The Vampire Gift 2: Kingdom of Ash (12 page)

I click my tongue in annoyance. This blasted vampire hierarchy is going to be the end of me. What use is being so strong if it means everyone around is either terrified, envious, or hateful toward you?

“Can we not talk about that?” I say. “I’d much rather discuss—”

I’m cut off by the sound of stamping feet outside my door. I feel a bunch of vampires rush by in the hall.

One of them stops on the other side. He’s about to raise his fist to knock, but in my excitement to see him I pre-empt the attempt by arriving there first. I fling the door open.

“Raul!” I exclaim. I want to embrace him—but stop short when I see the Queen watching us from behind.

His expression is ghastly. “James has escaped,” he tells me without preamble. “And the humans are rioting. We think this is an attempt against The Haven, but—” he glances back at his entourage, “—we’re not sure.”

“Why? An attempt? By whom?”

“Who else?” the Queen laughs. “By my husband’s coven.”

Raul turns back to me. “If it’s true, we have a fight on our hands. I need you to stay here, where you’re safe—”

“No!” I prompt. “I’m not going to be cooped up while you face the danger.”

“Eleira, you’re newly made,” he tells me in the same tone one would use explaining something simple to a child. “You have no conception of your powers, or the dangers you might face. You’ve done a spectacular job controlling yourself so far—” he glances at the ring on my finger, “—but in a free-for-all, where nothing can be predicted or controlled—that’s too much stimulation for you. There’s no telling what might happen.”

“If this is an attack against The Haven, I want to help defend my home!” I proclaim.

The Queen arches one prim eyebrow. “You already consider this your home?” she asks softly.

I curse inwardly. I must have spoken in the heat of the moment. But I can’t take the words back now.

“Home or not,” Raul continues, ignoring both me and his Mother, “you’re safest here. There are spells protecting the castle.”

“If she wants to go,” Morgan says thoughtfully. “Who are we to stop her?”

Raul growls at his Mother as she sweeps by him and extends her hand. “Come with me, child,” she tells me. “I thought I would need to give you three days, but it seems you’ve already made your choice.”

She smiles, then, and I can’t help the feeling it’s the smile of a cat who’s just caught a canary in her claws.

***

When we get to the underground caverns where the humans are held, it’s absolute madness. From our vantage point high above, I see a clear divide in the mass below me. On one side stand all the villagers—yelling, screaming, shouting their lungs out—and on the other, a wall of vampire guards keeping them away from the exit.

The Queen takes one look at it and strides to the front of our group. She stops at the very end of the jutting-out rock, and hits her staff against the floor three times. On the first, nothing happens. Neither does anything on the second.

But on the third, an enormous blue flame flares from the tip. It soars into the sky where it coalesces into a bright orb like the sun. Then, with a thunderous crash, it explodes, sending blue streamers of light down like a thousand fireworks.

That gets everyone’s attention.

Her voice rings out into the sudden quiet.

“
What
,” she demands of those below her, “
is the meaning of this
?”

The humans all shy back, having witnessed the power of their ruler.

“Leonardo,” Morgan addresses a guard below. “You were the one charged with keeping the peace.” Her voice is icy-calm, which makes it all the more dangerous. “Tell me how this all got so out of control.”

“My Queen,” the singled-out guard drops to his knees immediately. “The prisoners complained they were hearing voices.” His inflection leaves no doubt as to how ludicrous he thinks that is. “They said a strange voice began telling them the caverns would collapse. They demanded to be let out. We refused. As per your orders."

“Voices?” the Queen asks. “What sort of voices?”

“
We
heard nothing, my Queen,” Leonardo replies, motioning to the other vampires. “We considered it a ruse, an excuse for the humans to cause trouble. With your permission—” his eyes flash, “—we could select the troublemakers from their midst and remind them of their place.”

“No,” Morgan says immediately. “You know the rules. No human blood is to be shed except on the night of The Hunt.”

“It was only a suggestion,” Leonardo mutters.

“An ill-placed one,” the Queen says. She turns and addresses the villagers, who are huddled together in frightened packs. “My guards claim you heard voices. Is this true?”

Only silence greets her question.

She clicks her tongue. “Maybe the voices you heard robbed you of your own?” She laughs. “Very well. You!” She singles out a villager with her staff. A beam of faint blue light shines on him from the end. “Come forward. What is your name?”

“M-Melvin,” he stutters.

A ring of space clears all around him.

“You know who I am?” Morgan asks.

“Of course.” The man sounds positively terrified to be speaking to the Queen.

“And if I ask you a question, you would never dream of lying to me in response. Would you, Melvin?”

“N-no.”

“Good.” I can hear the Queen’s smile in her words. “Then tell me all you can about these voices. But know—” she adds before he starts to speak, “—that I have a
very
low tolerance for liars. You may begin.”

Melvin dry washes his hands a few times. He clears his throat. “It…” he tries. “The Voice… it…”

“Get on with it, man!” Morgan exclaims.

He shies back as if physically hit. “It…”

“The Voice told us that he’s going to make the caves collapse!” Somebody shouts from the midst of humans. “He said we would all die, that we’d all be crushed under the rock!”

“Who speaks now?” Morgan shines her beam into the crowd. “Step forth!”

A young boy, maybe a year or two younger than me, emerges.

“And what’s your name, boy?”

The boy bristles. “It’s Brayson,” he says defiantly. “And I don’t have a last name because it was
stolen
from me! Just like my life here in your Haven!”

“
My
Haven?” The Queen takes a gratuitous step back. “My dear child, this sanctuary belongs to all of us. Surely you understand that?”

“The
sanctuary
,” he spits, “belongs to the vampires. You keep us hostage here. We are your prey!”

“My, my,” Morgan mutters. “You’ve got quite the spirit. Tell me, did this ‘voice’ also give you such dangerous thoughts?”

“The thoughts are my own,” he tells her boldly. “And they’re not dangerous. They’re
true
!”

Morgan looks at him… and then laughs in response.

“Is that so?” she asks. “Look around you, Brayson. See how many supporters you’ve got.”

She shines her light on the other humans, all of whom are quick to step out of the way.

“You see?” she asks. “They understand what you do not. Maybe you are still young. Maybe you are a dreamer. But understanding will come in time. I promise you.”

“Oh?” he challenges her. “And what understanding is that?”

“That your place in The Haven is part of a divine equilibrium that keeps us safe. We provide you food, water, shelter. We ask for nothing in return.”

“You ask for our
lives
!”

Morgan waves the accusation aside easily. “We take your blood, yes, but it is for the good of the whole. Without it, society here would collapse. Look upon your elders! They know.”

Again she breaks her light through the other humans. They either keep their heads down or mumble in agreement.

“Enough of this,” Morgan announces. “I came here to stem the discord running rampant amongst you. Brayson—I charge you with an attempt at high treason. The voice was a figment of your imagination and, charismatic as you are, you got the other humans around you to agree. You are the troublemaker here. And, as they say—” she gives a vicious grin, “—cut the head off the snake, and the body will follow.”

PHILLIP

On Mother’s proclamation, the entire assembly before us explodes into a riot of confusion.

“The boy is innocent!” somebody yells.

“We all heard it! We all heard the Voice!”

“It’s true! It spoke to all of us!”

“Brayson’s done nothing wrong!”

Mother lets the protests go on and on for a long time. She turns to me and Raul. “You see what you must do to free their tongues?” she asks with a knowing smile.

She turns back to free the villagers below her.

“Very well!” she proclaims. “Now that more of you have owned up to hearing this voice, the real questions can begin. Did Brayson speak the truth? Did the Voice tell you that these caves would collapse?”

“Yes!” a thousand voices scream in unison.

“And you
all
claim to have heard it?” Mother asks. “
Each
of you can vouch for what it said?”

More cries of agreement rain up from the crowd.

Leonardo looks up. “My Queen, if I may offer an opinion?”

Mother gestures for him to go on.

“The humans are liars,” he hisses. “My guards and I have preternatural hearing, many times better than any of theirs. If there was a voice whispering in their ears, we would have heard it.”

“A salient point,” Mother admits. She turns to me. “Phillip? What do you think?”

I’m staggered by the sudden address. “You’re asking me?”

“You are my son, aren’t you? One of my two boys? Your opinion matters. So I must know.”

I flinch at how obvious Mother’s attempt is to disown James, and at the unnatural way she forces the ‘fact’ that she only has two sons.

“Leonardo might have a point,” I say, thinking. “But that doesn’t mean the humans are lying. Look at them! Have you ever seen them united with such conviction? Have you ever seen them with so much genuine
fear
in their eyes?”

I glance at Raul and Eleira, who have moved closer to each other.

“
Something
scared them,” I finish in a low voice. “What it was, I couldn’t tell you. But to ignore it now and call them all liars would have them quickly make an enemy of you. And despite everything, Mother, we
need
them on our side. The Haven would collapse if they revolt.”

“They don’t have the courage to revolt.”

I turn around in surprise. Smithson is strolling toward us, every cocky step a measure of his arrogance.

All my instincts go on high alert. There is something terribly rotten about the man.

By the way Raul tensed at Smithson’s unexpected arrival, I can tell my brother feels the same.

“If you want my advice,” the Captain Commander continues, addressing the Queen, “make an example of the boy. Show them what a true ruler does when challenged by an uprising. If you do not do it with a heavy hand now…” he spreads his arms, “…they will start to think you weak. And if
that
happens—well, that’s when the real danger sets in.”

He finishes his walk right at the Queen’s side and whispers something in her ear.

“You’re right,” she says finally. She leans across and kisses the older vampire on his cheek. “What I would do without your sage council, I have no idea. When I’m surrounded by fools and weaklings…”

She trails off. Then, without any warning, she thrusts her staff forward. The light singles out the human boy again.

“Brayson!” she calls loudly. “I stand by my original position. You are hereby charged with high treason and attempt at rebellion. Treason against your Queen is the highest crime a human can be accused of.

“There will be no trial. I sentence you to death, at the hands of my most loyal guards, who’ve done an admirable job in stemming this ill-advised uprising. Leonardo—you may take him now.”

The vampire guard surges forward and grabs hold of the boy’s neck. The other humans are so shocked by the pronouncement that none offer their help. A few yell weak protests from the fringes, but other than that—nothing.

Leonardo drags the human boy, kicking and screaming, out of the group of humans and onto the vampire side of the divide. He puts him in a headlock and readies to sink his fangs into his neck…

Eleira steps forward. “No!”

Her order alone would normally do nothing. But with the word I feel such a strong surge of power come from her, power that all vampires respond to, thanks to the overruling hierarchy, that Leonardo goes shock-still.

He looks up, his eyes burning with bloodlust. But they’re glazed over at the same time, as is what happens when a stronger vampire exerts her rule. Brayson stops struggling, too entranced by his unexpected champion.

Raul quickly runs to Eleira and takes her hand. I hope it’s to show her that she has his support, because if I know my Mother—and I do—what the Queen does next is not going to be pretty.

But Morgan surprises even me by regarding Eleira coolly. “You challenge me?” she asks.

There’s a current of danger beneath her voice.

Eleira stares at the Queen totally defiant. “There has to be a trial,” she says. “It’s the only way the humans will ever respect you.”

“And what makes you think she
needs
their respect, girl?” Smithson growls.

“Eleira’s right,” Raul says. “We have to have justice in The Haven. Doing something like this, acting in the spur of the moment, sets the wrong precedent. Justice has to extend to vampires
and
humans, if we’re to co-exist.”

“So my son mirrors his lover’s ideals,” Mother murmurs. “And you, Phillip? Do you side with them, too?”

I step toward the pair. “I do.”

“Ah,” Mother says. “It seems once again, I’ve been overruled.” She looks down.

“Leonardo,” she calls out. “Release the boy.”

The guard lets go. Brayson staggers away and stumbles to a stop a good six paces clear of any vampire.