by Megan Duncan
“Rise!” Titan commanded, brandishing a massive sword nearly as wide as his shoulders. The warriors obeyed, standing before their king with their heads held high.
“Recite the oath of the warrior, and accept your duty.” Ronon stepped forward, imposing his formidable glare on the men and women before him.
“I give my blood to my king,” Ronon exclaimed in a deep vibrato that carried throughout the stadium. The small group of warriors repeated his words without pause. “And my life to the people of Titan. I will shield our kingdom from all enemies, for I see what others cannot see, I act when others cannot act, and I fight without mercy. I swear my fealty to my king. This oath is binding until death wishes to break it.”
As the warriors spoke the last words of the oath, the crowd applauded and Titan’s voice thundered through the shouts of praise. “Welcome to the Army of Titan!” A massive blaze erupted behind him as the torch bearers lit the sylph’s body on fire. The flames danced wildly across the monsters carcass, as the warriors and the crowd cheered.
Chapter 15
I couldn’t sleep. As soon as I closed my eyes, all I could see was the monstrous sylph attacking the human warriors. Blood splattered in my mind, but it brought me no joy. I didn’t hunger for it; my fangs did not salivate at the thought of it. No, it only sent a shudder of fear skittering across my skin like a creeping spider.
Five of the fighters hadn’t survived their battle with the sylph, and the brutality of their deaths haunted me. I tossed and turned in the sheets for what felt like weeks while Arrick slept soundly beside me. His arm was draped over my body like a tree trunk and I slithered out of his embrace, thankful to be free of its dead weight.
Brushing my lips against his forehead, I retreated, tip-toeing out of our room. The sun had already descended on the horizon, and the sky was a deep shade of purple. Pretty soon the citadel would be bustling with activity, but for now I enjoyed the serenity of silence. My feet carried me aimlessly around the maze of hallways until the welcoming sensation of the cool night air pulled me from my sleepy haze.
I found myself in a garden I’d never seen before. A bubbling fountain pulled me in with promises of soothing comfort. My nightgown danced around my feet as each step brought me closer to the water’s edge. A large bird with brightly colored feathers splayed like a fan dipped its head into the fountains pool, taking a long drink of the cool water. I slowed my advance, not wanting to startle it, until I was sitting on the opposite side of the fountain watching it quietly. The bird lifted its head, cocking it to the side and looking at me with beady eyes. Its feathers ruffled wildly for a moment, and when I didn’t move, the bird decided I wasn’t a threat. My eyes widened in amazement as it made its way hesitantly toward me, till it was close enough that I could touch it.
Distracted by the bit of frayed lace on my nightgown, the bird began to snip at it with its tiny beak. I took that as my chance and lifted my fingers to caress the delicate, shimmering feathers that made up the birds tail. They were soft, and tickled my fingertips. I took a closer look and noticed the array of colors captured in just a single feather. It seemed as if this one bird held every color of the rainbow.
“Only the males have those feathers,” Ronon said, startling me and sending the bird flying, chirping angrily, to the other side of the garden. “They spread them like that to attract females,” he added, stepping out of the shadows.
“Well, they are definitely beautiful.” I looked at the bird sadly, wishing we hadn’t been interrupted. Ronon blocked my gaze and I shifted nervously before him, suddenly feeling very exposed.
“And what would impress you, Princess Claire?” He looked me up and down. I should have known better than to stroll around in my nightgown, but it was so damn hot in Titan!
“I’m not the one who needs to be impressed,” I snapped at him. He had no right to look at me like he was. “It is you and your father whose aid we seek. What is it we can do for you to get your help? Surely another feast won’t sway your decision?” I said the words with as much poison as I could, but the smile on Ronon’s face was not the reaction I had hoped for.
“Oh, yes, the feasts,” he said, strolling around the fountain like he was casing the joint. “My father loves to celebrate, doesn’t he? I will tell you this. You’ll never gain the aid of his army by drinking with him.”
“Then why is that all he wants?” I folded my arms across my chest, completely frustrated. “He won’t give my father an answer! We came here for your help and you won’t show us the decency of giving a yes or no!”
“Is it that horrible for you to be with us princess?” He asked, totally evading my question. “Is the heat too much for your precious ivory skin? Are we not fancy enough for you? Shall I order more silk for your bed, or more gold for you to hang around your neck?” His fangs snarled at me as his voice took on a menacingly condescending tone.
All I could do was gape at him. I couldn’t believe how he was talking to me, like I was some spoiled, rotten child. He had no idea what I’d been through! He didn’t know anything about me!
Ronon stepped forward boldly, his eyes falling to my neck as his hand reached for the gold chain that began to glisten in the moonlight. I all but slapped his hand away as I jerked from his reach. He was already being an asshole; I didn’t need him seeing the stone. That would only make matters worse. I swallowed hard, and attempted to defuse the situation.
“That’s not what I meant,” I said, protesting his accusations.
“Then what did you mean?” he growled at me.
“I just can’t stand to see anymore death!” I bolted from my seat, overcome with emotion. “I just can’t! You and your people are our one last chance of ending this war. I… I just found my parents, I can’t lose them now.” My voice began shaking, betraying how desperate I felt about the situation.
“What do you mean you just found your parents?” The ire in Ronon’s face disappeared to be replaced with wrinkled confusion as he took a seat on the fountain where I had been sitting.
For a long moment I just stared at him, and something inside me said I could trust him. In spite of the animosity I felt, a little voice in my head told me he needed to know the truth; that it would help in some small way. Maybe it was Nyx coaxing me to choose the right path. Either way, I was tired of fighting all the time, tired of being angry and frustrated.
I unlocked the vault to my past, and recounted my life story. Every horrid, heart-wrenching detail from being chosen, to Ana and Luka’s attempt on my life, to my journey to Naos and Baal’s attack. Ronon listened with rapt attention. He didn’t say a single word until I was done, and gasping for breath, as if the tale of my life was as difficult to tell as it had been to live.
“I thought you were just another spoiled princess.”
“Get a lot of princesses coming here lately?” I joked as a single tear trickled down my cheek.
“Lately, yes, but the last one wasn’t as interesting as you.”
I wanted to ask him about the other princesses, but there was no time for that now. “How long ago were you turned?” I questioned, wanting to know a little about him since I’d just spilled my guts.
“A long time ago,” he answered simply, not giving me the details I would have liked.
“Did you fight a sylph too?” The horrors of the night’s events still slithered around in the back of my mind.
“Aye. I was the only one to survive that battle. It was such a gruesome fight that my father wouldn’t allow another until now.”
I could only nod as another question formed in my mind. I had wanted to know the answer since I first arrived. “Is Titan really your father?”
“Aye.”
“But I thought Baal… your mother…” I didn’t know how to formulate the words without bringing up what was probably a painful memory.
His eyes grew distant and watery. “Aye, he did kill her, but it took a very long time for her to die,” he said, solving the mystery of his mother’s fa
te. “She suffered greatly and that pain consumed my father. He drowns that pain with wine, and blood, and women. Even now, countless centuries later and the anguish has not lessened for him.”
I lifted a hand wanting to comfort him, but it felt awkward. “I’m sorry,” I managed, fidgeting with my fingers in my lap. “So, you were born? Like me?” I’d never met, or even heard of another person who had been born from a vampire.
“Baal tried killing my mother. He wanted to use her soul to make one of his black stones. He knew that was the only way to truly defeat my father,” he said, stopping for a moment to swallow hard. “It didn’t work completely because she was pregnant with me. Her injuries left her in a coma for almost two hundred years. All that time my father cared for her, prayed that when I was born she’d awaken and come back to him. She never did. The night I was born, she died.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. What else could I say? Ronon’s life hadn’t been as easy as I thought it had. All the aggression I’d felt toward him began to whither, and everything started to make sense. Maybe Titan wasn’t really afraid, maybe he was waiting to be sure that this time, Baal would be destroyed once and for all.
Warmth began radiating from the stone hidden under my nightgown as if it echoed the sympathy I felt for Ronon. I was desperately fighting to keep my parents safe, and Ronon hadn’t even gotten that chance. He’d never known his mother and the only memories he had were the tales of her painful death told by his father. I couldn’t even imagine what that must have felt like.
Movement in the shadows caught Ronon’s attention and he exploded from his seat by the fountain in a flash of ringing steel as he unsheathed the daggers that hung from his belt. He circled the small garden, scanning the area like a hawk while I stood by the fountain cursing myself. What the hell had I been thinking walking around with nothing to defend myself? Sure, I’d been training for weeks, but I wasn’t exactly dressed for a fight.
The surrounding animals suddenly grew silent and that was the only confirmation Ronon needed. “Something is watching us. Can you feel it?” he asked me, stepping backward to shield me from whatever was stalking us.
I nodded my head, shivering with the familiar sensation that had haunted me for weeks. This time I caught movement in the shadows, and I circled around with Ronon as we tried to pinpoint our would-be attacker. Their actions were silent; not a single footfall reached my ears, nor a single labored breath. I only needed one guess who was prowling around us this very moment.
Ear splitting shrieks, like a banshee from hell, tore through Ana’s lungs as she launched herself toward me. Frozen by a moment of shock, I took in her blistered flesh. Her face and arms were singed by the desert sun, bubbling and screaming in vibrant red hues. Had she followed us all the way down here? I couldn’t help but wonder how long she’d been hiding, waiting for her chance to kill me.
In the fleeting seconds it took for me to recover from my shock, Ronon had roared like a bear. Ana’s eyes were only for me, and she didn’t blink as she sprinted for me. Her once luminous, golden hair swayed in matted clumps around her. Dark circles of exhaustion mixed with thick layers of mascara and black eye shadow made her eyes look like they’d sunken into her skull. She looked like she’d risen from the dead. Who knows, maybe she had.
Without a thought for restraining her, Ronon collided with Ana like a boulder crushing a withered flower. Her advance halted immediately as sharp steel penetrated her flesh. Ronon had rammed his dagger into her gut, all the way up to the hilt. Ribbons of hot blood slid over his closed fist as he lifted her up like a skewered pig.
My mouth fell open as I watched Ana grunt, and moan. She blinked wildly, still staring at me but looking completely mystified as to why she couldn’t get to me. Ronon shoved her off his blade with disgust, with as much ease as a person could flick away an annoying bug. Her body dropped to the stone floor like a rag doll, and a smile crept across my lips as my fangs surged with the hunger to drain every last drop of life from her. The coppery smell of her blood filled the air around us, and my feet began to close the distance.
Ronon’s iron grip grasped my shoulder, and I looked up to catch a glimpse of wild fury in his eyes. I shuddered under his scrutiny, but only for a second before I revealed my fangs and hissed like an angry cat. No one was going to keep me from her, no one.
Ana was lying on the ground at my feet completely catatonic. She wasn’t moaning in pain, or even clutching the wound that was oozing blood from her gut. No, she was simply lying there with a vacant, dead stare; her eyes still locked on me with a lethal intensity.
I circled around her once and then chose to kneel in front of her. I wanted my face to be the last thing she ever saw.
“Is she the one?” Ronon questioned with venom in his voice. He approached my side, blood still dripping from his bladed hand. I nodded, matching Ana’s unblinking stare with my own.
In one swift, solid movement Ronon yanked Ana up by her hair and pressed his sword against her throat. There was a frenzied rage in his eyes, as if Ana had attacked him. He forced her face toward mine, holding her in place while waiting for me to give the command he knew I wanted.
I opened my mouth to say yes; to order him to slit her throat and tear her head from her body, but the words caught in my mouth. Everything inside me was screaming ‘Kill her! Kill her!’, but that little tiny voice that I could never seem to ignore said no. As much as I wanted her dead, I needed her alive. We all needed her alive. Ana had the one thing we all needed.
Information.
“Let her go,” I heard myself saying as the vampire inside screamed. Ronon clenched his teeth, his fangs biting into his bottom lip. He tugged her head back further, pressing his blade hard enough against the delicate skin of her neck to draw blood before he threw her to the ground.
Before I could even process what had just happened, Arrick materialized at my side. He gave me one look over, and then spied Ronon, covered in blood. Arrick’s arms shoved me protectively behind him as he glared at Ronon. “What did you do to her?” Arrick roared.
“Arrick stop! Ronon was protecting me!” I yelled at him, trying to get out from behind him but failing miserably. He was just too damn fast.
“Protecting you from what?” He asked, cracking his knuckles as his fingers closed into fists. Arrick might not have had fangs, but he was a bonded Blood Guard and he was deadly. Seeing him fight Ronon, was not something I wanted to see.
“From Ana!” I shouted, knowing it would silence him immediately. He turned on me with complete disbelief. I nodded to the motionless, bloody heap at our feet and he stepped back as if she was some toxic creature.
“What the hell happened? How’d she get here?” He began hammering me with questions, but all I could do was shake my head. I had no idea how she’d gotten here, but I knew why; I just didn’t want to admit it.
Within minutes the small garden was swarming like a bees nest. Arrick’s entrance had been quickly followed by my father, Mikel, Titan, and seven of his guards. Ronon was recounting the tale of the events as I found myself kneeling beside Ana, only this time I wasn’t licking my lips like a starving animal. I ripped the bottom hem of my nightgown and pressed it against her open wound. She was still completely unresponsive, but when I saw a tear trail down her rigid face my heart broke. As much as I hated her, as much as I wanted her to pay for what she’d done, I just couldn’t allow that darkness to consume me as it had her. Something had made her this way. She might have been a hateful bitch when I’d first met her, but that didn’t mean she was a killer. Or did it?
My father’s booming voice broke through my rambling thoughts and pulled me back into the bloody nightmare that was reality. “Lock her up!” he ordered, and guards lifted her from the ground. A trail of blood followed in their wake as they exited the gardens. “We need blood,” my father rounded on Titan, who looked completely annoyed with the situation, “that thing needs to be kept alive. We need answers!”
With that, my fath
er stormed after the guards and Titan nodded his approval before marching after him. Ronon was hot on their heels after one glance back at me as I sat in the pool of Ana’s blood.
Chapter 16
Arrick and several of Titan’s guards stood watch over Ana all day long. She’d remained unresponsive the entire time despite countless pitchers of blood to heal her injuries. It didn’t take long for me to retreat to my room. The eerie sensation of being around her was too much for me to stand. The constant urging to finish the job I had stopped Ronon from doing, and the conflicting emotions of feeling sorry for her were exhausting me. When I had,/i> fallen into bed, I was hoping that the events of the evening would knock me into wondrous, deep, and dreamless snoozing, but I was wrong. I’d had another day of fitful sleep, and when I gave up trying to catch any z’s I couldn’t talk myself into getting out of bed.
With my father and Titan arguing about what to do with Ana, and Arrick refusing to let her out of his sight, I had no one to talk to. I wanted to call Robin, but cell phone service wasn’t one of the “many” amenities at the Citadel. I needed guidance, someone to tell me what I should do. I needed my mother.
The intoxicating and mouthwatering smells that had once swayed me into loving the Titan region had begun to pull me from my bed. Delicate perfumes of freshly baked sweet breads, and tangy spiced meats were carried on the wind through my open window. I’d never quite figured out how the food here had always smelled so appetizing when I didn’t even eat it anymore. Who knew, maybe they infused it with blood or something. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t stay in bed forever. It was tempting, very tempting, but no matter how much I wanted to hide from everything it would be impossible. The everything that I wanted to hide from would come find me one way or another.
Reluctantly I pulled on a pair of shorts, deciding I was sick of wearing the clothes Titan’s staff had given me. Sure, they helped keep the lingering day’s heat at bay, but they were itchy and all too revealing. Before, I was comfortable with showing some skin here and there, but with the way Ronon had been looking at me last night, I wasn’t so comfortable anymore.