Chapter 75 Copenhagen 1284 A.D
It took a great deal of convincing but Elijah eventually relented to my visiting Josiah alone. “I will leave at dusk and be back before dawn,” I pleaded.
“What if something happens to you? I promised your brother I would always look after you,” Elijah said.
“And you will look after me by coming for me if I do not return. But I will come back immediately, so that won’t be necessary. It has been quiet for many years. I will be safe.”
Elijah’s brow was furrowed and the grey storm raged in his eyes. I was grateful for how much he worried about me. One thing was for sure — I was not alone. This warmed my heart.
“Only until dawn and if you are not back by then, you know what will happen.”
“I know, an army will come looking for me. Don’t worry; I won’t come to harm.” I tried to reassure him with a smile.
He shook his head in disapproval. As always, in the end, Elijah was willing to give me what I wanted.
I watched my brother and his wife sleep peacefully. Sarah looked quite old. The loss of her sixth child seemed to have taken a lot out of her. Part of me knew I should leave and not disturb their peaceful life. Instead I woke Josiah by shaking his shoulder. He woke with a start.
“It is I — Vallachia,” I whispered. “I came to speak with you — to answer your questions.”
From his bedroom door, I beckoned for him to follow me. I did not want to disturb Sarah. We strolled along the empty streets of Ludus.
I held up the letter he had written. “I decided that the time was right to tell you the truth. I will tell you everything, if you promise not to expose us.”
“Expose us? What are you talking about?” Josiah asked.
“You see, I live in a different world from yours. One of our rules — our main law, if you will — is that we do not tell humans about us.”
“Humans? Val, what are you talking about?”
“Do I have your word?”
“Yes.” He seemed to want to know the truth. He appeared … eager.
He must be relieved to finally get some answers. Unfortunately, the truth could be hard to accept. “You see, my friends and I are no longer human. We are … creatures of the night. We call ourselves vampires.”
He clearly did not know what to make of this. He looked thoughtful for a moment, trying to find some frame of reference for what I was saying. It was not surprising when he referred to his chief reference, the Bible. “You mean you are demons?”
“In a way. Some of us fit that description well. I would like to think that my friends and our followers are better than that, as we no longer have to kill humans to survive.”
“Kill humans?”
I watched as his mind swirled with the past. Our early adulthood was flooding back to him. I remained silent to allow him time to ask the questions as they came to him.
“So it was the Chastellains who killed those people when we were young.”
I nodded.
“And you have killed people?”
Again I nodded.
His shoulders sank in disappointment.
“At first I did not want to live. Life did get better once I learned to feed without killing. We are immortal and we are extraordinarily fast and strong.”
I swiftly bent over and picked up a fist-sized rock. With my human pretenses dropped, I’m sure the movement was so fast that the rock seemed to magically appear. I held it out so he could see it. Wrapping my fingers around it, I crushed the rock into hundreds of tiny pebbles. They slipped through my fingers as they fell to the ground.
His mouth hung open.
I gave him a mischievous smile. “Do you know what? We can fly. That is how we travel so quickly.”
He looked at me as if I had gone completely mad.
“There is, however, a high price for all this power. For one, we do not reproduce. I suppose that is not needed when one does not age. The worst part is that we have to have human blood to survive.”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “What exactly happened to Father?”
I put my head down and took a deep breath as that horrible night came rushing back. I told him the story of turning Teller and how that had led to our terrible loss. “I blame myself and Lord Chastellain for Father’s death. Teller had no control. He should not be blamed.”
“The lord sounds like a wretched man — er, vampire. Yet you have forgiven him, as you now serve him?”
“It is … complicated. He can be cruel and no, I have not forgiven him. I don’t know if I ever will but he is the leader of our kind and he fights to keep vampires hidden from humans. I follow him and we work hard to keep vampires from taking over the world.”
Josiah looked down at my ever-present sword. “You are a warrior?”
“Yes and an emissary for Lord Chastellain’s High Court of Elders.”
He was thoughtful for some time. “Even in this insane and violent world you live in, you are able to work toward peace?”
“We do our best. It is important that the Court of Elders remain in power. If they were to fall, it would be the end of a free human race.”
He smiled. “Father would be proud of you.”
I put my arm in Josiah’s. “We are both doing our best. There is no doubt Father would be proud of you.” We walked in silence for a time. “I have to be getting back. Elijah will be worried if I do not return by sun-up.”
“After all that fuss when we were young, you end up marrying the young lord anyway.”
I shook my head no. He seemed to sense it was a painful topic and dropped it.
“If you can truly fly, then I want to see it.”
“That is not a good idea. In order to fly we must transform into … monsters.”
Now he was doubly curious. “I must see what you have become, this vampire.”
“As long as you don’t blame me for your future nightmares.”
I gave him one last hug.
“Thank you for telling me the truth,” he said.
“The truth is hard to accept but you deserve to know. Thank you for keeping our secret.” I backed away at least fifteen paces. I jumped high in the air; my massive wings unfolded and moved with a loud swishing sound to keep me hovering in the air.
Josiah backed into a tree, his mouth was agape.
“Goodbye.” I waved, as I rose high into the night sky.
Chapter 76 Copenhagen 1291 A.D
It was about seven years after revealing my true nature to my brother that I received a letter from Ludus but this time it was not from my brother. It was from Sarah and I knew before I opened it that it was not good news. Josiah was not faring well. He had been overtaken by a sickness and was not expected to live much longer. This time Mari decided to return to the village for the first time since she was young. She had been much better about letting her old life go than I had been.
Of course, Elijah accompanied us as well. Once the villagers had settled down for the night, we approached my old house.
“It amazes me that this place has hardly changed — except for that massive church in the middle of town.” Mari declared.
Sarah answered our knock at the door. “You received my letter!” She greeted me with a hug. She did not seem surprised at how young we appeared or at how heavily armed we were. “How did you get here so quickly?”
Of all the oddities about us, that was what surprised her the most. My brother must have told her about us, at least in part.
Sarah did not wait for an answer. Sarah was no longer a shy girl. She had grown into a strong woman. “Well, I am grateful you are here because Josiah wants to say goodbye.”
My heart sank into my stomach.
Sarah’s solemn expression matched her tone. She looked much older than the last time I saw her — like a grandmother. Of course, she was a grandmother many times over and I had to remind myself that a simple human life was difficult as well — not difficult in the same way our life was, yet she'd h
ad her share of tough times. A life of hard work and child rearing had taken its toll.
She led us upstairs to their room — my father’s old room. I was aghast at how much Josiah had aged. His skin was grey and hung lose on his gaunt cheeks.
Sarah sat on the bed. “Sweetheart, there is someone here to see you.”
Josiah opened his eyes and did not seem to recognize me at first. His eyes were full of pain. He had to struggle to try to think past the agony. My heart sank even farther. I frowned at Elijah and Mari.
Josiah slowly raised his hand for me to take. I did and I knelt down at my brother’s side. My tears fell, as I put his hand to my cheek.
“I’m glad you could make it. I wanted to say a final goodbye. I’m sorry we were unable to have a lifetime together. Now that you are here, I am ready to meet my Maker.” His voice was weak.
“No. What did the healer say? Surely you will get better.”
Josiah shook his head. “I can’t endure the pain any longer. I needed to see you, to know you are well. Now I wish for God to take me.”
“Our healer gives him herbs for the pain. They helped to soothe him in the beginning but they no longer seem to make a difference,” Sarah explained.
I nodded, accepting that whatever sickness he had was fatal and I did not want to see him in such pain a moment longer. I stood and my brother’s eyes closed.
“Goodbye, my brother. I love you.” I kissed his forehead and turned to the others. “He needs to rest.” With that, I left the room.
“Will you and your children have enough money without Josiah?” I asked.
“You mustn’t worry about us, Vallachia. Our youngest boy is studying in Targoviste. He will take over as deacon and we helped Adam buy a farm. Our youngest girl is to be married this spring. Her future husband will be able to provide for her, so we will make do.”
I knew how unreliable farming could be in supporting a family. In spite of Sarah’s reassurance, I worried for them.
Elijah handed her a leather sack filled with gold coins. This would have been more money than she had ever seen before. “Please take this. It will make things easier while your son is away. Write to us if you ever need anything. We will take care of you and your family,” Elijah offered.
She nodded. “Thank you. God bless you.”
We took our leave.
Once in the forest outside of the village, Elijah paused and wrapped his arms tightly around me.
“I can’t stand for him to suffer like that. I hope he is gone soon,” I whispered in his ear.
“Do you want me to end his pain?”
I pulled back and looked at him. It was what Josiah wanted. He deserved to be with God — not in misery. I nodded.
Elijah looked grave; he clearly did not want to do it. “You two head home. I will catch up with you shortly.”
Mari nodded and clasped my hand. She had to pull me away.
Elijah later told me that it was quick and painless. Josiah barely fought Elijah as the pillow suffocated him. Maybe he suffered a couple of moments at most, then his pain was over forever. I was relieved, as this was better than days or even weeks of that kind of suffering. What if it had gone on for months? I thought. I was pleased that he had lived a relatively long and contented human life. That was all anyone could hope for.
Chapter 77 Copenhagen 1291 A.D
As usual, the best thing for me to do was to stay busy after my brother’s death. It is difficult to watch the ones you love grow old and die but for an immortal it was even more difficult. Maybe it was the guilt, as we were immune to the things that killed most humans. I too should be on my deathbed. Maybe it was the frustration of having so much power yet being unable to do anything to save the ones we loved. It also could have been thoughts of the afterlife that crept into our minds when people we cared about died.
I had no doubt that my brother was once again blissful and healthy because he was with his God. He was immortal as well. But who was our God? What happened to us when we died, or rather, when we were killed, as we did not die of natural causes? I did not like this thought, so I tried hard not to think of such foreboding things. No one could answer such questions.
There was a glimmer of hope, now that my closest kin were gone. Perhaps I could let go of the past, Ludus and the human life I had lost. This mostly meant that I hoped to be able to let go of Teller. Then perhaps I could marry Elijah and we could finally be happy. On the other hand, the thought of not being with Teller someday was unbearable.
Between our missions to gain and keep supporters for the High Court and training new vampires to feed properly, I stayed busy. The news of our being able to feed without killing spread and vampires would travel from far away to seek us out. This added to our allies in the North. We had large numbers of vampires from across the known world ready to fight for the Elders.
However, Ramdasha’s numbers grew as well. We increasingly heard rumors of Tarantism in southern lands. It was not until 1346 that the war with Ramdasha went from being a cold war to a hot one. Across all of Southern Europe, vampires were becoming an epidemic. Plagues spread through cities and cases of “tarantula bites” caused mass madness and death on a large scale. The tarantula was what most humans blamed the plague on. We knew better. Ramdasha’s vampires were responsible for the devastation. This was their first attempt to openly defy the Court. They were attempting to take over the human race.
It was in 1346 that our missions became less diplomatic in nature. We were sent out to destroy the enemies of the Elders. Eliminating the traitors to the Court became a fulltime task. Wherever there were plagues or stories of Tarantism was where we traveled. At times, we would find chaos in the streets. One such occasion was in the town of Lucera. When we arrived with our small, yet elite, army of thirty vampires, the terrified townspeople were running in the streets. People with blood streaming from their necks were fleeing. There were a handful of vampires causing this mess.
“This is disgusting,” I whispered to Elijah as we surveyed the horrid scene.
“Capture them alive,” Elijah commanded. He beckoned us forward with a hand gesture.
It was not long before we had four of them in captivity. The fifth vampire tried to attack Elijah but Riddick ran his sword through the assailant’s neck. With a powerful kick to the back of the knees from Riddick, the remaining four were forced to kneel in front of Elijah.
“Do you know who I am?” Elijah’s voice was dark.
One vampire ventured to shake his head no.
“I am Prince Elijah, the son of Lord Chastellain.”
The name sparked recognition in the vampire prisoners. One of them writhed.
“Are you aware that we have laws?” Elijah continued.
“Yes, My Lord,” one of the vampires murmured. He was most likely the ringleader.
This was the wrong answer; it would have been wiser for the prisoner to play ignorant. Elijah eye’s flashed with fury. He grabbed the man by the tunic and yelled. “What, then, is our most important law? The unbreakable law?”
The man was too scared to answer. Elijah threw him down. He pointed his sword at the others. “Anyone else?”
“To remain hidden,” another man squeaked.
“Does this” — Elijah gestured to a couple of bodies in the street — “look discreet to you?”
One of the vampires shook her head no.
“No!” Elijah yelled, causing the kneeling vampires to jump. “Do you know what the penalty is for needlessly slaughtering humans and revealing yourselves to them?”
This time, Elijah did not wait for an answer. He swiftly severed the head of the man who had remained on the ground where Elijah had thrown him. He picked the head up and displayed it to the others — giving them a good look at their leader. With the point made, the head was dropped in a bag that Riddick held open.
It was painful to see Elijah like this. Thankfully, this was not his usual self. All I had to do was look around to remind myself why he was doing
this, why he was being so harsh. These men had to be stopped at any cost.
One of the men threw himself at Elijah’s feet.
In an instant, Riddick’s sword was between Elijah and the man, ready to stop the man if needed.
“Please, My Lord, kill me. I can’t live like this. I beg of you, please kill me!” His eyes were full of pain and self-loathing.
Elijah was more in control — calmer. He bent down to get close to the man. “Death would be too easy for you.” He stood. “Take them prisoner.”
I knew this meant that Lord Chastellain would most likely kill them after questioning them about Ramdasha. The man at Elijah’s feet wept. He truly did want to die. I knew how he felt. In the beginning, having to kill to survive had made me wish for death as well.
We returned to Denmark with our prisoners. Lord Chastellain collected the heads of traitors to be skewered on poles that lined the path to his castle — his trophies. This was much to my disliking — it was barbaric. It did, however, send a message to the enemies of the High Court of Elders. The road to the castle was lined with perhaps one hundred heads. The oldest ones were white skulls with slightly elongated eyeteeth. I couldn’t imagine what this would look like to a human stumbling upon this place. It was no longer the welcome palace of old.
Lord Chastellain and I were often at odds. I had never been good at keeping my mouth shut. As the years passed, any ability to hold my tongue was lost. My place on the Court was to the left of the lord, Elijah to his right. Riddick usually stood to my left. To the right of Elijah was Samuel. We were the lord’s chief emissaries and warriors — not to mention that Elijah was his son and I his son’s beloved. Therefore, the lord tolerated more defiance from me than he did from others. He still had to remind me of my place at times.
With more vampires rising against us, Lord Chastellain became increasingly cruel. It was my belief that showing mercy would gain us more allies. The Court needed to be fair and kind whenever possible. I was constantly trying to keep the lord from going too far. I did not want him to become a brutal tyrant but rather the just lord I knew he could be. I was a constant bane that reminded him of the good leader he was or should be.
Of Lords and Commoners: Book 1 (Lords and Commoners Series) Page 31