when the servant and the vampire had seemed close, and perhaps there was still something to it.
Ultimately, Farin knew it didn’t matter how Athan knew, the fact was, he did. Farin realized what the consequences would likely be because of it. “Lord Vercilla, I’m not certain—”
The vampire took a step forward, grabbing Farin by the throat and pushing him back against the door. The impact knocked the wind from the guard’s lungs, and the knife he’d been clutching clattered to the stone floor. The man’s considerable weight didn’t seem to factor at all as Athan pushed him several inches up off of the floor.
Athan pressed in close against Farin, his eerie teal stare drilling into the sentry. “Don’t get me wrong, Farin, I’m quite fine with people doing self-serving things to get what they want. The problem is that you intruded into my territory, and the game I was already playing.”
Farin’s face went purple from the lack of circulation and his inability to breathe. His hands gripped Athan’s wrists, trying to relieve some of the pressure, but he was far from capable of holding up his substantially overweight body. If he tried to reply to Athan, the words were lost in his sputters and weak gasps for air.
The vampire smiled before he stepped away and let Farin land back on his feet. The guard brought both hands up to his neck, struggling to catch his breath. His mind swam as he’d nearly passed out while being strangled. He wasn’t sure why Athan was giving him a reprieve, but he wasn’t going to challenge it.
Athan, however, let his expression go deadpan again. His eyes flicked down toward the knife lying on the floor. The left corner of his mouth twitched before he casually requested for Farin to pick it up.
The sentry gave a dumb nod and staggered a little, taking a step and bending down to pick up the dropped weapon. He quickly tried to place it back into the sheath hanging from his belt, but his shoulder and elbow suddenly locked, leaving him unable to complete the act. Farin stared at his frozen appendage, wondering if he was suffering a stroke after his brief strangulation.
The corners of Athan’s mouth pulled up into a grin, and he looked back at Corina. “When the girl fled, this porcine excuse for a man went after her. Mercifully, he’s a coward and too lazy to see it through. He gave up and turned around, thinking Thana was dead in the forest.”
Corina’s gaze switched between the vampire an
d man. “Poor Thana!”
Athan’s grin faltered, and he shook his head, turning back toward Farin. “No, Thana is fine—for now.”
Farin reached around with his left hand, trying to force his right arm back into motion, but it remained paralyzed. He couldn’t even free the knife from his seized hand. His feet wouldn’t move, either, leaving him rooted to the floor.
Sweat was beading across his face, and he spoke in a hoarse voice. “I was only going after her to try and save her from a miserable death out in the elements! I only turned back when I realized I wouldn’t be able to reach her. The snow got too bad!”
Corina knew the truth, however, thanks to her talk with Thana the night she’d left. It had been obvious Farin went missing for a few days afterward, and the old woman had feared Thana would be intercepted. To know she hadn’t was a relief, and she took Athan’s claim the younger woman was fine at face value.
Though she was still in shock from Athan’s appearance, this wretched man’s intents inflamed her. “It would have served you right to have frozen to death out there, you sloth!”
Athan sighed and lifted a hand back toward Corina, not invoking any special power over her but merely signaling that he wanted her to remain silent. His eyes continued to burn on Farin, his focus landing on the blade. He tipped his head back slightly, Farin instantly mirroring the act against his will.
Farin’s eyes widened in terror as his entire body fell out of his own control. His right hand moved with agonizing slowness, bringing the knife’s blade up to his own throat. Every muscle in his body cramped from the conflicting messages they were receiving from their owner and the vampire using him as a marionette.
His horror grew as he realized what Athan was forcing him to do. “Oh God, no, no, no!”
The vampire’s smile appeared again, his head lulling back to look at Corina behind him. “You need not thank me for this.”
Corina’s eyes met Athan’s for just a moment, but they quickly returned to Farin.
The sentry was completely helpless as the blade pushed against his oily skin before he started to draw the knife across his throat. He let out a gurgling cry that was quickly silenced, the blade moving deep enough to sever his trachea. There was a searing pain he could do nothing about as the knife tore deeper. After a few seconds, the blade was pulled completely to the side.
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