Vampire Girl 3: Silver Flame (14 page)

I sigh, the weight of regrets bearing on me. "He helped me search for our father’s killer. I didn’t wish it, but I couldn’t turn his help down either."

Dean nods. And then he asks what I have dreaded. "Was it true? Did you really kill our father?"

"No," I say, studying his eyes, looking to see if he believes me. His gaze is hard, unyielding, so I continue. "I did not kill Lucian. But I did drug him. He spoke to me of freeing all the Fae, of making them our equals. It did not sound like him, and it did not sound possible without destroying our way of life. So I drugged him, intending to restrain him, see if his state of mind would return to normal. However, he did not go unconscious; instead, his symptoms were those of death."

"Symptoms?"

I nod. "Our father is alive. I learned later from Asher, and Arianna as well, our father took a potion to fake death. Then he fled to the Fae, with whom he has an alliance. Together, they plot to the bring the Fae to power once more, to restore balance between our people."

Dean frowns, chewing on his lip. "But why fake his death, why resign the crown? Why not be Vampire King
and
Fae supporter?"

"Arianna," I say, her very name warming my blood.

"Ah, of course. When he gave up the throne, the contract of his will came into effect. Then we did the rest, bringing Arianna to this world. With the Midnight Star returned, the Druids awakened, and the Fae grew in power. Our father truly is a genius. A madman, but a genius one. Still…" He looks out at the horizon, where the tips of Stonehill begin to appear. "Why the change of heart? Why care for the Fae?"

"Arianna told me he does not. There is some other game he plays. One that requires the Fae to be at full strength."

Dean laughs, slapping his thigh. "Now that sounds like good old father."

I see in his eyes that he believes me. That is good. I will need all the allies I can muster in the coming days. "So, what is your public stance on the council?" I ask.

"Publicly, I support hunting you down and sticking your head on a spike." He winks. "But privately I just want Arianna to pick me as the new king so everyone can stop acting like babies and just let me rule."

He chuckles, and I know he wants his words to come off as a joke, but there is truth in them he cannot hide.

"Arianna…" I say, the reality hard to muster. "Arianna will not choose me. I do not wish to be king, and now that Inferna knows I have Fae blood, they do not wish it either."

Dean snickers. "Please, none of that matters to Arianna. Hell, the Fae blood might even be a perk. Lucky bastard."

I know he seeks to cheer me, but it does not change the truth. Arianna must choose someone else. Someone who will save this world.

For a while, we do not speak, and I listen to the crunch of snow beneath hooves, to the winter birds singing in the trees. In time, men and women being to appear on the muddy road, most wearing gray rags and carrying bags. They travel opposite to us, away from Stonehill and its walls. "Quite the exodus," remarks Dean as a woman avoids his horse. "Personally, I hope they’re heading to my realm. Except that one. That one looks boring."

"Keep your voice down," I say, speeding up my horse. "To these people, you don’t have a realm. You don’t have a throne. To them you are but a traveler. Let us keep it that way, shall we?"

"Very well. Perhaps we need codenames then." Dean smiles, ideas playing in his eyes. "I will be Rump. And you can be… Dump."

I shiver. "Sometimes, I wonder if you even understand the things you say."

"What?" He recoils, looking shocked. "Something wrong with the names?"

"Everything, dear brother. Everything."

The gates begin to loom ahead of us. Many leave the city ahead, but a few try to enter as well. A Shade wrapped in blue robes and jewelry covered with rubies and diamonds is stopped in his path by a guard. The soldier is not one I recognize, not one of my men, though he wears my red colors. "No Fae allowed in the city," he says, raising a spear.

"Excuse me, but vampire runs through my blood," says the Shade, his speech of high nobility.

The guard spits at the man’s feet. "Half Fae, all Fae. Turn around and leave before I make you."

My stomach twists at the sight before me. My blood runs hot. This is not the way of Stonehill. The way of my people. I reach for my sword, but Dean grabs my hand. He shakes his head in warning.

I clench my jaw, but do nothing as the guard kicks the Shade to the mud. Again and again. After a moment, the noble man finally crawls to his knees, and trudges away from the gate.

As the man passes us, I motion to him, and flick a coin into his hands. "For the journey ahead," I say.

"Thank you," he says. "I am glad there are some who still respect our ways." And then he vanishes into the mass of people on the road.

Dean leans closer. "I see the princess is rubbing off on you, dear brother. Hope she doesn’t make you too soft."

I grunt, then dismount and lead my horse forward. The guard in red stops us as well.

"What business you have here?" he asks.

"Returning home," I say, showing my fangs as I speak.

The man seems skeptical, chewing his lip, and then Dean chimes in. "Bearing goods from Prince Levi’s realm." He points at the supply packs on our horses. "For the event."

The man seems satisfied, and with a nod, he lets us threw.

"What event?" I whisper.

"Something Levi is planning for today," says Dean softly. "He would not tell me the details."

There does indeed appear to be something happening. The streets are packed with people young and old. Most are vampire. The few Fae I see tend to their masters, carrying around supplies or food. I do not see the Shade until we reach the center square.

There, a dozen men and women hang on wooden pillars, their arms and legs nailed to the wood. Their hair color ranges from blue to red to green like the Fae, but their teeth are that of vampires, their blood that of both.

"That monster," I hiss, trying to imagine what kind of madness compels Levi to act as he does.

One of the woman groans, and I realize she yet lives. She was hung here to bleed to death!

I rush forward, drawing my dagger.

Dean yells after me. "What are you doing?"

This time, I do not heed his warning. This time, I cannot. I jump into the air, grabbing onto the wooden pillar, and cut through the ropes holding the woman. I pull the nails from her limbs. She doesn’t even scream, so weak is she. She falls into my arms. "Thank you," she whispers, her mouth stained with blood. I lay her down on the stone ground, and motion to Dean.

"Water."

He tosses me a jug, and I pour the liquid down the woman’s throat. Then I wet a part of my cloak and gently wash away the crimson stains over her face and arms. Around me, the city turns quiet. As if all life has stopped in respect for this one tender moment. Many have gathered to watch in silence. I suspect it is because of what I have done in freeing her. I am wrong.

"Who dares disobey my will?"

I know the voice in an instant. Levi.

I stand, leaving the woman sitting against stone steps, and face my treacherous brother. He stands, draped in a cloak of red and gold, amongst a company of a dozen men. His armor glistens in the sun, and the ruby in the pommel of his sword speaks of newfound wealth. His long white hair billows in the wind. His face twists in anger.

I step forward, until we are but a few feet away. "The woman is a Shade. It did not seem fit to treat her as Fae."

Levi studies me, no doubt seeing if he recognizes me.  But the illusion holds, and he seems frustrated. "Perhaps you do not know whom you address," he says, his voice full of fake pleasantry. "I am new to these lands after all."

I say nothing. I do nothing. He will get no satisfaction from me.

Levi sighs, disappointed I haven’t yet figured out his importance. "You address Prince Levi, Lord of Stonehill and Crimson Castle." I know he expects me to be shocked. To drop down to my knees and beg for forgiveness.

I shrug. "Heard Fenris Vane is Lord of Stonehill."

Levi’s eyes nearly pop out. "You fool. You—"

"Please, your grace," says Dean, stepping in front me. "My brother and I have recently arrived from far away. The lands of our Prince Zeb. We have traveled for days, and so recent news has not yet reached our ears."

Levi nods, as if this explains my behavior. "Then you best know," he says, addressing not just me, but the crowd of hundreds. "I am now ruler of these lands. All Shade within the city have been deemed traitors, complicit in the attacks on Stonehill. They are to be punished as if Fae and nothing more. All slaves must maintain the new curfew, and if caught without a written seal from their master, will be whipped."

He meets my eyes once again. "I will forgive you this once. But not again, understood?"

I cannot say the words, so I nod instead.

It seems enough for Levi, because he addresses the crowd once again. This time, his voice is unnaturally loud, amplified by magic. "People of Stonehill, we have all gathered here today for one purpose. To witness the punishment of those who have wronged us, betrayed us, fooled us." He points to the castle, and the giant stone gates grind open. A company of guards lead two prisoners outside. At the front is a woman. Her hair black and blue. Her eyes green. Her ears long.

It can’t be…

I rush forward, but Dean grabs my arm. He whispers in my ear. "It’s not her, brother. It’s not Arianna."

I study the woman again. Her face. Her eyes. They are of Arianna. They are of the woman I love. But it cannot be. She is safe. She is at the palace. I look again, and as she draws closer, I begin to notice details I had not before. A lock of hair purple where it should have been blue. A freckle where there should be none. It is an illusion. A well done one. But whoever cast the spell did not know Arianna as intimately as I.

I scan the crowd, and behind Levi’s retinue of men, I see a familiar face, smooth but wise, his beard long and white. Kal. His eyes are sunken and dark. His posture slumped and weak. His white robes are long, but not even they cover the purple bruises on his hands. He was the one forced to carry out this magic. Forced into helping Levi.

I turn my gaze back to the imposters. The man behind Arianna, the man who is supposed to be me, is an even better fake. His thick brown hair is mine, his eyes and nose are mine. Even the muscles of his shirtless body match my own. Kal knew me well, mentored me since I was young. It must have been easy for him to recreate me, and at the same time, unbearable.

I search for a hanging stage, the traditional punishment for criminals, yet I see none. Instead, the imposters are led to a wooden block. The woman is pushed down to her knees, forced to lay her head upon the slab. Even from a distance, I see the tears in her eyes. Real tears of a real person. I do not know who they are. Fae or vampire, innocent or guilty, but I feel their fear within me. Feel the dread of their coming fate.

Levi walks up to the block and draws his large silver sword. I realize, he is intending to do the deed himself. He wants the world to know he personally killed the Midnight Star and the Prince of War. "Look upon the woman who lied to you, the woman who pretended to be your princess when in truth she is
their
princess, plotting with the Fae to take your very homes."

People begin to yell and curse and throw what they can at the woman they think is Arianna. They once loved her. How could this be?

"Look around," says Dean. "These are not people of Stonehill. They are Levi’s men, crawled out from his realm." I do as he says, glancing around. My brother is right. There are few familiar faces, and those that are stay silent.

Dean seemed to have read my thoughts. My rage must be plain on my face.

"Today," continues Levi, "I slay the Midnight Star. Today, I end the war forever." He brings down his sword.

And chops off the woman’s head.

It tumbles down the steps, staining them with blood, and lands near my feet. I do not look upon it. I do not wish to see Arianna’s face torn from her body. I may strike at Levi if I do.

Next, the guards force the man down upon the block.

Levi grins. "Here is the one you thought your prince. The one you thought vampire. Instead, he is Fae. He is Druid. For millennia, he has deceived you. For millennia, he has used you. Now, his false reign is over. Now, the reign of Prince Levi begins." He strikes down with his blade, and Fenris Vane is no more. To the world, he is dead.

Levi walks down the steps, grinning like a fool, until he stands before me. "See, I rule Stonehill now. Tell all you see. Levi is the Prince of War."

I nod, meeting his eyes. I know he will take my look for sincerity, but it is filled with hate. Baron steps forward, baring his teeth.

And Levi recoils. On his face, I see even he does not understand why the dog scares him so. But I know. I know that Fenris Vane will return. And that, one day, Levi will find his own head upon the block.

***

The crowd disperses quickly as Levi returns to the castle. A few of his men stay behind to nail the woman I pulled down back onto the pillar. I do nothing to stop them, though inside I rage. It takes all my strength not to fight them. I can kill dozens. But I cannot kill every soldier in the city.