Frost has consumed my flesh and with each movement my joints crack and shatter, before being restored through my vampiric magics. I do not know why my muscles can still move when corrupted by this terrible cold, but I can find no inspiration to study the phenomenon.
My skin splits when it should stretch, my joints break when they should bend, and while such torture cannot come without suffering, I bear it with the silent dignity expected of my station.
As long as I am drenched in darkness and fear, my vampiric magics restore what is damaged. The mirror only shows an unusual aura about me, frozen flakes of skin that shimmer with a strange light. I’m sure that in the light they’d be ignited into flames.
It is unusual, but nothing more than a magical aura that most nobles cannot recognise, and most commoners would not dare question.
“Are you well, my lady?” Therina asks, concern painted across her face though subdued by her professionalism.
“I am well,” the lie rolls from my tongue on instinct spreading iced dust into the air before me. Today’s dress is cool blue, specifically chosen for its resistance to my cold, and the forgiving flexibility. It is suitable for combat.
“What are your plans for the day?” she asks further, likely as a way of drawing the truth from me.
“I will be training,” I say. “The children of our guests must grow strong, as I cannot assure their safety forever. After which, my staff will need to be exposed to vampiric magics in true combat. I cannot allow them to be vulnerable to foes of my own nature.”
“You are fine with that?” Therina asks. “Fighting them? Acting violently?”
“It is unpleasant but necessary. No dignity can be found in a dishonest façade of strength. The refined nature of proper nobility, those who stand above the violence and never need dirty their hands, is found only in those who have already developed a strength yet alien to me. I have no others that can act to my wishes, thus I must personally see to tasks such as this.”
“Hasn’t that Reeve found a means to make others of your kind?” Therina asks. “Can’t you find someone who would willingly play this role for you?”
“I will not spread my curse,” the moisture in the air freezes around me as a sparkling dust.
Therina’s own breath forms a white mist, her lips pressed into a thin line as she judges me thoughtfully.
“Is it not part of the noble ideal, to delegate tasks to others? A noble should not do everything with their own hands. Will you always personally take on this responsibility?”
“I will do as I must, until such a time that I find a replacement,” I say.
Corrupting another with my curse means killing them and allowing them to feast on the blood of others, with no guarantee that it will succeed. Finding and trapping deserving victims, as well as a trustworthy person who can willingly bear this curse is too much of a challenge.
Further, there is no assurance that the chosen curse bearer will not have their minds twisted as mine was. A person with less dignity, who does not have the same strict values to dedicate themselves to, would merely become a mindless monster.
The fact that I am myself tempted by such desires is concerning enough. Even now thoughts of Belle stir up terrible wants. To hunt her, make her feel a deathly fear, and take everything I desire from her.
A thrill electrifies me at the terrible thoughts, only invigorated by the pains that echo from my rejection.
Pain?
Should I feel pain? Is it new? Am I changing further still, or am I merely imitating emotions that are now dead?
If this pain I feel is a lie I tell myself, then what other lies persist in me? What other desperate illusions do I cling to while pretending that I am still human?
“I can hear the children starting their lessons,” I say, standing from my chair. Therina dutifully settles a deep black cloak over my shoulders, a new creation that ought to allow me some healing even as I walk through the day.
The halls of my home have only darkened since the day that I died, even without my own efforts speeding the process. The servants have experienced some disquieting hauntings and it is not unusual to hear a startled scream in the night.
A ghastly scream, quiet as a whisper draws my eyes to a darkened patch on the wall. Therina jumps behind me, a short scream quickly dying on her lips.
A shape that is not quite human, screaming wider than a mortal mouth can imitate. Quite a terrible image, which perhaps can serve as inspiration for my future hunts.
The bubbling image lasts only a few seconds, fading again into nothingness as if a creation of my corrupted mind.
“It is nothing dangerous,” I sooth Therina. “Harmless illusions.”
“Yes, miss,” she replies, quickly following my step as I move on.
I have arranged a time this afternoon to speak with the staff to ease their concerns. I will not lie to them. This house is haunted, and I suspect that the corrupted æther in the air is responsible, forming its own currents, and shaping illusions without meaning.
I enter the wide hall, the place where I learned to dance. The children of the servants would come and act as my training partners, polite but their playfulness not yet fully masked by formal training.
Most were fated to become servants for the Greystone house. They were still serving here when I died. Lying dead and desiccated when I finally awoke from my death.
What did they feel when I killed them? Did they feel betrayed? Did they try to run?
Did they hesitate to fight back?
Surely so many servants could have managed to overcome the mindless monster that I was. Yet, they did not.
They died because they were unwilling to kill me, even though I was already gone.
“You’re joining us, lass?” the cheerful old lady, Riese, doesn’t hesitate to approach, pulling me along beside her as we join the class.
The children are smiling, their long tails swaying back and forth as they try and fail to focus. The darkness and the corrupted æther cannot intrude into this room, but my cloak still allows me enough to heal my shattering flesh.
“You all have to choose three different magics,” Riese says pulling away from me to stand at the front of the class. “I’ll teach you the chants, but you want to get good enough that you don’t need to say them.”
I nod slowly, even my own training started with chants, but they were quickly forbidden.
“Those of you who can use wordless magic, just cast until it burns inside like there’s boiling water in your veins. You’ve gotta stop before it knocks you flat, and then burn your other magics the same way. Go through all your different magics, then go through them again.”
“I have four magics, should I just pick three?” One of the children asks.
“If you’ve got more than three, then train them all. It’s just that you can’t train properly without at least three magics,” Riese explains.
“Is there a reason we aren’t focusing on one magic at a time?” I ask Sharre, who has settled in at my side. It is a struggle not to comment on his relationship with Piper, but I do not even know how I would bring up such a topic.
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“Why train one thing when you can train all of them?” he asks, shrugging.
“It’s cycling,” Piper explains beside me. “We have channels carved in our bodies dedicated to each different magic. If you only train one magic the others waste away.”
“It is well known that this makes for faster, and better training. You should also mix long, draining castings with fast and heavy castings but there are different exercises for that,” Riese explains, looking toward me with a smile.
“Now, let’s learn some chants,” she says, turning back to the kids. “Light magic is a good spot to start.”
I don’t know why I’m shocked by the alien language she suddenly shifts into for the chant. She is not native to these lands, it should be natural that she should speak another tongue.
“Why do you speak our language?” I ask her, in breaks between lessons.
“We must,” she replies, leaning heavily on the shoulders of a chair while refusing to sit. “Our own tongue is not known here. For our kids to thrive, they need to know how to talk.”
“We all spoke different languages when we were taken,” she further explains. “A common tongue is being found in the north, or so I’ve heard on the streets, but our tribes are gone. Our own languages are going the way of the dragons, and there will be no lands home to our way of life. I will not weigh the next generation down with remembrance of what is lost, it will only embitter them.
“We teach them to live and to thrive, in this world as it is. Not to follow some silly dreams of bringing back what’s gone.”
“I see.”
They are adapting to a world unforgiving to them. She does not seek to depose the despot nobles that would ruin them, she knows that such an idea is pure madness and will only lead to the deaths of her children.
I am not so beholden to life, and I need not fear the same consequences that hold her back.
Pressing my telekenisis to its limit lifting my arm, I train as the children do. The burning æther veins quickly reach their limits, and I move on to fire.
The flames dance on my fingertips sending cracks through my chilled skin. Even pressing myself to the limit, the flames are all rather weak. It would hurt only if held up to a person’s skin for a few seconds.
I will need more.
The children are dedicated, learning their chants and casting their weak magics, but their attention is limited and by the end of class they’re making far too many mistakes in their chants. It’s clear they will gain nothing more today.
Riese disperses the children but I have no reason to suspend my own training. I allow Therina time for her lunch, and a break from her duties, spending my time in training. Others come and go, offering company, or seeking something from me.
As the sun lowers crest over the distant castle that stands over these lands, the time finally approaches for my meeting. I encourage our guests to join us, while the rest of my staff come as directed.
Soon, everyone but the guards at the gates joins us. Many are frightened, though they hide it well. The hauntings have caused more issues than I would have thought.
When the last of them have gathered, I stand to the side of the room where all can see and hear me. It is with suspicion and concern that they direct toward me.
Not ideal, but they retain a certain measure of determination, which comforts me.
“I am sure that most of you have noticed the strange events that have taken place in this house recently. Illusions that have no caster, and silent screams, or whispers that do not belong to nature.”
The few who hadn’t noticed it themselves are already well enough aware of the rumours that have spread, so there is no surprise from them.
“Others might have concerns of my nature,” I say. “I have shared some of it with you already, but I wish today to train you in resisting my abilities. It should prove helpful against the illusions that haunt us, and the monsters that may come to hunt us.
“I should explain, the illusions are not your imagination. I haven’t yet to have the matter seen to by a proper scholar, but I find that it is too similar to my own abilities for it to be anything else.”
I will call for Kai to confirm my suspicions as soon as it’s convenient for him.
“The æther of this house is corrupted, and darkness only allows this phenomenon to spread further. Via some mechanism that I do not yet understand the magic forms naturally, shaping the illusions that frighten you.”
I feel out the length of my dress and the cloak that covers me. They are both fresh from the tailor, but they are not durable enough to last forever.
“If you would focus on this spot just before me,” I say, summoning an illusion. It is more vibrant than I initially intended, empowered by the energies that flow through this house.
How powerful was uncle that he could overcome me even with such a powerful enrichment of my strength?
No, the real question is, how weak was I?
“This is something akin to what you’ve seen before?” I ask, waving a hand through the ghastly image. A recreation of what I had seen in the halls just this morning.
The servants and guards nod, not nearly as frightened here in this setting. Being in a group, in the light of the lanterns, and given warning, it is not nearly so powerful.
“It is an illusion,” I say. “A lie. It has no power to act.”
“If I may, miss,” My head maid steps in. “We have had instances of things that have moved without anyone interacting with them. Something akin to telekinesis.”
“Telekinesis?” I ask. I haven’t been testing my magic so often or so thoroughly that it would be noticed by the servants.
“Was it perhaps the shadows?” I ask, summoning a few dark tendrils from the nothingness at my feet, and spreading them over the ground around me.
“It is noticeably different from telekinesis, and it is far more limited,” I say. “If any of you could cast a light spell toward these shadows?”
I spread the shadows out over the floor as if imitating a spider’s web, though writhing with life. The shadows resist the mundane lights of the lanterns, and while that suggests that my power has increased, it is still far from enough.
“Miss Greystone,” Henry hurries into the hall. “Miss Belle is here to see you.”
“Please invite her here. This lesson should prove useful to her as well.” I say, turning back to my audience. “Now, does anyone have light magic? It does not need to be strong, rather, it’s better for it to be weak.”
“I can do a little,” Piper says, stepping up and staring at the shadows. She reaches out a hand, chanting in a foreign language and summoning the smallest orb of light. It drifts from her finger like a small star swirling and dancing to music unheard.
My darkness, reinforced with all the power I can imbue within, shies away from her light. When I force it to stay in place, even the small, weak spell renders it to nothingness within a metres radius.
My power is great, but it is also a vulnerability. Those who can counter it will be a terrible threat to me, especially if I become too dependent on these vampiric abilities.
I must instead invest in my human magics, to keep that weakness from bringing about my death.
Telekenisis, Ice, and fire.
They will serve me more reliably than the darkness that has corrupted me. Though I suspect that these human magics will never match in strength for the vampiric magics. They are a crutch that I will be forced to rely on when facing hunters.
Belle enters the dance hall, taking in the scene rather quickly. I say nothing to her, summoning more darkness.
“Are there others who wish to try?” I ask. “Remember, this is the darkness that chained my family down while we were slaughtered. If my enemies return, it will be one of the weapons fielded against you.”
This functions well as inspiration, many of the gathered staff stepping forward to give it a try. They stand close, taking turns to summon light to tear apart my darkness.
Yet, more darkness I must make for them.
“Tina,” Belle says, walking by all the servants and standing beside me. Her faith has grown since last night, but it is not yet strong enough to strip me of my powers.
“You should consider joining them,” I say avoiding looking at her. “You are afraid that I might one day become a villain? If you are to be a hero, you should know how to defeat me.”
She considers my words, casting her eyes toward where I openly display my weakness wearing a cool expression. She’s usually so full of life that I can’t help but see her emotions bubbling through, but now I see nothing.
“I still want to be your friend,” Belle says. “I want to save you, not kill you.”
“My own enemies are cursed in the same ways,” I say. “My weaknesses are theirs, it would do you well to learn regardless of your intentions toward me.”
As the combatants grow more confident in fighting the darkness, I cut into their practice.
“I would like to take this further with a combat exercise,” I say. “Even if you do not wish to participate directly, I would ask you to bear witness. See the powers that my kind have and learn how best to respond to them.
“I will ask that you restrain yourselves to avoid overwhelming me. You are no doubt stronger and faster, what you must experience this evening is my own powers. Fear and darkness. Allow me to show my strength so that you might face a monster a thousand times worse.”
As we walk into the yard, the others follow, some with confidence and fear entwined. Still, the air they carry with them is improved enough that it wars against the haunting energies of the house.
“Do you really expect them to beat a villain so much more powerful?” Belle asks, her budding faith burning so slightly at my arm.
“I would hope so,” I say. “My kind are weak. We are already dead, after all.”
I speak louder to address those following.
“If you should wish to resist me most effectively, then you must know that you can overcome me. Confidence, faith, happiness, and even anger, can degrade my powers. Faith is most effective, soon followed by confidence.
“This, however, simply weakens my unique magics, it will not cripple me. You must instead rely on weapons and magic. In particular, fire. Even a small spark, allowed to flicker to life in my heart, would see me scattered as ashes and I suspect the same would be true for any of my kind.”
Near everyone pauses at that admission. I suppose no noble would so openly discuss such a weakness. Yet, I’ve handed it lightly and easily to a group of newly hired thugs, servants who I still barely know, and released slaves who surely hold deep grudges.
Even Belle stands frozen, staring at me as if I’ve gone mad.
“I would ask that you do not use that knowledge against me,” I say, smiling. The effect must be somewhat uncomfortable given the frozen flakes of skin that shimmer with frost from the edges of my lips. My flesh regrows fast enough that all they should see is the sparkling frost in the air.
“Come along, we do not know when our foes will act, and I will not let you die from ignorance or lack of training.”
This time, even should I be the villain, they will not hesitate to do what they must.