Sacrifice of the Septimus: Part 2 (Afterlife saga Book 7)

by Stephanie Hudson

  This took me back to Afterlife when Draven and I had first got together. I couldn’t help but notice the surprise on everyone’s faces as they watched their King and the way he was with me. I never really understood it at the time but after travelling back through all these years, then it quickly became plain to see. For when you wait for something for decade after decade, living through the years that eventually merged into one millennium after another, then what would you do when that wait was finally over?

  “Vardanis?”

  “My apologies, Arsaces, your little Nāzanin is somewhat distracting,” Vincent said making his brother laugh.

  “I often have the same problem,” Draven replied before continuing with his questioning.

  “I trust Avis was of some use to you?” I couldn’t help but smile when hearing of my old feathered friend that was no doubt causing all sorts of mischief in this time.

  “Do not speak to me of that pet of yours! You know she terrorised my soldiers…Oh and you owe my Captain a new helmet!” Vincent said shaking his head at her antics.

  “Oh come now, surely she wasn’t that bad?” Draven asked trying to hide his smirk behind his hand.

  “Oh no, you don’t think so! I was just glad his head wasn’t still inside the thing when she flew off with it!” At this Draven laughed and said,

  “I will make it up to him.”

  “Yes you must, or I will no doubt have his wife yapping at my heels for I believe it was a gift. In fact, I believe he was more afraid of returning home to face her, than he had been facing that damn bird of yours!” Vincent said making Draven roar with laughter once more.

  “You have a pet bird, my Lord?” I asked knowing that it would seem odd if I didn’t.

  “I do. A gift from our father.” I smiled a secret smile, when thinking about Draven’s horny Father.

  “Yes and a cruel one at that!” Vincent commented wryly.

  “I would like to meet her sometime,” I told him making Vincent laugh once without humour this time.

  “Oh no you wouldn’t! Take heed Brother, if you wish to keep her pretty then keep her far from that menace of the skies.”

  “Avis doesn’t like many people,” Draven told me after his brother’s warning but I couldn’t help but grin at him.

  “Try only one person she likes and that is her Master,” Vincent told me and I had to wonder what they would think if she reacted to me the same as she did the day I first met her. Would it be giving too much away when it didn’t end in my blood being shed?

  “But I trust she found her targets with little trouble,” Draven said defending her and Vincent huffed before agreeing,

  “Oh she found them alright and had my horse not felt up to the task, then by the time I got there, there would have been nothing left for me to question.” Okay so…Eww! I didn’t really want this image forever imprinted on my brain as it was bad enough seeing her tearing apart Gorgon Leeches!

  “Did you find all three?” Draven asked getting back to business.

  “Sadly no. One took the mountain road and disappeared, but we believe this is where he had planned to rendezvous with his own people, for we found many tracks.”

  “And the prisoners?”

  “We have yet to question them further, for shortly after their discovery, we made another,” Vincent said and this time his bad boy grin reminded me of Draven back in my own time.

  “Ah yes, so I heard. Then let us feast, for we have much to celebrate,” Draven said obviously drawing a close on such matters.

  “Ah but indeed we do, for I have not shown you my own prize found in the desert.” I frowned wondering if their version of hunting was finding people. I would like to say no and think better but considering Draven just had us all lined up like cattle not long ago, well to be honest it looked like I couldn’t put anything past them!

  Vincent looked up and gestured with his hand for something to be brought to him. Shortly after this the doors at the end opened and a girl was brought in. I gasped and Draven held me tighter to him as if expecting me to move. I couldn’t see her clearly from this distance but one thing was for sure…whoever she was, she didn’t look happy.

  “She needs to be bound?” Draven asked his brother who was looking at the girl as though she was his next Messiah!

  “Unfortunately she is somewhat confused and believes I have kidnapped her,” he said shrugging his shoulders and smiling as if this was all very amusing.

  “I take it this is not the case, for I would not have said you of all people needed to force a woman into your bed,” Draven commented ironically telling me that Vincent was obviously a womaniser in this time. Vincent shot him a look to the side and said,

  “No but this one is slightly unstable…” He paused for a moment as if remembering something and the woman must have kicked him in the balls considering the way he placed a hand on his package momentarily.

  “But I am putting this is down to the sun’s heat for I found her wandering in the desert, heading away from the city.”

  “Oh my God.” I muttered before I could help it as the girl they spoke of started to come into view. Thankfully neither of them took notice of me and Vincent continued to tell his brother how he came to find the girl lost and wandering.

  I could barely believe my eyes!

  “Ari?” I couldn’t help it when her name slipped from my lips and this time the brothers both heard it. The next few moments started to play out in slow motion as I tried to take in the sight of both her and Pip in the background shaking her head at me like a mad woman, telling me no. But it was too late for that, not now, not when Ari saw me.

  “Keira…is that really you?” I bit my lip to hold back the sob at seeing her this way. She looked as though she had been through Hell and back. Her body was bruised and covered in dirt and sand. She looked utterly exhausted and the second I saw the rope around her hands I couldn’t think of anything else.

  “ARI!” I shouted and suddenly found myself struggling to get to her. Draven held onto me and shouted,

  “What is the meaning of this?!”

  “Let me go!” I shouted back, twisting my body in hopes of breaking free of his hold.

  “You know this girl?” Vincent asked but it was Ari who shouted,

  “Let go of her! She is my sister, asshole!” This was when I saw Pip smacking her forehead as if this was the very thing she didn’t want to happen.

  “Is this true?” Draven asked me and finally I stopped struggling enough to look back at him.

  “Please…let me go to her,” I begged him and his eyes grew hard before he asked again,

  “Answer me, is what she says true?!” I briefly saw Pip in the background shaking her head but it was too late, the tears in my eyes gave him my answer. I lowered my head and said,

  “Yes, it is true.” He watched for a second longer as the tears fell before letting me go. I scrambled off his lap and raced to Ari, taking her in my arms as she collapsed to the floor. She sobbed into my shoulder and I held her head there, letting my own tears land on top of her head as I tried to comfort her.

  “It’s alright now…Ssshh, it will be alright.” I told her, lifting her face to mine and wiping away the dirty tear tracks down her cheeks.

  “I was so scared, Keira, I woke up alone and couldn’t find you! I couldn’t find anyone and then these men came, and he doesn’t know who he is or who I am…why doesn’t he know…?”

  “Hush now, we will talk about this later.” I looked back at the thrones and tried to ignore the stern glare Draven gave me and instead looked to Vincent.

  “Has she eaten or drank anything?”

  “She drank some water but did so too fast and brought it all back up, despite my warnings of such.” I heard Ari growl next to me and I gave her a little shake of my head, telling her,

  “Please, you have to trust me here. Count to a hundred and pretend to pass out.” She gave me a small nod to tell me she understood. I then stood up and faced Vincent before seei
ng just how far I could push having the pretty face he claimed I had.

  “I ask that you entrust her care to me, for she is clearly scared and confused about all that has happened.” Vincent was about to speak when Draven beat him to it.

  “So are you telling me that you remember now?” Draven asked clearly irritated by the thought.

  “Some of it, my Lord.” I answered softly but from the hard lines of his jaw, I knew that it would take more than a few softly spoken words. I couldn’t understand why he was so angry.

  “You sensed it too, brother?” Vincent muttered, leaning to his brother’s side so they could speak more privately.

  “Yes, when she first walked in, but now it has strangely disappeared, as though something is trying to mask that side of her,” Draven replied furiously and I didn’t understand what they were talking about.

  “Well I can assure you, it has only just happened, for it may account for why the girl has no knowledge of what I speak.” At Vincent’s odd reply Draven rubbed his beard and looked first to Ari and then to me. This was when Ari reach a hundred. I heard the gasp of onlookers who had gathered around the guards and knew this was my cue. I raced to her and looked up at Draven to try my luck once again,

  “Please, My Lord…let me help her.” At first Draven looked as though he was going to deny me but after receiving a small nod from his brother, he gave me a nod in return with the added gesture to continue with his hand.

  I was just leaning down so that I could put her arm behind my head when Draven suddenly roared out.

  “STOP! Guards, take this girl to my Concubine’s quarters!” I let go of her arm and stood back as one stepped forward to take my place in carrying her. Vincent suddenly had a face like thunder as she was being carried from the room and I half expected him to go racing after her. However, one look from his brother and he remained seated…for the meantime anyway.

  “I thank you. I will just go and…” I was about to finish when Draven obviously had other plans for me.

  “You will go nowhere!” He thundered the order at me making me wince. I looked back at him like a wounded puppy but in that moment his anger was overtaking any chance of patience or reasoning.

  “Ranka!”

  “Yes, my King?” Ranka said, quickly coming to his side.

  “See to it the girl is looked after by the same servant who cares for Nāzanin.” Okay, so at least it wasn’t so bad seeing as he was entrusting Pip with her care.

  “It will be done, My Lord,” she said bowing and giving me a small troubled look before disappearing off into the crowd.

  “Come here!” Draven barked an order at me and even Vincent looked sorry for me, giving me a small encouraging smile in the place of his brother’s angry glare. I reluctantly did as I was told and walked back over to his throne.

  “I think it is about time you answered some of my questions.” The way he said this filled me with dread, as until I had seen Pip and Ari, I had no clue what to tell him.

  “Yes my…”

  “My Lord!” I quickly found my sentence was being finished off by another, as a servant came running through the doors and down the hall as fast as he could.

  “What is it?!” Draven roared back, obviously not appreciating the interruption.

  “Riders my Lord! At the gates.”

  “And what of it?” Vincent asked frowning down at the man.

  “They say they have seen an army heading this way, coming from the west, my Prince. They believe they recognised the Roman banners.” Hearing this Draven released a low growl that made the poor man scurry back a bit, fearing his King’s wrath.

  “Very well, let me see for myself what these riders have to say. I will meet them at the gates… Go!”

  “Yes, my Lord.” The man couldn’t seem to get away quick enough.

  “I will accompany you…”

  “No, stay with her. I will send for you when I know more.” Draven said, in a way that broke no argument for Vincent didn’t even try to insist. Draven walked down the few steps to me and came an inch away from my face when he caressed my cheek before issuing me with a promise,

  “Soon we will be alone and then I will get my answers. Even if I have to chain you to my bed and make you beg for mercy to come again by my hand or tongue. For one way or another, you will tell me all I want to know.” Then he sealed this erotic threat by yanking me hard to his chest and finishing it with a kiss that was almost bruising before letting me go.

  “Well I think it’s obvious he likes you,” Vincent said on a chuckle as he came to stand next to me as we both watched him leave.

  “How can you tell?” I asked sarcastically making him laugh again.

  “Well, this is the most passionate I have seen him around a woman, and trust me when I say, it is not from lack of trying from the woman.” This time it was my turn to laugh.

  “I bet.”

  “Go easy on him, for this is all new to him,” Vincent said nudging my shoulder and I looked at him with surprise.

  “What is?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  “Falling in love,” he whispered down at me and just before I could say anything else, his name was being called.

  “Vardanis!”

  “Saphira?” Vincent turned in time to see Sophia running over to him just before she threw herself in his arms. So there was at least one person she loved then. She quickly took note of me and scowled over his shoulder before he placed her back on her feet.

  “Why little sister, is it me or are you getting shorter?” At this she playfully punched him on the arm.

  “But even prettier…and stronger so it seems,” he added rubbing the top of his arm.

  “That’s better. So I see you have met our King’s new favourite,” she said curling her lip up at me. Vincent didn’t see what most would have been able to see, which was pure loathing but instead he pulled me closer and said,

  “I have indeed and isn’t she utterly charming?”

  “Um, charmed I’m sure,” she responded mockingly but again Vincent seemed to miss it.

  “I heard brother has gone to the gates, but I am surprised you’re not with him,” Vincent looked longingly at the door and said,

  “He wanted me to…”

  “Babysit?”

  “Saphira, now be nice,” Vincent said finally getting a hint of her hostility. Unfortunately, this didn’t last long as Sophia plastered on a sweet smile and said,

  “Why don’t you go and let me get acquainted with our brother’s new Chosen One. I promise to take care of her.” Vincent’s eyes widened with glee and said,

  “That sounds like a good idea and one no doubt our brother would approve of, for he would want you two to form a good friendship.”

  “Indeed,” she said looking to me with her fake smile. I, on the other hand, swallowed hard and said,

  “Oh that’s okay, I should be getting back to my sister…”

  “Nonsense! And besides, you wouldn’t want to upset your lover’s sister now would you?” Sophia hissed, taking me by the arm, digging her nails in and pulling me towards one of the open archways.

  “Don’t worry brother, I will take excellent care of her,” Sophia said over her shoulder to Vincent who had no choice but to watch us leave.

  I gave her one look and said,

  “You’re going to kill me aren’t you?” I don’t know what was more chilling, her smile or the answer she gave me…

  “Let’s have a chat first, shall we?”

  Chapter 58

  A Poisonous Reunion

  I have to say that those unfortunate times when I thought about death I think the very last thought on my mind was seeing it coming by the hand that had hold of me now. Sophia continued to drag me from sight and I dare say she had been waiting for a moment just like this before making her move.

  The second she had pulled me from the great hall, she spun me round to face her and with the hatred I saw in her eyes, I half expected her to just strangle the life out of
me right there and then. But instead of snapping my neck like she wanted, she grabbed hold of the long piece of material down my back and used it to wrap around my head and across my neck to conceal my face.

  I wished in that moment that I had the strength to do something but my mind was numb. It was stupidly too busy fooling myself into believing that when we reached our destination that she could be reasoned with. And if not, what then I thought, playing devil’s advocate with myself. My only option left would be the truth. I would have no other choice but to tell her who I really was and hope on all that is holy that she believed me, because if she didn’t then more would be lost than just my life.

  So I let her drag me to where she had murder in her mind, all the while hoping that there was a shred of the Sophia in there that I knew. Something inside her that I could appeal to and I feared that the only part of that would be her supernatural side, for I think it was clear that her humanity had yet to develop.

  “Inside,” she ordered me, once we finally reached an elaborately carved door that looked too feminine to belong to anyone else but Sophia. She pushed me inside after checking that we weren’t followed and I fell forward, only just righting myself in time before I landed on my knees.

  I looked up and under different circumstances I would have smiled when seeing Sophia’s room for the first time. It was like a movie set as if any minute now an Arabian princess would walk in the room and start singing about her love for Sinbad. Of course an Arabian princess did walk in the room but I think singing was the last thing on her mind at the moment, that was unless it was a song about happy stabbing.

  The room was covered floor to ceiling in expensive fabrics of every colour that hung down in swags. These were then held to the wall with a golden border that had fan shaped shells in the moulding and golden pillars with the same design to match in every corner. Beautiful exotic art work from around the world decorated most of the walls and these were all framed with the same expensive luxury.

  Furniture, both carved and handcrafted, was dotted around the place amongst other worldly treasures. Such as a stuffed peacock standing on a plinth and a tiger’s head which hung over a Japanese screen. These I couldn’t help but scrunch my nose at as I didn’t believe in using animals as trophies. To feed a starving family, then yes or to clothe them so they didn’t freeze to death, sure thing. But just for sport… then I say take up a hobby that doesn’t include killing a living creature and let’s make the world a better place…but hey, that was just my opinion.