By My Side ... (A Valentine's Day Story) (2 page)

"I am here to make sure there
will not be any conflict in the future." Elena imbued her voice
with as much dignity and conviction as she could, desperation
lending her the courage she might otherwise have lacked.

Though, her words did not have
the effect she wished for, or anticipated, having on him. His
laughter echoed loud and unrestrained through the cold stone
archways of the cellar, its tone full of mockery and vicious
delight. But it was the sight of him, as he stepped from the shadow
into the light, which froze her breath in her lungs. In shock, she
took an involuntary step backwards before she could control
herself. Even then, she had to lock her knees to make sure she did
not retreat any further.

He was huge, over seven feet
tall and a good two times as broad as she was. The rumours held
true, he was not old, though his hair was white, snow white. Not
grey. Not peppered with the signs of age, but pure white, bleached
of all colour as was only brought on by albinism or great
suffering. She did not think he was an albino.

He had an orc's yellow eyes
with their distinctive slitted pupil and the lack of eyelashes
common to the race. Though his ears were pointed, hinting at
another heritage entirely. The laughing mouth held too many sharp,
yellow teeth for any human to feel comfortable in their presence,
but it was the long, raised edge of the scar along his cheek which
gave him the air of threat he carried like a second skin. And still
... he was strangely beautiful, like a wild animal, untamed and
free. And dangerous.

Even in the inhumane cold of
the night he wore nothing more than a pair of leather trousers, his
pale chest displaying only too well the hard muscles for which orcs
had been bred -- and the innumerable scars left by the lash of the
whip holding them under control. There was strength, in body and
face, and underneath the cruelty and brutality, a sharp intellect.
The best combination of traits one would wish to find in a
protector. The worst combination of traits one could find in an
opponent. And he was her opponent, there was no doubt of that.

"I did not expect Adrianus
would send a little girl, a human, to beg for mercy. I thought he
praised his vaunted honour higher. What of all those long-winded
poems about chivalry he writes?"

The tone was closer to a snarl
than a question and no effort was made to disguise the insult in
the words. Did he realise Adrianus only held the court of Innsbruck
on sufferance? Out of respect for his poetic talent rather than
because he had the actual power to do so? She doubted it. She hoped
he did not. Everything in this gamble depended on him not realising
the court's weakness until they had reached an agreement. The
sufferings of his race might be her only advantage here. She was
banking on it. He was an orc and had been taught that all vampires
were his masters, powerful enough to hold his leash. She just
needed him to believe it a day longer.

"Milord, I am not here to beg
for mercy. Lord Adrianus sees no reason for it. I am here because I
am exceptionally qualified to negotiate with you for a peaceful
settlement of the situation. Due to my position in his court, I am
able to offer you something no one else can."

She needed to bait him, to whet
his appetite -- or at least engage his curiosity. For a moment, she
thought she had failed. His eyes remained cold and detached as he
prowled towards her, menace in every movement. She wanted to
retreat even further, wanted to turn and run. It was fear, and the
thrill of inevitability, which held her in place. If she ran, she
would soon not have a place to run to anymore.

"Milord, I believe you will be
more than convinced of the advantages of a trade, if you give me
the chance to present the terms to you. So, please, hear me
out."

"Is that so?"

He loomed before her, close
enough for the heat of his skin to reach for her, to warm her body.
It was a peculiar, soothing sensation as she stood, stiff and
unyielding, facing him. This close, his skin glowed with a sheen of
mother of pearl, the dark lines of scars and tribal tattoos stark
in their contrast to the radiating white. In a strange compulsion
she wanted to touch them, reach for the lines and discover them
with her fingers. Elena buried her nails into the seam of her cloak
as if to guard against this curious need. He would not appreciate
the touch and she might not have a hand left after trying it.

She bit her lip, hard. The
sudden pain helped in bringing her attention back to the matter at
hand. Somewhere in the back of her mind she worried about this
unusual distraction which had taken hold of her -- she stood here,
bargaining for the life of the people she loved, and yet was
distracted by the need to touch, to feel. The thought was almost
more frightening than the orc before her. And here her mind
wandered again. She needed to concentrate, to collect all her wits.
The only explanation for her unusual preoccupation was her fear.
Elena let her teeth burry a little harder into her lip, seeking a
little more pain. There was no time for fear.

"Yes, Milord. The Court of
Innsbruck offers you information regarding the whereabouts, and the
secure acquisition, of an unbound ErGer."

Elena had thought long and hard
on how to phrase this, how to tell him that the Court would offer
him one of the mythical ErGer without making it seem as if the
Court owned one. That last part was essential. She was banking on
him never having heard of the unbound ErGer in Innsbruck. It was
another gamble, as everything in this night was, but the risk was
not as reckless as it might have seemed. Yes, the world had
gossiped and concentrated on Innsbruck and its ErGer when Adrianus
had first announced his retrieval of one -- but with time, and the
failure of the ErGer to develop and bond, the attention had faded
away. For years now, no one had even listed Innsbruck among the
courts holding one. Crucially, the last time the ErGer had ever
been mentioned in the official records had been long before
Reschkar had appeared among the courts of Europe. She was now
little more than a sad tale, a footnote to history.

So she might succeed, might
manage to make him think Adrianus knew of an ErGer, even where to
find one -- but not give the orcs a reason to invade and take the
creature from the Court of Innsbruck by the simple expediency of
force. She had to be careful, and smart, in this negotiation. If he
agreed to negotiate, that is. An ErGer was a prize too many had
risked more than a few deaths for. She needed to make sure she did
not give him an additional reason to destroy her home.

The ErGer were rare, the
records showing a mere handful to exist at any time. For most
supernatural races the lure was the ErGer's ability to turn
courtiers into the most loyal of followers. An ErGer engendered the
willingness to sacrifice all, life, limb and possessions, in the
service of their Lord, without question or hesitation. Betrayal
became impossible. That was not a gift to be underestimated in a
world of intrigue and political machinations.

Though, for the orcs, there
might be another lure. For a vagabond race of slaves only just
forming a people, its ability to give those in contact with the
ErGer an inalienable sense of home might be even more important.
Elena knew she held the one bargaining chip which might, possibly,
convince the orc before her to agree to leave without taking the
Court of Innsbruck for his own. However, his next words proved him
a skilled negotiator, not easily fooled:

"An ErGer? An interesting
proposition. But I have never heard of an orc ErGer and no other
race would survive the rigours of our life. Too fragile to be worth
the trouble."

She recognised the ploy for the
test, and taunt, it was. Just for a moment she was drawn into the
game of wits, forgetting the price she might pay for failure.

"Milord, every day you welcome
new followers. How many of them are spies sent by the courts? By
your enemies?"

Grudging respect flickered in
his reptilian eyes, gone before Elena could even be sure she had
seen it. The tense muscles around his mouth twitched, relaxed, in
an almost invisible hint of a smile.

"An ErGer does not make it any
less likely that my enemies will send spies -- or remove the ones
already in my following."

"No," she countered "but an
ErGer makes sure that any spy they send will become yours, body and
soul. A direct line into the courts of your enemies."

"Hmm." He paused as if to think
about her argument and she held her breath, hoping in all
desperation. She had to reel in her desire to babble, to spew out
all the arguments she had thought of on her way here. But she kept
the words back with an iron will, her teeth clenched, as if their
physical barrier could hold back the deluge of sentences. She could
hear her jaws crack under the pressure she put on them. It hurt. In
a negotiation, too much information might be just as damaging as
too little.

He stroked a finger over his
upper lip, a conscious gesture of the pretence of deep thought, and
her eyes were captured by the shape and form of his mouth, a
decadent softness surprising in his otherwise so hard face.

"So, what is the price of
owning you?"

His voice had lost some of its
taunt, some of its brutal viciousness. Enough so that listening to
the melodic notes of the warmer tones made her miss the
implications of his words at first. He had not asked what her price
was, but what price was demanded for the possession of her. Her
eyes jumped to his, her breath catching in her throat. She had
never told him she was the ErGer in question.

"Milord..." Elena began to
refute his words, to deny their truth, but she was silenced by the
hard finger coming to rest against her lips. Anger rose in those
yellow eyes again, enough anger to make her reconsider.

"Girl, don't insult my
intelligence. I could smell what you are from the other side of the
room. It is not the first lie you have told today. So, what you
want in exchange?"

She could have argued, could
have pointed out she had never actually spoken a lie, but doubted
this painfully blunt, and hard, man would appreciate the
difference. So she took a deep breath and continued:

"Lord Adrianus..."

His raised eyebrow was all the
warning she needed, all the indication that even her last lie would
not stand up to his scrutiny. Her knees went weak and a low
trembling started in her stomach. Nevertheless, she risked all on
the one card, gambled with all their lives and continued:

"I am offering myself against
the safety of the Court of Innsbruck and your permanent retreat
from the area."

"That is a tall order indeed.
More so as you cannot guarantee there will be an actual ErGer bond
developing with you, even were I to try to initiate it. It seems
your current Master has not been able to bond you. So you are
offering me an uncertain advantage in exchange for removing my
people without a fight, destroying their first chance at a
permanent residence as free beings? That seems hardly to be a good
trade."

A bone-deep rage rose in her,
wiping away all caution and rationality in its wake. How dare he
diminish what she was offering him, discard the advantages his
people could draw from it -- and all because he looked at it from
the perspective of one of the strong, one of the powerful.

"How typical. As anyone with
power you only see what you want to. Don't you realise what an
invasion will mean for those of your people who cannot defend
themselves. Are you really willing to let them suffer and die in
your vainglorious need to conquer a court only because it is
inhabited by a race you consider an enemy? Why not leave, find a
place where they will not have to fight, where they can create a
home, a home virtually guaranteed with an ErGer in your midst? If
you cannot actually bind me, you are still able to drain me and buy
yourself enough time to create a future for them. There are acres
and acres of unclaimed land between here and the Italian courts,
many more ruined castles than you could ever make your own. Take
one of those and leave here without a fight -- but with an ErGer.
Even without a guaranteed bond, I am a very good bargain. I might
be dead from blood loss in three or four years, but that is still
more time than most of those children out there would have without
it if you start a war."

She had stepped closer to him
in her anger, stepped into his personal space and in her vehemence
she had forced him to retreat a step in turn. It gave her a small
feeling of satisfaction, even though her good sense reasserted
itself with a vengeance, reminding her it might not be wisest to
bait the monster. Suddenly, she had no idea what to do anymore.
Instinct told her to lower her eyes, her shoulders rising in
expectation of the violence sure to follow, but her pride kept her
from outright cowering before him. Pride had always been her
downfall.

His fingers were cool when they
gripped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze, cool and dry.

"Not so much of a mouse, are
you?" He sounded almost pleased. The scent of mountain passes and
pine forests surrounded her and she realised with surprise that it
was his scent. Somehow she had always thought orcs would smell
ranker, more corrupt, not like the scent of freedom and adventure.
The orc bent closer and she could feel his next words like a breeze
on her skin:

"So, girl, let me tell you what
I want in exchange for leaving. I want you, body and soul. I want
your oath that you will do everything in your power to assure a
bond, including giving me every single scrap of information which
might aid me in the endeavour. In addition, I want your free will.
I want your absolute obedience. You will follow every order I give
you. You will sleep when I tell you to, eat what I give you to eat,
do whatever I demand without hesitation or prevarication. You will
be mine, if not by bond then by your own will. And you will never,
ever, lie to me. I do not like lies."