There would be no sympathy for the man, and it mattered not that he could feel the Mage’s every gut-wrenching bit of horror. On the contrary, the fact that he was suffering so, pleased Mikhal greatly. It was as it should be. It was in fact, what the traitor deserved. Let all who heard him know that this was what would happen to any who dared to betray or question him. The great Mikhal the Merciless was still very much in command and it felt good. There was great pleasure in this knowledge and in these feelings of control. Familiarity, comfort, and satisfaction roared through him along with the Mage’s agony, and Mikhal grabbed onto them all with fists of steel and savored each one.
While he was thinking about how delightful it would be to relax, fill his belly, and spend the afternoon listening to the Mage’s last cries before death, another scream came from the courtyard, followed immediately by a feeling of terror from his mate. Their blood bond allowed him to sense her even at this distance and through the thick walls of the castle, and it was clear that the sound of the Mage’s terror was reaching her, even as she slept.
He knew his wife was clinging to life in her chamber upstairs and anything at all could make her let go of her precarious grasp. Enid was correct in her assessment that the girl had no will to live, and listening to a dying man’s last cries of terror all afternoon would make her even more horrified and disgusted with her life.
Mikhal glanced down at the sentries again who were crouched at his feet and moved his foot until his boot tips were inches from their foreheads. He had not forgotten the fact that the pair had seemed to have some problems following his orders when he’d brought Alliana home the evening before. It had taken Lucian far too long to be summoned, and they hadn’t sent Enid at all. Even if the midwife had refused the summons, they should have come and found him to tell him so. No, they hadn’t done their jobs properly at all. He’d had to go and look for the midwife himself. Their insubordination could not be tolerated, let them serve as an example as well.
Placing the toe of his boot beneath the chin of one of the minions, he lifted the man’s head so their eyes met, and vamped out to his natural state. The lesser vampire quivered under his gaze, knowing his Master was not pleased with him, suspecting his decision to listen to the Mage and ignore his Master’s wishes was an incredibly foolish thing to do.
He began to speak but Mikhal growled, then grasped the minion by the hair and slapped him forcefully, snarling as he did so, furious, allowing all his rage for his current circumstances to flow into the force of the blow. He should not have had to wait for Enid’s help. Alliana should not have had to wait. If that man had done his job perhaps his wife wouldn’t have gotten so ill.
“Why did you not summon the midwife when I returned to the castle last night as you were ordered?”
“I was unable to locate her, My Lord.” It wasn’t true. He had dallied about, taking his time, not really trying to find her.
“Imbecile.” Mikhal again slapped the hapless vampire while holding his hair tightly in his other fist. “She was in my sister’s chambers. It is where she always is when she is not tending my wife.”
“Forgive me, My Lord.”
“I do not grant forgiveness to those who no longer wish to serve me. Tell me, was it the Mage who instructed you to waste time while my wife’s life was slipping away?”
The vampire remained mute, terrified. The Mage was at that moment staked out in the courtyard waiting for the killing rays of the sun. If he confessed to following his orders, then he too would be put to death. On the other hand, if he lied to his Master now, the punishment would be just as horrible.
“Your silence says volumes.” Another shriek rose from the outer courtyard and Mikhal smiled, the sun must be getting near to the spot where the Mage lay bound. His smile was quickly replaced by a scowl and a snarl of rage as Alliana terror ripped through him in response to the Mage’s cries. “Enough of this. You are to follow the rampart around to where the Mage lays and cut out his tongue. I’m sure my wife finds his screams upsetting.” Both minions looked at their Master with wide eyes, neither wanting to venture outside the security of the castle walls while the killing rays of the sun were beating down. Mikhal simply ignored their terror and continued, a look of murderous fury on his face. These two had questioned his right to lead them, and for that they would die horribly, and set an example as well.
“When you have seen to the Mage, you will sit down beside him, and await the same fate I have sentenced him to.”
“Master, please, I beg you.”
“Silence! You will do exactly as I told you, and if you so much as move a muscle from the Mage’s side or utter one sound, I shall have you thrown in the dungeon to suffer a fate worse than death for a hundred years.” He paused, daring each to speak. When they held their tongues he nodded in satisfaction. “Rise and do as you’re told. You have been given your orders. It was your own foolishness that caused you to question my authority, and now I will show you how very much in charge I am.”
Their desperation and horror came at Mikhal in a rush of pure emotion, but he took it all in. His wife’s pain came from her soul. She was his mate, an innocent whom he had taken as his own and was sworn to care for and protect because of their blood bond. These, these were mere minions, just one step above the cattle they fed on, and they had seen fit to question his rule.
The minions stood before him, dumbfound by his command and their own eminent death, and their lack of motion infuriated him. “If I have to assist you in carrying out my request, I can assure you that you will rue the day you were birthed from your mother’s body. Now go, you haven’t much time to reach him safely, and remember, not a sound. I do not want my wife disturbed.”
Knowing it was useless to do anything but obey, the minions rose and went to the door. They shuffled out into the shadows, as their Master’s eyes bored into their backs, and followed the castle wall around, towards the Mage as the huge set of double doors slammed behind them.
As he closed them, Mikhal grinned his hideously evil grin. Let that be a lesson to any who doubted his power. Mikhal the Merciless was well and truly in control of his lands, his castle, and his clan. Later, when the time was near, he would view the festivities from one of the windows that were protected from the light by an overhang, and tell the tale of the day’s execution to any and all; to make sure no one had doubts about his ability to lead them.
Pushing aside thoughts of Alliana, knowing he couldn’t change the hands of fate, Mikhal turned towards the kitchen. He would have to abandon his idea of fetching something tasty from the village; the sunlight obviously put a stop to that idea, so one of the servants would have to do. He was hungry, surprisingly hungry in light of the nights events, and he was also determined that the Empathy curse would give him no problems at all when he sank his fangs into the pulsing throat of his victim.
He arrived at his destination with a flourish, startling everyone in the kitchen and making the scullery maids scream in terror. Grabbing the first girl within reach, Mikhal twisted her into his arms, baring her neck and sank his fangs deep into her pulsing artery. Her hot blood flowed over his tongue, washing down his throat and into his belly, even her terror washed over his being, but it didn’t affect him in the least.
Just as he had thought, just as he had hoped, he was still Lord and Master of all around him, and that included the man who dwelled inside. There were times to show compassion, but this was definitely not one of them. He closed his eyes in satisfaction at his ability to be the fearsome demon he needed to be, and drank his fill, knowing that at least this part of his world was as it should be. No curse could take away what drove his needs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two weeks had passed since the night Alliana had fled the castle, and they were two weeks full of misery for Mikhal. It wasn’t that her condition hadn’t improved, no, Enid’s potions and poultices were healing her body despite Alliana’s wish for the contrary. She was young and had been strong, so her flesh healed, but i
t seemed as if her spirit had simply died. She lay upon the bed, mute, staring into space, refusing to eat unless spoon-fed, simply wishing to waste away. Each day, regardless of her continued revulsion and hatred, he would go to her and sit by her bed, hoping against all hope to break down the wall she had built around her heart.
At first, his visits had just been to hold her hand and wipe her feverish brow while the infection raged within her body, then later, when she was awake and aware of him and her surroundings, it was to try and talk gently to her, to make her understand that he no longer meant her any harm. But no matter of what he did or what he said, the fortress that she hid in allowed only hatred to escape, while letting nothing in at all.
No more did the fire of her spirit light her eyes. No more did she challenge him. Even the slight spark she had shown by her resistance to do as she was told immediately after her ordeal had fled. Her hand lay limp upon his palm, and she would simply turn away whenever he spoke, shutting him out, refusing to hear his words of tenderness and apology.
Yes, he had been reduced to apologizing over and over to the beautiful woman who was his wife. The empathy he felt for her, the pain her anger, helplessness, and revulsion caused in him had reduced him, Mikhal the Merciless, to asking for forgiveness of her for taking what had been rightfully his on the night of her mad flight. Part of him still rebelled at this apology, but another accepted it.
The man in him knew that the way in which he had begun the act, his beast in full view to terrorize her deliberately, had been wrong. He never should have tried to bed her with his demon face showing. That was harsh and unjust; he freely admitted that. On the other hand, neither man nor beast could accept wrongness or responsibility for the actual act itself. Yes he should have approached her gently, and it wasn’t the right time, not during an argument, but she was his wife, and it was her duty to satisfy his needs.
He knew now that the way in which he had deliberately frightened her was unconscionable, and that he would never do it again, but that fact did him little good now. She was his mate, she had deserved respect, and he hadn’t shown her even an ounce of it, so he felt guilt over that part of the act, but still, in order to appease his own guilt, he reminded himself daily that bedding her had been well within his rights as a husband.
Through all his tender bedside vigils, the guilt, and the rationalizations, the beast in him ranted and raged at his behavior. It tried again and again to push to the front and make itself known, but the man inside him was getting stronger by the day, and he more often than not won the battle with his other half. His beast was furious that he would say kind words to a mate that shunned him still, but the man understood why Alliana hated him so. He understood why her heart was so very cold and barren of love for him. Yes, his beast may be furious with Alliana, but he was only angry with himself.
The Empathy curse made him feel her emotions with such depth that it was impossible to not care why she felt that way and to want to eradicate her pain, so day after day he tried to be the man she needed as a husband and mate, and day after day Alliana silently rejected him, flinging her hatred and scorn at him like the sharpest of daggers, flaying his newfound heart.
Perhaps if she had shown some fire, if she had been insolent or fought back, the monster inside would have won its battles, but as it was, the mute, empty eyed woman who lay before him caused only grief and pain. His rage didn’t stand a chance when faced with the shell of a woman that Alliana had become, and each day that her spirit wasted away, was a day of living hell for Mikhal.
He’d spoken to Enid about it. Asked her what to do to bring back the fire to his wife’s eyes, but the midwife had only cackled a rueful laugh. There was nothing in her bag of tricks to cure the soul she’d said, nothing to light the fire and instill a passion for life. Mikhal had known before he’d asked that there were no potions. He also knew resorting to the threats of old wouldn’t change things either. He couldn’t promise retribution on her family for not being happy, and the worst of it was he’d never expected to care if she was.
Things were different now though. He felt what she felt, and he wanted her emotions to be filled with joy when she saw him, not dread. He wanted her to yearn for a life with their son, not count down the days until she died.
That fact that her body had pulled through the sickness was mainly Enid’s doing, Alliana had had little say in the matter. Yes, there was a tiny spark in her heart that wouldn’t allow her to simply lie down and die, but her spirit had fled long ago, and Mikhal desperately wanted to get it back. He just wanted her back, whole, alive, and on fire.
All these thoughts were passing through his head once again as he sat beside his sleeping wife, and this time he didn’t have the energy to be strong. He hung his head in defeat, swearing that after he rested he would find a way to bring back the spark to his wife’s eyes. This is how Thalia came upon him, and the surge of pity she felt rise up inside her startled her, and roused Mikhal from his deep musings.
“Has there been any change, My Lord?”
“No Thalia, none. She won’t respond to anything.” The relationship between Master and servant had slowly evolved during Alliana’s illness, as Mikhal had recognized his wife’s need for her trusted maid, and Thalia had seen the gentleness that came over the Master Vampire each time he was near his wife.
They weren’t friends, far from it, Mikhal the Merciless still terrorized everyone in the castle, especially now that Alliana was so ill, it was that he seemed just a bit kinder to her. There were times it seemed he knew how she felt; that he knew when he did things that scared her. When those times occurred, he would look at her strangely and change his tone so it wasn’t quite so menacing. Of course, if she failed to follow an order concerning Alliana, he would still issue a harsh slap, but it seemed as if he took just a bit less joy in simply frightening her for the fun of it, and he never threatened to toss her to the minions any longer.
She’d told herself it was a ridiculous notion, that the Master hadn’t changed at all, but at times like these, when he seemed so saddened by the Mistress’s condition, it was easy to believe he had. She approached the bed tentatively, not wishing to be the one who spoke again. It wouldn’t do to wake Alliana or anger her Master. Mikhal looked at Thalia closely, looked down at his wife, and then looked her again, his eyes boring holes into her soul, making Thalia wonder what it was that he wanted.
Mikhal assessed Thalia as she stood there, pondering what her knowledge of his wife might be. Would the servant, being human know something he did not? As the days passed, more and more sadness had accompanied Alliana’s feeling of hatred and revulsion, and that sadness was slowly killing them both.
He knew she was unhappy, desperately unhappy, and it was tearing him up inside. Could this woman, this mere human, have any answers for him? Could she know of something that might cheer his wife? The best thing of course would be to allow Alliana to go home, and that simply wasn’t possible, but could there be something else that would bring the fire back to her eyes and the bloom to her cheeks?
Thalia took a step back, she felt as if her Master was staring into the very heart of her, and the feeling made her cringe. Mikhal, sensing her reaction to his gaze, knowing he needed her honesty now, not words spoken from fear, looked away and focused on Alliana once more.
“Tell me Thalia, is there something, anything, you can think of that might make my wife happy? She lays here day after day wasting away inside, and I wish for her to be the woman she once was. Enid says it’s not because of her illness. It is because she has no will to go on.”
Thalia said nothing at first, stunned by his statement. Mikhal the Merciless had just made a confession that the Mistress was not happy as his wife. What should she say? She knew he would never let Alliana go back to her family, especially not when she carried his heir, so that suggestion was out of the question.
“Thalia, you need not fear speaking to me of this. What can I do to help Alliana? Why is she so very sad?” Mik
hal knew in part that her misery came from the fact that he was a monster and she was destined to spend her life at his side, but that had been the facts before her ordeal, so it couldn’t be a huge factor now. He had also apologize for his misdeeds, shown her nothing but tenderness, even professed to caring for her, and promised over and over that as his mate she would be treated with the utmost respect, but nothing had made the horrible pain in her heart lessen and he simply didn’t understand why she was so very tormented.
“I fear the Mistress is lonely, My Lord.”
Mikhal looked at her, not really comprehending, Alliana was surrounded by servants who treated her extremely well, and she and Thalia had spent hours doing whatever it was women did together before the accident. If she was lonely, why didn’t she rouse herself and spend time with her maid?
Thalia saw that he didn’t understand what she was trying to say, and although she feared retribution for her forwardness, she decided to forge ahead all the same. He hadn’t shown any anger as of yet, and truly seemed to want to know.
“My Lord, perhaps if the Mistress had someone she could think of as a friend it would lessen the burden in her heart.”
“She has you and a castle full of servants. What more could she need?”
“Forgive me, Master, but the other servants and I cannot be her friends. Not truly. A lady confides in her friend, trusts her, and cares for her deeply. I am a maid, there are boundaries.”
“Must this friend be human?”
“I would think it best, Sire. She... she is frightened by the others, as we all are.”
“Very well. I’ll go to the village then. I shall fetch a girl, and she will become my wife’s companion.”
Thalia hissed in a breath, then let it out shakily at his horrid suggestion, making it all too clear to Mikhal that his idea hadn’t gone over well.
Beneath the Shadows of Evil... Taken Page 31
