Empire of the Vampire

by Jay Kristoff

  “My stomach turned a slow, awful roll. ‘Sweet Mothermaid…’

  “Dior shook her head, breathed deep. ‘I dream that shit almost every night.’

  “‘How old were you?’

  “‘Eleven, maybe. It was the streets of Lashaame after that.’ She flipped her fringe from her eyes, swagger returning. ‘A stolen coat. Haircut with a rusty knife. Simpler that way. Not easy. But easier. The gutter doesn’t fuck boys the same way it fucks girls.’

  “‘… I’m sorry.’

  “‘Are you really?’

  “‘Of course I am,’ I growled. ‘I’m a bastard, not a monster.’

  “Dior reached into the greatcoat I’d loaned her and pulled out my silver pipe. ‘Then you should throw this thing in the river, hero. Go back home and kiss your wife and hug your daughter and tell them you’re never going to leave them again.’

  “‘And abandon you?’

  “‘Everyone else does.’

  “There was no self-pity in those words. Fury, maybe. But wallowing in sorrow didn’t seem to be this girl’s way. A quiet came over her. Soft as shadow. I tried to remember what I’d been like at sixteen, and I could see she was older than I’d ever been at her age.

  “‘You know, when Sister Chloe and Père Rafa found me, I was looking for their angle right away. I ran with a pack after my mama died. Gutter rats and pickpockets. We used to play a game at nights to keep the hunger away. Talk about what we were going to do when we got older. Meet a handsome prince and marry him. Become a famous pirate, sail the Eversea, that kind of bollocks. But no matter how grand those dreams got, not a one of us imagined we’d be the savior of the damned world when we grew up.’

  “‘What did you want to be when you grew up?’

  “Dior shrugged, looked me in the eye.

  “‘Dangerous.’

  “She turned her gaze back to the flames.

  “‘After Sister Chloe and Rafa told me about the prophecy, for a minute I genuinely thought it was going to be aright. So stupid of me. Everybody leaves. Mama. Saoirse. Chloe. Toff.’ She gritted her teeth, furious. ‘Everybody.’

  “‘Who’s Toff?’

  “But Dior was lost, staring into the flames.

  “‘So fucking stupid…’

  “I sighed. Tired. Bloodied. Brimming with anger and sore with sorrow. Chloe was dead. Rafa, too. This wasn’t why I’d come north—getting dragged into ancient conspiracies and babysitting the descendant of the Redeemer himself? I never wanted any of this. The Volta was as far as I’d agreed to go. I should just cut my losses right now.

  “Always better to be a bastard than a fool.

  “But this girl had nothing left. For all her front, she was hanging by a thread. And strange as it seemed, unearned as it was, that thread was me.

  “‘You should sleep,’ I sighed. ‘Things will look brighter come the dawn. And we want to be moving during the day.’

  “Dior’s voice was dull as old iron. ‘We.’

  “‘There’s a cityfort northwest of here. Redwatch. Was a rough place a decade back, and I can’t imagine it’s got softer. But we get there, we work out what comes next.’

  “‘I told you, hero,’ she warned. ‘Go back to your wife and daughter.’

  “‘And I told you, girl,’ I growled. ‘I’m a bastard, not a monster.’

  “Dior clenched her teeth, jaw squared. I could see the wheels inside her head spinning. But more, I could see sadness. Fear. All the weight of this rotten world on those scrawny shoulders. And finally, she pulled my greatcoat tight around her and met my eyes.

  “‘I’m too cold to sleep.’

  “‘Well, tough shit. Because you need to.’

  “Dior gazed at me across the fire. ‘You could warm me up?’

  “‘… What?’

  “My belly took a sickening lurch as she traced one hand slowly down her neck. Fingertips drifting along her collarbone. Her lips parted, now. Her voice a purr.

  “‘Tall. Dark. Damaged. You’re just my kind of poison.’

  “Her fingers reached the bandages about her chest, then rose up, one by one. And with a sigh of relief, I realized she was flipping me the Fathers again.

  “‘… Had you worried there, didn’t I?’

  “A bubble of nervous laughter burst on my lips. Hanging my head, I chuckled as the girl wiggled her fingers. ‘You little bitch.’

  “‘Oui, I’m the bitch,’ she scoffed. ‘Shave off ten years and that disasterpiece of a beard, and you still wouldn’t have a prayer in hell, hero.’

  “I scowled, scratching my stubble. ‘I lost my razor.’

  “The mischievous smile on her lips dimmed. ‘Jesting aside, now. I’m fucking freezing. And your virtue’s safe with me. You’re married, for starters. And you’ve too many cocks.’

  “‘Last I checked, I’d only the one.’

  “‘As I say. Too many.’

  “Her eyes narrowed just a sliver, watching me in the flickering firelight. I recalled seeing her and Saoirse then. Lost in each other’s arms.

  “‘Ah.’

  “‘Ahhh,’ she echoed.

  “This was a testing, I knew. Most folk didn’t hold truck with such a life, especially not the devout. But it hadn’t bothered me when I was a believer. Sure as hell didn’t bother me now. Of all people, who was I to judge someone for who they tumbled?

  “‘Get comfortable, then,’ I said.

  “Dior stared a moment longer, then pulled herself off the cave wall. Skinning off her sopping boots and britches, she shuffled closer to the fire. I kept my eyes averted, looking to the dark outside. When she was settled, I fetched Ashdrinker and lay down facing away from Dior, spreading my greatcoat over both of us. We weren’t much to each other in all that cold and dark and empty. But better than nothing.

  “We lay in silence for a time, back to back, crackling flames the only sound.

  “‘I’m sorry,’ I said eventually. ‘About Saoirse.’

  “Dior sighed. ‘I’m sorry about all of them.’

  “‘… Oui.’

  “More silence. But Dior spoke again, her voice small.

  “‘Hero?’

  “‘What?’

  “‘What if Danton comes?’

  “‘He won’t. Not yet. The river.’

  “‘But if he does?’

  “‘I’ll keep watch. Sleep now, girl. Fear no darkness.’

  “More quiet. Lifetimes long.

  “‘Hero?’

  “‘What?’

  “‘… Merci.’”

  II

  A ONCE-GREEN KINGDOM

  “‘GABRIEL.’

  “The whisper woke me from bleak dreams, stained with blood’s perfume. The dark was waiting when I opened my eyes, my body stiff and aching with cold. There was warmth at my back, and I heard her murmur as I shifted, and for a second, I fancied myself back home in the bed we’d made and the life we’d built, the song of the sea in my ears. But the voice came again, not behind, but out in the night beyond the cave.

  “‘Gabriel.’

  “I eased my greatcoat off us, tucking it around Dior’s back. Again, the girl stirred, frowning, eyes flickering beneath her closed lids. Dreaming of rats and mother’s mouths, I supposed. I dragged the last log into the embers to warm her, dragged myself to my feet. And quiet as cats, I slipped into the dark outside.

  “The world was still and frozen, dark as dreaming. I saw the silver ribbon of the Volta below, a thin clifftop leading to a lonely drop. And she called again, whisper soft.

  “‘Gabriel.’

  “I followed her voice, along the freezing stone and up to the very edge of that precipice. And on the other side of the river, back across the freezing Volta, I saw her on the shoreline. Just a pale shadow in the frail dawning, face framed by long locks of midnight. A beauty spot beside dark lips, one eyebrow arched as always. She stood among the snow-clad boughs and the ruins of a once-green kingdom, watching me. And she spoke then, lips moving, her voice a warm whisper in m
y mind.

  “‘My lion.’

  “‘My life,’ I sighed. ‘How did you—’

  “‘Always, Gabriel. I will always find you.’

  “She looked at me across that dark and frozen gulf. My boots edged closer to the fall. The sun was struggling to raise its head over the worldsend, through the daysdeath shroud. All the horizon was the color of blood, as if the whole world were drowning in it. Beautiful. Horrifying. And I realized I couldn’t remember what real dawn looked like anymore.

  “‘Tell me you love me.’

  “‘I adore you.’

  “‘Promise you will never leave me.’

  “‘Never,’ I breathed. ‘Never!’

  “Her hand drifted up to her face, one long fingernail tracing the arc of her lip. I realized she was weeping, tears of blood streaming down her face.

  “‘I miss you so much…’

  “‘Hero?’

  “I turned at the call, Dior’s voice echoing within the cave behind. I looked back to Astrid, standing on that bleak shore, the wind blowing long locks around her pale curves. For a second, it was all I could do to not fling myself off that edge, swimming back across that black expanse and throwing myself into her arms.

  “‘If I can find you,’ she warned, ‘Danton can too.’

  “‘Next time, I’ll be ready.’

  “‘Hero?’

  “I could hear the slight tremor in Dior’s voice now. Glancing to the cave.

  “‘I have to get back,’ I whispered. ‘She sounds frightened.’

  “‘She’s not your concern, love. Remember why you left us.’

  “‘Astrid, I…’

  “My voice failed as she turned, slipping away like a ghost, bare and pale between the trees. Nothing but an empty shoreline and the drop into the Volta below. Hands shaking, I wiped the tears from my face, dragged my hair back, squeezing through the crack and into the warmth of the cave beyond. Dior was by the flames, huddled inside my greatcoat.

  “‘There you are,’ she said.

  “‘Here I am. You aright?’

  “She shrugged, like she was donning a suit of armor. ‘I thought maybe you’d…’ Dior frowned, noting my bloodshot eyes. My haggard face. ‘Are you aright?’

  “‘No. I’m thirsty.’

  “The girl looked at me, suspicious. ‘You know … you talk in your sleep.’

  “‘And you snore. But you don’t hear me complaining.’ I glanced to the breaking dawn outside while Dior made small noises of outrage. ‘If you’re awake, we should get moving. It’s a long walk to Redwatch. And I need to find something to smoke.’

  “Her face soured at that, all concern vanishing. ‘Have to feed the need, eh?’

  “‘It’s not like that,’ I growled. ‘I’m not your mama. I’m a paleblood, girl.’

  “‘Maybe. But I can still see a shadow on you.’

  “‘This thing is in my veins. It makes me what I am. I don’t do it for fun. I do it because I have to. You give the beast his due, or he takes his due from you.’

  “‘But … your foundry, your chymicals, they were in your saddlebags.’

  “I sighed, throwing a mournful glance back across the river. ‘Oui.’

  “‘We could go back to San Guillaume? Jezebel is still in the stables. We cou—’

  “‘No,’ I said flatly. ‘Too dangerous. Jezebel broke loose during the battle anyway. She’s fucking miles away by now. I visited Redwatch years back, and there’s folk there who truck in dark places. We get to the Night Market, I’ll find what I need.’

  “‘What happens if you don’t?’

  “I swallowed hard. The burn was already beneath my skin, soon to spread out through my spine, all the way to my fingertips. I glanced to Dior’s lips, the pointed chin beneath, that thin, throbbing vein just below her jaw.

  “I snatched Ashdrinker from the wall.

  “‘Let’s get moving.’”

  III

  BLAME THE BLACKSMITH

  “THREE DAYS LATER, we were barely moving at all.

  “Freezing. Stumbling. Nothing to eat but a few frozen mushrooms. Nothing to smoke at all. As ill fortune would have it, we’d been hit by wretched on the second day—a pair of them coming at us through the dead trees. Farmer folk—mother and son by the look, seen off by me and Ashdrinker without too much drama. But with nothing to collect their blood in, no way to cook it, I had to waste it in the snow.

  “My wounds had healed, but the thirst sat in my belly like a knot of flame now, roiling ever wider. We followed frozen banks, me staggering in front, Dior stumbling behind. The deadwood was silent, the river sluggish; a grey dress hemmed with frost. Wintersdeep was biting at our heels now, and even a river mighty as the Volta would soon freeze solid.

  “If we didn’t reach Redwatch, we’d be frozen long before.

  “Dior was huddled in my greatcoat, shivering and miserable. She didn’t complain, which was a mark in her favor, but she seemed possessed of an irrepressible need to chatter. To question. About the Silver Order. About San Michon. About vampires, the capital, anything that entered her damned head. I don’t know whether she did it to keep her mind off the cold or my mind off my thirst, or simply to torture me. But you remember what I said about the problem with most men being they never shut the fuck up?”

  Jean-François nodded. “Oui.”

  “Turns out that’s also true for teenage girls.

  “‘How can she do what she does?’ she asked on the third day.

  “‘Eh?’ I growled, stumbling along the riverbank.

  “Dior’s eyes were fixed on the sword at my waist. ‘Ashdrinker. How can she hurt the Dead so easily? When you fought that masked vampire in San Guillaume, those wretched in Winfael, it looked like her blade burned them. I thought only silver did that.’

  “‘She’s magik,’ I growled, breathing a cloud of frost. ‘And I’m talking true magik, now. Forged from the heart of a fallen star, long before the empire was born.’

  “‘She’s … impressive to watch.’

  “‘You should’ve seen her when I was younger. She could cut the night in two.’ I sighed, my gaze roaming the silvered dame on the hilt. ‘She never used to stutter, you know. But she’s not what she used to be since she broke. She gets confused sometimes now. About where we are. Or when. Truth told … I think she’s gone a little bit mad.’

  “‘How’d she break?’

  “‘I pushed her down the stairs after she asked too many questions.’

  “‘Is it true what Bellamy said?’

  “I sighed. ‘Probably not.’

  “‘About you finding her in the grave of a dead barrowking?’

  “‘Barrowking graves are called barrows. Hence the name. And no. Utter bullshit.’

  “‘You won her in a riddle contest in the Everdark, then?’

  “‘Never been to the Everdark. I’m not that suicidal.’

  “‘So … you sexed some deadly faequeen so expertly that she passed out and—’

  “‘Fuckssakes, grow up, will you?’

  “‘Well, what about her knowing how everyone will die?’

  “I sighed again, glancing down to Ashdrinker. ‘That much is true.’

  “‘… Really?’

  “I peered over my shoulder. ‘Want to know?’

  “‘How I die?’ Dior swallowed thickly, teeth chattering. ‘I … suppose s-so?’

  “I stopped and stared. ‘You certain? It’s not a truth you can unlearn, girl.’

  “She looked me in the eye. Squared her shoulders and nodded.

  “‘Give me your hand, then,’ I said.

  “Dior complied, her fingers trembling. I took hold, wrapped my other fist around Ashdrinker’s hilt. Snow fell gently about us, melting on our skin as I scowled, murmuring under my breath. Then I opened my eyes, and foretold Dior’s death.

  “‘You keep asking me bullshit questions, and I drown you in this fucking river.’

  “‘God, you’re a prick,’ she spat, snatching
her hand away.

  “‘Serves you right.’

  “‘For what?’

  “‘Tall, dark, and damaged?’

  “She scoffed. ‘Truth is the sharpest knife.’

  “I raised a warning finger. ‘I’ll have you know I’m—’

  “I gasped, doubling over in agony as a wave of flame swept up my spine. Holding my belly, eyes squeezed shut, just struggling to stay upright. I felt Dior’s hand on my shoulder as all the world around me buckled and swayed.

  “‘Getting worse?’

  “‘It only ever gets worse, girl.’

  “‘… Is there something I can do?’

  “I inhaled through gritted teeth so I wouldn’t have to smell her. ‘Short of conjuring a nice, fat wretched and something to cook with, m-maybe shut up a while.’

  “She chewed her lip. ‘I can do that.’

  “‘I’ve a g-gold royale says you don’t last an hour.’

  “We staggered on, freezing and aching, the thirst clawing the insides of my skin. I’d never gone more than seven nights without sating it, but I knew what would happen when I broke. And the pure, black dread of that thought had me tied tighter than a hangman’s noose, every step, every minute, harder and harder to breathe.

  “‘Hero…’ Dior said.

  “‘Forty-seven minutes, girl,’ I growled. ‘You owe me a g-gold royale.’

  “‘No, look!’

  “I pawed the frost from my lashes, glanced to where she was pointing. And out in the middle of the freezing Volta, maybe half a mile downriver, I saw a sight that almost made me believe the Almighty’s favorite pastime wasn’t spitting in my spuds.

  “‘A barge,’ Dior breathed.

  “She was right. A flat-bottomed boat was plowing its way upriver, manned by a dozen crew with long-poled oars. The bargemen sang as they worked, and I could hear them now if I tried, over the rushing pulse in my ears.

  “‘There was a fine maid from Dún Fas,

  “‘Who had a remarkable ass;