Of Lords and Commoners: Book 1 (Lords and Commoners Series) Page 11

  This was a dreary thought, so I forced myself to stop thinking of home. The city that spread out before me was breathtaking. I’d never dreamt of traveling this far and seeing such a sight.

  Am I actually enjoying myself? This cannot be, after killing someone tonight! How could I possibly feel jubilant and hopeful at the sight of Constantinople? This was the holiest of cities, the mother of Orthodoxy — the God-protected city. I shook my head in an attempt to quell my excitement. What is wrong with me? I chastised myself until I felt properly miserable again.

  My eyes moved past the seemingly endless streets and buildings to an even more impressive sight. The city gave way to an endless expanse of water. That much water could not possibly exist. I had heard tales of the vast oceans but never could have imagined so much water in one place. It made the lake in the Alps look like nothing more than a tiny dewdrop. Once again, the sound of someone approaching brought me back to my current situation. This time, jumping that far down was intimidating. I hesitated for a moment, finally bailing off the wall only to discover that I landed on my feet with very little pain. Disappearing once again into the shadows, I heard sentries from atop the wall yell.

  “Did you see that?”

  “What is it now?”

  “It was a shadow. It leapt off the wall and moved quickly, that way.” The sentry pointed in my direction. I sank farther behind a wall.

  “You’re just see'in’ things again.”

  With great stealth I moved deep into the city. What am I to do? Surely there would be other vampires in the city. I did not know what to think about this. What would they be like? Friendly? Hostile?

  I wandered through the streets in awe for quite some time admiring the large buildings and unusual architecture. The sun would be up soon, so I searched for a tavern or an inn. I caught a glimpse of a moving shadow out of the corner of my eye. When I turned toward it, I saw nothing. I kept walking and soon I saw it again. Something or someone was following me. I hurried toward a building that looked to be a local establishment. As I was about to enter, a woman appeared in front of me.

  “You don’t want to go in there,” she said casually.

  I stepped back. Based on her sudden appearance she was most likely not human. Uncertain of what she would do, I wanted to give myself a head start.

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Because I think you are looking for us.”

  I looked around and there was no one else in sight. “Who is ‘us’? There is only one of you.”

  “Oh no, there are more. Let me take you to meet them.” She took off down the street and kept talking, “My name is Rosalia. Friends sometimes call me Rose. Our coven is not too far from here.”

  I jogged to catch up with her. “Coven? What is a coven?” I had never heard of such a thing.

  “Oh dear, you are new, aren’t you?” She frowned.

  “How did you find me?”

  “Have you forgotten your manners? I introduced myself and the proper thing for you to do is to tell me your name in return.”

  “Yes, of course, my apologies. My name is Va … Val,” I stuttered. I decided that until I knew more about this strange new world, I had better not reveal too much about myself. People would think Val was short for the more common name Valeria. That would do for now.

  Rosalia looked at me with suspicion. I was obviously not good at hiding things. “Well, Val, to answer your question — we watch over our city. When a new vampire wanders in, it gets our attention.”

  That was not exactly what I meant. “But how did you know I am a … ?” I did not want to say the word because that would be admitting to something terrible. “You know.”

  Rosalia laughed. “It’s your scent. You clearly smell unlike that of a human. Not to mention, you move too gracefully to be one of them.”

  I inhaled sharply. She was right. She smelled different — not sweet, as humans smelled. Not that her scent was bad, it was simply different. There was no pain in my throat and no desire to feed on her, as was the case when humans were around.

  Rosalia inspected me for a moment. “The boys are going to love you. I bet you have no trouble luring them into your deadly trap.” She reached out as if to pinch my cheek.

  I dodged her hand.

  “Be easy,” she said with a smile. “I’m not going to hurt you. We look out for one another.”

  So far I was not overly fond of Rosalia. She seemed arrogant and contemptuous. She also appeared to like who she was, perhaps even revel in it. The thought made me ill — vampires who loved the hunt, the kill.

  Chapter 26 Constantinople 1260 A.D

  Rosalia led me into an enormous abandoned building. We wound our way through the halls, passing one dark, empty room after another.

  Now that I found another vampire, I had a burning question. “Is there anyway to … become normal again?”

  “Why would anyone want to be human? And no there is not.” Rosalia shook her head at my ludicrous question.

  My heart felt like a boulder in my chest. Elijah must be right — there is no way back. I had been hoping beyond hope that there was a way to undo the vampire curse — perhaps one Elijah did not know about. My hope was slipping away as was my home and family. Are they truly lost to me forever?

  Rosalia entered a room and stopped in front of an old bed with a rotting mattress. She easily lifted the bed with one hand; revealing a flat circular stone in the floor. With her other hand she lifted the stone cover by its round metal handle. Stairs could be seen leading downward. I peered into the dark chasm straining to see the end — I could not.

  “Well, are you going to go or just stare?” she said.

  After an uneasy glance at her, I cautiously started down the stairs.

  Rosalia snickered at my apprehension.

  We descended deep into the earth for what seemed like ages. The stairs were a smooth stone; the walls were a rough-cut rock. I was feeling more than a little uneasy in this closed space. I did not know that there could be tunnels this deep underground. I hoped that the other vampires were not hostile, as it would be difficult to escape this place.

  Finally, we stopped our descent and entered a long hallway with many rooms off to either side. Smooth stone columns appeared at even intervals. In between them were elaborate carvings depicting scenes of war and of sensual naked humans and vampires. Again I was Rosalia’s entertainment. She laughed at my expression; I must have looked awestruck.

  At the end of the long hall was a huge round room that was lavishly furnished. The burning candles briefly hurt my eyes until they adjusted. Fine fabrics and tapestries hung from the ceiling and there were statues and beautiful pieces of furniture scattered about. Lounging on the furniture were vampires, probably a dozen or more.

  In a large chair in the rear of the room sat a middle-aged man — or vampire, rather, with a powerful air about him — the leader, I presumed. He was handsome, with the darkest complexion I had ever seen. His skin was remarkably smooth, almost hairless. I had never seen anyone like him. He was so different I wanted to study him. I forced myself not to stare.

  Hanging on either side of the leader were two long tapestries. They were dark green in color with images of large black spiders. As discomfiting as they were I could not help admiring the craftsmanship. The detail was intricate, as the ominous insects were well defined. Wolf spiders, I thought.

  “Look what I found!” Rosalia announced with confidence and pride.

  Everyone in the room stopped talking and turned to look at us.

  “Come meet our leader,” she said.

  I did not move. Rosalia had to pull me by the arm. She bowed to the dark-skinned man. “This is Lord Ramdasha of the Indies and this is Val. She is new in town.”

  I bowed and Ramdasha stood. A large man moved to stand to the right of Ramdasha. Both stared at me with great intensity and I was not sure which one was more intimidating.

  “Where are you from?” Ramdasha demanded.

  I force
d myself to look him in the eyes. They were dark, old and dangerous. All I knew was that I did not want him to know too much. My family must stay as far away as possible from this sinister world. “I am from Targoviste,” I lied but it came out clear and steady enough.

  “What is your family name?” he demanded.

  This stumped me for a moment. We did not often use family names in Ludus. The only ones to do so were the Chastellains. Something inside warned me not to mention that name. Family names were only for nobles and royalty, whose status was given to them by their ancestors. I had heard some regions commonly used family names but Ludus did not.

  “I do not have a family name. I am a commoner. My father was the local smithy.” This was the first profession that came to mind. I also hoped he would notice that I spoke of Father in the past tense. I had a strong feeling I should protect my family, so I would tell these vampires that I had no living kin.

  Ramdasha studied me.

  “My Lord, by the looks of her clothes, she is indeed a simple commoner,” Rosalia said.

  I had the feeling Rosalia was trying to help me.

  “It appears so. Who turned you?” Ramdasha’s voice was deep and commanding.

  In that instant, it dawned on me that his approach was unwise. The more he tried to intimidate me, the more I would resist. I knew now, without a doubt, not to trust him. I would tell him nothing. If he had been smart, he would have at least pretended to be friendly. If he had welcomed me and gained my trust, even a bit, I would have told him anything.

  I shook my head. “I did not see a face. A man-like figure with wings and bright yellow eyes appeared in front of me and then I was choking on blood. I woke up alone in the forest.”

  Ramdasha looked disappointed, for which I was glad. He waved his hand, as if to dismiss me.

  Rosalia pulled me away. “Let’s find you a room.” She was cheerful which was odd, as this was in stark contrast to Ramdasha’s mood.

  More vampires had come in since I arrived. “How many vampires are in this … coven?” I asked.

  “Twenty-two. No, twenty-three now.” She pointed at me. “The sun must be on the rise, as the last of the patrols have returned for the day.”

  “You were on patrol when you found me?” I asked.

  “You catch on quickly.” She smiled.

  We walked back down the long hallway and when we were near the stairs leading out, she paused. “This room is unoccupied.” We entered a good-sized bedroom. It, like the rest of the place, was furnished with the most modern and exotic décors.

  “This is lovely; thank you.” I placed my small travel bag on the desk. “There, all settled in.” I chuckled at my pathetic situation — no home, very few belongings.

  Rosalia shut the door. “Look, don’t mind Lord Ramdasha. He is only concerned with power and control. It is good you are a commoner; you will have more freedom this way. He is only interested in influential people. So you will not be of concern to him, unless you do something to anger him.”

  “I will try not to do that.” He was intimidating and the last thing I needed was to be on his bad side, that is assuming he had a good side.

  Chapter 27 Constantinople 1260 A.D

  “Allow me to show you around and introduce you to some of the others,” Rosalia said.

  I followed her down the long hall, heading toward the large round room.

  “This is the training room,” she said as we entered another chamber off the main hall. The center of the room was empty and every sort of weapon imaginable lined the walls.

  “What do you have to train for? Are we not strong enough as it is?”

  “Strong enough by human standards but not for fighting one another. For that we must train. If you are smart, you will do the same.” She must always be happy because even this she said with a smile. Part of me envied her carefree manner and part of me found it annoying.

  I did not like the thought of vampire soldiers. For what purpose, a vampire war? Elijah’s warning rang through my head: “There are things you need to know about this world.”

  I was growing more agitated by the minute, then Rosalia opened the door to the library. This helped lighten my souring mood. Maybe it will not be so bad here after all. It was not as large a collection as the Chastellains' but it was still an impressive number of books.

  “We need something to occupy our time,” Rosalia said. “We don’t need much sleep and we don’t go out much during the day, so we train and read a good deal. Allow me to show you to the common room for the less powerful vampires in the coven. The commoners’ common room.” She laughed at her play on words.

  I could not help smiling as well. I snatched a book off the shelf before following her.

  Not far from the stairway, we entered yet another room. There were a handful of vampires talking at ease. The room fell silent when we entered.

  “For those of you who were not in Lord Ramdasha’s chambers earlier, this is Val from Targoviste,” Rose announced. “Val, this is Orrick and Aaron.”

  Orrick nodded a greeting.

  Aaron rose, took my hands and kissed each cheek. “Welcome,” he said.

  I clenched the book to my chest and leaned back trying to put some space between us.

  Rosalia gave him a shove. “Down, boy; that’s quite enough. This is Irene and Sonia,” Rosalia continued.

  Irene shook my hand. “I am happy to meet you.”

  “I am pleased to make your acquaintance as well,” I said.

  Sonia nodded. I gave her a smile and she looked away shyly. She was young, too young to be a vampire. Who would turn such a young girl? My stomach sickened at the thought.

  “You are no longer the newest member of our coven, Sonia,” Orrick stated.

  Sonia looked pleased.

  “She came to us a couple of years ago,” Orrick explained.

  “How old are you?” Aaron appeared genuinely interested.

  “About seventeen … or eighteen now, I suppose,” I said.

  “I deduced that much. What I mean is, how long have you been a vampire?” Aaron clarified.

  “Oh — a month or so,” I replied.

  Gasps and a couple of chuckles broke out.

  “I could tell you were new but I did not realize you were that young,” Rosalia said.

  “How old are all of you?” My tone was more defensive than I would have liked.

  “Rose is the oldest of our group. She has been a vampire for almost fifty years. And Sonia is the youngest. What, seven or eight years a vampire?” Aaron said.

  Sonia nodded in agreement.

  Orrick lit up. “I wager you don’t even know how to fly yet.”

  I shook my head no. “I swam once, which was amazing. Well, it was wonderful after I stopped panicking about the gills on my neck.”

  This brought about a round of laughter.

  “Then it is settled. We will teach Val to fly tonight. We leave at dusk.” Rosalia announced.

  “I have patrol duty tonight and won’t be able to go.” Aaron frowned. “That is too bad. I enjoy watching novices learn how to fly.”

  The others were excited and it was contagious. Flying! It sounded thrilling, wonderful and frightening. I could not wait until dusk.

  They began to tell me about the way things worked around here. There were not many rules. Of course, we were to obey Ramdasha. This was usually not hard, according to them and mostly they stayed out of his way. We were to be discreet when we fed and no humans were allowed to find out about this place. This made sense. I feared for any human who ventured down here.

  “Eventually, you will have to take your turn on night patrol,” Aaron said.

  “Do you simply look for new vampires?” I asked.

  “Yes, and any other news you think might be important to the lord,” Rosalia said.

  “Don’t worry. During the first couple of patrols, you will go with another vampire,” Orrick said.

  “Otherwise, if you are not on patrol, you are free,” Ir
ene added.

  “It is highly recommended that you learn to fight,” Orrick’s tone was serious.

  “Women fight as well?” I asked. The thought of learning to fight had never crossed my mind. This was not only because of my gender but also because of my father’s teachings. He had always encouraged me to find another way. Father believed that violence only begets more violence.

  “We are as strong as male vampires and we can learn to fight equally well,” Rosalia said.

  “Whom would we be fighting and why?” I asked.

  Orrick sat up, looking even more serious than before but Aaron spoke up first. “Oh no, not boring politics! Can’t we talk about something else?” He dramatically tossed himself into a chair.

  Orrick glared at him. “You mean to tell me that what our leaders do does not concern you?”

  I wanted to know more but, like magic, the cavern came alive.

  “Thank goodness, we are spared from Orrick’s politics,” Aaron said. “We can get out of here for the night!”

  I was curious about what Orrick had been going to say but it could wait. The thought of a flying lesson took precedence and for the moment I forgot my concerns about vampire wars.

  Chapter 28 Constantinople 1260 A.D

  Rosalia, Orrick, Irene, Sonia and I sped through the city. We stayed in the shadows and avoided humans. It was fun, like a game, sniffing the humans out and hiding from them before they could spot us.

  Soon we came to the city wall and easily leapt onto it.

  “The Golden Horn.” Rosalia gestured to the narrow channel of water on the other side of the wall. She dived gracefully head first into the water.

  The rest followed and lastly I jumped feet first off the grand city wall. We emerged from the water on the Galata shore and ran quickly to the top of a hill far to the north of the city. On one side was a sheer cliff. I glanced over the edge. I had a bad feeling about this.

  “In actuality, all you have to do to learn to fly is jump off a cliff. Your body will know what to do and you will take flight — as in the water, when your gills naturally formed,” Rosalia lectured.