12 Days of Christmas: A Christmas Collection

by Laura Greenwood

  “This is a place of safety.”

  “I do not understand?”

  “You will. Follow me Lissandra.” Rhain starts walking towards a large stone cottage in the centre of the hamlet. Out of the chimney, purple smoke drifts upwards before dissolving into tiny stars that float to the ground. My heart skips a beat. Purple smoke can mean only one thing; witches.

  3

  “What is this?” I ask, my fear turning my legs into jelly or perhaps it is because of the lack of sustenance, either way, I am finding it difficult to stand.

  “This is my friend’s home. You need not be afraid.”

  “But she’s a witch.”

  “Who said anything about a ‘she’? Nostra is a man, he is a witch.”

  “I think I should leave. I can’t be here. If the Queen were to find out… You must know that she despises all witches. This will surely be my death, yours too if she were to find out.”

  Rhain grabs hold of me by the arm. He’s not hurting me, although he’s certainly capable of it, but he is gripping firmly enough that I cannot pull free. “That won’t happen will it Lissandra? Come inside, child, there are things we should discuss,” Rhain says, as he propels me across the meadow to the front door. I have little choice but to follow him unless I want my arm pulled free from its socket.

  He pushes open the door and pulls me into the room, dropping my arm and shutting the door behind him. I gasp as I look about the room, averting my eyes on what can only be described as a bloodletting orgy. Ezra and Devin are both present and each has a woman sitting on their laps, their fangs buried deep into the women’s necks. They peer up at me, their eyes glazed with satisfaction, only pulling their teeth free to greet Rhain and nod in my direction. I feel a familiar warmth pool within my chest, not unlike how I felt initially in Rhain’s presence, although that seems to have dissipated somewhat. Queen Adrielle herself would be impressed with their ability to attract the opposite sex with one gaze. The women in their arms don’t seem to have any problem offering themselves up as dinner. I cough, not sure where to look. I can feel my own need for blood like a throb in my temple.

  “Come sit. Don’t mind the boys, feed first, think later. It’s not their fault really,” a jovial voice says from the corner of the room. I look at the man behind the voice, and my legs completely buckle from beneath me. Before I know what’s happening, I’m floating towards an armchair located beside the open fire. I can hear Rhain’s muffled laughter. At least someone thinks it’s funny.

  “What just happened?” I ask, too preoccupied with my recent ability to levitate to pay much attention to the delicious smell of blood.

  “You were about to cause yourself an injury. I stopped that from happening,” the man with lilac eyes says as he approaches me with a glass of what looks, temptingly, like blood. “You need to drink. Don’t worry; I got this from a willing subject.”

  I take the glass from him, my hand reaching out before I am even able to consider what he meant by that. “I didn’t think there were any people willing to donate their blood. We take, hasn’t that always been the way?” I ask, taking a sip. Even the smallest amount energies me. This blood tastes far better than any human blood that has passed my lips before, which, granted, hasn’t been much of late.

  “For the most part, yes, the bloodletting is often violent and brutal. Many of the common-folk have suffered greatly for it. We, however, do not agree with such brutality.”

  “It looks like it,” I mutter, noticing how Ezra and Devin have returned to drawing blood from the women’s necks. I hear the women moan and find I can’t take my eyes off the scene. Rhain, who is standing a little back from his brothers, is looking at me smiling. I look away.

  “These women are here of their own accord. They choose to give their blood, like I chose to give mine to you,” Nostra says.

  I splutter on the next mouthful. “This is your blood?”

  “Yes. I hope it satisfies you?” He looks me over with his strange eyes, and I feel something unspool inside of me. The feeling is very much akin to how I feel about Sebastian. I push the feeling down and place the half-drunk glass of blood on the table beside me.

  “You are bewitching me with your magic, with your blood, just like Queen Adrielle does with the men who fall at her feet.”

  He laughs, winking at me. “I do not use my magic for such base desires. I cannot help it if you find me attractive, that’s all your doing.”

  I cross my arms in front of my chest and will my body not to defy me. This time, it seems to have heard. “I do not find you attractive. In fact, I find none of you attractive. You are clearly all egotistical maniacs.”

  Rhain laughs. “Leave the girl alone, Nostra. I think she has had enough this night. Her love has caught the Queen’s eye. They are together as we speak, probably doing things dear Lissandra hasn’t even heard of before.”

  I glare at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing he is right.

  “Enough of this talk, you’ve bought the girl to us, now we need to tell her why,” Ezra, the oldest and largest of the knights, says as he gently releases the woman from his grasp laying her down on the armchair he has just vacated. He touches her arm, and she appears to fall into peaceful sleep. “Devin, that’s enough,” he says to his brother who still has the peasant women locked in his mouth. A sound, very much like a growl, comes from his throat but he releases the woman anyway.

  “Don’t mind Devin he is a little less contained, shall we say, when it comes to feeding. He is learning though,” Ezra says, slapping him on the back. Devin grunts, wiping a hand across his mouth. His eyes linger on me for the briefest moment, and I am caught by how very black they are like the velvet throws that adorn the Queen’s bed, which only serves to bring back thoughts of Sebastian. “Light’s be damned,” I mutter.

  Nostra, the handsome witch, crouches in front of me. His short blonde hair is the colour of gold and I am reminded of my favourite season. It has always been summer despite the danger it brings. I find myself wondering what it would feel like to run my hand through his hair. I look away from him, trying not to stare too much at his face or at the vein that appears to pulse in his neck. I can taste his blood on my lips, and I feel my tongue lick a trace of it that lingers there still. This does not go unnoticed. Nostra smiles, and for a second I forget Sebastian.

  “It is not a coincidence that you are here, but I suspect you have gathered that by now,” he says, casting a look over his shoulder at the three brothers who have taken their own seat by the fire.

  “I figure you want something from me or you would’ve killed me by now,” I say.

  “We only kill when it is necessary,” Ezra replies, an edge to his voice.

  “That’s not what I heard,” I retort.

  “Well you’ve heard wrong,” Devin growls, his ability to temper his rage not working particularly well right now.

  “Looks like it,” I mutter defiantly. Devin narrows his eyes at me and leans forward. Rhain places a firm arm on his shoulder, pulling him back. “Easy,” I hear him say.

  “She is young, she doesn’t know what she is saying,” Rhain says patiently.

  Devin mutters something under his breath, but he sits back, and I find that I can breathe again.

  Nostra takes my hands in his bringing my attention back to him. I am embarrassed by the hard callouses that mar my palms. He seems to notice my discomfort.

  “You work hard for the Queen, don’t you, Lissa? May I call you Lissa?” he asks gently.

  “I suppose,” I say, distracted by the way his thumbs gently brush against my knuckles.

  “Lissa, I have known these three men for nigh on almost a century. I am older than them by some many years yet.”

  “You are more than a thousand years old?”

  “Older still, I am as old as Queen Adrielle.”

  “No-one is older than Queen Adrielle,” I say remember how grotesque she really looks.

  “Ah, but that’s where you a
re mistaken. You see, she and I are related.”

  I pull my hands from his in disgust. “I should have known! You pretend to be young and beautiful like her? You mean to enchant me, like she enchanted Sebastian this night.”

  “Lissa, I don’t pretend anything. I may be old in spirit, but my body is still young. I do not hide beneath my skin like my sister does. She lost her beauty the moment she took what wasn’t hers to take.”

  “Your sister?” I say, standing. “What do you want with me? I am just her maid. I cannot help you. Whatever it is you’re planning, I want no part of it.”

  “Sit down, Lissa. Let me explain.”

  I sit, even though I want to run far away from this place. Even though he says he isn’t enchanting me, something in his eyes make me obey him.

  “We need your help,” Nostra says taking my hands in his once again. When I don’t speak he continues. “We need you to help us kill Queen Adrielle.”

  Whether it is because of what he said, or because I am too weak from not taking enough blood, I find the room spinning away from me. As darkness descends, the last thing I hear is Rhain cursing Nostra for not easing me into the idea of murdering our Queen.

  4

  I wake up to find myself lying prone on a single bed in the corner of the room, a layer of sheepskin thrown over me. The room is empty of the women, just the four men remain talking quietly at the table. I sit up, glad to find that I am still wearing my clothes.

  “Ah, good, you have awoken. We were worried about how we’d get you back to the castle without being seen,” Rhain says from his spot at the table.

  “I can walk just fine,” I say pulling my legs free from underneath the skins. My head spins as I stand too quickly.

  “Whoa, easy Lissa,” I hear Nostra say as another invisible force props me up.

  “Come and sit,” Ezra says a little impatiently. “We do not need another fainting episode, there isn’t much time until dawn and there is much you need to know before your return to the castle.”

  I walk over to the table, most of my weight supported by Nostra’s magic. I smile weakly at him in thanks. He dips his head and smiles.

  “As we were saying before you passed out, we need your help to send Queen Adrielle back to the dark pit she crawled from.” Rhain looks at me as though waiting for me to faint again when I do not he continues. “You are the only one she trusts enough to allow entrance to her inner sanctum,” Rhain explains.

  “Do what?” I ask as my eyes are drawn to a glass vial on the table. Inside I can see a swirling pink mist, not unlike the smoke I saw pouring from the chimney earlier.

  “This is the essence of light. It will not kill her, but it will weaken her enough so that Ezra, Rhain, and Devin can pass through the boundary between Ever Vale and a place called Earth. Currently, her power has sealed all the portals shut. It has been that way ever since she cast the curse almost 1000 years ago,” Nostra says, handing me the vial.

  “Earth? What is this place?”

  “It is another realm that exists beyond Ever Vale. A place that Queen Adrielle has never been able to enter. A place where the people aren’t ruled by her darkness.”

  My mouth pops open in shock. “Such a place like this exists? But why do they need to go there? I do not understand?”

  “To find Clan Lux’s missing daughter. To bring her home,” Devin says.

  “Missing daughter? Your daughter?”

  “No, we do not have children. None of us wish to bring a child into this curse. Believe it or not, we aren’t that selfish.”

  Heat fills my belly. How dare Rhain judge my parents for wanting a life beyond the curse? I open my mouth to say as much but Nostra shakes his head at me. I glare at him, the heat blazes in my chest. “My parents were not selfish. They loved me, they wanted to give me a good life.”

  “Yes, and look where that got them,” Ezra says. “They were returned to the light for loving you so.”

  I stand, striding over to him, the fury ripping out of me before I can stop it. “How dare you say such a thing,” I prod my finger in his chest. “You know nothing of love.”

  Ezra slaps my hand away. “I know enough to understand it is not worth the problems it brings. You love that boy Sebastian and look where it got you. Tonight, Queen Adrielle is in his arms. He chose her over you.”

  I lean forward, forgetting myself and the stories I’ve heard about Ezra. “I promise you this, Ezra, one day you will love another and you will understand what it is to be loved in return. When that time comes I hope you remember what you said, and I hope you suffer for it.”

  A darkness leaches into his eyes. “You have no idea child…” he turns from me, his hand fisted, by the time he returns my stare the darkness is gone. “The only person who can cast a spell as powerful as love is Nostra here, and he agrees with me, love is for the foolhardy.”

  I don’t know why but hearing that about Nostra makes my heart sink a little. “Is this true?” I say. He regards me a moment before speaking.

  “It is true that until very recently I tended to agree with Ezra. Now, perhaps…”

  “Are we done?” Devin interrupts impatiently. “We need Lissandra to hear the rest of the story so we can get this over and done with.”

  “Sit down, Lissa,” Nostra says gently, and yet again I obey.

  “You said that you are looking for a missing daughter. A daughter of Clan Lux?” I ask. “Why? And how will this have anything to do with you murdering the Queen? Which, by the way, is the most ridiculous thing I have heard.”

  “You cannot tell us that you have never wished her dead? Look what she has taken from you, child. Your life, your freedom, your parents. Tonight, she has taken the one you love with no regard for your feelings. Most of all she has taken away your ability to be who you truly are, your ability to walk in the light,” Rhain says. “Don’t you wish to feel the sun on your skin? Don’t you long for it like we do?”

  Of course, I have. Of course, I’ve wished her dead, who hasn’t? But, that doesn’t mean we should actually do it. More to the point that I should be the one to help them. “It doesn’t matter what I feel. You of all people should know that Queen Adrielle has many enemies, but that hasn’t stopped her ruling for the last one thousand years. She is not a fool. What makes you think you will be able to succeed where others have failed.”

  Nostra steeples his fingers under his chin. “You are right, Lissa, my sister is no fool, but she does have a weakness and I intend to use that. First, I must tell you her story from the beginning, but the question is Lissa, are you ready to listen?”

  I’m not, but I don’t say that. Instead, I nod my head.

  “Good, then let me tell you her story.”

  5

  “For hundreds of years, the five clans of Ever Vale lived peacefully beside each other. Your people, Clan Lux, the people of light; Clan Terra, the people of the land; Clan Vitae, the people of birth; Clan Spiritus, the people of peace and harmony; and Clan Aequalis, the people of equality,” Nostra begins.

  “And now we, the people of Clan Lux, can no longer live in the light. We survive on the blood of others and hide in the shadows. Our old friends, Clan Terra, are trapped in the dark forest, now a part of the earth and trees that grow there. Clan Vitae are angels of death, taking life instead of bringing it forth. Clan Spiritus are the brutal wolves that hunt and maim, all gentleness stripped from them since the curse and, now, our mortal enemy. Finally, Clan Aequalis have been given powers that made them turn on each other, they are self-centred and cruel, that’s if there are any left,” Rhain says, swiping a hand through his hair.

  Nostra looks at Rhain grimly. “For all our sakes, I hope so, brother,” he says. “Each clan had a leader, and each leader had a wife, every one of them was with child. One evening during their yearly Moontide ball a beautiful young woman arrived and bewitched the five leaders.”

  “Let me guess, Queen Adrielle?” I say.

  “Indeed,” Nostra nods. “She s
tole their husbands, moved them into the castle with her and began taking charge of the clans all within a matter of months. All the wives had left were their wedding bands, five gold rings, and five daughters who would never know their fathers. Two moon cycles later Adrielle was pregnant with a child of her own.”

  “What? Queen Adrielle had a baby?” I look from Nostra to the three men. “You jest with me.”

  “Nostra is deadly serious, Lissandra,” Ezra says.

  “This is the first I’ve heard of it. I have worked for Queen Adrielle for ten years and she has never mentioned a child.”

  “Regardless, it is the truth. She was once with child.”

  “Once?”

  “The baby did not last full-term. She lost the baby before six moon cycles had passed. It was the only time I ever saw Adrielle cry. As sad as it was, I hoped that it would change her for the better. She seemed to love that unborn child. Alas, the loss had the opposite effect. Her cruelty began in earnest then. The curse that befell all the clans, it was cast the night she lost her unborn baby.”

  “Why would she curse the clans? It was not their fault,” I say.

  “Revenge,” Rhain says, sighing. “This was not Mother Nature’s work. Adrielle was poisoned by the five wives of the clan leaders she stole. The poison didn’t work the way they intended.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  “The five wives wanted Adrielle dead. She took their husbands with no regards to their feelings. The poison killed alright, it just took the life of the soul with least resistance.” Nostra’s eyes mist up. I can see he too is hurt by the death of an innocent child and I have the sudden need to hold him close. Instead, I sit on my hands.

  “That’s horrid,” I say. I find myself feeling sorry for Queen Adrielle, but this is quickly chased away when I remember what she did to my own parents, to our clan and to all the others bound by her curse.

  “There it is again, love causing nothing but trouble,” Ezra says.