“Be well, and tread careful,” I say to Therina, setting her out with the carriages that are to leave for the distant city that will soon become our new home. Seeing the people gathered here, the norkit slaves that I freed from their unjust imprisonment, and the servants that have sworn themselves to me, I almost feel as if I should walk with them from this place.
Yet, my purpose here lingers.
Should I travel with them, I would be a burden. In the sunlight, I am weak, and I have no doubt that as a noble I would draw undue attention. If I were stronger perhaps I could instead protect them, and with the blood of the knights I am soon to fight, then perhaps I will achieve that strength sooner rather than later.
“Please, come with us or at least let me stay with you,” my faithful lady’s maid cries, holding onto me. The others look on while pretending otherwise.
“I cannot, I will not let your life be put to risk here,” I say, pressing her back into the carriage. “The mercenaries will defend you well. They will defend you all.”
The others are not nearly so lively in their goodbyes, Henry leaves with many of the guards, and only gives me a tight smile and a firm handshake. Though I can almost feel it as he hesitates, wanting to hug me close.
“Don’t die,” Piper says to me, her expression tight and conflicted. Too much has passed between us, too many emotional conflicts that were never properly resolved, and too many feelings that are yet to fully pass.
She was the first to offer me blood, and she was never afraid of me, only concerned for what I might do to those that she cares for. What might our relationship have looked like had we met as equals? If she could have fearlessly spoken her honest thoughts, unconcerned for offending me.
We would never have been lovers, but perhaps we might have been friends.
“Death has already taken me,” I say, letting the fires of the sun scorch my hands as I smile to her. “Live well, Piper. Should I never see you again, then please remember me kindly.”
She nods shortly before disappearing, chasing after a young child that’s making trouble.
Everything moves much too quickly. The mercenaries, trustworthy as can be found, will guard them in their escape and I’m certain that they’ll be well.
Once more I wish that I could follow them, to be free of this city.
But no.
This city is not done with me, and I am not done with it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“The plan is simple,” I keep the words simple for the sake of my audience. They are my… children? Servants? I’m not sure what the term should be for them. Ollie and Lin have been changed, their complexions more pale, their hearts cold and still as my own.
I considered the possibility that the curse may not take to them, but it’s not the sort of thought that I’d let linger on my mind. The pair have adapted well to their condition so far, but they’ve yet to partake in any proper hunt. That is what tonight is for, yet, I do not expect them to flinch at killing and consuming the life of another.
“I hope to slaughter the nobles and knights in this city, and consume their blood to reinforce my power,” I explain, much to their excitement. “Their deaths will give room for others to grow, though they will still be stifled under the power and influence of the royalty and Aldramodore if they stay, which is why I invest my hopes in those fleeing this city. That is to say, killing the nobles is an ends to a greater goal beyond my own selfish profits.”
Just considering the scale of these goals is making my earlier hesitation come back to mind. I will be killing people who were just the same as I was, but that isn’t to say that they are innocent.
Swallowing back those old self-reflective habits, I linger in the memory of that strange faith that I’ve found of late.
I am loved.
My knight will come one day, and they will love me.
“We will kill them all,” I say, watching closely at the noble woman I’ve turned as she stares at her own feet. She will understand in time, I will make sure of it. “To that end, I intend to have them turn on one another. It will be easier to defeat them when they are divided.
“Tonight we are to enter a noble house and kill many while weaving an illusion to convince the few survivors that it was another who is responsible,” I explain to them, as I step out into the night. I would feel more comfortable if we had the time to prepare better for this, but the needs of the moment outweigh anything we may want.
The noblewoman that I turned has yet to find an answer for me for what she wants to be erased from her mind, though it is not because she’s forgotten. Rather, it seems like a simmering pot ready to boil over, and I’m sure that in short time she’ll come to me with her request.
“The Goldfield estate is vast and well-defended, but they’ve made no serious effort to defend against any vampiric attack. I intend for us to break into the location, and put to death the nobles that we find. Though… I would rather that Pansy, the girl, be left for me to turn. She might be saved if raised as a proper slave, then I’m sure she’d learn to be a proper person once more.”
It is in part, a measure of hesitance in me that forces me to make this concession, but I do not wish to give up on those that I know. I’d rather give her a chance to improve herself. To forge her into a person that deserves the respect that she’s been given as a standard until this moment.
“Our primary goal is the freedom of the slaves kept captured in the house, Ollie, I will have you speak on their personalities and what we might expect of them in a moment. The secondary objective is for me to kill and capture young Pansy. All of this must be done in perfect secrecy, I will cast illusions and I hope for you to follow in my lead.
“Kill and drink the blood of the nobles and knights that you can find otherwise, but do not kill the servants. They are harmless, their blood weak, but their fear keeps us strong. Terrify them, but only harm them where you must to keep them afraid.”
My three vampire servants all nod, though Lin still needs Ollie to interpret things for her. This truly is a rushed occasion, but it shouldn’t be as risky as it might seem. Their main role will be in guiding the freed slaves as I cause an uproar, but I’d rather speak to them expecting everything to go poorly.
“Then, Ollie, if you will,” I leave room for her at the front of the group where we stand in the empty gardens.
“They’re obedient,” Ollie says thoughtfully, trying to find what to say. “Act like a noble, and they’ll do what we tell them. That’s it. What about the collars?”
“I’ve been learning to disable them,” I reply, I’m not yet as confident as Kai, the young man who was assisting the reeve, but his tutorship has helped me considerably. “If there are no other questions, let us be off.”
I lead us over the walls moving to a dark rooftop on the other side before waving them to follow. They are all, themselves, rather weak in their vampiric magics, but even here I can feel the atmosphere of fear feeding me, and it will be the same for them.
“We are first moving to meet with a group that I would consider allies, follow me closely and try to find your legs,” I say, walking through the shadows and calling upon illusions to terrify those that we pass while disguising our shape.
The three follow properly, giving this their all, but while the goblin and serpent have an easy time of this from their lives before death, the noblewoman is struggling. She is attempting to imitate the stealth of the others, but it does her no service.
“Stand tall,” I say, sliding beside her, my shifting illusions of mist disguising me until I stand beside her. “Deception is a trait of the nobles, is it not? Stealth is not simply to be unseen, it is to be unnoticed, or even seen as something other than you are. Is that not something you could do?”
She blinks, and nods, swallowing down her anxieties. Such a human reaction.
Her pace settles into something more confident, and as her cloak covers her head to toe she starts to glide. It is almost inhuman the perfection of her motion, her feet do not show, hidden beneath the cloak. No one looking would see a human from the flowing figure not bobbing nor swaying, only gliding onwards.
Stealing back the lead from the others, I release some little of my contained frost to cool the streets, while using my weak telekinesis to rattle at doors and windows. An occasional wind chime and bell ring out into the night, announcing us.
A few people peer out from between windows, thinking themselves unseen, their fear a ripe fruit a sweet appetiser for the night I have planned.
The population grows more dense as I approach a ruined section of the city where the rebels and criminals hide. I already hear the voice of the young man leading his little community in rebellion against the current order. There is potential in him, and if he were born noble I’m sure that he’d be just and kind, but he was not born noble.
Is there any noble that lives up to my ideal?
Is our blood so thoroughly corrupted, or is blood no means to measure a man? It almost seems absurd to consider the idea, especially as I can taste the differences for myself.
I step into the small courtyard where the young lord has centred his operations. Several lookouts have already seen us coming but we’ve easily evaded any number of traps that were meant to slow the knights coming for them.
“Halt!” the young lord stands at the head of the formation himself, refusing to take fright, like the rest of those with him. “Why have you come here?”
“Why have I come?” I ask, stepping closer still. “I have come to tell you what I have planned, and to perhaps consider an invitation for those willing to join us in the revelry.”
“Speak plainly.”
“We are to slaughter the knights and nobles both,” I proclaim. “The good people of this city have all left, and I do not think it acceptable for the remains to be hoarded by the criminals that have remained. I will have the nobles set against one another, and hunt them as one would do a beast.”
He stands frozen in place, gazing at me with a firm frown but nothing more.
“If we refuse?” he asks, surprising his allies.
“Then you’ll miss out on the fun,” I laugh, letting my actual joy shine through. Yes, this blood evening will be brilliant. I will genuinely enjoy this.
What would my family think of what I’ve become?
What does it even matter?
The fine noble that I am to become, would never let such a wound fester as has been left here.
“Stay and hide if it pleases you, I will not begrudge you, nor think you a coward. Not all are meant to fight, but for those who wish to join us, I can promise only the catharsis that a maid finds in a clean room or a smith in a well-forged sword. The satisfaction in sweat and job well done.”
He hesitates but slowly nods.
“I’ll come with you, to see that you’re honest. That is all.”
“Then please, be with me, follow into the darkness where we hunt.”
As he accepts and heads towards me, the illusional mist I’ve built around myself is burned away. Not by the man but by the cloaked figure that hops to follow.
A young girl, far from becoming a woman, sizzles with the powers of faith. It is not overly strong, and I could overwhelm her if I would try, but it is still a remarkable talent for one so young.
“Brother!”
“I’ll be fine,” the man says, stopping to hold his sister back. “This is the person who saved us from the knights. We owe her.”
“You do not,” I correct him. “The knights were a snack that I seized for my purposes.”
The man sighs, his shoulders sagging from the weight of responsibility. He bears it well, but leading a small group like this is a considerable burden, even more so for one that was not born to take this responsibility.
“I’ll be fine,” he continues to his sister. “Just make sure that everyone behaves themselves while I’m gone, okay?”
The young girl nods quickly, but she refuses to step back. I feel her eyes on me until the moment we leave her behind, the man walks confidently amidst my illusions without even once hesitating in his step.
He’s neither brave nor fearful, glancing at me with caution that is informed by experience more than anything.
“I wasn’t expecting your support,” I finally say with a smile. “To the truth, I was more anticipating for this to be an announcement as I never expected the invitation to be taken up.”
“You show up in my territory like that, what do you expect,” he says. “I need my people to trust me, not just my judgement but my strength. I can’t intimidate you, I can’t stand against you or even make a compelling fight. I had to come with you, or else the people will only start to worry.”
“My apologies,” I say after a pause. “That wasn’t my intention.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t,” his tone contradicts the meaning of his words.
“What is it like for you?” I ask, moving the topic on. “This is not ordinary times, and the burden of leadership is not a simple thing.”
“I do what I have to,” he says, glaring at me through the mist. “I’ll keep doing what I have to.”
“You could have fled,” I correct him. “You are doing more than what you must. You are stepping up. You are doing what the nobles have failed to do.”
He has no reply for me as we weave through the streets to my target. I explain to him the mission, as we slowly arrive.
There is considerable risk involved in this encounter, but I refuse to sit in wait. This is a thing that must be done.
Opening my bag, I move the little figure of flesh, bone, and sinew, setting them about the estate as I plan my entrance.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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