Now that there was a plan, the wait dragged on and on. It got to the point where Selene questioned if they were going to bring more food, after all they got their blood and they didn’t know if they would need more.
The wait also affected the damned vampire, or he lost his mind right before their escape. At first, he spoke random tales of monsters in the forest, to hero’s with magical weapons, but it got worse when he started singing ballads. Aro was worse than a drunk in a tavern. If Selene could have strangled him, she would have, she needed to sleep and there was no way to do so with a whining vampire as your neighbour.
Just when her ears were going to start to bleed, the guard arrived with the portions. As usual, the guard placed the mash in front of Selene, took a step to the side and put down the vial. The fresh torch was bright and ready for their plan. It felt wrong for her to have so much hope, but this was the only shot.
They waited a few minutes after the guard left, made sure no one would enter to disturb their plan.
“You ready witch?” Aro questioned.
“As ready as I could be.” She muttered.
The first vial popped open, then the second. Aro took a deep breath in and out, momentarily causing Selene to panic and think maybe two vials were not enough. But the worry disappeared when a pitch-black raven appeared from the shadows.
It was beautiful and magnificent, a creature like no other. It caused Selene deep sorrow to think it would now have to burn, just like she was once meant to. The raven hopped over to Aro’s cell, squawking happily at the sight. There was no exchange of words between them, but the bird understood what it was meant to do and looked over towards her.
Then everything started to happen so quickly. The raven launched itself towards the flames, and the fire grew rapidly. The magic flooded into Selene, and for the first time in days she felt like she could breathe again, but they didn’t have the time for the temporary relief. She focused as hard as she could and took whatever power the flames gave her, directing it all towards the metal bars of the cell.
Three bars cracked then shattered from the power and exhaustion flooded her body. The space was just enough to fit her shoulder through, and Selene could have cried with relief. She extended her arm out to the side until she felt the bars. With a deep breath she put as much of her arm as she could in the cell.
“Enjoy your meal vampire.” Selene muttered.
“I won’t take more than needed.” Aro promised.
She hissed as his fangs sank into her wrist causing momentary pain. She could feel his lips on her as he drank. It quickly became apparent that her body was not prepared to give much away as it started to collapse under her. Just when Selene thought she would pass out, he pulled out his fangs and released her wrist.
It didn’t take long for Aro to rip out the cell door and throw it to the side, and with a couple of steps he was in front of her. The only issue was that they both knew each other and both of them flinched and the sight of the other.
Aro was no son of a lord close to the royal family. He was part of the royal family. He was the cursed prince who tried to burn her alive and murdered a dozen of her sisters in cold blood. The cruel prince who actively hunted witches throughout all land. He already tried to kill her once, and now it was a matter of time before he would try again.
His lips were pressed into a thin line as he stared at her with those pale blue eyes, impossible to tell what was going on in his mind. The prince’s hair was longer than she last saw him, now it reached his waist, the black strands were clumped together with what looked like blood. His face also changed and his features were no longer as soft with the cheeks, jaw and nose now much more defined. A line of her blood dripped from his lips down the throat. The loose black top and pants were in a similar state as her dress, if not a tiny bit more intact.
The prince looked away before ripping out the cell door.
"We don't have time for this." Aro whispered.
"Time for what? A trip down memory lane on how you tried to burn me alive prince?" She hissed. "Should I refer to you as Kaelan now? Maybe his majesty?"
"You know I could not give you my first name without raising suspicion, most likely the exact same reason you did not give me yours. I chose to give my middle and what you call me is your choice" He snapped.
With another step inside the cell, Kaelan bit down on his wrist and moved it towards her. Selene already struggled with the idea of having to drink vampire blood, but to do it now from someone she had such deep burning hatred for made it that much harder.
It was the only way to heal fast enough and regain her magic.
Selene took his wrist in her mouth and drank, the iron taste flooded her mouth and made her nauseous. With each sip, her body was getting better. The wounds and cuts started to close, her vision became sharper, and her body started to feel less weak, at last magic returned to her. She would have felt even better with a few more sips if Kaelan didn't take his hand back and moved towards the door.
"Do you have a way to take down the guards?" He questioned.
"The only spell I can think of is to simply freeze them for a few hours. Without access to any part of their body I cannot kill them."
Which was a shame as it was something that Selene would like to do. They held her captive, and they should suffer, but a spell cannot get to them without an entrance in the armour. So, the only thing left is to freeze them whole.
"Good enough."
The tunnel leading out of the room was pitch black with steep stairs leading upwards. For now, no guard in sight.
The vampire prince grabbed the still burning torch and headed out, Selene followed right behind him. The light would not hold out for long, so they needed to hurry. While Kaelan could see fine in the darkness, her weaker eyes would slow them down significantly.
They rushed upwards in silence. Selene had no kind words to share and was full of anticipation for the guards. The unease only increased when they reached an old wooden door that led straight to a courtyard.
There was only one guard further out next to a tower. Kaelan was swift to show off his favoured skill and disappeared without a word just to appear back again next to the guard. Punching the iron armour so hard it dented, and a loud snap was heard throughout the grounds. Selene rushed towards them, and as the guard was getting back up she thought up her spell and pulled her magic forwards. The guard froze in place.
“Have you lost your mind?” She screamed at him as quietly as she could. “You just let every guard know that something is wrong!”
“This guard was turning towards us.” The prince explained, his voice irritated. “If he saw us, we would have even more problems, and I wanted to test something.”
“Was that test worth it?”
“Yes, those things are not human. Well at least not anymore.” Kaelan grumbled “That was a punch at my full strength, it would have killed even a werewolf on the spot, yet this thing got up like I just tickled it.”
No one managed to make Selene as furious as this blood sucking leech before her. There were no words to describe that stupid and reckless behaviour, or his damned attitude towards it.
In that moment two more guards ran towards them and the fallen guard. With the anger that has built inside her, Selene lifted her hand and froze the men. Their positions were less than ideal and easy to spot by others. They needed to leave.
“The more of them I stop, the less time it will hold.” Selene explained with a ragged breath.
Kaelan nodded and looked down at her. “I could… Try something.”
“What?” She has also decided he was a master at causing confusion. She despised it.
“Through the entrances and holes in the walls I can see the outside of this palace.” He explained.
“I beg you, this is not the time to ramble on! Just say it.”
“I can try to get us to materialise outside the grounds.” Kaelan groaned. “I’ve just never done it to someone else. It might work since we both have each other’s blood, but I am not sure.”
A guard that stood on the wall screamed for help in the background.
“Just fucking do it!” Selene hurried him.
With a quick nod, the vampire stepped closer and grabbed her in his arms, lifting her off the ground as he moved forward. For a split second everything around them became darkness, the ground itself disappeared into shadows, and when things started to appear again, they were in a different location. Just at the entrance of an alleyway, the courtyard so far away Selene had to squint to see where they stood seconds ago.
Kaelan slowly put her back down on the ground, his head resting on her shoulder as he regained his breath.
“You did it.” Selene laughed in disbelief. “You got us out.”
“I hope you enjoyed that express transport service.” His voice was still unsteady. “But the joy ride is unlikely to happen again for some time, unless you are willing to volunteer as my afternoon lunch.”
“Unfortunately, I think I need to have a proper meal myself before that prince.” She put her arm up and gently stroked his hair. “They will start searching for us. We need to move and find a place to stay.”
The prince stood up straight and moved back to rest against the alleyway wall, his pale eyes moved up and down her body. “I’m not sure if you’ve seen us, but we look like two wet dogs, one practically naked from a wet, ripped white dress, the other covered in blood and sticking out like a sore thumb for being a vampire.”
Selene could feel her face heat up, she didn’t forget about the state of her attire, but she just assumed the vampire would not notice. “Well, no one told you to look.”
“Who said I didn’t want to look?” He asked with a small smirk on his face.
“Leech.” She said with disgust. “Is there any way you could do your thing and steal some clothes?”
“My thing?” The smug look on his face grew.
“Yes, your thing! Step into someone’s wardrobe and take their clothing and come back or something.”
“You’re the witch.” He replied. “Is there no spell for clothing creation or to at least make us look decent?”
“Glamour is far from my specialty.” Selene explained. “I’ve only ever done it once before and got found out in less than ten minutes. I could hold it for both of us, but if anyone gets too close, they will see through it. And I don’t stand a chance with your hair, it’s too long for me to know constantly about its placement for the glamour.”
“What did you need glamour for before? Did your human stalking not go to plan?” The vampires laughed. “And your hair is longer than mine, witch, can you not glamour yourself?”
“I tried to sneak into the eclipse ceremony when I was young.” She stopped for a second. “It doesn’t matter! And yes, I will struggle with my own glamour too, but I’m a woman so I won’t stick out.”
“Human men are rather irritating, aren’t they?” He pondered. “Cut it.”
“How are you so confusing?” Selene asked.
“You can pass as a human, to them you look normal, odd hair for sure but maybe you have a disease or a genetic disorder. I can see you are a witch, your eyes shine differently, and the light reflects from you. But they have poor human eyesight, so you are nothing different.” Kaelan trailed off. “To them I look unnatural. Their response to me is fear since I am their predator. My eyes have a strange glow, my voice is not quite right, and I have fangs that are rather hard to miss. Humans don’t tolerate hair this long on a man, and it’s something that can be fixed. So cut it.”
Selene blinked at him slowly in disbelief. The more he spoke the less sense he made. This was not a time for a makeover.
“Even if we do that, my glamour will still not be good from anything but a distance.” She warned. “Also, what would I cut your hair with?”
“I stole a dagger from the first guard I punched.” Kaelan pulled out a dagger from his trousers and handed it to her with a smile.
She looked at the blade in her hand and groaned, questioning how exactly she got to a point in her life where she was cutting the hair of a vampire that tried to burn her on the stake.
“At least lower yourself.” Selene ordered. “You are stupidly tall.”
Kaelan chuckled as he lowered himself to his knees. She rotated the blade into a more comfortable position and began her work. Selene tried to be precise, but she never cut someone’s hair, and a fighting dagger did not make it any easier. She aimed to make the hair fall just past his ear, like some of the men that wandered the forest. Slowly the locks fell to the ground and the hair resembled something that would be more acceptable. His pale blue eyes gently followed her movements around him.
The onyx hair mostly reached his ear, and the shorter locks at the front gently grazed the ends of his eyebrows. It certainly wasn’t the best hair cut she has seen, could do with a touch up from someone who knows what they are doing, but good enough for now.
He got up from his knees and looked at the strands of hair on the ground, a moment of sadness passed his eyes. “Well, Nymira and Eryndor will get a laugh out of this.” He ran his fingers through the hair. “It’s never been this short.”
“It will grow back.” Selene smiled gently. “You have the time for that.”
She wasn’t sure who the people mentioned were, however it most likely someone important to him. If there needed to be a dramatic change in her appearance, without Esther present, Selene would have been upset about it too. The prince response was just to nod.
“Could you put the glamour on?” He asked. “Make us look important, then we can get a place quicker, from there we can look for clothes and food.”
Glamours really were her worst nightmare. This was one of the things Esther excelled at, and since their abilities have always been polar opposites, it was something she was doomed to fail in. Selene has mastered the arts of animals, summons, attacks and defence, while Esther dealt with illusions, positions, healing and creation. It was something that both of them would eventually overcome, as their power grew stronger, they would move past those struggles.
Illusions and creation were Esther’s favourite. She always said, you needed to picture what you wanted to create, or for others to see, and to leave a mark of yourself on it, that way it would be stronger and hold out better. Selene just couldn’t remember if the mark was hypothetical or not.
Magic was mostly guess work, but it was better to be safe. Selene jabbed her index finger on the tip of the dagger, the tip of the finger spilled some blood.
“Give me your arm.” She demanded.
The vampire prince was quick to roll up the damaged sleeve and expose his pale skin. Selene drew a small version of her family symbol as she imagined Kaelan more human. For the eyes to be closer to the colour of the sky, the skin to have a touch of colour to it, and for his teeth to not have the fangs. The clothes were the easy part since she just had to imagine them without the filth and holes. Once the imagine was finished, Selene took a step back to look at her work.
“And?” Kaelan questioned. “Do I look more plain and boring?”
It was just like she suspected. From a few steps away, he looked just like she wanted him too. But from three steps away, one could notice something was not right, the glamour looked fuzzy. And just one step away, the spell was completely gone.
“As long as you keep people about four steps away, the glamour works.” Selene said with a hint of disappointment. If Esther has done this spell, no one would have been able to tell a difference.
Now it was her turn, which felt a lot easier. Again, just to be safe, Selene drew the same symbol on her arm, and thought of herself as she looked of the night of the ceremony. For her golden skin to no longer be covered in filth and blood, the white dress no longer ripped and stained, her silver hair to be clean and not matted. Selene would not have been able to tell if the spell worked on her, but Kaelan gave a small nod toward her and started to walk out of the alleyway.