The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  “Do you miss your mother?” Mary asks as she fits a pin on my hem the day before the wedding.

  “I do. I’ve written to her of my marriage. I hope to hear back soon.” I draw in a breath, holding back my tears, thinking of my mother and Elizabeth, Faye, Alec, and the life I’ll never have.

  “This is a special time for a woman. If you need to talk about anything, I’m here for you.” She holds my gaze.

  I push blood to my cheeks to appear to be blushing. “My mother spoke to me of such things before we left, perhaps anticipating this scenario.”

  “Good.” She smooths my skirt and steps back, admiring her handiwork.

  The day of the wedding, I rise early and perform my chores, take a swim in the ocean, and arrive back at the house midday. Maria and Sarita have drawn a warm bath, and braid my hair, winding it atop my head.

  It is mid-July, and the day is warm. We open both ends of the barn, so a breeze passes through. Emmett and I stand in front of twenty of our tribe members, the settlers, and his parents. The Pastor officiates the service, asking for God’s blessing on the marriage, reading vows for us to recite, asking us to exchange rings, and introducing us as man and wife. I smile at the right times and blush as Emmett kisses me.

  “You haven’t eaten all day,” Will whispers behind me as he follows Emmett and me through the crowd.

  “I will when we’re done.” I force a smile as we greet the next guest.

  At sunset, Emmett and I wave goodbye to his parents. He runs a hand down my back, and I fight the urge to throw him from the porch.

  “I need rest.” I enter the front hall and pull a handful of candles from the desk drawer. “I got these for you.”

  “Thank you for thinking of me.” His eyes pan to the ceiling. “It’ll be odd to be in a new place.”

  “I hope you can sleep well. We’re night creatures, and many of us move about during the dark.”

  “I work hard, so I never have problems sleeping.”

  “Good.” I ascend the stairs, and he follows. In front of my door, I spin to face him. “Good night.”

  “This was a good day. Thank you.”

  “Perhaps you should wait to judge whether this arrangement is a blessing or a curse.”

  “You’ve always been fair to me.”

  “And I will remain so.” I enter my room and shut the door. I can hear him breathing in the hall and wait for him to enter the room beside mine. For as much as I want him as far away as possible, the other half of me feels the need to protect him. Elizabeth did this, I remind myself. She grew to love Henry, perhaps you could do the same with Emmett.

  July 1622 –South Carolina coast

  A year passes, and our plantation tribe is content. There are three additional births within the group, the witch community to the north shows no signs of aggression, and the vampire tribes keep to themselves as more settlers pour in from Europe.

  It’s a hot afternoon, and I’ve just come from the swimming pond. I hear a carriage on the lane and sniff the air. Mary. Eugene. And the scent of a being I don’t recognize. Mary’s presence has become commonplace, but unless there is business to attend, Eugene only comes for our Saturday evening meal. The signal of bird calls spreads through the compound, and I race to my quarters to change and meet Emmett on the porch.

  “Swimming?” he asks.

  “Yes, did you expect your parents today? They also have another being with them, I don’t recognize the scent.”

  “What do you mean? Like an animal?”

  “I don’t know.”

  When they round the bend, I see Mary cradling a bundle, and my breath catches in my lungs. “They haven’t!”

  “What, what is it?” Emmett’s eyes shift from me to his parents.

  I follow Emmett down the stairs to meet the carriage, praying somehow this isn’t what I know it to be. Eugene secures the reins and jumps to the ground. A smile unwavering on her face, Mary hands the bundle to her husband and climbs down. Taking the small being in her arms, she approaches us.

  “Mother, what a nice surprise.” Emmett leans down to the being in her arms. “What do you have? Has one of the piglets fallen ill?”

  Mary holds the child out to me. “There was a woman at the port. I tried to help her, but she lay the baby on the ground and ran. I thought of you, because of your troubles. If you don’t want him, I’m sure someone, perhaps the Pastor, will take him in.”

  My mind spins with the prospect of bringing a human child into our tribe. I know Emmett will want this, not just for himself, but for his parents. Emmett steps back and looks at me. His mother takes a step towards us, and the smell of the child, like warm hay and rich hot blood, overwhelm my senses.

  “Isn’t he beautiful?” Mary’s eyes meet mine.

  Thinking if I hold the child my fate is sealed, I lean over and move the blankets from his chest and head. Black curly hair rests atop an olive-toned scalp. Deep brown eyes hold my gaze for a second. His arms and legs flail in the air. I tuck the blanket around his body.

  “You’re good at that,” Mary beams.

  “We have several babies on the compound.”

  Emmett rests his hand on the small of my back, his wide eyes pleading for my approval. “What do you think?”

  Even with the enormity of the task, I realize this could be the only child I have, and I look between Emmett and his parents. I know Emmett wants this for himself, his parents, and I want to do him this service. “Yes, we should take him.”

  “Oh, my.” Tears spring up in Mary’s eyes. “Here, hold him.” She sets the baby in my arms. “I was thinking Theodore. The name means gift from God.”

  “Theo.” I whisper to him and rub his palm. He clasps my finger, and my heart melts.

  Raising a child turns out to be a task as large as managing our troop. Thankfully, the tribe adopts Theo as one of their own, helping with feeding and protection. With Eugene aging, Emmett spends much of his time on his family’s land, and Theo and I bond. Worrying for his health and wishing to prolong his life, Emmett gives him vampire blood starting at what we guess to be his first birthday. We realize the blood speeds his growth and decide to wait until he is full grown.

  And grow he does, into a strong man. Mary and Eugene live long enough to see him wed. He moves to the Schmidt home and farms their acreage. They pass in the next year, and with Emmett’s aging, Theo takes over much of the plantation’s oversight. Emmett and I become grandparents, and seeing the smart, loving man Theo becomes swells my heart with pride. I know I’ll never regret the decision to raise him.

  In town and at church, I hide my unchanging appearance with bonnets and shawls. As the generations turn over, they forget I remain the same, or think me a daughter, or grand-daughter. It saddens me to see Emmett’s health failing as he reaches ninety. Despite misgivings about how we came to be a family, he gave me Theo and our tribe a chance to live in peace. He passes after seventy-plus years of life the fifth day of January 1675. We honor him as one of our own, lighting a burial pyre and pushing him out into the sea, returning him to Mother Earth.

  1692 – what is now the South Carolina coast

  In February of 1692, a sentinel from a human-founded settlement named Salem arrives with news of additional trials for witchcraft. We’ve followed the situation since the first hanging of Alse Young in Connecticut, 1647. On 10 June 1692, the first tried in Salem, Bridget Bishop, is hanged for witchcraft, and in the coming months, we lament the loss of nineteen additional humans to the hysteria of the day. Our sentinels tell us that the humans have misjudged, all the accused are innocent. No real witches remain in Salem.

  “At least they’re not hunting vampires like they are in the Old World,” Jacob finishes his report.

  “It doesn’t make it any better. If humans believe in witches and witchcraft, they are also prone to believe in other species.” I rest a hand on my forehead.

  By April of 1693 five additional trials are heard and dismissed and we get reports that the tria
ls are considered ended. It seems we my rest easy on our plantation in the south for a bit longer. Soon after, I receive a letter from Elizabeth, indicating Faye passed. Elizabeth arranges travel to the New World, and Jacob, Will, and I travel north to meet her in Boston.

  “Elizabeth!” I wrap my arms around her, taking in her scent. “How are you?”

  “I’m well. Happy to be off that boat.”

  “We have a room at the inn, if you’d like to rest before we travel.”

  “What are you talking about, child? I haven’t been free for over a hundred years, and you want me to rest on a feather mattress like in London? I’m ready to run through the forest and lounge on mats of leaves.”

  “Then it shall be.” I smile at her and take a skipping step.

  “I like her already.” Will beams as he steps back to let us proceed ahead of him.

  Once out of the city, we run west and south to skirt the settlements. Being late summer, the leaves are fully extended, and we can roam the forest without much fear of detection. Still, Will scouts ahead, and Jacob lags back. Hearing Will’s dove cry, I signal Elizabeth to follow me. As we reach Will, he points to his ears. I close my eyes and concentrate. The tiniest hum reaches my ear drums. I sniff, and the slightest hint of honey taints the air.

  “Witch,” Elizabeth whispers. “I think just one.”

  We continue south at a normal human pace, following the scent as it grows stronger. Spreading out, we close in from each side. Although the scent prevails, the hum of magic stops.

  “It must sense us,” Elizabeth mouths.

  I nod, signaling confirmation. Atop a knoll, I stop and close my eyes. The smell is strong, and I point over the edge of a rock cliff. As I jump to the ground below, Elizabeth, Will, and Jacob join me. Tucked under the lip of the boulder shelf and behind cascading vines, I catch a glimpse of a pair of eyes.

  “We’re not going to hurt you. Please, come out.” Motioning to the others to follow, I take a few steps back.

  “I’m a powerful witch,” the being says.

  A pulse of electricity shoots through my brain, and I double over. The pain subsides, and I take a deep breath. “We believe you. We mean you no harm. Our travels take us south. You’re not being hunted.”

  “How can I trust you?” the being asks.

  “We’ll be on our way. But we can offer you refuge if you need a safe place.”

  “You mean you will enslave me.”

  “No. We’ve heard about the trials in Salem. Are you running from the humans?”

  “I’m not scared of humans. All of the women accused and hanged were innocent, including my mother.”

  “But you’re a witch?”

  “Yes, but she wasn’t. My father was. He died before we came to the New World. She was a healer. Those girls went crazy, probably from a poison.”

  “We’ve been keeping an eye on witches in the area for years. Why are you here in the forest all alone?”

  “The others fled long ago. My mother didn’t want me to leave, so I stayed. But now she’s gone.”

  “Come out, join us. We promise you’ll be safe.” I creep towards the being and peer into its makeshift cave.

  It parts the vines and crawls out. The being, a male, stands erect, a foot higher than me. Dirt covers his face and clothes, and the skin of his cheeks hangs from his bones as if he hasn’t eaten in weeks.

  “You look hungry.” I swing my bag around and find the berries.

  He snatches them and pops them into his mouth. I hold out my water flask, and he gulps down the liquid. His eyes dart to Elizabeth and then Jacob and Will. “You’re very kind.”

  “What’s your name?” I ask.

  “Orm.”

  I offer my hand in greeting. “I’m Anne.”

  He takes it and closes his eyes, but they pop open the next second. “Glory be. Anne of Scotts?”

  I furrow my brow. “You know of me?”

  “You must’ve known that was a possibility when you let me touch you. You offered your hand to show I could trust you. But yes, we’d heard of you in the old country. Rumors spread about a vampire priestess seeking peace. Most thought it myth.”

  “Well, Orm, it’s nice to meet you. These are my comrades: Elizabeth, Jacob, and Will.”

  Each of them waves in greeting but don’t offer their hands.

  “Please join us. We have a compound in the Carolinas.”

  “You mean a tribe?”

  I laugh at him. “Yes, but it’s a civilized plantation.”

  “She even married a human and adopted a human child so that we could retain our settlement.” Jacob tosses a rock between his hands as if bored with the interaction.

  Orm’s eyes narrow and land on me. “But the first rule?”

  “You’re going to judge us?” Will puffs out his chest, showing the full extent of his brawn.

  “No, no judgment.” Orm shakes his head.

  “How old are you? Was the woman in Salem really your mother?” I inquire.

  Orm straightens his back. “She was my father’s wife. I’m four hundred and some odd years old. My mother was also human. She died many years before my father remarried.”

  “Finally, someone who knows something.” Elizabeth speaks for the first time.

  “I know a bit.” Orm smiles, exposing browning teeth.

  “You look as if you could use a home. Please, join us. I promise you’ll come to no harm.”

  “I know.” Orm looks to the sky and back at me. “I guess your offer is better than any I’ve had today.”

  I chuckle. “What others have offered you refuge?”

  “Well, the wolf wanted me in his stomach.”

  I dig in my bag and produce a handful of dried deer meat. “You’ll excuse our food preferences.”

  “Beggars can’t be choosers.” He takes the meat and begins to chew it.

  Slinging my pack onto my back, I motion the group to resume our journey.

  “I’m not walking human pace all the way back home,” Will huffs.

  “Carry him, then,” I suggest.

  “I’m not being carried by a vampire,” Orm objects.

  “Do you want to join us or not?” I stand, hand to hip.

  Will folds his pack into a sling and lifts Orm to his back, and we resume our traveling pace. The trip takes longer with a human, but we make the journey in five days. As our tribe senses the witch, they greet us at the border.

  “Aye, you’ve brought us a witch. Good thinking.” Gregor approaches me. “Guess you didn’t want to marry another human, eh? I hope he has decent powers. Not so sure he’s going to be with us much longer though. He looks to be in pretty bad shape.”

  “Ahhh, we fatten him up, and then we’ll have witch stew.” John laughs and cheers go up.

  “Silence.” I yell over the noise. “We’ll convene in an hour in the great hall.”

  “I guess she is the priestess after all,” Orm whispers under his breath.

  “I’m new too,” I hear Elizabeth tell him.

  “I prefer Queen, and I will show you to your quarters and get you something to eat.”

  John briefs me as we make our way along the dirt path to the main house.

  “If I may.” Orm approaches as John finishes.

  “If you have such a large tribe, won’t you draw unwanted attention?”

  “From whom?”

  “Michael’s line.”

  “What do you know of them?”

  “They lead the witches. We believe they’re behind planting the seed of witchcraft in Salem.” Orm details how his family and the others who settled in Salem wanted out of the politics of the Old World. They theorized that Michael’s line, led by a witch named Sonia, wanted them extinguished.

  “Sonia?” I stop short.

  “You know her?”

  “She murdered all my delegates at the first tribunal I held.”

  “Then you know her power.”

  “So, you think this Sonia’s reach spreads to the Ne
w World.”

  “I know it does. It’s hard to understand how I know, but trust that my intuition is never wrong.”

  “How long ago did you sense them?”

  “Sixteen forty-seven, when the first trial took place. They don’t remain here. The idea only needs to be planted to cause us to scatter.”

  “How many of the original—excuse me, real—Salem witches are still alive? I’m sorry.”—I stop mid-step.— “Do you prefer the term witch or warlock?”

  “Witch, please.” Orm’s shoulders shudder. “A warlock is altogether another being, evil to the core, like Sonia’s son, Thanatos. But, I have no idea what happened to the others from Salem.”

  “Were you one coven?”

  “No, we remained in separate covens, which is why I can’t sense them.”

  I lead Orm and Elizabeth up to the second floor, showing Orm the room next to mine that used to be Emmett’s. I give Elizabeth the room on the opposite side of me and leave her to unpack. Next, I speed through my bath and zip to the kitchen to prepare Orm a meal.

  “You’re investing a lot in this witch.” Will finds me popping rolls into the oven.

  “He knew of Sonia and Thanatos and believes they’re behind the witch trials.”

  “Why would they expose their own people? Are you sure of him? What if he’s a spy? Exactly the opposite of who he says he is. What if he’s with Sonia?”

  “Did you smell anything off about him these past five days? Sense any hesitation? Heart rate increase?”

  “I didn’t.”

  “And neither did Jacob or Elizabeth. Orm said the witches that settled in Massachusetts wanted out of the old country’s political system run by Sonia and her line. He may be able to help us make peace with the witch population.”

  Will takes my hand and bows low. “And this, my lady, is why you’re my Queen.”