Legends of Marithia: Book 3 - Talonsphere (27 page)

Vartan had completed a day of assisting rebuilding efforts. He had succeeded in keeping himself so busy that his body ached. His mind was on those around him. By burying his grief, he had planted a timed explosion in his heart. The wick was short, and he wasn’t sure how long it would keep burning.

It amazed him how lonely he felt, listening to the sound of his own breathing. His heart was cold as waves of pain washed along its shores.

He ascended the stairs, making his way toward his bedroom. Their bedroom. Each step was a struggle. He dusted off the dirt from his armour. Yuski and Anakari had wished him goodnight. The Blood Red Moon had already risen, its crimson shadow casting through the castle’s windows.

This is harder than I ever imagined it would be.

Vartan stopped in front of the dusty beams from the nearest window, raising his hand to cast shadows, and watching as the dust scurried from his touch. The moon’s glow was a darker shade than he remembered. He thought back to the butterfly in his meeting with Helenia, and he scrunched his eyes, clenching his jaw as he continued his ascent.

Vartan, I feel your pain and am also being torn apart from the inside. You have to let your feelings be freed, before they destroy you. I fear they may destroy us both
, Keturah said.

Deep down, he knew that she was right. This pain was all too familiar. When he thought he had failed and lost his brother, his world darkened. He feared this could consume him.

He paused and leaned back, focusing on his echoing footsteps. When he heard another set behind him, he drew his sword. Its shiny surface reflected moonlight as the blade lay flat in front of him, a sharp ringing echoing down the stairs.

He growled, “Who goes there?”

Straining his ears, he heard no more sounds, then sheathed his sword and turned back.

Whoever it is, let them come
, he thought, forming fists.

Vartan, I worry about what is going through your head
, Keturah said.

You and me both
.

He soon came to his door, placing his hands on its surface and shoving it open. The sharp creaking of the door’s hinges made him wince. Their bedroom windows had been left ajar; a strong wind blew over him. He drew a deep breath of crisp night air and exhaled a cloud of fog. Closing the door behind him, he found that each step was hard as he made his way past the bed that he had recently shared with his wife.

He couldn’t bear to look at it. Staring at the floor was a better option for him. A safer option. His heart surged when he sat on the bed, and he gritted his teeth as he launched off it. He didn’t think he could sleep, and certainly not where he could still smell her.

He ran his fingertips over the satin covered sheets and made his way to the open windows, shutting them. Vartan began to undo his armour, first removing his helmet and placing it on the ground beside him. He had not realised that tears had smeared his face, until he saw himself in the mirror. As his face twisted from a surge of agony, the vision of himself blurred.

Looking away from his reflection, he stared at the ground and grimaced, struggling for breath. He watched as tear drops splattered on his helmet. In a smooth motion, he picked it up and launched it, watching as the helm crashed into his cupboard and broke the left door into two pieces. The broken pieces fell to the floor and revealed Helenia’s dresses within. Her white wedding gown shone in the moonlight.

He felt it coming. It was an avalanche that he was powerless to stop

Vartan growled as he drew his sword and swung it through the air, twisting as he kicked the wall with all his might, sending dust flying around him.

“I failed her!” he said, his rage awakening the spirit of Mazu inside him. He turned toward the bedside tables, narrowing his glowing eyes as he raised his sword above his head. He froze in his tracks as he felt the icy touch of night air, and the long white fabric of Helenia’s gown flew out from the cupboard, waving before him as if it were a flag.

Did I not hear the windows open?

Vartan dropped to his knees, his sword clanging as it fell before him. He heard Helenia’s voice singing as the wind blew over his ears, and his face fell into his hands. Tears dropped through the gaps in his fingers and he wept as if the pain had been eating away his insides, and this was his cure. For the first time since the day his brother was killed in the woods, he truly suffered.

Images of Helenia flashed in his mind, and he thought back to when they first met, then pictured her when she came to him at their wedding in Veldrenn. He let the tears flow freely.

“Oh Vartan, it is our burden to show a face of courage when our hearts yearn to be heard. We cannot show weakness in public, so we endure our heartache in private, and bottle it up until we burst.”

Vartan looked up and wiped his watery eyes, staring at a shadowy Queen Andrielle standing in the opened doorway, looking down at him through a tear-streaked face of her own. She was in her bedclothes. As she stepped into the light, he saw a familiar glimpse of Helenia’s face in her mother’s. Pain surged through his chest. His words came out in pieces, through quivering lips. “I… miss… her so much.”

Andrielle walked to him and grunted as she picked him up, leading him to the bed and sitting him down on its edge. She pulled his head to her chest, so he could hear her heartbeat, and he felt her tears fall on his scalp as she cried. “Oh my child, I miss her too. So much that my heart breaks whenever I think of her.”

Adela stared wide-eyed at the sight before her. She gulped as the rat squirmed in Kassina’s hands, and winced as the vampire queen sank her fangs into the small animal’s neck.

Her stomach churned as Kassina swallowed the creature’s blood.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Adela said.

Adela held her mouth as she turned her paled face away from the campfire. After a short pause, she peeked back at the feasting vampire queen. Her illness turned to curiosity. She had never seen a vampire before, and felt oddly excited by what she was witnessing.

Kassina coughed as she released the twitching animal, and wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve. She grabbed a sharp twig and impaled the rat before placing it over the fire.

“You need a stronger stomach, girl. Such innocence is a weakness in this world. Believe me, this is not my first choice of dinner either. I don’t eat the meat, so this is for you.”

Something wasn’t right about all this.

Cooking dinner with the queen of the underworld. Who would have thought?

Her instincts made her wary, but she then reminded herself that Kassina couldn’t kill her.

Adela narrowed her eyes at her. “You’re only being nice to me because you have to, aren’t you?”

Kassina laughed as she turned the crackling carcass over the flames. “Maybe. But then, so are you, right?”

“Well there is the first thing we have agreed on all day. So, Niesha just flies off and leaves us here. We’ve spent all this time squabbling over what to do next. I am stuck with you. Just what are we meant to do exactly?” Adela said, throwing a stone at Castle Praethorne’s decaying walls.

Kassina threw the stick to Adela. “You insolent little whining brat! I am not your servant. In fact, I don’t need this, and I don’t need
you
.”

Adela watched the vampire queen storm off toward the castle entrance. “I’m sorry!”

Kassina stopped in her tracks and spun on her heels. “You forgot
my queen
.”

Adela chuckled to herself. “I mean no offence, Kassina, but I will not be addressing you as my queen. I am not your servant either. And you know what? You do
need me. What are you going to do? Desert me out here and let me be killed? We all know what happens then.”

She knew she had bested the underworld queen, but wondered if it would come with consequences.

Kassina bared her fangs and pursed her lips as she launched at an unnaturally fast speed, to pick up Adela by the scruff. She yelled in her face. “Maybe I want to die. Did you think of that, little girl? Why don’t we just both end it all now?”

Adela’s heart pounded, and she knew that Kassina would know it. She was no stranger to bullying. Growing up on an island of pirates taught her a thing or two. Courage was the key to handling bullies, and this was no exception.

Adela looked into Kassina’s piercing eyes without flinching, then brought the cooked rat to her face and tore out a chunk, chewing between words. “First, I am no little girl. Second, you don’t scare me. So why don’t you just calm down and let me go already.”

Kassina sighed and dropped the girl, staring at the Blood Red Moon. “Is this all some big joke and I am the butt of it?”

Adela spoke between mouthfuls, “Well if it’s any consolation, you have quite a nice butt, so that would make sense.”

She always had quite the sense of humour, and wasn’t quite sure if the gamble would pay off. It was worth a shot.

The queen turned to her with a raised eyebrow, and the fury left the vampire’s eyes as she laughed heartily. “You sure are a feisty little surprise.”

Adela found herself enjoying the conversation, and hadn’t expected to remain in one piece. She wondered if bravery was what would win respect with Kassina. It tended to be the case with the real tough ones. “Listen, before we end up killing each other, why don’t we just sail this companionship and see where we land? After all, what else do we have to lose?”

Kassina slumped down beside the campfire and the corner of her mouth rose. “I suppose you are right, I have nothing else to lose anymore. Who am I kidding? I am absolutely starving here. I may be mortal, but I still crave blood all the same.”

Adela stared at her rat and wondered what it must be like to be a vampire. The rat would be far from an ample meal.

“Kassina, do what you have to do. So long as you don’t sink those fangs into me, then I don’t mind you feeding. Can you do it without having to kill someone though? I would hate to be responsible for a pile of corpses.”

“Of course. But you would never keep up with me in a hunt, and I can’t leave you behind.”

Adela said, “So I matter to you, to some degree.”

She watched Kassina’s eyes narrow. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I care about staying alive. We will see how much I end up liking you.”

“I guess we will see then, won’t we.”

Kassina stared at Adela with a straight face, and the girl’s eyes widened again.

“Sorry. I should be giving you more respect. The night is young, so how about we find somewhere you can feed? It’s only fair I return the favour. After all, I can’t leave you behind either. Just remember, no dead people.”

Kassina’s grin was only darkened by her pearly fangs as she said, “Maybe we can make this work after all.”

The queen rose to her feet and snapped her hand out at the fire, but only a tiny spark lit up her fingertips. “I’m wondering when I will get my powers back, and how long dragon’s breath can last for.”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say anything else before she left. Where’d she go anyway?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Well, thank the gods that you are stuck with me then,” Adela said. Her beaming smile made her cheeks ache.

Kassina rolled her eyes. “You
will
start to get annoying, you know. I am not used to being surrounded with people who are so, like you. Now, let’s get some fresh blood.”