by Simon Archer
“Why the hell do you want to do that?” I had questioned her, but I basically already knew the answer, even if I hadn’t consciously put together all the hints yet.
She had smiled at me with that soft look of hers, so delicate and even innocent. As if she could fool me. She was my closest friend. We had spent the last two hundred years together, helping each other, holding each other through thick and thin. I knew what was on her mind, even if she hadn’t fully admitted it to herself yet. I think most of the council already knew the thoughts and feelings creeping into her undead body, and Christoff, well, he was simple to read.
During the council meeting, I could practically smell the emotions rolling off of him. His fear, his intrigue, but most of all, his clear attraction to Rozmarin. She made him nervous. Whenever she spoke to him and especially when their eyes met, his cheeks turned a faint pink, and his temperature rose considerably. I even think he tried to make his voice sound deeper, more… manly.
I let another loud laugh echo through the hall, and a pair of werewolves that had been walking ahead of me turned around. When they saw it was me, the scary, dark vampire, their eyes popped open wide, and they quickly turned back around and sped up their pace. Even as I narrowed my eyes at them, I couldn’t help the grin curl around my lips. I loved the effect I had on people.
I had that effect on Christoff too, my new plaything as I saw it. Rozmarin could have all the fun she wanted with the boy. It’s not like she wanted to complete the mating bond with him, and neither would I. Still, as I aimlessly walked through the castle, I thought about what we had discussed during that first council meeting with him. Sahar thought his blood was special, that he held some strange power, whatever all that meant. To me, though, he seemed like a pretty mundane, although handsome human. Whatever Sahar saw, she wouldn’t fully tell us, which annoyed me to no end, but there was nothing I could do about it.
One thing was certain, though, something that made me give some credit to Sahar’s beliefs, and that was the boy practically glowed at times.
Ever since Rozmarin had first passed Christoff in the hall as he snuck through the castle with that stolen artifact, before she even knew he was a thief, she’d changed. I saw it and felt it. She had seemed more distant and thoughtful, and I realized it was because she had sensed that strange power in him, noticed the way his skin glowed faintly. From that moment, the strange boy was always there in the back of her mind, like a fly buzzing through her brain that she couldn’t escape, even if she had wanted to.
And now that he was here at the castle, she always seemed anxious, like there was some itch she wanted to scratch. But for whatever reason, she couldn’t, or she wouldn’t. When I noticed this at first, I didn’t understand what was troubling my dear friend, but after I saw the two together at the meeting, I realized what was going on. Whether she was attracted to his power or to him, I wasn’t completely sure.
He was nice to look at, I would admit. His messy brown hair, earthy eyes, and that delicious tanned skin worked together with his snark to make him weirdly charming, but could this little thief from the West Village really captivate Rozmarin, the Vampire Queen, so fully?
The rest of the council whispered and giggled about this strapping young man, as Sahar had called him, and I figured the charming sorceress would try to have her fun with him, but I think all of us, whether we wanted to admit it or not, sensed that something in him. Even I couldn’t deny it.
But what I wanted to know more than anything was who was he? Who was this boy called the Light-Bearer?
I found myself standing outside of the door to the thief’s room. I hadn’t quite realized where my feet were taking me, but it made sense. Rozmarin’s growing obsession had now become my own, especially after finally meeting him face to face. I didn’t fully trust him yet, but there were few who I could say I completely trusted, so I figured I would have a snoop around his room, just to be sure Rozmarin was safe around him.
I turned the handle, and the door swung open with a faint creaking noise, but it seemed far too loud in the quiet hallway. I peeked around, but no one was there, so I quickly darted into his room. He had very few items out, only a few pieces of clothing, and I picked up a shirt from the ground and brought it up to my nose. The strong scent of roses and cinnamon filled me as I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes.
The smell was almost irresistible, but I willed myself to drop the shirt and made my way over to his half-open wardrobe. Like the rest of the room, it was sparse save for some outfits that looked new, probably provided for him by someone in the castle. He really had very little, and a part of me felt a spark of sympathy for the human. Growing up in the West Village couldn’t have been easy, and now, he was living in a castle dealing with strange people and coming to terms with his destiny or whatever.
I closed the wardrobe halfway, making sure to leave no signs of my presence, and after one more deep inhale of his scent, I slipped out of his room.
13
Sahar
I tuned out the busy sounds of clinking glass and bubbling cauldrons of my lab as the alchemists started their work for the day. I had my hot tea waiting for me, and that was usually all I needed to start my mornings. Something about how the herbal drink warmed me as it ran down my throat calmed me and hushed all the voices and troubles and sounds that continuously bounced through my head.
Being a sorceress and the head alchemist in Constanta was a lot of work, but I would have chosen nothing else in life. Rozmarin was a good Queen. No, she was a great Queen, and she cared for her people above all else. That and my work kept me bound here and to her, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
There were certain things I kept from her and the rest of the council. Of course, I did. It was trouble enough for me to keep my worries at bay with all the things I saw and heard. I gave Rozmarin enough. I gave the vampire what I knew she could handle, and I worried about the rest.
Usually, it was simple for me to determine what to divulge to her, and what to keep in my own head, but this time, I wasn’t sure when or if I should tell her this latest piece of information.
I brought my warm tea to my lips and sipped, letting the soothing drink warm my mouth, then throat, then trickle into my stomach. My golden bracelets fell down my arms as I raised the cup to my mouth, and I inhaled deeply, calling on all my powers of insight that I possessed.
Rozmarin needed to know, especially since she would soon be taking a trip to the east. The council already didn’t want her going, and with just Anix by her side, the two would find themselves in the midst of trouble. The Doom Bringer was a formidable fighter, but even she would not be able to stop what was coming.
I brought my cup of tea to my favorite spot in the corner of my workspace and lowered myself onto the loveseat with a sigh. I loved my job, but it was stressful. Living in this world full of zombies was stressful. I took another drink and felt the soothing effects of the tea and thought back to just a few days prior when I had been lost in my meditations, seeing what I could see in the chaotic world.
And what I had discovered made me tremble.
Zombies. Hordes of zombies in the east, where Rozmarin and Anix were planning to go. I saw them overrun the eastern kingdoms. I saw the leaders call for aid. The hordes swarmed them, and more came, and more, and more. And then they were moving this way, toward Constanta. I hadn’t seen such a swarm since the Great Purge. How were there so many?
I dived deeper into my trance, pushing into the unknown with my magic. I searched for any clues to the increase in zombie numbers until a crystal thought materialized in my mind. As clear as a streaming beam of sunlight, I understood what was happening.
Someone was building an army.
That much, I deciphered, was true. But who would do such a thing? I fell back into my thoughts, letting the cool and dark of my mind wash around me like a pool of water. I submerged myself fully and used my magic to press out into the vast world for answers. I sent waves of thought off in all di
rections, but when the ripples flowed back to me, they were devoid of any answers.
I took a few deep breaths to steady myself, to let myself sink as deep as I could into the void, and with all the force I could muster, I sent my magic back out to search for something, any clues to who was creating a zombie army. Once again, I came up empty-handed.
Of course, I wasn’t omniscient, so there were many times I attempted to search for knowledge of things unseen and found nothing or very little, but this time was different. Instead of stumbling through the darkness and feeling my hands swim through emptiness, the usual sensation when my divinations came up with nothing, it was like I came upon a wall or some kind of barrier. The magical waters that rushed out of me slammed into something and came rushing back to me.
My vision was being blocked.
Whoever was building this undead army was also blocking me from seeing them. Either that or they had another sorceress on their side. Regardless of the method, the end result was the same. Our foes knew about me and my abilities, and they desperately did not want me or the council to know their plans. This was troubling news, and Rozmarin needed to be warned.
I took another sip of my tea and let the flowery fragrances dance on my tongue. I had faced many challenges in my long years of life, and I had faced many of them with Rozmarin, but this would prove to be one of the most difficult obstacles yet. I had seen enough to know we would be up for a tough fight, but even with my vision and all my magic, I couldn’t see the outcome, and that frightened me.
As I held my tea and sifted through all these thoughts, Christoff’s glowing face appeared, the one I now knew as the Light-Bearer. What that title meant exactly, I wasn’t entirely sure, but what I did know was that the fate of this man and the destiny that now laid before Constanta were wholly intertwined. I recalled our intimate… meeting and how I had felt that power coursing within him.
Everything before me was so mysterious, and that frustrated me. There were so many puzzle pieces to fit together, and so many moving parts. This must be what the others felt like when I only related bits of information to them.
Well, this time, I would tell them all I knew because even I could not fully discern our coming future.
14
Christoff
Like she’d said, we did not get swamped by a bunch of excitable citizens when we entered the market. Instead, the humans and supernatural of every kind that strolled by offered us a wide berth, bowing and curtsying as we passed to join the market. I got a few odd glances, friendly and unfriendly alike, at first, but as the crowd got used to our presence, they slowly became less and less frequent throughout the day. Soon, the crowd closed in around us, and it was like we were just another human and vampire participating in the market.
It was wonderful. The market was my new favorite place to visit. Everything from the delicious smelling food to the shiny jewelry and the masterful art pieces and colorful flower arrangements made me feel like I was in a new, magical world where anything was possible.
Rozmarin bought me anything I touched or so much as breathed in the direction of. I tried to argue, but she would only dismiss my protests with a wave of her hand, and the words, “It is my pleasure, my lord.”
Who was I to deny the Queen the simple pleasures of life?
When we finally returned to the carriage, sometime around midday, Rozmarin had bought me two new outfits, multiple snacks which we both devoured, and a bouquet of roses, though how she knew I loved roses and had wanted to gift her the boutique, I had no idea. But, my favorite gift by far was a long silver blade with the most beautiful detailing I’d ever seen.
It was an eight-inch straight blade with a single swirling design down the length of it. The color of the hilt was, of course, midnight blue, and it was shaped like a serpent, winding around the bottom of the blade, creating a handle from its body. The serpent’s head made up the pommel with two moonstones for the eyes. At the blade-edge of the handle, the serpent’s tail split in two, creating an arching cross-guard. When I tried to explain to her that I already knew how to wield a blade, she bought it for me, then promised to teach me how to use it better with more skill and precision from her time on the battlefield.
We chatted excitedly in the carriage on the way to Rozmarin’s favorite bakery that was supposedly on the north end of the East Village, just down the hill from the tree line. She told me of drunken nights that she, Anix, Rachel, and Aerywin had spent in the bars and on the streets, especially after the war, when the kingdom had finally been established, and non-zombies were free to roam without fear of being eaten or mindlessly attacked on the streets.
After the morning’s tense conversation in the carriage, we avoided the topic of my mom. I told her about my siblings. Of how my youngest sister, Theia, loved to dance in her free time, and my middle brother, Tyrion, was a gifted tattoo artist. I tried not to think about how much I missed them, but I couldn’t stop the lump in my throat from forming as I explained how Tyrion once sketched out tattoo designs for all three of us one summer because he wanted something to bond us as a family. Or as I recalled the time when Theia performed a dance routine in the moonlight on the street for us when we ran out of oil for our lanterns.
I talked and talked until Rozmarin’s hand reached up to touch my cheek. My mouth froze mid-sentence, and her hand came away wet. I hadn’t even realized I’d been crying, though I was unsurprised when I recognized the ache in my chest for what it was: homesickness. Not so much for the West Village or our house, but homesick for my family.
“You miss them deeply.” Rozmarin’s words were a statement, not a question. I nodded, swiping at the wetness on my cheeks and offering her a sheepish smile.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to kill the mood. I really am having a good time,” I said, feeling silly for letting my emotions get the best of me.
Rozmarin offered me a sad smile and a small shake of her head. “You need not apologize, my lord, for anything. You are doing me and the kingdom a great deed by staying at the castle. I cannot guarantee that you will see your family anytime soon, but I can promise to do everything in my power to make sure they are well taken care of while you are away.”
“Thank you,” I whispered sincerely. Though her words did nothing to ease my homesickness, it was a good reminder about why I was doing all of this in the first place. The stealing, the deal with the Queen, it was all for my family. So they could thrive while I survived.
Then, a thought entered my head, completely out of left field, and the tears stopped flowing.
“How old are you?” I blurted out before I realized what I’d asked. Rozmarin leaned back, probably from whiplash from the change of subject. “Do you mind my asking? It’s just-- You always call me ‘my lord.’ Isn’t that like a super ancient term?”
For the love of Constanta, someone needed to stop me.
The Vampire Queen threw her head back and let out a laugh. Not a raspy chuckle or a startled bark of a laugh. A real laugh, like how I’d seen her do with her friends on the Queen’s council. I stared in amazement at the joy lightening her silver eyes.
“My lord, your questions never seem to disappoint.”
A blush crawled up my cheeks at the statement, and I stared at my hands in my lap as they stretched and flexed, anxiously. When I looked back up, her expression had sobered a bit. Then, she began to speak.
“I was born in 1876. As you know, vampires attacked my family in our own home, killing them and leaving me to die. I was twenty-four at the time.” Her tone was distant, but I could still sense despair in it. I couldn’t even imagine having to watch my family die right before my eyes. It would destroy me. Hell, I’d just been weeping like a baby because I missed them, and they weren’t even dead, just in another village.
I did the math in my head and whipped my head up to look at her. She seemed startled at my sudden movement. “Your anniversary is coming up.”
Her expression turned perplexed as she looked down at me from the seat
beside me. “Pardon? What anniversary?”
“It’s 2099. Next year will mark two-hundred years that you’ve been a vampire,” I clarified.
Was that an odd thing to point out? Perhaps, when you’d lived as long as she had, things as trivial as anniversaries of big life events didn’t matter anymore. Rozmarin’s brows did a little jump when my words registered, the only sign that I had surprised her with my words.
“I suppose you're right.” A tiny frown pulled at the edges of her mouth, making a dimple in her chin that I hadn’t noticed until then. I wanted to poke it, but I resisted.
Then, another thought hit me, and it tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop it.
“I guess it’s not the happiest of anniversaries,” I said, sympathetically.
When I looked back up at her face, I expected to see despair or anger at my mention of it, but instead, she looked… tired.
Right then, the carriage stopped, and Markus announced that we’d made it to the Queen’s favorite bakery. We climbed out into the street and ducked into the shop. As I looked around the small room, I realized that the entire space was completely pink. They’d even painted the outside pink. I looked up at the vampire Queen beside me and found her smiling fondly at the old lady behind the counter. She had short, white hair and wore a pink apron over a plain white shirt that stopped several inches above her wrist. My breath hitched when I realized that she was human.
“Rozmarin, my girl!” The old lady crooned from behind the counter. She was currently packing a delicious-looking pastry into a bag for a tree bark-skinned faerie that stood in front of her. “I’ll be with you in a minute. Just let me finish helping Mr. Joer here.”
“Take your time, Beatrice.” Rozmarin beamed at the woman before she gestured to me at her side. “I’m just here to show this young man the glory of the best baked goods in the kingdom.”