Chapter. 57
The rising sun forces me to abandon my attempt to catch any extra sleep. Last night was better than my first night in the forest, but the smallest noise still startled me awake. Back when I was still plotting my escape, I never imagined that simply sleeping would be challenging. I’ve spent so many nights beside Rahlan over these last few weeks that I have become accustomed to his presence, and now that I’m alone and a little more knowledgeable as to what may be lurking in the shadows, it’s difficult to get a good night’s rest.
I sit up and stretch my limbs. The thought that I’d sleep better beside a vampire is preposterous, but every time some rustling in the bushes woke me up last night, a little voice in my head wished that he was here with me.
I climb down the tree and wash in the river, taking care not to wet my bandaged arm. Soon the Farians are awake too, and Aled and Ina work on packing up the camp.
I join them. “Can I help?”
Ina shrugs, not looking up from her backpack.
“Cleaning the pots would be great,” Aled says.
I collect the dishes from last night’s soup and rinse them out in the river. The fire has burned down to a small pile of smoldering ash. No ravagers came. I hope that I’m wrong about them, that they’ve yet to move this far south.
I return the cleaned dishes to Aled, who’s busy packing his own bag.
“Can you lend me your hands?” I ask.
He puts the pots away and stretches his back. “What do you need?”
I lead him to the river and take a seat on a large rock.
He sits on a stone opposite me.
I reach into my bag for my sword, but his eyes narrow as my fingers touch the hilt. Thinking better of it, I pick out the old white linen shirt and leave the sword behind.
“Do you have a knife?” I ask.
He reaches behind his back, and a shiver runs down my spine at the sight of a dagger. Up until now, I’d assumed that his only weapon was a bow. Such an assumption could have gotten me hurt if any of the heated situations yesterday had exploded. It would be foolish to let myself relax around this group, or at least around Aled in particular.
After hesitating for a bit over showing him my vulnerable injury, I push my feelings aside and pull up my sleeve. The bandage underneath is stained with mud.
I hand him the large linen shirt. “Can you cut off a strip?”
He nods in understanding. The knife easily glides through the material, cutting a long piece of linen from the bottom of the shirt.
I begin unwrapping the old bandage, reversing Rahlan’s complicated layers of crisscrossing patterns.
“That sword seems rather large for such a small girl,” Aled says.
He phrased it as an innocent remark, but I know he’s suspicious. Thief, robber, or murderer – he’s thinking. It’s Keld’s sword, but if I admit that I have any connection to vampires, this conversation would head in a nasty direction.
I keep my eyes on my task. “It’s a family heirloom.”
He lets out a breath. Whether it’s a sign of agreement or doubt, I can’t be sure. Looking to see if he believed my lie will only fuel his suspicions further, so I keep my eyes busy.
The last layer of the bandage comes off, and I inspect the cut underneath. It looks no different from when Rahlan replaced the bandage two days ago, so at least it isn’t getting any worse.
Rahlan would cover it in bandages soaked in his special potions. While I don’t have the potions, I could at least wet it, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to wash the new linen strip in river water. Even without his potions, he would know what to do, and it frustrates me that I have to sit here guessing.
I settle on keeping the strip dry to avoid accidently doing any harm. Aled holds one end of the bandage in place, allowing me to wrap it tight like Rahlan would.
“That’s a mean cut,” Aled says.
“Mm.” I nod, my mind occupied with trying to remember the pattern that Rahlan used. I don’t know if it was to add pressure or better shielding, but I know he considered it important enough to do each time. Soon I have the bandage tied, and I tuck the excess neatly under the knot.
“What happened?” Aled asks.
I pause. My gaze meets his. First I consider telling half the truth – that a soldier in a human city cut me during a siege, but then I’d have to explain why I was there and how I escaped an army of vampires.
“It’s uh…” I struggle to come up with a believable story on the spot, “personal.”
Before he has a chance to question me further, I pack the cut linen shirt back in my bag and swing it on my shoulders. “Thanks for the hand.”
He slowly stands, his eyes following me as I move to put some distance between us. The conversation plays again in my head. My excuse wasn’t great, but it’ll have to be good enough for now.
Soon everything is packed, and we follow the river south.
All three of them are dressed in robes decorated with diamond-shaped red, yellow and blue patches. Their clothes are a lot more friendly looking than the leather armor that I’m wearing. I wonder if these colors are a style that all the Farian people share? Maybe I’ll be dressed in one of those colorful robes soon too.
What will my role be when I finally meet Ivan again? He’ll probably be occupied with being the driving force behind the Huntsmen. I have no desire to strike vampires, especially if it causes the pain that I saw Rahlan experience when he spoke about his father.
When I was with Rahlan, my only objective was to escape and reunite with my family. When that meant finding Jacob, it would mean that we’d continue life as we did before – farming and trading, but now that it means finding Ivan, I haven’t given a lot of thought to what my future will look like. Working alone on a farm, in a culture that is not my own, seems like it would be lonely.
The sun is nearing the horizon. I’m biting my lip. Every moment that I delay suggesting that we stop, is a moment more that we’ll be cooking with a bright fire in the dark. We can’t afford to wait any longer.
“We’ll lose the daylight soon. We should eat now,” I say.
Bevin gives me a puzzled look.
“We can build a fire, eat, and then walk a little further before settling for the night,” I say. That way there’ll at least be some distance between us and the fire.
He smirks. “You’re afraid that the fire will bring monsters.”
Anyone who speaks like that has never seen a ravager. “I just don’t want to get killed because of someone’s ego,” I say.
He takes a sharp step in front of me, almost causing me to lose my balance. “We will take you to Fekby, but I decide how we get there. This is my party. Is that clear?”
I bite my tongue and step around him. If I push it, he may decide that this deal is not worth the trouble.
I pull my backpack tight on my shoulders, and the rest of the group stays a few steps behind me.
The sun falls lower in the sky, coloring the soil orange.
Even though I’m traveling with three other humans, I feel alone. It’s as if they live in a different world than I do despite being only a few yards behind me. When I was with Rahlan, whether it was dodging bandit arrows, scaling a city wall or traveling over deserted land, we were at least there together. For the most part, we faced the same dangers, even if his skin was a little harder than mine. I knew that he’d chase after me when I ran after Jaclyn, and that I could depend on him to get me out. Here on the other hand, there’s nothing more than a thin veil of luck keeping us alive, and the longer we rely on that, the less likely it is that it’ll hold. If Rahlan was here, then at least I’d have someone to complain to. I saw more eye to eye with him than I do with these three.
Bevin and Aled are chatting to one another. On occasion, a note in Aled’s deep voice tricks my ears into thinking that Rahlan is behind me, and I have to catch myself before whipping around to see him. The worst thing is that it isn’t fear that crosses my heart first, but excitement, followed by a pang of disappointment when an incorrect inflection in his voice brings me back to reality. I shouldn’t be happy at the thought of seeing Rahlan again, and I shouldn’t be disappointed knowing that he’s not here. He’s a vampire, and the thought of walking beside him shouldn’t be comforting.
Ina moves up to join me. “You’re worried about the vampires?” she whispers, keeping Bevin out of the conversation.
I nod. I’m worried about ravagers, but all vampires may as well be the same to them.
“Have you seen a vampire before? What do they look like?”
I glance at her. A familiar face pops into my mind – sharp features, ink-black hair, a smirk when I’m irritated, and red eyes that look at me in a way that I don’t understand.
Rahlan always wanted me close. I was brought along on tasks where I was no use to him, even to the extend where I would get in his way, like when introducing himself to the villagers or when tracking Colin. Even when we were at home, his home, he wanted me to sit beside him on the couch, and he bargained with me to lay on his lap. I know that initially he had me sleep in his arms for my warmth, but Litton castle had thick stone walls with fire-heated rooms.
The strangest thing about it, is that I didn’t question it, because I didn’t mind. More than that, it was comfortable, relaxing, and what I only realize now, is that it made me feel wanted in a world which threw me away. Where else would a displaced girl with nothing to her name be welcomed? Only with the last surviving member of my family, Ivan, and for reasons I don’t quite understand, with a vampire, Lord Rahlan.
Ina’s still walking beside me, waiting for an answer.
These three only tolerate me because I’m paying them with the little bit of wealth that I stole from Rahlan, and they’ll be rid of me as soon as they’ve got their gold. If I tell them the truth, that I was a vampire’s captive, that I traveled with him for weeks, that I slept beside him every night, only to narrowly escape his grasp, I’d be thrown out like a leper.
I look forward again. “No.”
The sooner we get to Faria, the better.
The last of the sun disappears under the horizon, and Bevin orders us to stop for the night. Aled had collected kindling throughout the afternoon, and it’s not long before a fire is burning and a soup pot is brewing. At least I don’t have to worry about food for the time being.
Bevin and Ina sit on the riverbank with their feet in the water.
I circle around the tree line surrounding our campsite, scanning the vegetation for anything suspicious. Though I’m a little worried that if I spot something, it may be too late.
“Julia,” Aled calls, “I have something that may put your mind at ease.”
I join him by the fire.
He takes a bundle of material out his bag and unrolls it on the grass. It’s covered in small pockets, each one holding a tiny metal tin.
He picks one out, pops open the lid and dips an arrowhead in it.
I take a seat beside him, and he hands me the arrow.
“Bring it to your nose,” he says.
I sniff the arrowhead. “Mint?”
“Almost. It’s Queensblood - a Farian oil, potent enough to stop even a vampire.”
I spin the arrow in my fingers, staring at the metal point. While that would be great, witnessing Rahlan and other vampires shrug off arrows like they were no worse than an insect’s sting makes me skeptical.
I pass it back to him, and he returns it to his quiver. Taking a different tin from the material, he sniffs its contents before sprinkling some over the boiling soup.
I scan the collection of tins, trying to distinguish between which ones are spice and which are something more sinister. They all look identical, and one of them is filled with the Queensblood poison. If it can hurt vampires, I can only imagine what it would do to humans. Mistaking these tins for one another would be a costly mistake.
“Hoping to steal my recipe?” He smiles.
“It looks a little more complicated than I had hoped,” I say.
“The key to a good meal is choices.” He lifts the material onto his knees and invites me to see. “I’ve collected spices from all over the land.”
I slide up beside him.
He points to the tin in the middle of the collection, and I lean into get a closer look. “This row is all from Ucros. They have a-”
He stops.
I sit straight. He’s staring right at me.
My muscles tense. “What’s wrong?”
He stands. “You are bitten.”
He saw the fang mark on my neck. I glance at Bevin and Ina. They’re still talking by the riverbank, not looking in our direction.
“You are a slave on the run. You’ve risked us all.” He whips around and hurries towards where Bevin and Ina are sitting.
“Wait!” I follow after him, “It’s not- I’m not a slave.”
Bevin stands at the sight of Aled’s distress. I can’t stop him now. They’re going to panic, and I’m about to lose my guides after only a day. I’m going to be wondering in the wilderness with nothing to eat once again. It could take me weeks to find Faria on my own.
Aled points directly at me, and I feel small under his finger. “She’s bitten.”
All three pairs of eyes land on me. Bevin’s face creases up like he’s about to explode. He may see this as a betrayal and try take the doorknob by force. My fingers feel for the handle of the sword in the bag on my back. I won’t risk injuring myself in a battle over a piece of gold, but being armed may be enough to dissuade him from trying.
“That explains your fear!” Bevin shouts, “They’re chasing after you!”
“No. There’s no… I hid my tracks. Nothing’s following me.”
“Our agreement is over.” He stalks towards me. “Give me the gold and get lost.” It’s not a request, but an order. He’s not approaching to shake my hand, but to pin me down and take the doorknob by force.
I draw my sword.
He pauses just a few feet away and draws his too. A stone sinks in my stomach. All I’ve done is escalate the situation.
Ina looks to be searching for a stone, and Aled has his arms crossed, not taking his bow off his back. At least he’s above resorting to violence.
My eyes search for an escape route. Thick vegetation surrounds the campfire behind me, making a quick exit impossible. Bevin blocks the way to the clearing by the river. He has me trapped.
My arms begin to shake. My only choice is to abandon the gold and pray that he’ll let me pass without a fight.
A terrible cackle rips through the air, and my heart falls into my stomach. It’s an unmistakable sound. Behind me – a ravager.