Black Blood

I want to run to the bars, pull on them and flee. However, it is anything but a good idea. I recognise the branches the bars are made of. They are the same as the ones that entangled the man in the forest. The corpse in the bars a few metres away is another signal that I’d better stay away from. I have never been in a dungeon before and at first glance it is not a nice environment.

It is freezing cold. The stone-clad walls let all the moisture through. The stones are wet, there is an insect here and there. It smells musty and muddy. The few oil lamps do not give much light. The floor is damp and cold.

Despite everything, I decide to stay on the floor. I push myself a little further towards the wall and lean my back against it.

Time passes, but I don’t know how much. There is no daylight or clock. The only sound is the dripping water from the walls. My body trembles from the cold. My stomach growls with hunger and my mouth is dry from lack of water.

Several times already I have almost fallen asleep, but I restrain myself. I have to get out of here, get Rave and hope that Novak is still alive. I can only hope that the elves have it in them to want to and be able to help him. He won’t make it to the end of the day without help.

The silence and loneliness make my head spin. All the events of the past few months seem to play out before my eyes. I can still hardly believe that I am gone from the castle. Everything they told me and or taught me there turns out to be nonsense. I hate Christiaan even more than I ever did.

Novak made me realise that life isn’t just about rules and achieving goals. I have developed a love of nature and the smallest of daily activities. Eating pancakes in the kitchen with the vampires is one of the memories I like to think about. It gave me a homely feeling for the first time.

I also never thought I would regain some of my trust in men. As far as we are concerned, Novak showed me that sex can also be nice and that not all men are like Christiaan. I remember well what Novak said before he lost consciousness. It makes me think about my feelings. Do I love him? In any case, I can’t bear the thought of losing him.

‘Get up.’ I jerk up from my thoughts and look in surprise at the men behind the bars. They are different men than the ones who brought me here. They are wearing exactly the same clothes. I push my trembling body off the floor. My muscles are cold and tense from sitting on the floor for so long. I stand half a metre from the bars.

‘Closer,’ urges one man. Without saying a word I take a step closer.

‘Put your hands out. wrists visible.’ I do what I am told. The man ties a rope tightly around my wrists and then lets me go. The other man has a knife in his hand. He cuts a hole in the bars in one swift movement.

‘Running away is punishable by death,’ he says unemotionally. I don’t think about running away in a strange village full of hostile elves. I step through the hole in the bars. If I wanted to run away, I wouldn’t have had the chance.

One of the men immediately grabs me by my upper arm and pulls me into the corridor.

I do not dare to say or ask anything. The men push me just as hard as the previous two through the corridor and up the stairs. The door is open but no light comes through. It is dark outside.

Still, my eyes have to get used to the little more light as soon as we are outside. The small narrow streets are lit by torches. Here and there, an elf looks interestedly in my direction.

‘Come along,’ says the man holding me and pulls me further into the village. I try to find a sign of Rave or Novak, but there is nothing to be seen. We walk through the streets full of small houses. Every now and then, a ladder hangs from a tree trunk to make the houses in the tops accessible.

As soon as we round two bends, I see a larger building. It is made of the same white stones as all the other houses. A vine full of blue flowers grows on the walls. The doors are wooden and carved with a plant pattern. The roof, like all the other buildings, is not made of wood. Small flat red stones form a dome over the building. It reminds me of a temple I once visited. In front of the door stand two guards in the same clothes as the men holding me. They do not exchange a word while the guards open the doors. Bright light shines in my eyes. For a few seconds, I am blinded.

‘The prisoner my lord,’ says the man standing to my right. I blink before I can really see where I am. I am standing in a large open space. The floor is shining with green shiny tiles. About five coloured windows let the little light from the torches through. A chandelier full of candles hangs from the high ridge of the roof. The building is bigger than it looks from the outside. Despite my imprisonment, I cannot deny how beautiful the building is.

‘Celeste von Dira, perhaps the last person I expected to see.’ Surprised, I look up. I was too preoccupied with admiring the beauty of the building to have overlooked the man and women opposite me. In front of me is a white elevation accessed by a two-step staircase. On the elevation is a large wooden chair covered with blankets. On the chair sits a man with a silver crown on his head. His grey half-long hair is peeking up into the air here and there.

Around his body hangs a white cloak with silver trim. His chest is bare and fortunately his legs are covered by green trousers. The king, I notice. Next to the man are four women, each scantily clad in nothing more than a bra and a long white skirt.

‘The vampire, is he alive?’ is the first thing that pops into my head and leaves my mouth. The king laughs scornfully.

‘That’s what you’re worried about? I’d look at your own situation first. Bow to your king,’ the king says mockingly. The man holding me pushes my chest down, forces me into a bending position. He is heavy-handed and my back hurts as soon as he pulls me up again. I keep my mouth shut. The man puts out his hand to the woman sitting next to him on the floor. The woman immediately takes his hand and stands up. Her green eyes have settled on mine. She sits down on the king’s lap and says nothing.

‘I should kill you right now,’ the King says more out of observation than as an announcement. I try to keep myself calm, to control my breathing.

‘With two dead Night Riders, I can’t kill you without getting the entire underworld after me. I’m not going to help that bastard of a father of yours on that.’ It takes a few seconds before I realise what he is saying.

‘Two dead?’ I ask before I can stop myself. A grin appears on the king’s lips. He puts his arms around the woman’s waist.

‘Hadn’t you heard? The army shot one of the Night Riders out of the sky four days ago. His body hangs as a trophy in the gardens of the castle.’ A fit of nausea overwhelms me. Tristan or Viko is dead. I am one of the last two. I am totally perplexed.

‘Your husband gave us a highly personal visit last week. Ten houses burnt to the ground and three of my best warriors dead.’ I swallow. This place is not as pristine as I had hoped. The king pushes the lady off his lap. She takes her original place beside him.

‘Someone has to pay for his deeds. You are his wife. I give you a choice. Either you go back to the dungeons or you come into my service after receiving twenty lashes,’ he says with a grin. Neither of these options is a good choice. Both hurt and leave traces.

His proposal raises questions in my mind. How long will my punishment last? Where is Novak? And what did Christiaan want from this man? I can try to convince the king to release me but deep inside I know it is useless. I cannot leave.

‘For how long do you want my service?’ I ask softly.

‘A month. A month in the dungeons or in my service’ he answers above my expectations. I will not survive a month in the dungeons. The cold, the humidity and the degrading conditions will kill me. That means I don’t have much of a choice.

‘I will come and serve you,’ I reply with a lump in my throat.