by K. G. Wilkie
The other two vampires watched him go. "He's a good man, our Layel is, but sometimes his priorities get a little out of order," Cillean explained the dismissal. "We'll have to be very soothing and conciliatory when we do break to meet with him again, though, as we are staying in his house and one shouldn't be too rude to his host. Even when they are hosting you because they've been ordered to," he added.
The others agreed as they trotted out to the formal parlor. It was a small home, but, as one of Layel's jobs was to serve as a resource for vampires in need and to maintain his home as a safe house for his people's use, it was equipped with a few extra rooms a normal house wouldn't need. There were some fairly tame rooms like several extra guest bedrooms, but the most unusual aspect was the rarely utilized single-cell dungeon.
That very same dungeon came to mind again as Aeron was plied with sausages and some snacks called blood bits that he politely refused. "I said earlier that my plan had been to do something like a quick search and rescue trip, but that plan was derailed. Some of my people came to send a message to me yesterday." He offered the missive for them to read it.
My liege,
I feel I must inform you there are problems that have developed that may go badly for you. One of our former initiates has been removed from the order of wizards and cast out of the Domed City. It appears that this initiate, formerly called "Darien", is trying to stir up trouble. One of our people was sent to observe his activities after his banishment and found that he spoke with blatant rebels and plans to concoct a crazy story claiming that we, of all people, are anything less than your loyal subjects and instead frame us for his seditious acts. I am sure you will, as always, deal with these rebels with the wisdom you have always been well known for.
Your loyal subject,
Gruzelvelt
Head Scribe of Domed City
They all looked at each other. They were a group that had withstood many waves of political intrigue and withstood the ebb and flow of power. There was something suspicious already in getting a letter from a wizard, but a wizard elder directly contacting the crown prince when the wizards had made a decades-long attempt to separate themselves as thoroughly as possible from the other species and cities of their world was beyond suspicious. Then again, it was easy to be too cynical and risk dismissing a legitimate message just because the circumstances of said message were unusual.
The question they were all thinking of was what to do with such information.
"I'll admit I visited the dungeon before I spoke to you two," Aeron said. They waited. "I spoke to your little inmate. His story is that his people framed him for their own misdeeds, and he maintains his innocence." They all knew what a man might say while imprisoned wouldn't necessarily be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but usually someone skilled in interrogation could piece together the truth from the lies a mouth might say, combined with the truths their body language would reveal. Once a person had gotten to be a hundred, they usually had enough experience piecing together truths in their back-stabbing and dungeon-using world, and everyone in the room was well past that milestone chronologically. Even if their true ages did not match what they would be in human years, they still had grown in some experience over time.
Cillean shrugged and stood to lead the way to the dungeons.
The prince ignored that and Aeron clapped his hands so the holding cell melted into a living room with a river stone fireplace sandwiched between rough-hewn beams. They stood on the far side of the room facing the dungeon cell's door and its occupant.
"What does he have to tell us that was important enough to whisk us all here," Cillean asked, pointing at Darien. The wizard was sitting on the single chair in his cell and glaring at them.
The prince shrugged. "He made some claims that the wizards are trying to set up a revolution."
The dragon prince and vampire king looked at each other. "I think this goes without saying, but he's probably just making up juicy stuff to say to try and worm his way out of the trouble he's caused," Cillean said. "I know it's not the nicest thing ever that we put him in a cell, but we did want to make sure his story checked out. I didn't expect you to get a jump on us and interrogate the kid," he added.
Darien grumbled at being called a kid, but the centuries old creatures in the room ignored his protests.
Daerick frowned. "We already know there has been some group causing trouble. To be told it's the humans isn't very shocking. I was leaning towards believing the kid," he added.
"I just like to be thorough in these uncertain times," the prince said. Aeron did agree that that intelligence sounded genuine, and if it was the truth the news wasn't surprising. "We already have widespread unrest and many groups unhappy with me as the next king. I've been assuming that anyone who hasn't actively given me their support is either against me, or will soon turn. This changes very little. Additionally, our little wizard here thinks his information is great enough to grant him, not only pardon for his previous work against me in his former job as a spy, but also my seal for safe passage." The vampires smirked. "I'm not so sure knowing who some of my enemies are benefits me enough for all of that, are either of you?" They both shook their heads.
Aeron turned to Darien. "Do you have any specifics of who, what, when, or where? Or do you just have this pathetic summary of future events to give me for all of these gifts you've demanded?"
Darien glared at him. "If I hadn't told you about all of this you would have been blindsided when the two realities collided, as it would come in the middle of your little sibling rivalry."
Aeron dismissed that as well. "After the Shadeworld was created, it was filled with so many magical creatures that it likely is more stable than even the Original, Earth. Even if they told you they planned to do that, it's not worth worrying about the impossible things rebels spout," he said. "I'm afraid we're going to have to choose to lock you up with the other spies in Spire Prison, or perhaps send you back to your city with instructions for them to provide a suitable punishment in light of your years," he said.
Layel stood up from his corner. "I really insist! I absolutely must speak to you all now! What I have to say concerns this matter," he added sheepishly as the room turned to face him. Aeron's mouth dropped open at his outburst.
The vampire leader waved his arm to let the man know he could continue, though, so he did his best to speak up. "I have met Priscilla," he said.
Firelight glinted off of halberds, worn bucklers, and a cuirass on a stand, shown in an artful arrangement that fanned out from the central point of the elaborately-carved fireplace.
"Layel, why did you kidnap Priscilla, knowing that she was put into my care?" he asked carefully, chillily. The purple-eyed vampire shook his head frantically.
"Now, now, Aeron," Cillean smiled, "let the boy speak." His eyes glittered dangerously. Layel`s gesturing became even more emphatic.
"Ne, ne," he protested.
"There is an explanation for all things, but understanding comes best when the atmosphere is receiving," Daerin said wisely. "He shall speak, and explain."
"He gets his chance now, either way," Cillean said. He shrewdly added, "You will have to break from your usual habits and speak clearly now," he added.
"A month or so ago, omm, it began," Layel said.
He went on to describe the actions in the clearing. The information that the renegade shifters had claimed to be working with the wizards caught their attention.
"Wait, wait, wait," Aeron broke in. "Why didn't you do anything to help that warrior? The one who spent his last breath talking about love? If you had kept him alive a little longer, you might have found out more of their plans."
Daerick nodded. "The location of their allies would be valuable as well, yes?"
"I`m also wondering why you didn't chase after that mysterious pair of eyes," Aeron chipped in.
"Well, at least we know some of what they're up to," Cillean murmured.
"Yes! Finally," Aeron s
aid. The vampire king and his aide grinned at his effervescence. It had been awhile since Cillean, Daerin, and Aeron had come together like this, and too many years in court by himself had left him icy in his socializing. "I love seeing Aeron like this again," Cillean whispered to Daerick. The other man nodded and smiled in agreement. "What?" Aeron asked them.
"It is of no great matter, my prince. There is another concern that has been ignored till now," Daerin said, suddenly all business. "Where`s Priscilla? She wasn't in the guest room we put Jackie in."
"My room," Layel answered.
"How long have you been keeping a young and unconscious girl in your room?" he growled, standing and pointing his finger at the purple-eyed vampire.
"Whoa there," Aeron chipped in. "What's with that tense atmosphere? You're like her father or older brother or something," he teased.
"It is a little surprising that he has already harnessed the mantle of brother-in-law," Daerin added knowingly.
Cillean blushed, but persisted. "It`s not appropriate," he mumbled.
"And it would make your girlfriend angry, I see it now!" Aeron teased. "I'll be sure to be a little less of a stern task master in the future, now that I see where your goals are. Of course, I'll want something in return for being nice to your girlfriend." He grinned.
"Jackie is not my girlfriend! We've barely just met. She definitely won't let me properly get to know her better if I let something like this continue, though," Cillean said. "And the price is too high when it comes to favors to you," he muttered.
"Come now. I relinquish my position to you, and now you squander it with that casual attitude," Cillean scolded. "An heir like yourself should have more dignity. Maybe I should ask you to cough up something to make my kindness worth my while," he returned.
"There are stronger spells," Layel said. The other three looked at him in confusion. "There are stronger spells warding my room, so she is, um, safest there. There is no, hmm. She is not in danger from me. I did not say, but she is very young. No room for the questionable."
The girl in question knocked on the door to the parlor. "May I come in," Priscilla asked. She looked at the other people in the room, strangers. Her hand trembled lightly, and her fists were covering her mouth shyly, protectively. Yet she stood with her shoulders squared and walked into the room despite her lack of a direct invitation. "It didn't seem to be about business, so I thought it might be safe for me to join you all," she began.
They gave a good-natured welcome, waving the girl in in short order. "Come in, come in!" She smiled shyly, and chose a seat on the couch next to Layel. The other members scrutinized them closely, leaving the pair blushing deeply. She left her hand resting on the cushions between their bodies, and he rested his palm on it, squeezing her land lightly. The others stared incredulously at the exchange that was so unusual for vampires. Priscilla saw them looking and released her hand.
"I just got used to it after a while," she murmured, scooting away. He grabbed her hand back more firmly, not allowing her squirming to move her an inch away.
"There's no need to change now," Layel said firmly. She nodded and looked down at the floor. Her hair became a sheet that blocked the view of the other guys as she glanced at Layel. "Did you come for something?" he asked her.
She smiled softly at the floor again. "Just to say hi," she said.
They grew quiet, smiling. It was somehow comforting to be in her presence. Calm. The other men started to slump in their seats and forget all about their conversation.
"How are you doing that?" Cillean asked. She protested against any knowledge of what he was talking about.
"Look at them," he said, thumb jabbing in their direction. "They're practically asleep with a stranger in the room. I mean, it's not like they dislike you, but these are deeply ingrained warrior instincts you're shooing away with your mojo."
She looked around in confusion, then she looked suddenly guilty as an idea popped into her head. "Oh," she said guiltily. "It may be my contractor." She bit her lip.
"Who," he asked.
"My contractor," she said. "He's the spirit of Düster Downs." At the vampires confused look, she explained that the Downs were wide swaths of flatlands and howling winds that were settled by a tribe of German daemons during the Great Exodus, the height of the witch hunts in the Original. Over time, these flatlands held onto most of each rainfall. As this stagnant water increased, sediment and debris began to pile up in the landform through a process called paludification, until eventually most of the daemons there had left the land in favor of other spaces in the Shadeworld or even to run away to the Daemon Dimension.
Cillean smirked, finding a bog to be a let-down from the rather romantic preferences most nymphs stuck to. She caught his expression and frowned. "He's great," Priscilla argued. "We're good friends. He looks out for me when we are all alone."
Layel looked up suddenly with his nostrils flared and released the girl's arm so he could scoot to the other end of the couch.
"It's true, we are." A strange light flew out from Priscilla, shadows covering the front of it so that it seemed Priscilla herself was eclipsed. There was a brief scent of peat and leather layered over sandalwood to accompany the new voice. "I'm quite fond of the girl." Durin's voice once again spoke through Priscilla with his deep timbre.
All the circle of boys grew quiet. "Is she insane?" Daerick asked quietly. "Or is it dissociative personality disorder, commonly triggered by a traumatic event, usually during childhood, intended to protect the main personality from further emotional damage?"
"Hardly," Priscilla's body chuckled deeply. "Her personality is intact in all its sheepishness." Her body grinned. "I am here with some of my corporal form so I'd think you'd be able to tell I was a different person. Besides, she just told you we were contracted. Are you really that surprised to hear from me now? The real question, though is can guess my name beyond the title?" he asked tauntingly. It was clearly just some game, or lark, to the male personality, but the men of various species in the room shivered at the sound of his disturbingly out-of-place voice each time he tacked on another sentence.
"Well, it's obvious," Cillean said. He had his legs up on the velvet sofa crisscrossed, his feet curled up under them. He was lounging in the corner of the couch, completely unconcerned by the goings-on around him. "I`m not so young as these children," he continued, some hint of creakiness and ancient wisdom sneaking into his voice. "I`ve seen this happen before. She's so powerful because your connection is so close, but also because you are as powerful as she said." Pausing for a moment, he continued, "That's also why you were able to commandeer her body without warning." Think, he added, "Though I`d guess you`ve also jumped in from time to time for the same reasons a dissociative personality disordered person might. Her wimpy nature, she's sure to have had something traumatic happen when big sis wasn't around to blast in with the guns a blazin' so to speak, to play the hero," the vampire continued. "Your name, however, is also obvious. You're Dürin."
The male personality chuckled, the sound containing both the man's voice and Priscilla's light and effervescent twinkle of a laugh.
"You're here talking to us to make sure none of us plan to mess around with her, right?" Aeron asked. He seemed fascinated with the two's ability to switch bodies.
"This is correct," the male personality agreed. "She has been thoughtless in her actions in the past, and I plan to prevent any similar aberrations," Dürin said.
Layel frowned. "We have had no such interactions, nor spoken before now at all."
"That's probably why you switched places with her the first time, at least, right?" He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as he leaned in. "Because, with a bond like that, you could sense something was seriously wrong on her end of things," Aeron said. He was fascinated, determined to research and get to the bottom of the unusual bond the two had.
"Yes," Dürin said.
Aeron shook his head. "Rather than the mysteries of the nymph bond, we are at
a point now where we must focus on the news about the shifter's allegiance. Do you mind us continuing the conversation in private?" Dürin nodded and left the girl. She looked around in a daze and blinked, then gave Layel a hug and skipped out of the room.
Aeron watched her go before he turned back to address his men. "You realize, all of you, that with Layel's news this all has become a much more serious matter than we once thought."
"Hey, did you guys forget about me? Now that you've determined I was telling the truth, maybe you could let me out," Darien said from his place still trapped inside the cell.
Aeron shrugged. "Your particular information is of most value to my father King Vovin and not the heir. I'm glad you told me instead of my dear brother, but that would convince me to give you some trinket, like a scroll of the spells of the most powerful wizards in your golden age. It's hardly worth such great sacrifices on my part as you have demanded."
Darien grimaced and looked away from him, only to have his gaze caught by the sneering vamps. "Why are we talking about this with them here anyways?"
Cillean grinned. "My good friend the prince is clearly offering me a little gift for apprehending someone on his most wanted list. You know that your human race is a particular delicacy for our kind."
Darien blanched. "Wait! I haven't told you everything yet. It's not just the plan to kill everyone. Somewhere in all of their plotting they also plan to kill my sister," he blurted.
The others scoffed. "You're just saying whatever you can to try to worm out of this," Daerick pointed out.
The vampire king rolled his eyes. "You don't have a sister, or you wouldn't know if you did. They separate children between the cities," Cillean pointed out.
