by Alison Smith
Jewel - Daughter of Destiny
Alison Smith
© 2017 Authored By Alison Smith
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1544046669
ISBN 13: 9781544046662
For Terry.
Thank you for your calm encouragement as we bring our dreams to life.
I love you.
And thank you to others who have helped on this journey.
As always, With love,
From Alison
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Epilogue
Prologue
The noise would have been deafening and the green ray blinding with intensity - had there been any life with ears or eyes. But in this part of the solar system there was neither light nor life. All had been destroyed. The area was known as The Void and, as such, was also known as a place to be avoided at all times.
A change had occurred. Ripples of energy through time and space had caused an ancient heart, deep inside The Void, to pulse. At the most recent ripple another heart had begun to throb and a small explosion occurred. Specks of green ray grew and became green orbs. The hearts began to beat in a regular booming pattern. Something was wakening the ancient ones. The ripples emanated from a small, almost insignificant planet, and the Ancient Ones sent dark clouds to investigate.
The Wisdom of All Ages grew concerned. The Void had held all in balance and yet the Ancient Ones were wakening.
It was too early. New life was not expected yet.
The Void and its power of destruction could threaten the planet that held the key to all life. Other events had yet to happen though. Something had gone wrong with the prophecies. The Wisdom of All Ages had to be ready to orchestrate certain events. One name pulsated through the dark clouds and the green orbs.
‘Jewel.’
Chapter 1
‘My Lady, it is time to start the ritual.’ Elijah’s voice, carried by a mere breath, reached Monique as she stood opposite him in the glade. The only light was from the new moon. She raised her hands to bring order to the vampires gathered together. A loud thump of a car door being slammed shut nearby reverberated, breaking into her concentration and Monique frowned.
‘No more interruptions,’ she called out and immediately a sense of formality threaded through the air.
‘My Lady? All are now here.’ Elijah spoke quickly.
Monique clapped her hands and a silent air of reverence fell. Her mouth was dry. She needed blood. Drinking it only at a full moon was no longer enough. She needed much more sustenance than that.
‘Elijah. Are all the preparations in order?’ She asked but knew that he would have arranged everything beautifully. He was her most trusted companion. He had, at her bidding, arranged for her conversion to vampire centuries ago. And then, later, she had changed him.
‘Oh yes. My Lady. Everything is ready for you.’ Said as he lifted, with one hand, the limp body of a human male.
She looked at the expectant faces around her. Some were newly converted and were nervous. Others held expressions of excitement.
‘In respect of the old traditions,’ she called the words out to those surrounding her. ‘We gather here tonight to celebrate the birth of a new moon. To celebrate using the old ways as only I dare. And to make a sacrifice to the gods.’
Monique glanced around the forest glade gently lit. The silver light gave the trees a dark, imposing, appearance. Her bloodline stood surrounding her, each with their back to a tree. All were quiet and their faces, bathed in the moonlight, seemed luminescent. Monique clicked her fingers and all of them, as one, raised their hands to salute the moon.
‘I call upon the elementals and of the dark ones.’ Monique continued glorifying in her energy and speaking the words designed to create a circle of power. ‘At this new moon,’ she paused and glanced around to ensure that all were properly appreciating her. She had spent hours creating an immaculate glamour and wanted proper adulation. ‘Element of gentle air, come whisper to me,’ she murmured.
A slight breath of air surrounded her for the briefest of moments. Her scarlet dress, made from gossamer thin lace, flowed and melded to her body. She smiled. She had control of the elements. Oh my. The gods must be pleased with her. Impatient suddenly for the ritual and its reward she clapped her hands together again.
‘Only I can call this power to us. Only I can provide this for my line. I allow you all into this most sacred of spaces. Only I dare to call these forces to me.’ Monique felt her aura expand and sensed the look of awe in the faces of those around her. She waved Elijah forward.
‘My Lady,’ Elijah gave a small bow and held the human out towards her. ‘I bring you this sacrifice on behalf of all of us who are here.’
Monique could imagine the juices coursing through her body. She badly wanted to drink but there were words to be spoken before her thirst could be quenched. This ritual was timed to perfection and she spoke the incantations to echo through the ages. Words to wake the gods and appease them.
Elijah tilted the young man’s head, exposing the neck to her. She bit. Her saliva seeped into his system allowing his blood to flow. She drank and felt the familiar sense of comfort racing through her body. She nodded her approval to Elijah and watched as he mixed some of the remaining blood with wine. The golden goblet that he used was then passed around the circle until all had sipped the blood wine.
Elijah carried the body into the centre of the circle, lowered it to the ground and stood back a pace. Monique knew they would all stand in silence until after she had destroyed the body and closed the circle. She raised her hands to form a sphere of energy. Red tendrils of dark light manifested into a ball between her hands. It grew in strength and she asked the question of the gods. The same question always. The question that she knew would be answered eventually. She just had to fully satisfy the gods.
‘Please … disclose the secret. Where is Jewel?’
Jewel, her daughter.
Jewel the one person who, if it hadn’t been for enemies, would have been standing at her side tonight. The thick warm syrup still coating her tongue couldn’t sweep away a momentary taste of anger. How could the Legend of Vampires, and the Prime Legend himself, dare to vote on whether she were fit to raise her own child! Her fury at that simmered and then she smiled. Her time would come very soon. Her fury added a deeper red to the sphere and she raised her right hand to send it flying towards the dead man. It exploded and in a flash all that was left of the body was ashes. There would be nothing for anyone to find.
A bat circled overhead, catching Monique’s attention as nothing else could. The gods had sent her a sign. From her own race. It was joined by a second and then third. Soon the sky appeared to be full of bats, all circling above.
‘Jewel will come to you.’ Words echoed through the darkness and she smiled in triumph. The sacrifices were working. The gods were agreeing that the old magic needed to be used. Jewel would be by her side before the next full moon. And then she would take Jewel’s powers for her own. And everyone would know that Monique was the most powerful of a
ll. No one, not even the Prime Legend, would be able to oppose her. Triumphantly she clapped her hands together to close the circle and the bats flew away.
Everybody dispersed quickly as always but for Elijah. He stood to one side, patiently waiting. But her tasks of the night were not yet finished. The sacrifice had magic in his ashes. She wanted that magic and, bending down, quickly scooped as much as she could into a glass jar. Once sealed it was carefully placed in the small leather bag suspended at her waist.
That completed, she glanced over to Elijah and he walked towards her.
‘It was a fine ritual, My Lady. And I believe the time draws ever closer to when we will learn of Jewel’s place of hiding.’
Monique smiled. ‘Indeed. The gods seem to be rather more inclined towards that. Don’t you agree?’
‘Oh indeed.’ Elijah was quick to respond. ‘It was a great injustice that all thirteen vampires within the Legend voted to remove Jewel from you.’
Monique frowned as she remembered that day. The day when she had been powerless and could only watch as Anton took Jewel from her.
‘And Anton.’ Her stomach curled as she recalled his face. ‘I trusted him and he betrayed us all. But of course he only did it for the reward. The Prime Legend made him speaker. And I? Nothing. No daughter.’
Elijah cleared his throat. ‘What about Sable? My Lady. Perhaps she has gained more magic now?’
‘I do not wish to talk of her. She is no daughter of mine. She is gone from me and I do not wish to ever speak of her again. She had no powers. No. I chose Jewel’s father, the male witch, with care. And then suffered through the indignities of that second pregnancy. Jewel has power. Great power. Jewel is the one who I need here. And I want revenge. I want Anton in pain.’
‘You used to think him handsome though, My Lady.’ Elijah said quietly.
Monique momentarily recalled Anton’s strong features and even stronger body.
‘Virile, I believe was my choice of word.’ She said and then glanced at Elijah. She needed to divert her thoughts and smiled as she saw his arousal straining the fabric of the tight britches she demanded he always wore. Britches that were made to display his contours perfectly. He had served her well tonight and deserved a reward.
‘My Lady?’ said with an expression of hope on his face.
She nodded and watched with approval as he carefully smoothed a blanket over the soft moss covering the earth. Then he stood in front of her and unbuttoned his britches.
It had been a good ritual, she told herself and slowly dropped her dress to the ground. But then she was the best. And very soon everyone would know it.
Jewel lengthened her stride as the clock in the town square ahead of her chimed midnight. She usually finished her nightly shift in the casino at three in the morning but Mr Tu, her employer, was supportive of her need to leave earlier at new and full moons. He used the lunar calendar rather than solar and knew within minutes of a degree where the moon was at any time.
Even so she had been later than usual by the time she had changed out of her uniform and raced to the door. Then a thunderstorm had broken overhead. Having wrestled with her umbrella she gave up, preferring to speed along the streets and be wet rather than risk missing her bus. A dog howled in the distance distracting her. She shivered. There always seemed to be dogs around her these days. Several times she had seen, through the kitchen window, a black dog in the back yard of her small terraced house. Only to find it gone when she went outside.
Her phone rang and she quickly flipped it open. It would be Diana, she knew, in her role of High Priestess and wanting to know where Jewel was.
‘Di, I’m turning into the square now and can see the late night bus waiting,’ she said succinctly. ‘Am I last again?’
‘No, everyone is late tonight. I think the weather has caused problems. It wasn’t forecast but we’re dry here thank goodness.’ Diana answered. ‘Chris will wait at the bus stop and drive you up to the stones. We must all be here tonight and I won’t start without you.’
Jewel smiled as she came to a halt by the bus. The driver opened the door for her and she climbed aboard. He hardly gave her time to sit down before driving off. She had made this journey twice a month for years. It was always the same driver and always the same group of passengers. People like her who had a need to go out into the countryside and celebrate the lunar cycle. They never acknowledged each other. She didn’t know where they all went but none of them had ever followed her to the stone circle where Diana’s coven met.
The clouds had obscured the new moon but Diana had said it was dry at the stones. Jewel hoped she would see the moon in all of her glory. She was ready.
Anton stood in the wooded glade and a deep sense of foreboding crept through his bones. A black shadow hovered over those that were gathered here. The midnight air was still. Yet the trees rustled. There were no sounds of owls or of animals going about their nocturnal business. And yet presences were all around. He wondered whether others were aware. Was Jewel? He raised a glass of blood-red wine to his lips. No matter that this time was different. The birth of a new moon should still be celebrated as it had been for centuries.
The old moon had waned and left the sky three nights ago. A slender crescent of shiny silver had appeared tonight to herald the return of the Goddess. There would, once again, be illumination at night. It was a natural time of wonder but this time was different. Even the midnight air seemed heavier.
Sable stood quietly to his left. She hadn’t spoken since he had opened the circle and voiced the traditional ritual verses. Usually she brought a blessing for the Goddess with words carefully chosen from her library of books built up over decades. She remained silent. Looking to his right he saw that his other helpers, the Twins, had stepped back as if they were wishing themselves anywhere but here. These were two strongly built men but, to Anton’s eyes, they appeared diminished. He knew they all recognised the spirits surrounding them. Familiar unworldly wisps conveying a sense of unease.
‘Jewel is needed. It is time for destiny to unfold.’ Whispers echoing from different parts of the globe and even further. All carrying the same message.
‘Do you hear, Anton?’ Sable’s hushed voice asked.
‘I hear,’ he answered with a heavy heart.
For the first time, in all the centuries of celebrating, he wished for a taste of blood. But he only drank when necessary and that was usually at the full moon, rarely at other times. This time was different but he wouldn’t give way to the call of the wild. A distant wolf howled, calling him to hunt. He needed to retain his body tonight. He couldn’t afford lost hours.
The messages continued. Carried by the trees they grew stronger, needing to be heard. The night became loud as the spirits of Anton’s own line, the Genevieve, and then members of the Legend of Vampires all entered the circle.
‘Time has been kind but no longer.’
Anton heard Sable give a small gasp as she recognised the voice of the Prime Legend himself. He rarely communicated at the time of a new moon.
And then the messages came thick and fast. As if all had waited for guidance from the Prime as to how much to say. Prophecies were manifesting too quickly. Magic was being worked according to the old traditions and with alarming consequences. A time of darkness was returning.
‘Jewel is needed.’ And then all were silent.
Anton took a sip of his wine but it tasted bitter. He quickly closed the circle and all four of them walked away from the trees and towards their home in silence. This was it then, he acknowledged, time to draw Jewel back into her birthright. Her powers would be needed if, as the rumours indicated, Monique was ready to not only attack the delicate balance of light and dark but to also take Jewel’s powers as her own. No vampire would be safe, anywhere. Whatever Monique wanted would be hers for the taking.
They reached the large house and entered the hall.
‘Do you require anything sir?’ One of the Twins said and Anton shook his head.
He had no stomach for food.
‘Then we shall retire.’ And they hurried away.
Anton knew that they would be switching on their television set as soon as they reached their room. He allowed himself a moment of wry humour. Since installing satellite television they seemed to watch every sport from all over the world. How they had embraced this century with such glee.
Sable walked away from him but paused and turned at the foot of the long staircase. Anton looked at her, knowing that her sightless eyes couldn’t see him in an ordinary way, and the brief heartbeat of lightness was gone.
‘Monique will soon be too powerful, Anton. If we do not act soon then I fear that she will have the capability of not only bringing us all down but of absorbing Jewel into her world without the poor girl even knowing.’ Sable ended the short speech and it was the closest he had ever heard her come to censuring him.
He should have acted before — but hadn’t Jewel deserved a few years of normal life? His silent question hung unanswered in the air between them. He knew Sable had read it, but she was once again quiet. Turning, the tall elegant woman glided quickly up the stairs towards her room. Her long black robe swished and was the only sound to be heard in the otherwise silent hall.
With a heavy heart he went into his study and, glancing at the glass in his hand, placed it on a side table. He no longer wanted red wine but needed something stronger and, taking the crystal brandy decanter and a glass over to his desk, poured a large measure. He needed to continue with the plans and there were not enough hours left before dawn. Yet he must complete as much as he could this night. Jewel’s safety was all that mattered right now. He would have to bring her here. And then, if she were willing, together they would subdue Monique. Drinking the brandy, his thoughts turned to Jewel. As Jewel’s protector, Anton could only enlist her help with her full co-operation and understanding. The honour bound in this agreement that he had made with the Prime Legend was both a blessing and a curse, he thought. Monique would have no such scruples.
