Dark Heart Rising

by Lee Monroe

  ‘But why would you?’ Dalya sighed. ‘Why would you think you remembered something as big as that? It doesn’t make sense.’

  Luca heard her lower her voice then and he strained to listen.

  ‘Mother is terrified of anything getting in the way of your marriage to Luca,’ she said. ‘It has made her a little intense. Not herself.’

  ‘What do you think, Dalya?’ Lila asked. ‘Is it just a wicked story?’

  There was a silence and Luca found he was holding his breath.

  ‘No. I know it to be true. I have no proof. But I have the word of someone I trust.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘Who is like a sister to me … But who I am sure I will never see again.’

  ‘That pale girl with the grey eyes?’ Lila said. ‘Who is she?’

  ‘Oh. Just … someone.’

  Luca shut his eyes. Just someone.

  ‘Are we still holding the engagement ball?’ Lila asked innocently. ‘I have had my dress especially made.’

  ‘I don’t know, Lila,’ Dalya said kindly. ‘I don’t know what’s going to happen now.’

  Luca moved away from the bedroom door, treading backwards, away from them. His sister meant the world to him and he knew she wasn’t fanciful by nature. If Dalya truly believed Soren had been telling the truth, then he owed it to her and to Lila to find out for himself.

  He could hear Lila talking again, light-hearted this time, playful, Dalya gently humouring her, and he smiled sadly.

  He couldn’t just leave Lila. Promises had been made. Albeit to Lila’s parents from Henora and Ulfred. But his family’s duty was his duty. Nothing had been instilled in him more. And Lila was vulnerable. He couldn’t let her down – could he?

  Jane didn’t need him. She had her family, her strength, her courage. And she would soon find a replacement. He hoped for her sake it would be a mortal boy, who could offer her straightforward love.

  He reached the top of the stairs and began climbing down. Lowe was at the base, struggling into a coat, one foot inside a riding boot.

  ‘Lowe?’ Luca reached him. ‘Where are you going in such a hurry? It’s late. You were up half the night …’

  Lowe pulled his other boot on. ‘I am not sleepy, I’m going for a ride.’

  ‘Now?’ Luca’s eyes darted to the living room, where Henora and Ulfred were. ‘Seems a bit odd.’

  ‘Lowe shrugged. ‘You’re a fine one to speak of odd.’

  Luca eyed his brother suspiciously. ‘You are up to something … sneaking about. You were up at the crack of dawn this morning too. You, who never rise until midday.’

  ‘Somebody needs to do something,’ said Lowe darkly. ‘Stop this.’

  ‘Stop what?’ Luca stepped closer to him, anxiously.

  But Lowe was not forthcoming. He secured his coat, slapping his chest in a gesture of machismo. It would have been amusing in other circumstances. But not tonight.

  ‘If I were you, I would concentrate on comforting your fiancée,’ Lowe told him condescendingly. ‘From what I gather you were hardly the hero last night. Mother said you stood like a meek little lamb, and it was left to her to deal with the situation.’

  Luca sighed, shaking his head. ‘One day you will learn that rushing recklessly into matters that you don’t fully understand is not the adult thing to do.’

  ‘So I should just stand about mewling, allowing all manner of low-life and mortal interlopers into my life?’ Lowe pulled on his coat, buttoning it up to his neck. ‘I don’t think so. Unlike you, brother. I will not allow myself to be disrespected. I have pride. Raphael has asked me to help him, and I have a feeling that the vampire-boy will be receiving his due punishment tonight.’

  Luca opened his mouth, trying to find the real meaning in Lowe’s little speech, but he couldn’t find the words to respond. He stood back, even opening the door for Lowe.

  ‘Just be careful,’ he said. ‘Sometimes your trust is misplaced.’

  With a derisive snort, Lowe pushed past him out into the night, heading for the stables.

  As he shut the door after him, Luca leaned back against it, an uneasy feeling creeping over him. He glanced upstairs where the girls were, and then at the door to the room where his parents were talking.

  His brother was right. He was too passive. Minutes passed as Luca turned ideas over in his head. Then moving quietly, he gathered his boots and a jacket, and an old deer-stalker style hat of his father’s, then, deftly opening the door so that it made no sound, he crept silently out the door.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  As Raphael knew he would, Lowe cantered eagerly towards him, his hair swept back by the wind.

  ‘Is there trouble with Soren?’ asked Lowe, panting a little from some hard riding.

  ‘Soren is locked up in his cell,’ said Raphael. ‘I need you to round up the stable boys, have them ready for my instruction.’

  Lowe’s eyes widened. His excitement was visible. ‘Is it the vampires? Have they staged some sort of revolt on his behalf? We will be glad to put them in their place. It’s about time.’

  Raphael nodded. He didn’t contradict the boy. He needed him to cause trouble, to create unrest.

  ‘Fetch the stable boys, then meet me at the palace cellars. We need to raid the armoury.’

  ‘You mean to fight?’ A shadow of doubt crossed Lowe’s face. ‘This is serious.’

  Again Raphael nodded. ‘Just meet me there in an hour,’ he told him.

  Lowe looked slightly hesitant for a second, but he pulled on his horse’s reins. ‘Of course. I won’t let you down.’

  Of course you won’t, thought Raphael. And as Lowe rode away, he kicked his heels into his mare and began the journey back to the palace.

  Loosely tying his horse, Raphael ran through the palace kitchens. It was late and all the staff were in bed. The stable boys would be grumpy and reluctant to get up, he thought. But they all shared Lowe’s ridiculous vigilante spirit. At the hint of a threat to the palace, they would come out in arms to defend it. To defend the Celestial family.

  But Raphael wasn’t interested in the Celestial family – only that as a member of it, he had power.

  To expose a palace secret in the midst of chaos.

  He found some paper without the palace emblem on it, and hurried up the great staircase to his room. There he took out the sheaf of documents relating to his father’s disappearance, together with another set of documents relating to the infamous wolf cub killer, and tucked them both deep into his pockets.

  To his satisfaction, he heard the thunder of hooves outside and the sound of Lowe shouting something indistinct but vitriolic out into the night.

  Raphael ran further up the stairs, to the floor where Celeste and Cadmium slept. His breath was coming thick and fast and adrenaline coursed through him.

  He reached the door to their vast chamber and put his fist to it and banged as hard he could.

  ‘Celeste!’ he shouted, banging harder. ‘Cadmium!’

  Then he waited, agitated, for his great-mother to come to the door.

  Eventually she appeared, her usually calm face distressed.

  ‘What is it, Raffy?’ she said, taking in his wild eyes and breathlessness. ‘What in heaven is the matter?’

  ‘There is revolution outside the palace,’ he said. ‘The wolf-boy, Lowe, has enlisted the stable boys and means to upturn the Celestial ruling.’ He spoke theatrically, seeing Celeste’s mouth open in shock.

  ‘You must stay in here. Lock the door and don’t unlock it until I say so.’ He watched her face, waiting for some protest, but she merely nodded obediently, casting a look behind her.

  ‘Cadmium is asleep – it would be unwise to move him in any case,’ she told Raphael. ‘He must not be aware of what is going on. This is unprecedented!’

  ‘I will alert the palace servants to stay on their guard. And send some up to secure your room.’ He had no intention of doing such a thing, but if it meant his great parents were in their chamber, feeling safe – if o
blivious – then so much the better.

  ‘Don’t put yourself at risk, will you, Raffy?’ she said. ‘Please take care.’ With a worried smile she closed the door on him.

  Raphael descended the stairs, taking two at a time, and to his annoyance bumped into one of the footmen, adjusting one of the portraits on the wall that flanked the steps.

  ‘Your Highness.’ The footman half bowed, but when he lifted his head his anxious expression was clear. ‘There is a great deal of noise in the palace grounds – shouting and bawling. Do I need to call the palace security?’

  Raphael shook his head. ‘Just some high jinks from the stable boys.’ He smiled. ‘I believe one is soon to be a father – they have celebrated with a little too much grape juice.’

  The footmen didn’t look convinced. ‘Are you sure you don’t want me to—’

  ‘No, no …’ Raphael lowered his voice, practically pushing the footman down the last few stairs to the hall. ‘Nothing at all to worry about. Go to bed and sleep – it will all be but a memory in the morning.’

  He watched the man go, realising he had only a short amount of time in which to carry out his most important task.

  He winced at the sight of the carefully protected books in their glass cupboards. A childhood of respecting literature, both academic and for pleasure, made what he was about to do seem all the more barbaric.

  First he opened a window, then he locked the library door from the inside. Then he turned out the lights. Thinking for a moment, he unlocked one of the cupboards, took out a book, and then re-locked the cupboard and pocketed the key. He opened the book at the page he had flagged the last time.

  Raphael stood for a moment, taking a deep breath, taking one last look at perfection, then he took the stone he had collected from the kitchen gardens, and he smashed the glass in the cupboard before him, sending shards everywhere. He kept his eyes shut and one arm across his face, but a small splinter embedded itself in his cheek nonetheless. Refusing to feel the pain, he turned to the other cupboard and again attacked it. He didn’t stop until all the glass had been smashed and the carpets were covered in shards.

  He stopped. There was no sound from inside the palace. He waited, expecting to hear heavy footsteps, but nobody came. Exhaling with relief, he took the documents out of his pocket and spread them across the table. There in the moonlight, they exposed a connection, and lent themselves a significance that it would be difficult to overlook.

  Finally, Raphael moved quickly to the open window, and carefully, stealthily he climbed out.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  ‘It’s been long enough.’ Vanya paced her kitchen, glaring at Valdar, who was casually turning the pages of a newspaper. She directed her gaze at me, sitting anxiously at the table.

  ‘I need to get home,’ I said, aware that I sounded pathetic. And unhelpful.

  ‘Yes. Yes I know that,’ she snapped. ‘Unfortunately I have not got the connection with you. You’ll have to wait for Soren—’ She stopped, looking a little frantic, for a second. ‘And who knows what they have done with him.’

  ‘So what do you suggest?’ I asked her, stifling a yawn.

  ‘We need to go and get him.’ She marched to the cupboard just outside the kitchen and drew out a white hooded cape.

  ‘Now?’ Valdar lowered his paper. ‘They won’t let you see him now.’

  ‘Oh, Raphael will, if I harangue him sufficiently.’ She buttoned her cape at the neck and her dark hair spilled out, making her look like a devilish snow queen. ‘Jane, get your … hood thing, and let’s go.’

  I rose robotically. I really didn’t want to show my face at the palace again, but it seemed I had no choice. I glanced behind me, to see my hoodie lying crumpled on a leather armchair by the fireplace.

  ‘Don’t sulk, darling,’ she said briskly. ‘Do you want to get home or not?’

  I nodded. ‘But perhaps I should stay here and wait for you to come back with Soren …’ I caught Valdar’s eye and he smiled hungrily at me.

  ‘Or maybe I should come along for support,’ I said quickly, pushing my arms through the hoodie’s sleeves.

  ‘Good girl.’ She ruffled Valdar’s hair. ‘I won’t be long, sweetest.’

  Valdar shrugged. ‘I’d put a wager on it that you come back with your tails between your legs.’

  ‘Well you know what they say,’ she quipped, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained.’

  Valdar picked up his paper again, shaking his head.

  ‘Right.’ Vanya drew some impossibly elegant white kid gloves on. ‘Time to straighten this mess out, once and for all.’

  Luca pulled on his horse’s reins as the sound of breaking glass startled him.

  ‘All right boy …’ he stroked the horse’s ears, dismounting. He was outside the Celestial Palace gates, on his way to finding his brother.

  ‘What have you done?’ he wondered, feeling breathless with alarm. He saw light by the side of the palace, and then saw – he thought he saw – a black jacketed figure there, running in the other direction.

  ‘Lowe!’ he shouted, then ran to the guard’s box. The man on duty had dropped off to sleep.

  ‘Hey!’ He pushed at the man’s arm, watching him slowly come to.

  The guard grunted. ‘Clear off,’ he said, having assured himself that Luca was nobody important.

  ‘Did you not hear that?’ Luca asked him.

  ‘Hmm.’ The guard looked bemused. ‘Hear what?’

  ‘The …’ Luca stopped. If Lowe was responsible, as idiotic as he was, better not drag the palace security in to the matter. ‘Nothing,’ he finished, stepping away. ‘Nothing to worry about.’

  The guard shook his head, frowning. He waved Luca away.

  ‘Fed up of you young fools running around the palace shouting,’ he said. ‘Some of us are trying to sleep.’

  Luca forced a smile. ‘Of course.’ He walked back to his horse, wondering what was going on. The whole place was silent now. As he put his foot in the stirrup, he felt his unease growing. Where was his brother?

  Something felt wrong.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  We virtually ran down the cobbled street. The palace was a ten-minute walk away if I remembered right. I struggled to keep up with Vanya, who moved as though she was being propelled by jet force.

  ‘If you weren’t with me, of course, I would be there in a second,’ she said, gripping hold of my arm. ‘But as lovely as you are, you are simply to heavy for me to carry there.’

  I pulled on her arm as best I could, since I had lost control of bodily movement. ‘Vanya! Ten more minutes won’t make much difference. Slow down.’

  Flashing me an irritated look, Vanya reluctantly slowed her pace.

  At that moment, the almost deafening sound of hooves hit us.

  ‘What the … ?’ Vanya shrunk back as four horsemen appeared at the end of the street.

  My heart rate increased. The rider in front looked suspiciously familiar.

  ‘There!’ he shouted, one hand holding on to the reins, the other pointing aggressively at Vanya and I. He thundered towards us, and I let out a small shriek, darting out of the horse’s way.

  His horse whinnying, Lowe smiled maliciously at the two of us and he pulled brutally on the reins to bring his the animal to an abrupt halt.

  ‘Good grief,’ Vanya said, regarding him distastefully. ‘Shouldn’t you be tucked up in bed, child?’

  He snorted. ‘You think you are above the law, you vampire crone,’ he told her. ‘Well I am here, under orders from the heir to the Celestial throne, to arrest the mortal.’ He shot a look at me.

  ‘Really,’ Vanya sighed wearily. ‘I wish to the devil you would get a female companion of your own, wolf-boy. Perhaps then you would not vent your adolescent hormones on innocent people.’

  ‘Hush.’ He put a finger to his lips, and I drew in my breath. Lowe had some guts, I’d give him that.

  ‘I beg your pardon.’ Vanya’s nostrils flared, and I felt her t
esne beside me. ‘How dare you speak to me like that!’

  ‘I have authority to do what I like,’ he said, hardly showing a trace of fear but for a subtle tremor in his hand as he held on to the reins. ‘Celestial authority.’

  My stomach dropped. ‘What’s happened? Has something happened at the palace?’

  ‘It’s time to cleanse Nissilum. Finally.’

  ‘You haven’t thought this through, have you, dear?’ Vanya sighed. She looked around us. ‘I mean, what exactly do you think you’re going to do – a handful of stable lads?’

  He shrugged. ‘I will stop you. You were going to see that despicable vampire-boy, no doubt.’ He chuckled nastily. ‘I think Raphael has plans for him – may even have disposed of him already.’

  ‘No!’ Vanya and I said together.

  I watched as Vanya’s skin seemed to tighten and her pale face took on a translucent, shimmering quality; her lips blood red.

  Blood red.

  There was fear in Lowe’s eyes as he took her in. Her eyes, blacker than coal, seemed to gleam, and he put his hand up to cover his own eyes.

  ‘Vanya …’ I whispered, not daring to touch her. ‘Don’t.’

  ‘Don’t look at me,’ she hissed, ‘if you want to stay safe.’

  I moved away obediently.

  And then there it was, the snap of her jaw, and her teeth, sharp and deadly.

  ‘I told you,’ she said, sounding guttural, ‘you haven’t thought this through …’ She took a step closer to Lowe’s horse, which reared away, panicked. His hands were holding on tightly, but he had no control over the animal now.

  ‘You see, it takes enormous self-control not to sink my teeth into your miserable flesh on a daily basis,’ Vanya snarled. ‘It is a measure, I think, of my respect for Nissilum’ – she took hold of the horse’s snout in one hand – ‘that I don’t give in to what I am bound to be for ever.’

  Even in the darkness Lowe’s fear was unmistakeable. He swallowed, watching as Vanya took her hand away from the horse. At some distance, his companions were already turning their horses around in alarm.