Of Lords and Commoners: Book 1 (Lords and Commoners Series)

by Lynne Hill-Clark

  “How are we going to find this vampire coven?” Samuel asked.

  “Maybe we should split up,” Riddick suggested.

  “No, we must stay together.” Elijah voice was commanding. “We don’t know if they are hostile. Perhaps Ramdasha has already gotten to them. We will have to smell them out. They have a scout looking for us. We will find them soon enough.”

  Not long before dawn, a figure stepped out of the shadows heading straight for us. Elijah and I reached for each other protectively. Hand in hand with Elijah, I looked to see if the others saw the approaching vampire. Riddick appeared at my right and Samuel was on Elijah’s left.

  Elijah inhaled deeply to make sure he was a vampire. “We are from the High Court of the Elders. We are here to speak to Shantanu.”

  The man was close enough for us to make out his bright smile. His face was candid and full of life. “Welcome to India! I am Shantanu. We have been expecting you.” He clasped Elijah’s forearm and shook it. “You must be Lord Chasteen’s son.” He could not properly pronounce Chastellain.

  Shantanu had the largest brown eyes I had ever seen. His skin was the same beautiful bronze as Ramdasha’s. In fact, he reminded me of Ramdasha at first but his features were kind and gentle. I liked him at once and soon the resemblance to Ramdasha was lost. I was fascinated by him.

  “Yes, please call me Elijah.”

  “Ejah, it is wonderful to meet you,” Shantanu said.

  Elijah smiled.

  For a moment I was taken back by how radiant Elijah was. His eyes were alight, more blue than grey. It was rare to see him so open.

  Riddick was standing so close that I could feel his body against mine. I put my hand on his chest to gently push him away.

  “All is well.” I tried to reassure him.

  “I present to you Lady Vallachia, Riddick and Samuel.” Elijah gestured to each of us.

  Shantanu greeted me first. “What is custom?” He took my hand and kissed it. “Yes?”

  “Yes, that is our custom. It is a pleasure to meet you,” I said.

  He welcomed Samuel and Riddick. Riddick was reluctant to shake hands.

  “Come. The sun will be on the rise soon,” Shantanu said.

  We followed Shantanu out of town. Samuel and Elijah walked with our host ahead of us.

  “He looks like Ramdasha,” Riddick whispered. His shoulders were tense and he his eyes were alert.

  “But he is not. Shantanu is Indian like Ramdasha and that is where their similarities end.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  We ran through the jungle for some time, until we came to a clearing. Water rushed noisily over a rock ledge at the far end of a small pond. At night the lush green vegetation looked iridescent to my vampire eyes. I ran a hand over some of the strange plants.

  “This place is wonderful,” I said.

  Shantanu motioned us to follow him. He disappeared behind the waterfall. Hidden behind the wall of water was a small cave opening, which led to a larger area. Inside were six vampires sitting at their leisure and … I smelled a human. I raised a questioning eyebrow to Elijah.

  He gave me an unknowing shrug.

  A lovely woman approached.

  “This is my wife, Kailash,” Shantanu said.

  The woman bowed a greeting. If I thought her husband was beautiful, then she was spectacular. She had extraordinarily large eyes and thick, dark hair running down her back. Her skin was like a smooth-cut jasper stone — dark and flawless.

  A new emotion overtook me, a strange feeling. What was it? The word came to me — envy. I was envious of these people. Our insipid skin must appear sickly to them. They were smaller in stature compared to us. Samuel and I were almost a head taller than any of these vampires. Elijah and Riddick must have looked like giants to them. Riddick was at least three times the size of any one of them.

  The pale giants from the North — I smiled at the thought.

  Shantanu introduced us to the others. They had names I could not pronounce, let alone remember.

  “My wife and I lived in Constantinople many years ago for quite some time. She speaks better Greek than I. We will act as translators for you,” Shantanu explained.

  “When did you live in the West?” I asked

  “Shortly before the French and Venetians ransacked the city. There were many of us Easterners trading in the region. It was a very lucrative business. After the city was all but destroyed my wife and I decided that it was time to return home.” With a wave of Shantanu’s hand, two vampires disappeared to the back of the cave.

  They returned with a small girl. She was the loveliest child I had ever seen. Perhaps about eight years old and … human. The vampires remained protectively on either side of her. Her sweet smell was strong. I glanced at Elijah with wide eyes but turned quickly to Riddick as he brushed past me toward the girl. I knew the look on his face, it made my blood run cold. He was not Riddick but a hungry monster.

  Chapter 70 India 1262 A.D

  I jumped in front of Riddick and pushed against his chest with all my strength. “Riddick, don’t!”

  He was intent only on the human girl.

  My feet slid on the cave floor as he pushed me toward the human. “Riddick, look at me!” I seized his jaw to try to force his attention away from the girl. “Please, Riddick, look at me.”

  For a moment his gaze fell on my face and I could see him struggling with the monster inside.

  “You need to get out of here. Go!” I gave him a hard shove.

  He barely moved. He shook his head and tried to attend to what I was saying.

  Elijah had moved to stand directly behind Riddick. I did not understand why.

  “Get him out of here,” Elijah said to Samuel.

  Samuel grabbed Riddick’s arm and they disappeared from the cave.

  I exhaled in relief. When I turned back to the coven, they had formed a circle around the child, who hid behind Kailash.

  Why is she here? I wondered. How can she survive with vampires? I took a step forward and knelt down to appear less intimidating. “Do not fear; we will not hurt you.” I spoke in the softest voice I could muster.

  She barely peeked out from behind Kailash’s sari.

  Kailash translated what I had said to the small girl. “This is Lavanya. Her name means beauty and grace.”

  “Then it is the perfect name. It is a pleasure to meet you.” I held my hand out to the small girl.

  Lavanya studied me with large brown eyes, then quickly buried her head in Kailash’s clothing again. She spoke but I could not understand her.

  I looked to Kailash to interpret.

  “I’m sorry; she does not speak Greek.” Kailash spoke with a heavy accent but otherwise perfect Greek. “She asked if you are the — how do you say — queen of the ice — no, the Snow Queen, that is it.”

  I chuckled and gave Kailash a confused look.

  “You see, we have local legends about the Great Snow Queen of the North with her long golden hair. I often fill Lavanya’s head with such nonsense before bed.” Kailash did something that shocked me. She gently ran her fingers through my hair and held a strand in her hand. “I had almost forgotten that hair could truly be this color, it is so rare, even in Constantinople.” She was in awe.

  It was a surprise to learn that she was envious of me, just as I was of her. What was it with people — always wanting to be something they were not?

  Little Lavanya spoke again and Kailash interpreted, “She wants to know if she can touch your hair as well.”

  I leaned forward letting my hair fall around my face.

  With caution she petted my head with her tiny hand.

  Kailash laughed at the girl’s comment. “She says your hair is like soft wheat.”

  I laughed and slowly rose. It felt odd to stand to my full height because I towered over them. I stepped back to stand by Elijah; at least he was taller than I — this felt normal, comfortable.

  He gave me a warm smile.
/>   “Lavanya is my great-niece,” Shantanu explained. “Her parents died of a sickness that overcame our village. There was no one left to care for her, so we do our best here. As you saw with your friend” — he gestured to where Riddick had stood — “it is dangerous for her. She requires constant protection. She is the last of my human kin.” There was sadness in his eyes. Shantanu changed the subject. “Is Lady Valsha your wife?”

  I was sure that when we tried to say their strange names it came out equally as bad.

  “Someday, if I’m lucky,” Elijah answered. He gave me a mischievous smile. “Vallachia is a member of the Court of Elders.”

  That brought us to business. They seated us on cushions on the floor of the cave. We exchanged pleasantries and told them about our travels. As the sun rose, several more vampires joined us. This coven numbered ten in all.

  Two men stood when Riddick and Samuel entered and two others took little Lavanya to a room somewhere in the back of the cave.

  Riddick looked relieved when he saw me.

  He is overly protective of me. I realized. He does not trust these new vampires and feared I was in danger while he was away.

  Riddick put his hands up in a non-threatening gesture. “I’m fine. I won’t try to hurt anyone.” He bowed his head to Shantanu. “Please accept my apologies.”

  Shantanu nodded. “We all know how hard it can be.”

  “I am sorry, My Lord; it had been too long since I last fed. It won’t happen again,” Riddick said. He took a seat beside me.

  “I’m glad I did not have to break your neck,” Elijah said.

  I gave Elijah a hard glare. Would he have killed Riddick if I had not been able to distract him long enough for Samuel to get him out of the cave?

  “I’m relieved you did not have to go to such an extreme,” Riddick said.

  “I could not pull Riddick off the human by myself.” Samuel frowned.

  “You keep talking about feeding without killing, as if it were possible,” Riddick sneered.

  I put my hand on top of Riddick’s. “We can teach you.” We stared at each other for a moment. I could almost feel him melt. This was not the same lion who had recently tried to kill a small girl. He was now a lamb. I did not fully realize the power I had over him until that point. I looked away, removing my hand but I could feel that his stare remained.

  “Maybe I should have broken his neck,” Elijah whispered to Samuel.

  I gave Elijah another look of disapproval but they were both smiling. It was a joke, though be it a poor one, so I let it go.

  “You could teach him?” Shantanu’s eyes sparkled with a new light. “You mean you could teach us as well — to feed without killing?”

  “My dear, you know it is not possible to stop feeding once we have started,” Kailash said.

  “The three of us” — Elijah gestured to Samuel, me and himself — “have not killed in a long time. It is difficult to learn to control the hunger but it can be done with time and practice.”

  Shantanu and Kailash looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “It is true. We can teach you too,” I said.

  “We don’t have that kind of time, Vallachia,” Elijah said.

  This time I put my hand over Elijah’s. “Please, this is important. We need only to get them started — simply show them what to do, then we can head back. It will help them control themselves around Lavanya if they feed more often. The child will be safer with them. We must help if we can.”

  Elijah eyes narrowed and his forehead was creased. “Very well, we can stay one extra night. Then it will be up to them to finish the training themselves. Father will be worried. We can’t stay any longer or he will come looking for us. We don’t want that.”

  No, we do not, I thought. Lord Chastellain would be in a fury and anyone in his way would feel his wrath.

  “Thank you.” I smiled.

  Elijah shook his head with a resigned sigh.

  Shantanu took Kailash’s hand and gave her a broad smile. “Do you think it is possible? We may not have to kill anymore?”

  “Let us hope so, my dear.” Kailash’s eyes had a new light in them as well.

  Chapter 71 India 1262 A.D

  “Well then, we have a lot to do in the next couple of days. So let’s proceed.” Elijah went on to discuss the reason we were here, which was to gain the support of Shantanu’s coven for the Court of Elders. Elijah explained the Court’s laws, a task that did not take long, as there was only one important law — that vampires remain discreet and hidden from humans.

  “We need humans to survive. If they thrive, so do we,” Elijah said. “We do not want humans to live in terror and try to hunt us. This would lead to a war with humans — one they could not win. Surviving humans would be imprisoned, as food for us.”

  “That would be terrible,” Kailash exclaimed. “We care about the people in our town. It pains us to have to kill.”

  I was growing more fond of her by the moment.

  Elijah nodded before continuing, “We enforce this law throughout all of Europe. Vampires who openly reveal who they are to humans are dealt with swiftly.” The meaning was clear. “However, in Southern Europe, there is growing resistance to the Court. A coven of twenty vampires —

  “Actually, twenty-five, My Lord,” Riddick corrected.

  “Wonderful, make that twenty-five vampires, led by Ramdasha.” Elijah rubbed his forehead, a gesture I had seen his father perform many times, usually when he was concerned or frustrated. “Their hope is to overthrow the Court.”

  “Why?” Shantanu asked.

  Elijah gestured for Riddick to explain.

  “Well,” Riddick began slowly. “Lord Ramdasha wants power — mostly. He and his followers believe that vampires should not have to live in hiding. They think that they are the dominant race and that humans should serve vampires.”

  “That is madness,” Kailash said. “We need humans and they do not need us.”

  “That is the problem in Ramdasha’s logic,” Elijah said.

  I smiled with pride as I watched Elijah. Without his father around, he was able to become a true leader. He was gifted at diplomacy.

  Elijah went on to explain that if their coven pledged its fealty to the Court, they would have the protection of the Elders in return and might be called upon to fight with us if the need arose.

  Shantanu and Kailash exchanged a concerned look.

  “How strong is this Ramdasha?” Shantanu asked.

  “He has gained supporters across most of Southern Europe. Portugal, France, some of the Holy Roman Empire and recently a small coven in Hungary.” This was some of the latest new with which Riddick had been able to enlighten us. It appeared that Hungary was falling to Ramdasha, as well as a coven outside of Rome.

  Shantanu frowned. “We would not join Ramdasha but the idea of being called to fight is not appealing.”

  “I understand. Take some time to talk with your coven about the matter. We will leave you alone to discuss the proposition. When we return, we will start proper feeding lessons.” Elijah stood and bowed in respect.

  Shantanu and Kailash stood and returned the bow.

  Elijah gestured for us to follow him out of the cave.

  We ran to the shade of a big tree not too far from the cave. I could barely see when we reached the welcome shadows of the forest. It took a long moment for my eyes to stop burning. This strange new world was even more wonderous in the daylight. Along the shore of the pond, little Lavanya was playing under the watchful eye of a woman sitting under a makeshift tent for shade. It was a joy to watch the happy child laugh and dance about. I wondered if she was able to play with other children. Most likely not, I thought. It was not a bad life for a child, yet still not the ideal.

  Samuel tried to convince Elijah to allow him to return by himself at dusk instead of staying another day and night to train the coven. He must have been worried about Mari and anxious to return.

  “That way I can tell your fathe
r that you will be a day later than expected,” Samuel said.

  “No. Father would be more upset if you left me. It is better that we stay together. He should not worry too much if we are a day late,” Elijah said.

  Samuel pursed his lips.

  “Elijah, may I have a word with you?” I asked.

  “You two can’t contain yourselves for one day?” Samuel laughed.

  “Very funny, Samuel.” I punched him in the arm.

  There was mostly thick forest behind us. Under the shade of the trees we were able to wander off alone. I was taking in the beautiful foliage. Some of the plants had leaves larger than my head. They were a deep green, very unlike the trees and shrubs back in Europe.

  “Out with it already,” Elijah said.

  “Were you going to kill Riddick back there?” I asked.

  “No, I was going to … disable him for a time.”

  “Oh.” I felt my anger slip away. “We can heal from a broken neck?”

  “Yes. He would have recovered after an hour or so. It would have allowed us time to get him out of there. Of course, he would have had a dreadful headache.” Elijah smiled as if he liked the idea. He stopped me by putting his hands on my shoulders. His gaze was intense. “You must learn to trust me.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I do trust you.” My resolve faded.

  Elijah’s smoky blue eyes were filled with affection. “You were wonderful in there.”

  “You were not bad yourself.”

  “But you are the tamer of wild beasts, the way you stopped Riddick. You also were able to win them over from the start. You have a certain … power over people … including me.” He frowned.

  “I don’t have control over others. I simply care about them. That is all that is needed. If people know you care about them, they are more willing to cooperate.”

  He brushed a strand of hair out of my face. “You continue to astonish me. How did you get to be so wise at such a young age?”

  “My father’s teachings, I suppose.”

  “You are your father’s daughter. That is one of the reasons why I love you.”