Kaila would still do her duty to Victoria and have a talk with her father about providing his protection until Victoria could be returned home to the castle.
Victor was on his own. He would be lucky to escape with only a lecture.
“Hands off of my daughter,” Kaila said to Victor, her tone barely above freezing.
Victor didn’t comply.
Jaeson twitched, looking like he was tempted to force the two young adults apart, to demand that they respect Kaila’s order.
It would have been natural for him to intervene if Kaila was a witch that was blood-bonded to him. A familial extension of the protection afforded in his claim to her daughter.
Jaeson didn’t have that right. She shot him a warning look.
“Did Uncle Jaeson tell you about the bodies?” Jill asked, releasing Victor’s hand herself.
The prince fisted his empty hand, but he didn’t grab back for Jill. He even managed to give Kaila a calm, respectful look as he and Jill waited for Kaila’s answer to Jill’s sudden question.
Kaila barely kept her face straight. What bodies?
The look Jill gave her was fear warring with anger, her daughter’s eyes widened and her hands fisted like the prince’s own.
Something bad had startled her daughter.
She doubted the prince had the power to do so, especially with the protective way he hovered close to Jill.
That was a boy with a crush, one that had been rejected, yet still given hope.
He was dangerous, but not because he would hurt Jill. Victor would hurt anyone else that dared interfere with his courtship.
Kaila would bet the prince was on the edge of a Maeren cursed rut, and her daughter had the blood that could send him into a frenzy.
She might have to handle this situation with either more delicacy or decisiveness.
There was a time when Kaila had fought bitterly with her father over using earth to violently enforce the king’s law. When she had argued that they ought to use their strength to heal.
That dreamer had grown tougher.
“Uncle Jaeson is not related to you,” Kaila told her daughter.
She didn’t answer the real question Jill had asked. Anything to do with bodies meant ‘already dead,’ so it could wait.
The vampire prince was the problem that needed immediate action.
Jaeson shrugged.
Kaila could read his mind even without her older daughter’s magic.
Jill could call him uncle if she wanted.
So tempting to retaliate, but Kaila needed to focus.
Surely Jill hadn’t missed the introduction to her blood family?
“He is your relation,” Kaila said, and pointed at her father, standing silently behind them.
Kaila didn’t bother to look at her father, herself. She wasn’t ready yet, but she could claim the relationship and some of its benefits.
“You should be under my father’s protection. You’re not Jaeson’s responsibility,” Kaila told her daughter.
“You didn’t even tell us anything about our grandfather. How was I supposed to trust him when he suddenly showed up, looking like the grim reaper?” Jill asked.
Kaila held her wince in. Her father probably would have dressed the noble for their first meeting if he had been given the chance to prepare.
The kidnapping must have caught him off guard for that first meeting, too.
As it was, Jill was lucky that she hadn’t witnessed her grandfather showing her exactly how he had earned the nickname ‘Bloodstone.’
“He’s wearing normal clothes for our earth-clan, Jill. The scythe happens to be his preferred weapon. Just call him General, if you are more comfortable,” Kaila suggested, giving her daughter an assessing glance. “Did you get hurt?”
Her look over of Jill this time was a half exacerbated, half worried check that Jill’s supervision by her grandfather hadn’t resulted in any injury.
What had happened? Jaeson hadn’t explained things thoroughly enough earlier.
She went to shoot Jaeson another annoyed look, caught by surprise at his insulted face.
Oh, right. It wasn’t only her father that would have been providing protection.
Jaeson could get off of his high horse. It was her daughter. She had a right to be concerned about Jill’s welfare, and that included not trusting vampires she’d been away from for decades with Jill’s care and protection.
Her youngest was delicate despite her earth-strengths.
“Please stand over beside your grandfather while I discuss your claim with this prince,” Kaila ordered, slightly less angry.
“Now, Lady Norwood—”
“Do not talk yet!” Kaila interrupted Victor.
“Kaila, there’s been a misunderstanding,” Victoria boldly injected. “My brother was trying to protect Jill when he offered the claim. At least, until she got to know her grandfather better or you arrived.”
“Button it,” Kaila ordered. “Are you going to shame your brother by defending any challenge to his claim yourself? I’m sure you already helped him lie to my father about how Jill was kidnapped by your brother from her place of work, then forced into Maeren, thereby challenging my protection.”
“What is this about kidnapping?” her father asked.
His quiet, soft query made everyone tense.
Anyone that was familiar with the general would hear the warning in his voice.
“Jill has been summoned by a royal command for questioning, with regards to an attempt on the king’s life, as well as poisonings carried out on others in the royal family. I was sent to bring her back to court,” Victor explained.
He looked Kaila and then the general in the eyes, not making any move to defend himself yet.
“Go stand with Victoria, behind your grandfather,” Victor whispered to Jill.
“Your claim ends now,” her father said.
“Isn’t that up to Jill?” Victor challenged.
Kaila had to give Victor credit for standing as firm as an earth lord.
It was impressive—for the few seconds she gave him to oppose their order—before she blew Victor into the nearest stone wall, shaking the whole building.
She held Victor there with her air, slowly making her way over as magic tousled her hair with power.
If she was a fire-witch, she would have been crackling with flame.
“There are two people who can end this claim, and you’re the one that will be doing it,” Kaila said, making it clear that it was the only option. “The court cannot summon Jill without a formal request to my father, given his status. If she is under the general’s protection, which she will be soon, then yours is unnecessary.”
“It is the same with me,” Victor replied. “She knows me better and I can provide protection from her being summoned, too, with the status of a formal claim.”
So that was what the fire-prince had been up to with his sudden claim.
“I don’t trust you,” Kaila said, nearly at the wall.
“It’s not your trust that I need,” Victor said.
“You’re too easily fooled, as we’ve already proven. What good is your protection?” Kaila asked.
She used earth to wrap the stone in the wall around Victor’s wrists and ankles to cuff him. Then, she dropped her air.
It was a harsh show of strength, grinding the prince under her heel in front of his claimed.
“He’s not half bad, Kaila,” her father said, coming up behind her to appraise the trapped prince. “He circled both of the girls, without needing chalk, the moment you attacked. He could have protected himself in that time, but I believe his weakness is in underestimating witches. Wanting to guard Jill isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Kaila looked back to see Jill and Victoria circled by blue. The young witches were safe, but helpless to do anything to aid Victor.
It was only a moment’s glance. Jaeson was just as guilty, looking at Kaila’s eyes and catching her attention for a moment.
Victor used the water from his uncorked gourd to slice through the stone holding him handcuffed. The pressurized spray cut sharper than a blade.
He leaped down and slapped the general in the face with water that he sent up his nose. Her father choked and sputtered.
In an almost seamless movement, Victor then threw water-cuffs on Kaila.
They continuously flowed around her wrists, so she couldn’t break them with air or earth.
She discovered her predicament with a snarl of frustration.
Victor further used his magic to bring her cuffed hands together, behind her back, nearly toppling her over as she lost her balance.
Her father was quick to retaliate. He sent the prince up to his hips into the ground, using magic to cave the earth underneath his feet to bury him.
“Enough!” Jaeson yelled.
Did Victor realize how close he was to death?
He was outnumbered and faced an opponent that was bitterly experienced in crushing young males in the name of duty. For the general’s family, any threat would be eliminated without mercy.
“Don’t hurt him!” Jill screamed, struggling in Jaeson’s grip.
Jill looked to be quite the handful for Jaeson. She had broken through Victor’s unlined circle using her own fire-magic.
Jaseson had immediately grabbed her daughter for her safety.
Victor looked up at Jill’s voice. He saw that she was now a hostage.
The fight slipped out of him. Water dripped from Kaila’s released hands and the general’s face as her father shook his head.
The fire still circling Victoria flickered out.
Jaeson let Jill go over to Victor. He kept one of her hands firmly in his own grip, so her daughter knew that she couldn’t easily escape. Kaila remembered that strong hold well.
Jill reached down to offer Victor a hand, using Jaeson’s grip on her other side to brace her as she pulled.
“You can’t protect Jill and your sister on your own. Why don’t you add your protection to ours, instead?” Jaeson suggested. “Give Jill time to get to know her grandfather while you court her properly. Release your claim for now.”
Jill used too much magic. She nearly sent Victor over her shoulder as she yanked him out of the ground.
“Softer,” Kaila counselled. “Your magic is stronger in Maeren.”
“If you break him, you bought him,” Victoria added, cautiously approaching.
Kaila noted that Victoria had her water gourd uncorked, too.
“I still want to feed him,” Jill insisted, looking down with a blush.
“She likes him!” Kaila said in disbelief. “You’ve never dated anyone, and suddenly, you have a crush at the most inappropriate time.”
Her father laughed. “A vampire who your daughter wants to court behind your back? You so deserve this,” he told Kaila.
“Another fire-lord, no less,” Jaeson drily commented.
“I’m not removing the claim,” Victor said, dusting off his pants.
Kaila sighed. She thought earth-lords were supposed to be the rock headed ones.
“I’ll court her during the claim. I will accept that she needs the protection of her family, as well, at this time,” Victor offered.
“You won’t renew the claim without seeking permission from the head of her family,” her father counter offered.
He smacked Victor on the back, sending him forward a couple of steps, as well as beating some of the dust off of him.
The blow sent a message. The general didn’t want to kill the younger vampire, but he could and he would if necessary to protect his granddaughter.
Kaila knew her father was used to dealing with hot headed youths, rushing into battle with too little experience and an abundance of fearless righteousness.
It was a terrible combination that had to be beaten out before any serious fighting.
“We’re going to have to train you if you plan on courting Kaila’s daughter with puny water and fire,” Jaeson commented.
He was right. Magic tricks weren’t always going to pull the prince out of trouble.
“We’ll train together,” Jill said.
“Your earth needs work, too. The water-fire prince won’t be able to match you,” the general pointed out. “You can train with fire-magic and physical defences together with the prince, but I brought Alexander to train your earth-strengths. He can start with showing you how to hold a dragon sword properly.”
Ah, the dragon. Her daughter was safe, so Kaila wasn’t going to ask for the details of that story yet.
“I need tea,” Kaila said, heading towards the pub.
Everyone started shuffling in behind her.
“Your daughter seems to take after your headstrong nature,” Jaeson commented to Kaila, rushing ahead and getting the door for her.
“She has a deep need to protect others,” Kaila replied for his ears only. “It is a weakness, not a strength. Watch him. She did Victor a wrong and this may be restitution,” she confessed.
“I will guard Jill like family,” he whispered back.
“Thanks, Uncle Jaeson,” Kaila said, sailing past him.
It was a perfect hit. His face froze on a smirk he’d not earned.
The door handle splintered under his grip. She heard the destruction behind her, turning to watch the rest of them trail inside.
Victor kept his hand on Jill’s hip and eyed the broken door as he guided her past him.
Victoria trailed behind him with one hand in her brother’s grip as he tugged her closer.
“Thanks, Uncle Jaeson,” Victoria whispered, clearly having heard the end of his exchange with Kaila.
He didn’t give her the satisfaction of reacting.
The princess had a terrible habit of poking at sleeping dragons. Kaila definitely would have to talk to her father about Victoria’s situation.
“Where’s Alexander?” asked her father as he entered the pub.
“Finishing his lunch. He never left the table,” Jaeson replied.
Alexander must be the young earth-lord who had been seated with the other three youths.
He had wolfed down his food with an earthy appetite and he was now sipping at a tankard that he must have ordered while the rest of them were fighting.
“We misjudged him. He’s mature enough to hold his own,” said her father.
Kaila headed over, taking a seat opposite to the nonchalant Alexander. She waved for tea to be brought.
“Who are you and why were you sitting with my daughter?" Kaila asked in lieu of an introduction.
“I’m a dragon slayer. Didn’t Jill tell you how I helped save her and the princess from the big, bad dragon?” Alexander asked, loudly.
Clearly, mature.
The whole pub quieted down again at hearing of that exploit, coming from the young earth-lord.
Jill sat down quickly beside her. Her bold announcement that her sister was a vampire slayer brought a round of raucous laughter at the obvious joke, and the noisy din of conversation continued once more.
Kaila joined in the laughter, reaching down and giving Jill’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
“We’ll find her,” Kaila whispered to Jill. “She’s safe. I promise you.”
Smiling at Alexander, Kaila requested the story of his dragon slaying.
A Toast
Jaeson
Kaila was here.
Jaeson took a moment to appreciate the sight of her sitting with the younger ones. They had the perfect bait to keep her close.
It was a terrible thing to use her own daughter against her.
Jaeson told himself they didn’t have another choice. Kaila was smart and swift. She would run if they didn’t hobble her with her love for her daughter.
It wasn’t forever.
He’d have a brief second chance at earning Kaila’s regard. To forge a bond she wouldn’t want to break.
“She’s got a limp,” the general said, catching Jaeson staring as he held the door t
o the pub open.
“Her left ankle is scarred. The injury was healed poorly,” Jaeson said.
“If I could kill her husband, I would almost wish him alive again,” the general remarked, walking past Jaeson.
Jaeson closed the door and quickly caught up to the general.
“Before we join them, I have something to tell you,” Jaeson said.
They walked over to the bar to order food and have another small table to be set up next to the booth the others were sitting at to talk.
“Did Kaila tell you something?” the general asked once they made their orders and were left alone.
“Daemon was sent after the eldest.”
The general looked over at his daughter.
“Victor had already claimed there was something between those two, but he implied it was over and that it had been a rather bitter parting. Did Kaila say we need to rescue Elizabeth?”
“No. She didn’t mention a plan at all. She was in a hurry to get to Jill.”
“We have to find Elizabeth. I don’t like how these royals are pushing to bond to my granddaughters. They need to be allowed the freedom to choose.”
The general was sensitive on the topic of witches having the freedom to choose their claims.
It was all because of Kaila.
“I’ll try to get more of the story from Kaila after she’s eaten. We may need to send for more troops if we’re taking on the likes of Prince Daemon,” Jaeson said, keeping his voice low for privacy.
“Our troops are not far behind. I sent a messenger as soon as we found Jill,” the general said, looking distractedly at his daughter.
Jaeson wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to take his eyes off of Kaila.
“Kaila isn’t happy to be here or eager for our protection,” Jaeson warned.
The general scoffed. “Are you letting Kaila push you around already?” he taunted.
“She’s here, isn’t she? That was all you asked me to do.”
The general looked back at him. “Don’t waste your second chance,” he advised.
The general grabbed his glass of neat whiskey that the barkeep had poured, and tapped it against Jaeson’s new tankard of ale before walking over to the second table that was set up.
Witch Darkness Follows (Maeren Series Book 3) Page 6