by Sela Croft
I closed my eyes then pinched the bridge of my nose. “This is very bad news.”
Calina touched my arm. “If Alban has her, there’s no time to lose.”
“The army is already preparing to launch an attack,” I said, racing for the stairs. “It will be sooner than they planned. We’ll leave immediately for the mountains.”
Chapter 19 – Mirela
The relentless torture had worn me down. Intermittently, the king left me alone. My body was capable of recovery, yet he didn’t allow enough rest. Each time he returned too soon; I’d healed but not completely.
My condition had gradually worsened, and I decided it was slow agony that Alban strove for. The frigid room had become a lesser annoyance compared to my injuries. My body was disfigured from the torture, with cuts and welts covering my skin.
Alban’s propensity to deliver pain hadn’t abated. Each session, he embarked upon his task with as much verve as previously. He hadn’t seemed to slow at all, but I had. Some of the periods, I’d been unconscious, dreaming of Draven and imagining I was in his castle.
Yet I’d awaken only to find that my circumstances hadn’t changed. I was still in the dilapidated space with monsters staring at me. With each torture session, I grew weaker. Often, I’d barely opened my eyes before the king reappeared.
I made an effort to move my limbs, not wanting to freeze up. The king wasn’t in the room, but the guards still watched closely. When I was awake, my mind functioned. The trauma had physically weakened me, but not mentally.
I took these brief moments alone to think. If I had any chance of avoiding death, I’d need to conquer my oppressor while I retained my abilities. The prolonged incarceration had sapped my strength. If only I had Draven’s capacity to endure months without blood, but I didn’t.
My feeding requirements as a young vampire exceeded those of the ancient ones. If I didn’t feed regularly, I’d starve. Since I’d been in my supernatural state, I hadn’t needed to press the issue. Draven had ensured that sustenance was readily available.
A few times, I’d waited too long to drink, so I was familiar with the consequences. But I hadn’t been forced to starve for prolonged periods. I wasn’t certain what the progression of my hunger would bring with it. I didn’t know how long I’d be able to function.
That reality urged me to act. If the torture didn’t incapacitate me, the starvation would. Then Alban’s final act would be to kill me. That was all very bleak and seemed so senseless after all I’d been through. Like my life flashing before my eyes, I saw images of my past.
From the beginning, I’d struggled to get to Draven then vowed to stay by his side. There was no possibility that I’d give up, as long as I had a chance. I strained against the chains that bound me, but they were secure.
Even if I could wave my arms to control the weather, creating a blizzard would do little to help me. The palace was on a mountain of ice, so more snow wouldn’t alter it much. All that would do is make my environment more untenable. And my rescue—if there was any hope of one—more difficult.
I was desperate to discover a solution before my captor returned. Alban was merciless, so I didn’t know if I’d have another opportunity to think my way out of this mess. Then I became aware of thoughts that weren’t mine.
In my semiconscious state, I’d been only vaguely aware of the servants who had entered the cell to clean me up. The staff was composed of humans, but they approached stealthily and handled my injuries gently. I’d hardly noticed their ministrations, which had largely occurred while I’d been out cold.
Alban must have ordered his servants to maintain a standard of conditions in the cell. It certainly wasn’t for my benefit, but I was sure that he wished to see his victim. If I was hidden under a mass of blood, he couldn’t have nearly as much fun.
A gentle touch and a warm rag soothed the cuts on my legs. My craving for blood was nearly overwhelming, but I managed to suppress the urge. Two human females were tending to my injuries. I didn’t dare speak to them, as I didn’t want the guards to hear. And they were so timid that I thought I’d frighten them.
A ray of hope sparked inside me. Until then, I’d been alone with no one to connect with but the king and his monstrosities. The human touch revived me, ever so little. And I was reminded that I could read their minds. But the king could not.
That was an advantage, and something I could accomplish without moving. It offered possibilities. I’d just have to figure out how to use that against the king. There was no chance the humans would revolt, as they were obviously too terrified.
The human kindness that the servants exhibited was a breath of fresh air. The entirety of the kingdom wasn’t evil and bent on death. Some were victims, just as I was. Gentleness and caring existed, traits that the king lacked entirely.
Inspired, I reached out to contact others. The guards were mentally dense, so wouldn’t have a clue that I was doing anything. First, I entered the minds of those who aided me. I began to connect and to discover more about my environment.
From reading their thoughts, I had a better understanding of what went on inside the palace. And I gained a sense of their emotions, worries, and the sad state of their lives. I began to have an inkling of how I might survive but hadn’t fully formed a plan.
I extended my reach to see if I could contact other humans in the royal palace. I tried to tell how many there were, and there seemed like a lot. Based on the various thoughts I picked up, the staff was sizeable. For a moment, I forgot my travail, and my heart saddened for those forced to work for the king.
My mind was filled with thoughts of those who were doomed, and of the emotions they endured. It all seemed so futile. The life of any human in bondage at the palace was utterly bleak. I determined through telepathy that anyone unfortunate enough to be in the king’s employ didn’t live long.
My thoughts were interrupted when Alban entered, and the humans vanished. I looked into his beady red eyes, feeling only animosity. I found no redeeming virtues in the king, only reasons to despise him.
“You grow weak,” Alban said. “I sent servants to assist you, because I’m not done with you yet. I won’t allow you to fade away, not while I’m deriving such enjoyment from your suffering.”
“You’re a disgrace to your title as king and your vampire race,” I said, angered by his taunting. “I might give in and die out of spite for you.”
“Don’t you dare.” Alban loomed over me, his latest weapon of torture in hand. He seemed to have an endless supply of implements, each one delivering its own special agony.
“You’re deluded in thinking that you control me, but you can’t.” I was babbling, yet the king reacted.
“Oh, but I do.” Alban leaned closer to study me. “What I don’t understand is why you don’t fight back.”
“If you’d remove these chains, I’d be glad to accommodate.” It occurred to me that what Alban had wanted all along was for me to use my sorcery. I remembered that he’d made attempts to coerce Selene to his side, because he wanted the benefit of her skill.
It could be that he pushed me to the limit to see what I’d do. In his demented mind, he’d assumed that if I possessed power that I’d use it. The fact that the physical stress or the bondage could block my sorcery ability hadn’t occurred to him.
As a result, it was possible that Alban didn’t know of my ability. It was true that I hadn’t exhibited much. I’d lain on the wooden platform like a helpless female, which had likely frustrated him. It seemed that he wanted me to react and display my abilities.
Even if I had, I didn’t understand how he thought that would do him any good. It wasn’t like he could observe my use of sorcery, then capture the ability in a bottle to be used later. Yet he seemed overly interested in my sorceress nature.
“Why don’t you unchain me?” I looked into his soulless eyes. “I’d be glad to demonstrate what I can do.”
“That’s clever,” Alban said. “But it won’t work. Anyon
e would fight back if unchained. If you are half sorceress, as I’ve been led to believe, you could free yourself.”
“And deprive you of torturing me?” I said. “Do you really want that? Consider it well before answering.”
I noticed that my comment had taken the king aback. I could almost see the wheels of his mind turning. My taunt had caused him to consider how much I might be capable of.
But the king wasn’t thrown off guard for long. He smirked, clearly still in control. “We’ll see how brave you are after this session. I have something special in mind for you.”
The king had an electrical prod in his hand. With a gleam in his eyes, he pressed it to my arm, and the electricity shot through me. His audacity irked me. The evil one thought he could do anything he wished, as though he was a god.
Only he was a devil, and I’d had enough. The recent memories of the humans he abused on a daily basis lit a fire within my heart. It wasn’t right, and someone had to do something about it. I railed against the oppression of those who were weaker.
Alban used his prod repeatedly, as if I was a science experiment. He wanted to see how much I could take, and how I’d respond. And he was about to find out. I’d suppressed my vampire nature since I’d been transformed.
I’d feared my darker side as Draven feared his. Yet that rage could no longer be submerged. Pushed beyond reasonable limits, I had sufficient provocation to justify my actions. Although I didn’t seem to need any.
My emotion surged, replacing rationality. Anger rose within me and, fueled by Alban’s cruelty, turned into a ferocious state of mind. Had I been freed of my chains, I would have torn him limb from limb. With my bare hands, I would have squeezed the life out of him.
There was nothing to hold me back. Pure rage ruled my mind and my actions. To my amazement, the emergence of my vicious side released my sorceress ability. No longer was it lost to me in my weakened state; instead, my power resurged with full force.
In a blind rage, I focused on a spot near Alban, and fireballs burst into existence. I created another and another. The guards rushed to put out the fire, lest Alban’s garments go up in flames. The king roared, but I refused to stop.
I searched the room for a heavy object. The place was barren except for a side table that Alban used as a place for his implements of torture. I’d honed my skill of telekinesis in recent weeks, and now it came to my aid. Thrusting my power at the table, I lifted it from the stone floor and tossed it at Alban.
The king ducked, but not fast enough. One of the table legs smacked into his hip, and he growled like a bear grazed with a bullet. I had no fear for my life, and nor did I care. Right then, I was pure rage. I’d become as much vampire as sorceress, and I had a thirst for blood—Alban’s.
Like a wounded animal, the king limped from the room to tend to his wounds. He could bluster and threaten, but when it came down to it, he was a coward. That was something to remember. The door shut behind him, and I stared at the wooden table askew on the floor.
Without the aggravation of the king’s presence, my ire began to fade. But I’d proven that I was capable of fighting back. Even more, I had to admit that I could be as vicious as I could be kind. But the horror of what I’d become didn’t affect me as it might have. I vowed to use my abilities to defend the innocent. I wouldn’t cower from evil but would wield whatever power I could muster to snuff it out.
Chapter 20 – Mirela
Before my strength subsided, I made an effort to contact humans in my vicinity. I had a sense that the servants were an important part of any solution. If I connected with them, there might be a way to work together. It was one thing that Alban wouldn’t think of.
The king considered humans as no better than animals. He deemed them unworthy of a future, so took the liberty of using them as he saw fit. I filtered data from a few humans in the next corridor. What I learned was appalling.
The humans who were palace servants were treated like cattle. They slept in overflowing rooms without beds. The stone floors were all that was available. The negligent treatment didn’t end there. Food was scarce, as no plants grew on the mountain.
Any food had to be brought in, and that was not a top priority for the king. If a servant didn’t die at Alban’s hand, they might die from starvation. Either that or from the extreme cold. But the king wasn’t concerned.
Humans were in abundance, so lives weren’t worth much. If one servant expired, there was another to replace him. No sane person volunteered to work at the palace, but the king wasn’t opposed to corralling them and hauling them to the estate.
I dreaded to think what was done with the dead bodies, but I only wished to know what I needed to. With the frozen environment around the palace, any dead would freeze solid anyway. And there was no sun to thaw the peak when spring came, because winter was the only season in the mountainous region.
My empathy for the humans soared. It hadn’t been that long since I’d been human, susceptible to the same conditions as they were. Yet I’d experienced pain, love, beauty. I’d valued kindness, gentleness, and tolerance.
The king held the power, but he was bereft of feeling. My heart ached for all who had to endure his abuse. I looked to the humans for help, but they needed mine even more. There was no one in the kingdom who looked out for their welfare.
I’d vowed that I would do so when I became queen. Yet that possibility was remote now. It was questionable whether I’d survive—although I knew that I must. Anger was a powerful motivator, and fueled my rebellion against injustice.
Humans had been second-class citizens in this realm. On occasion they’d had tolerable treatment. I thought of Kerrie at the Draven’s castle and others. But that good fortune hadn’t extended to the multitude of humans who served throughout the kingdom.
If I could manage an escape, didn’t they deserve to be freed too? It was all quite distressing. I should have been concerned about getting out of Alban’s grasp. Yet there was more to consider. The travails of his servants weighed heavily on my mind and conscience.
There were so many of them. I read one mind after the other, trying to figure out what to do. The situation seemed so bleak, as the king hadn’t been defeated in many centuries. There was little to support the hope that he would be.
Two of the humans were more alert than the others, and I learned that they’d recently arrived. I focused on them, noting that they were as incensed by the king’s treatment of others as I was. The humans were Curtis and Emma, husband and wife.
As part of my telepathy, I was able to place thoughts in a human’s mind. I didn’t often do so, as many might find it alarming. Others would assume that the thought was theirs, that it hadn’t come from any outside source.
Curtis picked up on my communication, but instead of ignoring the nuances, he zeroed in. I was able to converse with him mentally. First, I assured him that I was friendly, then I told him who I was. He’d known of my arrival. News of my incarceration had spread quickly.
He felt so helpless, stuck on top of the icy mountain and enslaved by the king. He was concerned for his wife, yet had no control over her duties, or how the king would treat her. I assured him that I would try to talk with Emma.
As it turned out, his wife was as perceptive as he was. She had only been at the palace a short while, so fared better than some. She told me that many other servants weren’t in good shape. The weeks of poor conditions had been overly stressful. They were in a subdued state, and not strong enough to resist.
The king was easily annoyed, and punished without consideration for any defense. At the palace, Emma was in a constant state of anxiety. She was grateful that she didn’t have children, because she’d talked to women who did. The children had been left behind, since they weren’t of use to the king.
I supposed that sparing the children’s lives was a pardon from a short, unendurable existence. But I had no doubt that their parents missed them horribly. I proceeded to converse with Curtis and Emma. It was cle
ar that they wished to escape as I did.
Each of them shared what they could about the layout of the palace, and about the number of guards they’d seen. I had a better idea of how things looked outside the boundaries of my prison cell. I tried to calm their concern about my welfare.
Rumors of my treatment had spread throughout the staff. The humans had lived elsewhere before their enslavement, so knew of the Guardians. It had been daunting to learn that I’d been captured, as they didn’t know what that meant for the future of the kingdom.
The humans hadn’t feared Draven as they feared the king, so had hoped for the victory of the Guardians. Yet the life-threatening conditions around them had ruined their morale. It seemed that hopelessness abounded.
I couldn’t make any promises, but I assured Curtis and Emma that I wanted to help. In response, the couple vowed to join any escape attempt, and were confident that they could lead the others. It was heartwarming to hear, yet I didn’t have a strategy.
So as not to alarm the guards, the couple resumed their duties, but I promised to get in touch again. I now had a bigger problem than I’d had upon arrival in this hell. There were more lives to be concerned with than mine.
I tried to fathom the significance of that. I felt morally compelled to save the humans, although I might die in the attempt. The more I thought about it, the more I was certain that I had to get the servants out first. Many were weak or near death already.
It was imperative that any human in the royal court be ushered to safety. Even if I accomplished that—which was far-fetched anyway—there was no guarantee that I would survive. No matter the option I considered, there was no good answer.
My greatest desire had been to be with Draven. I’d dedicated my life to that goal. Now it appeared that I might be forced to give up what I wanted most. There were many more lives at stake than mine, so for the greater good, I’d have to forgo my own happiness.
