by Emma Glass
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, don’t worry. I thought it was pretty funny.”
“You can speak for yourself,” Asarra grunted. The way she bit her lip made it tellingly clear she was holding back laughter.
Maybe Wilhelm’s got a chance with her after all!
At another clash, our attention was abruptly brought back to the front. There, leading a small procession, marched Elliott Craven with a…
“Oh my God,” I covered my face. “You didn’t.”
“I did,” he smiled wickedly, leading a group of servers and kitchen staff. In his confident hands, Elliott proudly held high the most magnificent birthday cake I’d seen, lit ablaze with wax candles. “What good is a birthday without a cake?”
I was laughing so hard that I barely heard the vampire lord launch into a rendition of the Happy Birthday song… or that everyone at the table, and the serving staff, had apparently been taught the melody as well.
“Haappy birrrthdaay tooo youuu…”
“Haappy birrrthdaay tooo youuu…”
“Haappy birrrthdaay, dear Claaaraaa…”
As they sang to me, I felt my heart filled with joy. I’d only known these amazing people for two weeks, but that seemed an afterthought to them.
I’d never felt so beloved in my entire life.
15
Clara
When the cake was long gone, and the festivities wound down, Elliott and I thanked everybody for coming out for my birthday.
I hugged everyone as they left – well, nearly everyone. Lorelei apparently wasn’t having any of that. The former vampire lord stopped me with a cold, mirthless glance before extending her hand. If that’s the best I can get with her standoffishness, then I’ll take it.
Once the others were all gone, Elliott turned to the Knightly Trio with a meaningful grin.
“You three. Take the night off.”
“But Lord Elliott,” Asarra protested, “we–”
Wilhelm stopped her with his hands on her shoulders. “Let’s listen to the master, hmm? If he wants us to take the night off, who’s to argue?”
“It is a foolish choice,” she muttered. “Why–”
“Come along now, Asarra,” Viktor chuckled as he quickly led aside my headstrong guardian. “It’s too easy to forget how young you are, my friend. They are reunited. Let the two have their night…”
She cast a searching look my way; honestly, I was mildly terrified with confused eagerness, but Elliott had already clearly gone out of his way to make my seventeenth birthday unforgettable.
“It’s okay!” I called after her. “I’ll be fine!”
The room cleared, leaving just us. Silence fell over the dining hall for the first time in hours; the anticipation heightened, hanging heavy in the air.
“Have you been enjoying yourself?” He asked.
Oh God, have I not seemed appreciative enough?
“Of course, Elliott! This has been incredible. I couldn’t have possibly asked for more.”
He took my hand in his.
“Clara, you don’t have to ask for anything,” he whispered tenderly. “Those days I thought you were ripped away from me, all I could think about was the crushing guilt – guilt over your condition, fear that I’d done that to you.”
He looked afraid for a moment, and I palmed his cheek in emotional support. “Elliott... I’m right here. I don’t have to go anywhere. We both know I was in great danger here, in this world. What you did probably saved my life.”
Since the birthday song, the ambient lighting around us was never changed back to its earlier, brighter levels; we found ourselves still bathed in a dim and romantic glow.
Elliott pressed his forehead to mine. His voice came as a soft murmur in the dark, like a promise threaded through satin. “Everything you want is yours, of all that is within my power to grant.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I whispered.
His husky words replied: “I want to.”
We stood like that together, quiet and alone in the dining hall. It felt like eons passed as Elliott and I felt our bond waver between us; this power we shared felt electric in the gap from him to me.
“The servants,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he nodded. “They’ll want to come in to clean the room. We should let them do their work. Perhaps we can find… somewhere else.”
“I’d like that,” I smiled warmly.
“Good,” he smirked. “Come with me…”
“Are you sure about this, Elliott? What if it acts all funny around me?”
“You’ll be fine,” he insisted playfully.
“I don’t know… I’m scared.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right here with you.”
“O-okay…”
Supportively, Elliott stepped into place at my back. I felt his strong arms envelope my abdomen as we stood together on the chrysm node.
The metallic circle under our feet thrummed to life at his touch; red light whirled around us in a column, brightening quickly until it was almost blinding.
“Elliott… Elliott?!”
“Don’t worry, Clara!” He laughed happily into my ear, and it sent a small shudder down my skin. “You’ll be fine! Just hold on–”
Suddenly, the air crackled around us.
We were standing in a dark place. Standing on a different node, ours was one out of several in a semi-circle. The overhead lighting shone down much dimmer now, and I could barely see any of my surroundings.
“There,” he whispered. “Not so bad, huh?”
“That was…” I shook my head. “Exhilarating! So that’s what chrysm can do?”
“Chrysm can do many things.” He took me by the hand and led me down from the node. “This is one of its endless applications. Once my scientists have worked out the technology more, I hope we can bring chrysm travel to the public.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful,” I gasped as he walked me down a dark hallway. “Do your people have any kind of mass transit?”
“Mass transit?”
“Transportation,” I clarified. “Ways of quickly getting from one place to another, perhaps not as instantaneously as that…”
“We have livestock for that.”
I almost laughed aloud. “I’m still trying to get over how weird this is. You live in remote villages and stone castles and you don’t have electricity; that makes sense. But you have teleportation and magic indoor lighting, but no phones or Internet? No buses or planes? What kind of wacky priorities do you people have?”
“Our world has different needs than yours,” Elliott offered with a deflective shrug. “There are significantly fewer of us, and we live longer lives. We stay within our holds. Traveling to the rival kingdoms can mean certain death to some of us.”
We passed through a large, dim area with an array of gigantic screens attached to an engine far bigger than anything in memory – haphazardly, the screens made some kind of towering wall.
“What is that?”
A pair of female workers rushed around a set of complicated instruments and screens beneath the machines. They paused only to look at us, and I felt their inquisitive gazes.
“This chamber regulates all of the chrysm in Stonehold Castle,” he pushed me past. “These two are some of the only attendants in the entire hold who can properly study and control the necessary levels. These machines are far too complicated for many of us to properly maintain; we keep several pairs of these vampires in the castle to run the engines at all times.”
Elliott led me down another hallway and to another semi-circular set of chrysm nodes. “Here, Clara… let’s take a shortcut to Craven Keep.”
“So then, this is how you get around the castle so quickly?” I grinned up at him. “You know what they say about magicians, right?”
“No.” He moved me into position on the node. “What do they say?”
“They never reveal their secrets,” I shrugged.
“Is that so?” Elliott ste
pped up onto the node behind me and embraced me from behind. “That’s rather sage advice…” I loved how the pressure felt around my stomach.
In fact, I loved the sensation so much that it distracted from the rising, brightening column of red light around us…
After the teleporter brought us up to the top of Craven Keep, Elliott scooped me into his arms.
I giggled nervously.
Handsome as ever beneath the vivid starlight of another world, the vampire lord brought me back into his private suite. I couldn’t read Elliott’s intentions… but I could certainly see the ferocity in his eyes; they filled my gut with butterflies.
I hadn’t had time to miss Elliott’s personal quarters. They were the comfortable place where we’d slept together (well, not like that) for the last two weeks.
But after tonight, maybe…
Elliott kicked open the door to his suite as he held me cradled in his strong arms. Neither he nor I uttered a single syllable as he marched us across his contemporary chambers.
When we came to his gothic bedroom, Elliott gently lowered me to his bed.
“Wait here,” he smirked slyly. So smitten was I, all I can do was sheepishly nod.
Elliott left me alone for a moment in his dark bedroom; only the hallway lights gave visibility. Brief sounds of activity rumbled in from outside the room until he returned.
“What was that?” I asked.
He descended upon me in an instant, pressing a fingertip against my rosy lips. “Shhh…”
My body rustled with excitement and fear. As his fingertip moved away, replaced with his lips, I felt my chest swell with sensations I’d only barely suffered for other men.
Suddenly, my eyes flared open.
Peter…
In the craziness of the past few weeks, my old crush scarcely flittered through my mind. Funny to think how absorbed I was with Peter, when the most interesting thing about my daily life was whatever silly bowtie Mr. Collingsworth had chosen to wear for our Sciences class…
“What’s the matter?”
I realized Elliott was watching me quietly.
“Nothing, I just… nothing. Keep going.”
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but those lips of his lowered to my neck again. A fresh flush of emotion soared across my body, but…
Bitterly, I tried to shove Peter’s face out of my head. That’s not fair. I’ve barely thought about that boy since arriving here. Don’t do this to me now. Yet, even after I succeeded, I found that I’d grown less responsive to Elliott’s touch.
It’s not because of Peter, I groaned.
It’s because…
“Clara?”
I sighed. “I’m not ready for this.”
He chuckled darkly. “That’s fine.”
That didn’t sound right. “A-Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. If you’re not prepared for it, then I’m not going to force it.” He lifted his lips back up to mine with a strong, loving kiss. “Clara, I will never make you do anything that you’re not comfortable with…”
“Oh God, Elliott,” I kissed him back. Hard. “I’m so happy to hear that.”
He looked amused. “Why?”
“Because plenty of boys on Earth wouldn’t tell me anything of the sort. They’d just…” I shivered, thinking of what men on my world were capable of. “They’d take whatever they wanted.”
“I am not the boys of your world,” he smirked.
“No. Of course you’re not,” I kissed him again. “You’re so much better than that.”
“Damn right I am.”
With those words, we pulled each other into an embrace that lasted halfway until the sun rose again; our limbs intertwined as our lips crashed together all night, again and again…
16
Elliott
Days slipped by, and I felt happier than ever.
Even my times with Silas felt manageable. I’d gladly take a thousand dull, boring counsels with the world’s least interesting high chancellor if it meant Clara was kept out of danger.
But I needn’t bother.
From that first night on, it was clear that the spell had ultimately worked after all. For the first time since she’d arrived on the Isle of Obsidian, it seemed clear that Clara Blackwell was safe to walk among my people. The bloodlust that consumed all of us was a thing of the past.
My subjects took to her rather quickly, but I’d expect no less. After all, she was creature of myth to them; Clara was the first human being in all of our history to step foot on our world.
Once my royal duties were mostly attended to, she and I began to take walks along the castle grounds. It was a time to get away from our lives and just focus on each other; the opportunity gave us privacy before my responsibilities pulled me back away.
Well, we had some privacy. Servant children always ran up to tug at her dress and play with her; it delighted her to see them so happy.
In rare times when I zoned out, my thoughts often wandered back to the things Lorelei told me on the day that Clara woke back up. I wasn’t sure that I believed her – but I knew she believed them, and that was just as bad.
Her cold, calculated words were soaked in old folklore and ancient stories, long considered false. She spoke of dangers from beyond, of troubles on the horizon, and the existence of other creatures like us, but not human. Were it anybody else, I’d consider her warnings the rambling stuff of a simple madwoman – but my mother is aloof, not crazy. I have to remember, she’s proven me decisively wrong on the topic of human beings…
“What are you thinking about, Elliott?”
Curiously watching me, Clara knew that I was lost deep in thought. I snapped my attention back to her with a smile as we rounded a castle hallway together. Nearby, a few of the servants pretended to dust the decor as they watched her. “Forgive me, Clara. I was just–”
“Thinking to yourself again, yes.”
“Have I… have I been doing that a lot, lately?”
She shrugged slyly. “Sometimes.”
“You mean, ‘all the time.’”
“Yeah,” she smiled sadly. “All the time.”
I sighed. “Sorry. It’s just that I–”
“Have a lot on your mind,” she finished for me. Her palm lovingly caressed my cheek. “I get it. I understand. I know you have a lot going on. Even after solving the crisis in the mines, there’s still a lot of work for you to do…” She nuzzled under my arm, placing a palm to my chest. “Just… try to not lock me out. I can help you. Do you remember what I told you, before we tried that spell?”
So much had happened since then; it was hard to remember. After much pause, I answered: “You said I could use you as a sounding board.”
“That’s right. I still mean it. Get some of that stuff out of your head.” She affectionately poked the side of my skull. “Can’t stay up there forever.”
My thoughts scattered.
Do I tell her? Silas warned me only this morning. There’s no time for me to prepare; of course, that’s exactly how they want it. But I can lean on Nikki for advice. Perhaps even Lorelei might be of some service this time, as doubtful as that–
“Elliott,” she murmured, her fingertips lightly running down my forearm. “You’re doing it again, you silly vampire. You’re locking me out.”
I sighed. “It’s the vampire lords.”
“Oh?” She paused attentively. “What now?”
I thought back to when Akachi Azuzi entered the castle, searching for her. His appearance was a formality, but he’d confirmed she was there. He’d felt her, just like Lorelei and I had when Clara first arrived in our castle out of thin air. That was the moment that pushed me to have the protection spell performed on her; as a result, I almost lost her forever.
“It seems the others have called a council,” I replied grimly. “The rulers of the Eight Holds are all expected to meet, and I can only imagine what they want to discuss…”
“Me,” she groaned.
/> “If I’m wrong, I’ll eat the throne myself.” With a furious snarl, I slammed my fist into the marble wall; a servant jumped, and a few hairline cracks splintered across the stone. “I’ve only just gotten you back, safe and sound. I refuse to let them try and take you away from me.”
“They can try,” she looped her arm through mine. “But I know you’ll never let them.”
I sighed. Honestly, from the very instant that I first laid my eyes on Clara Blackwell, I’d known that this was coming, and I’d dreaded it all the while. The only reason I have any claim to her is that she appeared in my castle, and they all know it. I’m the youngest and least senior among them… there’s no way in hell that the others will allow me to keep her for long, not without a fight…
“Elliott…”
“I know,” I snarled a little harder than I meant to. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“Yes you do,” she reassured me.
It’s true, I grunted bitterly to myself. There was no escaping the truth, no matter how much I wanted to. I do know what to do. Not that I like it, especially knowing how they are…
“I have to meet with them,” I conceded.
“You do. And you have to win them over.”
My gaze averted. “I don’t know that I can.”
Clara’s lips sought mine as she pulled me into a loving embrace. “I know you can,” she whispered to me in a hushed voice. “I believe in you, Elliott Craven. You’re capable of such great things. With time, this will be just another example of what you can truly accomplish.”
I planted a kiss on her forehead.
I hope you’re right, for both our sakes…
Once I left Clara in the care of her loyal guardians, I turned my attention towards the medical bay.
Out of the five, Kinsey was the only one of the guards from that day who was awake. Sometimes it was one of the others instead; they seemed to rest in shifts, as if their bodies operated in terms of the royal guards even as they healed.
“Lord Elliott,” she looked up at me. “Welcome back. How is the world out there?”
