“Go. Don’t look back. Go now.” He gasped.
“No Manuel, no!” She sobbed, her heart breaking. “Don’t leave me, come with me, please! Try.” To lose Manuel was more than she could bear; their story had only just begun. He fought for her, she would fight for him, she only wished her enemy was something she could fight. She grabbed his hand and began tugging again. “Please, you have to try.”
“Dear, sweetest love, there is coming a sight so horrible, I would not have you witness it.” He whispered, wincing again as he fought the urge to curl in to a ball. “Allow me some dignity.” He stroked her tear streaked cheek, softly tracing the line of her cheekbone. On shaky legs he stood up and took her gently by the shoulders.
She shook her head as she sobbed, unable to accept what Manuel was telling her. The sun spread her wings and kissed the field with her magnificent glory. Manuel’s eyes went huge with silent pain as his blood began to boil.
“Let my last sight be of you, escaping and safe. Go now.” He gasped as he pointed with one shaking finger towards the forest in the distance. “Let me die knowing I saved you. Give me that much.”
Rapunzel watched in horror as Manuel fell to the ground, wrapping his arms around his stomach as he writhed about in the morning sun. She felt something jabbing insistently at her chest, reaching in to the bodice of her dress, she pulled out the red sun jewel that Snow had given her just days before. Days that felt like a lifetime. She had no idea if it would work or if it was simply a tourist token, but with nothing left to lose, and Manuel dying before her eyes, she took the chance.
“Let me save you. Please, please let me save him.” She spoke softly yet fervently under her breath, begging whatever powers that be to ensure this elixir passed its first live test. Snapping the small lid off of the sun jewel with shaking hands, she began to pour its contents in to Manuel’s mouth. The tears that fell from her cheeks landed on Manuel’s perfect, porcelain face and began to sizzle; she was horrified. His beautiful eyes were rendered sightless in their pain.
The clouds began to gather over top of them, changing from a pale white to a dark and ominous grey, and began blocking much of the ever rising sun.
A great storm was gathering. The vampire stopped writhing about and fell curiously still, Rapunzel felt Manuel’s skin, and although not bursting in to flame quite yet, it was still amazingly hot to the touch. Too hot. Shrugging off her cloak, she spread it over his motionless body to shield him from whatever rays from the sun that managed to make it through the clouds; the first rain drops began to fall, sizzling like bacon wherever they touched the unconscious vampire.
Faster and harder the cold raindrops came and still the vampire had not burst in to flame. Looking up she realised that the raincloud covered only the field they were laying in, the sun shone brightly all elsewhere. Rapunzel, feeling the need to laugh and cry all at once, raised her head in the rain and sent a silent thanks to whatever or whomever had seen their need and sent that rain.
Rapunzel sat there in the rain all day. Nothing could have persuaded her to leave her vampire. Eventually, seeking refuge from the relentless pounding of the freezing rain, she crawled beneath her cloak and kept close to the thankfully still warm Manuel. And the day passed.
Chapter 14
“Mirror, mirror,
On the wall,
Who’s the fairest of them all?” Rosalyn sang in to her mirror, as she brushed her gleaming, black hair.
Her mission successful, she’d had Alaric pack up her wagon and return her to Rylak that very night. She now sat at a stool in her opulent dressing room in the castle, unimaginably happy. Finally, finally she could stop and breathe, finally it was over. As soon as she was done here, she would check in on her beloved Roland. How she had missed him, she felt like dancing.
“Oh beautiful Queen,
you’ve been played the fool,
Snow White will laugh last,
an end to your rule”
The mirror’s smug voice chanted back at her; Rosalyn’s face drained of all blood...her hand clenched the silver ornate hairbrush so hard that it crumbled in her grip. It seemed impossible that Snow White could have survived the exo venom so liberally coating the comb. Or the dark curse, she had paid so handsomely for.
But she had.
Stunned. She was stunned.
With this loathsome knowledge, came the realization that she would never accomplish this on her own. Rosalyn slowly got up from her dressing stool. She would swallow her pride; she would journey to Sarrilia and request assistance from the one being even more cunning and conniving than herself.
The idea made her sick to her stomach.
~~*~~
The water was cold as ice as Mercury dove back under, time and time again, searching for the crone. He had jumped in mere seconds after her, it was impossible that he could have lost her. As powerful a swimmer as he was, even he couldn’t have escaped so quickly under water. He only hoped she wasn’t trapped and struggling to breathe somewhere beneath the icy surface. Repeatedly, he dove under the icy water, feeling utterly helpless and confused as he searched for her; horrible as she was, even she did not deserve to die that way. No one did. Every plunge took him deeper and deeper in to the icy water and still no trace of the crone.
She had quite simply disappeared.
“Ho!”
The shout sounded familiar to Mercury’s extra sensory hearing. He looked up to find Prince Leonardo standing at the top of the cliff, peering down at him. The prince gestured to someone just out of Mercury’s sight, and an incredibly long rope snaked its way down the cliff until it broke the surface of the water.
How the prince had found him, he had no idea, but his timing was impeccable. The icy water was beginning to creep in to the tired wolf’s very bones, he couldn’t go on much longer. When was the last time he had slept? He had no recollection.
And still, neither hide nor hair of the crone. Where she had escaped to, he would never know, but she was not lying dead at the bottom of the ocean, of that he was fairly certain. He swam over to the rope and the prince joined the gypsies as they began to pull him back up.
Once safely out of the water, Mercury grinned up at the prince.
“I have no idea how you found me, but I have to tell you, I’m very glad you did.” He shook his head and rivets of cold water ran down his face. “For a Royal, you certainly are full of surprises.”
“Cold?” Leo chuckled as he handed him a kerchief to wipe his face.
“Refreshed.” Mercury replied with a short laugh, accepting the towel gratefully.
“So you went in after the crone.” The prince commented curiously.
“It seemed the reasonable thing to do. How did you know?” Mercury asked.
The prince held up the tattered remnant of the crone’s dress that had ripped in Mercury’s strong hands when he grabbed for her, just seconds before they both took the long tumble in to the frigid waters. Glancing down, the soft moist ground showed signs of a struggle all the way to the edge of the cliff. He supposed that would have been enough to cause the prince to look in that exact location for him, Prince Leonardo was no fool. And he was quite thankful for that fact, as there was no real way for him to have climbed back up; but he hadn’t been thinking about that piece of logistics when he jumped in after her.
“But how did you know to come this way at all?” Mercury still couldn’t figure that one out.
“I may not be a wolf, but I’m a pretty good tracker just the same.” The prince clamped his arm around the big wolf’s shoulders as he led him back to the road. “And these boys? They are very good.”
The gypsy boys followed excitedly behind, faces shining and flushed from the praise their Crown Prince had just laid on them.
“The goblins began to retreat quite soon after you left, so we came for you. This is the only real road out of Lonstas and in to Rylak from the cave, so that part was fairly easy. Once we f
ound the abandoned wagon, we simply followed the tracks. You have amazingly long strides my friend, did you know that?”
Mercury laughed ruefully. “You think?”
“Let’s go home, I have a blanket for you with the horses, and if I know “White”, and I think I am starting too, she’s pretty anxious by now.” He slid his hand in to his utility belt. His expression turned confused.
Mercury stopped. “What? What is it?”
“Nothing, it’s just my knife; I could have sworn I put it back here.” Leo paused trying to remember. “I handed it to Manuel to cut Rapunzel’s hair, and...”
“The elf.” Both men said at exactly the same time.
“That damn elf.” Leo chuckled. “I knew I remembered her from somewhere. I finally placed her, she’s the one who stole my grandfather’s golden quill pen from the Crystallise Palace a few years ago. I remember the fleeting glimpse I was able to catch of her before she jumped out of the window and disappeared entirely. The Palace is still in a tizzy trying to figure out that one, how she managed that feat I will never know. Manuel was right; she is a most accomplished thief.”
The boys stepped out from the bushes out on to the road. The morning sun blazed gloriously bright down at them, casting a beautiful and whimsical sheen over the otherwise dusty and nondescript road. The brilliant sun caressed the green grass, and caused petals on previously overlooked wildflowers to open and spread unfolding like jewels in the sun. The prince would look back at this particular moment on this particular road as the moment he first realised that he was anxious to see Snow again, that he desired to see Snow again. He would remember this road as being incredibly beautiful for that reason alone.
“I have a feeling that we haven’t seen the last of her yet, you just might get your story.” Mercury replied with an amused shake of his head as one of the gypsies handed him a blanket.
“That sort always turns up again don’t they.” They both laughed.
~~*~~
It was late afternoon when Uncle Doc heard the shout; poking his head out of his cottage just in time to watch Snow race off the porch swing, where she had been waiting anxiously, and fling herself at two men walking up the lane. On second glance he identified them as Mercury the werewolf and Crown Prince Leo. Both looked exhausted and battle worn but otherwise intact.
Snow embraced them both at the same time, unable to decide if she wanted to laugh or cry so she settled on a combination of both. That had been the longest night of her life, and when morning had arrived with no sign of her friends...horrible, unwanted thoughts had began creeping up on her.
Cindy had reluctantly left in the early afternoon when her father sent a messenger to retrieve her, which in itself was highly unusual, this left Snow to wait it out on the front porch all by herself. Time had never crept by so slowly.
Releasing her hold on the men, she looked up at Leo suddenly very aware of him and feeling strangely shy. Even war weary and disheveled as he was now, his blue eyes made her stomach flutter. She looked away quickly, unfortunately not quick enough to stop the blush.
“So White, what do you have to say?” The exhausted prince teased, strangely pleased by the blush on Snow’s cheeks.
“You’re lucky you’re so charming.” She managed, her cheeks flaming. “That’s what I have to say.”
He laughed, and she tentatively smiled back up at him.
“I am.” He agreed.
They shared a smile.
“You think your uncle would make us lunch? I am starving!” The big wolf groaned.
That broke the awkwardness of the moment, and Snow laughed. “I am positive he will make you an exceptionally huge lunch. They’ll all be so glad to see you guys, I don’t think anyone slept a wink last night. Now, they will want all the battle details you know, especially the part where their advice and regional maps saved the day...stuff like that.”
“Yeah, I suppose Rapunzel wouldn’t be good with battle details.” Leo commented.
“It’s more of a ‘boy story’ anyway. And she didn’t get a chance to see much of it with Magella guarding her like that.” Mercury agreed as they walked up towards the cottage. “But what did you think about the dragon! A dragon, can you believe it? I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself you know.”
“It still seems like a dream to me, but that might be the fatigue talking. What do you think of her new hairstyle? Take some getting used to I guess, but I think it is very becoming.” Leo remarked. “I thought Manuel was going to cry.”
“I wouldn’t even make jokes about that yet.” Mercury shook his head and shivered slightly. “He can be one scary vampire when it comes to Rapunzel.”
Leo nodded in agreement.
The boys turned to Snow who had stopped walking a few paces back.
“White?” Leo asked quizzically.
“Dragon? Hairstyle? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rapunzel isn’t here, was she supposed to be?” Snow asked, the fluttering in her stomach changing from pleasant butterflies to a sick churning.
“Manuel left with her last night, he was taking her here, at least that’s what we assumed. Where else would he take her? Where else could he? Wait a minute, are telling me that they are still somewhere out there?” Mercury suddenly felt cold as the colour drained from his face.
The all stared up at the blazing afternoon sun in horror.
~~*~~
“If they were caught out in the sun, then Manuel is gone.”
Snow looked away quickly as she fought the tears that filled her eyes. “Then Rapunzel is all alone. She’ll be devastated, I can’t imagine what she would have seen and she won’t even know how to get here.” She wiped the tears that spilled out and down her cheeks.
“I don’t think Manuel would have let her see that.” Mercury said quietly, gently enfolding her in a hug. The mere idea of losing Manuel was very painful for both of them.
Leo nodded in agreement. Manuel would hide the ugliness of his demise from his Rapunzel, it was painfully obvious to him and everyone around that the vampire loved the girl, and that she loved him back as well. Snow drew a hitching breath as Mercury hugged her close, enveloping her in his huge embrace.
“Maybe he found a place to hide. Would he have taken her to his coven?” Leo asked, racking his brain for any other explanation, anything that would make the tears dry up in Snow’s eyes, inexplicably it drove him mad knowing she was in pain. “He seemed like an exceptionally resourceful vampire, I believe there is still hope.”
“You really think so?” Snow asked, lifting her tear streaked face from Mercury’s shoulder. She desperately wanted some hope to cling to.
“I do.” He said gently, reaching on to his pocket for a silk kerchief; he reached over and began wiping her tears away with it. “I don’t think anyone should ever underestimate Manuel, and I hardly know him.”
Snow nodded, wanting desperately to believe him.
“I could ask around his coven, even if they aren’t there, his people may have an idea of where they might be.” Mercury offered. “I need to go alone though; they aren’t really welcoming to human guests...especially when I am going to be waking them up...”
“I understand of course.” Leo responded. Humans had done much in the past to warrant the lack of hospitable feelings from the vampires. Vampires didn’t really like anyone knowing the exact location of their nests, but humans were especially unwelcomed. He hoped someday to change that.
“Take Snow inside and wait for me.” Mercury advised. “You won’t know where to look, and if I can’t find them at the coven, I’ll double back for you and we can all cross the forest together.”
“Okay. We will be waiting for you.” Leo stated, he hated sending the exhausted wolf out to search the coven but he knew that he, as a human would only make things worse. He also knew that there was no amount of pleading that either he or Snow could do that would convince Mercury to nap or eat first. Besides, Rapunzel was out there some
where.
Mercury turned to leave.
“Wait!” Snow called urgently after him.
“What?”
“You have to at least take a sandwich with you!” She commanded in her most royal tone, as she ran inside the cottage.
~~*~~
Mercury made it to the vampire nest in record time. He hoped and prayed that he would find Manuel there. The possibility that his friend had been immolated out there under the blazing sun wasn’t something he actually wanted to consider until there was no other option.
Operating on his keen sense of smell and preternatural instincts, he found his way to a dark, partially hidden doorway hidden deep within the coven’s territory.
This particular vampire coven had nested in the Lonesome Forest for hundreds of years, deep, deep in the forest, their nest surrounded by mists that tended to disorient unwanted travellers.
Normally he would never have been able to locate this door, shrouded as it was with the ancient disorienting magic, but his close association with Manuel had opened up some of his more instinctive tracking capabilities. He opened the camouflaged door, at the base of the centuries old oak and stepped quickly inside.
“No, that is as far as you go wolf.” A silky voice informed him. Mercury spun around but couldn’t see anything in the complete darkness of the nest. He really hated that.
Mercury reached in to his pocket for a glow stick. Breaking it open, the stick illuminated the room in a soft glow; this was Mercury’s first look at a genuine vampire nest. Understandably he was quite disappointed to find that the room was almost completely bare, containing only a few red velvet benches and crystal sculptures of strange legendary creatures such as gargoyles and griffins. Beautiful paintings of mystical landscapes decorated the walls, and a single portrait of a fiercely beautiful vampire warrior with blue black hair and glacial blue eyes. If Mercury remembered correctly her name had been Unathalla; she had been a great vampire queen several centuries ago, leading her people to a victory on the battle field against the Zunta, a twisted zombie-like race that threatened all civilised people with annihilation, not that the humans had ever known about it...or even about Unathalla herself for that matter. Most sentient beings in Evermore owed the ancient vampire queen much thanks, but as the saying often goes ‘ignorance is bliss’ and humans would likely never know how close it had actually came. The Zunta had disappeared back in to the mists...for now.
Evermore: The Rylakian Heir Page 26