My dearest Emma,
Forgive me as I am not able to see you awake from your peaceful slumber. It truly pains me that after our blissful entangling, you've awoken alone. Watching you sleep so serenely only spurred my need to leave since there is danger looming; I can feel it in my bones. I know that I have a purpose to fulfill, a role to play, an enemy to defeat and an apprentice to govern. Thank you for a wonderful night. It has been forever since I've experienced such euphoria and if it brings you any comfort, you've most definitely tamed the beast in me.
Your Love,
𝓔𝓵𝓲𝓪𝓼 𝓢𝓽𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓮
(1605)
Tears dotted the piece of parchment in Emma's hand as she finished Elias's letter.
With her thick, embroidered comforter wrapped around her naked body, she sat at the edge of her bed in sadness as she rested the paper on her bedside table.
She had awoken lightheaded from her rapturous and bloody night with Elias, expecting her brown eyes to be greeted by his gold ones but alas, he was gone.
She smiled through her tears as she recalled Elias caressing her body like he had just discovered the riches of the earth. She traced the holes left from his fang marks, closing her eyes as she remembered the burn of his bite. She found this satisfying as it helped to soothe the ache between her thighs.
A knock sounded at her, snapping her out of her raunchy and desolate thoughts.
"Come in," she said, uncaring that her visitor would see her in such a vulnerable state.
Opening the door, Emma was greeted by her handmaiden with an habitual apology for her disturbance, but as she looked at the Princess's tear stained face, the young girl immediately rushed to her side.
"Are you alright, Princess?" the girl asked worriedly. She was a little younger than Emma but the years spent caring for royalty had aged her tremendously.
Looking at the girl through blurry eyes, Emma nodded her head lightly. The handmaiden soon caught sight of the bloody sheets on the floor, gasping at the stains that had long dried and set into the material.
"I- I did not know it was your time of the month. I'll fetch your rags as well as another set of clean sheets immediately." The handmaiden said, heading for the dirty sheets.
"Wait, Agnes." Emma sniffled. "Just...sit." she said, patting the space beside her on the bed.
Closing the door, the young handmaiden approached Emma hesitantly, sitting nervously beside her superior.
"It is not my monthly." Emma told her.
The women were quiet for a moment. Agnes actually knew this. She had seen Elias heading to her chambers lastnight and out of curiosity, she had listened for a short while as they were bedding. A light blush appeared in her cheeks as she recalled eavesdropping on their intimate moment.
"I know." the girl said.
"He left." Emma said simply.
Feeling sorry for the princess, the handmaiden hugged her, comforting her anguish. She had been around every time Emma was punished by the king, taking care of her and her every need. Emma had never been rude or cruel; just sad. She thought that even as a servant, she would never want an elevated status if it meant that she would have to experience such despair.
"He'll come back." The handmaiden said, trying to sound confident.
They stayed entangled in an embrace for a while as the sun finally emerged from its own bed.
Staring at the piece of parchment on Emma's bedside table, the handmaiden couldn't help but admire the gorgeous necklet that sat beside it.
The only tangible evidence left behind to prove that Elias had even existed.
When Elias left the castle, Syrus was waiting for him on the other side of the outer portcullis.
With one foot on the curtain wall and his hands folded, the young vampire watched the sun sashay its way from behind the mountains, ready to take its place in the morning sky.
"You could have told me you were waiting here you know." Elias said as the outer portcullis closing behind him.
Looking up at the pink sky, Syrus heaved a sigh before walking off, ignoring Elias's words.
Speeding to his side, Elias stared at him before speaking again.
"What is the matter here?" he frowned.
Ignoring him once more, Syrus continued to make his way along the dirt track road. He had no idea where Murrfell was but he strutted confidently as he kept his eyes infront of him.
"Are you ignoring me?" Elias asked, raising his eyebrows.
"What do you think, Eli?" Syrus asked.
"What's wrong with you?" Elias questioned, his face twisted in confusion.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" Syrus stopped, looking at his sire.
"Ugh.. I'm fine." Elias said sheepishly.
"Oh, I know you are." Syrus replied. "I'm sure you are more than fine actually."
"Syrus..." Elias started to say but was interrupted by the young vampire.
"I could feel it you know. Like, literally. Imagine my surprise, drinking wine in the great hall all by my lonesome. Then, this-this familiar sensation takes over my body. And I know what it feels like because I've done it once before!" Syrus fussed.
"What are you talking about?" Elias asked as his eyebrows knitted together.
"So I stand up from the trestle table thinking I was drunk and hallucinating," Syrus went on as he started to walk again, "but no, I'm no fool. I knew what that feeling was."
A wave of embarrassment washed over Elias as he soon realized what the conversation was about.
"Oh." Elias said sheepishly.
"Oh?" Syrus huffed. "Is that all you have to say? Very interesting. You know, I don't care what you say, I'm going to a brothel tonight and I'll fight this sire bond if I have to!"
"I'm sorry." Elias apologized as they began to walk again. "I'll take you tonight, I promise."
"Is that what you told her?" Syrus teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up!" Elias said. "What is this damn sire bond anyways? I can't even bed anyone without you knowing it. Do you feel when I'm in pain as well?" Elias joked.
"Yes." Syrus answered seriously.
Elias looked at him as he said it, his expression grave.
"Like right now," Syrus continued, "you don't want to leave her."
Meeting each other's eyes, Syrus knew this to be the truth. Their bond was deeper than that of a child to a mother. Elias had shared a part of his soul with him and this resulted in creating two parts of the same being.
"We'll be back," Syrus assured him. "Next time, for the throne."
Together they set off for Murrfell, taking detours to avoid the sun and interacting with unnecessary humans.
They arrived in Murrfell at noon, blending in with the hustle and bustle of the townfolk going about their business as they shopped in the market for food and trinkets.
Syrus inhaled deeply, his golden eyes sparkling in the sunlight as he watched varieties of people walking amongst him.
"Calm down, Syrus. You have to learn to control your thirst." Elias told him as he read his thoughts. His bloodlust was nearly palpable.
"How are we even to find this witch or nymph?" He questioned impatiently as he held on to the sleeve of Elias's trench coat.
Elias kept him grounded. He felt better when he was at his side. He tried to focus on his smell instead of the human's. It would be wrong to go berserk in broad daylight and stir up unnecessary chaos.
"We already have." Elias said, using his chin to point to a old shop.
A sign on the forefront read "Madam Ann's Peculiar Items" in peeling white paint. Elias found this strange as most townspeople could not read so this was an unnecessary label.
The shop was as antiquated as any other shop in the town but was unique in the fact that it was the only building that was crooked. Its unstable and rickety appearance told Elias that it could tumble down at any minute as the ligneous structure leaned dangerously to the left, with only the gift of luck holding it up. Two open windows adorned its forefront along with a single door in the middle, giving off an effect as if the shop was regarding them.
"Come, Syrus." He said as Syrus followed him over to the store.
A potent scent of spices invaded their nostrils as they entered the old building while a bell chimed to single their presence. It eerily echoed throughout the shop as it left their ears ringing.
Another strange observation Elias had made was that he and Syrus could actually enter the building. Not only that but the inside did not look or feel crooked. It was very much upright but the run down appearance carried to the interior design of the building. The wooden floor creaked under their feet as they made their way inside, still pitted and many hued as the trees they were felled from. Small wooden stalls were neatly lined throughout the room, each displaying a bizarre item that made Elias and Syrus's senses tingle.
"What is this place?" Syrus questioned, eyeing what looked to be a lizard's skeleton glued to rabbit's foot on the stall closest to him.
"Do not touch anything. I can feel the magic seething through the crevices of this shanty." Elias gurned.
"Well that's not very nice." A woman's voice sounded behind them, startling the men.
Elias did not think it possible but she favored the tree nymph greatly. Her skin was like fine, brown timber, dotted with a single beauty mark left of her mouth and her kinky black hair was braided into a flower crown. Her dark brown eyes gleamed with hints of mischief as her full lips smirked in amusement.
She wore a long sleeved, black velvet dress with a square neckline, pristine and fit for royalty. There was something about her that made her seem divine. Her beauty and aura was bewitching as both men could not help but ogle at her. This was not the type of woman you would see in a town like Murrfell.
"Can you I help you," She began to say as she inhaled slowly, trying to decipher their scent,"vampires?" she asked, her eyebrows raising as she looked at them.
"You know what we are?" Syrus questioned.
"How could I not? The people Murrfell barely have teeth, let alone sharp ones." She said as she glanced at his mouth.
"It's been a while since I've seen a Vylisian." She said after, regarding Elias.
"I'm not a Vylisian." Elias told her.
Looking at him a little closer, she squinted before giving him a sly smile.
"Interesting." she said lowly. "Well, I am out of Wilberburn but I do have toad's ichor; to help with the blood thirst yes?" She said looking at Syrus.
Elias was confused. He had never heard of any of these items but he found it startling that she could sense Syrus's bloodlust.
"We're not here for that." Elias told her. "You're sister sent us."
"My sister? Which one?" She frowned.
Taking the leaf from his jacket pocket, Syrus extended his hand to give it to her. Reaching for it, the woman held it between her index and middle finger as she scrutinized its authenticity.
"You've met Yew." The woman said, her tone changing. "That means you are..."
"Elias? yes." He answered for her.
"This is your lieutenant?" She asked, her expression worried.
Nodding at her, Elias could not ignore the troubled expression she wore. It was shocking enough that she was not moved by two vampires in her shop but at the mention of his name and his relations with her sister, this had seemed to make her worry.
Holding the leaf to her chest, she stared at Elias. Her eyes knowing and sad. It reminded Elias of Edmund's reaction to seeing him in Marewood years after his death.
"Yew gave us her blessings." Syrus interrupted the silence.
"She is such a pain in the arse." The woman said, breaking her eye contact with Elias as she turned away from them, resting the leaf on one of the stalls.
"She knows that I no longer wanted to be involved in Grizelda and Odelina's scheme and still, she puts me in the middle of it." the woman cursed.
"You know of their plans? You must help us." Elias said.
Heaving a sigh, she rolled her eyes as she turned to face them again.
"What kind of maker would I be if I didn't?" she asked.
"What?!" Elias and Syrus said simultaneously.
"Look around my shop. Can't you feel the magic flowing through these items. I procure and enchant them. You've met Odelina the Gifted and Grizelda the Maker. I am Annora..." she said before dissolving into nothing, a trick Elias had only seen Odelina do.
Surprised by her sudden disappearance, she appeared behind them once more.
"...the Enchanted." She finished, amused by their startled expressions as they turned to face her.
"You've grown so much." She said to Elias. "So beautiful."
"You are also my maker?" Elias asked.
"I had a hand in it, yes." she nodded.
"Really?" Elias asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Come, let us talk somewhere else. There are others in the room with us." She said, making Syrus glance around the run down down shack.
Following Annora to the back of the shop, she pressed her palms against the wall, chanting a foreign word. The fingerprints glowed as the wall became transparent, allowing Annora to pass through the once solid surface.
Following her lead, they were now transported to a small but well furnished room. The scent of spice was even more pungent here as the vampire's enhanced smell worked against them.
The room contained a canopied bed dressed in blue silk sheets with a single window adjacent to it as it supplied the area with light. There was large shelf with glass jars containing strange items suspended in liquid. Some of these items appeared to be plants, animal limbs, dead insects and bones. At the front of the room was a long table filled with the clutter of dried plants, candles and strange markings. A mortar and pestle steamed with unknown ingredients as archaic books sat opened from recent viewing.
"This is for you." She said as she walked over to the shelf, picking up a flask and handing it to Syrus. "Drink."
"What is it?" He frowned.
"Something to help with the blood thirst you seem to be having trouble with." She told him.
Looking at Elias for permission, he nodded at him to signal that is was okay. Syrus soon turned the flask to his head, which left him coughing from the burn and bitter taste of the fluid.
"This tastes like death!" He exclaimed.
"But you'll feel better. That is the important part." Annora said.
"Thank you, I guess." he frowned.
Pleased by his reaction, Annora nodded at him before taking a seat on her bed while instructing Elias and Syrus to use the chairs she had at her table.
"Judging by your surprised faces, I trust Odelina and Grizelda told you nothing. Typical." She scoffed.
"Have you heard about what goes on in Selvalley?" Elias questioned.
"Yes," Annora frowned, "Pure chaos. Odelina is not very forgiving of those who have wronged her."
"What happened, Annora? I'm kept in the dark by people who want me to trust them. There is something bigger happening here." Elias said.
She looked at him with a pained face, as if she truly cared. Elias could feel that shewas different from her sisters. Her aura radiated tranquil and mystery.
"I'll tell you then." She said. "You deserve to know."
"A thousand years ago, Europe was a place of magic and mysticism. Creatures and humans roamed the earth together, fighting and hating each other. There were covens of witches or faes as we are called, vampires, werewolves, creatures you couldn't even imagine but there was no peace or order, just survival. We came from the Lenoré coven, the leaders of the faes" she said.
Elias and Syrus were already enraptured by the story, unable to even blink as they listened.
"Faes and humans had been mating for a while so their off-springs shared a lot of similarities. Us witches and these half-breeds eventually decided to set up an hierarchy of power to control the lands and govern the people, setting laws in place to fix the violence and bloodshed and develop civilization. So it was decided, a half-fae and a fae should always rule to maintain balance in the lands as we were the most sane of the population. The first kingdom that was formed was Selvalley and their first rulers were King Garth and our great grandmother, Amora."
"Wow." Elias said, "These stories weren't even taught to us."
"They made it so to erase the barbaric history of the land but the monarch knows it; they have to." She told them. "See, when the other 3 kingdoms were formed, Odelina was the Queen of Gandalwell, her husband was a man named King Christopher."
"She had told me she lived in the castle." Elias admitted.
"Yes, she did." Annora nodded. "But she broke a very important law."
"The faes and half-faes were only allowed to marry and mate with each other, regardless of love. Odelina hated Christopher. He was a womanizer who had countless children with other beings. You'd find that most of the kings did but because Odelina was a woman; you know how patriarchy is." Annora grimaced.
"She fell in love with a peasant named Elijah. He had a child before they met but the mother had died. Christopher soon discovered their affair so Elijah was tried and sentenced to death. There was nothing that could be done since it was against the ancient laws set by elders and the bloodline was to be kept pure, only mating with half-bred royalty but Odelina had been with child and the king believed it was not his. They hung him right infront of her. The despair led her to lose her child that same day." Annora said sadly.
"Why did the faes allow this to happen?" Syrus asked angrily.
"You must understand, we could not do anything. She broke the law and the elders of the coven, monarch and church casted down a punishment. We could only spare her life." Annora reasoned.
"Odelina was angry and devastated and it had driven her to desperation. She believed she had to get him back so she struck a deal with the Vylisians, the vampires. To this day, no one knows what it was but they gave her instructions so Elijah could rise again. She did it by herself but it went terribly wrong." Annora frowned.
"What happened?" Syrus questioned.
"Something came back from the dead, only, it wasn't Elijah." She said gravely.
"It was a hideous beast with thick leathery skin and bat wings. All it's teeth were fanged and it killed humans and creatures alike. The Vylisians were nearly wiped to extinction and Europe was practically purged of its magical creatures. It was angry but it was also in pain. Imagine a man dying innocently with his only crime being that he loved a woman he was not supposed to."
"Sounds familiar." Elias whispered to himself.
"Faes were not immortal but we could extend our lifespan through spells. She use to tell him that she would not allow him to die. I never thought she was that serious." Annora said.
"What happened to him? The monster Elijah?" Syrus asked.
"Covens had to combine forces to put him down. We lost many sisters as did the other faes. There is no longer many of us so rather than faes and half-faes mating to keep the bloodline pure, half-faes and humans eventually began to rise in status, eventually becoming Kings and Queens themselves. The irony in that. I can understand why Odelina is so livid." Annora shook her head.
"When the monster Elijah was finally killed, Odelina was sentenced to death but she had already put measures in place should it come to that. She was gifted after all. She thought that she would create a new being to avenge her and Elijah. To destroy the kingdoms like they had destroyed her love and child; she created you." Annora said as she looked at Elias.
"Me?" He asked.
"Yes. This time with our help. It was Grizelda who really made it all come together. She is a maker afterall."
"So that is why she could command me like Odelina." Elias said.
"Yes. You have her blood... our blood." Annora confirmed.
"How did you do it?" Syrus asked.
"Before her sentencing, she had Grizelda take her grimoire and the revised mixture she had used on Elijah to the Yew tree in the Marewood cemetery. Yew is my sister, in a sense. We have known each other for a very longtime. We did not know if the concoction would work so it was all by chance. Yew would keep her partially alive after she was buried and then..." Annora said trailing off, staring at Elias sadly.
"You waited for me." He said lowly.
"No." Syrus said. "They made sure it was you."
Annora looked over to the young vampire. His eyes were fierce and his loyalty to Elias was nearly palpable. She could not help but think that they did their job too well.
"What happend to Elijah's son?" Syrus asked after.
"He survived. Odelina made sure of it as she sent him away to a foreign land." Annora told them.
"Foreign land you say..." Elias pondered.
"Yes."
"Elias is descendant of Elijah's son, isn't he?" Syrus finally asked.
Both Elias and Annora looked over to Syrus but his gaze never strayed from Annora. She saw how troubled the story had made him; how angry he was.
"Yes." She finally answered.
"Zelda set it up, didn't she? She ordered my execution?" Elias asked.
"It was Odelina's wish. She was given a prophecy by our sister who was a diviner. We had to wait a 100 years for you to be born. A fae nor half-fae cannot rise once they are dead. Whatever Odelina did with the Vylisians, they helped her survive death and create you. Grizelda was only doing at she was told." Annora said.
"So Zelda is actually on Odelina's side?" Syrus questioned.
"The last time I heard, yes. I don't know anymore. I've hidden myself away here in Murrfell, catering to the needs of the few magical creatures left. I told Odelina I wanted no part in the rest of her plans but Zelda was always too loyal to her." Annora said sadly.
"On her side you say? That is interesting because Zelda is inlove with a half-fae; the soon to be King of Gandalwell infact. That seems to be where her loyalty lies now." Elias said.
Frowning, Annora stood as she walked over to her cluttered table, resting her hands against the wooden surface.
"The Mercí twin." Annora said. "I told her not to get too attached."
"What is Odelina's plan? What does she want? And where do I fall into everything?" Elias asked eagerly.
"I'm sorry but I don't know what her plan is as to date. I have no idea how she intends to use you but I'm certain of one thing. She wants to uproot all the kingdoms as we know it and burn them to the ground. She wants destruction and death; she wants revenge."
"Funnily enough," Elias said as he stood up, "So do I."
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Finally! A bit of back story on Odelina.
What do you guys think is going to happen?
Do you think Elias will join her or will he follow his own agenda?
More to come next chapter.
Also, to to 3k reads. Thank you guys so much❤️