“I was trained from a young age to ignore human scent.”
“Yes.” He lifts a finger. “You had to be taught. Did you not fight your urge to kill every day when you lived in London? Wasn’t there one human whose scent you felt you may not resist?”
“It was not that difficult.” This time I jump around him and dart ahead.
Faster than me, he blocks my path again. “That is why vampires have isolated themselves. We want to eat humans, but if we eat humans, the witches retaliate. Staying far away from human populations is smart.”
I shake my head. “I lived among humans for over seventeen years and never gave in.”
“But you were raised that way from a babe.”
“How long has it been since you ate a human?”
“I had several on my journey to England. The English were quite tasty.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“You will never kill? Human, vampire, nor witch?”
“Not of want for food or folly. And nor will you for as long as you’re with me.”
“Oh, who wants to be Queen now?”
I scowl at him, jump to a branch above, and propel myself over his head.
“We should hunt and head south,” I hear him call behind me.
“I told you. I will not head south until I reach the easternmost shore.” Desiring solitude, I continue my running gait away from him.
At daybreak, Will finds me again. “Did you eat? We should rest.”
“Go ahead. I’ll find a mouse or rabbit nearby.” After our prior conversation, sustenance is the furthest thing from my mind. I trace some twenty feet out from him as he rests. As the sun rises to its crest, I catch a familiar scent on the air. Before I can position myself between Will and the intruder, Will is beside me.
“Do you recognize the smell? I believe it is from the tribe. They’ve probably come to kill us.”
“Why would they want us dead?”
“Change is always a threat.”
“But, I have only one medallion from eight tribes we have visited. No one cares about a wee heartbroken scared girl.”
“Scared girls don’t make it across Serbia.” Air blasts across my forehead as Will jumps in front of me, spear cocked in one hand and saber in the other.
Spinning so my back is to Will’s, I rip the spear from its sheath and hold my knife ready. “I can’t distinguish their direction or how many.”
“Aye, nor can I.” Will backs into me.
We sniff the air and pan the expanse around us, rotating to get a view of the whole field. “Why would they attack in the day?”
“Shh, woman.”
There’s a whirring noise, and a shiny object lands beside my feet. Eyes on the trees in front of me, I bend to pick it up. “It’s a medallion. The last tribe’s medallion.”
“Let me see that.” Will snatches it from my grip. “It could be poisoned.”
Movement catches my eye, and I look up to see a being garbed in furs. I realize the multiples of coats produced the scent of many. The vampire starts to shed the layers of cover as it approaches.
“Forgive me for the scare. It’s best to travel in disguise.” The female vampire stops some twenty feet from us.
Will steps in front of me.
“I come in peace.” She looks around Will to me. “My father is very old. He sits in his hut and does not see the change in the world. My brothers and I do, and we wish to call you friend. Will you take the pendant and return to us with news of the others?”
“Thank you for coming. Yes, I will carry it with me.”
I hold my hand out to Will. He puts the pendant to his tongue. “It’s clean.”
Positioning the pendant over my heart, I extend my arm. “May we meet again.”
“May we meet again.” She grips my forearm. Turning to Will, she extends a hand to him. They grasp arms and bow to each other.
Her eyes find mine. “Till we meet again.” In one fluid motion she swings the coat around her body and disappears into the trees.
Turning to face me, Will shrugs. “That was unexpected.”
“This is good.” I wrap my hand around the medallion.
Armed with the two pendants, one in three tribes agree to share their medallions as we make our way east. They are smaller groups, and I collect ten total as we skirt the northern Siberian coast.
Will lifts his nose to the air as we approach the last strip of land between us and the ocean. “They say only one tribe lies on the peninsula. I don’t like to think of being trapped out there.”
“I thought you were a good swimmer.” I hike ahead of him.
“Our muscles will seize in seconds in the cold water.” Will jumps a stream.
“It’s a large, old tribe, and I want to meet them.”
“Of course you do, and you want to see the tip of the land.”
I take a leap and land beside him. “I do. Don’t you? I hear you can see the New World from the beach.”
“Do you think there are vampires on that continent? You said there’s news of native people.” The edges of his mouth turn down as he lifts a mud-caked shoe from the ground.
“If humans are there, I would assume vampires migrated there too.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Maybe they were there from the beginning.”
“The creator made multiples of people, vampires, witches in different places?”
“It would explain the difference in skin color. Africans have skin as dark as night. The tribes talk of eastern peoples with olive skin and different shaped eyes.” We slow our pace as I describe qualities of people in different regions.
“I haven’t seen any of those humans.”
“There were Africans in London. They attended school, learned English. Some stayed in Europe. The Dutch especially colonized many regions of southern Africa.”
“By colonized, you mean took their land?”
“Yes.” I take the hand Will offers to steady me as I hop from rock to rock across a slow river.
“And the Africans let them?” Will jumps to the bank.
“The Africans do not have gun powder.” I describe the explosive material and its origin in the east. “European armies are armed with guns and cannons that can hit a target from long range.”
“What would these devices do to vampires?”
“Severely injure us, I would assume. We may heal quicker than humans, but a hard blow could probably kill.”
“Are their poisons in the bullets?” Reaching a tree, Will jumps to a branch and swings his body, propelling himself ten feet ahead.
“I imagine there could be.” I copy his actions, avoiding a mud bog.
“Do you think some vampire tribes have these weapons?”
“I can’t imagine why not.”
“You need more protection.”
We walk in silence the rest of the night. It’s odd to think that we’ve walked across a continent in the span of ninety days, just the two of us, beings who would be mortal enemies had my thirst for vengeance been more developed. That equation would have most surely ended with my death. I push the thought out as I picture Alec’s face. Still, I’ve begun to let the image linger in my brain and wonder what he would think of me. I envision a wide smile spreading across his cheeks upon seeing my strong muscles and combat and weapons skills.
“You were smiling. Your mourning has ended.” Will falls in step with me.
I ignore his comment. Scanning the flat ground, I listen for a heartbeat. “We should find a meal.”
“I apologize for my part in your sadness.”
“Shh.”
“But you call me friend now?”
“I do.”
His eyes meet mine. “Thank you, my lady.”
“Not that again.” I roll my eyes, wishing for silence.
Hearing two beating hearts, I dart away. The rabbits split up, and Will follows one. I overtake mine and find him resting on a fallen tree trunk. Sucking the
blood from its veins, I tear the skin from the muscles and eat my fill. The wood on the ground is wet, and I break a branch from the tree. It’s green and hard to light, but finally we get some heat from it. Lying on the pine needles, I fall into a restful state.
Once Will has rested, we set out for the boundary. Within an hour, our noses find the border. We stand facing east, waiting for signs of tribesmen.
“I would like a feast to celebrate the equinox,” Will notes.
For a second, I picture Elizabeth tying a bow in my hair for Mabon back in France. The image of my burning house flashes before my eyes. “We should focus.”
Staring into the darkness, I reach out with all my senses. I smell the approaching vampires first, then count the sound of their footsteps, feel the vibration on the earth, and hear their heartbeats and air being forced from their lungs.
“Only two,” I note.
“Very good.” I feel the warmth rolling off his chest as it expands, sense the pride rolling off his body. He trained me well.
The two males stride from the trees as if on a summer stroll. “I’m Jacob, first son of the tribe’s leader, and this is my brother.”
I look between him and Will, wondering if the greeting is a ruse.
“No weapons.” Jacob holds my gaze. “We hear of a slight, dark female traveling with a large fair male. We’re told she wishes to herald a new era for vampires.”
“I’m Anne of Scotts, and this is Will of Alaric. My quest is to learn more about my people.”
“Where is the rest of your brigade?” Jacob looks over my head.
“We are the whole tribe.”
A laugh escapes Jacob’s mouth and he cups his hand over his face. Beside him, his brother looks to the ground.
Will clears his throat, a low growl growing in his chest. “Anne is the leader, and I’m her guard.”
Before us, Jacob and the brother stand tall and square their soldiers. “Of course.” Jacob dips his head as if in apology. “We assumed you had an army and were confused when we didn’t detect more beings.”
“I have won several friends in my trek thus far.” I hold up the ten medallions.
“So, I see.” Jacob smiles again, and his eyes cut to his brother and back to me as if enjoying a joke at my expense.
Raising my chin, I assert my wish. “I would like to meet with your leader.”
“And, so you shall, my lady.” Jacob bows, and he and the brother step back, making a lane for me between them.
They walk on either side of me with Will following. I cut my eyes to Jacob and he smiles at me. With his seeming amusement at my expense, I feel like the crazy, small, heartbroken female I described to Will. Even though I’d said the words, I’d never really felt them till now. I stand tall, shoulders spread. I’m Anne of Scotts, I think, shoring up my resolve. But the slow pace makes my nerves worse, and I wish to run just to shorten our journey.
An hour passes before we reach their village. It is large, bigger than the last that welcomed us. It spreads out hundreds of feet, the houses built on stilts, I assume because of the possibility of flooding from the sea.
“We’re busy preparing for Mabon. My father, the leader of this tribe, invites you to stay for the holiday. You may rest here for the day.” Jacob motions to a small log cabin structure.
“Thank you.” I jump up onto the porch. “We’ll see you at sunset.”
Will and I wait as Jacob and the other retreat into their cabins. I scan the landscape. Blades of grass reflect the first rays of light from the rising sun. As vibrant as a sea of emeralds, the wind produces waves of green.
I shield my eyes light in the east. “It’s beautiful here.”
“Aye, it reminds me of home in spring.” Will opens the cottage door and motions me in.
I shed my coats. “Will you miss it?”
“I imagine I’ll see many more beauties before our journey ends.”
“That we will. You rest.” I position myself in front of a small opening, too wound up to think of lying still.
When the sun crests in the sky, I feel worn from worry and am not able to rest for long. I rise as noise from the village grows. Hearing approaching feet, I slide into my coat, sling my spear to my back, and exit onto the porch. Jacob and another soldier appear in front of the cabin.
Jacob steps forward. “We celebrate the equinox for three days. My father has asked you to be his guests at the celebrations.”
Will expands his chest. “Are we guests or hostages?”
“Guests, we have not taken your weapons. Come.” Jacob extends a hand to me. “I’ll introduce you to my mother.”
“We stay together.” Will inserts himself between Jacob and me.
We’re introduced to Jacob’s mother and several others gathered with her. They all have European names, and intrigued, I ask their origin. She tells me they are new to the area, having traveled there from Germany only some fifty years earlier. I’m unfamiliar with the violence that broke out over Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses urging Christians to use biblical scripture rather than the church to interpret faith.
“We had no interest in fighting men over religious edicts, and the violence left bleeding humans in the street. It wasn’t a good time or place to be a hidden race. As they were in France, we figured the witches would be on the heels of the Catholic church soon enough.” She finishes the story.
As the meal is prepared, the villagers gather around a large bonfire. I’m introduced to Jacob’s father, leader of the tribe, and seated to his left. Jacob hops into the spot beside me, leaving Will at the end of their family’s line. We eat and drink. Some tell stories, and others sing and recite poems. Dancing begins, and I’m caught up in the scene. A mix of civilized culture and raw celebration of the land’s bounty, it’s hard for me to meld the two in my mind. The movements of the vampires, so primal and wild, are so opposite to the restrained social etiquette of my life in London, and I wonder how I ever fit into the social society in England.
Jacob jumps to his feet and bows. “May I?” He extends his hand to me.
“Thank you, but no,” I tell him, never intending to dance with a male again.
A child fits a wreath of flowers in my hair and offers me her hand. I accept her invitation to dance, and we skip and twirl, circling the fire. Jacob joins in the merriment, as does Will, and I end up sandwiched between them for most of the night. Still, it feels freeing to move to the beat, let the melody flow through my body.
We drink and dance well past sunup, and Jacob escorts me to my cabin with Will trailing behind.
“My lady.” Jacob bows as he bids me good night.
I look between Will and Jacob. “If my friends could see me now, they would have gossiped for days.”
“You haven’t told us anything about yourself.” Jacob holds my gaze.
Will passes me and jumps to the porch. My eyes cut to him and back to Jacob. “That is a story that will have to wait till I’m sober and rested. Good night.”
Sunset of the fall solstice finds the village abuzz with excitement. The children hang lanterns on poles wringing the fire circle. Deer hang from spits above a line of flames. The vision of my family home consumed by fire skirts my brain, and I focus on the present.
“Guess who’s coming?” Will bends over and whispers in my ear.
A second later, Jacob is before me. He bows low and, rising, holds my gaze. “Father and Mother would be honored for you to join them.” Motioning to the large center building, he holds his elbow out to escort me.
“Of course, I would love to share their company.” Ignoring his outstretched arm, I grab my skirt in my hand and start off to the structure. Jacob and Will trail me. Inside, I greet all the family members and sit beside the leader and his wife. He tells the story of his tribe’s trek from Germany and how they chose the tip of the continent to call home.
His wife laughs and hands me a cup of wine. “It was the summer and so green. The deer gathered near the streams, the birds numbered h
undreds. Little did we know what the winters would be like.”
Knowing there will be much celebrating, I take small sips of the fermented fruit drink. The family begins a procession and wind through the village, with everyone joining the parade. The children overtake the leaders, running ahead to the fire circle.
We eat, drink, and dance, until sunup. The experience fulfills my yearning for belonging, family, a people to call my own. I wander to the seashore the next day while Will rests. Shedding my shoes, I dig my feet into the sand. I aim my face at the sun and take in its warmth.
“You favor the days.”
I find Jacob some twenty feet away and reprimand myself for dropping my guard. “I like the feel of the warmth on my skin.”
“You like the sea?”
“Yes, I haven’t been to the ocean many times. It’s very peaceful.”
“Full of possibility.”
I marvel at the ability to see the next continent beyond the straight.
“May I be frank?” Jacob inquires. “I wish to accompany you on your quest. My father has released me from my duties here and given me leave to join you.”
“Oh.” I hug my blanket to my shoulders as the wind picks up.
“You should know I favor you but have no expectations of a relationship.”
My cheeks flame with embarrassment. I feel like an old maid. While I realized he may be attracted to me, I didn’t entertain the idea further. I don’t want to think of courtship and look out over the water, marveling at how the sun reflects off the top of the waves. “I don’t believe it’s a good idea for you to join us. I will not love you.”
“We got off course. I want to join you because I believe in what you’re doing. I—”
I shake my head. “Jacob, I don’t even know what I’m doing. The love of my life died, and I started on this mission.” I steel my jaw to fight the tears forming. “I don’t plan on settling till I’ve met every vampire group on Earth. It’s not a great way to live.”
He grips both my biceps, and I tense from his touch. ‘What of Will? Why did you let him join you?”
Eyes trained on his, I swallow. “He killed my mate. I believe he seeks redemption.”
The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set Page 83