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This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.
All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Photo Credit: Sirawat Nak-intanond
Used with the permission of Natnalin Publishing
Cover Design: Leighann Phoenix
Mira © 2008 Leighann Phoenix
eXcessica publishing
All rights reserved
Mira
By Leighann Phoenix
Dedication
To Meegs,
Thanks for your critical eye, your honest commentary, and your encouragement.
But most of all, thank you for your friendship.
Chapter 1
Trembling in the warm light of the setting sun, Mira stared into the icy darkness of the cave, her white shift blowing slightly in the breeze. Her mind raced endlessly, trying to remind her of why she chose this, attempting to dull the fear in the pit of her stomach, and reminding her of the importance of what she was about to do.
Average in all ways, Mira had average brown hair, average brown eyes, average weight, average height, average intelligence, and average bravery. She was just average. So it was no surprise, even with her education and knowledge of the decision being her own, that she had been dreading this moment since she watched the first of her sisters commit to the path. Mira couldn’t believe it was finally her turn, as the last of this generation.
Stop thinking! I’m only making it worse, she told herself. I’m sure it won’t be nearly as bad as I’m imagining. Perhaps going first and dying young would have been better than living a longer life in fearful anticipation of this moment. To think, if the last girl had lived only a month or so longer, I would have been too old and one of the newest generations would be standing here now. I would become a teacher and spend the rest of a long, normal life, in the sunshine.
Her heart raced, as she peered into each shadow. He could be here already, watching, waiting. I would never know it. Mira pictured him as some kind of vicious, desperate creature. The druids had kept him around for centuries, hiding him in the recesses of the mountain caverns. Mira often contemplated what type of man could live like that. She could hear the lessons running through her head. She considered what may have been left out of the teaching. Mira had even helped to teach the new generation of girls about him.
Stop thinking so hard, Mira told herself again. Her hands fidgeted at her sides. Feet shuffled. I’m only making it worse. I’m sure my imagination is more frightening than this will actually be. Somehow that’s little reassurance, her brain argued. Mira took several deep breaths. The voice of the high priestess, Lilith, droned out over the audience. Mira had long since stopped listening to the words, but she almost felt ever syllable, like grains of sand raining on her skin as they sifted through the hourglass she felt trapped in.
“Rillan ap Tiernay,” Lilith intoned over the crowd, “was created to protect and serve the Circle. Our guardian. Each generation a group of girls is chosen as companions in darkness. This is the price of his loyalty.”
Mira didn’t hear Lilith’s speech. Not that it mattered. She knew the speech by heart. It was the same for each of the girls who entered the vampire’s cave. Mira’s mind was more concerned with the parts of the story that were left out of the flowery farewell.
Each girl given to the vampire was there to feed him until she died or asked him to kill her. Then she was replaced by another. Once she was sent into the caves, she would not emerge again until her death. Rillan left only when there was an assignment from the druids, by his own choice. Every girl who entered the cave believed that maybe she would be different. Maybe I won’t want to die. Most survived several months. The longest lived ten years or so. The girl before Mira lasted three weeks.
When Mira collected that girl’s body from the stone altar just outside the cave entrance, it had been a sobering experience. The other times that Mira performed the duty, there was a feeling of detachment. She rarely even looked at the girls’ faces, let alone the rest of their bodies. She had never been next in line before.
Mira remembered staring at the pasty white skin pulled tight over skeletal features for a long time. She had examined the numerous vicious bite marks that riddled the shoulders and neck of the dead girl. Mira had bathed the body for burial and found the bruises on the girl’s arms showing how she was held down. Mira found the blood along the inside of her thighs. Her body itself was shriveled, drained of blood and starved of food. Mira had no idea what exactly the girl suffered over the three weeks that she was inside the cave. She tried to tell herself that anything imagined would be worse than what actually had happened, but was having little success in reassuring herself. He is a good man. Our guardian. The other girls simply weren’t strong enough, she told herself.
Mira looked up from her thoughts to find that the high priestess had stopped speaking. Everyone was waiting for Mira to finish the ceremony. They were patient and stood quietly. Mira didn’t know how long they waited for her to realize it was her turn. Now as she looked around, she was more afraid of what was to happen to her than she thought she would be. The lessons were all so cut and dried, so matter of fact. This is what we do to survive. If not for Rillan their Circle would have been found, their secret knowledge would have been stolen, and they would have been destroyed long ago. The sacrifices are all voluntary. The girls go to him as a service to their people. I volunteered for this duty without prompting from anyone. Still, she couldn’t stop her mind from churning.
Mira stepped shakily forward. The moon, high in the sky now, cast a blood red sheen over the clearing and an eerie light beyond the gate. She passed through the tall, rusted iron gateway, and it creaked, swinging shut behind her. The clanking gate lock sent a jolt though Mira. The last of her courage was locked on the other side. She looked into the darkness beyond the mouth of the cave, trying to see if he was watching. She couldn’t see anything. The little light that touched the hungry cave mouth was swallowed into the black, offering no hint of what lie within. In all the times she had delivered food or other supplies here, it never seemed this ominous.
The unkempt clearing in front of the cave was unlike the other gardens kept by the druids. The plants and trees along the perimeter were rotting and overgrowing the gate, breaking it down in places. There was the carved stone altar at the center of the clearing. That was where he would leave her body after her death, so that the druids would know that it was time for a new sacrifice. There was the table where they would leave food for her and any supplies that she requested. There was the stone basin where letters could be left. She was never to speak to anyone except Rillan from now until her death. It was as though she was taking inventory of her new life as she looked at each cold thing in the clearing in turn. She could almost feel loneliness creeping up on her, like a demon in the dark.
Mira turned around to see if the others were still watching. No one was there. The gate was locked and she was standing alone. All that was left for her was to enter the cave and find him. Her eyes traveled the twisted metal archway that she studied so many times in the past. Now it was backward as she stood on the wrong side. Finally.
Liam ap Arnauk watched Mira from the darkness beneath the trees at the edge of the clearing around the gates that guarded the cave entrance. He always thought it ironic that they bothered to “guard” the thing inside the cave. A single tear formed in the corner of his eye, as he waited. In all their time together Mira rarely acknowledged him. They both knew her fate. He wondered if she had any idea how he felt for her at all.
How could I have fallen in love with one of the chosen cursed? Liam turned away from the scene. He couldn’t bring himself to watch her so willingly go to her own death. He had done his best to keep her from this, subtly making sure that she wouldn’t be picked until the last wasn’t an easy task. His father, Arnauk, had been one of the elders until his recent death. That position gave Liam some small influence over minor affairs. If the girl who preceded Mira had survived only a little longer, then Mira would have been too old, and the next generation of girls would have come of age.
I suppose I’ll not be the last man to lose someone to the vampire, he thought and shambled back to town.
Resolutely, Mira took a deep breath and walked toward the cave mouth. Best to get this over with. The breeze blew her shift around her legs. There were rumors that he would insist that she walk about naked after he took her. That was why the sacrifices didn’t bring clothes with them into his home. The dirt floor was packed hard, and her bare feet made a soft padding sound as she entered the darkness. Mira lifted the front of her shift so that she wouldn’t step on it as she stooped under a low ceiling in the tunnel and continued farther into the darkness.
Rillan must live like an animal in here, she thought. The stone wall was cold and damp under her hand, as she used it to guide her way. I wonder if he’ll come get me or if I’ll wander in here for hours before finding my way. The least he could do is provide some light. Mira was beginning to become frustrated and more frightened. She couldn’t see in the black and she was tripping on either her shift or loose stone. Suddenly there was a swishing noise, like something flying. Screaming, she fell to her knees, scraping them hard on the ground. Stone bit into the palm of her hand.
Mira held her wrist and turned to sit on the floor with her back against the wall. What if I took a wrong turn or missed some sign. The tunnels were rumored to be endless so that no one could find Rillan should he choose to not be found. It was a test of the new sacrifices. The girls were supposed to find him to prove that they were worthy. Some test, stumbling around in pitch black, down caves with no end, looking for something that I don’t want to find and doesn’t want to be found.
Mira began to cry. She knew that she had only been here a few minutes, five maybe fifteen, but it felt like forever. So she waited. I’ll not be fool enough to wander around in her. If he wants me, he can come get me, she thought fearfully defiant. Without being able to see the moon or sky, Mira couldn’t tell how much time passed. Eventually, she fell asleep leaning against the wall.
When she opened her eyes, Mira could see daylight streaming in from the entrance. It was only about a hundred feet away. I was certain I had gone a little farther than this, she thought, feeling stupid and a little guilty. She couldn’t see any deeper into the cave than maybe fifty more feet ahead of her. Mira stood up. She didn’t know why he hadn’t come looking for her. He must know that the sacrifice was last night.
Daylight chased away the fear, but now she was worried that he would be angry at her for taking so long to come to him. Now she could see there was only one way to go. The cave went on into the mountainside in a straight line, from what she could tell.
Gathering her courage, she stood up, brushed herself off, and marched into the darkness again. This time she kept one hand on the wall and one above her head, in front of her, in case the ceiling dropped again. It wasn’t long before the hall curved, and the packed dirt beneath her bare feet changed to stone. Mira bent down to touch the ground and found that it felt like stonework; like the floor had been carved. It certainly didn’t feel like natural stone. Fascinated, she traced one pavestone with her fingers. What fear she had left was replaced with curiosity, as she stood up and continued to follow the wall through the darkness.
Farther into the cave, the wall changed to the touch. The stone went from roughly hewn to carved like a castle wall. Just like the floor, she thought. Mira moved more quickly down the hall. She wasn’t afraid of the ceiling dropping again, so she put her hand out in front of her like a blind man feeling for obstacles in his path.
When her hand on the wall ran across wood, she stopped. Mira’s breath increased as she felt the wooden slats under her hand, held together by ironwork and bolts. Sliding over the surface, her hand found the doorknob. Heart pounding in her chest, Mira wondered if she found him. That wasn’t so hard, she thought with a strange, smug sense of accomplishment. She turned the knob, and the door opened onto more blackness. “Hello,” she called, but there was nothing.
Mira stepped slowly, blindly into the room, hands held out in front of her. She almost fell over, when her foot hit something with a loud thud that echoed out the door and down the hallway. She knelt down and felt some kind of crate. On her hands and knees Mira reached out around herself and found that there were a number of crates scattered around the floor.
She was about to leave the crate where it was and try to move around it, when the thought occurred to her that she may have found a store room. Mira pushed the lid off the crate and found it full of fabric of some kind. She crawled around on the floor groping about until she found another crate and pushed the lid off that one. This crate contained jars. It is a store room, her thoughts raced excitedly. When she ran into a wall, she felt her way up and found shelves. One at a time she carefully felt her way along the shelves. There were books, small boxes, small jars, more fabric, paper, scrolls. Finally she found what she was looking for, a lantern. There were several lanterns on that part of the shelf.
She pulled down one of the lanterns and felt the weight of it. She guessed it already held oil in it. Now all I need are matches. She felt her way along the shelves until she found some bags that would fit in the palm of her hand. Running her fingers over the soft material she prodded each bag to guess at the contents, trying to find what she needed. The first one held something small and round, the next something square. She didn’t know what the things were but they weren’t matches, so she moved on. She was about to give up, when she found a small light bag that held what felt like numerous tiny sticks. The matches were on the shelf almost directly under the lanterns. She smiled and shook her head. as she took one of the thin wooden sticks out of the bag.
Mira paused, holding the match in her hand. The lantern was ready. She would finally be able to see where she was going. It was strange, but a funny kind of fear pulled at her stomach again. She had been so obsessed with what she was doing that she almost forgot why she was in this dark place. Suddenly it felt as if she was being watched. He could be right next to her, and she wouldn’t know it. Her mind raced irrationally. She imagined striking the match and having an evil face appear in the light staring at her.
“Hello,” she called meekly into the dark. Maybe I don’t want to see, she thought.
“Get a hold of yourself,” she scolded herself. The sound of her voice was comforting. Mira struck the match on the floor and lit the lantern. To her relief, when light flooded the room, all she found were opened crates and shelves of stored goods. If she didn’t know better she would have thought that she was in some domus store room. Not in a cave, deep in a mountain, looking for a vampire who would inevitably drain the life out of her. Not that the idea of being in a castle wasn’t strange either. Hell, where else would a vampire live?
Mira took another deep breath, held the lantern out and left the room. It was much easier going now. The light gave her confidence. It turned out that the rumors were correct. There were quite a few halls that criss-crossed, now that she was in the manmade section of the tunnels. How am I going to find him, she asked herself, as she looked down several hallways. She couldn’t see any more doors and all the halls looked basically the same.
She tried listening carefully down the halls for some noise, but didn’t hear anything. “Hello,” she called down one of the halls, her voice stronger than before. The only sound she heard was her own “hello” echoing back at her. She called down one of the other halls. Again her voice echoed back. When she called down the third hall it was different. “Hello,” she called again. “No echo. There’s something different down there, stopping the echo.”
Mira rallied her courage and strode down the hallway. After a short distance and a couple turns, she found doors. Staying herself to face the worst, she opened the first door and held up the lantern. The room appeared to be a library of sorts. Books lined shelves against the walls, and several shelves were freestanding in the middle of the room. A well used chair and a table stood on a threadbare rug. A large assortment of papers and writing things lay scattered across a small desk, and a pile of crumpled papers heaped up against the wall in one corner. Mira stepped back into the hall. “What kind of vampire assassin collects books,” she whispered. “And writes poetry,” she added in confusion, looking at what was written on the papers.
Leaving, she closed the door behind herself and continued down the hallway. Tapestries hung on the walls between the doors. Most of them were battle scenes, elaborately woven and well kept. Mira started to open another door, when a sound caught her attention.
At first she thought she may be losing her mind. Metal ringing? Sword fighting clanging? She followed the sound of metal crashing against metal. It was all so strange. This was never covered in the lessons, she thought. The clashing noises became louder, as she walked down the hall. When she came to the large double wooden doors at the end of the hall, the sounds stopped. She half thought that he must have heard her coming. Light streamed from under the large carved, wooden, double doors that filled the end of the hallway in front of her.
Mira’s stomach churned. She hadn’t eaten breakfast, and she could feel bile rise in her throat. She wished that the clanging would start again. The silence was dreadful. Finally she reached out and turned the well worn handle on the door. It released easily, and the door swung silently in, letting light fill the hallway from the multitude of candles in the wrought iron chandelier that hung from the high ceiling.
Mira didn’t really see him at first. She was looking for a monster; some pale, gaunt, angry beast that would fall upon her and drain the life from her body. What she saw was much different. Rillan ap Tiernay was tall, muscular, clean shaven, and well dressed. The stories described him as noble and brave, before he was made into a vampire. Mira, like those who came before her, believed that the man of legend changed when he was turned into a bloodsucking assassin. Obviously she was wrong. His dark blue eyes were set in a handsome, tanned, angular face which was framed with black hair. He wore leather armor, brown breeches, and boots. He could have been any man from one of the nomadic hunter tribes to the north. A sword leaned against a dummy standing next to him. It was dressed in armor as well and held a severely battered shield.
Rillan was larger than most of the men in her village. Legend told that he wasn’t originally a druid, nor was he from her village. He was one of the warrior classes in the druid nations before the militant civilizations to the south had assimilated them. He came to the druid’s inner sanctum seeking a way of vengeance against the onslaught of would be conquerors.
Although Mira committed the legends to memory, she always questioned them to some extent. Her people, being a logical culture, had long held the belief that stories often changed or were exaggerated over time. Heroes became more heroic, and villains became more evil with each retelling. It was hard to say how much of the original stories were true. Only in recent decades had her people begun writing the histories down. Lord Tiernay’s story was centuries old. He was probably the only one who still knew the truth of it.
Just as she was measuring him, he stood measuring her. She knew what he would see. She never thought of herself as anything special. Worse, she had been wandering around in the dark and had fallen on the ground. Her hand and knees were scraped, dirty, and bloody. She had no hair brush, and hadn’t washed in days.
“Come in girl.” His accent was heavy, guttural, and strong, as if he barely spoke the language. “You’ve been more resourceful than most of the others. I believe you are the first to actually find a lantern and get here without being lost in the labyrinth for a few days.”
Mira found herself annoyed by the comment and almost forgot she was afraid. “Do you find it amusing to let us grope about in the dark, frightened and lost for several days?”
Rillan walked toward her. His purposeful strides made her wonder if this was it. He was going to bite her. She let out a yelp and fell back against the door, dropping the lantern on the floor with a clatter. His ice blue eyes bore into her.
“No,” he replied low and warning. “I don’t find it amusing. However, I do find that after a few days, even my company is looked upon as a welcome alternative to being alone, hungry, and thirsty in the labyrinth. Usually when they see me after the darkness they don’t jump in fear.” He stepped back from her, giving her enough space to relax a bit. “Like you did.”
Mira felt a little ashamed. “I didn’t— I mean I’m not—“ She stammered, trying to find the words to explain why her lessons hadn’t properly prepared her to take on her duties with more strength.
He cut her off. “I’m used to it.” As he spoke he stepped toward her again, this time as a person would approach a frightened animal. Cautiously, he leaned in and breathed heavily. Mira got the impression that he was smelling her. When he pulled away, his pupils bled into the rest of his eyes until they were solid black. Then he blinked, and it was like she had been seeing things.
“I’ll show you where your room is,” he said. Turning from her, he went back to the dummy, picked up the sword, and strode from the room. Mira took a moment to collect herself before following him. She almost forgot the lantern. As he disappeared into the darkness, she grabbed it and hurried to catch up.
She followed him back down the hallway she came from. He opened one of the doors toward the very beginning of the hall. It led into another hallway which was lined with more tapestries and doors.
As he guided her down the hall, Mira tentatively asked, “Is it always this dark in here?”
Rillan abruptly stopped, turned around to look at her, and grabbed a candle off a sconce on the wall. He tossed it to her. “These are your quarters. This hall and these rooms. There are candles. You can light them if you wish, but the rest of the chamber is mine. There it is always dark.” With that, he turned around and led her to the door at the far end of the hall. Pushing the door open, he walked into the room and crossed the floor to a fireplace set into the far wall. Rillan picked up a match, struck it on the floor, and tossed it into the fireplace.
As the fire spread light and warmth through the room Mira realized how cold she had been to this point. “Explore the rooms in this hall. You’ll find a small store room. There should be everything you need to feed yourself or make clothes. It’ll probably take you a while to bore yourself with what’s there. If you decide you need something I can be found usually where you found me tonight.” He stood and appeared to be leaving.
“Lord Tiernay,” Mira started and almost didn’t finish the question when he turned to look at her. “Um, what about you?” She spoke slowly and trembled.
“You’re not ready yet,” he said and left, leaving her staring after him dumbfounded.
* * * *
I’ve never seen such a beautiful room, Mira thought, looking around the room. As she lit candles set on woven metal sconces, light fell on a large canopy bed covered with silken blankets.
A carved mahogany wardrobe stood against one stone wall, and she opened it to find that it was full of dresses. A morbid feeling went through her body, as she realized that these were the clothes of women who were previously Lord Tiernay’s companions. She sighed. They’re still beautiful clothes. The women who made them must have had a great deal of time and talent.
A matching carved mahogany dressing table with a large mirror graced another wall. Silver hair combs and several brushes lay scattered across the table. A jewelry box stood open with a number of necklaces dangling over the sides. Inside were quite a few silver and gold bracelets and broaches.
The sick feeling in the pit of Mira’s stomach returned. It almost looks as though the last girl to live in this room left it open and may be back at any moment. If I hadn’t cleaned her body for burial myself, I may wonder if she would be walking down the hall to find me here. Mira rubbed her stomach absently, thinking about the fact that she was merely the latest in a series of women who all lived and died in this room.
Deciding she would never use any of the things on the dressing table, Mira searched the room for something less thought provoking to look at. A dining table with wine glasses, plates, forks, knives, and spoons filled a nook near the fireplace. A pot brimmed with cooking implements sat happily on the hearth near the fire, as if waiting to be used. It reminded her that she hadn’t eaten in quite some time, and her stomach growled loudly in response to the realization.
I wonder if the elders know that he keeps the sacrifices like this, and it’s left out of the lessons on purpose. After she examined everything in the bedroom, she set about making herself dinner and deciding on plans for how to keep herself busy until Lord Tiernay came to her for his own meal.
Chapter 2
Lord Tiernay had been right. It took her a couple weeks to explore the other rooms in her chambers. She found a small library. It didn’t have nearly as many books as the room she found that first day. Even so, there were more than enough books to keep her busy for some time. A couple she found of particular interest appeared to be diaries of previous inhabitants of her rooms. Mira set those aside for a night she wanted to give herself nightmares.
Mira found the store room containing meats and vegetables and realized instantly that this was where the items the druids left at the cave entrance went. It appeared as though Lord Tiernay gathered the things and placed them in the store room when she was unaware. Maybe he does it when I’m sleeping. She couldn’t think of any other time he would be able to get into that room without her seeing him.
A big open room with mirrors covering the walls was particularly beautiful and perplexing at the same time. Mirrors of that size would have been very expensive and even more difficult to bring here, Mira thought as she stood in front of one which was taller than herself and three times as wide. The mirrors all had different sized carved frames.
The strangely enchanting, eerie room held Mira’s attention for hours. She turned round and round watching herself in all the mirrors by candlelight. She wondered what the room was for. Dancing maybe? There were a number of musical instruments in the store room. Maybe he’s had some sacrifices that could play or dance.
The next room was smallish and decorated with sea shells and other water things. In the center of the room stood a large, metal, claw foot bathing tub. Space for a small fire or hot coals was beneath the tub, and a warmer for extra water waited next to it. Towels and a dressing gown adorned a rack near a comfortably cushioned chair. There was also a tub for washing her clothes on the far wall, but the bathtub kept her attention.
Water in the basin next to the tub appeared clear and clean, as did the water in the tub itself. With some excitement, Mira lit the coals under the tub. Then she lit the coals under the warming basin for more water and went to the library for a book while she waited for the water to warm. Returning to the room with a small, leather-bound poetry book, Mira set it on the chair and began to take off her clothes. Momentarily she glanced around. She always wondered if he was watching her, but the feeling was more palpable when she was undressing or trying to fall asleep. Still she managed to undress and quickly got into the water. An odd sense of safety enveloped her when the water covered her body, and she reached for her book.
As Mira lounged in her bath, it occurred to her that she was being pampered probably as well as any noble in the domus to the south. Lord Tiernay certainly knows how to try and keep his women happy, she thought. Unfortunately, that thought led to morbid ideas. If he’s so good at making sure his women have everything they could want that only leaves a couple alternatives. The women beg for death because he is so vicious in his feeding, or they die from the loneliness.
Mira grew up with many people always around. Continued explorations of her chambers brought her to realize exactly how solitary this life was. He must keep us alone so that we won’t run away. A person doesn’t long for something as badly, if she’s not being tempted by it.
After she was familiar with everything her chambers had to offer, she dedicated nearly all her time to reading the books in her small library. They were mostly history books or folklore. Some of them were in languages she didn’t know. Other books were so old they all but fell apart when she picked them up. Perhaps if I get too incredibly bored I could spend some time rewriting the more badly damaged ones. Periodically she glanced at the diaries from the deceased girls before her, but studiously found other things to read.
Eventually, she set herself a routine. She found that her water was replaced regularly, and her store room was continually replenished. There were occasions that she felt as though she was being watched. But she was never able to catch him in her chambers even when she tried to wait up and see him.
Several weeks’ worth of her solitary existence, in what she came to see as a prison, eventually made her desperate enough for company, and she ventured out the door at the farthest end of the hall. Carrying a lantern in one hand, wearing one of the simpler dresses, and walking cautiously down the hall, she listened for signs that Lord Tiernay was nearby. She managed to find her way to the room where she originally met him.
Dark silence permeated the room. The wrought iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which had previously filled the room with warm light, disappeared into the recesses of the ceiling where her lantern light didn’t reach. Suddenly Mira was overwhelmed by the irrational fear that she would never see or hear or speak to another person ever again. “Hello,” she whimpered into the darkness, but there was no answer.
She walked around the room looking for another door or some clue as to where he may be. She hadn’t really realized how lonely she was. Somewhere in her mind, all this time she thought he was just down the hall. Now, standing here in the empty room where he should be, she felt as though her entire body was going numb. She continued her search for another door, hoping she would find a different way out. When she came back to the door she came in and found nothing, she fell to sitting on the ground in the middle of the doorway and began to cry.
She didn’t care what he would do to her now. She only wanted some company; any company. As she sat sobbing, a gentle hand gripped her shoulder.
“Shh. I’m here.” His voice seemed, at that moment, to be the most exquisite sound in the world. She turned to see him bending on one knee behind her, and she flung her arms around his neck. He held her and spoke softly, stroking her hair and waiting for her to stop crying. “I understand. Calm down.”
They remained on the floor for several minutes, before Mira finally managed to quiet her sobs and stop the flow of tears down her cheeks.
“Mira, come with me,” Rillan coaxed, as he helped her stand up.
She left the lantern on the floor, holding onto Rillan. He led her through the darkness and set her in a large armchair. She could make out his shape in the darkness on the edge of the lantern light, as he lit the fireplace that was near the chair. Light spilled into the room from the fireplace, forming an intimate circle of warmth around the hearth. Stepping over to the lantern that was still sitting on the floor, Rillan picked it up and blew it out, then set it on the floor next to Mira’s chair.
“You picked a bad time to look for company. I was sleeping.” Rillan sat down on the edge of the chair across from Mira. He leaned forward, with his elbows on his knees and stared at her bleary-eyed.
“Um, is it nighttime,” Mira asked tentatively. She felt as though she had forgotten how to have a conversation.
“No. I usually sleep during the day.” Rillan’s voice was resolute and almost harsh, as if she had insulted him, or he thought she shouldn’t have asked.
Mira wasn’t sure what to say to him. She knew that he slept during day. She had been taught that. Why couldn’t she think of anything intelligent to say? All she knew was that she didn’t want him to go away and leave her right then. “I, I’m sorry to have awakened you. Um, do you need to go back to sleep?”
Rillan didn’t answer right away. He had been up several days and wasn’t overly interested in consoling his latest sacrifice. He couldn’t see this one lasting very long. She may be resourceful and bright, but she was scared out of her mind. “I would prefer to go back to sleep.”
“But you’ll stay,” Mira said too quickly.
Rillan sighed and sat back in the chair. “Alright. What do you want to talk about?”
Mira’s mind raced. She didn’t really know what she wanted to talk about. She just didn’t want to stay alone in her room any longer.
Rillan cleared his throat impatiently and Mira panicked. “Um, this isn’t what I expected when I came here,” she said uncertainly.
He smiled wickedly at her. Mira’s eyes widened as she saw his fangs. “What did you expect?”
“I guess, uh, I thought…”
“You thought that I would rape you, then suck your body dry and leave you to die.”
Mira swallowed. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Isn’t it?”
“What happened to the others then?” Mira couldn’t help but ask.
Rillan’s dark blue eyes seemed to look into her. “Do you really think you’re ready for that?”
“I can’t think of anything else right now,” she whispered.
Rillan’s eyes turned solid black, and his voice dropped to a deadly soft tone. “I waited until they were lonely enough to come to me. Then I seduced them. I used them as long as they were willing. When they couldn’t live with the idea of me any longer, regardless of how lonely they were, I offered them death. The ones who accepted what I am, lived longer. The ones who feared me died sooner.”
“The ones who lived longer, why did they decide to die in the end,” Mira asked softly.
“It’s easy enough for you to pretend that you’re happy and in love, until the druids give me an assignment. Each of the ones who lived with me at length asked to die within days after I returned from an assassination. Most live until the first night I chose to feed.” The emphasis he put on feed sounded like a threat.
“You mean you only have to... to... uh... feed,” she could barely say it, “when you choose to?”
He exaggerated his smile, making his fangs stand out more. “Not quite as simple as that. I feed when I need to, or when I choose to. Are you offering?”