“Hmm. Well, I guess you haven’t heard the news then.”
“What news?”
“Moldark’s gone absolutely berserk. He’s declaring war on me, on the Princess, on Lord Fane, on –”
“Wait, you saw Moldark?” Theresa asked.
Harland shook his head. “No, I – I just heard some things. He was around here after midnight near the harem, cutting people’s heads off in the street or something. Personally, I’m all for murder in the dead of night. But it requires a little class, you know? A little discretion. Subtlety is not one of Moldark’s virtues.”
“We’ve got to stop him!” Theresa yelled. “He doesn’t know! He thinks I was with them because –”
“He’s gone now,” Harland said. “You’re not going to be able to talk him down. I can promise you that. No, the best chance of restoring balance to the land is for Fane to get his Necromancer and now I’m prepared to help you with that.” He reached into his pocket and produced another collar. “Here.”
Theresa swatted his hand away. “I don’t want that.”
“No, it’s just an ordinary collar. It’s not enchanted. You wear it to convince the Davorin Twins you’re still under their spell. And then you go and manipulate them. Get them to release the Necromancer.”
Theresa looked back down into the darkness of the dungeon.
She shivered. “I know a better way.”
CHAPTER FIVE
It was secret. It was sacred. It was knowledge Theresa couldn’t impart, not to Harland or Maxine or anyone, even in these circumstances. Even though Moldark had apparently lost his mind over what he’d seen between Theresa and the Davorin twins, she knew in her heart she had not betrayed him and she wasn’t about to start now. There was still hope of bringing Moldark back from whatever darkness he’d succumbed to, but in the meantime innocents were dying and his reign of terror had to be dissolved before it ever truly began.
Which is why this had to be dealt with now. Not half the night later when the stallions had ridden their all to the east and she was still trying to figure her way out of the twins’ clutches. Not tomorrow or in a week when the window for saving Emberlynn had passed. This was all about now. And the fastest way to get there as possible.
Harland and Maxine had agreed to work together and do their part in disbanding the rest of the townspeople in the Keep, while Harland specifically would do his best to prevent Cyprian and Seraphine from hurting anyone else.
Meanwhile, the task of seeking out the Necromancer and bringing her back to the Keep was in Theresa’s hands alone. She made a deal with her friend Maxine and the Northern House Vampire to meet in the forest where Lord Fane was already waiting, in exactly one hour, the second hour after midnight.
Theresa knew of a certain way of getting to the Eastern Kingdom, but the ride through and from town would take time, and paint a target on her for any of Moldark’s men who might still be in that area. Moldark had also mentioned that the Harem itself contained one of Lord Fane’s Teleporters – that it would be underneath the ground floor somewhere. So instead of risking the longer journey, she decided to catch a carriage back to the Harem to uncover it.
Sitting in the back on the way there alone stirred Theresa with a mix of feelings. Samuel, the driver and would be friend, had been led to his death as a result of his trust in Theresa. She hadn’t meant for him to be hurt. She could see herself sitting with him back here, only minutes ago it seemed. And she knew what was happening. She wanted to tell him to run away. But she couldn’t. Was it the collar that prevented her? Or was she just weak?
Theresa felt the tears coming again. How she wanted to sob, sob, sob for what had happened to him. The look on his face when he realized it was her. When he realized what he’d just walked into.
Theresa opened her eyes. “Hold it together. It wasn’t your fault.”
But ah, it did feel that way. No matter if everything in tonight went perfectly from now on – if she brought back the Princess and Moldark called off the war and decided he wanted to marry her in spite of everything – There would still come that moment where Theresa would have to confront Samuel’s family. And own up to what she’d done.
Halfway to the Harem, she put her head out the window and requested the driver pull to the curb. She couldn’t bear to sit through the journey anymore.
She made herself walk.
CHAPTER SIX
By the time Theresa reached the Harem, her legs were so tired she could barely lift them. She found herself thinking about home. About the rags on the cold floor called bed.
They weren’t nice. They weren’t comfortable or fancy. But up until this night it was all she had.
And deep down she knew, as much as the thought of bed tempted her, she could never allow herself to sleep in such destitution again. That couldn’t be the way. It wasn’t the world’s plan to lock her away for years and then release her for one night – just one single night – only to lock her back up in the cage again. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t.
And the shame ground its way further.
“I’m here,” she said peering around the Harem’s entrance. “I’m back.”
She knew she was being hopeful. That Moldark would somehow make his way back here to share her company again.
But things were now silent.
Empty.
Hollow.
She walked by the unmanned desk and down the hallway and through to the main area.
The mist was all gone.
Clear.
She went to the bar and found some liquor that was made for humans and not vampires and poured it into a glass. She sat down on one of the chairs and threw it back into her throat. The warm sensation quashed the tension.
She forced a smile.
And closed her eyes.
“I thought I might find you here.”
Theresa looked up to the railing.
Lafayette was standing there, looking down at her. Smoking a pipe.
She swallowed and waved hello.
He began making his way around to the stairs leading down.
Once he was on the floor he slowly made his way over to the bar and poured himself one of the vampire concoctions. He drank it with his back to her.
“I suppose I’m not who you were hoping to see then,” Lafayette said.
“Do you know where he is?” Theresa asked.
“His forces ride west. They will soon be taking Emberlynn’s castle.”
“How much time do we have?”
“Not more than a couple of hours, I don’t think.”
“So there’s still time then. I can stop this.”
“How?”
Theresa shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I know a way.”
“What way is that?”
He sat down at her table.
“What –” he began again.
“I’m going to get the necromancer. Okay?”
“Did you meet him at the mines then?”
“That was – she was a woman there.”
“No necromancer?”
“No, the necromancer was a woman. But she needs the second necromancer. The cousin, I believe. The one locked in the Davorin’s dungeon.”
“And how do you suppose you’ll figure this all out in time?”
Theresa sighed. “You just have to trust me.”
She stood up.
“I want to help you,” Lafayette said. “Saving Emberlynn is important to me. For a number of reasons.”
“I know she is. But…”
“But what?”
“I just – I don’t want to hurt Moldark any more than I have already.”
Lafayette breathed in deeply. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lafayette was a good listener. He was cold and calm enough to just sit back, and take the details in like a sponge. There wasn’t anything from him resembling jealousy. No bitterness or begrudging. In some ways Theresa detected a slyness a
bout him. A small form of cunning. But whatever differences he might have had with her or Moldark, he also seemed to genuinely emphasize with what Theresa was going through.
“It was unwise,” Lafayette said after she was finished, “to leave Maxine alone with Harland.”
“I know, but if it wasn’t for him –”
“True evil rarely shows itself openly,” Lafayette said. “People will say Moldark is evil. Especially now what he’s been doing and about to do.”
“Of course,” Theresa said.
“But I can relate. You see I fell in love with a woman who was also evil. To the public light anyway.”
“You mean Emberlynn.”
“There is much about her you don’t understand. Almost how there are things about Moldark that I will never understand. But you see, for all Moldark’s brutality, I still know the face of evil. And he is a liar, who comes as a friend.” Lafayette rose from his chair. “I promise I won’t let on about this teleportation device or whatever it is. The most important thing is that neither Harland or the Davorin twins learn about it. They will no doubt exploit its power.”
“And what of Lord Fane then? Don’t you still wish to see him dead?”
“That’s up to Emberlynn. I’m not going to force a conflict between us. But it is imperative we get onto this Necromancer while there is still time.”
“Agreed.”
Theresa stood up also.
“So I guess we’re looking for a trapdoor then,” Lafayette said. “I wonder if he would be so bold to build it in this room.”
“It’s usually at the lowest level,” Theresa said. “So if there isn’t another level below this…?”
Lafayette moved around the bar. Ripped away a rug there.
No trapdoor.
“Hmm…” He turned around to where Theresa was. “Behind you.”
Theresa turned around.
She was facing the platform stage Lord Fane had been standing on when she first arrived at the Harem and was introduced to the vampire lords.
“You take one end,” Lafayette said.
Theresa moved around to the other side of the platform and crouched down.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
She nodded and they put their back into shifting the platform across the floor.
Underneath, the door was there.
Just like Moldark said it would be.
Lafayette lifted up the latch and began descending the ladder.
Orange light was flickering from the chamber below.
Theresa followed him down and pushed back the red curtain waiting for them to reveal the next room containing the teleporter.
Lafayette stood in front of it for a moment, admiring its beauty.
“This goes an enormous long way,” he said. “For both Moldark and Lord Fane. It gives us hope.”
“How do you mean?”
“That both of them would know about this device. And not use it to destroy the Houses from the inside out. I’m actually beginning to suspect Moldark wasn’t the person who wanted Emberlynn dead to begin with.”
“Well, he did kill her technically,” Theresa said. “So there’s that.”
“But why would he wait? Unless…”
Lafayette turned around. “He didn’t want to hurt her people. Only her.”
“What does that mean?”
“I just … Maybe this whole war thing with Moldark… Maybe there’s not a lot to it.”
“I saw him raze Maxine’s village to Hell. What about that?”
“He’s angry. He loses his temper. But he’s not out for an all supreme tyrannical rule of the land. That you see, is the real danger.”
“Duly noted.”
Theresa approached the device and put her hands on the lever, pulling it back and forward.
Until the portal turned purple and black and the words EASTERN KINGDOM where selected at its front.
“Are you ready?” Lafayette asked.
“When you are,” Theresa answered and walked in front of him into the field of light.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Theresa and Lafayette stepped out into a tiny, square shaped room with no immediate exit. Theresa went to the opposite wall and ran her hands along in search of a curtain. But there wasn’t one.
“Okay, so how do we get out here?” she remarked.
Lafayette studied the walls carefully. “Over here,” he said motioning to the right wall.
Theresa inspected it. It appeared to be wood instead of concrete.
“It’s shelf or something,” Lafayette said. “It’s blocking our way.”
“Can we move it?”
Lafayette stood in front of it. Traced his fingers to the furthest corner. He flexed his fingers and then slipped them through the tiny crack. “This. Won’t. Be. Easy.”
His face tensed as he used all his strength to shift the unit across.
He took his hand out a couple of times before putting it back in.
With each try, he budged it a little further.
Until the hole was large enough to fit his hand through.
“Well done,” Theresa said cheering him on. “That’s it.”
Using one hand he was able to push it across faster, followed by two hands, faster still.
Theresa got in at the end and together they pushed the shelving away from the wall. Stepping through into the other side of the room they found themselves in a library, and what they’d been pushing had in fact been a bookcase.
“Should we seal it back up in case someone sees?” Theresa asked.
“Are you kidding?” Lafayette fired back.
“Yeah, that’s probably too much work.”
Lafayette exhaled, and stepped out further into the room to get a look at their surroundings. He picked up an ornament from one of the shelves, inspecting it.
“So where are we then? Is this the castle?”
Lafayette put the object back. “I guess we’ll soon find out.”
They exited through a wide archway on the left side of the room, and followed a cushy purple carpeted area along to the right and up three steps. They passed by various glass cabinets containing human organs and limbs out on display.
“Ugh, that’s freaking gross,” Theresa said glancing at the grotesque finding on their way past. “There’s nothing like that in your castle is there?”
Lafayette laughed under his breath but didn’t answer.
The room opened out and they found themselves in a wider area with a high ceiling. This was another trophy room of some sort. Dozens of humanoid and creature statues were set on display in various parts of the room – along with portraits and paintings hanging from the walls.
Lafayette looked around carefully.
Theresa spied a window at the far end. She walked towards it and peered outside and saw the sky was still swamped by cloud without moon. They were also about fifty feet above ground, overlooking a beach and wild ocean outside the castle.
“I know where we are,” Lafayette said. “Came to a function in this room a few years ago. There wasn’t so many statues then.”
Theresa turned around. Approached him. “Do you know where the dungeon is?”
“I have an idea,” Lafayette answered.
“So shouldn’t we be going then?”
Lafayette thought for a moment. “I suppose so.”
They turned to leave the room but were confronted by someone standing in the edge of the doorway where they’d entered.
“Going somewhere?” Seraphine asked innocently.
CHAPTER NINE
Lafayette pulled his blue dagger from his boot and launched it in Seraphine’s direction.
She was quick though. Quicker than him.
Seraphine spun around in the air, swatting the dagger so that it changed direction.
Some lightning reflexes caused Theresa to dive out of the way just in time.
“Really, is that how you want to start this conversation?” Seraphine said, smirking.
“We’ve come for the Necromancer,” Lafayette announced. “You will not stand in our way.”
“Oh, I intend to,” Seraphine said.
“Then bring it.”
“I will. But first you need to have a look at this.” Seraphine put her hand in her pocket and took out a small folded slip of paper.
Theresa knew what it was.
“You see, Lafayette,” Seraphine continued, “your little friend over there is actually the property of this house. As I’m sure you’ll understand what a signature means, Theresa has signed her life away to us.”
Lafayette walked forward and snatched the contract away from her.
“You owe me the Necromancer,” Theresa said. “You haven’t held up your end of the deal.”
Seraphine glared at her. “You’re not getting the Necromancer. It’s far too dangerous letting her out on her own.”
“So in other words you’re breaking the contract,” Lafayette said.
Seraphine snatched it back off him. “You don’t actually expect us to give into this human’s demands, do you?”
“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Lafayette tried to reason. “Moldark’s planning the next world war while Emberlynn’s life hangs in the balance. Do you really want our disease spreading across the land?”
“Disease?” Seraphine scoffed. “What we have is a gift. We are the immortal.”
“Some of us see it as a curse.”
“And what fools are you!”
Lafayette sighed. “You and I, will never agree on things. You being East, and I being West.” He began to circle the room. “But I would appeal to your good graces regarding Theresa and our quest tonight. Anything less than complete agreeance is effectively siding with Moldark and the chaos that would ensue on our lands. Is this what you truly desire?”
Seraphine’s face screwed up. “It’s a bad idea.”
“Would you rather fight me then?”
“Would you rather fight me?”
“Yes,” Lafayette said.
Game of Vampires: A Reverse Harem Serial (Part Four) Page 2
