The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash

by E. M. Knight

  I can’t imagine the sort of scandal it will start. Phillip Soren, who has held out fueling his vampiric side ever since his creation, is now a true vampire?

  Some of the Royal Court will even see it as a threat, I imagine. Well. Time enough to deal with that later.

  But when I make my entrance into the common room or the compound, it’s not my name that’s on everyone’s lips.

  It’s my brother, James’s.

  “Have you heard what the Queen has done?”

  “His sentence is horrible!”

  “She’s banished her own son!”

  “If he’s not safe, what does that say for the rest of us?”

  “James was a fool.” I stop short when I hear a gruff voice make that proclamation. “He went against the Queen, and now he has to pay the price. It’s justice.”

  I look at the vampire who said that. He’s an old-timer, one of those who has been in The Haven almost as long as I. He doesn’t rank very highly in power—none of them here do—and usually it would be blasphemy to speak against a member of the royal family like that.

  It seems things have drastically changed while I was locked away.

  I approach him. He notices me and stands taller.

  “Well, well, well,” he says, puffing out his chest. “If it isn’t Phillip Soren. What brings you to spend time with the peasantry around these parts?” The vampires around him chuckle. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d ever demean yourself by being seen with us.”

  There’s pure venom in his voice, in his stance, in the way he regards me. He’s still stronger than I am—April’s blood hasn’t given me an immediate boost in hierarchical strength—but I feel stronger than any of the vampires here.

  I don’t answer until we stand nose-to-nose. “I heard what you said about my brother.”

  “Oh? Good thing, that. I meant every word.”

  “It’s dangerous,” I warn, not backing away. “To make proclamations like that where others can hear.”

  He laughs. Right in my face, he laughs. “Is that so? Well then next time, maybe I’ll speak a little louder, so there’s no confusion. I want everybody to hear. I am my Queen’s man through and through. My loyalty is to her. Not to James. And certainly not to you, weakest.

  He stabs a finger in my chest on the last word.

  I just lose it. Before I can consciously reconcile what’s happening, I have his palm pinned behind him in an arm lock. I press down and apply pressure. He cries out in pain.

  “Don’t,” I warn him softly, bringing my lips right to his ear, “ever make the mistake of calling me that—” I press down. He squirms against the table, “—again.”

  Then I let him go. A space has cleared around us after the brief scuffle.

  The other vampire picks himself up. He looks at me, then spits to the side.

  “That’s what I think of you,” he says. “Don’t assume mommy will keep you safe forever. One of these days, you’ll get what’s coming. Just like your eldest brother did.”

  With that, he storms out the room, cutting a sharp path through the crowd.

  I straighten and pull my sleeves up as I watch him go. I make a slow survey of the room.

  “Does anybody else here have a problem with me?” I ask. I scarcely recognize the voice coming from my throat. I definitely don’t recognize the aggression pulsing through me. ”Anybody? Anybody at all?”

  The vampires closest to me take a step back. Those in the far reaches of the room crane their necks up, curious about what will happen next.

  “Thought not,” I say. “Now that that’s over…” I bend down and pick up the table that had fallen in the fight, “—will somebody tell me why James is the object of everyone’s conversation?”

  Silence greets me. But then, from the back:

  “The Queen has ruled that he’s to become one of The Convicted.”

  “What!” My head snaps to the vampire who’d spoken. It’s Bella, a bland woman of medium build, unremarkable in every way except perhaps for the spark of passion in her eyes. “When did this happen?”

  “Not more than an hour ago, my Prince,” she replies. “Surely, we all thought you would know…”

  “Well, I didn’t,” I snarl. Anger washes through me. It nearly takes me over completely. Anger at my Mother, anger at the vampire who’d challenged me, anger at April’s frailty…

  These are exactly the emotions I’ve managed to suppress for centuries. Now they’re out in full force.

  It frightens me, the things I might be capable of, should I let that anger take over.

  I make my voice extra loud. “Where was the Queen seen last? I was just in her castle, she wasn’t there.”

  Murmurs of uncertainty greet my question.

  “Well?” I demand, louder this time

  Bella shakes her head. “We don’t know. Some of us were there when the plane landed and she made the pronouncement. But we all split after she dismissed us.”

  “What about the humans?” I ask. “What has she done with them?”

  “They’re still clustered in the caves underground,” a voice answers. “They were taken there in advance of Raul’s arrival.”

  I nod. That makes sense. Mother must have taken precautions…

  “I apologize if I scared anyone,” I say. “I’m not… quite myself at the moment.”

  Before they can ask me why, I stream straight out the room and into the hallways of the compound.

  I walk briskly toward Mother’s room. I fling the door open with force.

  She isn’t there.

  I grunt in frustration. I still can’t believe what I was told about James. Could she have really sentence one of her sons to such a fate?

  Then again, should it really surprise me? Knowing what she did—or tried to do—to me?

  Without thinking, I start going through her things. I don’t know what it is I’m looking for. Some piece of evidence I can use against her, something that will give me some sort of advantage in the looming confrontation…

  “Enjoying yourself, are you?”

  I spin around. The Captain Commander is standing at the doors, his arms crossed, glaring at me with no attempt to hide his disdain.

  I shift away from Mother’s desk. There is nothing there except make-up, perfume, and other such frivolities.

  “You know…” he strolls casually into the room and closes the door behind him. “This is probably the last place I’d expect to meet you.”

  “Oh?” I say. In my mind, I size him up. He’s a complete unknown, brought in from the Outside at a time when my Mother needed help.

  “I thought you’d be lost in the underground caverns, feeding on humans to satiate your bloodlust.”

  “You thought wrong,” I say.

  “So I see. Still, that doesn’t explain what you’re doing here.” He takes hold of the hilt of his sword and withdraws it a quarter of an inch. The metal gleams in the artificial light. “Or if I should let you go.”

  That anger tries to bubble up again. I know better than to give in to it. I need all my mental faculties intact if I am to negotiate my way out of this.

  “So why don’t you tell me what you were doing,” the Captain Commander continues. “And help me make my choice?”

  “I could ask you the very same thing,” I deflect. “Why did you come here, by yourself? Aren’t you supposed to be at the Queen’s side?”

  He shrugs. “I have others posted. Besides, your Mother is quite the spectacular woman. She’ll have no trouble taking care of herself.” He flashes a wicked grin. “As she’s so aptly demonstrated in her treatment of you.”

  I walk around the table. The Captain Commander pulls out his blade another inch.

  “You think you can threaten me with that?” I ask. “All you do is show your own fear.”

  “Oh, you mistake me,” he offers. “That’s not me threatening you.”

  In one smooth motion he withdraws the entirety of the weapon.

  “This,”
he says, pointing it right at me, “is me threatening you.”

  I go still. His blade is coated with silver. I’ve had enough experience with that horrific metal to last a lifetime.

  “They way I see it,” he continues, “we can go about this in two ways. One, I do the task that was assigned to me, and arrest you for trespassing—which is entirely in my right as Captain Commander. Or, two—” to my surprise, he sheathes his sword, “—I simply let you go. You walk out the door. We forget this ever happened.”

  I eye him suspiciously. “Just like that?”

  He nods. “Aye. Just like that.”

  I start to move—but—then a question comes to mind. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard a noise and came to investigate.”

  “Sounds convenient,” I note.

  “Are you questioning me? Remember who has authority here, Phillip.”

  “I’m sure Mother gave you all the assurance you need, Smithson,” I say. “But I still am her son. So whatever happens to me reflects directly onto her.”

  He scoffs a laugh. “You want to pull that card on me? After everything she’s put you through? Please. I know just how much the bloodline means to her.”

  I think of calling his bluff—then decide against it. I raise my arms.

  “Fine,” I say. “You see me walk, and I’ll pretend I never saw you.” My eyes flash to him. “Because I know you were not expecting to find this room occupied when you came here.”

  By the momentary look of surprise that crossed his face, I know I’m right.

  Chapter Thirteen

  JAMES

  I pace back and forth in the small enclosure of the underground cell. There’s dirt all around me. The roof of the place is low enough that if I stand absolutely upright, my head would brush the ceiling.

  My thoughts are stormy and chaotic. I’d gambled everything when I told Mother that story. She called me out on it right away.

  I’d gambled, and I lost.

  How had I been such a fool? How have I allowed myself to be so transparent?

  But never did I think she would sentence me to such a fate. Even now, hours after her proclamation, it doesn’t seem quite right.

  I am to become one of The Convicted. I am to become one of those wretched, despised creatures doomed to dwell forever underground.

  It doesn’t seem real… and yet, the chained silver collar hooked to the wall beside me reminds me that it is.

  After Morgan brought me here, she took one end off her arm and hooked it into the wall. The other, she kept around my neck. She did me one small mercy before leaving, by uttering a spell that lessened some of the silver’s effects on me.

  For that I should be grateful. She could have easily let me endure here in misery. But the sense of betrayal, the horrific sense of injustice at what she sentenced me to?

  Well, it makes gratitude just a little bit difficult to muster up.

  There must be a way out of this. There must, there must, there must. The Hunt is not for another few weeks. Maybe—just maybe—that gives enough time for Mother to change her mind.

  But such thoughts are ludicrous. Mother may be precarious, yes, but she has not once reneged on a decision after announcing it publically. Those made in private, yes, or those that she only consulted with me, Raul, Phillip, and the other members of the Royal Court about. But those that all vampires of The Haven heard?

  Never. Not even once.

  By now news of my fate will have spread. Hell, I’d bet even the humans know about it. Anger, fury, hatred—all those words are too soft for the emotions raging through me right now.

  Countless hours pass. Nobody comes. The silver collar made it impossible for me to keep up with how far Mother led me down through the earth to reach this cell. So I don’t even know where I am.

  Can anybody ever find me here?

  Suddenly, a light appears in the distance. I jerk forward and nearly wrap my hands around the bars. I stop short at the last moment, after remembering that, yes, they are made of silver, too.

  I have to squint against the lantern being carried toward me. But once I see past it, I realize that it’s none other than Raul who’s approaching me.

  “Brother!” I exclaim, my voice threaded with all sorts of relief. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

  He stops just short of the bars and puts the lantern out. In the darkness, everything is easier to see.

  “I wouldn’t abandon you,” he says. “But I had one hell of a time finding this place.”

  “Where are we?” I ask.

  “Miles beneath the castle,” he replies. “I had to go through passageways that haven’t been used in decades just to get to the proper level. I’ve been searching for hours.”

  “Tell me you brought good news.”

  He frowns. “Mother’s been unwilling to speak to anyone. She won’t entertain visitors. The only person she’ll talk to is Eleira.”

  “The blasted girl.” I cannot stop the venom from reaching my voice. “It’s all about her, isn’t it? Dammit! I should have drained her dry when I had the chance. Then all of this would have been avoided.”

  “No,” Raul says. The word comes out soft and dangerous. “That, you should have never done.”

  “Oh that’s right. I forget. You’re in love with her. Ha!” I bark a laugh and then sneer. “Love is the domain of fools and idiots. It weakens you, it makes you vulnerable. Or haven’t you figured that out yet?”

  “I’d watch your tongue, James,” Raul warns. “Remember which of us is standing on the wrong side of the bars.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” I grunt in annoyance. I’m not used to issuing apologies. “Being locked away in here has given me a short temper.”

  “Not much shorter than usual,” he quips. “But I accept your apology.”

  “Thank you,” I grumble. “Now, back to the topic of Mother?”

  “I think she’s grieving,” Raul admits. “For having lost you.”

  “But she hasn’t lost me!” I snarl. I slam a fist into the dirt wall in frustration. “I’m right here, beneath her castle, forsaken because of her.”

  “She issued the order as our Monarch.” Raul explains. “Yet she grieves as your Mother.”

  I scoff. “Do you truly believe that?”

  “Yes,” he says. “I do.”

  “She hasn’t seen herself as our ‘Mother’ for generations,” I tell him. “Do you know she hasn’t looked me in the eyes, not more than twice, in the last hundred years?”

  “She trusted you enough to send you to our Father,” Raul says. “Whatever issues you had in private were not known to me.”

  “Issues.” I laugh. “She was always jealous of me, Raul. That’s the real reason I’m stuck down here. I was the one with flair, the one with style. I was the one other vampires looked up to in our coven. Not her.”

  “You think that’s enough to arouse her jealousy?” Raul shakes his head. “James, you are so much more self-centered than I thought.”

  “What else then?” I demand. “Think of all she’s done. Think of the way she’s ruled us! She’s as vain as any other. More so, in fact! Think of how many jewels, how many precious stones are in her possessions. Think of all the riches she affords herself while denying even the slightest luxuries to the humans!”

  “I didn’t know you cared so much about the villagers.”

  “I don’t,” I tell him curtly. “I’m just making a point.”

  “And yet there’s one you do care about.” Raul steps closer to the bars. “Isn’t there?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  ”April.”

  I stagger back. Not exactly from shock, but from all the memories that name brings. April in my bed, the night Eleira was taken. April swooning at my side, the very first time I tasted her blood. April, with her little head full of hopes and dreams, which could never come true…

  “What about her?” I demand, regaining my composure. �
�She means nothing to me.”

  “Then I guess I shouldn’t tell you that she and Eleira have become the closest of friends. Or that Phillip has taken a liking to her.”

  “Phillip? I don’t believe it. He doesn’t care about anything except his computers and books and plants.”

  “That’s changed,” Raul tells me, “after Mother made him feed.”

  That revelation staggers me. Mother may not approve of Phillip’s choice, but she always looked upon him with respect—respect that was severely lacking in her interactions with me. I never knew why she regarded him so. But as long as it did not affect me, I did not mind. Phillip was always too meek to take advantage of that undue veneration.

  “Mother made him feed?” I breathe.

  “She made him feed on April’s blood,” Raul emphasizes. “You know what that means.”

  “That the girl is dead,” I say stiffly. I shoot down any emotions that try to rise from that acknowledgement. “Did you tell me that to add to my misery? Because as you can see—” I flash my teeth in a malicious smile, “—it didn’t work.”

  “April still lives,” Raul says. “Phillip drew on her, and stopped himself before taking the final lethal sip.”

  “What?” That truly astounds me. “But he hasn’t tasted human blood in… in centuries!”

  “Almost six hundred years,” Raul agrees.

  “And April was his first?”

  “She was.”

  “That’s… astounding.” I can think of no other word. Maybe Mother’s respect for my youngest brother has a basis in reality after all.

  “I didn’t come here to mock or ridicule you,” Raul continues. “I just wanted to inform you of what’s going on above. And to reiterate that I will not let Mother turn you into one of The Convicted. Not if there’s anything I can do to stop it.”

  Raul shoves his arm through the cell bars and offers his hand to me. “You are my brother, after all. No matter what’s been done in the past, brothers stick together. Always.”

  I search his eyes for any sign of disingenuousness… but find none. There is only earnest appeal.

  I clasp his hand. “Thank you,” I say, and I genuinely mean it. “Even if you are not successful, your attempt means the world.”