Forsaken (The Seer's Apprentice, The Pearl Dragon, and The Devoted Ghost) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 8)

by Rachel Humphrey - D'aigle

  “All are alive. I was not there to kill anyone. It was just a diversion while I found you. Although the other Grosvenor were having a bit of fun while they were at it.”

  “That’s what you call fun? Attacking people?”

  “No one was hurt. Everyone went home very much alive. But we do have reputations to uphold…”

  The man might like to cook, and be all high and mighty about his personal food tastes, but he could not be trusted. Like he’d just reminded her, he had a reputation… but she hoped much more than she should that he was telling the truth, and her friends, and Eddy, had been left unharmed.

  “I want you to be happy here, Juliska. Killing your friends would defeat that purpose, would it not?”

  He had a point, but still…

  “I only have your word, and as you say, you do have a reputation to uphold.” It was more cutting than she expected.

  Fazendiin rose from his chair. She needed to shut her mouth before it got her in more trouble than she was already in.

  “I think that’s enough until morning,” he stated decidedly. “You’re free to move about the estate, Juliska. But you should note there are some doors that will not open for you.”

  “Like the front door…”

  “No. It’s open and remains unlocked. We are quite safe and secure here. You’re free to move about the grounds all you like, anytime day or night. The gardens are quite lovely this time of year, in the sunlight or the moonlight.”

  “You would let me wander around your home?”

  “Yes. You can’t escape the estate, Juliska. I know it’s what you’re thinking. But there’s only one way in and out of my estate, and that’s by my will.”

  His tone indicated a possible chance of her being let go… just trying to play nice, she told herself.

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Juliska. Oh and if you do wander outside, you might run into the caretaker.” He smirked, seeing her befuddled reaction. “Even I cannot do everything myself. He knows you’re here though, so your presence will not catch him off guard. And don’t try to befriend him with the hope of his assistance… he will not help you escape.”

  Her throat hardened, feeling cement like.

  Fazendiin left her alone.

  She sat for a bit, just staring into the fire.

  Could she believe anything he was telling her?

  Did it matter? Did it change anything?

  The future she wanted was waiting for her back home… if what Fazendiin said was true and he’d left Eddy and the others alive.

  That future was gone.

  Her immediate future uncertain.

  But it was not going to be the future she’d expected it to be just days ago.

  A little house on the island. She and Eddy living together. They hadn’t even talked about whether they wanted a family. She’d never imagined herself having children, and still didn’t see herself as a mother. But she’d never had a relationship last long enough, or become serious enough to give it any honest thought.

  It made no difference now. That future was all but lost. She exhaled, letting all of it out of her, letting the flames in the fireplace burn it to ash.

  What mattered was the here and now. And Fazendiin had given her just enough to make her curious. Enough to make her question. Enough to want to find out if he was telling the truth.

  With this understanding clear in her mind, Juliska got up and walked to the front door. She might as well get a feel for the grounds. The sun was setting, but there was enough light to take a short walk. As promised, the front door was not locked. And the gardens were lovely. Beautiful in fact; possibly the most exquisite gardens she’d ever stepped through. Someone took great care with every inch of the space.

  She never came across the caretaker, but that was okay. The walk helped her clear her muddled thoughts. She wondered how long it might take to have a vision of her own future. She’d never attempted it before, but maybe it would give her some clue as to her captor’s real intent with her.

  “It could take months, maybe even years. Hell, it might not ever happen.” She knew better than anyone visions didn’t work like that.

  She took a seat on a stone bench, overlooking an orchard of apple trees.

  Even if all Fazendiin said was true, something still warned her that he wanted something from her. Something more than just telling her the truth about who she was.

  A vampyre… she still believed it impossible.

  The last of the sun dipped below the horizon leaving behind orange and pink hues.

  Even though she’d ordered herself to forget about it and let the fire burn her future, her thoughts landed on Eddy. What was he doing right this minute?

  She pleaded silently to anyone and no one, that what Fazendiin said was true and he’d let her friends and Eddy live. She imagined Eddy forced to go back to the island, forced to stop looking for her. Forced to move on with his life, without her… it was crushing.

  How could she have found something so unbelievingly incredible, only to lose it so fast? Perhaps it was all just a dream. Too good to be true and just a dream.

  Was there a hunting party out searching for her?

  She couldn’t even imagine what was going through Eddy’s mind. Or her mother’s… she must have found out by now, too. Her poor mother. She’d already lost her husband a year before. This might be more than she could handle.

  Juliska’s heart ached at the thought of how much pain her mother or Eddy had to be in right now. Not knowing her fate… if only there was a way to let them know she was okay. A prisoner, but alive. Give them some relief, some hope, if nothing else. But why give them any hope? She might never see them again.

  Perhaps in time, Fazendiin would permit her to do this one thing. Even if she was never freed and spent her life here as a prisoner, it would at least give the two people she actually cared about some closure. And a chance to move on with their lives.

  With this determination, she went back inside the house. It wasn’t a house, really. She thought it more of a manor. It wasn’t quite as big as a castle, and had a warm, cozy feel about it, which she found odd. And even more strange was the almost continuous wall of stained glass that lined a large portion of the inside of the house.

  Juliska swore the pictures in the glass looked different just now than they had when she’d left earlier, that something had changed. Another oddity she did not understand.

  This Fazendiin… this immortal, was nothing like she’s been taught about the Grosvenor. Her lessons had planted a firm grasp on the fact that they were vile, heartless monsters.

  Her imagination always pinned them mad with power and age, living like animals in caves, or in vast castles hidden deep in some mountain range with an array of servants or slaves, and a host of minions at their disposal.

  Alas, it appeared they were solitary beings. Or at least Fazendiin was. How the other eight lived… perhaps they did live like animals. She’d never given much thought to the daily lives of an immortal.

  They were to be feared above all else.

  It was something she’d been taught almost from day one after coming to live with the Svoda on the island.

  And was it even correct that there were just nine Grosvenor?

  It seemed like such a silly thing for the entire magical community to fear nine men and women… though they could scarcely be considered that any longer.

  Looking around her now, Juliska realized that reading about them in a schoolbook and being the prisoner of one were two very different experiences.

  Fazendiin obviously appreciated intelligence. And condoned a lifestyle that adhered to this basic principle. It was a frightening combination really. And she guessed, why he was the most feared.

  She had a terrible feeling that the other eight, although not necessarily as refined as Fazendiin, were even more cunning than the Svoda gave them credit for. If the Grosvenor were simply aged and mad with power, there might be a chance to wipe them out or even impris
on them. To find some weakness. To strip away their immortality.

  But if the rest were even just a little like Fazendiin, the rest of the magical world was justified in being afraid.

  She shuddered.

  This is your world now…

  Stay afraid…

  Do not trust this man, even if what he says happens to be true.

  He wants something… so don’t forget that!

  Juliska found her bedroom easily. She wasn’t really tired, but she went to bed anyway. It was her first time sleeping in a bed alone in weeks. She missed the warmth and comfort of Eddy lying next to her and wondered how she’d ever survived sleeping alone before.

  She chuckled at the thought. If someone had told her just a month ago she’d be saying that, she’d have never believed them. If she’d had a vision about it herself, she still would not have believed it.

  It was a reminder of how fast things could change.

  This could change too. It might not be forever.

  She let that thought warm her. And somehow, fell off to sleep.

  #

  “Hello, Mother.” Fazendiin tossed a sideways grin at the stained glass wall in the hallway outside his private chambers.

  A shape moved smoothly in the glass. A woman’s somber face peered down at him.

  “What? Nothing to say?” he goaded.

  “What good would it do? I can only speak freely with you, Son.”

  “True. True.” He shook his head, a wry smile forming on his face. “It’s all starting. Just like I planned it. All the pieces are finally falling into place.”

  “I’d like to think I taught you such a level of patience, but I cannot take credit for anything you’ve accomplished in your prolonged life.” Inwardly, she delighted in this day. A day she had waited for a very long time herself. Even imprisoned in the stained glass for hundreds of years, with no real sense of time, it seemed that this day would never arrive.

  Fazendiin moved to leave her and retire to his room.

  “Goodnight, Son. Pleasant scheming.”

  “Come now, Mother. What I do is for the good of all our people. Your people too, or have you forgotten that?”

  “I have not forgotten, but even imprisoned in this form, I wish I were not. I’m ashamed of what you’ve allowed yourself to become.”

  “Yes, well… goodnight to you too, Mother.”

  He left her there and locked himself in his private chambers. He had a bed, but required little sleep. A few hours here and there. But this was his own private quarters, which no one but himself had ever entered. Here in this room he planned everything. Here in this room is where he kept all his secrets.

  CHAPTER TEN

  After breakfast the next morning, Fazendiin told Juliska to follow him out of the house. She did. He took her down a long pathway that led to a vegetable garden. He handed her a pair of gloves and put on a set himself.

  “We’ll be working in the garden this morning.”

  She let out a breath that said, yeah, right…

  “It’s too nice to be stuck inside all day.”

  “I’ve never worked in a garden.”

  “Then I’ll teach you. That is in essence why I brought you here.”

  “To teach me how to grow plants and weed a garden?”

  “Learning to grow things isn’t a wasted lesson. But it’s not actually our topic of the day.” He pointed with his head. “I’ll take this row. You take the next. There should be a bucket to put the weeds into.”

  “Um. Okay…” she exhaled indignantly.

  “And to help pass the time, I’ll tell you a little bit more about your past.”

  “Oh. So it’s a weed the garden show and tell?”

  “Call it what you like. Fresh air and exercise keep the mind sharp and the body fit.”

  “We could just walk, and talk.”

  “I don’t believe in laziness. If there’s work to be done, then I get it done. One way or another.”

  She had a hard time arguing with that one. It was a mantra she often told herself. She was all about her job. There wasn’t time for lazy. Well, not until she’d met Eddy.

  They started in with the weeding and Fazendiin started to tell her more about her past. Or at least, told her many stories supposedly from her past. She still refused to believe him.

  “Your parents reached out to me when you were just nine years old. They felt the change coming, realized they would not live long enough to see you into adulthood.”

  “The change?” she questioned.

  “When a vampyre’s abilities stop working. When sucking the life from the living no longer offers sustenance or maintains youth. When this happens, death follows quickly. Usually a year or two. Sometimes more or less.”

  “So what? We age fast… or something?”

  “Essentially, yes. Age catches up, very quickly. Aging years at a time, in just months.”

  “Okay. So my parents felt this happening to them and came to you for help? Not that I believe any of this still… I’m just playing along.”

  He chuckled, picked weeds and continued.

  “Your parents approached me seeking out protection for you. I was pleased to learn of their existence. Although saddened at the same time. With their age and condition, there was nothing I could do to prolong their lives. If they’d come to me sooner…”

  “You what? Could have made them like you? Immortal?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.” She wanted to ask more about how that worked, but figured Fazendiin would only tell her when he was ready to, or only if he wanted her to know this.

  “The best I could offer them, was protection for you.”

  She stood up and stared at him. He spoke of these things with such certainty. He believed what he spoke, even if it was not true.

  “By stealing my memories?” she asked hotly.

  “Yes. So they could not be used against you.”

  “How could my memories be used against me?”

  “The Svoda and the Shogharne Vampyres are enemies. If they found you, and found out what you were… you’d be their prisoner, at best. Dead, most likely. Not Seer to the Banon. Not accepted as one of them.”

  “Why not just raise me yourself then? If my bloodline is so precious to you.”

  “Your parents did not want that for you. I took no offense. They wanted you to have the most normal life possible. To be around others as like you, as possible. Those with magic in their blood. They hoped if the Svoda took you in, that you’d grow up surrounded by a new family.”

  “Even if that new family were ancient enemies of my actual family?” Juliska scoffed. “Your story has holes.”

  “Holes I’ll fill in later. For now, all you need to know is that your family wanted you to be happy. Even if that meant growing up and living with the enemy. As long as the Svoda took you in as one of their own, they knew you’d be protected and live a good life.”

  “So why not leave that good life alone? I was happy… just like they wanted.”

  “Because of a second promise I made them.”

  “Which was?”

  “When you were old enough to understand, and before your vampyre side awakened, I would tell you everything. They wanted you to know who you really are.”

  “Couldn’t that still be held against me?” she asked him. “Knowing who I am.”

  “No. Not now. You’re smart enough to keep that secret.”

  She was. But she still didn’t believe what he was telling her. She needed proof.

  “So my parents had you steal my memories, and then what? They delivered me to the Svoda?”

  “No. Your father died first. Once he was gone, your mother put their plan into action. It was then that I actually stripped away your memories, and your mother placed you in an orphanage. She left your given name and birthday, and that is all. Stripping your memories took away anything the Svoda could have used to track your family. Even with a name, there was little they could go by, seeing a
s your family had been in hiding for a very long time. It was only a month after you were placed in the orphanage that your mother’s life ended. And only a week after she placed you there, did the Svoda track your magic and take you home with them.”

  “Why the Svoda though? They could have left me with the treasure hunters, the Stripers.”

  Fazendiin laughed. Loudly. “The hunters would have sold you out for the highest bid.”

  She could not argue that. They were not known as a value based people, unless it lined their pockets or secured their future.

  They kept weeding, but in silence.

  Juliska pulled weeds, not really paying close attention to what she was doing. If what he told her was true, she had parents who loved her. Who’d done what they thought was best for her future.

  She wasn’t sure what to think of it all.

  Nothing was as it seemed.

  This place. This man. The Grosvenor.

  Growing up in the arms of the enemy… not that anyone alive today was anything like their ancestors, or responsible for what happened to her clan… she caught herself. Her clan… yeah, that was not happening. She needed way more proof than stories told by someone she did not trust.

  Regardless of that, she’d never really fit in with the Cobb family. She’d always thought it was because she was the middle child of four siblings, all older and younger than her by a few years. But she never had friends in school either. Not close friends at least. No one she trusted or confided in.

  As she thought about it, fitting in was one thing she was terrible at doing. Always the outcast. Always the different one. Not just because she was a Firemancer and taken on as apprentice to PanSofia. But she always preferred work, over play. Study, over fun. Did this come from her parents? Or from being a vampyre?

  Before she knew it they’d come to the end of the garden row. More time had passed than she thought and it was already afternoon. They took a break for lunch and then set in to weeding another section of the garden. Juliska found she didn’t mind. That the repetition of weeding settled her thoughts, helped clear her mind.

  She stopped at one point and sat on her knees, sinking a bit into the fertile dirt. Unshed tears threatened to fall and she bit her lip to stop them. She would not give Fazendiin the satisfaction that he was getting to her.