by Emma Glass
I screamed as the servant threw me down to the bed. Before I could defend myself, he was on me in a heartbeat, baring his fangs and snarling.
It all happened so quickly.
With a loud crackle, the door splintered open and flew across the room. The last thing I saw before was the furious form of Elliott Craven in the doorway, and then everything went black.
14
Clara
When I slowly opened my eyes next, groaning groggily, I saw a surprising face above mine.
“Lorelei?” I sluggishly asked.
“Expecting my son, perhaps?”
“No, I just… I don’t…”
She chuckled lightheartedly. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t. After all, you certainly asked for him quite a bit in your sleep...”
The color drained from my face.
“Oh good, keep that up,” the vampire grinned, reaching into a soaking bowl for a rag. “You might pass for one of us yet…” She rung out the cloth and placed it to my warm forehead.
I realized that I was lying in a lavish bed; I tried to lean up, but Lorelei placed her fingertips against my sternum and stopped me. It felt like trying to push myself up against steel bars.
“No,” she told me kindly. “Get your rest.”
“Where… am I?”
Lorelei glanced skeptically around the room with a sort of clever, maternal aloofness. “No idea. Never needed to spend a lot of time in the medical bays of the castle. Usually, I was too busy sending other vampires to take the blows for me.”
“How did I get here?”
She gently met my gaze and sighed. “Do you really remember nothing, Clara?”
“No, just…” I paused as the horror set in.
“Yes,” Lorelei replied. “You were attacked.”
I hugged myself tightly and rolled onto my side, unable to look at her. I feared that I truly wasn’t safe in this place. She’s kinder than the others, I reminded myself, but she’s a vampire too.
She either ignored my gesture, or didn’t care.
“That must have been traumatic for you.”
I nodded quietly. “You could say that.”
Lorelei dampened the rag in her hands again. After wringing it out, she pulled my face back with a careful grip along my jaw before folding the cloth against my forehead.
“I know you are upset, but this herb will give you back some of your strength.”
“You’re being nice to me.”
“Of course I’m being nice to you,” she smiled serenely. “You’re an impossible little creature who wandered into our castle. Unless, of course, you’d rather I be a little more…” A mischievous, sinister grin crossed her lips. “…Well, vicious with my gratitude. But I can hold back, especially after going through that little event yesterday.”
“That was yesterday?”
“Yes,” Lorelei nodded aloofly. “You have been rather busy being asleep. Our servant’s attack seemed to take a lot out of you… or do humans always sleep for most of a day at a time? Your biology is so similar to ours, but I couldn’t begin to understand the differences…”
I remembered that blind, gentile face.
“Oh God,” I groaned. “That man…”
“Is sitting in a dungeon,” Lorelei replied.
“He is?”
“Of course he is. Jerald was one of the oldest and most respected servants on the staff. He was a talented professional, and a true staple of this castle. Such a shame, then, that he just couldn’t control himself around you.”
I wished he’d never come into the room.
“Although,” she continued, “he isn’t the only one at fault. Both Wilhelm and Viktor face certain punishment as well. It was not their call to send an untreated vampire to your room. Their foolish stupidity put your life in jeopardy.”
“Untreated?” My eyes narrowed accusingly. “You mean, a vampire who hasn’t had their brain tampered with…”
“Ah. So they have been dispensing irrelevant military secrets to you as well,” Lorelei replied earnestly. “My son will have his work cut out for him when he chooses their judgments…”
Something told me that he wouldn’t be as lenient on them as he had been with me.
“No matter. What’s done is done. Jerald rots in a cell as he awaits sentencing, and now we have fresh problems on our hands.”
“What kinds of problems? Maybe I can help.”
“Help?” Lorelei laughed. “You yourself are the biggest problem that we have right now. Unless you know how to return back from where you’ve come, there isn’t much you can do but keep out of sight in this castle…”
Her words stung deep.
“I’m your biggest problem?”
Lorelei’s calm gaze chilled me to the core.
“Of course you are. That’s not my place to explain, but… it was one thing to hide you in the castle while we sorted out the means of your unlikely arrival to our hold. This task has become significantly more difficult now.”
“Why is that?” I heard a door open before she could respond.
“Ask him yourself,” Lorelei winked at me.
Elliott walked into view. “Is she awake?”
“Surely, my son, the fierce excitement of the past couple of days has not robbed you of your observational skills...”
The vampire lord gave her a snide look.
“I hope that you rested well, human.”
I nodded. “You sound frustrated.”
Elliott’s eyes locked onto mine; I shrunk into the covers under their obvious irritation.
“I had to personally intervene when one of my most dignified servants tried to feast upon the first human seen on Earth.” He covered his face with a hand and exhaled in annoyance.
“All I need is fresh clothes,” I chimed in. “I can get back out of your hair immediately after that.”
“And those two fools sent you the royal tailor. For six hundred years, he has been responsible for designing our regal attire! Six hundred years! Why they didn’t just send you his apprentice...” Elliott groaned, dropping his hand and staring glumly into space. “But doesn’t matter anymore.”
Lorelei hooked my gaze for a moment, and we both turned to him. “Explain.”
“Don’t you grasp the gravity of the situation?” Elliott looked between us, incredulous. “Your very presence here is slowly driving the subjects of my castle into a bloodthirsty hunger, Clara. I won’t be able to trust any of them around you. Even my own royal guards are prone to mistakes. We got very lucky this time…”
His radiant eyes burned with conviction. “If one more major slip-up like that happens again… well, you won’t survive the next mistake.”
Lorelei looked only mildly interested. “What would you propose, then? No matter where you choose to hide her away in this place, she is going to be in mortal danger.”
Elliott’s eyes held her gaze for a moment as he thought to himself, but then those eyes flicked to mine. His voice sounded reserved, even reluctant. “It appears Clara will have to stay in my private quarters after all.”
His mother followed his gaze to me.
“An interesting idea. You’re probably right,” she casually agreed. “We have already seen the damage that can be done when left alone, even if locked in a room.”
That sting hit deep.
“The secret can’t be held for long,” she went on, “although I would have hoped for more time… but when the day comes, it is probably best that the human be directly under your care.”
It was hard to reconcile her indifference now with the warmth she’d had before. I wonder what could cause her to be so erratic.
The vampire matron rose up from her chair beside my bed. In a moment of tenderness, she placed the cold backs of her fingers against my cheek; she remembered her caring side after all. “Unfortunately, I have some urgent matters that need attending to. Rest well, Clara.”
Lorelei gave her son a meaningful look, and then she was gone fro
m the room. Meanwhile, he looked deeply frustrated as he quietly pressed his back against a nearby wall.
“What was that about a secret?” I asked.
Elliott folded his arms. “What do you know?”
“Just what Lorelei said…” I answered. “She told me that Jerald is sitting in the dungeons, and that I’m apparently the biggest problem in the castle and need to stay out of sight.”
The vampire sighed in annoyance. “It is a serious infraction against the will of the royal family to harm one of their guests. There isn’t a person in the castle exempt from that rule. Yet, one of the castle’s most beloved servants directly attacked you. Your identity seems to be safe, but Jerald’s sudden disobedience presents some quite delicate… problems.”
“Problems?”
“Yes,” Elliott grimaced. “It is expected for me to have him executed.”
I couldn’t have that blood on my hands.
“But he couldn’t control himself, right? That doesn’t make this fair at all!” Dumbfounded, I sat up in bed and pulled the folded wrap from my forehead. “Didn’t you tell me that human blood is supposed to be intoxicating or something?”
The vampire lord laughed.
“You’re defending him? Why on earth are you defending him?” Elliott tilted his head curiously. “Clara, if I had been even five seconds later, there would have been no saving you.”
“How did you get there?”
He looked irritated. “I overheard another one of the servants discussing it in passing. They were trying to figure out what ‘secret guest’ we could possibly have to warrant Jerald being sent up to one of the spare chambers…”
I shook my head. “He didn’t mean to do it. I’m sure of that. If he wasn’t in his right mind then it’s not his fault, now, is it?”
“Sadly, it’s become a moot point in the end,” Elliott observed with a strong hint of bitterness. “Jerald’s many years of service have granted him a respected place among the staff. There’s no doubt that news of his imprisonment is already spreading like wildfire across my castle...”
“His attack on me is a scandal?”
“Certainly. Worse is that nobody will believe it, not without any reasonable explanation. They will expect my involvement to be more nefarious. You must remember – for the entire duration of his servitude, Jerald remained a prized example of servant elite. Never once has he ever disobeyed a command or acted in malice. Without a suitable explanation, others will dig for the truth.”
I feared his answer, but I asked anyway.
“Where does that leave me?”
Elliott’s eyes darkened. “Painfully visible, in a word or two. The tailor’s reputation is too strong for me to be capable of containing the truth, and my subjects have not yet grown warm to me. It’s only a matter of time before the news of a human in Stonehold spreads, and when the other holds find out…” His words morosely trailed off.
“The other holds?” I inquired. “Is that bad?”
“Very.” Elliott kicked off from the wall. “You should deeply appreciate your luck for arriving in Stonehold. Had you spontaneously appeared in the Drenchlands or, gods forbid, even our friends in the Falvian Badlands…”
In a huff, he began to leave. I climbed slowly out of bed and called out to him: “Wait. Elliott.”
The vampire lord paused. “You should rest.”
“Jerald was sweet at first,” I told him. “Maybe even endearing. I’m just so sorry that it happened. I understand why he attacked me. I get that he couldn’t control his impulses.”
He listened intently.
“Jerald seemed like he was… a good man.”
Elliott looked like he was at a loss for words. His quiet stare came off as stoic, but there was a fringe of sadness along the edges. After a few seconds, my conflicted protector finally replied with obvious reluctance: “Yes, Clara. Yes he was.”
When I had nothing else worthwhile to say, he silently turned his back, leaving me to dwell. As exciting and fascinating as this place was, it was increasingly clear to me that my appearance here was screwing everything up for everybody.
When I climbed back into bed, I cried.
Maybe I’d be better stuck at home after all.
15
Elliott
The crowded assembly stood on either side, silent with fury, as I begrudgingly marched towards the throne while flanked by my royal guards.
I did not blame them for their animosity. After all, they judged me because they did not understand the truth; I did not tell them the truth, because I did not trust them; I did not trust them, because they never trusted me.
And so the cycle continued.
My eyes caught gazes in the crowd, all quickly averting with my grim acknowledgment. They were clearly unwilling to look me directly in the eye. I’d have been delighted with that realization a few mere days before, reveling in their aversion. But that would have been under less than ideal circumstances. After all, today I broke a long, proud streak: it had been over a millennium since a Stonehold ruler had executed one of his or her own caretakers.
Resultantly, this was a fairly unprecedented turnout; subjects and servants from across the castle were here, all ready to watch me sentence one of their own. Interestingly, none of the nobles appeared to be here. It was likely that they simply didn’t care, no matter their ongoing relationship to the beloved tailor. It was all very different with the working class…
I wondered which details had been leaked to warrant all of this speculation.
The royal guards fanned out on either side as I sat down upon the throne. It occurred to me that I could actually do with Clara’s presence. This was the perfect opportunity to indulge in the gift of that strange extrasensory awareness; I could have readily scanned the room at any point, learning how my subjects judged me, as I so judged one of their own.
But even my guards and I could not fend off a roomful of ravenous vampires, not with a human on a silver plate in front of them.
Lorelei was conspicuously absent. My mother seemed increasingly detached from the affairs of the castle, but I was still surprised. I recalled that she had a particular fondness for Jerald…
Speaking of the devil, the disgraced tailor was then led into the room by another pair of guards. It pained me to see him in shackles. His carefully manicured clothes were smudged and torn, and his face looked haggard. The dungeons saw such little use these days that I wondered what could possibly be down there to throw Jerald through such a sharp transformation in a day.
His escorts stopped Jerald two strides from the foot of the stairs, and they moved to force him to kneel before me.
“No,” I ordered, racked with guilt.
The guards paused and looked at me.
“Remove the shackles. Jerald Puckett is no animal, and I will not see him treated as such.”
Murmurs came from the crowd as Jerald kept his head bowed, reaching out his wrists. A guard unclipped a keyring and freed him from the cuffs, then did the same to his ankles. The accused kept his eyes low but rubbed his wrists gratefully.
The guards looked imploringly at me.
“Dismissed.”
They glanced at each other. The senior of the two spoke up: “Is that wise, my Lord?”
I narrowed my eyes accusingly. Undermined by a guard? Does the madness never end? “I believe I gave you a direct order. Will you follow it, or will you instead choose to continue questioning my irrefutable authority?”
“Of course not, my Lord,” the guard lowered his head in shame without immediately leaving.
“Don’t make me order you a second time…”
Once they were gone, I turned to the accused.
“You stand here,” my voice boomed loudly for the crowd to hear, “because I wrenched you from the body of a personal guest to the royal family. Raise your head, Jerald Puckett, and gaze upon the face of your vampire lord.”
The tailor did as he was told. Jerald’s haggard expression was weak and
pitiful. It suited the rest of him, how he stood in front of me at the verge of cowering.
“My Lord, permission to speak.”
“Granted.”
Jerald trembled. “I don’t want to die.”
Whispers ascended across the room.
“Silence!” I snarled at them.
When they quieted down, I took a cold, hard look at the disgraced servant standing before me. He doesn’t want to die? Well, isn’t that just awfully convenient, because I don’t want to kill him. But the law was the law, and he had broken a severe one. To show him lenience would be to visibly weaken my stance among the people…
I glanced at them.
My stance is weak among them enough.
“Jerald Puckett,” I turned to him once again. “You have served under three vampire lords, and proven your capability and loyalty to the crown time and time again. Your morality has never been in question; your workmanship is flawless. There are few fitter to live and serve in this castle than you.”
“Thank you for the kind words, my Lord.”
“But you have committed an irreprehensible act: harming a royal guest. The penalty for this, you understand, is immediate death by the hand of your sitting liege.”
Jerald lowered his head.
I scowled. “What do you say to this?”
He hesitated; I watched how he kept his face down, searching for whatever words he thought would save him from the law. Meanwhile the crowd watched in abated silence, eager to hear him refute the claims and challenge my word.
“I do not know what came over me,” he spoke.
A loud gasp overcame the room. The others couldn’t believe it, as I had strongly expected.
“In your own words, what did you do?”
Jerald lifted his head with a sigh. “I was sent to a private guest chamber to fit a new member of the castle with garments. It appeared she had arrived with nothing more than the clothes on her back, and was in dire need of my services. While taking the measurements, I felt a heinous, uncontrollable urge overcome me, and then I…” he froze. “I…”