The Twilight Star

by Laura E. Collins

  “But why not just enslave us all then?”

  “Some kingdoms are like that, but King Edreyan is different. He was married to a human and has two half-vampire offspring that can rule in the daylight for him. Some believe that they are the wave of the future.”

  Doctor Thorpe had told me as much already.

  “I would not be surprised if another war starts soon,” he continued. “Monarchs are not easily dissuaded from what they want.”

  The thought of another war unsettled me a bit. I wanted to find a way home before that could come to be.

  Chapter 15

  The following week, Paul watched me from across the room as Lord Thornton and I performed several dances in a row. Through all of the turns I kept watch out of the corner of my eye and sure enough we had definitely caught the attention of Lady Jocelyn. Despite being a frigid evening even with the balcony doors closed, my cheeks flared pink with heat. After the song finished he and I, along with everyone else, took a brief break to seek refreshments. The fruit at these functions was never something I wanted to miss. Although my throat burned with thirst, I had learned to sip slowly on the wine punch they served. The very last thing I wanted was to be seen intoxicated and vulnerable by these people. As we chatted, Lady Jocelyn’s father approached Lord Thornton, introducing himself.

  “Good evening, I am Lord Elyot. I do not believe that we have met,” the kind middle-aged gentleman said as he extended his hand to Lord Thornton.

  “I am very pleased to meet you, my lord,” Thornton said graciously, returning the handshake. “This is Evelyn Remington of the East Village,” he said, gesturing to me.

  “It is nice to meet you,” I said politely with a curtsy.

  “And you my dear, it seems you have a gift for learning our traditional dances,” he replied amiably.

  “Thank you, we. . .”

  “Miss Remington, Lady Margaret would like a word with you,” a servant interrupted.

  “Of course, excuse me please,” I said, curtsying again to the two men, hurrying after the servant. I hoped Thornton would make the most out of this opportunity to meet Lord Elyot’s daughter. As I navigated through the sea of elegantly dressed courtiers I stopped and curtsied before Lady Margaret, wondering what she wanted to speak with me about. Unfortunately the horrible Lady Bluteau was with her.

  “Miss Evelyn, thank you for coming so quickly. Lady Bluteau and I were having a discussion and I wanted to seek your opinion.”

  I nodded patiently.

  “Do you believe that a woman should be entitled to be the heir of her father’s estate if he has no sons?”

  Here we go again. “Certainly. It is how we do things where I come from.” I replied calmly.

  “You see, Lady Bluteau; we are not the only society considering such a change.”

  “This is ridiculous. Why would anyone leave an estate to a woman?”

  Just then the musicians took their places and I took that as my cue to get away from this conversation. “Excuse me ladies, the next dance is about to start. I must meet Lord Thornton.”

  “Yes of course,” Lady Margaret replied.

  I hurried away from them as fast as possible without appearing as though I wanted nothing to do with them. Scanning the crowd, I saw Lord Thornton near the dance floor with his back to me. He turned and glanced at me, gave me a nod, and then turned back to whoever he was speaking with. Two lines formed on the floor, with the ladies on one side facing the men on the other. This was going to be a Dargason dance. Taking my place, last in line, I waited for Lord Thornton to take his spot on the opposite men’s line. The fine lady in front of me, engrossed in conversation with the lady in front of her, accidentally dropped her handkerchief. Instinctively, I bent down and picked it up for her. When I was upright again, I glanced at the opposite side searching for Lord Thornton. My mouth dropped open slightly when I saw that his space was occupied by Prince Eythan; his blue-green eyes piercing into mine. Before I even had time to prepare myself, the lady in front of me took her handkerchief back and whispered a “thank you” before the music began.

  Nervously, perspiration began to slip down my back and I tried not to press my moist palms against my skirts as I waited for my turn to move. I prayed I wouldn’t mess up. The dance seemed simple overall, but I was new at it and now had the added pressure of dancing with the most important man in the room. Right before it was my turn, I glanced back towards Lord Thornton. He was with Lady Jocelyn and they were both poised watching us with curious eyes. He ever so slightly gave me a shrug. Behind them, I briefly caught a glance of Lord Crievan’s sour expression before he slipped away.

  I focused on the beats of the music as I moved in sync towards the most handsome man I had ever seen. We circled round each other without touching before I moved to circle around and back. Whew! At least I didn’t screw that up. I paid attention to the dance and how to work my way back, changing partners, but all I could really see was him. He approached me as graceful as a swan. We linked arms this time for the circling round and let go in tune with the music. Although his arm was firm and formal, his touch sent a thrill through me. I could not help but notice how refined his movements were; he made Lord Thornton seem downright clumsy. I wonder what he thought about me. Finally, for the third round, working our way back once more he made eye contact with me as we clasped hands for the last roundabout before we let go and weaved our way back. I think I memorized everything about his hand that I could. It felt cool, large and strong, but his grasp was gentle. I had never touched Princess Emeley. I wondered if all half-vampires felt that way and if the true vampires were firm and cold. I’m not sure I wanted to find out.

  As abruptly as it began, the dance ended and everyone clapped. Our two dance lines bowed and curtsied to each other respectfully. I swore I saw a half-smile cross his face before he turned and wandered off with a few of the eligible ladies, Lady Bluteau and Lady Crievan, included, in pursuit.

  “Evie?” It was Lord Thornton. I pulled myself out of my fantasy with the prince and turned to him. “Lady Jocelyn has returned home with her family. Would you like to go?”

  “Yes. Please take me home,” I said, still looking at the last place the prince had been before he left.

  ∞

  The next evening Sam and I closed up shop after a busy day. I think I wrapped three people with severe burns, extracted a few thorns, and looked at several rashes. I was more than ready for supper to say the least.

  “Tell Sarah I was needed at the estate,” Sam said, wrapping her fine cloak over her shoulders.

  “You aren’t going to say hello to her when she comes?” I asked

  “I know how she will react,” she said softly, speaking of Sarah’s disapproval of her relationship with Sir William. “Here he comes. Have a good evening, Evie!” she exclaimed cheerfully as she walked out to his carriage when he pulled up.

  “Have fun,” I replied. It was all I could say. Sam was clearly as in to Sir William as he was in to her. At least one of us could find some happiness in this world. Shortly after they pulled away Sean and Sarah arrived to escort me to dinner. They seemed to be back together, at least for now. She immediately started grilling me for details when she saw that Sam was absent again.

  “Where is Sam?” she asked angrily. “She’s with that creature, isn’t she!”

  Not wanting to lie to her, I shrugged and said, “they enjoy spending time together.”

  “How could you let this happen, Evie? You were supposed to look out for her,” she huffed.

  “She is an adult, Sarah, and in charge of herself. Don’t pin this on me. Besides, he is treating her well.”

  “And no doubt sucking her blood . . . among other things I’m sure,” Sean interjected.

  “I don’t think Sir William is feeding off of her,” I stated.

  “Look, just because you have some fantastical crush on the prince doesn’t mean you need to side with her,” Sarah commented.

  “I don’t have a crush on
the prince,” I lied. I didn’t want to admit it.

  “Evie, you should stay away from the royals,” Sarah pleaded.

  “She’s right,” Sean agreed as he paced around while I went to get my cloak.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “That prince is bad news. I heard he murdered his previous two wives.”

  “That can’t be true,” I said in astonishment. I had never heard this before.

  “Everyone talks about it Evie. Why else would someone so rich and mighty be single? He’s clearly got problems. He could be a serial killer for all we know. I would hate to see you end up on his hit list.” Sarah put her hand on my shoulder.

  “The prince hardly knows I exist. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Are you sure about that? They’ve been watching all of us since day one, Evie . . . you especially.” Sean remarked. “Why do they keep calling you to the castle? I’ve seen the messengers come for you. What is it you do there anyway?” he asked in an accusing tone.

  “Princess Emeley just wants to hear about our world. That’s all.” There was no way I was going to even mention to them that magic was in the discussions. The prince had forbidden me to discuss anything anyway.

  “Well, I for one can’t wait to get out of this hell dimension. Let’s go eat whatever slop they are going to serve us tonight,” Sean said as he marched over to the door and opened it for us.

  I followed a few steps behind them after I locked the door. I couldn’t believe it. I could not see the prince killing his wives. There had to be more to the story. Watching the two of them together I began to feel lonely. Now that Sam spent most of her evenings away and my friends disapproved of my visitations with the royals, I had no one to really confide in.

  ∞

  One evening early the next week, I walked down the elegant stone staircase off of the banquet hall into the gardens just as the sun started to set. Lord Thornton, no doubt, would be conversing with Lady Jocelyn for a while at the banquet. I figured I would enjoy the beautiful manicured garden for a while before he took me home. It was not terribly cold on this fall evening and I did not stray very far, only enough off the stone path to observe some firefly like insects that started emerging. It seemed strange to see bugs coming to life this time of year. I stood with my back to the stairs for several minutes watching the interesting little bugs fly lazily here and there on the fading white flowers that looked sort of like hydrangeas. But unlike the fireflies in my world that glowed yellow, these appeared to be more of a cross between a mosquito and a bee, glowing green. I reached out to see if one would land on my hand so that I could get a better look. Just as one grazed my skin about to land, a cool hand appeared seemingly out of nowhere, startling me, clasping mine and bringing it down, away from the insect.

  “Careful, these ziatyr nymphs leave a nasty sting,” Prince Eythan said calmly, not releasing my hand.

  I turned and could not believe my eyes that he was standing so close to me. “Your Highness,” I stammered, not knowing what else to say. He lifted my hand and turned it easily, glancing down as if to check it for injury before releasing me. “I was just admiring your garden while I am waiting for Lord Thornton to escort me home.”

  He nodded. “And how do you like it?” he said while using his other hand to non-chalantly shoo another bug away from landing on my shoulder.

  “It’s beautiful, my lord,” I replied, glancing around.

  “My father had it constructed for my mother a long time ago,” he said thoughtfully. “She loved to dance as much as she loved flowers in bloom. In the evenings, when the sun started to set, she and my father would dance and enjoy the last fading light of the day together.”

  “This would be a lovely place to dance, even after dark . . . all you would need is a few torches and some music,” I said lightly.

  “It is not yet dark, and there is music. Can you hear it?”

  “I can barely make it out,” I stammered. I did not have the apparent super sensitive hearing that he did.

  “Then I will lead,” he said with a warm smile, the few times I had seen him do so since I met him.

  Prince Eythan began leading me into a couples dance called a Basse with perfect grace in time to the slow beats that I could barely hear. I was so excited to be out here alone with him in this way that I could hardly breathe.

  “You dance well for a human,” he noted.

  “Thank you,” I replied . . I think. Was that a compliment? I was pleased that I hadn’t messed up or stepped on his toes yet. The song ended and we stopped and bowed and curtsied to one another formally.

  “Not many people where I am from dance like this anymore,” I mused.

  “Like what? Do you mean that we are old-fashioned here?” At first I thought he was offended, but then I saw his half-smile.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” I said hastily. “Only that most people listen to a much different kind of music than this when they dance . . . and dancing doesn’t always include a partner.”

  “Your world sounds limitless,” he said softly.

  “I wouldn’t say that, but I enjoyed the opportunities that I had.”

  He nodded. The sun had disappeared below the horizon and the ziatyr nymphs were out in full force now. His posture abruptly stiffened and his demeanor changed as I watched him glance up at the balcony. A tall, thin figure who had been watching us turned away slowly heading back into the festivities. Lord Crievan . . . I thought.

  “Come, we must return you to Lord Thornton,” Prince Eythan announced almost coldly.

  I followed him back up the steps to that same balcony where he simply bid me a pleasant evening and walked off as abruptly as he had appeared to me. I should be used to his hot and cold spells by now, but I wondered if there was something going on between him and the older vampire lord. I heard whispers in the court about how Lord Crievan’s daughter Christabel was a hopeful match for Prince Eythan. However in the times I had seen her she seemed shy and meek; not exactly a recipe for a strong princess or queen. But then again, maybe traits like that would make her easy to control.

  I meandered back into the banquet and conversed with anyone that would talk with me to kill time.

  “Wayfarer,” a familiar voice called.

  I looked up into Lord Beaumont’s cheerful grin as he stalked over to me. I really wished he would stop calling me that.

  “Good evening, my lord,” I said with a curtsy.

  “And where is your escort this evening?” he questioned playfully.

  “Lord Thornton is on his way back to see me home,” I replied.

  “In that case, you still have time for a dance or two,” he said with a wink, pulling me gently by the arm back towards the dancers that had gathered. I hardly had any time to refuse.

  Lord Beaumont was a terrific dance partner. I guess anyone who grew up here would be. I continued to be grateful I did not embarrass myself. As we moved, I nonchalantly peered around to see if Prince Eythan had returned, but he hadn’t. My eyes did meet the unapproving glare of an older couple, whom Lord Beaumont bore a resemblance to as well as Lord Crievan, who stood leaning up against one of the pillars watching us. There was something menacing in his glare. I could not imagine why, but I was sure he did not like me for some reason.

  After the dances, Lord Beaumont and I took a break and he brought me a goblet of wine to enjoy. Of all the people here at court, he seemed to be the only one openly accepting of me, besides Lord Thornton. As the party started to wind down, Lord Thornton appeared and collected me from Lord Beaumont to escort me home. Now that he was actively talking to Lady Jocelyn, I wondered how much longer I would be needed as his dance partner. Perhaps my days of attending the banquets were almost over.

  “How did things go with Lady Jocelyn tonight?” I asked as soon as we were safely settled back in his carriage.

  “I was invited to dine with her family tomorrow evening,” he said with a pleased smile and a gleam in his eye.

 
; I was happy for him. Lady Jocelyn should consider herself lucky to have such a kind and honest suitor.

  ∞

  A royal messenger knocked on the clinic door very early the next morning. I opened it quickly after recognizing Princess Emeley’s servant, Corlan.

  “Good morning,” I greeted him.

  “Good morning, Miss,” he replied courteously. “I have a message from the princess.”

  I noticed there was a carriage waiting as I opened the note. She had written asking me to join her hunting. When a royal asks, you can’t really refuse. I grabbed my cloak and shut and locked the door, leaving the newly acquired curtains closed as a means to show that the clinic was not open yet.

  “Miss Evelyn,” Princess Emeley greeted me as I joined her not in the castle but the stables along with her servants. She was dressed in tan leggings and a cream colored tunic. Her pretty blonde hair had been woven in an intricate braid flowing from her scalp down her back. She also had a sword strapped to her back.

  “Good morning, Your Highness,” I replied cheerfully, wondering where we would be going.

  “Lady Aryn can no longer ride a horse. She usually accompanies me, you see.”

  Yes, I did see. A pregnant woman as important as Lady Aryn should be nowhere near a horse. “I understand,” I said.

  “You must change for you cannot ride wearing that,” she said as she pointed to my dress.

  “I didn’t bring anything else with me, Your Highness,” I reasoned.

  “Go with Jane,” she commanded as she pointed to one of her servants. “There is a wardrobe in the back. She will help you,” the princess said matter-of-factly.

  I curtsied and went with Jane. A small room closed off only by a curtain was tucked back into the rear of the stables. She began producing garments out of wooden chests. “You are so tall,” she said. “You will have to wear one of the princess’s riding outfits.”