by Cege Smith
Angeline heard what Caspian said about Alair and the surprise cost her as the demon took advantage of her distraction to almost wholly shove her aside. She clawed at it and wanted to yell again. She was angry that it thought that she was so weak that she’d go down without a fight.
She dug mental fingertips into it and slowly pulled it back. If she didn’t, she knew that Caspian would knock her out again and she’d already lost too much precious time. She couldn’t let it gain the upper hand.
This is MY mind and MY body. You WILL obey me!
She heard the dark laughter again, but it relented. She pushed fully to the surface and felt it slip back away into a dark recess of her mind. The demon seemingly under control for the moment, she turned her attention back to Caspian.
“I am tired of your insults and untruths that you are saying about my family. There is no way Alair Robart would leave anyone to a fate at the hands of the vampires. His legacy was secured because of his defeat of the vampires. Why would the people have allowed him to stay on the throne if he had done such a horrible thing?”
“Why indeed?” Caspian said with a twisted grin. “Are you in control, girl?”
“Obviously,” Angeline said.
Caspian pulled out the book in his pocket again and started making notes and nodding to himself. Angeline locked eyes with Connor, who had the same pained expression again that she realized he wore whenever the topic of her family history came up. She thought about him burying himself in books in some dusty library searching for a cure to a disease that had no cure, and she felt her heart soften toward him just a bit.
“Can you let me go now?” she asked. “I’m still feeling hungry, although it isn’t nearly as bad as it was before.”
Caspian went around the other side of the tree, and she felt the bindings around her arms loosen and then slip away. Now she could move her arms, but she was still secured to the tree. Then he re-emerged and went to the fire. The meat cooking there smelled wonderful. She watched as he pulled the chunks of meat onto a small plate that he carried over to her.
“It’s going to be a little bit awkward to eat like this,” she complained.
“I’ll feel better once your hunger is completely satiated, as I’m sure you will as well,” Caspian said as he held the plate out to her.
She took it gingerly, and then the meat seemed to disappear in her eagerness to get it into her mouth. The chunks were dripping in their juices and they hadn’t been on the fire long enough to be more than lightly seared through. They were really just a step above raw.
“It will work in your favor that you have been outside the palace for the last several years. You can advise your cooks that your tastes have changed and that you prefer your meat cooked rare,” Caspian said.
Angeline nodded, but she was only half listening. She could only think about eating as quickly as possible and then asking for more. She didn’t care if it had been cooked or not.
“No matter how much you eat, you are going to find that you still have an urge for something that you aren’t going to find on any table that is set before you. You are going to crave blood.”
This idea shouldn’t have shocked her, but it did. She became aware of the thoughts that had been running through her mind just moments before. They were images of sinking her teeth into the soft belly of the cat and digging into its soft innards and sucking all the red juices that she could find from the body.
“What do I do about that?” she asked in a shaky voice.
“There is nothing that you can do about that. Half of you belongs to the night. That parasite inside you will demand blood. And if you deny it that wish it craves for too long, you will not be able to control it. You can calm it with rare meat, but that will not do forever,” Caspian said. He had his book in his hands again and he appeared to be noting her reaction to this information.
“I can’t be drinking blood with dinner. I can’t be drinking blood ever!” Angeline said. “How am I supposed to feed it blood without anyone discovering my secret?”
“There are always those that will protect you and be loyal no matter what terrible secrets you carry, Princess,” Caspian said. “That is why we must work on honing your special abilities the best that we can as quickly as we can. You need to be able to tell if someone intends you ill will.”
There was no more meat on the plate. Angeline still felt twinges of hunger. She was starting to see what Caspian was talking about. Connor was at her side and slid the plate out of her hands. “How about I cook up a little bit more meat for you while you and Caspian have another lesson?”
“Excellent idea!” Caspian said, clapping his hands together. The book had disappeared again. He motioned for Connor to continue and then turned to Angeline. “Do you remember the three things you must do to return home?”
“Control my mind, temper my emotions, and learn to use my special abilities,” Angeline said.
“That’s right.” Caspian nodded, beaming. “I am sure you are starting to see that all of these work in tandem with each other depending on the situation you are in. If you are keeping your emotions in check, you will be able to do the other two without terrible difficulty. And as long as you are keeping your blood thirst at bay, you should be able to keep a tight rein on your emotions. Which is expected of a ruler in any case.”
The old vampire lectured more than her father. Angeline wanted him to get to the point.
“What’s next?” she asked.
“So we’ve determined that you have a rather advanced second sight skill. You are not able to read minds; otherwise you would have done that already. That is a rather latent skill in vampires in any case. Very few, even purebloods, are as fortunate as your companion to develop it.”
Angeline raised her eyebrows. So Connor could read minds. That explained a few things.
“The other more common talent is that of persuasion and influence,” Caspian said, checking it off on his fingers.
That made sense to Angeline. In the vampire myths that she had studied, the vampires often lured the young and innocent away from other people and then attacked them. Plus, she had experienced that firsthand in her initial encounters with Connor.
“Since we don’t have a human available for you to practice on, we’ll use a poor but adequate substitute,” Caspian said.
Angeline wasn’t sure what he was talking about. And then she felt an awakening consciousness on her internal radar. It was close by and it was alive. That was when she saw the other cat slowly getting to its feet across the clearing and heard the low growl travel to her ears. She felt immediate interest from the dark thing inside her, but she found that Caspian was right. Given that she had just eaten and felt relatively calm, it felt easier to shove that thing back down.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked.
“Let’s start with something easy. Make it back down.”
Angeline had no idea how to do this, but everything seemed to start with letting her mind reach out, so that’s what she did. She felt that tendril reach out across the clearing and softly touch the big cat’s aura. It felt hot and she could see in its eyes that it was frightened. Not knowing what else to do, she stroked its aura and tried to send soothing thoughts across the bridge that connected them.
She was shocked when less than a minute later the cat stopped growling and sat down. A moment after that it started to clean itself, seemingly unconcerned that it was tied up in close quarters with three predators more dangerous than itself.
“Well done!” Caspian said with his nose buried in his book again.
Connor had been watching and Angeline could see that he was surprised.
“I must say, girl, you are exceeding all of my expectations. If only we had more time, I’d study everything about you to find out what it is that makes you so unique. There must be more to you than meets the eye,” Caspian said, looking her up and down.
Angeline didn’t care for his look at all. It was like she was a bug that he
wanted to dissect to see what the insides looked like. Angeline had a feeling that Caspian’s exploratory techniques wouldn’t be very pleasant for the one he was studying.
Connor appeared in front of her with a full plate of meat, and Angeline forgot for a few moments that either of them existed. She just wanted the hunger to go away. She watched as Connor took Caspian off to the side and the two of them mumbled to each other. It occurred to her that she should try to listen, but her desire to feed far outweighed her desire to know what they were saying.
Soon the meat on her plate was once again gone, and although she still felt the tiniest twinge of hunger, the other voice in her head was finally completely silent. It was a relief.
“Can you let me go now?” she said. She squinted up at the sky. It was just starting to turn a dusty pink.
Connor went around the tree without asking Caspian and she felt the bonds around her body fully loosen and this time she was ready as they fell away. She hopped out into the clearing again looking at the sky.
“Will the sun hurt me now?” she asked.
“No,” Caspian answered. “At least, not in the same way that it affects our kind. You will become uncomfortable after a short time in direct sunlight. I would advise always wearing a hat and keeping to shaded areas when it is necessary for you to be outside. As long as people think that you are protecting that lovely pale complexion, no one will question it.”
Angeline had always enjoyed the sun and walking and painting in the palace gardens on warm summer days. It disappointed her that this was yet another thing that was being taken away from her.
“Come, Princess. We will retire inside to continue your lessons,” Connor said, motioning toward the low cave. He put out his arm as if he was escorting her to a ball.
Angeline gave him a small smile and accepted his arm, and they strolled to the cave entrance. She heard Caspian’s snort of derision behind them, but she found that she didn’t care.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Angeline was chagrined to find that Caspian’s home was warm and inviting. Just inside the cave entrance he motioned for them to remove their shoes, but there were scrumptious rugs lining the ground from that point forward so her toes sunk into the deep fur and she felt a ripple of delight move up her spine.
Although she didn’t think that she would notice hot or cold temperatures as much anymore, she could tell that the cave was cool, but the furnishings warmed it just enough to be comfortable. There were sconces similar to those that she had found in the eye cave above them lining the walls and as she went deeper the walls were lined with bookshelves from ceiling to floor. She looked closer and saw that they weren’t all books, but some journals as well. Each one of those was about the size and width of the book that she had seen Caspian digging in and out of his pocket.
She caught Connor’s eye and pointed at one of the bookshelves with a questioning look.
“I told you that he knew a lot about wraiths,” he said.
“This can’t all be about wraiths,” she said as she continued through the passageway which opened up into a large cavern, not so dissimilar in size from the one in which Connor had originally sequestered her. But here the walls were decorated with a dizzying, eclectic array of sculptures and artwork. There weren’t two pieces alike in the entire place. Lining every wall were rows and rows of smaller bookshelves and in the middle of the room were piles of rugs and several mismatched chairs. Next to a makeshift fireplace that looked like it had been there since the beginning of time, Angeline saw a small writing desk that looked like the twin of the one she had seen up above.
Caspian had settled himself into one of the larger chairs. It was red crushed velvet with a very straight back and gold ornate legs. “Oh no, although I have a special interest in wraiths, my work extends far beyond those parameters. I have been dabbling in my various pursuits ever since my own change. My dark parasite couldn’t rob me of my own natural curiosity. In fact, I daresay that it only amplified it.”
“So tell me about your work,” Angeline said as she decided to take a small violet chair that stood opposite Caspian’s. “What does one do when they live forever?”
Connor had flopped down on one of the huge rug mounds not far from the fireplace. “I know you have a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge, Princess, but I think its best that we keep focused on your training.”
Angeline was annoyed but couldn’t say anything. Of course he was right. This wasn’t a social call.
“Ah, Connor, you are so shortsighted. It is obvious that you are still so young,” Caspian said, steepling his fingers together. “There is so much to be learned from the past and knowing where we came from. My student just hasn’t asked me the right question yet.”
Angeline paused. The right question? She had a million of them. But she didn’t know if any of them was the right question. She thought about everything that Caspian had told her so far. She thought of all the things that she had read while sitting in a dark corner of her father’s library, hiding the fact that she was reading the vampire lore. What was the question? She looked around the big circular cavern. She looked up at the heavy wrought iron candelabra hanging from the ceiling. Then it came to her.
“Where did we come from?” she asked. “I mean, vampires and wraiths. Where did they come from?”
Caspian sighed and nodded. “That is the right question, but not quite complete. You asked about vampires and wraiths, but you didn’t ask about humans.”
Humans? Angeline knew where humans came from, didn’t she? At least, she thought that she did. “Humans were the first beings the gods placed on Altera. We had the rule of the world, but the world was out of balance and the humans didn’t appreciate all that the gods gave to them, so they created the vampire.” She was reciting the tale that her mother had told her as a fairytale when she was a child. Hearing it out loud, it sounded simplistic and wrong. One look at Caspian’s face confirmed her suspicion. “Okay then. If that’s not how it happened, then how did it?”
Caspian jumped out of his chair and went over to one of the bookshelves. He pulled out a thick book that was covered in dust; he blew it off of the cover. He opened the tome and began to search through it as he returned to his chair. “Now, as much as he’d like everyone to think the contrary, the Master isn’t the oldest vampire. That distinction, at least our recorded history of the oldest vampire, was a wily fellow named Baruck. Baruck was almost a thousand years old before he met the unfortunate end of Alair Robart’s spear. He was a member of the high council and it was said that his gift was that his memory stretched back to the beginning of time. Quite an odd gift when you think about it. He couldn’t see the future, but it was said that he had a very accurate recollection of the past.”
Angeline looked over at Connor. For as much as her companion was eager to avoid any talk of vampire history, she could see that he was as interested in the story as she was.
“So your histories are based on the memories of one vampire who said he lived a thousand years?” she said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.
Caspian looked at her over the top of the book. “What are your histories based on? And tell me, do any of your so-called storytellers predate your dear great-great-great-grandfather?”
Angeline’s brow furrowed. There was Marcus Valore, Orem Tactare, and Yanny Peachgrove. Then David Furrere, Walmar Draken, and Innore Grefe. They were all great storytellers whose stories were recounted time and time again during the fall tourney that celebrated Alair’s victory over the vampires. But all of those famous historians chronicled different aspects of the battle. Innore Grefe wrote of stories from the front lines, reliving live accounts of soldiers who assumed each day that it would be their last. Marcus Valore wrote heart-wrenching accounts of the families who lost loved ones. Yanny Peachgrove had been part of her great-great-great-grandfather’s personal retinue and wrote the firsthand accounts of Alair’s epic battles.
Yanny’s stories had always been Angel
ine’s favorites, but of course she was partial to her familial stories. She remembered being ten years oldand her father sitting at the edge of her bed reading her Yanny’s accounts of the last bleak days when everyone had been sure that the vampires would win.
She frowned. Surely she had read something at some point from a historian who had lived before the time of Alair. But as she cast her memory about, even thinking of all of her time spent in the convent’s vast library collection, she couldn’t recall reading a book of Altera’s history that was more than three hundred years old. She felt stupid for never realizing that before.
She knew that Caspian had been watching her emotions play out on her face. She scowled at Connor. No doubt he was listening to her thoughts right now with his fancy mind-reading ability. She watched Connor’s smile get wider and knew that she was right.
“Before we continue, Caspian, I would like you to teach me something else,” she said.
Although Caspian seemed a bit miffed at being interrupted, he nodded. “All right. What is it you would like to learn?”
“I want to know how to block my thoughts from mind readers,” she said. She saw Connor’s mouth drop open and felt smug. It was unfair that he had such an advantage.
Caspian’s lip curled and she saw the gleam in his eye. Feeling slightly foolish for asking for the knowledge when it was so obvious why she was asking, she felt it was necessary to try to justify her reasoning.
“I have heard of humans having this ability. It is important that I’m able to protect my secret completely. I can’t have some bumbling halfwit accidentally crawl across something in my mind that gives my true nature away now, can I?” she said, crossing her arms again.
“Quite right,” Caspian said. “If you were a vampire it would be different, but for a wraith, your best defense is by utilizing rule number three.”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Angeline said. “You didn’t say that I had any natural gifts toward blocking mentalists.”
