“How does one do that?”
“In this form, I would need a physical connection and permission about a specific topic.”
The clock over the mantle chimes, and Lucas jumps from his seat, toppling the chair to the ground.
The clock rings again, indicating the second stroke of midnight.
“I must go.” Lucas pulls the shirt over his head and holds it out to me. “I’m sorry for your friend. I hope your grief isn’t too heavy a burden.”
Another chime sounds. I take the shirt and lower it to the tabletop. “Thank you.” I look up into his face.
His eyes dart between me and the clock as it emits the fourth ring. “I have enjoyed our time together. Thank you for your hospitality. Blessed be.” He clasps my hands, leans in, plants a kiss on my cheek, and brushes past me to the window, throwing open the shutter and jumping into the air.
I run to the sill, peering into the darkness, searching for him, but find nothing but black. Shivering in the cool air, I pull the shutters closed. My cheek tingles where his lips touched the skin. My pulse races, and my stomach feels as if it were full of butterflies. With my next breath, I rebuke my school-girl-like emotions the kiss stirred.
Hearing footsteps on the stairs, I take another lung full of air to clear my head. Will is the first in followed by Jacob then Elizabeth.
“What happened? Where is he?” Will demands.
The air feels chillier, and the sadness over John’s death rolls over me anew. I slide the shirt he’d worn from the table and hold it behind my back. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? How can you not know?” Jacob circles me. “Who is he? What did he want? Is he going to help us or not?”
“His name is Lucas.”
“Lucas. He has a name. That’s a start. What did he say?” Will looms over me.
I shake my head, fighting tears. My brains spins with confusion as I realize my sadness is in part due to Lucas’s absence. “Nothing we didn’t already know.”
Elizabeth slides between me and Will and grips my shoulders. “Why did he want to talk to you?”
“I have no clue. We need to mourn our friend.” I meet each one of their eyes.
“You’re no better than Orm,” Will shakes his head and stomps from the room.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Orm seems to know something but can’t tell us. Or won’t.” Jacob follows Will out.
Downstairs in the main room, we clear our minds and focus on John. Joining hands, we walk outside, and forming a circle around the burial pyre, set it ablaze.
My sadness over the loss of John hangs heavy like the fog surrounding our ship day in and day out. With winter storms, the journey across the Atlantic drags on for three months. By the time the boat lands in Virginia, we’re almost starved for blood.
“I thought I was going to die on that putrid ship,” Elizabeth announces as we make our way through the harbor town.
“We’ll be in the wood soon, with the whole American continent in front of us.”
“I have to get away from these people. Each one of them smells of dinner.” Will trudges ahead of me.
We trek over a mountain range and across a wide river to the plains. My tribe has established an outpost there, and we feel at home for the first time in over a year. We greet our friends with heavy hearts, having to share the news of John’s loss. Relaying the story, my mind skips to thoughts of Lucas, and I look to the night sky, wondering where he is.
“You won’t see him for at least another hundred years,” Orm whispers to me.
I lean away from him. “You’re not wearing a crystal. Were you touching me?”
Orm pats his chest. “Forgive me. My arm brushed yours. It was an accident. I believe that they finally trust me after I saved Will’s life.”
“You saved Will’s life?”
“Lucas’s arrival was well timed. Sonia’s friend was a powerful witch, and I couldn’t have held him off much longer, but yes, I prevented him from causing other deaths.”
I start to reach out and touch his arm but think better of it. “How do you know that he won’t appear before a hundred years?”
“I saw it when he gripped my arm.”
“What other form does he take? You know what he is? Who he is?”
“I believe you all do but are afraid to admit it. If you do, that means what Sonia says is true, that you are soulless creatures.”
“What the witches believe is of little consequence to me. I’m at peace with the fact that we’re born of Mother Earth and return to her. She gives us eight hundred plus years by nature, who are we to want more?”
“Yes, you’re at peace with that. What of those who can’t be?”
“Most of our kind are raised in tribes, nurtured by families, taught to love Mother Earth.”
“But what of the wild ones? You have yet to reach any of their tribes. They don’t follow the rules set by the tribunals.”
“Even in human populations, there are those who stray from the boundaries set for acceptable behavior. Others will bring them judgment when needed. I can’t control everything.” Tired of the conversation, and frustrated with Orm’s assessment, I make my way to the edge of camp.
From the plains, we proceed west, taking a northern route to avoid a hot desert, over snow-capped rocky peaks that remind me of western Europe. Finally, we make it to the sea and hike south to our tribe’s lands. During the rest of 1700, our tribe builds a compound. It sits high on a bluff overlooking the ocean. Even with the hot southern sun, the water cools the air, making it a perfect climate. Only when it is finished do I start to reach out again, to old and new friends.
We watch in horror as the world plunges into war and environmental turmoil, first with the War of Spanish Succession, then the French and Indian War, The United States Revolutionary War against Britain, eruption of Laki in Iceland, and finally the French Revolution.
Still, our focus is on the vampire race. Some living among the humans have stakes in these battles and decide to join in, but our tribe does not. Settlers from the south claim California for Spain, and we blend into their society.
Seventeen ninety-nine finds us preparing for our first world tribunal. In the spring, we make our way east, and by June we land in Iceland. Northern and Southern American representatives travel with us to meet ambassadors from Russia, China, India, Africa, and Europe.
Throughout the talks and festivities, my mind wanders to thoughts of Lucas. Mystery surrounds him, and I can’t help but be curious. Is he only allowed one day in a hundred years? Or does he only get to help when we’re in jeopardy? The memory of his warming touch passes through me, and I shiver.
There’s much talk of Arnold Paole of Austria, who confessed to be a vampire, although human. We believe him to have known of a vampire and gone mad from the inability to share his information. Yet, no vampire confesses.
“Could a half-vampire, half-witch being have convinced the human Arnold to kill for him?” a female from China wonders.
“Perhaps he was in love with a vampire and wanted to be made vampire so bad he went mad.”
Vampire hysteria and fear of witchcraft spread through the region until 1776 when Hungarian Empress Maria Theresa passes a law forbidding persecution for magical activity.
“The whole of Hungary has been overrun with witches since then,” the Hungarian representative complains. “Witches have infiltrated human society for decades. We could learn from them.”
“But then we’d have to sit in a room and make polite conversation and would probably go mad from wanting to drink their blood,” the representative adds, and laughter breaks out in the room.
The representatives stress and uphold edicts to keep our race secret, procreate within our species, and keep peace with each other, the humans, and other beings, witches included.
With the tribunal complete, we sail back to New England before the first freeze and reach our coastal home by Mabon. My eyes follow the embers as
they rise with the heat from the flames of our bonfire. The shards of light remind me of the sparks from Lucas’s wings, and I close my eyes to reset my thoughts. The exercise proves unsuccessful, as it has all year. I can’t get his blue eyes, square chin, or muscular frame out of my head.
I wonder why I hold onto his memory. Surely, I haven’t developed a fascination with an elusive being. Perhaps his memory serves to distract me from the idea that I may never love again. If I fantasize that I love him, and he loves me, then it fills my longing for a soul mate, someone with eyes only for me, another heart to complete mine. And I imagine this world, that has left me stripped of my family and betrothed, not to be as cruel as it seems. For as much as I say that my life is complete, I long to experience that oneness, the feeling of pure contentment, of lying in another’s arms again.
“What are you dreaming of, child?” Elizabeth’s voice brings me from my thoughts.
“Just entranced by the flames.”
She wraps an arm around my shoulders. “You don’t seem happy this holiday.”
“I am.” I force a smile. “The tribunal went well. We made great progress.”
“What is next, my little dove?”
“The witches. We need an agreement of peace with the witches.”
“I’m sure you will achieve it.” Releasing me, she pats my knee and stands.
I’ve learned not to engage the witches in the year before the turn of the century. Even with the tribunal behind us and our compound a seeming fortress, I can’t help being nervous as the winter solstice nears. My apprehension grows as I contemplate with mixed feelings seeing Lucas, and the equal chance that he won’t come. Has he even thought of me in the past one hundred years? Why do I think of him with fondness? Just because he showed a moment’s interest in me?
The sun sets early, and we build a fire of logs higher than my head in the center of our property. The game and wine are plentiful, and the merriment of the group warms my heart. Seeing the families dancing around the fire, memories of Alec surface.
To my right, I spot Will engaged in an arm-wrestling match with Gregor, Jacob spurring them on. Elizabeth and Orm dance with the younglings. I know I shouldn’t leave alone. With our history of attacks on this date, it’s possibly the worst time to venture out on my own. Still, I can’t help but to take advantage of my friends’ distractions.
Walking slowly through the forest, bare feet to the cold ground, I listen for every minute sound. With each change in the wind and new smell, I freeze, waiting for Sonia to appear. I reach the beach and dig my toes into the soft sand. With a clear sky above and the waves lapping the shore, my senses start to relax.
Swimming seems too big a risk, and I walk along the beach, watching the waves come in and go out. Gauging from the night sky, I guess there to be three hours to midnight. My hopes of seeing Lucas fade with each swell that breaks on the sand.
As the wind changes direction, the music from our festivity floats to my ears. I kick at the whitecaps, jump into the air, take running leaps, and flip head over heels. My muscles tire, and I sway with the beat of the tune.
A swoosh of warm air causes my body to go rigid. Taking just a sliver of a second, I contemplate my options. My only defense is speed. I bolt north, hoping to make it to our cave hideout. Within a hundred feet, I realize I have no pursuer and huddle behind a boulder, cursing myself for being paranoid. Another gust of heated air tickles my skin, and a flash of light causes bright spots to form in my field of vision.
Lucas’s deep voice sounds in my ears. “I scared you. Perhaps I need a better approach strategy.”
I lift my face to see his muscled form atop the rock. My first impulse is to yell at him. Where have you been? I swallow and take a deep breath. “Yes, perhaps in the future, you could just approach like a normal being.”
He jumps to the sand beside me, wings disappearing into his back. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be out here alone. Especially on such a cursed night when the dark spirits rule the skies.”
“You’re the only spirit I’ve seen in the heavens tonight.”
“Aye, but I’m flesh.” He stretches out his muscled arms.
“For now.”
Running his hand through golden hair, he looks to the stars. “These are not things we should speak of.”
“Then what shall we speak of? Why are you here?”
“I saw you alone.”
“From where? How did you see me? You happened to be flying overhead?”
“Yes, well, you have a habit of attracting bad company, so I may have been watching.”
“Where else have you been?” My eyes find his and blue flecks of his irises dance in the moonlight.
“Let’s walk.” He motions down the beach.
After a few steps, I repeat my question.
“You’re very demanding. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“No one ever speaks ill of me because I am the queen, and the queen is always right.” I lift my chin into the air.
“Forgive me, my lady.” He bends his knees, and lowers his chest, bowing his head.
“Stop.” I push on his bicep. As I touch his skin, a tingling sensation shoots through my fingers up my arm, and spreads throughout my body. “What’s that?”
“Again, with the questions. I have been about.”
“Doing what?” I jump in front of him as he restarts our walk.
“Helping people.”
“So, is that what you do all the time, help people?”
“Yes.” He points to the sand ahead, and we resume our pace. “Also, I enjoy swimming.”
“Swimming? You can fly and you enjoy swimming?”
“Yes, there’s something quiet and tranquil about the water.”
“I like swimming too.”
“I know.” His eyes sparkle as a smile spreads across his face. He halts midstride and looks to the sky. “I should go. Let me escort you back to your friends.”
“Don’t you have until midnight? You sat with me before.”
“For a bit, yes.” He shakes his shoulders, and his wings unfurl. Shards of light spew from the ends of each feather.
Then, I think that maybe I’ve misread him. Perhaps he’d only spent time with me to ease my grief, not because he wished to be in my company. I turn in the direction of our compound and quicken my steps. “I’m sorry to have burdened you.”
“No.” He grabs my hand, and my nerves nearly explode under his touch. “I’m sorry. It’s complicated. Even though I’m allowed the freedom of this form, I’m not untethered from my duties.”
My emotions careen out of control, trying to figure out why he has returned to me and how I feel about being with him and being without him. I snatch my hand from his grip. “Perhaps you should go.”
“It’s for the best.” He takes a step back, and his eyes pan to the sky. “Please, I need to see you to the safety of your tribe.”
Cold air surrounds me, and I lace my arms in each other. I look to the sky, realizing clouds seemed to have formed where clear sky reigned minutes ago. “Of course.”
He extends his wings behind me as we walk, and they warm my skin. Weaving through the buildings, he stops before we cross into the center courtyard. His eyes cut to the sky again. I look up to see thick gray clouds swirling above. When my eyes find his face, a shadow passes over his brow.
Lucas grabs my arm and pulls me under the eaves of the nearest structure. “Get everyone inside.”
“What’s going on?”
The muscles around his eyes tighten. “Everything will be fine. Look, here’s your friend.” He motions to the field, and I see Will crossing to us. Lucas’s warm fingers wrap around mine, sending the now familiar tingling sensation through me. I squeeze his hand. He releases me and, with a jump, shoots into the sky. I watch his form, a white blur, and then a spot, like a star.
Will’s eyes follow Lucas’s trail. “I see your friend showed after all. Is that where you were? With him? I’ve been looking everywhere.”
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“We need to get everyone inside.” I lift my skirt and run towards the center of the court where everyone else seems oblivious to the growing storm.
As we cross the courtyard, shadows of winged creatures zoom across the field. I look up to see the clouds turning black. “Did you see that?”
Will grabs my hand and starts to run. “The winged beings that seem to be invisible? Something wicked this way comes, I believe, My Queen.”
I hate to cause panic, so I sound the whistle for a weather event. It’ll get everyone inside. Lightning is a common occurrence, and we have a healthy respect for the damage it causes. Inside the main building, I walk through the rooms, taking count of my soldiers. Finding Jacob and Gregor, I hear their reports. All are accounted for.
“Oddest weather I’ve ever seen,” Orm comments as I press my face to the glass.
Fog rolls in, so thick I can’t see the building twenty feet from us. Then, a flash of light cuts through the gray, and I jump. Bolts of lightning litter sky through the night. There’s no wind, no rain, just heavy fog and the lightning. I bite my lip, fearing for Lucas and his fate. As dawn approaches, we start to see filtered rays of sun through the low cloud. The sun evaporates the moisture, and I venture out under a blue sky.
“Where are they?” I look to Orm.
“Guess it was just a storm after all.” Orm holds my gaze.
“You know I don’t believe that.”
“Let’s not guess at things we can’t know the answers to.”
Knowing he speaks of Lucas, I square my shoulders. “Just a passing squall. I’ll check the livestock.”
My stomach is pitted with fear. Did Lucas survive whatever battle occurred? Did the witches come for us and he die defending me and my people? Why do I care so much for him? He saved me and those closest twice. That’s his purpose, I tell myself. He’s supposed to protect you.
We won’t know Lucas’s fate for one hundred years, and there’s nothing to be done with the question of his well-being. Thoughts of him come to mind often, and I push them away for fear fret of the unknown will consume me. I experience twinges of guilt as I realize he may be replacing Alec in my heart. No, not replacing, I insist. A realization that perhaps I’ve finished mourning Alec seeps in. His absence isn’t crippling anymore, and I wonder if I may let myself love again.
Kingdom of the Damned: Provocation (KIngdom Journals) Page 27
