Kingdom of the Damned: Provocation (KIngdom Journals)

by Tricia Copeland

  “Be safe, my child, and write often.” Tears form in the corners of her eyes. She steps back and lets me pass. I walk down the hall, to the kitchen, and out the back door. Faye and Henry run after me.

  “Anne, stop, this is craziness.” Henry winds around and stops in front of me.

  “Dear.” Faye joins him.

  “I love you both. I will write to you. I promise.”

  Henry’s eyes dart from me to Alec’s form. “I don’t understand, child.”

  “I can’t explain. You have been a good father to me, and I will never forget you.” I look to Faye. “Thank you for being my friend. I wish you health and happiness all of your days.”

  I step forward, and Faye and Henry part to let me pass.

  It takes me twenty-four hours to reach the coast. I stop only to feed on rabbits in the dark. At the docks, the sailors are suspicious but agree to give me transport when I offer payment. The ship sails the next morning. We spend one day and night on the water, arriving in Germany the following morning.

  Finding a man that will take me to a port on the North Sea, I load Alec into the cart and sit beside him. The driver sleeps during the night, and I steal away with my load to hunt. I hate it, every cell of my psyche recoils from the idea of feeding, but I push myself, knowing I need sustenance for my journey. The second day, we reach a harbor town, and I begin my search for a crew that will take me on to Norway.

  I’ve lost the ability to smell Alec, or blocked it out, I’m not sure which, but his stench serves to keep others away. Even so, my price is right, and I find a ship that sails the next day. I keep to my room with Alec, only venturing out to clean my bed pot.

  At the end of the three-day voyage, I pass through a seaside city and head north. Civilizations are sparse. I run by day and night, searching for any hint of Alec’s scent. Finally, late the third day, I catch whiff of a familiar smell. I follow it to a village on the ocean. Atop a high cliff, small round cottages dot the landscape. Cognizant that I’ve entered vampire territory, I keep vigilant. As I approach a home, I see a child playing on boulders, jumping from one to the next. The girl looks up and seeing me, runs inside.

  I stop and lower Alec to the ground, waiting for someone to greet me. A large male and a female exit the structure. They approach, stopping a good twenty feet from me.

  “Who are you? Why are you here?” The male vampire covers his nose with his sleeve.

  “I’m looking for the family of Alexander. I have brought Alec home to them.” I motion to Alec’s body.

  “Get them,” the male says to the female.

  Face covered by her apron, she runs in the direction he’s indicated. I rise and lift Alec to my shoulder, following the female vampire. She enters the northernmost home. After a few seconds, a long-haired blond woman bolts out the door and darts to me, stopping just a foot in front of me.

  “Is it Alec?” Her wide eyes hold mine.

  I nod and lower him to the ground between us. A loud wail emits from her mouth, and she collapses onto Alec’s corpse. A man runs from their cottage. He looks so much like Alec I would have mistaken them for twins.

  Reaching me, he pulls the woman, his wife I assume, from Alec. “What happened?”

  Pulling the stake from my bag, I hold it out to him. “His heart.” I swallow and steel my emotions. “This stake left atop his body held his heart.”

  “They were merciful.” He kneels in front of Alec, laying his palm over Alec’s chest.

  The woman, his mother I’ve decided, hugs Alec to her to her chest, loud wails emitting from her vocal chords. Vampires from the other cottages gather around us.

  “We need to build a pyre. Come away, woman.” The husband clutches her shoulders and lifts her up. “Please, come inside.” He motions for me to join them.

  As I lean over to pick up his body, a woman wraps her arms around my shoulders. “It’s okay now. He’s home. We will prepare the burial pyre for him and wait till nightfall to say goodbye.”

  “Thank you.” I follow his parents into their cottage and sit in front of a fire built in the center. “You’re his mother and father? Do you know who may have done this?”

  “I am Alexander, and this is Sabine. We haven’t seen Alec since he was eleven.”

  Sabine sobs into Alexander’s chest, and he wraps his arm around her, rocking and whispering to her in their native tongue.

  “He spoke of you often. He missed you. Do you know who may have killed him?” I inquire again.

  Alexander’s stare cuts to the wall behind my head. “A neighboring tribe. They kill their enemies with stakes.”

  “Enemies?”

  Alexander’s eyelids fill with tears of blood. “Alec was eleven. We were out hunting one night, and he got caught up in the chase. Food can be scarce, and we were tracking a large reindeer. He crossed the border into the neighboring tribe’s lands and killed the animal. By the time I caught up with him, the deed was done. I fled with him, taking him south to the port.”

  My mind reels at the atrocity. “They tracked him and killed him ten years later for hunting a deer on their land?”

  Alexander’s eyes meet mine. “In the winter, large animals are scarce. All the tribes have boundaries, and there are consequences for taking food from another’s land.”

  “He was eleven.” Bloody tears fill my eyes for the first time since the day I found him. I swipe them away.

  Sabine lifts her head from Alexander’s chest. “Are you his wife? Do you have children?”

  My heart feels like it may explode again as the grief of my loss washes over me. Still, I hold her gaze. “No. We do not. We were engaged to be married next year.” Stupid, human laws, I think. My adherence to them cost me a child, his child.

  Sabine stands and crosses to a pile of blankets. From under them she produces a ring. Returning, she offers it to me. “He made this when he was ten. He said it would be for his wife."

  “We were not married, and I cannot wear it on my wedding finger. But I accept the band in memory of my lost mate.” I slide the silver ring onto my right hand. “Thank you, but I still do not understand why vampires would kill each other.”

  Sabine pours liquid into several chalices and hands one to me and then her husband. He drinks from the cup. “Humans kill each other, witches kill each other, vampires kill each other. It’s in our nature.”

  Drinking from the cup, I set it in front of me. “I will never kill another person, vampire, human, or witch.” The image of the witches who burned my house pops into my brain, and I push it out.

  Sabine clutches my hand. “You’re young. What do you know of survival?”

  “My family was killed by witches in France. I saw their charred remains in the embers of our home at the age of two. My nurse maid and I fled to England. We scrounged, starving for days, until she found suitable work. But I never would have taken a human life.”

  Alexander stands and refills his cup. “You didn’t want to kill those witches?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “And do you still?”

  “No, I want us to stop killing each other. The loss must stop. We will hunt ourselves to extinction.”

  A rap on the door draws my attention. Sabine opens it and speaks to a woman in their own tongue. Wringing her hands, Sabine turns to me. “The pyre is ready. But, we will wait for sunset.”

  That far north there is no complete darkness in summer, but as the sun dips to the horizon, we form a circle around the pyre. I hug Alec’s body and lower the blanket from his forehead, kissing it for the last time. Blood streams from my eyes, and Sabine pulls me from him. Alexander hands me a torch. I step back, say a prayer to Mother Earth that he knew peace. Touching the torch to the dry hay, I ignite the pile of straw and sticks. The flames circle his body, covering it, and I look to the sea.

  “No, child.” Sabine grips my shoulders. “You must be with him in the end.”

  She holds me until the fire dies. It’s midnight, and a full moon crests the horiz
on, tracing low across the sky. I think of my home in France, and my family’s solstice celebration. Wiping the blood from my cheeks, I look at Sabine. “You will celebrate the solstice soon. I don’t want to bring sadness to your people. I will go now.”

  She takes my hand. “For all, there is a time. Come eat with us. You look like you haven’t rested in weeks.”

  I feed off the deer Alexander catches to honor the solstice. Sabine leads me to a stream and washes my hair and skin. She dresses me in clean linens, and I fall into a restful slumber on a bed of fresh hay.

  When I rise in the morning, the pyre has been taken away. Alec is gone, and I feel his loss like a blanket shrouding my view of the world. But I know I must let go and move on. I sit with Sabine and Alexander, and then the elders of the tribe, hearing all their stories, history of days, years, centuries gone past. They are a young southerly tribe of the north with the oldest member only reaching three hundred. That day and into the night, I listen and learn their stories and tales from their parents. Resting the next morning, I pack my things and Alec’s stake. His mother gives me a gift for his sister Nona, a large blanket, which she knitted through the night while we talked.

  Armed with the blanket and the stake, I head east. It is only half a day until I sniff out the boundary for the next tribe. I stand motionless with Nona’s throw atop my forearm, waiting to be greeted. With a swoosh of air, a large male, as big as Alec, appears before me.

  “These lands are spoken for.”

  “I have a gift for Nona from her parents.” I hold out the blanket, carrying the symbol of Alexander’s tribe.

  “I will escort you.”

  As we approach the houses, I see a group of males greet us. Shoulder to shoulder, the warriors make a line between us and the village.

  “She is but a youngling,” my escort calls to them.

  They relax their position, and the man beside me turns to me. “What’s your name?”

  Nervous, my mouth is dry, and I need to swallow before I can speak. “Anne. Anne Scott.”

  “Nona is this way.” He points to a cabin, and the group of men disperse. “You’re not of this land. Why have you come to the northern tribes? How do you know Nona’s family?”

  Sabine and Alexander coached me on my answer, and I repeat it exactly as they instructed. “I lost my family in France. I’m looking for my people. Nona’s family gave me rest.”

  We reach the cabin, and my escort raps on the door. A male equaling his size greets us.

  I hold the blanket out. “I have a gift for Nona.”

  Quicker than I can register his movements, the male grabs the blanket and flings it in the fire.

  “Grimm, what is this?” A woman, I’m guessing she is Nona, speeds to the flames.

  Grimm blocks her path, and she slams into his chest. “A gift from your traitor family. They are dead to you. Never to be spoken of again.”

  She beats on his bare breast. “You had no right.”

  Grimm stands steady, allowing her to pummel him for a few seconds. Then, he catches her wrists, locking them together with his fingers.

  Dropping her hands, Grimm approaches us. “Thank you for bringing the visitor to us. We shall give her shelter for a time.”

  My escort bows to Grimm and backs out the door. Grimm faces Nona. “I’m sorry it must be this way. Talk with our visitor, see what news she has from your family. Make it fast, she must be gone by sundown.”

  He whisks past me and out the door. Searching the area for other vampires, my eyes rest on the woman. “You are Nona?”

  “Yes, come, would you like some water?” She retrieves a metal cup from a table and dips it in a wooden bucket.

  I shed my coat and leave it beside the door. Hugging my bag to my chest, I approach her. I sit beside her, taking the cup she offers. “I’m sorry about the blanket. Your mother made it last night for you. I didn’t realize it would be destroyed.”

  Nona stares into the flames. “Mother would have known Grimm would not let me keep it. You’re not of the northern tribes. How do you know my parents?”

  Tears form in my eyes as I picture his face. “I knew Alec. We were engaged to be married.”

  “Alec?” Her voice is barely a whisper on the air. She speeds around the room, pressing her ear to the log walls and sniffing the air. She jumps in front of me, leaning in so we are inches apart. “No one is nearby. We may speak, but only in secret. They will kill anyone known to associate with a traitor.”

  “Am I marked?” I match her hushed tone, wondering if perhaps it is better for my life to be cut short. How long can I live with this hole in my heart? Alec was my everything. Nine hundred years of a life without him stretch out in my psyche like a dark abyss. Still, I have this yearning in my soul, for peace, for justice.

  “What did you tell them outside?”

  “That I was looking for my family and yours gave me rest.”

  “That will suffice.” She lowers herself to the wood floor in front of me and speaks into my ear. “Tell me of my family and Alec? He was your betrothed?” Her eyes lock on mine.

  Steeling my emotions, I relate how we met, courted, and were engaged, and then how I found him in the barn, a stake piercing his heart. I open my bag and show her the wooden dagger etched with the emblem of the tribe to the north.

  She grasps my hands. “You can’t stay. It’s good to hear of my family. My heart breaks for my brother’s ending and your loss. But rumors may spread if we welcome you in our home. I imagine some have already seen the crest of my family on the blanket you brought.”

  “My presence brings you trouble. I’m sorry. Your mother is desperate for news of you.” I stand and cross to where my coat lies near the door.

  “Will you return to her? Tell her I am well?” Nona follows me.

  “I can’t. This burden is heavy on my chest. I must find the stake’s owner, or I’ll never know peace.” Sliding my arms in my covering, I hike the bag to my back.

  “You won’t find solace from them. You witnessed the reaction of my tribesmen. The northern clan is even more militant than ours.”

  “We shouldn’t be killing each other.”

  “Then the goddess’s blessings on you. I’m sorry we could not live as sisters.” Her arms wrap around me, and she pulls me into her chest.

  “We are family in my mind,” I whisper into her hair. Inhaling her scent, so close to that of Alec’s, bloody tears form in my eyes.

  “So be it.” She releases me.

  Even though summer reigns, this far north, inland from the coast, the ground stays cold. I don’t dare hunt and am grateful for the deer I feasted on with Alec’s parents. I pack snow in a pouch Sabine gave me, and it melts against my skin so that I may be sustained.

  By day I walk north, and at night, I hide in the trees. It’s two days before I reach the northern tribe’s border. The line is marked with the scent of others, familiar yet distant in origin. The hairs on my skin stand on end as I approach. My body tenses, and I wait to be greeted. Half a day I sit on the border, every sense piqued, every muscle ready for action. The sun sets, and still I wait, but no one comes. The next morning, I follow the acrid yet enticing scent of blood in the air, faint on the wind. Male musk, light at first, intensifies as I trace north, following the smell of the tribe. Muscles twitching, I see dwellings above the tree line, two peaks away.

  I climb one crest, descend into a valley, and then ascend the next mountain. Hiking through the trees, I reach the open tundra. In a day and half, I draw near their village. The smell of fresh blood and meat hang heavy in the air, and my mouth waters with desire. My stomach churns under my ribs. Sweat of the tribe’s people coats the air, and I hear their heartbeats, slowed for rest. Filling my water container with snow, I gather moss, creating insulation between me and the cold ground. I sit on the pile, holding the water pouch to my torso, sipping from it as the snow melts. The minutes tick by, and there is no movement.

  As the sun dips to the horizon, I hear stirr
ings from inside the structures, beings rising and eating. My stomach gurgles. A large male vampire exits a round structure in the center of the village. Clutching my bag to my stomach, I stand. The vampire is large, and the heavy stench of musk emanates from his body, growing stronger with his approach. Every cell of my being tingles with fear. I want to run, but the move would be a sure death sentence. I raise my chin as he closes the distance between us.

  “You have something for me, Anne, betrothed of Alec, the traitor?”

  “How do you know who I am?” I hug the bag to my chest, realizing this is the last piece of Alec I have.

  “There is another female youngling brave enough to enter our boundaries? I know everything that happens on my land. Come, you must be hungry.”

  Following him through the village, my ears listen for any change in routine, my eyes dart between the buildings, and the soles of my feet stay alert to vibrations from the ground. Sensing no sign of hostility, I relax my shoulders. Still, I clasp the stake tight. Now that the moment is upon me, I’m not sure I’m brave enough to challenge this vampire.

  He walks with fluid motion in front of me, as if floating. Tiny lines around his eyes indicate he may be quite old. At the center round structure, my escort pushes the wooden door open and waits for me to enter. Taking a deep breath, I cross the threshold. Inside the room is dark save for light from a center fire. The smell of blood hits my nose, and I jerk my head to the source. A large buck hangs on one side of the room, blood from his neck draining into a metal bowl. Mouth watering, I force myself to focus on my mission.

  “Come.” The old vampire, I guess he must be the leader, motions to the fire circle. “Sit and warm yourself.”

  As I move towards the center of the structure, a new scent hangs in the air, one I haven’t smelled for fifteen years. The aroma of honey, straw, wine, and flowers rolls off a male figure seated by the wall, now illuminated by the flames.