Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods (11 page)

At last, they made it to the castle. Sonia felt a relief. It’s early in the morning and this man had been talking none stop in her ears. She looked to see the castle. King Henry’s castle was different; it was made of all white bricks, as big as Victor’s. It had tall windows through which nothing was visible.

William, head of security, joined them. He had been waiting in fr
ont of the castle. “Morning, I hope your stay was a pleasant one.” 

The guards took their horses and Sonia got off gracefully as her feet touched the snowy ground. “It was pleasant, thank you for your hospitality.” 

Angelione nodded in agreement.

“Shall we go?” 

As they got closer to the throne, they could see King Henry sitting there with his crown on his head. Beautiful women surrounded him and to one side of him stood a man named Philip. It is said that Philip is Henry’s most loyal advisor and servant. King Henry was close to six feet tall with smooth dark hair and handsome chiseled facial features.  If Sonia were into evil men he would have been her type. His throne room was filled with statues of himself. 

“All hail King Henry!” shouted Philip.

All of them bowed to the king, all except Sonia. Everyone had their eyes intensely fixed on her in disbelief, wondering if she wanted a death sentence.

“Sonia, bow down, it’s rude not too,” said Angelione softly and quickly.

Philip was not happy about the fact that she chose not to bow down to his King. “How dare you outsider?! You come to our Kingdom and disrespect our King!” said Philip with his vein ready to burst from his forehead. “Guards, seize her now, we will not tolerate disobedience!”

Sonia quickly checked her back pocket for her daggers and her chain, but she forgot she had left them back at the inn while switching her outfit. Would she dare use her abilities against a High King?
             

Unexpectedly the king started applauding and laughing as he stood up. “Stand down men. I’m not her King, so what she chooses not to bow to me.”

Henry was one of the most vicious Kings in Nacune. Many warriors had made the mistake of disrespecting Him; all were hung to set an example of his wicked ways.

He approached Sonia, took her hand and kissed it. He had nice soft hands. He looked as if he hadn’t seen battle in a while. “It’s nice to meet someone as beautiful and elegant as you. I have thousands of women, but none measure up to your exquisiteness.”

The other girls did not like the way Henry favored her, but knew if they said a word, he would have their heads. She came to his Kingdom and showed him no respect at all. As far as they were concerned, she didn’t deserve his respect.

Angelione
had a surprised, slightly puzzled
look
on
his
face
. He looked to his left to see the angry look on Samuel’s face. It’s as if Samuel was going to tell the king he saw her first.

“You must be Angelione. Welcome to Odeon. I hope the two of you enjoy your stay,” said
King Henry with less a welcoming tone to Angelione.

“It’s an honor meeting you, King Henry,” responded Angelione.

“I have given you two my blessing in the pursuit for Aleister, with the help of William and some of his finest men that is.” The King had a faded smile on his face. The others in the room kept silent, talking while he’s talking will surely get you killed.

Sonia started to talk, which of course was not surprising; she had disrespected him once and she would do it again. “We are honored for you allowing us to help. Aleister is someone dangerous to our world, a national menace to both kingdoms.”

The king replied, “So tell me, do you believe that he’s one of them?”

Angelione and Sonia looked at each other. “As powerful as Aleister is, there are those in the shadows who are just as strong. And besides, the only person who ever faced Aleister and lived to tell about it was Dragan, my master.” said Angelione, who wondered himself how powerful Aleister truly was.

The King had a different look this time. “Oh, yes…Dragan. The last time I seen him we nearly killed each other.  But of course that was the goal back then, when your kingdom and mine were at war. Now we can put all that behind us and move onward to a better future, am I right?”

Angelione quickly responded, “Yes I agree. The world is moving to a path where peace will prosper and war will be a thing of the past.”

The King started to laugh. “It pleases me to see Atnius and Odeon working together for a common goal.”

There was something about his tone that Sonia hated; she hated everything about this man. She hated how he looked, walked, and talked.  Even the way he moved his hands.  She hated it all.

William came forward to the King and said, “Forgive me my lord but we must go now while the sun is still young.” It had taken much courage for him to say what he said.

The King gave him an angry look and said, “Then let the search begin!”

With permission from the King their search had begun. Sonia, Angelione, William, Samuel, and a couple of their men were now on the hunt for Aleister. They rode to the other side of the city known as the poor district.  As they rode throughout the poor district, the atmosphere shifted fast. The smell of sewer was a bit overwhelming. The houses were old and fragile. The people looked as if they had been starving for years. Sonia wondered if the blood-rain was what had been keeping them alive. There was trash on the street that made the road look awful.

William’s men started hollering at the people to make way as they stared at the guards. There was no silence in this street. The wind started blowing the sickly smell of rotted garbage from the trash. Now Sonia was cold and it smelled awful. The streetlights looked as if they hadn’t been replaced in years.

I’m surprised the king allows electricity here
, thought Sonia.

There isn’t a market here anymore, too many thieves lurking around. The doorways of the ho
uses are all locked and barred.

“Why is there so much poverty on this side?” asked Sonia.

“In this land, if you want to live comfortably, you must serve in King Henry’s army. He believes war will set his people free, so in doing so, he doesn’t help his people with food or give them handout,” said Samuel. “Join his army and he will make you rich.”

What a cruel thing to do
, thinking Sonia.
No wonder king Henry wanted the war to keep going, he had an endless supply of servants. King Victor would never dare do such a thing
. She saw a young child watching her with hollow eyes. He looked as if he hadn’t been bathed or fed in days. He sat on the corner of the street, begging people who were begging for gold themselves. Sonia guided her horse toward him and she got off.

Sonia handed the little boy what little gold she had with her. The boy looked as if he had never seen this much amount before. Sonia’s smile brought happiness into his eyes. It was a good thing she at least had packed her gold.

Angelione and the others watched.

“So where are we starting? Do you have a lead or anything we can use?” asked Angelione. 

“There’s an old woman who claimed she saw a man who looked like Aleister,” said William.

“We’re not sure for a fact, but if it’s true then this could be useful for us,” said Samuel.

              Angelione approached Sonia and told her it was time to go. Sonia looked back at him with sorrow in her eyes and got on her horse. It broke her heart to see children living like this.

They made their way deeper in the poor district, which only made it tougher for Sonia.

“Over there, that’s where she lives,” said one of the guards. 

The house was old and it smelled of rotten trash, this whole city smelled of rotten trash. They entered to find her sitting on her chair. She was an old frail woman with wrinkles around her face, gray hair and black eyes.

“There she is,” said Samuel.

The woman was mumbling something, Sonia could not quite understand.

“She’s been repeating the same thing for days, ‘white flames,’”

“White flames.” The word white flames sounded familiar, Sonia had remembered Albedo mumbling
the same word. She turned towards Samuel in realization, “white flames.”
It’s just a coincidence
.

Sonia and Angelione approached her. She seemed apprehensive. “Don’t worry, we are here to help, we can catch him if you can give us more details.”

The woman stared at Sonia, noticing how beautiful she was, and slowly she started to calm down. She put her hand on Sonia’s cheek and said, “You’re beautiful.”

Sonia smiled, “Thank you. Can you tell us where you saw Aleister?”

She stared into Sonia’s red eyes.

“We have been trying to make her talk for almost three days and here you come,” said one of the guards. He was a bit surprised. Sonia had a big effect on anyone that she met.

“I can do better my dear. I can show you,” said the old lady. “I have the ability to exchange memories with anyone I’ve touched.”

“So you’re a Pureblood,” said Angelione.

The old lady put one hand on her head and the other on Sonia’s head. Her hand felt cold. Sonia started to see her memories, and she began to see Sonia’s also. While witnessing her memories, Sonia saw a young man that fit the description of Aleister. It was snowing that night; the man stood on top of a house a couple doors down from the old lady’s house, staring at the red moon. Sonia felt a force and a feeling telling her to go back and stop the memory exchange, but it was too late. At the same time, the old lady was witnessing Albedo from Sonia’s memories. She saw the memories of Sonia training him. She could also see how she was falling for him. Then she saw something else, something terrifying. She saw Albedo and Aleister side by side. Albedo sat on a throne with Aleister sitting on a throne next to him.

Just as Sonia witnessed Aleister on the roof, Aleister looked back and stared at her, as if he could see her, as if this was really happening. It felt more authentic than a dream. He said something she couldn’t hear clearly, but it sounded like, “Shat---
-”   Sonia felt the shiver running down her spine. His presence felt too real, his red and blue eye staring back at her brought fear to her.

The old woman and Sonia started to scream simultaneously.

“What’s the matter Sonia?! What’s happening?” asked Angelione.

The old woman quickly removed her hand from Sonia’s face, “You’re… you’re in love with one of the…” Before she could finish her sentence, she grabbed a knife and went to kill Sonia.

Samuel quickly grabbed her and delivered a blow that would end her life. Blood splattered on the floor. Angelione quickly grabbed Sonia and tried to calm her down.

“Sonia, it’s not real, just breathe!” Angelione wondered what she had seen; he had never seen her so scared before. What was it about Aleister that was so scary? Was it his appearance or his reputation for killing thousands with his cohorts?
What did she see
?

“Sonia, what did you see?” asked William. “Did you see anything we could use?”

You would think the guy would let her catch her breath before instantaneously asking her questions.

Angelione put his arm around her; any question was going to have to wait.

“White flames,” Sonia started mumbling and shaking in Angelione’s arms. Her skin was pale; the blood had left her face from fear.

Angelione saw the terror on her face. “Let’s continue this another time, she’s not feeling well right now,” said Angelione.

              William understood and told him to take her back to the inn.
I wonder what she saw
.

“It’s a shame she had to die, but I guess it could not be helped,” said Samuel not even feeling a of bit remorse for taking the old woman’s life. “I did what I had to do, she was going to kill her,” he said calmly.

William approached him, “Don’t worry about it Samuel, no one will blame you, it had to be done. Why don’t you go home and get some rest yourself, I can handle the rest.”              

So far this hunt has gotten to a bad start. His men quickly covered her body; two others started cleaning the bloodstain from the walls. Samuel left to get himself together. The town’s people knew not to say a word. The King’s men had killed one of their own, but they were used to it.

***

             
 
“Ge
t
some rest, you need it after what just happened,” said Angelione as they approached the inn.

“I saw him Angelione. I saw him. His eyes were cold. I … never thought I would ever be this scared, but I am.”
It was as if she was actually inside of my mind
.

Angelione got her some water and made her go to bed, “You need to sleep, so sleep,” said Angelione.

It was a good thing she didn’t argue with him, she just wanted to get her mind back to one piece. Angelione left the room and turned the light switch off to let her calm down.