Chapter 5 Chapter 5

SERA'S POV

Morgause words flicker in my mind as I stroll alone, exploring the castle. She had left me afterwards, saying she had something to attend to, and I was free to wander and see around as much as she wanted.

All four catalysts, with the same silver blood as mine, had died trying to break the curse.

I closed my eyes, resting my palm against one of the ice frosted windows. The ice seemed to melt immediately when I touched it, revealing a beautiful glass stain beneath it.

They were all…cursed. This place, their world was cursed and somehow, I was unfortunate to have the type of blood they needed. Five hundred years, and four deaths, yet they continued searching for a cure.

My father's smile came to my face, along with my mother's glower, a scolding occasionally following that look. How could I avenge them, if I was in a long line of people to die?

Guards stood at the gate and almost at every window, their black uniforms crisp, their eyes alert. I pressed my back against the wall and waited, studying their faces, finding a kink in this tightly built fortress.

My mind and legs drift together, till I am on the east wing. I climbed the large stairs leading to the main entrance, my breath catching when I heard a faint sound. A laugh. It was quickly followed by a large thump and a crack, then a small yelp of pain.

In the middle of the entry way, a man is pummeling another man to the ground. Two vampires stand and watch, laughing as the other vampire beats the man in ridiculously mismatched coloured clothes, his nose breaking beneath the angry vampire’s fist.

I freeze, watching the scene. The jester looked my way, and I stared back at him, into his greenish coloured eye, a single tear dropping from it. He did not try fighting back, just little grunts of pain I knew too well escaping his lips, waiting for another round of his torment to be over.

I stepped forward. “Are you so bored that you have to beat weaker people to feel strong?” I snarled, causing the three vampires to stop and stare at me. The angry male vampire’s hand is paused mid air, and he sizes me slowly, then bares his fangs.

“How dare you,” he growled, letting go of the jester, “talk to me like that you lowly servant?”

“That will be enough,” the cold voice came from behind me. I don't need to turn to know who it was, the betrayal of my body and enough reminder. Lucian brushes past me as he moves and my knees buckle.

He reached the vampire and whispered something that made him go much paler. Soon, he grabbed his companions and fled, while I stood there and watched Lucian suck the air in an open space.

Finally, he glanced at me sparingly, then walked away, his shoulders straight, long hair down his shoulders like he had not helped me now.

My eyes ran down his body, hatred filling me even as my body warmed just from his back. Ugh, I slapped myself mentally, turning to the man on the floor

“Are you okay?” I asked, squatting low so I could see well. “You're not too wounded, I hope?”

“Not at all,” he grinned, getting up with more force than I expected. “ I am Felix, Lord Caspian’s bastard and either you are very foolish, stupid or both.”

A soft laugh escaped me. “I just helped you.”

His eyes danced. “Exactly. No one helps me around here, and you just did. How brave and stupid.”

I rolled my eyes and straightened up. “I will note that for next time, when you are getting pummeled to a pulp.”

“Nah,” he shrugged. “He can't beat me to a pulp. Lord Caspian would kill him. He would have broken more than my nose though,” he flinched as he touched the broken tissue. “Oh well, I have healed it more than ten times. What's a few more?”

I look up at the imposing building. “So you are Capian’s jester?”

Felix popped his nose back. “Lord Caspian and yes, I am. You haven't told me your name yet.”

My throat closes. “Sera,” I force, staring up at the building. “I am the new catalyst.”

Felix's eyes softened. “Oh dear. I figured, when I saw you were wandering alone. They don't allow that, you know,” he sighed, walking beside me. I moved slowly, watching the shadows that seemed to overtake the entire layout. “It's so dark,” I said, “how does he see?”

“Lord Caspian has no need to see,” Felix sighed. “He wasn't always like this, you know.”

“Till the curse?”

“Morgause has told you?” He asked with a small fond smile. “He tried to shield us all from it, to protect us. When he can.”

My veins bob in my throat, and I nod. “That is nice to hear,” I stared at the path leading to his room, the growls and grunts I could hear causing the entire building to tremble.

“I think you should go now,” Felix smiled. “I will see you around.”

I left the East Wing quickly and returned to my room. Night fell faster than I wanted, the sky turning black. I showered and put my hair in a high bun, out of the way and I wore a black gown that covered my feet.

Someone opened my doors and four servants stood there. “We are escorting you know,” the one in front says, keeping his head low.

I followed them down, the oath already very familiar to me. When we got to the east wing, the shadows seemed more alive, like I could reach out and touch one. The servants walked with their heads low, their eyes not meeting mine no matter how I tried and when they finally led me in front of a tall black door, they fled.

“Okay, Sera,” I breathed, pushing the heavy door open. I could do this.

The room is lighter than I expected. A few candles are on, so I am able to adjust quickly to the light, their fire casting shadows into the ground. I hear him before I see him, loud mutterings if nothing, an argument with something that was not there.

I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me, shutting myself in the darkness. His voice seemed to grow louder, so I followed the sound, walking barefoot, my heart beating so fast till I saw him.

He huddled at the corner, his body shaking as his mouth moved faster than I had ever seen a human’s move. His eyes are unfocused, glazy as they start back and forth, his claws digging into the skin of his thighs, leaving long trails of blood where they cut, his hair wild.

Flee, a voice whispered to me. I watched the man flinch, like he was slapped and in the same breath, he fought back, a snarl escaping his lips as he talked, angrily, words convoluted, his skin hot.

My hand itches to touch him, even though I hate the sight of him like this, still, the raw strength in him causes me to grow hot, the ripples of his biceps as he moves his hands, the long veins there.

Suddenly, he stopped.

“I am sorry.”

Three words. Three words I was never expecting to hear in here. “What for?” I ask back, creeping towards him.

“I didn't want you to see me like this,” he croaks, “pathetic.”

I took another step closer. His face was awash with shame, and one eye settled in me scarily, while the other still moved around. “I’ll try to be gentle,” he promised earnestly.

I never believe a thing vampires tell me, yet as this man says those words, I know he meant every single one of them. “You're in pain?”

He closed his eyes, his face twisted. “The voices,” he croaked again, “they are loud tonight. They are always loud, but when I saw you on the auction,” he kicked his lips. “When I saw you they went quiet. I had never had that, in five hundred years.”

Five hundred years of this? The other catalysts have not given him peace?

I sat down on the floor opposite him, the candlelight casting a golden glow between us. “Here,” I breathed, stretching my hand out. “Take what you need.”

Caspian crawled to me slowly, dragging his body on the floor till he knelt in front of me. Even then, he is still taller than I was, and I tilted my head, my mouth dry and my breathing shorter.

His knees are touching mine and suddenly, all the air in the room is gone, the only space between us all I had to survive on. He lifted his hand up, slowly, like he was scared to hurt me and when his hand rested on my neck finally, a small shiver ran through me.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice low.

I locked my lips and stared into that still eye, the one that showed me the human in him. “Yes.”

Fangs sink into my teeth and I let out a sharp cry of pain, my hands grabbing his shoulders. He drinks greedily, sucking till my blood fills his mouth while all I could see was bright pain.

Heat pools at the bottom of my spine and soon, it spreads everywhere. I mesh my chest to his, my cries turning into moans I could not control and when I could finally open my eyes, I was staring into sea blue eyes, rested and normal.

I don't know how long he fed from me. Like he promised, he extracted his fangs carefully. I stumbled backwards, my hand stopping the silver blood draining from the two holes, my pussy flooded with heat. Caspian’s eyes are still blue, and slowly, they turn back to red.

We stared at each other in silence. My body is screaming for me to tear my clothes off and surrender to him, to allow him to drink till he is permanently cured, yet my brain kicks against it.

Finally, Caspian breaks the silence. “You are a miracle,” he breathed, his eyes starting to move as the madness slowly returned. “I have done nothing deserving, but I will never let you go.”

I get up and run out of his room, till I am alone in my chambers.

There, I let my hands press against my hot vagina as the feeling of his fangs were still stuck in my neck.

A vampire drank from me, but that was not the worst part.

No, the worst part was I wanted to go back to him.