“It’s a village,” I mouth the words, making less than a whisper as I come to an unbelievable realization. “The royal family lives like villagers?”
The men and women tending the farms, as they do not deserve to be called gardens, are themselves relatives of the man currently leading us through this strange place. He described the groundsman as a ‘cousin’ and I do not think it was simple affection flavouring his words.
Everything that we have passed thus far is nothing more than another reflection of a functioning village, far from the rest of civilisation.
Fields of tall grass are tended to just as carefully as the vegetables that we first observed, though I have no idea what it is needed for. On our first steps into the castle, we see massive enchanted mechanisms, whose purposes remain as a mystery though they are treated as ordinary by Lysis and his family.
The stone doors, and the walls as well, are pure white and glow with a hint of radiance purer than the light of the sun. My skin itches in irritation, even with the cloak covering me near entirely. What nature of relationship do vampires have with the royal family, that the very halls would deter us, yet the walls are riddled with tunnels explicitly meant for us to crawl through?
Casual chitchat flows around us from a room ahead, alongside the sounds of labour and machines at work. Good servants are better trained than to be so ill-mannered, but no noble would be caught in the sorts of labours that would describe the grunts and heaves that I can hear. A short glimpse offers me a sight of women weaving thread into cloth with the help of machines.
Æther enchanted machinery, as I’d expect to see in some strange novel about the ancient elves, women dressed in fine yet casual attire, all too clean, and the generally cheerful air that surrounds them all paint a picture of a world so far removed from anything that I’ve known that I can hardly even comprehend it.
Every room we pass has at least one machine that I cannot describe if ever asked to do so, as I expect I will. Each some strange relic that should be treated as an invaluable toy by the high nobility, but instead they are used in place of looms, carted around the fields and made muddy as they dig holes in the soil or serve some other completely ordinary task.
They are ordinary things here.
Lysis had said something about covering for us if we’re caught, excusing us as servants or some such thing, but there are no servants here. We all press ourselves against the wall as a young man walks opposite to us, seeing Lysis and rushing in for a hug.
“Lysis, you’re back!” The young man shouts. “You’ll have to come in for drinks tonight, tell me you’ve got some new stories. It still amazes us all that you go out there at all, aren’t you scared? I mean, those mud-dwellers are barely more than animals.”
“They’re people, Frakis.”
“Well, the stories you tell us, I’m not so sure about that,” the young man chuckles. “You promised to get some of us guys together with some of those girls you were telling us about, you haven’t forgotten, have you? I mean they may be animals but… there are some things you can’t ask your wife for, you know?”
“Later, Frakis. Over drinks,” Lysis replies, patting the young man on the shoulder and pushing him along.
My skin burns in the light of the radiant stone around me, but even still, my instincts kick in and I see phantoms of what I would do to him floating before my eyes. I would slowly tease the life out of him, making the pain draw out until his blood is sweet enough to make a sugar cube seem bitter.
Lysis can watch, knowing that he will experience the same as soon as I’m finished.
Or no, perhaps I can make them fear each other? Set them against each other and have them choose the torture that the other must suffer. Though how might I engineer such a game to ensure they cannot find even a hint of solidarity between them?
My fangs itch terribly as I stalk Lysis through his home.
“Lysis, you haven’t run off yet?” calls a woman, poking her head out of a side room. Wrinkles are only starting to settle into her expression, but the frown she wears brings out the worst in them.
“Not yet, Magri,” Lysis heaves a heavy sigh. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stop telling my boy about the outside world, you’re putting ideas in his head and I do not want him turning out anything like you. In fact, just stay away from all of us. Leave already, like you always said you would. Go join your people beyond the walls, I’m sure they’d welcome you as their king, the blighted monster you are.”
“Sure, Maggy,” Lysis rolls his eyes and walks past her. “Don’t go forgetting that father’s the king, right?”
“Pfft,” he snorts a laugh but doesn’t weaken her glare at the young man. “He’s our king. The mud-dwellers just cling to the walls so that our knights can keep them safe from the monsters, they should be glad we don’t evict them just for ruining the scenery. If you really want to do something good, then go lead those people out there and take them away, I’m sure there’s a home for someone like you out there somewhere.”
Lysis is clenching his jaw to hold back from saying anything more as he walks on past the woman, who spares him any further criticisms. I see them both tied to chairs, as I twitch, holding myself back from anything stupid. Perhaps the pain from the light is making this madness worse?
There aren’t any guards here, no one to see through our disguises. Only these strange people. Their perspective is so alien that… I simply can’t even comprehend half of what they’re saying. Is this truly what the royal family is? What nature of obscene corruption is this?
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I was right, but it’s so much more than I thought. They don’t see any of us, as a part of their kingdom. Not nobles, commoners, or slaves. They just don’t care. We’re foreigners to them.
It is all so perfectly surreal, but I cannot allow myself to forget my purpose here. I must stay focused on a goal, else I will lose my sanity. Distraction now would allow Lysis to lead us into a trap, if he hasn’t already. He doesn’t deserve even the trust that we’ve extended him, he is dangerous, and if I am not careful, he will lead us to our deaths, changed man or not.
More plain and simple corridors take us deeper into the castle eventually taking us to a room separate from the rest of the world. It is a bedroom, Lysis’s bedroom. It’s not as well furnished as my own, but it is close to what a rich merchant might have.
The curtains over the windows are bright blue and quite cheerful, while a lighter shade of blanket covers the bedding, with perfectly white sheets. A tall dresser stands opposite the bed, made of white timber, and enchanted in various ways, though it’s far beyond me to understand it at a glance.
“It’s safe to talk here, well safe enough,” Lysis says, flopping onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling. He almost seems like a kid. “I don’t know what to do now. I guess… a part of me thought that we’d get caught. We don’t belong here.”
“You said that you could cover for us if we were caught,” I say, stepping in before any others can distract him. “You were lying.”
“Not really,” he shrugs. “The guards know me, and sometimes I bring them things. I could’ve gotten you through if they caught us.” He pauses a moment. “Probably.”
“Where are the servants?” I lift a hand to hold my head still. “What is with this place? What… what is this kingdom?”
“You don’t like my home?” He asks, chuckling at me as he leans back. “This is home. It’s my family.”
“Your family?” Lewark asks. “All of them? Everyone here?”
“We’re a large family,” Lysis shrugs. “I can’t exactly name all of my cousins, but it’s just what it is. I’m a bit of an outsider, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“An outsider? Aren’t you a princeling?” Belle asks.
“A twin,” he laughs, staring at the sky through the stone above. “An unwanted child. Not a part of the family tree they have written out for the next few centuries. I think they’d rather I leave and don’t come back, honestly. I don’t have a job here, and I’m never getting a wife. I’m a backup for a brother more perfect than I can hope to be. The world would be better for them, with me not a part of it.
“Which is why I left, and why they let me leave… I don’t always have to sneak out, remember? Carriages and guards, all put together just to get rid of me.”
“That’s great,” I say, separating the endless stream of questions I need answered and focusing on what needs to be acted upon right this moment. “Now where can we find the king? Where can we plant our listening enchantments? Where is Aldramodore?”
“Eh, if they have a place where they secretly meet to discuss their evil plans, then no one’s told me where it is,” Lysis shakes his head. “Other than those tunnels we used to get here, and the others like it, there’s nothing much to see here. No secrets are hidden in the walls, or backrooms where vampires whisper cruel plots. Trust me, I’ve checked.
“As far as I can tell, the king only shows his face in the throne room every now and again. It’s always a show.”
“Aldramodore?” I ask, he’s meant to be a powerful player in this place. Someone to be feared.
“The whipping boy,” Lysis chuckles tossing his pillow aside as he stands back up. “I suppose he could be up to something interesting, at least he still cares about the world outside in some way.”
“The whipping boy?” I ask, holding my chest as I lose my breath. Is it possible to lose my breath? I’m hyperventilating, and my head feels terribly light.
“Yeah, well. We know his weaknesses, right?” Lysis shrugs. “I hadn’t put it all together until recently, talking with Merry helped me to figure things out. The way we’re trained in light and fire magics, your nobles picked up on it too, but you’re not nearly so dedicated to it.”
“Shut up!” I hiss, leaning on the wall to keep steady. My hand sizzles inside the glove, burned by the stone, or the enchants in it, or something else. I can’t even tell anymore. “We will plant the listening devices, and we will escape. We need to focus on getting this done.”
With the cloaks we wear, I can’t tell exactly how the others are taking the realizations, but I don’t care either way. I just need to figure out what it means to be a vampire, and I’m leaving this city. Who cares about the royal family? Who cares about the nobles? All these insane things aren’t worth my attention.
“Right, so somewhere we can listen in on Adlramodore?” Lysis whispers thoughtfully. Cluelessly.
Closing my eyes, I focus on my hearing, listening for something interesting. Something that would be worth investigating. Something to make this trip worth it.
“Lewark, bring your stones, I hear something,” I say, walking to the door. I wave my hand and it opens for me. There’s no one near us as far as I can hear.
“I can’t see you…” Lewark grumbles, looking all about for me. I grit my teeth to keep from saying anything cruel, stepping closer and taking him by the hand. The others all reach out until we form a line, and by then Lysis has taken on his own cloak and joins us at the end of the line. I’d rather we leave him behind, but I restrain myself from saying anything to that effect.
Focusing on the impassioned complaints, I lead our little group along the halls, careful of everyone we pass. They’re all trained in magics to help them see through illusions, but when they don’t know to look for one, they are just as vulnerable as anyone, something that I ought to let sink into my mind for future hunts.
What’s drawn me away is a pair of voices lost in argument, one tickling at my ears with familiarity, but twisted in some strange way such that I can’t quite recognise it. Whatever it is they are arguing about, it seems to be something more serious than any of the other conversations that I can overhear everywhere else in this castle.
A thousand curious thoughts flicker through my mind as I gaze upon the scenes around us. Things that would give anyone pause. Strange magical machines, and enchantments, and just the everyday lives that the people here are living… it’s too perfect. In my own noble life, I’ve had privileges that I cannot count, but I would give up everything for the simple, cheerful lives that they have here, self-sufficient and peaceful.
The entire city could have this.
Perhaps not the enchanted machines, but that’s not a necessary aspect of what truly makes this world so entirely foreign. If we saw one another as family, if we truly sought to see each person rewarded fairly for their efforts and ensured that everyone has a place…
We could have this, so why don’t we? What is stopping this from being made real?
Gripping at my chest, I lean against the wall of the room where the argument is taking place, pulling at Lewark’s hand to indicate that he should place his gadgets here to capture the sounds inside.
“You’re not telling me everything,” the man inside the room growls. “You know what happened out there, someone burned my children. Your servants were supposed to be there to help them, where were they? Tell me what truly happened.”
“I’ve already told you all that I know,” The voice is hollow, and not quite clear, but…
“You’re replaceable. You’re not forgetting that, are you?”
“Alramodore, I already told you,” Semi says, clearing her throat. “It was that errant spawn of yours. She heard of what was going down, and it seems that she holds a grudge against you. I could tell you a lie if it makes you feel better.”
“No necromancers were involved?” Aldramodore insists.
“None,” Semi says with confidence.