by S. J. West
Once we’re on the other side, I hear a multitude of worried voices chattering. It’s so loud and there are so many of them that I can’t make out what any of the people are saying. One voice calls out for the rest to be silent. I may not know many people in Alfheim, but I do recognize the voice that just spoke.
“How is she, Alden?” I hear my Aunt Shael ask worriedly.
“She’s entering the last stages, so we need to act quickly. How many of these healers are willing to do what must be done?”
“Enough of them have volunteered,” Shael says confidently.
“Then they’ve said their good-byes?” Alden asks sadly.
“To those who matter,” Shael responds. “They all understand that their sacrifice will ensure the future of House Moonshade and that we will take care of their families for them.”
“I wasn’t sure you would be able to find enough to help,” Alden says, sounding impressed. “Considering the fact that she’s a virtual stranger to them.”
“She is House Moonshade’s future. Everyone here understands that.” Shael says her words proudly, but I have to strain to hear them. Not only have I lost the ability to talk and see, but my hearing seems to be the next victim on the list.
After that, all I hear are voices that sound like they’re far away. The whispering of strangers is the only noise I can perceive as a series of hands gently grab hold of my arms, legs, and head. A coldness begins to seep into my bones, but I think my perception of the cold is skewed. I realize that my body must have been literally burning up from the inside out, in the same way food is cooked in a microwave. The sensation I’m actually experiencing is just my core body temperature returning to normal.
As my muscles lose their tautness, my body begins to relax. It’s only then that I discover how exhausted I am. Right before I drift off to sleep, a new pain grips my heart in a tight unyielding vise. I recognize this torturous ache because I’ve experienced it before, and I know it has nothing to do with the alfar weapon that was used on me. This is something much worse.
My connection to Julian has been broken.
Sleep can be a comforting companion filled with dreams that allow people to fulfill desires that life restricts us from. It can also be our most ruthless enemy when the things we most fear take shape within them and force us to live out our worst nightmares. As I sleep in the land of my father, my dreams become filled with visions of Julian. Normally that would be a blessing, but not this time. Every time the dream-me reaches out to touch him, his image fades and my fingers stroke nothing but empty air, causing my heart to break over and over again. I feel as though I’m drifting on an ocean wave and can see Julian waiting for me on the shoreline. But each time the sea’s current acts as if it will take me closer to him, it does the complete opposite. I feel stuck inside an eternal limbo with no hope of ever finding my way back home.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her, Alden. She should have woken up by now.”
“Perhaps Nadia is right, my queen. It could be that we need to bring her vampire to her.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Must I remind you that you are the queen of the alfar, Shael? You can do whatever you damn well please.”
“Wait,” Shael says. I can hear the clicking of her heels across a hard surface as she approaches me. “I think she’s waking up. Go find Nadia down in the kitchen. She just took Viktor there to be fed. I’m sure Sarah will feel more at ease here if she sees a friendly face when she awakens.”
My eyelids feel as though they’ve been glued shut as I try to pry them open. When I finally do, I see Shael sit on the edge of the bed I’m lying on.
“Sarah,” she says with a cautious smile, “can you see me? Can you speak?”
I swallow hard before I attempt to say anything, but it seems as though I barely have any saliva in my mouth to wet my tongue.
“Yes,” I’m able to croak out, “I can see you.”
Shael’s cautiously optimistic smile turns to one of relief.
She places her right hand over her heart and says, “You had us all so worried. We weren’t sure if we had gotten the poison out of your body in time. You’ve been asleep for quite a while.”
Oh, dear Lord, have I been in a coma? Was I waking up ten years after the fact? Wait, no. I couldn’t have been unconscious for that long. Shael doesn’t look any older. Unless alfar age at a slower rate than humans …
“How long?” I ask. My throat begins to burn it’s so dry. I try to swallow again but have even less moisture in my mouth than when I first woke up. “Water,” I beg.
“I’m so sorry,” the queen apologizes, quickly getting to her feet and walking over to a small table where it looks like she just had a meal. She fills a glass with water from a pitcher and hastily brings it over to me.
I try to sit up, but my body feels like it’s been rolled over by one of those steel wheel rollers used by road construction people.
“Don’t try to move just yet,” Shael tells me as she leans over and lifts my head slightly from my pillow. “Your body has been through quite an ordeal. It will take some time for it to heal.”
I sip the water from the glass until I can swallow without it hurting anymore.
“Enough,” I tell Shael once I’ve had my fill.
She gently lies my head back down and places the half empty glass on the nightstand beside the bed. I take a moment to study my surroundings. The bed I’m in is large with a thick down comforter made of a fabric that feels like silk but seems even softer in texture. Its color falls somewhere in the spectrum between gold and daisy yellow. The bed itself has a tall half canopy, which is lined with the same yellow silk mixed with white. The walls are vanilla in color, edged with gold trim. To the right of me is a set of double doors, which most likely lead out into a hallway or perhaps a living room area of some sort. Directly across from the end of my bed are another set of glass doors, which lead out onto an attached balcony. I can’t see much of the outside world except for a few tree tops with colorful leaves swaying in the wind outside.
“How long have I been out?” I ask Shael, regaining a little bit of strength in my voice.
“Only a day,” she tells me.
I sigh in relief. I was worried I might have slept my life away.
A sharp pain in my chest causes me to wince involuntarily. It quickly intensifies in strength, triggering my whole body to begin to ache. I know what I need to make the pain go away, but after overhearing Shael’s conversation with Alden, I’m not sure I’ll get it.
“I need Julian,” I whimper. I feel so weak that I can’t even lift a hand up to massage the searing pain I feel inside my chest. “I need him now!”
“I cannot allow him to come here,” Shael tells me, sounding resolute in her decision, but at the same time, sorry for having to say it to me.
“Then I need to go home to him,” I say as tears formed from frustration and pain begin to cloud my vision.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow that to happen either,” she says regrettably. “It’s not safe for you to return home yet. Not until we figure out who’s trying to kill you and why.”
“You’re killing me,” I accuse, unable to hold back a sob of despair. “I need Julian. Our bond causes us pain if we’re separated from one another. I can’t be this far away from him!”
Shael studies me for a moment, looking distressed by my condition and troubled over my outburst.
“We were wondering why you didn’t wake up right away,” she tells me. “I know about the bond between a vampire and his companion, but I had no idea it could manifest itself into physical pain.”
“Not pain. Torture,” I correct her.
Before I fell asleep, I thought my bond to Julian had been severed, but that isn’t the case. It’s simply been stretched to its limit, and there’s no more give in the tether that connects us to one another.
“No vampire has ever been allowed to come to Alfheim,” Shael tells me. “I really d
on’t want to be the first alfar leader to break that rule.”
“I’ll die without him,” I tell her, believing in the words even if I don’t know if it’s true or not. Odds are I wouldn’t actually die, but a life without Julian by my side would be the equivalent of death.
“Well, look who decided to wake up.”
I look away from Shael toward the bedroom door and see Nadia walk across the threshold. Alden follows in close behind her.
“Nadia!” I cry out. “I need Julian!”
Nadia looks from me to Shael. “I told you she needed her vampire, but you wouldn’t listen to me.”
I’m surprised by Nadia’s almost hostile tone. Shael is her queen, after all. Most everyone I’ve met has treaded very lightly whenever they are around Shael and made sure they show her the utmost respect. Perhaps that rule doesn’t apply to those within the Valengard, or maybe Nadia’s loyalty now rests with me more so than her queen.
“Nadia …” Alden says behind her in a tone that warns of dire consequences if Nadia doesn’t apologize for her harsh tone and words to Shael.
“I’m sorry,” Nadia says to Shael, but the execution of her apology leaves a lot to be desired if she wanted it to be convincing. It’s obvious she isn’t sorry at all for speaking her mind. “But you charged me with taking care of the princess. I thought that included anywhere she was, whether it was here or on Earth.”
Shael stands from her place on the side of the bed and turns to face Nadia.
“I did,” she acknowledges. “And I can see by Sarah’s reaction to being separated from Julian that you were right about needing to bring him here. I had hoped being so far from him wouldn’t be a problem, but that clearly isn’t the case. So go back to New Orleans and bring him to her before the stress of being separated from him becomes too much for her to handle.”
Nadia bows to her queen while saying, “I’ll be back within the hour.”
She quickly turns around and heads back out the bedroom door. I silently urge her to go faster, because if I feel this much pain, Julian is bound to be experiencing it too.
“Thank you,” I tell Shael, hoping her decision doesn’t cause her to lose any prestige among the other alfar houses.
Shael turns to look at me and says, “Your health takes precedence above everything else. Sacrifices were made to ensure that you live long enough to assume the throne one day. If it’s within my power to make you whole again, I’ll do whatever has to be done to see that through.”
I do remember hearing the conversation between Alden and Shael before the healers placed their hands on me, but it didn’t make a lot of sense to me at the time.
“What sacrifices are you talking about?” I have to ask. “What did your healers have to do to save my life?”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t worry about such things right now,” Alden quickly suggests. “You’re still very weak, and until Julian is here, I believe you should try to conserve your energy as much as possible.”
I want to protest, but I know he’s right. I’m still exhausted from the whole ordeal, and without my connection to Julian being at full strength, it probably is better to wait until he’s with me again. We’re stronger together than we are apart. That much is certain, and it’s not a point I can argue against.
“Why don’t you get some more sleep,” Shael tells me. “When you wake up, Julian will be here, and your suffering will be put to an end once and for all. Then if you still want to understand the details of what was done to save your life, we’ll explain them to you.”
“Would you stay with me while I sleep?” I ask her. I’m already feeling bereft. Being left alone will most likely just exacerbate that feeling.
Shael seems to be pleased by my request. She walks back over to the bed and reclaims her previous spot beside me.
“I’ll stay here for as long as you need me,” she promises. “You’re the only family I have left, Sarah. We need to stand beside one another during our times of need.”
In a way, it is sad that Shael and I are the only blood relatives each of us has left, but it is also nice to finally know she exists.
I close my eyes, praying for sleep to drag me down into oblivion quickly. I’m confident Nadia will keep her word and be back in less than an hour with Julian. Only with him beside me will my soul find enough peace to allow my body to fully heal.
I know the instant Julian steps foot on Alfheim soil because I’m suddenly awoken from a troubled sleep. When I open my eyes, I see Shael standing out on the balcony that’s directly across from my bed. Her long lustrous blonde hair practically glistens in the light of day, causing it to shimmer like it’s spun gold. In the distance, I can see trees with leaves of various colors ranging from green to a deep purple and maroon. The air holds the sweet scent of autumn, making me wonder if it actually is fall in this world or if this is just how the weather is all the time here. Either way, I hope to be on my feet again soon so that I can take in the wonders of the world my father grew up in.
Even without seeing Julian, I begin to feel better. Tentatively, I try to move my fingers to test them out. I flex them easily and grow confident that the rest of my body will obey my commands. Slowly, I sit up in bed and wiggle my toes to make sure I can still do that simple action.
“Well, look at you,” I hear Shael say as she walks back into the room from the balcony. “Your cheeks are rosier and your eyes are sparkling. Does this mean Julian is in Alfheim?”
I nod. “Yes. I felt him the instant he arrived.”
Shael crosses her arms in front of her. “I hope you realize Nadia may never let me hear the end of this. She told me that I needed to bring him here in order for you to fully recover. I just didn’t realize your connection to him would affect you so much physically. I was always under the impression that the connection between a vampire and his companion was an emotional one.”
“I’ve experienced the emotional torture before, but none of those experiences prepared me for this one. I honestly didn’t realize being separated by a long distance would affect me so much physically too.”
“I should have listened to Nadia,” Shael concludes. “I know I’ll end up having to explain my actions to the other houses, but they’ll just have to get used to having a vampire within their midst. If you are to become the next alfar ruler, you and Julian will need to move here eventually.”
“That’s a long way off,” I say. “You’re still young. I think I have quite a few years left before we need to worry about me moving here.”
Shael cocks her head. “Don’t you want to learn more about your people before you rule them? It would be easier to do that if you lived here at least part time.”
“I have a life back home that I don’t want to give up,” I tell her, not really feeling like having a quarrel over my living situation with her right now, but I will argue my point if she keeps pushing the issue. “I’m not going to just abandon the people who love me.”
Shael doesn’t look pleased, but she isn’t given a chance to voice her opinion about my refusal to call Alfheim my home.
The door to the bedroom opens with a bang as it slams against the wall behind it. Julian travels so fast from the doorway to the bed that I only see him as a blur until his lips are on mine.
“Stand down!” I hear Nadia order.
To whom she says these harsh words to, I have no idea. Probably some guards who were standing outside my bedroom door, but in this sweet moment, I could care less. All I know and care about is kissing Julian and feeling his body next to mine. The hole in my heart formed by our physical separation completely heals as he continues to kiss me. I don’t bother to worry about who might be watching our reunion or what they must think of us. I want it known here in the world of my father that Julian and I are one beating heart, one breath, one soul …
Eventually, Julian pulls his lips away from mine. Reluctantly, I let him, just so I can selfishly look into his warm hazel eyes.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he
tells me, his voice on the verge of breaking. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.”
“I wasn’t sure I was going to make it either,” I confess as I raise a hand to smooth the wrinkles of worry from his forehead and gently caress one side of his face. “But the alfar saved me.”
“How, exactly?” Julian asks, looking confused. “Healers?”
“Yes,” I say. “But I’m not sure what they had to do to cure me. They wouldn’t tell me earlier because they thought I was too weak to handle the explanation.” I look over to Alden, Shael, and Nadia, who are all standing together a few feet away watching us. “I’m stronger now. I need to know why you called what the healers did a sacrifice.”
Alden looks over at Shael beside him as if silently asking for permission to answer my question.
Shael meets Alden’s gaze and nods her head once, granting him her blessing.
Alden looks back at me and begins to tell me exactly what had to be done to save my life.
“The only way for the healers to draw out the poison that was inside you was to take it into their own bodies. The toxin that you absorbed is like a living creature. It burrows into your muscular tissue and causes them to expand by hijacking your body’s extracellular matrix and using it to produce more of the poison exponentially. Usually that sort of weapon kills the victim within a few short minutes, but something about your chemical makeup slowed the poison’s production, allowing us the necessary time to draw it out of you with our healers’ magic.”
“Are you telling me,” I say as realization dawns, “that the people who healed me are dead?”
Alden hesitates but ultimately answers. “Yes. They sacrificed their lives in order to save yours.”
I begin to cry for a group of strangers who gave up everything they had to save me. I don’t even know what my saviors looked like. My one and only memory of them is the feel of their hands as they absorbed the poison that was killing me into their own bodies.
“How many?” I ask Alden in a hollow voice. “How many died to save me?”
