by Megan Duncan
“How do we know we can trust them your majesty?” Jarvan asked, ignoring my outburst.
“You can trust them!” I cried out. “I trust them with my life. Father!”
“With your life?” my father questioned, raising his hand to silence Jarvan.
“Yes,” I confirmed with every confident fiber in my being.
“As do I,” Arrick added.
“Well… that’s good enough for me,” my mother decreed, smiling kindly at Robin and Dmitry who looked extremely uncomfortable.
“Very well. If my daughter and her Blood Guard vouch for you than that is all the confirmation I need,” Cathair said. I smiled broadly, enjoying the instant relief visible in Robin and Dmitry.
“But…” Jarvan groaned in protest.
“That’s enough Jarvan,” my father’s tone rose in vibrato, silencing Jarvan. “Rennek, bring us up to speed on your report,” Cathair ordered, gesturing for us all to take a seat at the table. Arrick sat at my left squeezing my hand in his, and Liz to my right. I could feel her nerves rattling inside her so I gave her a reassuring smile and she immediately calmed. Robin took a seat beside Liz, scooting her chair closer before whispering something in Liz’s ear that made her smile. Dmitry took a seat last, visibly doing his best to avoid eye contact with everyone.
Rennek stood, gathering papers in his hands before taking a deep breath. “Repairs of the Château are expected to be completed in three months’ time. The damage to the west wing was extensive, but the construction crew is confident they can get everything completed by their projected date.” My parents nodded their approval and Rennek went on after shuffling through his reports. “Our blood supply has been replenished to sixty percent. The city and regional populations are donating in such full force that we are having to turn people away. I’ve been notified by personnel that the stock should be fully replenished within a matter of days, sir.”
“Good, good. Where has the facility been relocated to?”
“To Pavo, your majesty,” Rennek answered.
“Where’s Pavo?” I whispered to my mother.
“About an hour south of here. It will be much more secure there.”
“We’ve doubled security as well,” Jarvan added, interrupting Rennek as he went through his notes. “I believe The Dark targeted our stock specifically.”
“Why do you think that?” Arrick asked.
“It is a tactic we are sadly familiar with,” my father answered.
“We believe it was Baals intention to destroy our blood supply entirely. After the king and queen were dead, our people would starve and turn on each other. Forcing them to feed on their own people or die.”
Both Liz and Robin gasped, slapping their hands on their mouths. “But, we were able to save some of our supply? I asked.
“Yes,” Rennek answered. “Reinforcements arrived at our stock building in time to salvage what was left and kill the remaining Dark vampires.”
“That’s good, right?” I was trying my best to sound hopeful. We’d stopped Baal from accomplishing one of his missions. It sounded like good news to me.
“Not without casualties, princess, but yes it is good. Had our supply been completely destroyed it would have been much more difficult to recover.”
I dropped my gaze to the table, knotting my fingers together. Casualties, of course there had been casualties. I’d seen them myself.
“Baal also failed to assassinate the king and queen,” a voice said from behind me that I recognized very well.
“Bennett?” I twirled around in my chair to get a better look. It was him! Relief and guilt rushed through me. I’d left him behind as I dangerously jumped into the portal, leaving him alone in a field, brutally injured.
He smiled his wicked grin at me, looking healthier than my parents. However, there was something in his expression that was completely different. He used to carry an air of challenge about him, a rebellious nature that hovered around him like a fog. The battle had changed him dramatically. There was a lingering pain in his eyes, an understanding that the battle we’d fought was much more than he ever realized.
“Glad to see that portal didn’t rip you to shreds,” he said with a hint of reprimand. I didn’t blame him for the jab, I deserved it.
I jumped from my seat, taking him in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” I looked away not wanting to meet his ghostly gaze. I needed to apologize to him. He could have very well died in that field, and it was basically my fault. I was so focused on going after Ana that I didn’t stop to make sure he was safe.
“Takes more than one Dark vampire to kill me.” He puffed up his chest, in his usual confident nature.
“I’m sorry I left you.” I decided to come right out with it.
“You did what you had to do. But you’ve got to tell me what happened after you jumped in. I thought you’d be dead for sure.” His eyes flicked to the gold chain around my neck only fleetingly, before they returned to my face. I knew what he was wondering. If I still wore the stones. Their power scared the hell out of him, and I guess I didn’t blame him.
“It’s quite a miracle that she survived such dark magic. A rather dangerous move I might add,” another familiar voice chimed in.
“Eli!” I couldn’t help the squeal of happiness that erupted out of me. He marched into the throne room behind Bennett, muscles gleaming in the bright light. I materialized in front of him with impeccable speed, launching myself into his surprised arms. He had been my trainer before the attacks, and I knew, without a doubt, I would never have survived without his guidance.
His meaty arms wrapped around me in a quick embrace before he released me to stand before him. He looked around rather nervously, obviously not familiar with open displays of affection, but I didn’t care. Eli was a warrior through and through, a fierce vampire who thought of nothing more than how to make the body a weapon against your enemy, but I knew deep down inside there was a mushy center.
“It is good to see you princess.” He nodded at me before nodding at my parents in greeting. “Although I must say I’m disappointed in your behavior.” His dark eyes tore through me, and I shuddered under his gaze. Of course he was disappointed. He taught me to calculate every move, to be smart and selective on my attacks and I hadn’t been. I jumped through the portal without a thought on what would happen to me, leaving Bennett behind to save himself.
“I know,” I knotted my fingers together, “but I just couldn’t let her get away.” I tried to plead my case. The look in his eyes told me lots of tough training would be in my near future. I both dreaded and looked forward to it.
“Oh, so you caught her then?” He was feigning surprise, but I knew he was being sarcastic; pointing out that my leap had led to no results. Ana had gotten away and I’d nearly died.
“No…” I avoided his stare feeling suddenly more ashamed. He might as well have slapped my hands with a ruler and sent me to detention.
“Perhaps some more training will teach you a lesson?” He crossed his arms against his massive expanse of chest.
“I believe it will.” I gulped hard and smiled at him when I saw a glint of humor flicker in his eyes. “Let me introduce the two of you,” I said, changing the subject.
“This is Bennett and Eli,” I announced, directing my attention to Robin, Liz and Dmitry. “Eli has been my trainer since I moved here, and Bennett, well I wouldn’t be alive without him. Neither would my parents.” I looked at my friend appraisingly, remembering a time when I’d loathed being in his presence.
Arrick stood and walked to Bennett, offering his hand. “Thank you for protecting her. Whatever I can do to repay you, simply name it.” Bennett took Arrick’s offered hand and smiled with a nod, looking proud of himself.
“Thanks.”
Robin and Dmitry then nodded in greeting while Liz simply gulped loudly, her eyes as wide as golf balls. I bit my tongue to keep from giggling at her. I wondered if I looked like that when I first arrived at the palace. I kn
ew she’d always wanted to meet a vampire, always dreamed about what they were really like in person, but she looked like she’d seen a ghost. Perhaps that was Bennett’s fault. He was rather… creepy. Or, at least he was when I first met him.
After introductions, Eli made his way to the table. My father, Rennek and Jarvan joined around him as they discussed our next course of action, which made me utterly curious. What would our next course of action be? Maybe this would be a good time to let my father in on one small detail before they made any solid plans.
“Nicolae has agreed to aid us in the fight against The Dark,” I blurted out after taking my seat.
“How do you know this?” Jarvan questioned with doubt in his eyes.
“He told me.” I met his glare head on, without blinking. We’d always been at odds, Jarvan and I. I knew deep down he wanted only what was best for our region, but he had a twisted way of showing it.
“Claire,” my father’s voice sounded sad. “Nicolae is a traitor. To side with him would only be inviting Baal to our doorstep.”
“That’s not true.” I leaned forward, bracing myself against the table as if it would keep me in control of the conversation. “He gave me his word, and I believe him.” Everyone’s eyes widened at my admission.
“Darling, he’s in league with Baal,” my mother pleaded with me. “He had you stolen from us.” Her words came out in a whimper, the pain of losing me as a child still wrenching at her heart.
“We haven’t even figured out yet how he even knew about you Claire. How do we know he doesn’t still have spies in our region?” Arrick said to my surprise. I’d thought he was on my side about uniting our regions.
“We had such a huge celebration within our region.” My mother’s eyes grew watery as she recalled the memory.
“I believe he had spies here all along, watching and waiting for the perfect time to set his plan in action,” Jarvan said sounding ever so much like a conspiracy theorist.
“So, when news of Claire’s birth hit him he saw her as a better option?” Arrick suggested, catching on to Jarvan’s theory.
Irritation was rushing through me like a brush fire. I didn’t enjoy being talked about like I wasn’t there, and they were missing the point. How or why Nicolae kidnapped me was the least of our worries!
“Then what were his original plans and who were his spies?” my father wondered aloud.
I saw Robin stir in her seat out of the corner of my eye. This conversation was making her uncomfortable. She’d lived with Nicolae her whole life and despite everything that had happened I knew it was hard for her to see him in an evil light. I didn’t want this conversation going on any longer. We could worry about this later, all I knew was we couldn’t defeat Baal if we didn’t have all the help we could get.
“We don’t have time to worry about the past. We need to prepare for the future. Prepare for war. Nicolae gave his word that he would fight with us, and we need to believe him. What other choice do we have? He performed a blood vow. That has to count for something.” I fisted my hands on the table. “You say he is dishonest, that he is an opportunist, but is he a greater evil than Baal?”
Eli stepped forward as every eye gawked at me. “Listen to her wisdom.”
“They were attacked too. If he had helped orchestrate this whole thing, don’t you think he wouldn’t have had his own region assaulted? Listen, I know Nicolae isn’t the most honorable vampire, and I know he’s done terrible things but he did them with good intentions.” I saw a number of eyes roll at my comment and I couldn’t say I didn’t want to roll mine as well. I’d had this very conversation with Nicolae. I believed that deep down he was good, but I also believed he’d be willing to do some shady things in the name of good. In the fight against Baal, maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. “I’m not saying I forgive him, but I am saying that we need to move past that. The only way we can defeat The Dark, is if we do the one thing they don’t think we will. Work together.”
My father shook his head, unable to accept my words.
“We should unite against Baal, but not with the Noire region. They’ve betrayed us too many times. Perhaps we reach out to another region for aide?” Jarvan suggested with an air of superiority like it was his decision to make.
“What region?” Eli questioned, sounding like he didn’t like Jarvan’s tone at all.
“Titan,” Jarvan answered after a hefty breath. Everyone around the table began to whisper suspiciously. Robin and Dmitry shared a worried glance. Where had I heard that name before? I looked to Arrick, but his eyes were fixated on my father. I reached out to him through our connection, and without a glance in my direction he latched his fingers with mine.
“We haven’t contacted that region since just after the Dark Ages,” my father said. He ran his fingers down the length of his beard, deep in thought. Everyone was silent as my father paced for what felt like hours. “My daughter is right. We must focus on the greater threat, but hear me;” his voice grew cold and fierce, “Nicolae will answer for his crimes.”
I swallowed hard, feeling sorry for Nicolae. My father was a powerful being to behold, and I had no doubts he was going to make Nicolae sorry for what he’d done. My family might have been a peaceful one, avoiding war at all costs, but we’d been backed into a corner and we were going to make our enemies pay for their misdeeds.
“Jarvan!” my father snapped the word, pulling his aides attention away from the whispered conversation he was sharing with Rennek. “You will go to the Noire region and initiate our joining.” His tone said it was an order that Jarvan couldn’t argue with.
“Yes, your majesty.” He bowed his head.
“Bring an ambassador of the guard with you. I don’t need your sharp tongue starting another war.” Jarvan rose from his seat, bowing deeply before flashing out of the room without another word. I couldn’t keep my eyes from widening in shock. I’d never seen Jarvan follow an order without having something smart to say about it, but then again, if my father looked at me like he did Jarvan, I’d keep my mouth shut too.
Rennek and Eli joined in conversation as my father seated himself next to them. He scanned through all the reports Rennek had brought with them, and I knew they’d be in here quite a while. I sat through many of these meetings and although I craved knowing every detail of what was going on, I didn’t think I had the energy.
My mother’s face was wrinkled in pain and without a word to anyone I watched her stagger out of the room. I wanted to go to her, but something told me she wanted to be alone. I prayed to Nyx she was going to be okay, and not just physically, but emotionally, too. We’d all been through so much.
Dmitry held his head in his hands looking defeated and tired. He hadn’t spoken a word, and I couldn’t help wondering what was on his mind. Robin was picking at the table with her nails, looking forlorn. And then there was Liz, sitting back in her chair staring at all of us with shock as her eyes grew heavy. She’d taken everything so well and I just hoped I could keep her safe. I hoped I could keep them all safe.
Chapter 7
My eyes popped open as if I’d been startled from a bad dream, but I couldn’t remember a single thing. The last thing I recalled was my head hitting the pillow and I was out within seconds. My mother had made sure we’d all eaten before calling it a night. Dmitry and Robin protested at first, saying they wanted to stick to their fast, but they’d eventually caved. It was revitalizing, not just to eat, but also to see how vibrant everyone looked after eating. Even my mother, who’d looked the most ill of all of us, had regained nearly all her pigmentation by the time we’d left the dining table. A long day’s sleep and a good meal had really improved my mood. Things felt less bleak now that I wasn’t starving and I felt more like myself.
I rolled over to find that Louie had snuggled up with me during the day. I think he liked that I was a vampire. Now we were on the same sleeping schedule. I wrapped an arm around him, tugging him to my chest and snuggling my face in his soft fur. A purr rumbl
ed inside him, and I felt my eyelids growing weighted as they tugged downward, pulling me into dreamland.
Ten minutes or ten hours could have passed by, but it didn’t matter, my little cat nap with Louie had topped off my I-need-to-rest-because-I-feel-like-a-walking-zombie meter. I could tell he was ready to get up too because he kept tapping his tail against the bed. He only did that when he was annoyed.
“Okay, grumpy!” I scratched his head and released him. I tried to not feel hurt when he leapt off the bed with a little too much enthusiasm. I rolled over; staring up at the high beamed ceiling like something up there would help me prepare myself to face another night.
I usually liked staying snuggled up in bed as long as possible, but I was too awake now to lay still. I was eager to see everyone, even if that time would be spent planning a war.
I flung my covers to the side, biting my lip as the cold evening air hit my flesh. It was definitely colder here in Naos, no doubt a result of being so close to the water. I tugged on the robe that was draped at the foot of my bed, and began shuffling my way out of the room.
A bulging lump, under a knitted blanket was lying on my couch. I felt a little bad that he’d slept there, considering he was a good two feet too big for it. Arrick had his own room, and could have slept comfortably, but he’d chosen to be near me. I sat down on the edge of the coffee table and watched for a moment, a smile creeping onto my face, and adoration warming my heart. Arrick’s lashes were fluttering ever so slightly; maybe he was dreaming. I hoped it was a good dream. Perhaps even a dream about me. I dropped a soft kiss on his forehead before heading for the door.
Liz’s room was next door to mine, so I tip-toed down the hall out of habit. I hadn’t realized I was even doing it until one of the servants gave me an odd look, and then I lowered my eyes to my feet. The servant smiled with amusement as she walked by, and I couldn’t help but join her. It was funny how much my old habits had returned in the short time I’d spent with Liz. I used to walk like this when we were kids. Liz was always taller than me and I wanted to be the same height as her. It later became a joke between the two of us. I felt like she was the anchor to my old life. She would never allow me to forget who I once was. I didn’t ever want to forget that girl. My life might not have been what I thought it was, but it was still mine and I had been happy. Even without a father, and a workaholic mother; I had been happy, and despite everything that was going on; I was still happy.