At that, Rillan smiled wide enough to make the men and women all shift nervously. “That’s it? The Novanus house guard?” Rillan scoffed. “I can handle the house guard. Leave it to me.”
“I need certainty,” Lilith said, leveling a hard look on Rillan that he found to be slightly intimidating.
Either way I would gladly take orders from this woman, he thought. “I know the Novanus house guard and can’t imagine a lesser family in Noviodunum to have better. If that is all they send then there is no army coming. Even so, I would be lying to promise you certainty. You should know that there is no such thing.”
“Well said,” Lilith nodded. “Do you need anything from us before you go?”
Rillan’s eyes swept over the old men and women who were present. “I need to feed.” As he spoke, his eyes momentarily shifted, and the onlookers could almost feel the loathing in his words.
Lilith nodded. “We’ll send a girl come morning.” With a wave of her hand, the elders began backing away and leaving. Finally Lilith stood alone in front of Rillan. Waiting, Rillan couldn’t help wondering what could possibly be left to discuss.
“She is doing well,” Lilith said, gently. She smiled, as she saw realization flash in Rillan’s eyes and discomfort shift his stance. He only nodded back, unsure why Lilith felt the need to tell him anything about Mira. “Well,” Lilith amended. “I guess she’s doing as well as can be expected. She seems lonely and out of place. Still she is trying.”
Concern furrowed Rillan’s brow. “Why should she be lonely? She’s back where she belongs.”
“Why did you return her to us?”
“I sent a note,” he replied angrily.
Lilith smiled knowingly. She had suspected what his real motivations were, regardless of what he had written. A woman doesn’t live as long as she had without being capable of discerning when someone was lying. “I read your note. It just seems strange that you would cope with the girls you’ve been sent for so long and now change your tactics.”
Rillan sneered. “I suppose it makes as much sense as the Circle calling a meeting with me for the first time in centuries.”
Lilith chuckled and nodded. “I guess then it would be fairly safe to say that things are changing.” She sighed. “I marvel that it took as long as it has. The Fates are forever in flux. They almost seemed to have forgotten us.”
“Change isn’t always a good thing,” Rillan replied softly.
“True. However it is a necessary thing.” Lilith moved to leave, as if she was done with the conversation. “And one last thing,” she said over her shoulder. “A martyr is really only counted as such if he saves someone through his sacrifice. I wonder what you call a man who makes the sacrifice when no one needs to be saved?”
Before Rillan could wrap his brain around what she said, Lilith disappeared into the darkness. She accomplished several feats at once. Rillan had to give her a great deal of credit. He hadn’t talked to anyone in a very long time who could stand up to him, confuse him, or impress him, let alone do all three things simultaneously. “The woman must be related to Mira,” he growled, but smiled as he returned to his cave. She gave him a great deal to think about.
* * * *
Mira sat unhappily at the breakfast table. She hadn’t even finished eating, and her head was already swimming. Liam’s sister had arrived first thing and announced that Liam sent her to “help”. Apparently that means take over, Mira thought. “Listen, Helen, I do appreciate the help,” Mira said in between sips on her tea. “But it’s not as if this has to happen tomorrow.”
The girls all giggled. “Not tomorrow. No. Still Liam wants to have the ceremony within the month. That’s still not much time.” Helen sat closer to Mira. Her proclamation had the rest of the girls in the room talking excitedly. “My brother has been in love with you for so long. You really don’t know how much this means to him. He’ll make you happy. You’ll see.”
“Everyone keeps saying that,” Mira whispered despondently.
Helen was taken aback. Liam told her to be prepared for what the vampire had done to Mira. Even so, she hadn’t expected the girl to be this bad. It only strengthened her resolve to help. “Don’t worry,” she said, gently petting Mira’s hair. “I’ll take care of everything. Who knows? Perhaps the handfasting could be within a couple weeks.” She looked around at all the listeners encouragingly. “We certainly have plenty of volunteers,” she suggested. With that a squeal of agreement filled the room.
Mira flinched. It was getting almost painful to be awake. Between the sun streaming in the window and the girls squealing, she was developing a vicious headache. Mira reached up absently and started rubbing the join between her neck and shoulder. She didn’t even realize that it was precisely where Rillan had bitten her so many times. She always studiously kept that portion of her neck covered. The scars were horrible. Not that she really minded.
The hush which fell over the room managed to break Mira from her internal monologue long enough to notice that Lilith had come in. Mira was glad and scared to see the woman. As grateful as she was for the calm in the ridiculousness of the morning, Mira could guess what Lilith was here for. She left instructions for a new sacrifice to be chosen, prepared, and sent to Rillan over a week ago. Mira hadn’t been able to bring herself to do it. Now that the rumors about a secret meeting between the elders and Rillan were confirmed, Mira expected he would have reminded them that he needed a new sacrifice. Mira stood up respectfully as Lilith approached.
The old woman smiled sympathetically at Mira. “I rather fancy a walk in the morning air. Come with me Mira.” Without waiting for any kind of response, Lilith led the way out of the round house and away from town, toward the wooded trails. “There’s some privacy this way,” she responded to Mira’s unspoken confusion.
“Can I do something to be of service,” Mira asked.
“You have a strange strength and sadness to your tone, Mira. It’s been a great deal of time since a girl as young as you was able to speak to me without a waver in her voice. But I suppose after facing a terror such as Lord Tiernay, your elders would no longer be as intimidating.”
Mira felt as though she was being baited for some reason. “Rillan isn’t nearly as frightening as we have all been led to believe. He’s merely lonely,” she replied with conviction and annoyance. “Calling him a terror, does him a disservice.” Realizing how she had spoken to Lilith, Mira cleared her throat and added, “With respect Milady.”
Lilith smiled. “There are so many ways to see, Mira. Eyes are only one of those. I am surprised to find that one as young as you would develop the other visions so readily. There is a great destiny for you I think.”
“Yes,” Mira said with tears in her eyes. “Handfasting to Liam.”
“It is a strange woman who can talk about one man with such conviction and yet allow her voice to crack so distinctly in reference to her betrothal.” Mira looked away from Lilith. “I sometimes believe the Fates only keep us around for their own amusement,” Lilith said gently and brushed Mira’s hair from her shoulders. “You need to send a new sacrifice, Mira.”
“I knew that was why you came.”
Lilith sighed, “Choose a girl and begin preparing the next.”
“I shouldn’t worry too much for that. If I begin teaching the girls as they should be, then we should need fewer sacrifices.”
“You truly believe that,” Lilith said in a motherly. “Ah, well, I suppose he believes that too.”
Mira turned toward Lilith in confusion.
Lilith shook her head. “There have always been sacrifices. Even when the lessons were as thorough as you intend to make them now. The sacrifices tend to go in cycles. We’ve had a great many girls die recently in a relatively short period of time. There are more variables which play into it than the type of lessons the girls are given.” Lilith stepped up close to Mira. Lifting her chin, she forced Mira to look her directly in the eyes. “I find that in my vast experience over the years
, the difference in the sacrifices was within the girls themselves, not what they were told before they met him.” Lilith released Mira from her grip. “I think you’ll see what I mean as you look amongst the sacrifices for who you will send. It needs to be done tonight. Come, we’ll go back to the round house. I’ll tell your friends that the planning for your handfasting can continue on the ‘morrow. You have work to do today.”
“A day isn’t enough time,” Mira said, panicked. “I can’t explain it all in one afternoon.”
Lilith was already walking toward the round house. “You’ll have to find a way. He needs to be fed before he leaves for his next assignment. You of all people should know how he goes about it. It may take some time. And we are drastically short on that.”
It was an order, not a request. Mira knew from the tone that she had no choice in the matter. Reluctantly she followed Lilith to the round house and stood by, as the announcement was made that handfasting plans would need be continued on a different date. The fear that followed the announcement about the next sacrifice to be chose disgusted Mira. He deserves better than that. Tears in her eyes, she resolved to find someone who could handle it. Lilith is wrong. I can teach them. It will be better. They’ll live longer. Maybe he’ll be happy.
Mira started by asking if there were any volunteers. It made sense to her to think that the braver the girl might be the better off she would be. Only three girls came forward. Well that makes things a little easier. I suppose it narrows the possibilities enough to make choosing a girl for this evening feasible.
Taking the girls who had volunteered out to the garden, Mira found herself attempting to come up with a way to pick amongst them. Her mind swam trying to think of all the things about herself which made the situation with Rillan bearable. But she honestly didn’t understand what made her different from any of the others.
The girls stood watching her and waiting. It never occurred to Mira that she may be frightening them with her contemplative silence. The girls saw Mira mumbling to herself and pacing. In the morning sunlight, next to the beauty of the garden flowers, Mira’s deterioration was all the more apparent. She was gaunt and pale, though still beautiful in a haunting way. None of the sacrifices wanted to know exactly what changed the Mira they knew before into what they saw now.
Finally Mira turned toward them, seeing bravery fading from her eyes; she decided that the best way to go about it would be to allow them to choose themselves. “I think that the best thing to do will be to give you all the crash course and then make the final decision as to who will go, at the end of the day.”
The girls nodded, and the lessons began. Mira started by explaining to them how they had to go about looking for Rillan and why. She somehow thought that if they knew why he behaved the way he did, then they would be able to handle it. As sunset approached, Mira’s voice was hoarse and she had lost count of the number of times the emphatic nods of understanding had turned to horror as Mira related her experiences in the vampire’s caves.
“Alright then, I’m sorry it has to be this way. There is no more time. I need to know if any of you have changed your minds.”
The smallest of the three girls began trembling and crying, however she didn’t ask to be dismissed. Mira looked into the eyes of the other two. All she saw was fear. They may not have been crying, but their bravery was gone as surely as the other girl’s. Mira felt a strange mix of disappointment and happiness. She was afraid for the girls. At the same time, she was pleased to find that she wasn’t as easily replaced as she believed she would be. Angry at herself for even thinking those thoughts, she glared at the three girls.
“I’ll be honest with you all. I don’t really want to choose amongst you. I don’t want to feel responsible personally for sending anyone to their death. I’ve tried to tell myself that we are all dying. Still, I’m not the Fates, and I don’t relish that kind of power; deciding when. So if any of you believes you can handle it better than the others, I would like to know now.” They didn’t say anything. They merely stood together, staring doe-eyed at Mira and holding each other’s hands.
“I’m sorry, but Lilith is waiting. I only hope that all I’ve told you today will aid you.” Mira decided on the girl in the middle. She had consistently been reassuring the other two all day. When she was chosen the girl nodded understanding, and the other two were dismissed to prepare for the ceremony.
“What’s your name,” Mira asked. It was the first time she really looked at the girl all day. She was tall and thin, very pretty. She wore her hair in long, dark brown, plaits down the back of her head. She had dark blue eyes, similar to Rillan’s, and fair porcelain skin. A twinge of jealousy shot through Mira, and she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind.
“Aris,” her voice cracked. She cleared her throat, pretending that fear wasn’t the cause for the tremor.
“Come, it’s time to get dressed,” Mira said and led the way back to the round house.
Wavering in the warm light of the setting sun, Aris stared into the icy darkness of the cave, her white shift blowing slightly in the breeze. Her mind raced endlessly, trying to remind her of why she chose this, attempting to dull the fear in the pit of her stomach, and reminding her of the importance of what she was about to do.
Mira watched from the gate, as Aris took her first reluctant steps toward the darkness that Mira saw so tempting and welcoming. She stared into the shadows for some hint of Rillan, knowing that even if he were there, watching, she wouldn’t be able to see him.
“Rillan ap Tiernay,” Lilith intoned over the crowd, “was created to protect and serve the circle. Our guardian. Each generation a group of girls is chosen as companions in his darkness. This is the price of his loyalty.”
Mira didn’t hear Lilith’s speech. Not that it mattered. She knew the speech by heart. It was the same for each of the girls who entered the vampire’s cave. Mira’s mind was more concerned with the parts of the story that were left out of the flowery farewell and the fact that this time it was intended for Aris. Somehow she felt slighted that the speech was not for her.
Mira looked up from her thoughts to find that the high priestess had stopped speaking. Everyone was waiting for Aris to finish the ceremony. They were patient and stood quietly. Mira didn’t know how long they waited for Aris to realize it was her turn. Now as she looked around, she was more afraid of what was to happen to the girl than she thought she would be. The lessons were all too short; so matter of fact. There wasn’t enough time to train her properly. She’s going to die like the others, only this time it will be my fault. It’s my duty. I should be going. I belong to him, not her. Mira couldn’t stop her mind from churning. Tears fogged her vision. She realized suddenly that she felt as if she was losing a lover.
Mira stepped shakily forward, gripping the gate, praying that Aris would turn and run. The moon, high in the sky now, cast a blood red sheen over the clearing and an eerie light beyond the gate. Aris passed through the tall, rusted iron gateway, and it creaked, swinging shut behind her. The clanking gate lock sent a jolt though Mira. The last of her heart seemed to have been locked on the other side. She looked into the darkness beyond the mouth of the cave trying to see if he was watching, but she couldn’t see anything. The little light that touched the hungry cave mouth was swallowed into the black, offering no hint of what lay within.
Mira turned around to see if the others were still watching. No one was there. The gate had been locked, and she was standing alone, watching Aris. All that was left for her was to enter the cave and find him. Mira’s eyes traveled the twisted metal archway that she studied so many times in the past. Now, as she stood facing the closed gate, she realized that she was truly on the wrong side.
Chapter 12
Darius wrapped his cloak around his shoulders and tried to ignore the unnatural cold. Strange weather, difficult terrain, and wild animals plagued the march from Noviodunum since they started the trek to the Circle. The men were becoming steadily uneasy, and y
oung Marcus Novanus was beginning to falter in his resolve.
Children. The fool boy will ruin this for me. It’s been too long and too much hard work. Darius was in the middle of working out a plan for disposing of Novanus and managing to keep the footsoldiers for his own purposes, when an alarm cry went out. “What now,” Darius snarled as he turned and stalked back into camp. He interrupted the urgent conversation between Marcus and a guard.
“How many?” Marcus only glanced at Darius, as he approached.
“Six, milord,” the guard said, rubbing his head. There was a bloody gash along his forehead.
“Were we attacked,” Darius asked with concern, looking around for further commotion or at least the person who had bloodied the guard.
Marcus turned on Darius with an authoritative tone that could only come from a child of Tiberius. “You were not spoken too, druid.” After the reprimand, Marcus returned his attention to the guard. “Why,” he growled angrily at the man.
“The men are uneasy milord,” he replied nervously. “They say that the curses which have followed us from Noviodunum will only worsen if we continue. They say it’s not worth the little pay they are given. There is fear of what we will face when we reach the Circle. I believe more will run if our luck does not appear to shift soon.”
Marcus began pacing. He didn’t know what to do. He was having a hard enough time controlling the troops in Noviodunum. Now men were deserting him. Father would never allow this. They wouldn’t even consider running from Tiberius.
Darius could see that Marcus was losing his self control, possibly his mind. Not only that, but they boy was becoming obstinate and difficult to control. His brothers were too young to be of use and had been left at home. If things continued in this vein then Darius would have no army left when they reached the Circle. I wonder how much of the strange occurrences were arranged for us by the elders. The things they are capable of and yet they force our people to live in squalor, contemplating nature and stars. When I control the Circle… Darius broke himself from his vengeful musings and managed to persuade Marcus to retire for the evening.
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