by Michelle Joy
“I… I didn’t want you to see me weak, please give me a chance to explain myself, I never wanted to be like this, but I didn’t have a choice,” Frayne said unable to even look into Adeline’s scared eyes.
“You were trying to kill me, and you say you didn’t mean to do it, I can’t believe you Frayne, I wish that I never met you,” Adeline said trying to withdraw slowly out.
“No, please listen to me, I sacrificed my soul to the God of Vampires, I did that to save my life, I was thrown into fire, betrayed from my people and everyone watched me die without even trying to save me, it wasn’t my fault to be a vampire; it was their fault, I never imagined I would turn out to consume blood, do you remember the day we met Lass, I was supposed to be dead after being burned to death in that boat, but I survived thanks to Aka, the god of Vampires, this is my entire story, now you can hate me, you can go and never look back, I won’t even try to stop you,” Frayne said as he looked away from Adeline and withdrew to a corner in his dark room; the feeling of hunger was starting to faint.
A few minutes passed, but Adeline was standing right there by his side, she even got closer, wasn’t she afraid after all what Frayne related to her. Frayne felt a tiny soft hand caressing his cheek and rising his chin; Adeline’s eyes were full of tears as she said.
“Did you suffer all of that by yourself, why didn’t you tell me since the very beginning, I would have helped you, since the very first moment I saw you, I liked you, I could tell you were a noble knight from the first sight, you shouldn’t feel shame, people who betrayed you shall be, look at me, Frayne, I’ll help you, let us go and meet find my father, he will help you, I’m certain,” Adeline said.
Frayne remained speechless as Adeline looked at him straight in the eyes; Frayne was unable to move as Adeline got closer from his face and after looking for some minutes into his eyes, she pressed her lips to forehead, trying to calm him down. Frayne wanted to get back away from Adeline, but something prevented him from moving away; she was the only one who held his hand and assured him and believed him; and in that moment that looked endless and empty, Adeline broke the silence with a tender kiss she pressed above Frayne’s lips; he was shocked at how she kissed him and as she pulled herself from his lips. Frayne looked for a while into Adeline’s eyes and all the memories with Rose rushed to his mind. In that instance, Frayne pulled Adeline close and kissed her passionately and soundly; she didn’t try to push him away or refuse his kiss and the girl just surrendered to Frayne’s warm; gently and sensuous tasty lips that were pulling her closer with no aggression at all. At that moment when Frayne tasted Adeline’s gentle teasing of her moist lips with his velvety mouth, time seemed to stop, everything looked different and Frayne felt happiness that he didn’t experience for a long time.
“Do you really trust me, Adeline, you don’t even know me; how can you let a vampire accompany you?” Frayne inquired anxiously.
“I do trust you; you have always been good to me, you saved me twice, you took good care of me in your castle,” Adeline explained, her eyes full of love.
“Then, will you help me be human again?” Frayne inquired.
“I will grant you my life if you need it; but now come on let us go now, I received a letter from my brother, he is waiting for me on the borders of Campbell,” Adeline said.
Without a further hesitation, Frayne nodded; he was finally ready for the trip, but before getting out of the place, Frayne had asked her to wait for a few minutes; he turned into a corner in that room; pressed a stone deep into the wall, and it moved as Frayne placed his pendant into it; a door swung open all of a sudden, and a light shone through the wall.
The room remained intact; it was filled with the Knights treasures; it was full of gold, silver and gems, there were bejeweled armors and many holy relics. At one side stood an long set of battle armors that were made for horses and knights; Frayne was relieved to see everything put in its place, even the silver suit and the silver armor that he inherited from his father, the gloves, and the boots were there waiting for Frayne’s return.
“What is this? Frayne, what is this?” Adeline wondered; as her eyes widened in a shock and amazement, the name of the Night Watch Knights was carved into both sides of Frayne’s boots.
“This treasure is a wealth beyond any imagination, it is the reason why the king burned me alive; I didn’t want to reveal the place of the Knights’ treasure; that was the entire story,” Frayne explained. Adeline stared, frustration, fear and hope wondered above her face as she watched the treasure; unable to believe what she was passing through or what she saw in front of her eyes.
“I know this is hard to believe, but now after you have seen the Night Watch Knights secret, you can’t go anywhere without me, otherwise, your life will be in real danger,” Frayne said
Right at that moment, a loud sound of horses was heard coming from the outside; Frayne looked from the window; it was the King’s knights again; they wouldn’t give up until they would find the treasure. Frayne locked back the secret room using his pendant, grabbed Adeline from her hand and got of that room sneaking through the corridors, fortunately, it was a dark night; nothing could be seen but Frayne didn’t want to leave his brother behind even though he knew he was taking a huge risk with what he was doing.
While the king’s knights were hunting mercilessly through the castle and ferociously ransacking all the rooms, slaughtering every knight who belonged to the Night Watch Knights, Frayne and Adeline heard a low voice from the corners of the castle.
“This is Kyle’s voice, where are you brother?” Frayne murmured.
“I’m here brother, here, I’m dying,” Kyle replied in a low deep voice.
Frayne traced the source of the voice with Adeline until they reached Kyle’s room, he was lying on the flour; his face was a pale as a corpse; Frayne rushed to his brother and held his head in the palm of his hand; stared at him with his sharp eyes. Kyle was still smiling like he always did, the torch flickered; it started to die out, sending the huge room into deep darkness.
“No, you are not going to die, Kyle, I’m going to save you brother, I’m going to save you,”
But it seemed to be very late; Kyle had already passed away, his hands became loose and his eyes were widely open; Frayne went furious and groaned; then stood up to avenge his brother’s death, but Adeline grabbed his hand tightly and shook her head saying.
“Don’t let his sacrifice go in vain, let us leave now and we will get back to take your revenge, Frayne,” Adeline suggested.
Frayne didn’t agree until Samuel jumped into the corridor and led the way for Frayne and Adeline to escape. At last, they made it out of the castle, and with the company of Samuel, they all left towards Campbell.
Chapter Nine: Claiming the beauty
The oak trees look sad, but in their autumn beauty,
These lands of wood paths look dry like gray ashes
Walking together under the autumn twilight of the water
The sky is the only mirror we have to walk through the dew
There, through the brimming water and amongst the rocks
I have looked for you in the moonlight and those creatures
Where have you gone? I can’t walk, don’t let me paddle in this cold,
Narrow streams; don’t let my heart climb the chill of air
Wait, don’t fly away and let me love you, let me help you again
Suck my blood and feel my soul, touch your humanity again
Leave all the grief and the old sorrows behind, accompany me
For even after death, I shall love you until the earth gets rest
It was a bright night, just like the one Adeline met Frayne in, for the first time; the moon was on the rise. Adeline heard an owl hooting. The Trees looked heavy in their growth, throwing their shadows on the land. By the time Adeline and Frayne left the castle with Samuel’s help and crossed the bridge towards the meadow, silence started to dominate the surroundings; Frayne looked exhausted from what happened; it wa
s hard for him to see his brother fall dead because of the treasure. Adeline could feel his pain. Crickets could be heard clearly noisily chirping into the grass and a soft breeze swept the path whispering through the woods and the high trees. Nothing sounded comforting for Adeline as when Frayne spoke out at last; his voice was sad, but assuring. Adeline’s heart pounded as she felt relieved for going home after all those years, she had high hopes and she kept imagining how her father would welcome her, he had always loved her the most.
Ahead of them were still long miles to cross during that night, yet, with those two Knights who looked better than any escort, Adeline hoped that she would be safe; the Viking won’t find her again, they wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want like marrying a Heathen, even though she lived with them for a while, she had never liked the way they lived, just endless raids; the only thing Adeline was worried about was her brother, she hoped that he would be still waiting for her or that he found his way back home and she wished that those two men accompanying her would also be worthy of her trust; anyway, she didn’t have a choice or any alternative. Many questions conquered Adeline’s mind, but she couldn’t dare to ask.
It was already midnight when Frayne and Samuel stopped to set up a camp in which they would spend the night. Samuel looked shocked at discovering that his leader, Frayne, became a vampire. Adeline was able to hear how they were discussing the issue secretly and Samuel couldn’t hide the scared glances over his face. Adeline wanted to pursue their way without taking a rest, but she knew the horses were tired and they needed some rest and water too.
“Are you alright, lass?” Frayne inquired as he dismounted his horse; he was treating her in really a good way, his eyes sparkled with affection; she had never felt that way for any man before, and for some reason, Adeline didn’t look scared of Frayne. “It has been a while since you last rode a horse, and you don’t look very well these past few miles, I’m sorry, it must be because of the wound I inflicted you, I don’t know what to say.” Frayne apologised.
Adeline, quickly covered her wound with her hand,
“No don’t worry, it is nothing, I have already forgiven you and I’m really wishing to help you be human again, trust me.” Adeline replied in a musical voice.
Frayne was unable to hide the admiration look that sparkled in his eyes as he glanced at Adeline.
“I’m certain that you’ve been keeping a close eye on me, Frayne?” Adeline teased as she tried to dismount of her horse.
“Wait, let me give you a hand and help you.” Frayne reached up to help Adeline.
Laying her hands smoothly over Frayne’s wide shoulders, Adeline slid down gently from the saddle of the horse she was riding, and came to stand right in front of Frayne.
Frayne’s hands were still rested on Adeline’s hips as he looked straight into her beautiful eyes, “Are you certain, you you’re doing all right? That wound, is it still hurting you?” Frayne asked, trying not to look at the blood so that he could control the need to consume more of Adeline’s blood.
“I’m really okay, Frayne.”
Slowly, Frayne shook his head as he untied a blanket from the back of the saddle of his horse and grabbed Adeline’s hand then led her away from the stream, “Sit down, take some rest here, Adeline,” Frayne spread that blanket right above the ground.
“I’m grateful, thanks, Frayne.” Adeline sat down and stretched her legs, then closed her eyes and rested for minutes.
“Ah, it really feels much better, thank you,” Adeline added.
Frayne dropped onto the ground right in front of her and looked at her beautiful face; examined her face closely and smiled as he felt innocence in her baby face. A breeze broke the silence and forced Adeline to open her eyes; where she found that Frayne was looking straight into her eyes; she looked surprised and couldn’t, but raise her eyebrow at him, which urged Frayne to pursue looking into her face,
“Truly, you are a beauty, just like Rose was, you have her cheekbones, your hair looks like a spring sunrise, I’m sure you will meet a great man and marry him,” Frayne said.
Adeline looked at Frayne with her dreaming eyes and after a giving a soft smile, she said:
“Are you flirting with me, Frayne?” Adeline asked.
Just at that moment and when Frayne got closer from Adeline’s face and was about to kiss her, Samuel appeared, and a sound of horses trotted onto the stream. Adeline remained silent while both Frayne and Samuel glanced attentively at five horse riders who were searching the entire place.
Fortunately, the horsemen left after being unable o spot Frayne and Samuel together with Adeline. And at that moment, Frayne apologized from Adeline to go to set the camp.
After a short while, Frayne, Adeline and Samuel were seated around a campfire Frayne started; all they could eat was bread, unlike Frayne who kept watching them as they ate, he was not human anymore and unable to eat like them too. Samuel was the first one lying out down his bedroll right with his side back to the fire, while Frayne took his sat down near Adeline under the tree.
“Do you know how long it is going to take us to reach my father’s land?” Adeline inquired directing her question at Samuel.
“May be four days,” Samuel replied after sipping wine from his flask.
“We will be there soon, lass, don’t worry about anything” Frayne commented, leaning closer from Adeline. “You will see your father, so rest assured,” Frayne assured.
For the time that followed, Frayne talked to Adeline about this story while she related her story and how she was taken from her father with her brother to the Earl, where the Vikings made the slaves. Frayne asked her questions about her brother and father and she explained how it all happened and how she learned to hold a crossbow and shoot arrows. He also asked her about her mother for she never mentioned her. Adeline mentioned that her mother died when she as young and Frayne couldn’t hide his sympathy and admiration towards the girl who had to live a tough life.
Samuel didn’t spit a word and remained silent; he was just sitting in front of the fire glaring at Adeline through the burning flames, listening to her words. He didn’t seem to like her or the way Frayne was treating her too. When the fire died out, Frayne gave a hand to Adeline and escorted her gently to her bed then whispered into her ears.
“Just, have sleep; we will be in Campbell in no time, lass” Frayne assured.
“I’m grateful, Frayne, for everything you did, except for that bite of course,” Adeline replied, with a soft smile on her face.
Frayne rose and left the camp. It seemed he was still feeling unsafe because of those riders he had seen, he was certain, they came up for him. He knew the God of Vampires wouldn’t leave him alone.
Adeline rested down and tried hard to sleep, but it wasn’t that easy with Samuel glaring at her from the other side of the fire and tension started to grow thicker causing Adeline’s heart to beat fast. Adeline tried to sleep again, but Samuel wouldn’t let his eyes off her, and at that moment, she said “Why are you glaring at me in that way?” Adeline inquired.
“To be honest, I still don’t trust you, I don’t know why Frayne did too, and anyway, there is not much to do here, in the middle of the night,” Samuel replied.
Finally and after making an effort, Adeline fell into deep sleep until the following morning when. Everybody was awake and ready to carry on their except that Adeline heard Samuel discussing the efficiency of going to Campbell, they almost had a fight because of her. Adeline gave a deep sigh after their discussion came to an end.
“Don’t worry, lass and pay him no attention, he has always been careful and we don’t agree on many issues,” Frayne explained as he patted Adeline’s shoulder. Frayne was covering his head with the hood of his cloak; he had to make sure he wouldn’t see light so that he would get weak.
“Okay, but first, can you tell me what were you arguing about, if it was about me, I need to know,” Adeline inquired.
“Well, to be honest, Samuel is worried
that I will fall for you and lose focus on our main objective of taking revenge,” Frayne said boldly.
“Oh! That’s nonsense,” Adeline commented.
“Why is it of no sense, you are a beautiful woman,” Frayne said before pulling back to get his horse ready and placed the saddle above its back.
Adeline was surprised at what she had heard, and started thinking of a way in which she could help Frayne to be human again. After a short while, rain started falling; it was a soft mist at the beginning, but later, it was followed by a powerful wind and heavy rain that was able to wash the sadness that overwhelmed Frayne after his younger brother’s death.
And in the bright light of that humidity, Adeline started to feel cold while by the afternoon, she felt her teeth starting to chatter loudly and although Frayne tried to warm her up and wrap her into a blanket, Adeline kept shivering underneath her gown through that huge cloud that covered the woods.
Three days had passed; probably it was the last day in the woods. The weather was still chilly during that long journey and not only the cold dews made the trip seem longer, but the fact that Frayne and Samuel were not talking anymore. None of them said a word until all of a sudden, Samuel stopped.
“Wait, can you hear the sounds?” Samuel asked Frayne; anxiety could be seen above his face.
Frayne looked around him, and unfortunately spotted the five horsemen again, they were following him again.
“We have to split, Frayne, to lose them, we have to do so, otherwise, we will be caught,” Samuel suggested.
“What are you saying? I’m not leaving Adeline, you can take a way and Adeline will accompany me.” Frayne insisted.
“The way you like it, don’t blame me if anything happens to you because of her,” Samuel warned.
Frayne didn’t care about Samuel’s words and pulling the reins of his horse, he started running as fast as he could. The five horsemen were wearing dark black robes with silver belts that could be spotted from far away. Frayne could hear them repeat the name of the God of Vampires all along the way; he knew very well that they considered what he did an escape from the will of their God, and a betrayal of Lord Aka. They were calling out for his death. They wanted to seize the treasures of the Night Watch Knights too so they didn’t stop chasing Frayne and he could hear the wolves howl, just like the day in which Rose was killed. He couldn’t let that happen again, all he wanted was to save Adeline from them. Frayne continued rushing with his horse and
